Edge Davao 9 Issue 236

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

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UNSURE OF TOMORROW. Trader Rosemarie Tejero repacks charcoal while discussing with her fellow traders the possible effects of the government’s plan to stop the ‘5-6’ lending scheme of Indian lenders on their business.

Majority of small business owners at Agdao Public Market get their capital from loan sharks. Lean Daval Jr.

INVESTORS’ INFLUX AFTER PM ABE’S VISIT VM Duterte: Interests are in agri, infrastructures

By TIZIANA CELINE S. PIATOS

T

HE City Government of Davao has expressed optimism that the state visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the launching of the ASEAN 2017 Chairmanship will be followed by an influx of investors.

City Investment and Promotions Center Chief Lemuel Ortonio on Monday said the city has successfully gained the interest of the foreign investors after the big events.

Ortonio said that on his level alone, he had already met with several foreign business persons that would be investing in Davao City to help “im-

prove the economy and to ease business activities.”

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said in a closeddoor meeting with reporters on Tuesday that several Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, French, and Chinese investors expressed their interests in investing particularly in agriculture and infrastructure.

“May iba na lumapit din na gusting maginvest sa infrastructure sa buong Mindanao – which is beyond my control – so tinurn over ko sa Malacañang Office (There were some investors who showed their interest in investing in the infrastruc-

ture for the whole Mindanao – which is beyond my control – so I turned them over to the Malacañang Office),” he said.

When asked regarding how ready the city is in accommodating the influx of foreign investors, Vice Mayor Duterte said Davao City is ready, but the investors are having difficulty in having a “good” location within the Poblacion area.

“The local investors and businessmen have already bought several lots in the city alone,” he said, adding that some investors from outside Davao City want to build hotels within the downtown area.

Vice Mayor Duterte said that the government has to handle the investors one step at a time.

“Hindi rin tayong pwede maka-commit sa lahat kasi dapat alamin muna kung anong suitable para sa Davao City,” he explained.

Vice Mayor Duterte said that foreign investors had seen the potentials of Mindanao – particularly in Davao City, hence the sudden influx of foreign investors.

He added that he was also “hopeful” of the city’s future regarding the economic environment.

Alsons to build EPZ in Sarangani property

By JERMAINE L. DELA CRUZ

A

LCANTARA Groupowned Alsons Aquaculture Corporation that exports Sarangani Bay premium bangus has set its sights on a 1,200-hectare property in Alabel, Sarangani as the site of an export processing zone.

Guesting on Mon-

day’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM Ecoland, Alsons Aquaculture Corporation export manager Jose Ma. “Jeje” Cabrera said the corporation initially planned to establish the facility in Luzon.

“But because of raw material and quality issues, we

EDGEDAVAO Sports IT’SPacquiao-Horn WORTH fight IT to raise over $200M

F ALSONS, 11

Pag-asa turns 25

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

HIGHEST RESPECT. President Rodrigo Duterte salutes Captain Clinton Capio during a wake visit at the mortuary of the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio on Monday night. Capio, a Philippine Military Academy Class 2006, was killed in a clash with the Abu Saya- members last Thursday. KING RODRIGUEZ/ Presidential Photos

Duterte visits wake of fallen Army officer P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte visited last Monday night the wake of Capt. Clinton Capio, the first soldier killed in action this year, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani Mortuary in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Accompanied by National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, President Duterte expressed sympathy and condolences to the wife of the fallen military officer.

The President also extended financial assistance to the bereaved family of Capio.

Capio from Baguio City is an elite Army Special Forces officer who was killed on January 12 following a nine-hour encounter with the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan.

Capio’s four other comrades were injured when they reportedly encountered 60 to 80 Abu Sayyaf terrorists under commander Furuji Indama in Barangay Cabcacan, Simisip

town in Basilan. Two ASG militants were killed.

The Army’s operation against the Abu Sayyaf is in line with the directive of the President to eliminate the bandit group known for kidnappings and beheadings.

On his way out of the chapel, the President was greeted by many Army soldiers, most of them belonging to the Special Forces of the Philippine Army.

He briefly talked to the soldiers, assuring them of his full support as they perform their duties to the nation.

He asked them to continuously help in the government’s fight against illegal drugs and corruption and maintain peace and order in the country to sustain economic growth.

The President also assured the soldiers that his communication line will always be open in case they need help. (PNA)

Alternate road eyed for Buhangin truck drivers

By TIZIANA CELINE S. PIATOS

H

EAVY truck drivers may soon have to find an alternative route to taking Buhangin-Tigatto-Mandug Road.

During Tuesday’s regular session, the councilors addressed the issue of large trucks from passing by the said road going to the quarry areas at Mandug and Callawa.

“I am concerned about the situation of the thoroughfare along Buhangin-Tigatto-Mandug Road as the roads looks damaged like they have never been cemented before,” said Councilor Bernard Al-ag in his privilege speech.

He added that there are parts of the road that have

already severely deteriorated or cracked because of the heavy trucks with maintenance unable to cope with the task.

Al-ag said that the road capacity may be too heavy for the huge and trucks traverse the area - hence the thoroughfare was damaged.

“It could be that the used materials for the road are substandard,” he added.

The trucks are always driving through the area that made the residents from Brgy. Tigatto to Brgy. Mandug suffers, said Al-ag.

However, he said that moving trucks and vehicles that need to deliver to busi-

nesses on the street will not be restricted if the bylaw does pass the city is planning on using signs and public complaints to enforce it.

Al-ag pointed out the city has already existing policies – referring to the City Ordinance 0334-2012 or the Comprehensive Transport and Traffic Code of Davao City, and Republic Act 4136, also known as Land Transportation and Traffic Code – to regulate the said problem.

The said laws, according to Al-ag, would regulate the heavy trucks from traversing the traffic streets.

“We do not need to pass another law or ordinance just

to address the problem,” he said.

He also urged the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and City Transport and Traffic Managment Office (CTTMO) to strictly implement the said laws to damage the roads further by the heavy trucks.

Councilor Diosdado Mahipus is also concerned as he found out that the trucks used in traversing the area are overloaded.

“There is really a need to impose these laws,” he said, adding that all the quarry areas, including the trucks, must only be granted small permits to operate.

HREE people died due to drowning while 5,000 individuals were affected by flooding in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan De Oro City, officials said Tuesday.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of Rudy Boy Cabido, 14, in the village of Agusan, east of this city on Tuesday morning and Zian Angel Montesino, 10, of the village of Awang in the town of Opol, Misamis Oriental, Monday evening.

Rescuers also fished out the body of Franklin Ociosbello, 59, of the village of Balulang in Cagayan De Oro City

River Tuesday morning.

City disaster officials also reported that about 1,060 persons from various flood prone villages in the city were moved to evacuation centers at the height of heavy rains Monday evening.

In Misamis Oriental, more than 4,000 individuals living near rivers and creeks were also evacuated to higher grounds amid an upsurge of flood water due to heavy rains brought by the low pressure area (LPA) on Monday.

Provincial governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano suspended classes in all levels

of public schools Tuesday as the Provincial Disaster, Risk Reduction Management Office (PRDRRMO) continues to assess the damage brought about by the flooding.

The Cagayan De Oro City government has also declared the city under the “state of calamity” after the heavy rain Monday turned the city’s urban villages and downtown area into a complete mess.

Stranded and stuck up vehicles, mostly luxury cars, carried by the rampaging flood waters, piled up along and beside the city’s major thoroughfares apart from mud

and debris, which depicted an otherwise abandoned metropolis.

Disaster officials in the city and the province of Misamis Oriental continue to monitor and assess the damage to properties as the aircraft of the Philippine Air Force conducted an aerial survey of the flood’s aftermath here.

Both the city and provincial disaster officials have yet to issue an estimated value of the damage to properties and agriculture in Cagayan De Oro City and Misamis Oriental.

(PNA)

3 dead, 5,000 displaced in floods in CDO, Misamis Oriental

Another North Cotabato T prison escapee arrested

A

N escapee of the North Cotabato District Jail was arrested Monday in a remote village here after police and military authorities were alerted of his presence, raising the number of recaptured detainees to 51.

Senior Inspector Ricardo Carbonell, chief of Pigcawayan municipal police office, identified the re-arrested detainee as Kentol Guiamad Esmael, 31,of Barangay

Kadingilan, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

Esmael was one of the six inmates who hails from Pigcawayan and among the 158 detainees who fled the provincial jail facility in Kidapawan City after gunmen attacked the compound on January 5.

Esmael was detained on charges of illegal possession of firearms.

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

Marcos asserts unused SD data proof of fraud

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HE data found in the SD cards that were retrieved from supposedly unused Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) during the May 2016 polls are proof that fraud had been committed thus bolstering the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. “This strengthens our position that massive fraud was indeed committed in the last elections because SD cards from unused VCM should be empty. However, we have confirmed today that indeed they have data in them so that bolsters our position,” Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, spokesperson of Marcos said in a statement.

Rodriguez added the data

in the SD Cards also supported their contention that the VCMs should not have been opened or stripped until after the conclusion of Marcos’ election protest at the Presidential Electoral Protest (PET).

“How can more than 120 SD cards have data in them when they came from VCMs kits that were not used? This is highly questionable. This also supports our contention that the VCMs should be preserved until the election protest is concluded in the PET because they represent an important aspect in the protest,” he said.

Last October, the poll body conducted the decryption of 26 of the 127 SD cards, where-

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PERSISTENT. A media practitioner takes a photograph of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. using her cellular phone during one of the senator’s visits in Davao City. The camp of Marcos yesterday claimed

that the data found in the SD cards that were retrieved from supposedly unused Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) during the May 2016 polls are proof that fraud had been committed against the senator. Lean Daval Jr.

DO gov vows to help fight narco, crime, corruption A G

OVERNOR Nelson L. Dayanghirang expressed his strong support to the national government’s thrust in the fight against corruption, illegal drugs, and criminality in the barangay.

During the Provincial Launching of the Department of Interior and Local Government’s community-based program Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Ilegal na Droga or ‘MASA MASID’ on January 17 at Lanes Kitaanan in the City of Mati, Governor Dayanghirang vowed his commitment to heighten involvement of local stakeholders in confronting these host of menaces, especially the illicit drugs.

“I pledge my full support for this program, from the demand reduction strategy through advocacy and education campaign, to the demand and supply reduction through information gathering and reporting, up to the community-based rehab program, I will extend my all-out support to this wonderful flagship program of our beloved president, Rodrigo Duterte. We will win in the war against illegal drugs,” said Governor Dayanghirang.

He urged all town mayors

to support the program as it is their mandate as local chief executives to ensure the safety and welfare of their constituents. “We should become the symbol of a good leadership. I cannot do it alone. But with strong convergence of all stakeholders, we can do a lot more,” he said.

“We already have sets of people posted at the barangay level whom we could readily tap to gather information.

By making this group active, there is no reason that we would not be able to get strong intelligence on the ground,” he said, stressing that with the availability of fast communication, information at the grassroots level will be harnessed.

“The most important thing is that there should be strong direction at the barangay,” he added.

During the program launching, town mayors, municipal police chiefs, and representatives from various sectors have signified their commitment and support to the program.

The MASA-MASID is a community-based program for the prevention of corruption, illegal drugs and criminality in barangays which involves the participation of all

Westmincom chief given 6 months to wipe out ASG

sectors which include barangay-based institutions, faithbased organizations, non-government organizations, civil society, and volunteers. It will work hand-in-hand with the UBAS (Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan) – a program composed of the religious sector that ensures strengthening of culture of transparency and good governance.

Encouraging the spirit of volunteerism, DILG XI Regional Director Ananias M. Villacorta urged all stakeholders’ participation in the government’s bid towards clean governance and safe and secured communities.

“Good governance means looking after the welfare of the people. And as local officials, it is your mandate to pursue peace, security and good governance,” he said, vowing that the DILG will continue to assist LGUs to strengthen local governance.

Davao Oriental Provincial Police Office Provincial Director PSSUPT Harry Espela also vowed to continue police efforts to make a dent on crimes and illicit drugs.

For the Provincial Government, it has already made scores of interventions to address the drug menace.

Among these interventions are the roll-out training on the screening and assessment of drug reformists who surrendered to the authorities, orientation of faith-based and civic society representatives on their role in the process of intervention, symposiums on illegal drug abuse prevention, and cash for work program through the social welfare department, among others.

Moreover, plans for the construction of a two-room drug rehabilitation center has already been laid out to accommodate the huge number of drug reformists who have surrendered to the authorities.

The Provincial Government envisions this facility to provide wide-ranging services that will help prepare drug dependents to re-enter society and regain their normal lives in a safe and healthy way.

Aside from supporting the national government’s thrust in stamping out the drug menace, Governor Dayanghirang said he is bullish in his efforts to fight drugs as it is a major problem that drastically affects the society in terms of crime, violence, and disease, among many others. By Karen Lou Deloso, Photo by Eden Jhan Licayan

Governor Dayanghirang, Regional Director Villacorta, and representatives of various sectors together with town mayors in the province.

LL unit commanders of the military forces here in Western Mindanao area had been ordered to personally lead their men to victory against the enemies of the state.

Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, newly-installed Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, issued the order on Tuesday as he was given six months to defeat the Abu Sayyaf Group, Maute terror group and illegal drugs.

“Do not let your lieutenants fight for their lives. You have to fight with them, with our men, lead them to victory,” Galvez stressed.

Galvez said he was always with his men leading from the front line “in more than 40 encounters” during his stint as former commander of the Army’s 1st Scout Ranger Battalion.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo Ano installed Galvez on Tuesday as the new Westmincom commander replacing Lt.

Gen. Mayoralgo Dela Cruz.

“I want you to roll your sleeves and start working as Westmincom commander,” Ano told Galvez as they immediately flew to Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces after the change of command ceremony.

Galvez told all the unit commanders to do their homework in planning and preparation and execute it with accuracy and precision.

“Gentlemen train hard and fight hard. We cannot win the Abu Sayyaf by sticking to the box-type defense strategy and maintain sector defense framework. We should be creative. Get out of our comfort zone and device a plan in which we can fight accurately and overwhelm the enemy completely,” he said.

He said he have applied such kind of principle during the 2002 all-out war with the Abu Sayyaf Group then led

by Khadaffy Janjalani, Isnilon Hapilon and Radulan Sahiron.

(PNA)

LGUs key to success of reproductive health policy

S

EN. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Tuesday said the success or failure of the nationwide Reproductive Health policy will depend largely on the level of cooperation of local government units (LGUs).

Gatchalian made this point after Pres. Rodrigo Duterte signed an Executive Order last January 11 aimed at ensuring that the government meet the needs of Filipino families for appropriate family planning support.

The full title of Executive Order No. 12 is “Attaining and Sustaining Zero Unmet Need for Modern Family Planning Through the Strict Implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, Providing Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes.”

However, the implementa-

tion of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law Act (RPRH Law) remains hindered by a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court (SC).

Malacanang expressed hope that the SC would lift the TRO with the issuance of the EO. “As the arm of government closest to the people, LGUs need to stay at the forefront of the fight to improve reproductive health outcomes for women and the youth,” the neophyte senator said.

Gatchalian, a former threeterm mayor of Valenzuela City, explained that as the owners and operators of local public health centers, LGUs are also responsible for providing pre-natal and post-natal care to indigent families. (PNA)

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LBP, JICA ink 4.9B Yen project for Mindanao T HE Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the government of Japan have signed a loan agreement worth almost 5 billion yen to fund a five-year project that aims to jumpstart agribusiness investments in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict-affected areas in the South.

Signing this loan worth Y4.93 billion (about P1.76 billion) for the Harnessing Agribusiness Opportunities through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Supportive of Peaceful Transformation (HARVEST) Project were LandBank president and CEO Alex Buenaventura and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) chief representative to the Philippines Susumu Ito. President Rodrigo Duterte and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe witnessed at Malacanang last Thursday the signing of the loan agreement as well as the guarantee letter for the deal inked by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on behalf of the Philippine government.

“The HARVEST project is seen to help create an enabling investment environment in the ARMM and other conflict-affected areas in Southern Philippines to help rev up the economy and raise incomes in these communities,” Dominguez said.

The loan deal was among the agreements signed between Manila and Tokyo during Prime Minister Abe’s two-day state visit to the Philippines.

The Philippines is Prime Minister Abe’s first stop in a four-nation trip that includes

Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

He is the first head of government to officially visit the Philippines under the Duterte administration.

The Y4.93 billion loan from JICA matures in 25 years, inclusive of a seven-year grace period with an interest rate of 1.4 percent, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

On top of the proposed loan, JICA intends to provide a technical grant of $6 million (equivalent to P290 million) to support the capacity building of eligible HARVEST beneficiaries and LandBank’s project management.

The Exchange of Notes for HARVEST was earlier signed

by Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa and Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. last Oct. 26 during President Duterte’s official visit to Tokyo.

HARVEST, which will be implemented by the LanBank from 2017 to 2022, aims to open a lending window for agribusiness ventures and other related investments in ARMM and other conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

According to the DOF, loans funded under the HARVEST project will be made available to large agribusiness enterprises, farmers’ organizations or cooperatives, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as “corporatives” or corporation-managed farms supported by the LandBank in ARMM and other conflict-affected areas.

Projects that source or obtain products or goods from the ARMM and other covered areas as part of a value chain are also qualified to borrow from this HARVEST facility.

DOF open to retaining VAT exemption for seniors, PWDs

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EN. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Tuesday welcomed the decision of the Department of Finance (DOF) to come up with a revised tax reform proposal which keeps the value added tax (VAT) exemption benefits of senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

This comes after DOF representatives met with senators, led by Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, in a public hearing on such proposal.

The DOF has recently presented the latest draft of the revised version of the first of six packages of the Duterte administration’s comprehensive tax reform program.

Package 1 seeks to lower personal income tax rates, broaden the VAT base, and adjust excise taxes of petroleum products and automobiles.

To recall, DOF’s initial proposal seeks to expand the VAT base by limiting exemptions to raw food, education and health thus repealing laws ex-

empting senior citizens and PWDs from VAT. Senior citizens and PWD groups have openly expressed their disapproval on such move.

“The DOF is open to retaining the VAT exemption of senior citizens and PWDs. This means that the administration listens to the demands and grievances of our citizens,” Angara said.

“We will continue to coordinate with out economic managers to come up with a comprehensive tax reform program that is fair, progressive and will not be a burden to ordinary Filipinos,” he added.

Angara, meanwhile, said that he would continue to conduct more public hearings on the comprehensive tax reform program while the DOF is finalizing its proposal.

The next Senate ways and means committee hearing on the comprehensive tax reform is tentatively set on January 25. (PNA)

CHINA-BOUND. Container vans containing bananas and other products for exports are seen piled up at a private port in Sasa, Davao City yesterday. The city government of Davao is expecting the influx of foreign investments,

especially Japanese, after the successful visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the city last week. Lean Daval Jr.

Host communities to gain skills from NGCP training

By JERMAINE L. DELA CRUZ

P

OWER grid operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on January 16 for the creation of the NGCP-UP Skills Camp, a skills training program specially designed for communities hosting its transmission lines and facilities.

The partnership includes establishing relationships with indigent residents of identified communities, conducting needs assessment analysis for livelihood programs, aside from the actual skills training. Through a

separate partnership with the Philippine Employment Services Office, trainees who will complete the course will also be assisted for possible employment opportunities within their locality.

“We wanted to make this project a reality because we recognize the lack of skilled workers in various industries, especially in construction. The lack of knowledge and work standards jeopardize their safety, and the quality of work that they produce,” said NGCP President, Henry Sy, Jr. NGCP will allot P50 Million for the entire program spread over the course of

fuve years. The grid operator has identified a population of 155,000 residents in 29 communities, 62,000 of which are individuals in the labor market. The company projects that it will invest about P20,000 per household to achieve an end goal of longterm increased employability and income of project beneficiaries.

The program will start with an estimated 1000 residents from seven identified key areas near UP campuses in Los Baños (Laguna), Davao, Iloilo, and Tacloban (Leyte) benefitting from the project.

Sy emphasized the corpo-

ration’s goal of contributing to the alleviation of poverty and issues on job security.

“By providing skills training as part of NGCP’s corporate initiatives, we open more doors of job opportunities to our partner communities. The identified areas are our partners in protecting transmission facilities, and this project is a fulfillment of our vow to support their socio-economic development,” he said.

With no less than UP as their partner, the NGCP president expressed his optimism that the success of this project will be replicated in more areas in the future.

mas holidays where power demand was up.”

Besides, she said, notice of scheduled power interruptions are posted on its social media sites as well as mainstream media “so we are all informed ahead and make some adjustments at home when power is gone.”

Anna Lea Lee Nataño, CLPC reputation enhancement head, said the Philippine Distribution Code (PDC) sets the fundamental rules and procedures concerning operation, maintenance, development, connection, and the use of the electric distribution systems in the country.

She added that DMC’s evaluation focused primarily on the first and second priority standards with regard to distribution system operations, customer service performance, emergency and safety procedures, and technical reports of CLPC, also known as Cotabato Light.

“This recognition further shows AboitizPower’s and

CLPC’s commitment to continuously improve and to explore better ways in providing quality service to our customers and stakeholders,” Rodger S. Velasco, CLPC senior vice president and chief operating officer, said.

Compliance with PDC’s provisions is mandatory to all distribution utilities in the Philippines.

The awarding ceremony was held last month at the Richmonde Hotel, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

Engr. Banluta received the award on behalf of the Aboitizowned distribution utility.

Banluta said the award simply means that Cotabato Light has designed mechanism and implemented safety measures to ensure its human resources are efficient and safe in performing highly risky electrical works.

He said consumers are assured of reliable and quality power supply, uninterrupted services except matters that are beyond its control. CLCP

distributes power supplied through the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Arlene Valdez-Hepiga, CLPC reputation enhancement specialist, said CLPC also implemented several innovations for consumers’ convenience, including linking with “Bayad Centers,” improved billing and collection system, among others.

Nataño said the recognition means efficient business processes and effective documentation of pertinent papers crucial to business operations.

“Yes, we are now part of the few electric distribution utilities in the Philippines compliant with the requirements of PDC. We can proudly say that we are now at par with the big distribution utilities like Davao Light and Visayas Electric Company,” Nataño said.

The Aboitiz-owned power distribution firm services Cotabato City and the towns of Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao. (PNA)

Aboitiz firm now PH distribution code compliant

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OWER consumers in Cotabato City and nearby municipalities are assured of ample and reliable power supply with quality services after Cotabato Light and Power Company (CLPC) successfully passed the Philippine Distribution Code Compliance Assessment recently conducted by the Distribution Management Committee (DMC), officials said Monday. “(The positive assessment) assures reliable and quality power supply, ensures safety of consumers, pedestrians and utility personnel involved in its daily operation,” engineering manager Mark Sam Banluta said in a statement.

Celia S. Lim, a power consumer in Cotabato City, has noticed the improvement.

“Payment is efficient and fast at Cotabato Light business office,” Lim, who regularly pays her bill at CLPC business office, said in Filipino. “Our area has not experienced frequent brownout in recent months, especially during the Christ-

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Expanded maternity leave is good for fathers, too!

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NEEDED REST. Workers take a nap inside an electrical tricycle parked inside Sta. Ana Port in Davao City during lunch break yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

OFWs to have their own bank : Sec. Bello A

BANK specially designed for the financial needs of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be established by the Duterte government.

This was bared by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III in a speech he delivered before officers, members and guests of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)-Davao City headed by Labor Assistant Secretary Mariano R. Alquiza. Bello was the chief inducting officer of the 46th installation of the

YMCA-Davao City officers and new members and was at the same time the guest speaker.

He paid tribute to the OFWs for their constantly growing remittance without which the country’s economy would have collapsed a long time ago.

He said total OFWs remittances for 2016 was US$ 28 billion.

Bello said that the establishment of the OFW bank is now being finalized and is expected to open for business in August or September.

Earlier the Duterte government established a onestop shop for OFWs wherein 15 government agencies they have to transact with converged in one center to process their documents.

“The agencies were also given 72 hours or three days to approve the documents needed by the overseas workers,” Bello said.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) continues to balance the needs of both the labor sector and management to

maintain industrial peace conducive to economic development.

Bello also praised the YMCA movement in Davao for the important role that it plays in empowering the youths and harnessing their potentials in the task of nation-building.

The DOLE chief inducted ASec Alquiza as YMCA Davao City president and 14 other officers. Alquiza replaced Fernando S. Ongkingco, president for two terms, who is now executive vice president. AMA

HE Philippines would be hard put in the years ahead to keep Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth above 6 percent and maintain its status as one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies without a massive infrastructure buildup funded mainly via tax reform, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said funding the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure program by raising sufficient revenues for tax reform, rather than relying primarily on borrowings, is necessary to keep the budget deficit within the manageable level of 3 percent of GDP beginning 2017.

The incremental revenues estimated to be collected from the first package of the Department of Finance-proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP), amounting to some P163 billion in 2018, is consistent with the planned increase in the budget deficit from 2.7 percent of GDP in 2016 to 3 percent of GDP from 2017 till the remainder of the Duterte presidency.

He said that without tax reform, the deficit of three percent of GDP will be breached, leaving the country susceptible to an unsustainable fiscal position, which could lead to a credit rating downgrade that is below investment grade.

“The non-passage of the tax reform package now pending in the Congress will have dire consequences not only on our hardearned gains in improving our macroeconomic fundamentals but also on the lives of our poor and vulnerable fellow Filipinos,” Dominguez said.

He pointed out that accelerating spending on infrastructure would not only fill the massive backlog left behind by the previous administrations, but would also create more jobs, which would further spur economic growth and help free some six million Filipinos from extreme poverty over the next five years.

“This means there will be no letup in the Duterte administration’s commitment to spending big on urban and rural infrastructure as a growth driver, to guarantee sustained high, inclusive growth,” the finance chief said.

Dominguez explained that the economy’s growth trajectory is already approaching close to our potential growth, and higher growth will only be possible if the country has better infrastructure to support stronger demand and a burgeoning population.

He said the timely approval of the CTRP is crucial to the financial viability of the Duterte administration’s higher public spending policy because it

aims to correct our tax system’s “inherent flaws, such as non-indexation to inflation of rates and large scope of exemptions and special treatments that complicates tax administration” that have for long prevented the BIR and BOC from consistently meeting, much less surpassing, their annual revenue targets.

“Without the tax reform and the higher infrastructure investment, economic growth will be slower in the coming years, and we will be hard pressed to grow above 6 percent,” he said.

“This can cost the government around P30 billion more in debt servicing. It can also leave the government more vulnerable to fiscal risk as increasing liabilities, such as pensions of uniformed personnel, will be left without funding sources,” Dominguez said.

Infrastructure spending, according to the National Economic and Development Authority, should be increased from 5.4 percent of GDP in 2017 to 7 percent of the GDP in the following years to achieve the country’s vision of reducing poverty and becoming an upper middle income economy by 2022 and close to becoming a high-income one by 2040.

“This means there will be no letup in the Duterte administration’s commitment to spending on urban and rural infrastructure as a growth driver, to guar-

antee sustained high and inclusive growth,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez traced the country’s infrastructure backlog—a deficiency that has blunted the Philippines’ competitiveness in the region as an investment destination—to the sad reality that while the Philippine government has been spending on average just 2.7 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP), our Southeast Asian peers have devoted at least 5 percent of their respective GDPs to infrastructure investments.

He said reforms in tax policy, which require prior congressional approval, will raise additional revenues of P163 billion in 2018 to help bankroll the government’s ambitious infra program.

He noted that the economy’s strong showing in the third quarter with GDP growth at 7.1 percent, is its best in three years.

The country’s growth was faster than China’s 6.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.4 percent, Indonesia’s 5 percent and Malaysia’s 4.3 percent.

Dominguez said the highly optimistic outlook on the Philippines by credit raters and international institutions is premised on the delivery of President Duterte’s commitment to accelerate spending on infrastructure, which can only be accomplished though tax reform.

(PNA)

OT just mothers, but also fathers are expected to benefit from a measure filed in the Senate that seek to double women’s maternity leave, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Tuesday.

Hontiveros, chair of both Senate Committees on Women and Health, earlier filed Senate Bill 215 or “The Expanded maternity Leave Act” that is meant to increase the maternity leave from 60 to 120 days with an extra 30 days for single mothers for a total of 150 days.

The neophyte senator said her measure also covers the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Law, which she described as a “Daddy quota” of the bill.

She said that 30 days of the proposed 120-day maternity will be alloted to alternate caregivers (spouse, common-law partner, relative up to

the 4th degree of consanguinity) including adoptive parents.

The senator stressed that parenting should be a “collective effort” and pregnancy and child care “is not the responsibility of women alone.”

“Fathers and other alternate caregivers deserve the opportunity to create meaningful memories with their partners as they welcome and nurture their children,” Hontiveros said.

“The idea behind the bill is not only to give expectant mothers ample time to ensure the best possible conditions for a healthy delivery, recovery from childbirth and stronger mother-child bond, it also recognizes the role of fathers, adoptive parents and alternate caregivers, and contribute to a more equal distribution of child care among Filipino families,” she added. (PNA)

Labor Sec. Silvestre H. Bello III with ASEC Mariano R. Alquiza.

Canadian business experts to mentor in DTI centers

A DOF: Tax reform to fund infra, spur growth above 6% T

SPIRING and existing Filipino entrepreneurs can soon avail of free business mentorship from Canadian business experts, as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) partners with a Canadian development organization focusing on capacity building to stimulate entrepreneurship for the longterm.

DTI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) to improve DTI’s capacity to expand integrative and inclusive business services provided to clients nationwide through the Negosyo Centers (NCs) and the Shared Service Facilities (SSF).

The 447 currently established NCs are part of DTI’s grand initiative to boost micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), offering the sector efficient business mentoring services, functional competencies, advice and information on market. SSFs, meanwhile, cater MSMEs the needed machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge under a shared system.

The MOU cites cooperation between two sides to strengthen the capacity of DTI, local partners and beneficiaries by providing training, advisory services and mentoring at the institutional and individual levels through the application of high-level Canadian technical expertise.

“The transfer of skills and knowledge from Canadian advisors with an average of 25 years of experience have been proven

effective, after pilot-testing this system in Region 4A,” said DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, adding that such partnership complements government’s existing initiative to equip MSMEs with proper business mentoring.

Through NCs, DTI assisted more than 490,000 clients and conducted over 6,000 seminars for MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs. NCs also created over 41,000 MSMEs. Immediate outcomes also include increased capacity of local government units (LGUs) to use automated revenue generation systems and knowledge transfer on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) for marketing, communications, monitoring and evaluation purposes.

“With all these in the work, our partnership can only lead to increased technical, entrepreneurial and management skills for our MSMEs,” Sec. Lopez added.

CESO is a Toronto-based international economic development institution dedicated to sustainably reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. Its main focus areas are on private sector development and institutional strengthening of government agencies and local partners.

The MOU provides that CESO will design a multi-year program of assistance touching on NC’s expansion plans, rapid assessment business diagnostics, program development and implementation and monitoring and evaluation. (PR)

EDGEDAVAO

7 SUBURBIA

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

GenSan to plant 1.7 M trees in 6 years T

HE city government targets to plant around 1.7 million trees within the next six years as it moves to further enhance the area’s resilience to natural disasters.

Valiente Lastimoso, chief of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), said Tuesday the preparations are underway for the massive tree growing program, which is a major component of the local government’s greening strate-

gy for 2017-2022.

He said the initiative will mainly cover areas that are considered vulnerable to soil erosion, flooding, landslides and other related occurrences.

“The 1.7 million trees is per our inventory target. These will be planted in both upland and lowland barangays, coastal and riverbank areas,” he said in an interview in a local television station.

The official said part of the

EDUCATION SUMMIT. Compostela Valley holds 2nd Provincial Education Summit with the theme “Paving the Ways to Make Education Work” at Waterfront Insular Hotel, Lanang, Davao City on January 12-14, 2017.

program’s priorities is the rehabilitation of the riverbanks of critical rivers, among them the Silway River.

The river, which flows to Sarangani Bay, is the main outlet of several river-tributaries from the upland areas in nearby South Cotabato province.

Major flooding incidents occurred these past years in communities traversed by the river that displaced local residents.

Lastimoso said they plan tapping community stakeholders and other concerned groups as partners for the implementation of the program.

The move is aimed to ensure higher survival rate for trees that would be planted and those already existing, especially the indigenous species, he said.

He noted that the 1.7 million target for planted trees is based on the Cenro’s assess-

Governor Jayvee Tyron L. Uy together with Senator Win Gatchalian and Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela City are also present during the 2-day summit.

(Photo by M. Lasaca, PS Comval)

ComVal holds 2 education summit nd

“A

RE we ready to go all the way for the future of our children? Are we ready to forget our differences to join this noble cause of education? I hope your answer is yes. For our children deserve no less, for our children deserve the best.”

This was part of the message of Gov. Jayvee Tyron L. Uy as the Provincial Local Government Unit of Compostela Valley in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) spearhead the “2nd Provincial Education Summit” with the theme “Paving the Ways to Make Education Work.”

Senator “Win” Gatchalian and Mayor Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela City were the keynote speakers of the 2-day

summit which was held at Waterfront Insular Hotel, Lanang, Davao City on January 12-14, 2017.

Mayor Gatchalian talked about the “education for all” in Valenzuela City as well as the lessons for other local government while Sen. Win Gatchalian commended Gov. Uy on his education program as part of the change to achieve better education for his constituents.

“We cannot achieve change for our education if we don’t start in the local government, this is the most effective way that the mayors and governors are doing something for the learning process,” Sen. Gatchalian said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Uy added that “we are gathered here to

SoCot eyes PhilHealth’s detox package for rehab of druggies

T

HE provincial government of South Cotabato plans to avail of the medical detoxification package offered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for some of the drug surrenderers.

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Tuesday assessment and evaluation is ongoing for the Surfacing Individuals Involved on Drugs or SPIDs in the province who might qualify for the detoxification assistance.

She said the assessment is being conducted by personnel commissioned by the province’s Technical Working Group for the SPIDs, which reaches around 9,000.

“We are specifically deter-

mining the level of interventions needed by these individuals,” the governor said.

Fuentes cited that PhilHealth’s detoxification package will help a lot in defraying the expenses of the qualified SPIDs, especially the indigents.

Under the program, qualified individuals may receive P10,000 in assistance for rehabilitation-related services.

The package includes services for medical detoxification; professional fees; and, additional coverage for other co-morbidities like substance use disorder, psychosis, Ischemic heart disease with myocardial infarction, dilated cardiomyopathy, stroke, seizures, acute renal failure and gastro-

F SOCOT, 11

talk about education. Around the world, education signifies different things. In India where the shackles of patriarchy are prevalent, it is only education that can save girls from the abuses of men... “Malaking tulong na ang inyong pagdalo ngayong araw, sapagkat lahat ay nagsisimula sa pagtitipon ng mga taong handang tumulong para mapabuti pa ang edukasyon ng ating mga anak.”

“We are here to affirm our support to the schoolchildren of Compostela Valley. We are calling all sectors within the province and even, outside the province to join hands for the future of our children. We cannot fail them. We cannot afford to lose their talents and great potentials. We have to educate them, not just educate but en-

sure that they have a fulfilling life in school,” he ended.

The governor also joined the participants during the breakout sessions and actively shared his ideas and insights.

Also gracing the occasion are the DepEd officials headed

by Schools Divisions Superintendent Dr. Reynante S. Solitario, Provincial Officials led by Senior Board Member Arturo T. Uy, Municipal Mayors of the 11 municipalities and other private partners.

The program is a product of collaboration of the “Bayanihan Para sa Karunungan Program” under the Office of the Governor, in partnership with Synergeia Foundation, Department of Education and other partners. (Rey M. Antibo, IDS Comval)

BLOOD DONATION. City Mayor Ronnel Rivera visits the Launching of the Semi Annual Mobile Blood Donation on January 14 at Robinson’s Place.

Mayor Rivera initiated the program as part of his roles as the Philippine Coast Guard Director Auxiliary (PCGA) Squadron Commander. The program

ment on the present status of disaster-prone areas within the city’s 26 barangays.

“That’s for us to say that we will be quite safe from flooding and erosion,” Lastimoso.

Should the city achieve such target by 2022, he added that it would land among the top localities with the most number of planted trees in the country.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Region 12 has identified barangays Baluan, Buayan,

Bula, Calumpang, Siguel, Lagao and Sinawal here as high-risk to flooding The other areas considered as flood-prone are barangays City Heights, Apopong, Labangal, Dadiangas North and Dadiangas West.

The city government has also identified portions of barangays Upper Labay, Olympog, Conel, Mabuhay and Siguel as highly vulnerable to landslides.

(PNA)

Davao region contractors urged to renew licenses

T

HE Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) has called on contractors to renew their licenses soonest to avoid rush, delay and penalties.

Starting the first day of February, PCAB, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), shall be accepting renewal applications for fiscal year 20172018.

To avoid the rush and delay in the filing/processing of renewal application, contractors holding licenses ending in 0-1 must already file by February; 2-3 by March; 4-5

by April; 6-7 by May; and 8-9

by June, including new applications approved from January to June this year.

PCAB will strictly enforce the schedule of renewal of licenses among contractors.

Failure to file renewal applications within the designated months shall be assessed the payment of P5,000. Additional Processing Fee (APF) plus P5,000 Additional License Fee (ALF) will be collected if the renewal application is filed after June 30 this year.

Meanwhile, DTI-Davao Regional Director Maria Belenda Q. Ambi encouraged all unlicensed contractors, subcontractors and specialty contractors to first secure a license before engaging or attempting into any construc-

tion activities to avoid sanctions.

R.A. 4566 (The Contractor’s License Law) provides that no contractor (including sub-contractor and specialty contractor) shall be into such business without first having secured a PCAB license.

Ambi emphasized that it is an offense to engage in contracting business without getting a license first.

“Once a contractor has a PCAB license, we are assured that they have passed the requirements relative to construction business. Through this way, we are also assured that they are aware of their responsibilities as contractors,” Ambi said.

The Contractor’s License Law protects public safety by ensuring that only qualified and reliable contractors are allowed to operate in the country. The law also aims to promote of the welfare of the public and private sectors as well as the national interest, orderly growth of the contracting sector and upgrading of construction capability.

For inquiries, contractors may reach PCAB-Davao staff Alex G. Domingo at (082) 224-0511 local 417 and 420.

They may also visit its office at 4/F Mintrade Realty Building, Monteverde Avenue corner Sales Street, Davao City.

(DTI11/LTC/jmm)

was launched with the help of the Local Government Unit of General Santos (LGU) in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross, Philippine Coast Guard and Robinson’s Place. (Russell Delvo/ Gensan CPIO)

8 VANTAGE EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

EDITORIAL

L

Fresh shot in the arm for sports

ET’S count not the number of years the Philippines of athletes. It involves not just the athletes themselves but

mism.

has wallowed down in the doldrums of sporting the trainors and coaches who need education, training competitions. It’s time to look forward with opti- and updating.

The PIS will cover all parts of the country and end the

And why not? The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), ages-old practice of plucking out province-based athletes

the government’s sports agency, has just launched the to the crowded metropolis in Manila.

It is a comprehensive and holistic approach to sports

Philippine Institute for Sports (PIS).

It’s been a long time coming but it’s never too late. The development. On paper, it looks awesome. Now, to get this

PIS, according to the PSC, is designed to address all levels program going, the needed funding and support from all of sports development from grassroots to elite sports and sectors must conspire to make things happen. even to post-competition phase or the retirement phase

EDGEDAVAO

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EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE POINTS

9

Cordillera IPs in the armed forces

M

Y father’s hometown is in mourning. This was because one of its sons, Army Special Forces Capt.

Clinton Capio, came home unexpectedly last week in a coffin.

Capio, the commanding officer of the special forces regiment (airborne) of the Philippine Army was reported to have perished during a nine-hour firefight with an estimated 80 heavily-armed Abu Sayyaf militants in January 12, 2017.

Army spokesperson Maj. Felimon Tan, Jr. was quoted as saying that Capt. Capio fell when an enemy bullet hit him on the right temple. He was the first casualty of the armed forces for 2017 in the war on terror.

A member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 2006, Capio comes from Amlimay, Buguias in Benguet province—an agricultural town in the highlands that provides a major bulk of the temperate vegetables that serves the Metro Manila market and beyond.

His death brings to mind the fate of 14 SAF officers and men from Benguet and neighboring provinces—all IPs-- who were among the 44 police special troopers gunned down in Mamasapano in January 25, 2015.

All were veterans of the Zamboanga siege in 2013 and majority were cited for bravery in action and courage in helping oth-

S

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

er government units REVERSED PUNCH (GYAKU ZUKI) confront an MNLF force comprising of 600 men.

One of the slain officers in the Mamasapano encounter, PS Inspector Gednat Jimmy K.Laking Garambas Tabdi was the son of a neighbor in the capital town of La Trinidad.

This young officer left behind (at the time of his death) a pregnant wife in Zamboanga City who asked that her husband be buried in that city.

With news of Capio’s death, my relatives are worried over another PMAer who also chose to be with the army, a nephew named Arwi Chiday Martinez who topped the PMA 2015 class. I assured them that unless he was assigned in Jolo, there is no clear and present danger to the boy.

Besides, I am told that the army always took care that only its experienced officers are in the forefront of hostilities.

In the case of Capio it seemed that while he was wearing a helmet, the bullet that hit him homed in where he was not protected.

Capio and the 14 SAF combatants were not the first from the Cordillera to die in Mindanao. In the 1970s, it was no strange sight in La Trinidad to see a military truck unload coffins of combatants who died in the battlefields of Mindanao.

I also recall my high school teacher, Ornis Macario, who left teaching to join the army and served in Mindanao but has since then retired from the service. But two of his sons I was told followed in his footsteps and are probably still in the service.

Although a tractable people who are peace-loving by nature, the inhabitants of Benguet and the surrounding provinces of Ifugao, Mt. Province and Kalinga are not new to the way of the warrior. In fact, like the IPs of Mindanao, they resisted Spanish colonial rule.

In the Cordillera, men and women in uniform especially those who served in actual combat, are looked up to with esteem, in the same breath as a respected government official or professional. Hence, it is rare for a soldier or a police officer from this region to be involved in anomaly, because of the belief that it brings dishonor not only to the family but to the community. The belief is rooted in the age-old practice of inayan, which in es-

sence probably reflects the universal belief in karma or the fear of retribution.

During WWII, the soldiers and officers of the 66th USAFEE which liberated parts of La Union, Baguio City, the Ilocos and Benguet from the Japanese were mostly IPs, from the Ibaloi and Kankanaey ethnolinguistic groups.

Several of these war veterans were women, two of which are still living in La Trinidad, who served as nurses.

My maternal grandfather himself served with the 66th and was discharged as sergeant after the war. He went on to serve as provincial jail guard and was there when Atty. Ferdinand E. Marcos married Imelda Romualdez at the courtroom of Judge Fernando Ma. Chanco at the Benguet provincial capitol.

It was this grandfather who told me he has not heard of Marcos during the war.

It is probably in the PNP where Cordilleran officers and men are dime a dozen. The chief of the SAF guarding the Bilibid national prisons is an IP from Bontoc, Mt. Province, Chief Supt. Benjamin Lusad.

The PNP’s spokesperson, PCI Kimberly Molitas, herself comes from Kibungan, Benguet. And if fate would have it, Luigi James Banzali Laking, the son of a journalist from Benguet and a housewife from Davao Oriental, will be taking his oath as a police draftee this February. Cheers!

“sentenced FAST BACKWARD to suffer individual prison terms of 12 years and one day to 20 years and ordered to pay fines worth P500,000 each” and Antonio V. Figueroa were also guilty for the manufacture of dangerous drugs, and their main ingredients and essential chemicals, which carried a sentence of “life imprisonment and ordered to pay individual fines worth P5 million.”

Curiously, no one came forward to claim the cadavers which were later disposed by the local funeral parlor in a public cemetery. Nevertheless, this bloody event did not deter drug peddlers in pushing their luck further.

Several years later, authorities recovered illegal drugs stashed in a container van parked inside a compound at Sasa, a stone’s throw from the city’s premier wharf. No one was arrested in the bust, but it warned authorities of the growing menace of illegal drugs in the city.

In 2009, 16 kilograms of cocaine valued at P16 million was found inside a refrigerated van at the Maersk container yard. As

a result, six shipping firm employees were charged for illegal possession of prohibited drugs.

On Feb. 21, 2014, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the state’s drug enforcement arm, raided the coastal barangay (village) of Ilang, in Tibungco area. Twenty-six shanties, homes of informal settlers that were used as drug dens, were searched by police and anti-narcotics agents, resulting in a shootout that led to the killing of seven suspected pushers.

Thirty-six people, including a South Korean, were apprehended inside the so-called “shabu tiangge” (drug market). The raid, which was part of “Coplan Baling” jointly launched by the PDEA and the CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group), yielded assorted firearms, components for homemade bombs, and 40 sachets of shabu.

Stunned by this turn of events, toughtalking city mayor Rodrigo Duterte offered substantial rewards to those who could provide information leading to the eradication of illegal drugs in his bailiwick. To those who could identify drug users, the bounty was P10,000, while the reward for pinpointing a pusher was an Isuzu Crosswind sports utility vehicle (SUV). Squealing on the location of an illegal drug laboratory was the equivalent of a high-end Mitsubishi Montero.

But the worst has yet to come. On Mar. 22, 2014, again in Tibungco area, the PDEA

operatives, through a tip provided by employees of the Japanese firm Sumitomo Fruits Corporation (Sumifru), a banana-exporting firm, discovered twenty-four (24) neatly wrapped cocaine bars taped to the ceiling of a container van. Drug enforcers, after studying the tape marks, assessed that there could have been a total of 65 bars stashed inside it, prompting the mayor to comment that the city has become the new transshipment point of drugs in Asia.

Twenty-seven bars, with an estimated street value of P160 million, were later retrieved after the local chief executive assured those who got a hand on the lost cocaine packs would have no liability if they returned the items. In the end, eight packs would not be recovered.

On Dec. 17, 2015, six months before Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte assumed as the 16th Philippine president, a spirited drug raid with scions of prominent Davao families as targets was launched. But the suspects, mostly residents of the subdivision where the local chief executive was residing, escaped the dragnet.

The raid was part of Oplan ‘One Time, Big-time’ drug searches executed that day, which resulted in the seizure of P3 million worth of marijuana and shabu, the death of two suspects, and the serving of twenty-one search warrants against suspects.

The operation was also in line with the police’s Lambat-Sibat campaign.

A decade-long war against drugs (2005-15)

OUTHERN Mindanao’s socio-economic growth has had its share of threats to its stability. In the case of Davao City, the entry of big-time illegal drugs surfaced just as the city was developing into a metropolitan hub. With the wave of migrants from Luzon, the Visayas, and other regions of Mindanao creating stiff competition among old-timers and new arrivals, the opportunities for lucrative but illegal engagements also rose.

The 2005 discovery of a drug laboratory at Barangay Dumoy, Toril District, raised the bar in the campaign to nip in the bud big-time drug-pushing. In the incident, six foreign nationals, suspected to be Chinese or Taiwanese, were killed by anti-narcotics agents in a dawn raid that yielded a large haul of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) materials and paraphernalia weighing 76.8 kilos with a street value of over P152 million.

The suspects in the setting-up of the laboratory were eventually meted life and civil liabilities terms by a Davao City regional trial court in 2008. Convicted for the ““manufacturing or delivering equipment, apparatus, and other paraphernalia and main ingredients for dangerous drugs, a violation of Section 10, Article II of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act” were Carlos Sy (alias Carlou Sy), Jong Pilapil (alias Jessie Jones Pilapil), and Jed Sy. The GMA News stated the trio were

EDGEDAVAO

10 AGRITRENDS

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

Raising small ruminants for food and profit Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

R

UMINANTS -- the world ruminant comes from the Latin “ruminare,” which means “to chew over again” -- are mammals that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through bacterial actions.

In the Philippines, two of most popular small ruminants are goats and sheep. Both are part of farming in the country.

But among these two, goats are on the top list.

“Goats are very popular among Filipinos because they require low initial capital investment, fit the smallhold farm conditions, and multiply fast,” explained the Laguna-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) in its investment briefer. “Culturally, goats are integral to every special occasion such as birthdays, baptisms, weddings, and fiestas. Hence, they command a higher price compared with other meats in the market.”

Goats require low maintenance because they eat tree leaves, grasses, weeds, and agricultural by-products. “Goats require less feed than cows and carabaos,” said Roy C. Alimoane, a livestock specialist and director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc. About 10 native goats can be fed on the feedstuffs sufficient for one cattle. And about 6-7 purebred dairy goats can be fed on the feedstuffs adequate for one dairy cow. “Although a goat is small, she can produce as much as four liters of milk a day if she is purebred and is given a ration to meet all of her nutritional requirements,” Alimoane informed.

In a study conducted by a government agency, it was found out that goats are multi-purpose ruminants producing 58.4% milk, 35.6% meat, and 4.3% hide, and 1.7% fiber. According to them, these small ruminants can provide the answer to improve nutritional requirements of the predominantly rural farm families scattered all over the archipelago.

As goat production requires low initial investment and small risks compared to other livestock, it is therefore an attractive undertaking among resource-poor families. In addition, women and children can raise the animals, making it a sound option to augment the country’s programs on livelihood. Goats provide livelihood to about 15 million Filipinos across the country, according to PCARRD. In Mindanao, goat farming

is considered a “sunshine industry.” The country’s second largest island has a large Muslim population and goat meat is considered Halal food. There is also a big demand in the international market, particularly the Middle East.

In Davao City, more and more people are raising goats in their farms. Take the case of Darwin Tinasas, a young marine engineering graduate who decided to raise goats as his main business. He does not only raise goats in his own farm, he also disperses breeders to farmers who would like to raise the ruminants.

Aside from providing him a steady income from the milk and sales of breeding stocks, he discovered one thing about the animals. “Their manure is a good source of fertilizer,” he said. His stock of about 300 goats provides organic fertilizer for his four farms in Davao City.

He plants rice, and grows pomelo, coconuts, durian and other fruits on 30 hectares.

The popularity of raising goats has given the MBRLC an impetus to develop a farming system that integrates goat raising into its original Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT 1). It is called Simple Agro-Livestock Technology or SALT 2.

Under the SALT 2 scheme, 40 percent of the farm’s land is devoted to agricultural crops (like citrus, black pepper, beans, and corn), 40 percent to livestock (particularly goats), and 20 percent to forestry (mostly fruit trees and various nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs).

“Our model farm is only one-half hectare,” says Alimoane. Instead of raising cattle, which requires a land area of one hectare per animal, MBRLC recommends goats.

In SALT 2, 12 does and one buck are raised. The buck is separated from the does so that when it is time to milk the does, the milk won’t “catch” the “goaty smell” of the buck.

During breeding, a doe is

brought to the cottage of the buck. The manure is utilized as fertilizer for the forage and the crops.

As it follows the original SALT system, hedgerows of various nitrogen fixing trees are planted all over the farm. At the lower portion, more forage crops are planted. The forages and hedgerows are cut every now and then and the cuttings are used as feed for goats.

The goat manure is utilized as fertilizer for the forages and agricultural crops (which are planted at the upper portion of the farm). Studies have shown that goat manure contains 1.5 percent of nitrogen, 1.2 percent of potassium, and 0.5 percent of phosphorus.

There is money in goat’s milk. At the MBRLC, fresh milk is sold at P19 (330 milligrams), 26 (500 milligrams), and 50 (one liter). When mixed with chocolate and little sugar, the cost is P22, P33, and P60, respectively. “With fresh goat’s milk, you can be sure that the milk your child is taking is free from harmful chemicals,” Alimoane declares.

Raising goats can also help ease milk importation. A report released by the National Dairy Authority (NDA) showed that imports on milk and dairy products decreased by around 6% -- from 319.17 million kilograms in 2010 to 300.68 million kilograms in 2011. But the country’s total daily import bill rose from US$729.03 million in

2010 to US$847.68 million in 2011.

Another small ruminant that Filipinos should take a closer look is sheep. “The animals are generally held in low esteem,” wrote Dr. Jose Rizal in 1903. Sadly, this observation of the country’s national hero still holds true even today.

Statistics from the Department of Agriculture have shown that the Philippine sheep population in 1903 totaled 30,428.

In 1935, it grew to 140,041 head, but went down drastically to 26,000 head years later.

What’s the reason for the underdevelopment of the sheep industry in the Philippines despite the animal’s enormous economic potential?

“Sheep as a commodity had very low priority as far as research and development were concerned,” explained Dr. Patricio Faylon, when he was still the director of the PCAARRD’s Livestock Research Division.

Sheep and goats are closely related as both are in the subfamily Caprinae. But they are separate species, so hybrids rarely occur, and are always infertile. A hybrid of a ewe and a buck (a male goat) is called a sheep-goat hybrid (only a single such animal has been confirmed).

In the Philippines, sheep has a long history. It was introduced here during the Spanish era. In fact, the sheep we call “native” today is really the Spanish Merino brought to the coun-

As goat production requires low initial investment and small risks compared to other livestock, it is therefore an attractive undertaking among resource-poor families.

try by the Spaniards during the Galleon Trade between Mexico and the Philippines.

Raising sheep became quite popular by the mid-1930s. But due to the breeders’ lack of knowledge on the scientific rearing of the sheep, the health of the country’s stock deteriorated and population dwindled steadily. Animal experts are urging Filipinos to raise more sheep. It’s a better animal to raise than goat, they claim.

What are the advantages of raising sheep over other animals, particularly goats? According to some farmers, sheep is one of the most productive and economical animals that Filipinos can raise. One farmer even compared the two small ruminants: “The goats were unruly, ate the bark of my trees, and did not multiply enough.

On the other hand, the sheep are quiet, docile, and multiply rapidly.”

Unlike goats, which are browsing animals, sheep are grazers that like to feed on short grass. Sheep are extremely hard animals that can survive with little or no care. Newborn lambs, for instance, do not need any human intervention to survive. The only care practiced by some sheep farmers on the newborn is to apply tincture of iodine on their navel to prevent infection of the umbilical cord.

Sheep has been found to be more resistant to parasites, both internal and external, and respiratory diseases than goats. They can, in addition, better stand inclement weather, including typhoons. Sheep, even those with a low dressing percentage, can produce more meat than goats.

“Since mutton (the sheep of the meat) can replace beef, carabeef, or pork in the Filipino diet, sheep production on a granted scale at the backyard level by millions of small farmers could help meet the people’s increasing need for quality meat and meat products,” Ali-

moane said.

Nilo Casas is an avid goat raiser who is very much convinced that there is money in raising sheep. He maintains two sheep and goat farms. One is an 18 hectare farm in Masbate and the other, a smaller 5-hectare farm in Kawit, Cavite where all his ruminants roam freely to pasture in verdant grasslands.

According to him, the demand peaks for sheep is during Christmas and Muslim holidays and when the Arab communities in the Philippines have their own celebrations. For Arabs, Casas said they buy only live sheep from him and they want it complete with ears and tail.

Another market is the growing number of overseas-based Filipino engineers who have already acquired the habit of cooking and eating mutton which they have acquired during the years they have stayed in various Arab countries.

In an article circulated by Philippine News Agency, Casas admitted he was able to earn more than a million pesos for selling 275 heads of sheep alone.

“Imagine this,” Casas was quoted as saying, “just say you have 50 heads of sheep. If you could sell that at P4,000 each— that’s already P200,000. How much does a Filipino domestic helper in other countries earn – P35,000 a month? They could just come back here and raise sheep!”

Through the years, he has raised imported breeds, whose prices range between P25,000 and P35,000 per head. They are raised primarily for their meat, unlike in other countries, where some sheep are also raised for their good quality wool. In just a span of three to five months after birth, the sheep are sold live at prices ranging between P3,000 and P4,000. He sells his ewes for P5,000.

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EDGEDAVAO

Pag-asa turns 25 IT WAS A BRIGHT SUNNY JANUARY 14 MORNING when I arrived at the Philippine Eagle Center in Malagos, Baguio District to join the 25th hatching day celebrations of Pag-asa, the first Philippine Eagle to be successfully bred and hatched in captivity.

Pag-asa’s 25th hatchday is part of the Philippine Eagle Foundation’s (PEF) 30th anniversary celebration. With the theme “Strengthening the hope for saving the Filipino Heritage – The Great Philippine Eagle”, the event is one of the PEF’s education awareness efforts in furthering the c on s e r v at ion mission.

Aside from guests from the local press, students from various partner elementary and high schools were also invited to join the whole-day affair at the center. Some of the event activities include an eco-game, animal exhibit, and Pag-asa’s Life History Exhibit. On its 30th year, the PEF aims to strengthen its education awareness efforts for the youth to encourage involvement in the conservation mission.

“Pag-asa’s hatching is important for us at the PEF because we were able to learn many things how to hatch and rear our national bird,” said PEF’s Director for Research and Conservation Jason Ibañez. “The techniques used on Pag-asa are later refined and improved based on what we learned from Pag-asa.”

“Manong Domeng” Tadena.

Manong

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Secretary of Finance Carlos G. Dominguez with wife Cynthia Andrews Dominguez.

Arlene Elaine Avelino, Antonio Avelino and Abby Avelino.

All that glitters at Marco Polo Davao

Halifax Davao Hotel Inc. Board of Director Rosie Dominguez with Paul Dominguez, Jocy Ledesma and Virginia Andersen.

MARCO POLO DAVAO KICKEDOFF 2017 with everything that glitters at the hotel’s grand ballroom.

The event venue was filled with guests from its owning company, Halifax Davao Hotel, Inc. (HDHI) led by its President Mr. Francis R. Ledesma, the hotel’s Heads-of-Department led by its General Manager Dottie V. Würgler-Cronin and VIP guests. Secretary of Finance Carlos G. Dominguez and Secretart of Tourism Wanda Tulfo-Teo were also present to celebrate with their families.

Guests enjoyed the food highlights prepared by Marco Polo Davao’s culinary team headed by Executive Chef Alex Destriza, during its dinner buffet at its all-day dining restaurant, Cafe Marco. Cantonese dishes Wren Teo, Christine Enit, Raissa Wynne Teo, Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda such as the traditional Peking Duck and a wide variety of Din Sum were also served at Teo, Bobby Teo and Ryker Warren Teo. the hotel’s Chinese Restaurant, Lotus Court.

Inside the ballroom, guests enjoyed a selection of cocktails and choices of drinks from event sponsors Distileria Lumtuaco, Future Trade International and Heineken.

The guests also enjoyed dancing in the music of Re-versed Band as they wait for the countdown.

Marco Polo Davao recently celebrated its 18th year anniversary last December 17, 2016. The year 2016 left many milestones for the hotel one of which is having been accorded with the five-star rating from the Department of Tourism and receiving the Hotel Marco Polo Davao Executive Housekeeper Sally Tungpalan with Brenda Milan, Davao of the Year Bold Leadership award of Marco Light & Power Co. EVP & COO Arturo Milan, Nikki Milan and GM Dottie Wurgler-Cronin. Polo Hotels.

Former Davao City Vice Mayor & DBP Board Member Luis Bonguyan and wife Teresita Bonguyan.

Halifax Davao Hotel Inc. Board of Director Edwina Garchitorena, Rafa Garchitorena with kids Andres Garchitorena, Adrian Garchitorena, Alaire Garchitorena.

Rosie Dominguez with daughters Cecile Dominguez and Aina Dominguez.

Jose Claro Velez, BPI AVP for Corporate Relations Gemma Velez, Sophie Sebastian “Angie” Angliongto with wife Teresita Estrada Perky Tungpalan, Sabrina Tungpalan, Sally Tungpalan, Sarah Tungpalan & Bong Tambibing, Suzette Tambibing and Jose Paolo Velez.

Angliongto and daughter Angel Angliongto.

Tungpalan.

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Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events premieres on Netflix this January

NETFLIX has already established itself as a purveyor of quality shows.

Through the years, the global internet television network has produced award-winning TV series and favourites like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, and The Crown. The streaming service is continuing their winning streak this 2017, starting with the release of the muchawaited A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Based on the international best-selling children’s novels

by Daniel Handler, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events recounts the tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans -- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny – whose evil guardian Count Olaf will stop at nothing to get his hands on their inheritance.

The siblings must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling his many devious plans and disguises, in order to discover clues to their parents’ mysterious death.

Handler’s original series spans 13 books, each very dif-

ferent from the previous one.

Here, each episode spans half a novel, allowing viewers to delight in the details while still moving at a brisk, cinematic pace.

Leading the cast of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is award-winning actor, singer and television host Neil Patrick Harris (How

I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). On top of playing Count Olaf, the villain fans love to hate, Harris serves as a producer on the series.

Season one of A Series of Unfortunate Events, consisting of eight, hour-long episodes, will be available on Netflix for streaming and download (on

mobile devices and tablets) on January 13, 2017.

Those who subscribe to Globe Broadband’s Plan 1299 and up can enjoy six months of free Netflix, HOOQ, and the NBA League Pass. Customers can watch the dark and surreal A Series of Unfortunate Events anytime, with speeds of up to 10 Mbps.

“The advent of streaming mediums have drastically changed how Filipinos enjoy their choice of entertainment from music to videos, to movies, and TV shows. We no longer wait for studios to release DVDs or for movies to come out on television. Today, services like Netflix give customers front row access to the most popular titles and original shows anytime. Coupled with reliable broadband speeds, the entertainment experience is made even better from faster speeds down to customizable plans,” shares Martha Sazon, Senior Vice President of Globe Broadband.

The action-packed show is best enjoyed on a large screen, and Globe Broadband is offering device add-ons such as smart TVs that customers can choose from. Streaming devices such as Google Chromecast and Apple TV are also available to enjoy mobile content on the big screen.

For more information on Globe Broadband, visit the website at www.globe.com.ph/ broadband, call the hotline at 730-1010, or visit any Globe store.

Ang Babaeng Humayo gets 3 nods from 11th Asian Film Awards NOW SHOWING

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY-ACCLAIMED FILIPINO DIRECTOR Lav Diaz and ABSCBN chief content officer Charo Santos both received nods at this year’s Asian Film Festival for the 2016 revenge film “Ang Babaeng Humayo” (The Woman Who Left).

Diaz is nominated for the Best Director category competing with Na Hongjin (South Korea), Koji Fukada (Japan), Derek Tsang (China), and Feng Xiaogang (China), while Santos is nominated for Best Actress and is pitted against Son Ye-Jin (South Korea), Fan Bingbing (China), Haru Kuroki (Japan), and Kara Wai (China).

Meanwhile, “The Woman Who Left” is also nominated for best screenplay.

The Asian Film Awards is presented annually by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to recognize the

excellence of the film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinemas.

Last year was a remarkable year for Philippines Cinema especially after the Cinema One Originals and Sine Olivia Pilipinas-produced film won

the Golden Lion award at the 73rd Venice Film Festival. It made history as the first Filipino film to win the prestigious award at the world’s oldest film festival.

“Ang Babaeng Humayo” tells the story of

Horacia (Charo Santos), a woman seeking revenge after being imprisoned for decades for a crime she didn’t commit.

The 11th Asian Film Awards will be held on March 21 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

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Domeng talked about how they did the first cooperative artificial insemination between Pag-asa’s parents, Junior and Diola.

He also furthered the role of conservation breeding in the preservation of our national heritage and its importance in the mission.

Domingo “Manong Domeng” Tadena has been working in the Philippine Eagle Center since the late 80’s and was one of the conservation breeding staff who helped Pag-asa successfully come out of its shell and the rest, of course, is now history, with a new hope for the country’s national bird.

EDGE DAVAO PARTNER ESTABLISHMENTS Serving a seamless society

VOL. 9 ISSUE 236 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

Alsons... FROM 1

would prefer to keep them near our Alabel farms,” he explained.

The export manager however did not disclose the amount allocated for the project.

Cabrera asserted that Alsons is the only aquaculture company which breeds its own fishes for processing.

In addition, he said the company was also looking to include a feed mill plant as the first locator in the project.

The corporation will also open its doors to other locators as details of the processing zone are finalized.

The export manager said that aside from the existing 360-hectare aquaculture plant, a 300-hectare banana plantation is included in 1,200-hectare property.

The main plant of the company is poised at Alabel, Sarangani but it has also branched out to Visayas, particularly in Roxas City where their satellite plant is located. He explained, they built the Visayas facility to respond to the demand of the domestic and export markets.

Established in 1998, Alson Aquaculture Corporation part of the Alcantara Group of Companies under the agri-business unit. Cabrera told reporters that the company started as a small bangus processing business, Sarangani Bay as

their brand name, with United States as their first importer.

At present, the company has 600 regular employees agri-business unit and 1,900 contracted workers for their plant who are “all regular employees of their own cooperatives”. Cabrera said the company works with two cooperative in Sarangani province which provide manpower for their processing plant and banana plantation.

According to Cabrera, the company’s largest importers are United States, Canada and Australia as 60 percent of their production goes to these export markets.

“We ship every month. We ship about 10 to 12 40-footer container vans every month going out of the country,” said Cabrera adding that majority of these are going to USA and Canada.

The company has recently started exporting to European countries particularly the United Kingdom and Italy. For Middle East, they have also started exporting to Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.

Cabrera said they have also projected a five percent growth for their Middle East market.

Aside from exporting their aquaculture products, Alsons also distributes its products in the domestic market chains.

in 13 of the cards were found to have folders containing data in them, during the stripping of 1,356 unused VCMs. The other 101 SD cards were not part of the decryption as they were set aside by the Senate Electoral Tribunal on motion by former MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino on his election protest before the Tribunal.

With this, Rodriguez vowed to continue to fight for

truth and the integrity of the elections, despite the many hurdles being thrown their way.

“Of course, we will fight this until the very end because the integrity of the country’s election system is at stake here and we would not stop until we shall have exposed all the fraud and machinations they carried out and continuously carry out until the present,” he said. (PNA)

Marcos... FROM 4

EDGEDAVAO

NEWS 11

COOLING OFF. Young boys spend their afternoon swimming to cool off in the face of the warm weather at the beachfront at Sta. Ana Port in Davao City yesterday, a day after a Low Pressure Area (LPA) brought heavy downpour especially at the northern part of Mindanao. Lean Daval Jr.

Another... FROM 2

Police said Esmael was spotted by residents in the village where almost everyone knows that he was arrested, charged and detained at the provincial facility.

Residents were also informed by the police through images and photos of the escapees posted at public places in the town.

Carbonell said a civilian tipped off the police about Esmael’s presence in his relatives’ homes so a team of

policemen and soldiers went to his location at 5 a.m. He did not resist arrest.

Esmael told reporters that he has no plans of fleeing at the height of the attack but the gunmen, led by Nasser Esmael, alias “Commander Derbi,” threatened they will shot those who will not escape.

He said the attackers’ leader was not a relative but a namesake.

Esmael also said that the

trators (Professional Edition) (ADM202), Administration Essentials for Experienced Administrators (ADM211), and Declarative Development for Platform App Builders (DEV402).

“Enrollees are assured that the courses are programmed to fit their timeline, complete with hands-on exercises. The coverage is also up-to date, based on latest version releases,” Valmonte said. “Also, these classes are designed by Salesforce personnel through Salesforce University so this is a great opportunity to learn from the developers themselves.”

Valmonte adds that these classes are popular in Salesforce University and are related to the cloud platforms or services that most companies are subscribed to. “The number of classes that we offer may increase depending on the latest trends but as of now, these are the classes that have the highest demand and are vital for any business using the cloud,” he said.

ciency.

All of these are critical skills needed to boost overall productivity using Salesforce.

Arguably the world’s leading cloud-based CRM software, Salesforce has a proven track record of helping large companies to even small startups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) increase business productivity with the underlying objective of putting the customer first.

And with enterprises moving their businesses to the cloud, more and more highly-skilled people are needed to help run and maximize its benefits.

“Salesforce University training will open up new opportunities for its attendees.

Whether they are already a part of or just about to join the evolving workforce that is increasingly leaning on technology, they are already equipped with the latest knowledge, giving them the upper hand,” said Valmonte. “We’re also excited that this program will give small and mid-size customers the opportunity to provide their employees with a world class, instructor driven training experience at an affordable price.”

Classes will start in March and will be held at the IPC Cloudlab in Makati. Those who are interested in attending can register online at http://ipc. ph/sf-university/. (PR)

IPC... FROM 12

Vital for success After finishing their desired course, students are expected to learn various skills such as building and customizing multi-user cloud applications with just a few clicks, implementing complex business processes using workflow rules, and the customization of the Salesforce app to create quick actions to increase effi-

gunmen threatened to set the jail facility on fire if they don’t leave the compound.

The provincial government of North Cotabato has offered P10,000 for information leading to the arrest of the other escapees. Police did not reveal the name of the informant for security reason.

Manhunt against the remaining escapees, 96 of them, continues, according to Senior Supt. Emmanuel Peralta, North Cotabato police office.

For the 158 escapees, 10 were killed during hot pursuit operations, one was injured and 51 are back in jail.

The North Cotabato Special Action Committee (SAC), chaired by North Cotabato Gov. Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva, has offered P1 million for “Commander Derbi” and another P1 million for the arrest of Melvin Casangyao, a moneyed drug lord who was the subject of “rescue” operation by the gunmen. (PNA)

intestinal cases relative to drug abuse.

These may be availed of through accredited Levels 1, 2 and 3 government hospitals and drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation centers that are certified by the Department of Health and accredited by PhilHealth.

Last year, the provincial government allotted an initial P500,000 for the purchase of detoxification medications for the SPIDs who are classified as dependents.

It also allotted around P1 million for the purchase of

drug testing kits needed for the assessment of the SPIDs. Fuentes said they have shelved earlier plans for the establishment of a drug treatment and rehabilitation in the province due to funding problems.

She said they are instead scouting for rehabilitation centers in nearby areas that could accommodate the surfacing drug dependents.

The governor added that they will also forge memoranda of agreement with the chosen rehabilitation centers.

(PNA)

million worth of free advertising based on rates for the American Super Bowl that was telecast to a much smaller audience.

Palaszczuk has declared support of her government for Horn and that “if it stacks up for the taxpayer, Queensland will be in the fight for the fight.”

Duco’s proposal says that if the bout takes place at Suncorp Stadium, 50 per cent of the crowd will be visitors to Queensland including 7000 from overseas.

Based on recent Pacquiao fights in America and China, at least 4000 visitors will be from the Philippines, where Pacquiao is one of that coun-

try’s leading political figures.

“Jeff Horn against Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium can showcase Brisbane to the world,’’ Lonergan said. “It is a truly global sporting contest pitting one of the greatest boxers in history against a young clean-cut Queensland kid who is a qualified schoolteacher and a great role model for all young Australians.’’

Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium is reportedly still in the running to steal the fight from Suncorp Stadium.

Meanwhile, Horn is reportedly set to do a promotional tour to North Queensland to meet fans in Townsville, Cairns, Tully and Ingham.

SoCot... FROM 7

IT’S WORTH IT... FROM 15

EDGEDAVAO

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New PICE-Davao City officers installed T

HE Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) Davao City Chapter elected and recently inducted its 2017 and the 42nd set of officers, directors and working committees at the Marco Polo Davao. The new officers took their oath to DPWH Undersecretary Maria Catalina E. Cabral who happens to be the incoming and the first woman civil engineer to be elected as PICE National President.

In her speech, Usec.

Cabral said that the year 2017 is the golden era for Davao because of the huge infrastructure budget of the region. It was learned that the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte alloted more than 39 billion pesos to Davao region for this year alone. Usec. Cabral said most if not all of the civil engineers coming from the Davao region will be having a lot of things to do in building this country and region. For PICE, I want

all the chapters to underline water and sanitation projects in their rural and urban community outreach programs, Cabral said. For all you know, clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene practices are essential for the survival and development of our children, she added.

The 2017 officers who took their oath were Engr.

Cary H. Beatisula, President; Engr. Hilario A. Fernandez, 1st Vice President; Engr. Anthony

George D. Toribio, 2nd Vice President; Engr. Engr. Cresilda T. Caballero, Secretary; Engr.

Flordeluna J. Juyo, Treasurer; Engr. Arnel T. Bernardino, Auditor; Engr. Wilfredo A. Balaye, PIO; Lawyer Engr. Joseph Dominic S. Felizarta, Business Manager; and Engineers Marloue S. Castillo, Norberto G. Festin, Eddie C. Fuentes, Ernie A. Malnegro, Remigio Q. Nantes, Darwin T. Santos, and Edgar L. Villalba as member of the Board of Directors.

Engr. Beatisula, a contractor, said he will start his term by putting into actions the challenge set by Usec. Cabral to come up with clean water, basic toilets and good hygiene to less fortunate communities and public elementary schools, at least in Davao City. Beatisula, in addressing its Board, assures increase in chapter’s revenue for the whole duration of his term. He said dedication and hardwork is important among the offi-

cers in meeting these goals.

On related news, at least 139 new civil engineers also took their oath January 12 at the Grand Menseng Hotel, this city before Sheriel E. Loloy, the Supervising Professional Regulations Officer of the Professional Regulatory Commission of Davao. Immediately after the formal ceremony, all the attending civil engineers received their professional identification card from PRC. (PR)

Capt. Comendador named PH AirAsia’s president-CEO

P

RENEWABLE ENERGY. Hedcor’s 68.8 MW hydropower facility in Mantolo Fortich, Bukidnon now over 70% complete and is expected to start generating clean and renewable energy by third quarter of 2017.

AboitizPower’s Manolo Fortich hydropower facility to provide‘cleanergy’in Mindanao Z AMBOANGA Del Norte Electric Cooperative (ZANECO) recently signed with AboitizPower subsidiary, Hedcor Bukidnon, for an additional 5 megawatts (MW) power supply for its franchise areas in 2017.

ZANECO, who initially signed a 5MW supply contract with Hedcor’s 68.8 MW Manolo Fortich hydropower project in June 2016, now has a total of 10MW contracted power supply from AboitizPower’s Cleanergy plant after signing an additional supply agreement with the power company in November 2016.

The 68.8-MW Manolo Fortich Hydropower Project in Bukidnon will be the latest addition to Aboitiz Power Cor-

poration’s growing portfolio of renewable energy in the country under the Cleanergy brand.

With ZANECO’s additional power contract, Hedcor’s Manolo Fortich plant now has a total of 23MW of power contracted.

ZANECO is among the six electric cooperatives who chose Hedcor’s cleanergy supply in Mindanao. Hedcor is also the power generator of choice of Zamboanga del Sur Electric Cooperatives 1 and 2, Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative, Misamis Occidental I Electric Cooperative and Siargao Electric Cooperative.

Hedcor, the largest developer of a run-of-river hydropower plant in the country, will tap the rivers of Tanaon,

Guihean, and Amusig for its two cascading run-of-river power plants in Manolo Fortich. These will produce 360GWh of clean and renewable energy every year for the Mindanao grid.

“Manolo Fortich Hydro will enable us to further our commitment to support the energy needs of our country particularly Mindanao.

At AboitizPower, we look beyond profitability and explore better ways to integrate good social development and responsible environmental stewardship into our business operations” Hedcor VP for Mindanao Operations Rolando Pacquiao said.

The first of the two cascading run-of-river hydro-

PC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.), leading PH cloud and data center services provider and Southeast Asia’s first and only Salesforce Gold Cloud Alliance Partner, today announced that it will conduct a series of Salesforce University training classes designed to aid End-Users, Systems Administrators, and Developers using the platform.

“For enterprises to experience a truly streamlined sales cycle and really get the most out of Salesforce CRM (Customer Relationship Management), special skillsets are

required, and this knowledge base can only be acquired from IPC, being the only Authorized Training and Delivery Partner of Salesforce University in the country today,” said Niño Valmonte, Director for Marketing and Digital Innovation in IPC. “Through this accreditation, IPC has gained the knowledge to conduct Salesforce training courses in order to help users maximize the platform for their respective businesses.”

IPC is the only partner in the Philippines that has been certified for training delivery and training resellership by

Salesforce University. This distinction gives them exclusive access to modules and exercises made by the developers of the world’s leading cloudbased CRM platform.

The classes will feature a Salesforce University Certified Instructor who will teach students through a series of exercises designed to reinforce the concepts presented in class.

For this year, IPC will offer four courses: Administration Essentials for New Administrators (ADM201), Administration Essentials for New Adminis-

IPC to offer salesforce training classes for users

I

F IPC, 11

power plants, Manolo Fortich 1, which is contracted to JV Angeles Construction is now 70% complete. Meanwhile, Manolo Fortich 2, the second power plant being constructed by Sta Clara International Corporation is now on its 68% completion status.

The hydropower generation facility is set to be completed by the third quarter of 2017.

Hedcor currently operates 22 hydro power plants in the country. Five of which are located in Davao City, four in Davao del Sur, 11 in Benguet, one in Mountain Province, and one in Ilocos Sur. These power plants produce a combined 185 MW of clean and renewable hydro power energy. (PR)

hilippines AirAsia has officially appointed Captain Dexter Comendador as president and chief executive officer effective 10 January 2017.

Comendador has over 33 years of experience in the aviation industry. He served as combat pilot, flight commander and pilot instructor in the Philippine Air Force for eight years before beginning his professional career as commercial pilot in 1992.

A trailblazer and highly-decorated pilot, Captain Comendador is a cum laude graduate of the prestigious Philippine Military Academy and is a recipient of 26 service medals, including two Gold Crosses for bravery and successful combat operations.

In 1994, while serving as flight systems engineering crew of a commercial airline, Captain Comendador successfully managed an inflight bomb explosion that earned him a commendation from then-Philippine President Fidel Ramos and international media attention, inspiring stories of bravery, courage and professionalism.

Captain Comendador opted for early retirement in 2010 while serving as chief pilot for safety and compliance at a local budget airline.

Airlines and airplanes, however, are truly his first love and, after a short break, he took a job overseas with a foreign airline before eventually winding up at AirAsia

Captain Dexter Comendador in December 2011. He was then asked to join the newly launched AirAsia operations in the Philippines as Chief Pilot for Operations, and was promoted two years later to Director of Flight Operations and Chief Operating Officer.

He accepted the challenge to lead the Philippine team of AirAsia as interim Chief Executive Officer in July 2016.

Philippines AirAsia Chairperson Maan Hontiveros said, “The appointment of Captain Dex as our CEO will earn him another title apart from his numerous medals and accolades.

He is now the first flying pilot-CEO of an airline company in the Philippines.”

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “Captain Dex brings with him a wealth of aviation experience and business knowledge. He is a Filipino hero pilot, a homegrown talent with the extraordinary ability to connect and inspire people and ideas capable of driving change and innovation in the Philippines.”

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is in need of Marketing Assistant Qualifications: • Graduate of business or any other related courses • Female • With pleasing personality • Fast learner • Can work with minimum supervision

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Account Executive Qualifications: • BS Marketing Graduate • Male/Female • With pleasing personality Send your application letter and resume to: Ella P. Tingzon HR/Admin Supervisor Edge Davao Review Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Bldg., E. Quirino Avenue, Davao City Or email at edgedavao@gmail.com or ella_tingzon@yahoo.com

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SPORTS 15

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. VOL.99ISSUE ISSUE236 236••WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY,JANUARY JANUARY18, 18,2017 2017

IT’S WORTH

IT

Pacquiao-Horn fight to raise over $200M

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO njb@edgedavao.net

P

CROWD DRAWER. Australian promoters know Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao could pack the crowd in.

PSC launches Sports Institute

T

HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on Monday launched the Philippine Institute of Sports (PIS) focusing on national grassroot sports development and high performance level of training which was held at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

Cabinet Secretary Leoncio B. Evasco, who represented President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, has assured that the government will throw all its support to Filipino athletes, at the same time rallied sports leaders through the PIS to give emphasis on giving access to communities in sports facilities, training and development in line with the administration’s call for genuine change.

Evasco said “Sports can not be treated as a luxury neither sports is only for the elite.

Its contribution in personal development and well-being can not be under estimated – that the poor and the marginalized must feel and experienced.”

“Sports can help us and teach us to a more rounded-lives. And for the gifted, sports can be a vehicle for maximizing their potentials,” he added.

Evasco emphasized the PIS will still on them (aspiring athletes) a sense of citizenship to become productive individuals.

Dennis Uy, Presidential Adviser for Sports, has lauded sports leaders especially PSC chair William “Butch” Ramirez and his Team PSC for aggressively pushing the establishment of the institute.

He also called on sports leaders, athletes, local government officials, sports enthusiasts to help Philippine sports and hope to bag an elusive

Olympic gold medal.

Aware that the government lack of funds in the development and promotion of sports, Uy together with the private sector has promised to raise PHP1-billion for the program.

A field of athletes, sports leaders from the Philippine Olympic Committee various National Sports Associations Timely, Filipino athletes at the thick of their training and preparation for the forthcoming 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) to be held Malaysia in mid-August this year, members of the national team will be under the PIS’ High Performance Program.

To help improve their performance, services to be rendered to them include sports medicine, sports nutrition, psychology, rehabilitation and recovery, sports physiology and biomechanics.

The PIS is tasked by the PSC with the mission of leading and managing the sports development programs for grassroots and elite level of performance.

The PSC explained Performance monitoring teams will be deployed to observe and monitor individual athletes that they properly provided with the premium quality of said services during training and competition.

The grassroots program includes Education and Training Program designed to provide short and comprehensive building for Physical Education teachers both in public and private schools attuned to modern and scientific approach in teaching sports, physical fitness courses. (PNA)

ERTH, Australia – It’s worth it.

Promoters of the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight have come up with a feasibility paper showing the fight, if hosted in Brisbane, could gross over $200 million in benefits to the Queensland government.

In a report by Fox Sports here on Tuesday, the Aussie boxer’s promoters will outline to Queensland Prime Minister Annasta-

cia Palaszczuk more than $200 million in benefits to Queensland if the State Government underwrites the “Fighting Schoolteacher’s’’ Suncorp Stadium bout with all-time Filipino boxing great Pacquiao on April 23.

The report said the highly confidential business proposal presented by Duco Events promised the Premier that the fight will further position the city as a major international sporting venue and that Horn-Pacquiao will start a “big-time boxing revolution’’ in Australia.

The fight could be Australia’s bigggest boxing promotion of all time.

According to its business plan, Duco Events said the fight will create a $100 million direct boost to the economy through visitors to Queensland and that the state will receive a further $100 million worth of free advertising on the live telecast to a billion people in 159 countries.

Duco Events are also staging the Global Tens rugby in

Brisbane next month, as well as the Auckland Nines rugby league event.

The business plan made reference to the UFC event in Melbourne in 2015 featuring Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm. Holm upset the popular Rousey in that fight that was staged in Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium with a blockbuster 56,214 people in attendance.

Etihad claimed a $102 million economic impact for Victoria for the Rousey-Holm promotion.

Figures released by the UFC after the Holm-Rousey fight in Melbourne showed the event also generated $170 million in media reports around the world, including more than 15,000 news stories and 29,000 tweets per minute.

Duco Events top honcho Dean Lonergan said that the fight telecast would also include eight minutes of editorial promotion for Queensland tourist destinations, which equated to more than $100

F IT’S WORTH IT, 11

Warriors dominate Cavs 126-91 A

FTER the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to stun the Golden State Warriors with a Kyrie Irving game-winner on Christmas Day, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry shouldered his share of the blame for the loss, calling himself on the carpet for insufficient aggression.

“Honestly, I can’t have 11 shots,” the two-time-reigning NBA Most Valuable Player said.

“I’ve got to get more looks at the rim. That’s nobody’s fault. I’ve just got to figure out a way to be more aggressive in that respect, and keep the defense honest and use all the talent we have on this team, including my scoring ability.”

Well, mission accomplished.

Curry came out of the gate firing during the two teams’ Monday night meeting, attacking Irving off the dribble for a layup on the opening play of the marquee matchup of the NBA’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day slate. Neither he nor the Warriors ever looked back, as Golden State incinerated the Cavs’ defense en route to 78 first-half points in a 126-91 rout that was over way, way before the final buzzer.

Curry didn’t hang half-ahundred on LeBron James’ crew, but he put his fingerprints all over the game from the opening tip, finishing with 20 points, a season-high-tying 11 assists and four steals. Perhaps most importantly, after head coach Steve Kerr called on his point guard to “be a little smarter” and “make better decisions” following the sloppy lead-blowing loss in Cleveland on Christmas, Curry posted just three turnovers in his

31 minutes of work.

As he has for most of the past three years, Curry teamed with frontcourt running buddy Draymond Green to orchestrate an attack that absolutely overwhelmed the Cavs with both physicality and finesse. Green was everywhere on both ends of the floor on Monday, notching his third triple-double of the season with 11 points on just six shots, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, five blocks, a steal and zero turnovers. Golden State outscored Cleveland by 43 points in Green’s 35 minutes on Monday, and man, did it feel like it.

Klay Thompson led all scorers with 26 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including a 5-for-11 mark from 3-point range. Kevin Durant added 21 on 9-for-16 shooting, plus six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in just 29 minutes, as the former MVP continues to tick off every single box for the Warriors.

The Cavs entered a roaring Oracle Arena for the final game of a six-game, 12-day West Coast road swing, and they looked like it early, falling behind 7-0 just 97 seconds into the game and looking ill-equipped to match Golden State’s offensive activity, ball movement and defensive intensity.

Curry led the charge on the offensive end, balancing the imperative to look for his own offense — after managing just 11 field-goal attempts on Christmas Day, he took seven shots in Monday’s first quarter alone, scoring eight points — with the need to run the show, drawing defensive attention off the bounce and drive-and-kicking his way to five assists without a turnover in the

INTENSE. Dreymond Green, shown here blocking Lebron James’ shot, and the Warriors were fired up and firing on all cylinders against the Cavaliers on Monday. first 12 minutes. The frontcourt of Green, Durant and Zaza Pachulia handled things on defense, invading passing lanes, protecting the rim, contesting shots and clearing the defensive glass as they helped limit Cleveland to just 22 first-quarter points on 7-for-23 shooting.

It took 6 1/2 minutes for Golden State to take a double-digit lead on a Durant 3, and they pushed the advantage to 20 on a Shaun Livingston andone less than one minute into the second quarter. Despite their early struggles, though, the Cavs

hung around, answering Golden State’s spurts with drives and free throws of their own to stay within hailing distance.

Cleveland got within 14 after a pair of LeBron freebies with just over four minutes remaining in the first half. After Tristan Thompson snuffed out a Draymond drive, the Cavs just needed a score to bring single digits back within arm’s reach, and bring the bad old vibes of Cleveland’s four consecutive wins over the Warriors back like 3-1 ghouls rising from the grave at LeBron’s Halloween party.

16 EDGEDAVAO Sports

VOL. VOL.99ISSUE ISSUE236 236••WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY,JANUARY JANUARY18, 18,2017 2017

All set for charity sports event in DavNor

By NOEL BAGUIO

D

AVAO del Norte - Hundreds of sports enthusiasts and underprivileged kids in the Davao region will be joining the Multi-Sport Celebration on January 20-22, 2017 at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex (DDNSTC) in Tagum City.

Former senator and sports enthusiast Pia S. Cayetano will spearhead the multi-sectoral sports fundraising event organized by the Gabriel Symphony Founda-

tion (GSF), which was set up in memory of her late son.

The current Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives said the charity sports activity, which include triathlon, football, swim and track events, aim to make a difference in the lives especially of differently-abled and indigenous children.

“This event is for the benefit of the disadvantaged kids,” Cayetano said, as she invited sports enthusiast and

kind-hearted individuals to support the programs and advocacies of the GSF. For 13 years now, the foundation has been carrying out advocacies and projects that particularly benefit deprived children around the country.

Governor Anthony del Rosario provided logistical and manpower assistance to the GSF aside from the free and exclusive use of the sports complex, among other inci-

dental expenses.

“We are glad to provide Deputy Speaker Cayetano the needed assistance as we share the same passion and commitment for sports,” said del Rosario, who was former chair of the Committee on Youth and Sports Development at the House of Representatives.

An advocacy bike ride from Davao City to Tagum City, dubbed as ‘Bike for Hope’, will be among the culminating

activities of the sport fundraising event on January 22.

The triathlete lady lawmaker will lead hundreds of cycling buffs from Mindanao and different regions across the country in the bike for a cause, which seeks to promote road safety, environmental awareness and a healthy lifestyle.

Following a 50- kilometer route, the fun bike ride will

start at 7 am from the SM Lanang parking lot in Davao City and will pass through Panabo City and Carmen town before entering Tagum City and wrapping up at the DDNSTC. Expert cyclists have the option to complete a 100-kilometer route by biking back to the starting point in Davao City.