Edge Davao 8 Issue 185

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

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INSIDE EDGE

Comelec cancels Sen. Grace’s COC P2 Gov’t hunting down N. Cot bomb suspects P3

DEEP IN THOUGHT. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio appears to be collecting his thoughts before his presentation on the South China Sea dispute at the Ateneo de Davao University yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

CITY EMPLOYEES TO GET BONUS Duterte finds local source for Christmas bonus

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

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abf@edgedavao.net

INCE the Davao City government cannot release the Performance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) and Productivity Incentive Bonus (PIB) for the city employees this year, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte will give another incentive intended for their Christmas celebration.

In an interview with EDGE Davao yesterday, Hu-

man Resource Management Office head Erwin Alapraque said the PEI and PIB will not be granted to employees because of the absence of guidelines from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“If we remember, there was already a PEI of one month salary granted to the city employees. With the PIB,

there is no guideline yet from the DBM so we cannot grant that bonus this year,” he said.

The PEI and PIB, totaling P30.012 million, is included in the P182.7 million supplemental budget number 4 which was passed by the City Council on December 4.

Alparaque said since the DBM has not released guidelines for the proposed incen-

tive, Duterte took the initiative through the local finance committee (LFC) to grant of bonus for the employees, which is dubbed Pahalipay para sa empleyado.

He said with the bonus scheme of Duterte, each regular employee will receive a P10,000 bonus, while job orders, contract of service,

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EDGEDAVAO Sports

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2 NEWS EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

ALMOST DESERTED. It used to be very busy during this time of the year, but these days the Philippine Postal Office is virtually empty save for a few who still prefer to send mail and greeting cards the old way. Lean Daval Jr.

Alleged burglar shot dead

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N alleged burglar who had been operating in San Rafael, Marfori and Doña Vicenta Subdivision, Davao City was shot by unidentified gunmen on Thursday night.

San Pedro Police Station identified the victim only as alias Ton-ton and Tisoy, 27-30 years old and with no permanent address.

According to the police report, Barangay 9-A captain Federico Llubit told operatives that he and his team were conducting foot patrol in Garnet Street in Marfori at around 6:30 p.m. when they heard three gun bursts from a few meters away.

Llubit said when they approached the area, they saw the victim lying on his side with a gunshot wound in the head.

The assailants had already fled the area.

Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered an empty shell of caliber .45 pistol in the crime scene.

In an interview yesterday, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said Llubit told investigators that the victim had been tagged in their barangay as being involved in burglary.

“Naa diay atraso nang bata-a na sa ilanng lugar kay notado siyang akyat bahay (The suspect has been the object of many complaints in the area for breaking into houses),” she said.

Driz said the police are investigating the incident to find out the motive for the killing.

“The San Pedro Police Station is still identifying the perpetrators and the possible whereabouts of the suspects,” she said. ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

Gun-sealing ceremony for police on Monday

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

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abf@edgedavao.net

HE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) will seal the muzzles of the guns of all police officers in the city on Monday to pre-empt indiscriminate firing from their ranks during the holiday season.

In an interview with EDGE Davao yesterday, DCPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said the muzzle-taping ceremony will be held simultaneously nation-

wide as part of the Philippine National Police (PNP) tradition during the observance of Christmas and New Year.

“This is already a traditional ceremony of the PNP every holiday season to ensure that no one will make indiscriminate firing from the police personnel,” she said.

Driz said sealing gun muzzles will also help the police to determine if a police officer fires his gun.

“With the muzzle taping, if there are illegal discharges we can easily know the person behind it,” she said.

She said sealing the muzzle of their firearms does not mean the police cannot use their guns because they need to prevent crimes while securing the holiday season.

“We can use the gun only as our last resort in the performance of our duty,” she said.

Driz said any police offcer

who will be caught indiscriminately firing his or her gun will face an administrative case, particularly grave misconduct.

If someone is hit by a bullet, criminal charges will be also slapped on the police officer involved in indiscriminate firing.

Driz urged the public to report persons, especially police officers, who illegally discharge their firearms in the observance of the holiday season.

the 10-year residency requirement.

“In complete disregard of what is clear under the law, the Constitution and jurisprudence, Respondent declared in her CoC for President that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen, who is fully qualified to run and serve as President of the Philippines. The clarity of the law notwithstanding, Respondent chose to ignore and brush aside the Constitution and jurisprudence and misrepresent herself as a natural-born

Filipino citizen, clearly in order to serve her purpose and suit her intent of running for the Presidency,” said the 49-page decision.

The ruling added, “This stark variance in Respondent’s declaration of her residence and her inconsistent statements in connection therewith are clear indications of her intent and attempt to deliberately misrepresent a material matter in her COC for President for the purpose of hiding of hiding her ineligibility and mis-

lead the electorate. This glaring disparity proves that Respondent intended and attempted to conceal the material fact that she is ineligible to run for President for failure to meet the 10year residency requirement.”

Comelec First Division head Commissioner Christian Robert Lim dissented in the ruling while the two members, Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Luie Guia voted to cancel Poe’s CoC. As for the citizenship, the

Comelec First Division cancels SC Justice Leonen designated as ponente in DQ case vs. Sen. Poe Grace Poe’s CoC for president

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UPREME Court (SC) Associate Justice Mario Victor Leonen has been designated as the ponente, or the justice who will draft the majority decision, on the disqualification case filed against Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares.

After the raffle held on Thursday, the petition for certiorari filed by Rizalito David against the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and Poe went to Leonen.

Leonen, being the justice ponente is very crucial in the case of Poe, since he will be

tasked to make a study and write the recommendation and draft the majority decision in the case.

Earlier, David’s petition to disqualify Poe as a senator in the 2013 elections had been decided in Poe’s favor by the SET with a voting of 5-4. However, the petitioner appealed the decision before the SC. In a petition for certiorari, David assailed the ruling of the SET declaring Poe as natural-born Filipino “despite the absence of proof of blood ties

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HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has again slammed the door on the presidential bid of Senator Grace Poe after cancelling anew her Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for president in the May 2016 elections.

Voting 2-1, the poll body’s First Division has ruled in favor of the consolidated petitions to cancel the lawmaker’s CoC, noting that the latter committed material misrepresentation for claiming that she is a natural-born citizen and has met

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EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

NEWS 3

Reversal of SC ruling UN to Phl: Disband armed groups vs Bt talong sought sowing fear in Lumad communities

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NETWORK of biotechnology advocates is set to launch a nationwide campaign to counter the Supreme Court’s (SC) recent decision that permanently stopped the field testing of the transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis eggplant or Bt talong and voided a key government policy on biotechnology adoption.

Reynaldo Cabanao, national president of the Asian Farmers Network (ASFARNET)-Philippines, said Friday they have started to mobilize their ranks for the massive signature drive urging for the reversal of the SC decision.

Cabanao, a farmer leader from Malaybalay City said they

will also hold a series of consultations and awareness campaigns among their members and farmers at the grassroots level regarding the matter.

ASFARNET-Philippines is composed of farmers associations under the regional agriculture and fisheries councils and regional farmers action councils.

The network has chapters in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“We will also hold regional mobilizations and later at the SC to show our strong opposition to its ruling,” Cabanao told reporters at the sidelines of the National Agri-Biotechnol-

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OVERNMENT must fulfill its commitment to disband and disarm armed groups that are sowing fear in indigenous peoples’ communities and bring to justice those who are accused of violence and criminal activities, a UN official said on Tuesday.

Ola Almgren, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, was referring to the

September statement of then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prosecute those responsible for the spate of killings of Lumads in Mindanao.

“In the context of peace and security, the UN welcomes the September statement by the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence. We look forward to a

swift and transparent process with findings that will be made public,” Almgren told participants to the Progressive Ideas and Perspectives Learning Series session on Tuesday in Malacanang.

He noted that the Lumads “have for decades been disproportionately affected by the conflict and, as stated by the CHR (Commission on Hu-

man Rights), have long been exploited for political use by all parties to the conflict.”

In Mindanao, Lumad communities have been torn apart by the armed conflict between government and the Maoist New People’s Army. Many Lumads themselves have either become NPA guerrillas or members of pro-government

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Gov’t forces hunting down suspects in bombing of NGCP tower in N. Cotabato

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ILITARY and police authorities are hunting down gunmen who set off an improvised explosive device in North Cotabato that sent total blackout in Cotabato City and parts of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, officials said.

Improvised explosive devices were set off at the foot of Steel Tower No. 68 of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Barangay Pagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato at about 9:28 p.m.

Thursday, according to Inspector Jun Napat, Aleosan town police chief.

As a result, total blackout, which started at 9:28 p.m.

Thursday until 10:30 a.m. Friday, hit North Cotabato’s first district and the whole of Maguindanao.

Melfrance Bambi Capulong, NGCP spokesperson for southern Mindanao, confirmed the bombing and said NGCP field personnel are now in the area to check on the status of the toppled steel tower.

Elements of the 40th Infantry Battalion and Aleosan PNP are following up a lead about the where about of the

MAKESHIFT STOVE. A Lumad cooks rice the traditional way underneath the Agdao flyover where he and his family, together with other Indigenous People

FGOV’T, 10 (IP) from Agusan, are staying. Lean Daval Jr.

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

DavNor holds rescue training for PWDs T

MAGPUPUNGKO BEACH. Foreign tourists enjoy the water and the rock formation at the Magpupungko Beach and Tidal Pools in the municipality of Pilar, Siargao Island.. They waited for the low tide to enjoy the tidal pools. MindaNews photo by Roel N. Catoto

HE Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) has intensified its rescue training for persons with disability (PWDs) to help reduce their vulnerability and build their resilience during calamities.

The training was attended by rescuers from various local government units, including members of the PWD sector headed by Engr. Darlito Palermo, the Regional PWD Sectoral Council Member from the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

“Our problem in terms of inclusion and participation of PWD’s in Risk Reduction and Management is the preparation of the responders to accommodate the PWD sector,” said Palermo, who shared his

personal experience when his family once evacuated due to massive flood in Bangkal, Davao City.

DavNor Executive Director CCA-DRRM Romulo Tagalo said this endeavor is their first engagement with persons with disability.

“Ang DRRM dili lang pang-rescue sa mga physically able kundi pagsabot sa lainlaing panginahanglan sa katawhan” (The DRRM rescues not just the physically able but also seeks to understand the different needs of the people),” Tagalo said.

Part of the training was to have an idea on how to live like a PWD. Physically able responders tried to become blind and deaf, and to rely on a wheelchair for accessibility.

PIO DavNor

HE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Davao region formally inaugurated its child-friendly room in the time for the 67th Universal Declaration of Human Rights Day. Atty. Irene Joy Montero, officer-in-charge of the CHR 11, said this year’s celebration is focused on the more vulnerable sectors of society, particularly the children.

She said the children are given emphasis with the setting up of the Child Rights Center at the general headquarters in Manila and the putting up of Child-Friendly Space in every CHR office nationwide.

Montero said the opening of a child-friendly room in their office manifests their interest to reach out to the children.

“It will be used primarily whenever interviews are done involving children,” she said.

The room presents a more relaxed atmosphere especially for children.

Montero said the Human Rights Day celebration, which is anchored on the theme, “ Karapatang Pangtao, Igalang, Ipagtanggol at Isakatuparan,” is a manifestation of a pledge all over the world that every person is free with dignity and human rights.

She said all governments have the aim to respect and protect human rights.

Montero said human rights will only be given true importance if everyone joins in respecting, protecting, and realizing the rights of every person.

“We can only realize this pursuit if we unite and hold on to the ideals of freedom, equality, and respect for human dignity,” Montero said. (PIA 11Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)

Region 11 opens DOH 12 to open more CHR child-friendly room HIV treatment facilities T

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HREE more human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/ AIDS) treatment facilities may be established in SOCCSKSARGEN Region next year, an official of the Department of Health 12 announced.

Dr. Ali Tumama , regional program manager for HIV/ AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, confirmed in a press conference that the DOH is “planning for an expansion of HIV/AIDS satellite treatment hubs.”

Tumama said Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital and the Cotabato Provincial Hospital are being considered to become satellite fa-

cilities while the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City is ready to become a treatment hub.

At present in Region 12, only the HIV/AIDS Care Team (HACT) clinic at the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital (SCPH) in Koronadal City and the Social Hygiene Clinic at the City Health Office of General Santos City have been designated as satellite facilities of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

As satellites, these facilities are authorized to dispense antiretroviral (ARV) medicines to HIV/AIDS patients.

John Codilla, South Co-

tabato’s HIV/AIDS focal person, said the HACT Clinic at the SCPH initially served 67 patients with ARV medicines provided by RITM. Prior to the designation of the Gensan Social Hygiene Clinic and the SCPH HACT Clinic as satellite facilities, all patients undergoing therapy travel to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City to withdraw their ARV medicines provided free by the government.

Tumama said once the CRMC is appointed as a treatment hub like SPMC, it will be provided funds by DOH for its operation.

This would also mean that HIV/AIDS patients in

ery year declared as Urban Poor Solidarity Week Celebration. It is in this occasion where issues and problems on urbanization, poverty squatting and other related concerns are being aired and tackled.

It aimed to establish solidarity and teamwork through sports activity with partner agencies as well as to promote and strengthen camaraderie among Urban Poor Organizations (UPOs). Presentation of accomplishments in terms of policies, programs and projects for the urban poor socialized housing was one of the highlights of the activity.

The week-long celebration included several activities such as cultural presentation, parlor games and sports activity participated by urban poor organizations (UPOs), Non-government Organizations and private individuals joining the celebration.

City Mayor Aniano P. Antalan was grateful to the cooperation and support of the

urban poor organization to the local government housing program which help expedite development of the city particularly supporting the tourism industry.

During the activity, the award received by IGaCoS from the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council ( HUDCC)-NDAPSSS for winning the 2015 Best practices award Local drive Against Professional Squatters and Squatting Syndicates was presented to the audience.

This was the third consecutive year that the local government of IGaCoS received the award for curtailing the activities of professional squatters and squatting syndicates through sound legislative actions, pragmatic policies, innovative anti professional squatting programs and projects and effective implementation thus enhancing its capacity to address housing and urban development concerns. Samal Info

Urban Poor Solidarity Week held in Samal

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TOTAL of 1,331 urban poor homeowners association members coming from different barangays all over the island gathered in Babak Gymnasium on December 4 to celebrate the Urban Poor Solidarity Week (UPSW).

The event came with the theme “MARALITANG TAGALUNGSOD: May K ka sa Tuwid na Daan; Kakayahang Umunlad; Kahalagahan sa Lipunan; Karapatan bilang Mamamayan; Kasali sa Malawakang Pag-unlad.”

The Urban Poor Solidarity Week is an annual celebration facilitated by the Local Government Unit of Island Garden City of Samal which has been celebrated for years since it has been implemented through the City Mayor’s Office- Human Settlement Division in coordination with the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

The celebration was also under the proclamation no.

367 that December 2-8 of ev-

SOCCSKSARGEN Region need not go to Davao City for their therapy.

“The personnel of the CRMC have undergone all the necessary training. What is needed is an assessment of the CRMC to determine if its facilities are suitable for a treatment hub, “ he said.

This dates of assessment and the actual operation of CRMC as a treatment hub would also depend on the hospital administration sending a letter of intent to the DOH, Dr. Tumama said.

As of September, SOCCSKSARGEN Region has 551 HIV/AIDS cases. Of these, 348 are recorded in South Cotabato and General Santos City. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)

GIFT PUPPY. Maritess Kapok shows the puppy that she received from a resident in Bankerohan area in Davao City after singing Christmas carols along with other

lumads from Paquibato District. Kapok is one of the hundreds of lumads from the hinterlands who go around the city for caroling. MindaNews Photo by Keith Bacongco

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

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6 ECONOMY

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

Road map to conserve biodiversity

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

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crc@edgedavao.net

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) has developed the Philippines Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the country’s road map in conserving biodiversity and critical ecosystem for the next 13 years.

Supporting the DENRBMB in crafting the road map are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), other national government

agencies, academe, civil society and development partners.

Through the UNDP’s Biodiversity Financing Initiative (BioFin), the DENR-BMB has determined the financing gap of implementing the PBSAP, estimated to be at least P334 billion (US$7.4 billion) over the next 13 years.

This covers actions on forest, coastal and marine, inland wetlands, caves and cave systems, protected ar-

Palace welcomes results of Labor Force Survey

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ALACAÑANG on Thursday welcomed the results of the latest round of the Labor Force Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which showed another decline in unemployment.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda noted that from 6 percent in October 2014, the unemployment rate further decreased to 5.7 percent, which is the lowest figure recorded in the past decade.

“We are pleased to announce that the latest round of the Labor Force Survey, as released today by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), registered another decline in unemployment. From 6.0 percent in October 2014, the unemployment rate further dropped to 5.7 percent—the lowest figure recorded in the past decade. Coupled with an improvement in employment and a decrease in underemployment, this serves as an indication of our economy’s robust growth. Our employ-

ment rate is currently estimated at 94.3 percent—an increase from last year’s 94.0 percent—while underemployment decreased to 17.6 percent from 18.7 percent in October 2014,” said the Palace official.

Secretary Lacierda said that according to the PSA report, employment growth was led by the services and industry sectors, which hired an additional 440,000 and 169,000 workers, respectively over the past year.

“The report also indicates that our youth unemployment rate decreased to 13.6 percent from 14.2 percent in October 2014, and that this decline in the number of unemployed was recorded across all educational levels,” he added.

“In the interest of comparability, the above figures exclude data from the province of Leyte. Due to the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda, Leyte was not included in the October 2014 round of the Labor Force Survey,” he further said. (PCOO News Release)

Manufacturing slightly declines in October‘15

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UE to the adverse effects of El Niño and continued weakening of demand from China, the manufacturing sector slightly declined in October 2015 but is expected to rebound in the coming months and years ahead, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

In the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries for September 2015, the manufacturing sector’s Volume of Production Index decreased by 1.8 percent while its Value of Production Index continued to fall at 9.2 percent from its drop of 4.8 percent in September 2015.

“For the months and years ahead, the government expects the manufacturing sector is expected to exhibit stronger growth,” said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

“But for this holiday season, driven by strong domestic demand, business firms are expected to increase production output in anticipation of brisker business activities. This will translate to higher volume of sales and possible expansion of businesses and new product lines,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Volume of Net Sales Index (VoNSI) and Value of Net Sales Index (VaNSI) posted steep declines of -5.8 percent and -12.9 percent respectively.

For consumer goods, tobacco grew vigorously, posting triple-digit growth rates for the first time in net sales, following the implementation of tax stamps. Tobacco grew by 129.2 percent in volume and 131.3 percent in value of production.

It also boasted double-digit growth rates in net sales, growing by 12.3 percent growth in volume and 13.4 percent in value.

In contrast, the food subsector continued to decline in both value and volume of net sales due to the persisting dry spell brought about by the El Niño and the devastation brought about by typhoons “Egay”, “Ineng”, and “Lando”.

For intermediate goods, net sales of wood and wood products continued to increase by 34.1 percent in volume and 10.1 percent in value as even other construction-related materials declined with the declining number of non-residential construction permits from July to September.

eas, invasive alien species, agro-biodiversity, access and benefit-sharing and urban biodiversity.

“This may sound like a huge impost on the budget but it really is not. It should be seen as an investment in conservation and also as an economic investment with significant financial returns to the country,” UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra said.

“It is an investment that

needs to be made by both government and the private sector. This could see a minimum return of $10 billion per year from fisheries, eco-tourism and pharmaceuticals derived from genetic resources,” Mitra added.

The results of the study were presented today by UNDP and BMB in a press briefing attended by Mr. Guillermo Zuñiga, Former Minister of Finance, Republic of Costa Rica, now UNDP Bio Fin Team

Leader in Costa Rica, and representatives from the Philippines Department of Finance, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the National Economic and Development Authority.

The Philippines is one of 17 mega diverse countries, harboring more diversity of life per hectare than any other country in the world.

Yet, encroachment in forested areas, pollution, over fishing, poor land manage-

ment practices are leading to biodiversity loss at an alarming rate.

BioFin is a global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner through building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and biodiversity.

The Philippines is one of 29 countries involved in the initiative.

NATIVE CHRISTMAS. Decorations from the booth of North Cotabato catch the interest of a foreigner at the Mindanao Trade Expo Christmas bazaar 2015 at the activity center of Abreeza Mall yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Licensed architects need training to be at par with ASEAN nations: UAP official

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ICENSED architects in the country need more training to be at par with other ASEAN nations, an official of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) said.

“The ASEAN integrations posed huge opportunities to our licensed architects here since firms from the Philippines can bid and accept project from other ASEAN nations,” said Architect Gloryrose Dy, UAP Davao district secretary and UAP Davao del Norte president.

However, the lack of diversified trainings and mas-

ter’s degree among licensed architects here limit their practice within the country.

“Of the 1,000 members of UAP here, only two to three percent of licensed architects here are qualified to work as principal architects in other ASEAN nations,” Dy said.

She said licensed Filipino architects who are employed in Singapore, for instance, are not hired as architects but as designers only.

“This happens because foreign employers reasoned that Filipino architects have no specialization,” Dy said.

In Davao City, Dy said

only few colleges or universities offer specialization and masters program for architects.

Dy said the University of the Philippines Diliman as well as the University of Santo Tomas in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao University that offers masters program on architecture.

“More universities and colleges should offer diversified specialization and masters program for architecture to improve the competitiveness of our architects,” she said.

Licensed architects here,

Dy said, should be open with the posted opportunity by the ASEAN integration.

“Many of the architects here have been satisfied with what they receive and earn from their projects here but they could earn more if they will have more trainings on specialization,” she said.

Dy said there’s huge demand for Filipino architects abroad who are known for their skills and talents.

Meanwhile, the UAP conducted last December 9 Balankasan, a diversified training forum for architects.

CHENEEN R. CAPON

N time for the Christmas season, the Social Security System (SSS) has earmarked a total of P6.34 billion for the 13th month pensions of over two million SSS pensioners for retirement, disability and death which is scheduled for release to the pensioners’ bank accounts and via mail this December.

SSS Vice President for Benefits Administration Division Agnes E. San Jose said that with the 13th month pension, SSS

pensioners would receive double the amount of their regular monthly pension this month. The 13th month pension is an SSS year-end tradition that started in 1988.

“The allotted funds for the 13th month pensions were already disbursed to SSS partner banks in November. As in previous years, SSS pensioners can expect to receive their 13th month pension at the same time as their regular December pensions,” San

Jose said.

Over 99 percent of SSS pensioners are enrolled in the Pension Payment thru the Bank Program, formerly known as the Mag-Impok sa Bangko Program, which enables them to receive their monthly pensions directly at their designated savings accounts. Some 12,500 pensioners opted to receive pension checks sent through the mail due to reasons such as lack of automated teller machines in their area.

“Almost P6.31 billion for 13th month pensions are scheduled for release through pensioners’ bank accounts. The remaining P34.61 million would be in the form of checks mailed to the designated addresses of the other pensioners,” San Jose said.

The SSS deposited the 13th month pension funds to the respective banks of pensioners two weeks before December. SSS partner banks would then credit

SSS allots over P6B for 13th month pensions I

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EDGEDAVAO

7 SCIENCE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

Plastics:

A sea full of garbage (Photo from the net)

Blight in the oceans

By Henrylito D. Tacio

“Through its longevity (some products are estimated to retain their original recognizable form 400 years after discharge into the ocean), its ubiquitousness, and sheer volume, plastic debris is emerging as a new, truly global challenge.” -- From the Foreword of Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plastic-free Ocean

I

N the award-winning 1967 movie The Graduate, the character portrayed by then newcomer Dustin Hoffman (who earned a well-deserving Oscar nomination for his performance) asks some advice on career direction.

“Plastics, my boy. Plastics,” he was told.

Businesses all over the world are heeding the advice. The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute reports: “Worldwide plastic production has been growing as the durable, primarily petroleum-based material gradually replaces materials like glass and metal.”

These days, an average person living in Western Europe or North America consumes 100 kilograms of plastic each year, mostly in the form of packaging. Asia uses just 20 kilograms per person, but this figure is expected to grow rapidly as the region’s economies expand.

It’s not surprising at all that wherever you go, you see plastics around. Unfortunately, most of these plastics end up in the oceans. A recent study conservatively estimated that 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing a total of 268,940 tons are currently floating in the world’s oceans. This debris results in an estimated US$13 billion a year in losses from damage to marine ecosystems, including financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning beach-

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es.

The future seems to be bleak. “Growth in the volume of plastic used in the global economy is projected to increase significantly over the next 10 years, especially in markets where waste management is only emerging,” says a newly-released study, Stemming the Tide: Landbased Strategies for a Plastic-free Ocean.

“Unchecked, there will be 1 ton of plastic in the ocean for every 3 tons of fish in the ocean by 2025 – an unthinkable outcome,” says the study published by the international group Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment Over 80% of ocean plastics come from the land, the report says. These are discarded and not well-managed, thus leaking into the ocean. Only 20% is thrown directly or purposefully into the ocean from ships and drilling rigs, among others.

Most of the land-based leakage originates in five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. “As rapidly developing economies, these countries are now passing through a typical stage of economic growth as consumer demand for disposable products grows more rapidly than the waste management infrastructure,” the report says. “We find that 75% of leakage comes from waste that is uncollected by

waste management systems, while 25% of leakage happens from within the system itself.”

A recent study, “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean,” which was published in the journal Science, listed the Philippines as the third highest producer of plastic wastes thrown into the ocean -- after China and Indonesia.

“Almost 15 years of poor implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) and unheeded calls for a national ban on the undoubtedly problematic and persistent plastic bags apparently helped a lot in putting the country at third place in the study’s embarrassing list,” said Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition.

Yet, according to the new study, the Philippines has remarkably high collection with an aggregate rate of 84% all over the country, ranging from near 90% in some dense urban areas and 80% or lower in more widely dispersed population centers.

So why is there a discrepancy?

The study found that 74% of the plastics leaking into the ocean from the Philippines (about 386,000 tons of plastic trash) comes from garbage that has already been collected by haulers and garbage trucks. Only 26% (135,000 tons) of plastics in the open seas actually originates from garbage that is not collected.

“As an archipelago, the Philippines is not only surrounded by water but also has an extensive network of

Ocean full of plastics (Photo from the net)

rivers and tributaries,” the study observes. “As such, there is a high likelihood of mismanaged waste entering waterways.”

To illustrate, the study cites a bottom-up comparison of the locations of a subset of open dump sites.

It found out that over 50% of dump sites in the country were located within a distance of 100 kilometers to waterways.

“This also has implications for the leakage rate of waste that exits the system through illegal dumping by transporters,” the study says.

“Our estimates suggested that 70-90% of the waste that fails to reach dump sites due to these practices actually ends up in waterways.”

Although the lay person tends to think of plastic as a single material having numerous applications, more than 46 different polymers (chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules) are actually in common use. A squeezable ketchup bottle, for example, is made of six layers of plastics, each engineered to do a different job, such as to give the bottle shape, strength, flexibility and impermeability.

The typical plastic bag that weighs just a few grams and is a few millimeters thick might seem thoroughly innocuous were it not for the sheer volume of global production: 500 billion to one trillion a year.

The Worldwatch Institute says about 4% of the petroleum consumed worldwide each year is used to make plastic, and another 4% is used to power plastic manufacturing processes.

While plastics are boon to the industry, they are blight in the oceans.

A survey conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace Philippines in 2006 discovered plastic bags and other synthetic packaging materials to comprise 76% of garbage retrieved from Manila Bay. In Laguna de Bay, plastic bags make up 25% of the solid waste that is polluting the lake.

“Plastic bags end up as litter as it makes its way to landfills, drainages and bodies of water, taking decades to decompose and damaging marine life when dumped into the sea,” said Senator Loren Legarda in a statement.

Because they are usually buoyant, plastics are widely distributed by ocean currents and wind. “Discarded plastic bands encircle mammals, fish, and birds and tighten as their bodies grow,” said the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute. “Turtles, whales, and other marine mammals have died after eating plastic sheeting.”

In the United States, plastic gears, six-pack yokes, sandwich bags and Styrofoam cups are so abundant in the ocean that they kill up to one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year.

Not only that. Plastics are hazardous to your health as well. “Many of the chemicals used in the production and processing of plastic are highly toxic, resulting in hazardous wastes, toxic air emissions and discharges of toxic effluents into waterways,” said a study which appeared in the Environmental Action.

The study further stated: “People don’t think plastic products are toxic because by the time they get to supermarket shelves, they’re not. But ingredients in plastic production have dangerous properties for those who work with them or live near plastic factories.”

Environmentalists caution against burning those plastics to get rid of them completely. Scientists say that chlorine-based plastics, when incinerated, contribute to the formation of dioxins, a poisonous waste that forms when chlorine is exposed to extreme heat.

“Dioxins are considered highly toxic and are implicated in weakening the immune system, affecting fetal development and causing a skin disorder called chloracne,” wrote Chynthia P. Shea, a former staff member of the Worldwatch Institute.

Just some thought about Styrofoam. It is made from the plastic polystyrene, which is based on building blocks called styrene monomers.

When you drink your steaming cup of coffee or spoon your chicken noodle soup out of a Styrofoam cup, you also take in small doses of chemicals that leach from it.

“Trace amounts of styrene as well as various chemical additives in polystyrene migrate into food – particularly when liquids are hot,” explains Dr. Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group.

However, the US Department of Health and Human Services says that the levels released from food containers are very low.

EDGEDAVAO

8 VANTAGE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EDITORIAL Daring Mar Roxas

M

ANY times as Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government and in his previous stints as Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Transportation and Communications, Mar Roxas set foot in Davao.

Unless Mr. Roxas refutes this, there was no incident in any of his visits that he was in danger. He had spent days and nights in Davao. In one of his recent visits, he walked the street along Torres crossing the Archbishop Palace to a nearby restaurant.

To be precise, Mr. Roxas is not a stanger in Davao. He knows the city.

It is saddening to hear from Mr. Roxas that all of a sudden, he questions Davao as a safe city and tells everyone it is just a myth.

To take it from somebody who was in charge of ensuring the development and promotion of peace and order among local government units all over the country, including Davao City, that the latter is not safe and has high crime volume is like pointing a gun to himself and squeezing the trigger with his own thumb.

Mr. Roxas’ sudden change of heart and his newfound dislike

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for Davao City could be a product of hate and despair that a man from Davao is leaving him behind in a margin so wide he should start thinking if he ever has a chance in the Presidential race.

The 2016 elections is just a political exercise. Putting down a city and its people because its leader is leading the surveys casts doubts on a man who is presenting himself as a leader who can take the country to a straight path, whatever that means as a political platform. Mr. Roxas is sorrily missing the point. Davao is not an enemy. If a man from this city is his main obstacle to Malacañang, putting down the city is definitely not the road to the presidency.

Davao City’s accomplishments as a city can be Mr. Roxas’ plus factor if he considers himself as a catalyst being the Secretary of the DILG. But if in his heart he knows he has done nothing to make this city among the most liveable cities in the world, not to mention the safest, according to respected global organization, he is better off not opening his mouth.

Davao dares Mr. Roxas to come to Davao City and walk in the city’s streets in the middle of the night without his cordon sanitaire.

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VANTAGE POINTS

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Lessons from the UA and P economic briefing

HE annual economic briefing of the University of Asia and the Pacific normally sounds like the most conservative set of observations on the Philippine economy, and often is accused of painting an economic picture in too many rose-looking colors.

Yet this years’ economic briefing is, in a word, startling. Perhaps for the first time in many years it focuses on poverty reduction as a focus. It dares to say that if growth intends to be meaningful and inclusive to poorer sectors of society, then it has to go up at least two percentage points to the 8-10% Gross Domestic Product range from today’s 5-7%.

It stabs government propaganda about being the second fastest growing economy in Asia. It may sound impressive, but we need more than that to make growth truly inclusive for the Filipino, a third of whom are poor. Whether or not it parrots the inclusive growth calling of the PNOY government, or rides on the recent APEC activity’s slogan, remains to be seen.

Analyzing what the UA and Ps economists are telling us, our economy, in effect, has to grow 30% faster and bigger than today’s economy. What this means down the line is that what we produce must be much more and with greater value than what we are growing or manufacturing today. In agricultural terms,

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

growth year MY TWO CENTS’ on year must at least be 10% in terms of output, the same rate as manufacturing, though the latter can considerably John Tria add value ecisouth@gmail.com more than agriculture.

The former’s size increase will potentially reduce food prices, pushing them down to within reach of poorer sectors, who will gain the livelihood to plant and harvest more so they can buy more as well. Can government make this growth happen?

Of course talking about poverty is not just about elections and campaign promises. Neither is it about excessive altruism or similar virtues of piety churchgoing or liberation calls of the left-leaning. Poverty by itself is both an objective economic condition and a state of mind and spirit, where the poor person is subject to forces often beyond his or her perception, in structures he barely understands. People shackled therein are forced to make do and be happy with the givens, no matter how brutal and heavy the manacle. One sim-

ply has to look at the scavenger, the daily wage farmer, the urban poor settler. If that’s not uneasy enough, you can add a situation like disease and disability, couple it with a broken nuclear family, mix in a drug or gambling addiction and the manacle of deprivation and despair weighs down the spirit, leaving it devoid of hope, endlessly navigating the daily suffering with a resigned soul simply egging on neighbors and friends to share in the company of the misery that often sums life in the ghetto. This leads to an alienation from reality that deprives the person of the means to perceive his situation and therefore traps him or her within that milieu. What results is a worldview that prevents the consciousness from figuring out how to snap free from the chokehold of want.

All things said, pulling away from poverty requires more than just nutritional support, conditional cash transfers, a relocation site, and training programs. It requires a change in spirit. It needs an imagination and a strength of character to build a life to see life beyond the obvious limits and well into the heights of hope and the depths of perception where happiness and contentment lie. It simply means being content to live without want but with all the necessities to sustain life. Yes, the hope is that simple. The question is, why has

government for as long as we remember allowed poverty to persist in a full third of our population? Why allow them to live below the required 2,100 calories per day? How can government, with the powers vested in it by the people, persist in seeing children unable to attend free schooling?

Within the last 100 years, the relative percentage of poor to middle class has remained the same. The Philippines was never a rich country as claimed by those who say we were the second best economy next to Japan after World War 2.

Perhaps that is what they perceive and persistently believe without thinking that Japan and everyone else in Asia was left a wasteland after being vanquished by the allied powers after World War 2.

What I am trying to say is that a 10% economic growth alone cannot change the complex mindset and broken spirit of the poor that has been nurtured into a culture over several generations. It takes a deliberate effort to reorient the worldview. It takes programs and small victories where the hearts and minds of those we consider poor are lifted up into a consciousness that says they can change their condition. It requires inspiration for them to take part in inclusive growth. I am changing my own worldview and hoping that the coming elections will provide just that.

evil?

I had MY MILLENNIAL MIND this discussion with a friend and he offered as a perspective that perhaps Vanessa Kate Madrazo we’re asking the wrong questions. And I think he’s right.

A lot of the discourse regarding policy, or at least about justice, is geared towards reacting to the situation of crime and public disorder instead of preventing it, or understanding why it exists in the first place.

And I think it’s equally important to also talk about what it takes for people to commit a crime because all this talk about criminals deserving to die is giving the impression that they are people who are inherently evil and have no moral conscience, who have no families, or who are naturally unloved.

I don’t know that for sure as well but in a country that’s stricken with dire poverty, many criminals are victims of circumstance and don’t have the same opportunity to get an education, or a decent job, and whose moral judgment has been clouded with a desperate attempt to survive and exit the shithole where they may be right now through stealing or selling drugs.

I’m not saying their crimes are justified. Not at all. Other people who are in poverty do not commit crimes, and in fact some of them work very hard for their children to go to school even if it means collecting garbage day and night to make a living.

But it doesn’t disprove how poverty and despair are conditions which may motivate some to resort to illegal means, especially when they can’t see and appreciate how the legal system helps them. Crime can be a manifestation of a loss of hope in this system in the same way that vigilante justice is.

This is saying that we could do more to improve their conditions and battle crime in a way that empowers the mar-

ginalized who are susceptible to committing crime instead of relying on deterrence, and on the fear of the people for the law. Programs like 4Ps are not enough to reverse the trend of corruption that has besieged our country.

The discussion should not be about how we straighten up criminals but about how we strengthen political institutions. The national government cannot claim ascendancy over Duterte or the Davao City government by relying on Duterte’s tolerance (or maybe even perpetration) of extrajudicial killings because for one thing, it has failed to make any fruitful investigations about the allegations or incarcerated any vigilantes.

Secondly, neither of them can claim ascendancy because they govern the system that fails to address the conditions that create crime in the first place.

This should be included in the standards by which we assess the politicians who are running for office. Make this not just about ending crime but also about empowering the weak and giving people generally a reason to have faith in the system.

Crime and justice: Asking the wrong questions

HE entry of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential race brought a shift in the public discussion and pushed people to discuss what the candidates were able to achieve in their experience in public office. A lot of people were quick to use Davao City as a case study for Duterte’s effectiveness as an enforcer of public order.

It was inevitable that people eventually debated about how Duterte achieved this with allegations of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations hovering over and reinforcing his statements about his hardline stance against criminals.

For people like me, however, there is a moral dilemma about the justification for this kind of justice. Do the ends justify the means? Have we exhausted every legal recourse to achieve justice and put these people behind bars? Given that law enforcement is ineffective and indirectly leads to innocent lives being killed by criminals, is it as immoral as killing the evil elements without due process?

Is this really about choosing the lesser

10 NEWS CITY... FROM 1

and consultants will receive P5,000 each.

Barangay health workers, barangay nutrition scholars, and auxiliary personnel will receive P2,000 each.

“It is already the practice of the mayor to give incentives to the employees especially

during Christmas season,” Alparaque said.

He said under the LFC resolution approved by Duterte, the distribution of the incentive will be on December 16 up to 23 so that employees can use it for their Christmas Eve celebration.

to a Filipino father or mother.”

David argued that the majority of the SET members have committed grave abuse of discretion in declaring Poe as a natural-born Filipino citizen.

He asked the SC to reverse and declare void the SET majority decision and immediately issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or injunction order which would immediately disqualify Poe. David also questioned Poe’s reacquisition of her Philippine citizenship which is considered an act which shows that she is a natural-born Filipino after she has applied and declared as a United States citizen.

Poe claimed that she is a “foundling” from Iloilo, adopted by celebrity couple Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

She later on migrated to the United States but eventually returned to the Philip-

pines and was elected senator in 2013.

SC Justice... FROM 2

The petitioner also criticized the alleged politicking of the senators in declaring Poe as a natural-born Filipino which is a clear violation of the Lerias doctrine, in which judges were reminded to rule on cases as judges and not as politicians.

David argued that the findings of the minority led

by SC Associate Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro and Arturo D. Brion, along with Senator Nancy Binay was the correct ruling by following the letters of the law.

The majority members of the SET who ruled in favor of Poe were Senators Loren Legarda, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV. (PNA)

Reversal... FROM 3 ogy Congress at the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) campus here.

The ASFARNET-Philippines board unanimously endorsed a resolution on Thursday afternoon, expressing disappointment over the SC decision, which came out last Tuesday, Dec. 8.

The court upheld a ruling issued by the Court of Appeals in May 2013 that stopped the field trials for the genetically modified eggplant due to safety concerns.

The SC also declared null and void the Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Order No. 08, series of 2002.

AO No. 8 provides for the “Rules and Regulations for the Importation and Release into the Environment of Plants and Plant Products Derived from the Use of Modern Technology.”

The SC ruling stopped applications for field testing, contained use, propagation and importation of genetically modified organisms, pending the promulgation of a new administrative order.

Dr. Gil Saguiguit Jr., director of the Los Banos-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, said the SC ruling is a big challenge to the country’s biotechnology initiatives and the entire agriculture sector.

He said it has held back the advances made by scientific institutions and researchers working on agricultural biotechnology.

UPLB’s Institute of Plant Breeding is at the forefront of the research on Bt talong while the International Rice Research Institute is currently conducting advanced trials on the golden rice.

“If we stop the experiments what will happen to us now?

Other countries are currently using and experimenting biotechnology. So with this (SC ruling), our agriculture sector will be left behind again,” he said.

Saguiguit refused to comment on the SC decision as they have yet to get a copy and study it but noted that they are very much concerned about it.

As to the controversy regarding the safety of biotechnology crops or products, he said those claiming that they are not should prove them properly.

“If they say it’s not safe, then they should prove it. Because when we say it’s safe, we can adequately prove it,” he said.

Saguguit said there are enough scientific evidences that have proven the safety of biotechnology products to human health and the environment, and its potentials in addressing the problems of a growing population.

He said the ongoing experiments, which follow stringent processes, are also meant to ensure that nothing will be comprised when it comes to safety.

“How can you prove that something is safe or not if you do not allow experimentation?

As a research and educational institution, our stand is for us to always go back to evidences and scientific proofs,” he added.

Field tests on Bt talong were done in some areas of Mindanao. One of these was at the UP Mindanao campus in Davao City which was ordered stopped by the city government in response to protests by environment groups. (MindaNews)

EDGEDAVAO

Comelec... FROM 2 poll body noted that Poe failed to prove her direct blood relationship with a Filipino parent since her biological parents are unidentified.

It added that the respondent cannot assert to be a natural-born Filipino as provided in the 1935 and 1987 Constitution and conferred to those with natural-born citizenship status.

“Extending its application to those who are not expressly included in the enumeration and definition of natural-born citizens is a disservice to the rule of law and an affront to the Constitution. It will only open the floodgates to unqualified persons whose allegiance to our country is questionable.

This we must never allow,” added the decision, which was promulgated on Friday.

On the other hand, the Comelec First Division also ruled that Poe failed to meet the residency requirement of 10 years, thus, disapproving her claim to have re-established domicile of choice in the Philippines.

It pointed out that her being an American citizen, her husband being a resident of the United States (US) as well as her frequent travels to the US using her passport all invalidate her claim that she had abandoned her US domicile and changed it to the Philippines.

“Assuming, however, that there are acts that reflect an intention to establish one’s domicile in the Philippines, the same regrettably cannot be given weight. This is because Respondent was still an American citizen and a foreigner at the time she allegedly commenced the re-establishment of her domicile or permanent residence in the Philippines,” the ruling said.

The petitioners on the consolidated petitions are former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad, former University of the East Law Dean Amado Valdez and De La Salle University (DLSU) Professor Antonio Contreras.

Meanwhile, Lim in his 81page Dissenting Opinion disagreed with the decision, as he is convinced that the senator did not commit material misrepresentation on both issues.

He noted that Poe was

able to show proof of her intent to permanently reside in the country as early as May 24, 2005 and that the Division does not have the mandate to rule on whether she is a natural-born citizen or not.

“On the issue of residency, both the Contreras and Valdez petitions failed to take into account that as early as May 24, 2005, the respondent was able to show actual, physical, and personal presence in the country, coupled with the intention of permanently residing herein. There is hence no material misrepresentation in the COC of the Respondent as to the number of years she has been a resident of the Philippines,” Lim said.

He added, “On the issue of citizenship, the Valdez petition did not squarely put in issue the fact that the respondent is not a natural-born citizen based on her re-acquisition of her Filipino citizenship... Consequently, no ruling can be rendered whether the respondent misrepresented her claim to being a natural-born Filipino citizen in her COC.” The head of the First Division noted that the Tatad petition should have been dismissed outright since he filed for the disqualification, instead of the cancellation of her CoC. “The Tatad petition cannot be treated as one to deny due course to, or cancel the CoC of the respondent since the basis of the action is not whether the respondent committed material misrepresentation, therein, but that she lacks the citizenship and residency qualifications required by law to become President. The Tatad Petition should have been dismissed outright for availing of the wrong mode to assail the qualifications of the respondent,” Lim explained.

On the other hand, Poe was given five days after receiving the copy of the ruling to file a motion for reconsideration (MR) before the Comelec en banc.

This is the second decision that a petition to cancel Poe’s CoC for president after the Comelec Second Division had granted the petition of Atty. Estrella Elamparo, to also cancel the presidential aspirant’s CoC. (PNA)

the money to pensioners’ bank accounts, and these pensions are allowed for withdrawal in accordance with the member’s date of retirement, death or disability.

“Given a member who retired on January 15 and whose spouse, who was also an SSS member eligible for pension, passed away on March 20 would able to withdraw his SSS retirement pension every 15th day of the month, and SSS death pension every 20th day of the month,” San Jose explained.

The SSS provides pensions for retirement, death and disability under the Social Security (SS) Program, and for disability and death under the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program which offers additional benefits for work-related contingencies.

SS retirement pensions of P4.01 billion accounted for over 60 percent of the funds allotted for 13th month pensions.

Meanwhile, P2.06 billion was disbursed for SS death pensions, P200.30 million for SS disability pensioners, P52.71 million for EC death pensions, and P5.21 million for EC disability pensioners.

“With 2016 just around the corner, we call on pensioners to already mark in their calendars their respective schedules for the ACOP (Annual Confirmation of Pensioners). We have made it easy for pensioners to remember their ACOP schedule since it is now based on the member’s birthday,” San Jose said.

Under the ACOP, pensioners are required to make a oncea-year visit to the nearest SSS branch or depository bank to confirm their continuing eligibility for pension. Those unable to make a personal visit can send the required ACOP documents to the SSS, or request for a home visit.

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

UN to Phl... FROM 3

paramilitary groups.

The plight of Lumads affected by the conflict hogged the headlines after the killing of three Lumad leaders in Surigao del Sur last September by suspected paramilitary men.

Hundreds of Lumads evacuated to the capital city of Tandag, obliging the Senate to conduct an inquiry a month after the incident.

“The UN agrees with the many calls for local armed groups, including IP armed groups, to urgently and systematically be disarmed and disbanded and stopped from engaging in violence and criminal activities. The State must ensure that law and order is consistently maintained in all communities,” Algren said.

He added: “The UN supports the premise made by the Department of Justice that under International Humanitarian Law, the protection of non-combatants ‘must never be compromised and violators must be held to account’.

“Non-combatants must be fully protected by the State and never be subjected to persecution, targeting, harassment or violence due to their political beliefs. We must remember that the targeting or occupation of schools as well as the harassment or attacks on teachers and students are considered grave violations under the UN Resolution 1612 which covers children in armed conflict and for which there is a Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) established in the Philippines.”

Almgren was referring to complaints that military units have forced the closure of some Lumad schools in Mindanao and converted these into camps.

The UN official emphasized though that both State and non-State forces have put at risk the safety of civilians in Lumad communities.

“Activities undertaken by security forces as well as armed groups within and around IP communities in Mindanao have resulted in legitimate expressions of fear and insecurity, in displacement, and is endangering the security and safety of non-combatants, including women, children and older persons,” he noted.

Almgren echoed the November call of Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop

of Manila, to preserve Lumad communities as zones of peace.

He urged for the resumption of peace talks between government and the National Democratic Front to ensure lasting peace in the country.

He cited too that the exploitation of natural resources is “another key element of the root causes of human rights violations faced by the Lumads”.

He said pressures exerted by mining and logging interests have threatened the culture and livelihood of the Lumads “given the inextricable ties between their life and their land”.

“Many who resist these advances have been subject to serious human rights violations, including threats, displacement and loss of life,” he added.

In October, an international fact-finding mission said the creation of paramilitary groups accused in the killing of Lumad leaders and ongoing military operations in Surigao del Sur are linked to the entry of mining interests in the province.

On Sept. 1, in Sitio Hanayan, Brgy. Diatagon in Lianga town, members of the paramilitary group Magahat-Bagani allegedly killed Emerito Samarca, executive director of Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (Alcadev); Dionel Campos, chair of Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (Mapasu); and Kiwagan Datu and Mapasu member Datu Juvello Sinzo.

“Central to this issue (killing of Lumads and military operations) is the rich mineral resources in the Andap Valley Complex around which these communities and municipalities are clustered,” the probe mission report said.

The same report said at least five mining companies are set to start operations in Andap Valley Complex, an area that encompasses the towns of San Miguel, San Agustin, Marihatag, Cagwait, Tago, and Lianga.

Since the Martial Law years, Andap Valley Complex has been the site of several clashes between government forces and the NPA that have sparked the evacuations of civilians. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)

suspects.

Quoting a report from NGCP, Arlene Hepiga of Cotabato Light said the KibaweSimuay 138 KV line was still out as of 10:30 a.m. Friday.

She said NGCP tried shifting of loads for Cotabato Light via Tacurong Sub-Station since 10 p.m. but all three attempts failed overnight.

She said per NGCP notice, linemen were checking on the Salvo-Datu Piang station to Barangay Capiton in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao which tripped during the shifting of power loads.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but

previous bombings of NGCP towers were blamed on outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Police in North Cotabato are also looking at a crime syndicate whose leaders were arrested last week as possible suspects in Thursday night’s bombing of NGCP tower No. 68 as a form of retaliatory attacks against government forces and installations.

The more than 13-hour power outage in Cotabato City occurred while the city residents have been dealing with rotational brownout of 2 to 3 hours a day for the past two weeks. (PNA)

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EDGEDAVAO EVENT

Yari Escandor (in red) together with DILG Secretary Mel Senen S. Sarmiento (third from left) press the ceremonial switch. With them are Royal Mandaya Hotel general manager Benjie Banzon Jr. and DILG director Ananias Villacorta.

The Royal Mandaya Hotel celebrates a

White Christmas

The Royal Mandaya Hotels massive white Chistmas tree is lit.

WITH the desire to bring a White Christmas to tropical Durianburg, the Royal Mandaya Hotel launched its Christmas livery in a simple yet fun celebration last December 8.

A sumptous buffet at the Royal Mandaya Hotel’s Kamayo Cafe.

The lobby of the hotel was bedecked in wintery white accented with crystals and LED candles.

Dominating the hotel’s massive lobby is a radiant white two-storey Christmas tree made of natural materials and covered in lights, casting a bright welcoming glow.

“The management team came together and brainstormed on what concept we wanted to have this year for Christmas and we came up with a White Christmas to really give Dabawenyos an illusion of being in a winter wonderland,” said Royal Mandaya Hotel’s general manager Benjie Banzon Jr. “We really

Santa Claus gave out chocolates to the guets.

took our time to make the decorations beautiful, the assembly of the giant Christmas tree took over a week to fabricate using indigenous materials. It was hard but the final product was worth it.”

Pressing the ceremo-

URBANISSIMO A4

From Left: Yari Escandor , Violeta Escandor and Gerome Escandor.

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EVENT

The ribbon cutting ceremony of the Christmas Bazaar 2015 marks another fist in the city of palms.

Zumba enthusiasts blasting colors during the first ever Fitness Color Blast.

Big 8 Hotel starts Christmas season

By Henrylito D. Tacio BIG 8 CORPORATE HOTEL, the premier destination for business and leisure in Tagum City, has officially started its Christmas celebration last December 1 with the lighting of a record-holder Christmas tree.

“As we set foot in Big 8 Corporate Hotel some three years ago, we have always dreamed of a Christmas Tree whose color, size and lights would somehow express our gratitude and thanksgiving for continuously supporting us in the tourism industry,” pointed out Roxan Obregon, the hotel’s general manager.

“Without you, our loyal guests, we would have not been here,” Obregon said in her welcome address.

To start the season with a big celebration, it lighted what touted to be the biggest hotel Christmas Tree in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The ceremony was well-attended by significant personalities from the government, private sectors and spectators who were awed by the Christmas decors and sparkling lights that surrounds the grand Christmas Tree.

To make the event even

more memorable this year, the majestic voices of SMC Chorale serenaded everyone with their own renditions of classic Christmas songs thus setting the merry spirit of the season.

Right after the ceremony, guests were directed to the grand opening of the first ever Christmas Bazaar 2015 conveniently located at the hotel’s covered parking area participated by online sellers, business establishments and entrepreneurs in the City of Pines.

Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon, BMQ Group of Hotels President Billy Quibod and his wife Vilma Quibod, and GM Obregon led the ceremonial ribbon cutting. Free livelihood training for physical therapy and flower arrangement followed right after the official opening of the bazaar.

Guests were all delighted with the signature pica pica

paired with delicious cocktails prepared by the hotel’s top culinary team.

Adding more highlight to the event was the gathering of Zumba enthusiasts for the Fitness Color Blast, dubbed as “the colourful and fun way to be fit and healthy this holiday season.”

As the management’s gesture of gratitude for a fruitful year, the guests were given Christmas cupcakes with special thank you card and corporate giveaways in time for the season of giving this Christmas.

“The jampacked December 1 Salvo is another plus to Big 8 Corporate Hotel’s impressive portfolio of successful events, being not just the premier destination for first class accommodation but also the prime movers for many firsts in the city,” concluded Denisse Aldrin Cisneros, the hotel’s marketing officer.

City Mayor Allan Rellon, Big 8 Corporate Hotel’s General Manager Roxan Obregon and Billy Quibod and family officiated the lighting of the Big 8 Christmas Tree.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! A3

ENTERTAINMENT

‘A Second Chance’ tops Mideast and UK movie charts THE portent of things to come in December for ABSCBN Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) happened when ABS-CBN President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Content Officer Charo Santos-Concio announced last November 20 at the Q & A with Filipino actor Piolo Pascual at Asia Society Museum that for the first time, Filipino films have broken into Europe’s mainstream film circuit with the carriage of TFC@ theMovies’ A Second Chance by Vue Entertainment, a leader in the premium entertainment cinema sector in the UK. Vue International is the world’s largest cinema group outside of the U.S. On December 5 and 6, ABS-CBN achieved a Philippine cinema historical first when A Second Chance was screened on Vue West

alcohol is forbidden and there are no night clubs, cinema is the public’s favorite form of entertainment. Thus, it is very clear how important the film industry is in the region. For a foreign, English-subtitled Filipino film like A Second Chance which just focuses on relationships with no special effects or gigantic million-dollar End Leicester Square, Vue Westfield Stratford City, Vue Shepherd’s Bush, Vue Birmingham Star City and Vue Leeds The Light.

The result? “The management of Vue was so pleased with the turnout for this Filipino movie that they decided to extend its run for another weekend,” shared ABS-CBN EMEA Managing Director Kai V. Rodriguez. “This is an achievement that Filipinos around the world should be proud of. A Filipino film just had the honor of being shown at Vue Cinemas

and moreover, was given an extended weekend run on December 12 and 13! We just made history.”

But the celebration for ABS-CBN EMEA does not stop there.

In the Middle East, A Second Chance started showing on December 3 in 21 theaters in UAE, five in Qatar, two in Kuwait, three in Bahrain, and two in Oman. After opening day, ABSCBN EMEA received a congratulatory note from Gulf Films Chief Executive Officer Selim El-Azar for a recordbreaking opening day

production budgets and casts, to achieve the milestones we just did proves the strength in numbers of the Filipino market here and the growing international appeal of Filipino films that transcends cultural and language borders.

To me, that is both the story and opportunity behind all this,” said Rodriguez.

at the box office, adding that the movie was on pace to become the top grossing film in the weekend. It eventually did, surpassing the box office takes of Hollywood films last weekend.

“The UAE comprises 85 percent of the movie theater market in the Middle East. But more than that, just as Variety reported three days ago, it has earned a reputation as the international hub for different types of productions, especially hi-tech ones. On the other end, in more conservative Middle East countries where

‘Top One Project’ inks contract with GMA Records TOP ONE PROJECT (T.O.P.), the boy band that emerged from multi-platform boy band competition To The Top, now belongs to the star-studded roster of musicians under GMA Records.

Mico Cruz, Joshua Jacobe, Miko Manguba, Adrian Pascual, and Louie Pedroso signed their contracts in the presence of GMA Records Managing Director Rene Salta and GMA Artist Center AVP Simon Ferrer.

After winning the competition last August, the boys are overwhelmed to officially be welcomed into the family.

“Nakaka-proud kasi matagal na [naming] hinintay [‘to, pati] ng mga family namin. Dream come true,” Adrian said.

The boys affirmed that signing with the record label of the Kapuso network is an opportunity they will not waste.

“I feel like we’re really blessed kasi yung opportunity na ‘to to be able to share music, binibigay lang sa kaunting tao and it was given to us. So, maraming

December 9-15, 2015

salamat, Lord,” Louie said.

“Sobrang dami na pong artists na naging part ng GMA Records na talaga namang naging malakas ‘yung mark sa Philippine music industry so we’re very honored,” Joshua added.

The new boy band feels blessed to be a talent of the label that signed the likes of Julie Anne San Jose, Alden Richards, and Janno Gibbs, among others.

“Naniniwala ako that we are in good hands talaga kasi GMA has

produced stars that have shined through the years. It’s exciting to be part of it,” he said.

TOP expressed that they are ready to take on the challenge of promoting the local music scene and are hopeful about the album they’re set to release in early 2016.

“We’re happy [but are challenged] as artists kasi gusto naming i-uplift yung OPM. Dito sa album na ‘to, sana mabigyan naming ng justice [ang Filipino music],” Miko concluded.

THE CREED Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone PG

12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

A SECOND CHANCE Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz PG

12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy PG

12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

THE 33 / *POINT BREAK Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro / *Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey PG/*PG

12:40 | 3:00 LFS / *5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

A4 INdulge!

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EVENT URBANISSIMO A1 nial lighting button together with Benjie were Yari Escandor and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mel Senen S. Sarmiento.

They were joined by Escandor family matriarch Violeta Escandor, Gerome Escandor and DILG director Ananias Villacorta. Also present for the festivities were the hotel’s VIPs as well as top accounts and media friends.

The party ended with a sumptuous buffet which is a preview of the hotel’s Christmas buffet offerings. Benjie also announced the hotel’s Christmas room promos and buffet packages. “We are constantly improving our services and rooms,” beamed Benjie “by next year we will be renovation out 11 function rooms to better cater to the needs of our clients.”

Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kennethkingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

Choral music filled the air while the Christmas tree was lit.

The Royal Mandaya Hotel team pose with Santa.

11 CULTURE & ARTS

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

HISTORY OF DAVAO

Currencies of the ‘lumads’

By Antonio V. Figueroa

L

ONG before the colonists introduced their own concepts of money or currency to Filipinos, the lumads, including the natives of Davao gulf, aside from the customary barter of merchandise, used gold in varying degrees of refinement.

Popular among the natives as medium of exchange, including the Manobos of Agusan, the Butuanons, and the Cebuanos, is the bulawan, or gold, or the sinubong, defined as rose gold or pink gold, which was preferred for use in jewelry.

This form of currency was called by the Spaniards as piloncitos, which are “small bead-like gold bits recognized as the earliest coin of the ancient peoples of the Philippines, and gold barter rings.”

Gold-panning and goldsmithing were thriving occupations when the Europeans arrived in the islands. From Luzon to Mindanao, Spanish chronicles, commencing with the accounts logged by Antonio Pigafetta, the diarist of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, recorded first-hand impressions on the availability of gold. This valuable mineral was part of ancient Filipino ornament, jewelry, finery, and customs.

Gold terms In the Boxer Codex, the value of the mineral was well documented.

A colonial gold account, the report of Andres Mirandaola, administrator of the royal properties in the islands, which was sent to King Philip of Spain on September 8, 1573, related that a bislin was worth two pesos a tael, which is “one and one eighth ounces.” In contrast, “bislig (hardened, petrified) suggests the stony hardness of the base mixture of 12-karat gold” at a time when gold dust was used as a form of currency that was weighed out using little weights.

Interestingly, the gold-trading terms used during this time were synonymous and understandable throughout the islands. According to Martin Castanos, Spanish procurator-general in the Philippines (1609-1616), a bislin (or bislig) was the

equivalent of 9 to 9.5 carats and was sold for three pesos per tael, the equivalent of 38 grams.

The earliest mention of bislig was in the 1628 Bicolano lexicon which described bislig as “Oro muy fino, que tiene mucha mezcla” (mixture that has a lot of fine gold). In the 1849 Ilocano dictionary, bislig was defined as (1) cubierto de oro (covered with gold) and (2) as dorado por de fuera or ‘golden on the outside’ (browned out).

In the 1860 edition of the Tagala vocabulario, bislig was entered as a gold weight, the equivalent of 8 carats (oro de ocho quilates). It was, however, less precious than the ginugilan (22 carats), hilapo (22), palambo (22),

wasay (22), urimbuo (18), panika (16), panikang bata (14), lingginging (12), and lingginging bata (10).

Memoranda of 1580 A fascinating discussion that supports the gold narrative is the observation of Peter Schreurs, MSC, in Caraga Antigua that the terms ‘bizlin’ and ‘linguinguin,’ mining terminologies popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, are noticeably similar to Bislig and Lingig, two towns in Surigao del Sur which, in the Augustinian Memoranda of 1580, were parts of an area collectively known as the “chief mines.”

The priest argued that old variations of Bislig, namely Bezlin and Bislin, can also be found in old Spanish ac-

counts, and Linguib, Linguid, and Lunguib for Lingig. This is backed by an early report found in the 55-volume ‘The Philippine Islands (14931898)’: “The kinds of gold that are found among the natives of the city and vicinity of Manila are: Bizlin, which is worth two pesos a tael. The weight of a tael is one and one-eighth ounces. The second kind is Malubay, and the third is Linguinguin. These are the kinds of gold with which the natives trade and barter. The Malubay gold is worth the same as the Bizlin.

The [native Filipinos] call it panica. There is another finer kind of gold which they call ylapo and another which they call guinuguran. From what I have heard this last is

the standard, because in assay it is equal to the wrought gold of Spanish jewelry.”

In other reports bislig was cited as being superior to the sauyin, although its weight is one of the lowest in the schedule of carats. More superior to bislig, the equivalent to eight carat, were the ginugilan (22 carats), hilapo (22), palambo (22), wasay (22), urimbuo (18), panika (16), panikang bata (14), lingginging (12), and lingginging bata (10).

Other currencies Indigenous currency was not limited to gold. Silver, which the Spaniards called teston, was also in use as main monetary unit. With the prosperity of the Galleon Trade, the colonists in-

troduced the Mexican pesos.

Then there was the peseta, the Spanish currency.

Actually, the earliest coins brought in by the galleons were the cobs or macuquinas, sourced from Mexico and other Spanish colonies. The colonists also introduced the silver dos mundos (pillar dollar) and the barilla (corrupted into barya), a bronze or copper coin worth one centavo.

The latter was the first coin minted in the country.

When El Banco Banco Español-Filipinas de Isabel II, now known as the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), was opened on August 1, 1851, the pesos fuerte was introduced, making it the first dominant paper money in the islands.

A decade later, the Casa de Moneda de Manila minted the first gold coins, with ‘Filipinas’ inscribed on them. These were alternately called Isabelinas and Alfonsinos.

When the Americans arrived, they introduced a new monetary scheme based on gold, also known as the gold peso, which was half the value of the American dollar in the early 1900’s. It was in use until 1949.

By 1903, the American government issued silver certificates in two-peso, five-peso and ten-peso denominations, each bearing the portrait of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

In 1964, in response to public perception of the currency’s stability, the Philippine peso was floated, which made it dependent on the global currency movement.

Three years later, the peso was Tagalized to ‘piso.’

12 COMPETITIVE EDGE EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

Microinsurance serving 31M low-income Filipinos A STUDY report on a Regulatory Impact Assessment on Microinsurance (RIA-MI) in the Philippines was jointly presented to the public last Wednesday (December 9, 2015) by the German International Cooperation (GIZ), the Department of Finance-National Credit Council (DOF-NCC) and the Insurance Commission (IC).

The RIA report indicates that Microinsurance in the Philippines is increasingly reaching more low income Filipinos. Last year, the industry reported 31.1 million microinsurance coverages, up from 19.8 million in 2012 and 2.9 million in 2009.

Microinsurance works in the Philippines. The insurance providers, for example, have responded effectively after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013, paying out more than one hundred thousand microinsurance claims within the first three months, amounting to approximately half a billion pesos. The average amount per claim paid was P4,777.

Starting as a corporate social responsibility program by some insurance providers, microinsurance today has proven it could generate some decent

profits to the companies. More MI-MBAs had been organized, from six in 2006 to 18 in 2012 and now 21. Commercial companies have started participating in microinsurance beginning 2012 with only 12 companies, to 31 in 2013 and 42 companies today. MI- MBAs account for 64% of total insured lives in microinsurance. In the commercial insurance space, there have been joint ventures, and some companies have set up subsidiary company for microinsurance business.

“Clear policy direction and proportionate regulatory guidelines provide the driving force to insurance market development. It provides certainty for the industry to invest in microinsurance activities.

It gives public confidence to trust microinsurance products. The good numbers in microinsurance, as elaborated in the RIA report, is a product of multi-stakeholders dialogue and cooperation,” says Atty.

Emmanuel F. Dooc, Insurance Commissioner.

“I am happy to inform that IC has issued the third regime of Microinsurance Regulations. The first regime in 2006 conceived the tier of MI-MBAs. The second regime in 2010 encouraged commercial com-

panies to participate more in the market.

Then microinsurance got institutionalized in the Insurance Code, as amended (2013). The 3rd regime called Enhanced Microinsurance Framework was issued in October 2015. It provides broader options to deliver microinsurance and clearer guidelines on reinsurance based on lessons after T. Haiyan.” Commissioner Dooc added.

“The Philippines is a leader in inclusive insurance measures among countries in Asia.

The country has proven that microinsurance works and could be sustainable using full market-based approach. The role of government in providing clear policy directions has enabled the private sector and other stakeholders to contribute to the advocacy of microinsurance market development,” stressed Gil S. Beltran, DOF Undersecretary and concurrent Executive Director of the National Credit Council.

The RIA report offers many good practices with regards to the proportionality principle in regulations. This has provided the Philippines with the credibility and confidence to lead the agenda discussion on microinsurance and disaster

risk financing during the APEC meetings of the Finance Minister’s Process which concluded with the launch of the Cebu Action Plan.

“The journey of the Philippines in microinsurance market development has been a source of inspiration and knowledge by many jurisdictions not only in Asia but also in other continents.” says Dr. Antonis Malagardis, GIZ RFPI Asia Program Director.

Many representatives from countries such as Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand, Ghana, Egypt and Germany visited the Philippines to learn from its success story. Some countries have invited the Philippines to share experiences, and more countries have listened intently on how the Philippines made impressive progress in microinsurance.

Dr. Antonis Malagardis added that “the RIA on microinsurance is a first known initiative of a systematic and focused methodology to determine the impact of policy and regulatory reforms to market development. It provides insurance supervisors and other stakeholders, not only in the Philippines, with good lessons and recommendations.”

“Education for all is what I dream for all Filipinos,” Aguiluz said. “Not just education, but quality education, so tie-ups like this ensure that AMAES students learn the latest and most in-demand IT programs and skills in the workplace.”

With this collaboration students can graduate with both an academic degree from AMAES and internationally-recognized, vendor neutral IT skills credentials from CompTIA. CompTIA certifications will help enhance AMAES graduates’ employability since most skilled jobs require technology knowledge and hands-on skills.

“We are extremely pleased and honored to partner with AMAES, because it helps CompTIA fulfill one of its primary missions – to prepare the IT workforce of today and tomorrow,” said Dennis Kwok, vice president, Asia Pacific, CompTIA. “AMAES is recognized throughout the region as an education leader in many career disciplines, including IT,” Kwok continued. “Together we can prepare new generations of students to fill jobs in IT technical support, cloud computing, networking, cybersecurity, mobile technologies and other high-demand skills.”

Professional certifica-

tions such as those awarded

by CompTIA are increasingly important in the hiring and promotion of IT workers.

Hiring managers and HR professionals believe having IT job candidates with industry certifications saves time and resources in evaluating applicants, ensures a candidate’s credibility, and demonstrates that they have a baseline set of knowledge.

Once hired, certified IT professionals get up to speed more quickly, are more likely to stay with the company long term, have a higher likelihood of being promoted, and generally perform better than non-certified IT staff.

CompTIA welcomes AMA to Academy Partner Program

C

OMPTIA, the information technology (IT) industry trade association and the leading provider of vendor-neutral skills certifications for the world’s IT workforce, has welcomed AMA Education System (AMAES) to its CompTIA Authorized Academy Partner program.

According to AMAES chair Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz, AMAES is “proud to become an academic partner of CompTIA. It couldn’t happen at a better time than now.”

Aguiluz said he will integrate CompTIA training and certification courses into the AMAES curriculum as early as Senior High.

Republic of the Philippines Department of Transportation and Communication LAND TRANSPORTATION FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARD Regional Office No. XI Davao City

Petition for Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular Service.

Case No.2001-XI-01116 ROSENDA C. TAMAYO, Petitioner

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Convenience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ-DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route: BARACATANand for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which certificate will expire on September 12, 2016. In the petition filed on November 11, 2015, petitioner requests authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on JANUARY 18, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Regional Director, this 11th day of November 2015 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ Chief Transportation Development Officer

Republic of the Philippines Department of Transportation and Communication LAND TRANSPORTATION FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARD Regional Office No. XI Davao City

Petition for Approval of Sale and Transfer of Unit with Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ Dual Ordinary Regular Service.

Case No.2015-XI-01068 (2001-XI-00033-DS)

JOCELYN D. DEAÑO, Petitioner-Vendor

MILDRED U. LASCUÑA, Petitioner-Vendee

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING Petitioners request authority for the Approval of Sale and Transfer executed by JOCELYN D. DEAÑO in favor of MILDRED U. LASCUÑA of a Certificate of Public Convenience with Equipment issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route MAGSAYSAY (DAVAO DEL SUR) –DAVAO CITY and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate will expire on June 18, 2016.In the same petition filed on November 6, 2015,petitioners likewise request authority to extend the validity of said certificate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on JANUARY 18, 2016 at 09:30 a.m. at this office at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days prior to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Regional Director, this 6th day of November 2015 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ Chief Transportation Development Officer

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EDGEDAVAO

NEWS 13

of underweight kids DPWH workers give blood to Red Cross Prevalence in Davao Region down to 5.43% T T HE Department of Public Works and Highways Davao City District Engineering Office Employees Association (DCDEO-EA) on Thursday donated blood to the Philippine Red Cross Davao City Chapter.

The bloodletting

activity was conducted at the Davao City District Engineering Office at L. Ma. Guerrero Street, where a total of 54 employees voluntarily added their blood for PNRC use.

“The PNRC Davao City Chapter is presently on low inventory thus we are so elated by this gesture of the

DPWH employees,” said Dr. Richard Alvarez.

The initiative was led by District Engineer Fernando S. Ongkingco Jr. and sponsored by the employees association.

The PRC, Davao City Chapter was headed by Dr. Alvarez who was assisted

by PRC personnel Rizh Abellana, Virginia Pelimer, Irish Turaja and Alberto Lanzar.

“This is our Christmas gift to our people knowing that blood is so important especially to the needy,” DE Ongkingco said. (A.L. Dacumos/Rose B.Palacio with reports from DPWH-XI PIO).

BLOODLETTING. District Engineer Fernando S. Ongkingco Jr., (center) is flanked by Dr. Richard Alvarez, Rizh Abellana, Irish Turaja, Virginia Pelimer, Alberto Lanzar of the PNRC Davao City Chapter and the DPWH DEO-EA members during the bloodletting at the DPWH-DCDEO.

HE prevalence rate of underweight and severely underweight children aged zero to five years and nine months decreased to 5.43 percent from January to March 2015 as compared to 6.14 percent of the same period last year.

In an interview Thursday, National Nutrition Council (NNC) 11 Director Maria Teresa Ungson attributed the success in bringing down the cases of underweight and severely underweight kids to the programs that they have implemented to improve the weight of the children.

One of such interventions was the therapeutic feeding which places the kids under six months of feeding program.

“Not one program can answer that. So usually Department of Health (DOH) has micronutrient supplementation,” she said.

She added that the DOH has also implemented maternal health programs to ensure that mothers are kept healthy during their pregnancy.

“If the mother is healthy, she’ll give birth to a healthy baby. Less headache for the government, less budget needed to take care of the child if the mother is healthy,” Ungson said.

The 5.43 percent translates to 36,324 children in 2015 as compared to 40,103 in 2014.

She said the agency usually gathers data from Janu-

ary to March which will become the baseline data for the whole year.

The area in the region with the highest prevalence rate at 7.61 percent was Digos City, which improved as compared to last year’s 10.47 percent. Davao City came in second highest at 4.25 percent from last year’s 4.98 percent, followed by Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) at 4.01 percent in 2015 and 5.17 percent in 2014, Mati City at 3.87 percent in 2015 and 3.91 percent in 2014, Panabo City at 3.64 percent in 2015 and 3.77 percent in 2014, and Tagum City at 2.48 percent in 2015 and 3.57 percent in 2014.

Ungson said the NNC is also coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the conduct of a regular supplementary feeding program, most especially kids from family beneficiaries of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) fund, also loosely known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

In 2014, the municipality with the lowest prevalence rate of underweight and severely underweight kids at 1.12 percent was Mawab, Compostela Valley; followed

by San Isidro, Davao Oriental at 1.61 percent; Braulio E. Dujali, Davao del Norte at 2.22 percent; Nabunturan in ComVal at 2.41 percent; and Lupon in DavOr at 2.92 percent. Antonio L. Colina IV/ MindaNews

14 CLASSIFIEDS

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Advertise with Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413 Email: edgedavao@gmail.com marketing@edgedavao.net

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

EDGEDAVAO Sports 15

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

MAIN EVENT. Edrin The Sting” Dapudong (left) battles WBF Asia bantamweight champion Kenny “Singwancha” Demecillo strike a fighting pose after the weigh-in ceremonies yesterday at the Abreeza Mall. Behind them is GAB Sports and Games Officer Kenneth Improso. Lean Daval Jr.

GOING FOR KNOCKOUT Demecillo wants convincing win over Dapudong in Boxing Revo 4

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

W

njb@edgedavao.net

ORLD Boxing Federation Asia bantamweight champion Kenny “Singwancha” Demecillo will leave nothing to chance when he goes up against dangerous challenger Edrin “The Sting” Dapudong tonight in the main event of Boxing Revolution 4 at the Davao City Recreation Center.

Demecillo, who easily tipped the scales at 118 pounds, said he will not make any knockout predictions but will try to avoid any complications if the fight goes the distance. That said, the Cebuano champion will go for the knockout. As to what round, he only shook his head.

On the other end of the

table is the usually relaxed Dapudong who promised everyone a good fight. “We will go at each other. No one is going to run,” he told media during yesterday’s presscon at the Abreeza Mall shortly after the weigh-in ceremonies.

Dapudong tipped the scales at 118.25 in his first attempt but made it in his next try.

Dapudong, who last fought in June 28 in Davao City, said the long layoff will not affect him in this fight.

“I trained immediately one week after I won the fight last June. I am in excellent condition,” Dapudong said in vernacular.

Kenneth Improso of the Games and Amusements

Board (GAB) said the fight will be decided fairly and Demecillo’s camp need not worry of a hometown decision.

“The fight will be decided fairly. The WBF is supervising this championship and our judges are fair and firm,” Improso said.

Promoter Jun Cantada also said that Sonshine Sports Management will have no hand in the decision of the fights so there is no need to worry on the part of Demecillo.

The hometown decision issue was raised on the basis that Dapudong is fighting under the Sonshine Stable and Davao City is considered his home.

In the main supporting bout, Lorenzo Villanueva will fight Jerry Castroverde over 10 rounds in the 128-lb division. Romel Asenjo will also tackle Lester Jun Pronco while Roskie Cristobal will try to improve his record against Ryan Quimbo.

The rest of the card will pit Jose Ocampo against Nelson Gulpe, Vergel Deguma vs.

Paolo Perono, Arnold Garde vs. Rodel Tejares, Michael Javier vs. Dinggong Quiñonez, Marvin Masong vs. Ar-Ar Borbon, Arvin Lagumbay vs.

Ronnie Buscato and Gerald Alvarez vs. Noel Rosa.

Admission is free to the public on a first-come-firstserve basis.

OUR-TIME scoring champion Kevin Durant set up a rare triple-double with his passing.

The Thunder forward had five assists in the first quarter.

He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his seventh career triple-double, and Oklahoma City beat the Atlanta Hawks 107-94 on Thursday night (Friday, Manila time).

Durant approached this game differently than the Thunder’s loss in Atlanta on Nov. 30. He took four fewer shots and had four more assists than that night.

“I just try to play the game and make it simple for myself,” he said. “I knew last time they were expecting me to be aggressive and score every time I

got the ball, so I tried to switch the game up.”

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 assists. It was just the second time both Durant and Westbrook had at least 10 assists in the same game, and the first time it happened in a win.

“I think it’s contagious when your top guys do that,” Durant said. “Russell did a great job of setting the tone, and I was able to be aggressive and make some plays.”

Durant got his final assist on a pass to Westbrook for a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining.

Serge Ibaka matched a season high with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their third straight.

Kent Bazemore scored 22 points and Jeff Teague had 18 for the Hawks, who had won their previous two games. Kyle Korver added 12 and Thabo Sefolosha finished with 11.

The Thunder outrebounded the Hawks 52-34.

Oklahoma City led 60-49 at halftime behind 17 points from Ibaka and 14 from Westbrook. Durant had eight assists before the break, matching the most he’s posted in the first half of a game in his career.

Bazemore scored 18 points in the first half on 6-for6 shooting, including 4 for 4 from 3-point range.

Atlanta got back into the game with its 3-point shooting in the third quarter. The Hawks made 4 of 6 3s in the first five

minutes of the period to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 70-69.

Oklahoma City regained control in the final minute of the quarter when Anthony Morrow made a 3-pointer to bump the lead back up to 8375.

Another 3 by Morrow early in the fourth quarter extended Oklahoma City’s lead to 8879. Later in the quarter, Durant pulled in a defensive rebound, then dribbled up the court and pulled up to make a transition 3-pointer that made it 95-85.

“I think we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“At times, we weren’t playing that well, and Oklahoma City was playing at a very high level.”

KD’s triple double pumps OKC over Hawks F

Lorenzo Villanueva (left) and Jerry Castroverde (right) strike a fighting pose.

Lean Daval Jr.

Romel Asenjo (left) and Lester Jun Prono (right). Lean Daval Jr.

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EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015