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ON THE COVER
VOL. 4 NO. 49 FEBRUARY 06 - 12, 2012
THE BUSINESS PAPER EDGEDAVAO
Rate of population in poblacion down n Most thickly populated are now in Buhangin, Talomo
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HE RATE of population growth in Davao City’s downtown area had slowed down and is believed to slow down some more, a trend being closely watched both by the business community and government planners. The downtown area is no longer the most thickly populated unlike in the 1970’s when almost two-thirds of Dabawenyos resided in the city proper, also called poblacion. Current demographic data obtained by Edge Davao from the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) indicated that of the city’s total population of 1.3 million, the poblacion is now home to only 11.22 percent. The most thickly populated area now is Talomo district with 26.41 percent, followed by Buhangin, with 17.08 percent. The least populated are the districts of Baguio with 2 percent, Paquibato with 2.81 percent, Marilog with 3.13 and Calinan with 5.58 percent. In the 1970s, the poblacion carried 31.18 percent of the city’s total population which stood at only 392,473 at the time. This percentage share decreased gradually over time to 21.47 percent in the 1980s and then to 16.60 percent in the 1990’s. In 2007, the percentage share went down some more to only 11.22 percent. In contrast, the percentage share of Talomo gradually increased from 11.34 percent in the 1970s to 17.78 percent in the 1980s and to 21.57 percent in
By Greg G. Deligero Talomo proper with 3.9 percent, Sasa with 3.8 percent and Ma-a with 3.8 percent.
ALABADO
the 1990s. In 2007, the percentage share hit an all-time high of 26.41 percent. A similar trend was shown in Buhangin district which had only 8.10 percent of the population in the 1970s. However, its percentage share grew to 11.19 percent in the 1980s and then to 13.94 percent in the 1990s. By 2007, the percentage share reached 17.08 percent. Among the City’s 182 barangays, the most populated and the least populated are found in the Poblacion district: Barangay Bucana, which has a population of 74,113 and Barangay 13-B which has a population of only 176. Bucana shared 5.4 percent of the city’s total population. It was followed by barangays Buhangin proper with 4.2 percent,
Of the 10 barangays with the smallest number of residents, five are found in the downtown area. Aside from Barangay 13-B, these are Barangay 35-D with 529 population followed by Barangay 3-A with 597, Barangay 16-B with 868 and Barangay 12-B with 974. City Planning and Development Coordinator Roberto P. Alabado III said the population trend is “very instructive” by way of identifying the city’s development priorities. He said the data are useful in the allocation of the city’s financial resources, delivery of social services and identification of economic activities and projects. “Even the land developers would now know where our people are exactly located.” Alabado pointed out the erratic changes of population in the urban area. In 1970, the urban population comprised 45.47 percent of the total population. Ten years later, it had increased to 66.97 percent on an average annual growth rate of 8.64 percent. The urban population further increased to 71.12 percent in 1990 and to 72.53 percent in 2000. However, in 2007, the proportion of urban population dropped to 69.99 percent as the proportion of population in the rural areas increased by 2.54 percent, from 27.47 percent in
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for suspicious declarations. Contrary to its declared contents of margarine, shortening, yeast, and lanolin, the cargo yielded onions and potatoes believed to have come from China. In an interview with Edge Davao, District Collector Bangcoy said that a warrant of seizure and detention will be issued by Monday or Tuesday, and notices will be sent to the consignees by Wednesday. The consignees on of the container vans are D’ Golden House Trading Co., with 13 container vans, Aya Day Trading, with 6 container vans, and Alvee Trading, with 4 container vans. While Bangcoy do not expect any of the consignees to show up to claim the flagged container vans, he
MISDECLARED. Bureau of Customs district collector Martiniano Bangoy and some of its officers inspect 23 suspected container vans which they positively identified as misdeclared goods that came from China and Hongkong. Consignees from AYA Day Trading, ALVEE Trading, and D Golden House Trading
assures that due process will be followed. “A decision of forfeiture will then be issued in favor of the government, which then shall become final 15 days,” said Bangcoy. Unlike other products, onions and potatoes cannot be auctioned. What ticked off the Bureau of Customs to flag the cargo was the vagueness of the products declared, among many others. “We do a profiling of cargo based on the port of origin, the broker, the volume, and what is being declared. Unlike regular imports which have tariff descriptions, this cargo had vague descriptions,” said Bangcoy. The container vans declared its contents to be margarine, shortening, yeast, and lanolin.
declared their items as margarine, savory products, lanolin, shortening, and yeast yet what was found inside were potatoes and onions with a total value of P18,400,000 inside Sasa Port, Friday morning. According to Bangoy, all items will be turnover to the City Government for proper distribution.
46.6 percen
t INCREASE of the country’s abaca export revenues from January to November 2011, compared to figures during the same period in 2011 (from $90.093 million in 2010 to $132.051 million in 2011). According to data of the Fiber Industry Development Authority (Fida), there was significant increase in demand, particularly for pulp and cordage.
P14 billion
2000 to 30.01 percent in 2007. “This clearly shows the increasing number of people now residing in the rural areas,” Alabado said. Of the 182 city barangays, 98 are categorized as urban areas. With the urban sprawl, he acknowledged the resultant effects such as the increased motorization, increased expenses in travel of residents to their places of work, the increase of sales of vehicles, worsening traffic and the likelihood that people specially workers will now spend more time on the road—lessening time in their homes and places of work. Alabado said one way of addressing the impact is to establish sub-commercial centers
in districts outside the downtown area and provide them with livelihood opportunities within their localities. “With the availability of these commercial centers, they will no longer need to travel to the poblacion to buy their basic needs like groceries not unless they want to drink Starbucks,” he quipped. Alabado said the city government would also encourage the establishment of high density residential areas in the downtown area like condominiums, apartments, townhouses and tenements. “We have still so many idle lots in the downtown area for these types of residential areas,” he said.
Customs men discover contraband Nanay Soling bids goodbye upon opening of 23 container vans HE Bureau of Customs at the Port of Davao sent out a strong message last Friday when it opened 23 container vans on suspicion they contained misdeclared contraband items. “We will never tolerate false declaration of goods and value here at the Port of Davao,” said Bureau of Customs Port of Davao District Collector Martiniano Bangcoy. Rice, cars, onions, and the infamous ukay-ukay are the top four things being closely monitored by the bureau. The importation of ukay-ukay is outright illegal while cars and rice are often undervalued, and onions need special permits. Last Friday, Customs men opened 23 container vans they earlier flagged
IT FIGURES
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By Maya Coy Antonio
OLEDAD “Nanay Soling” Roa Duterte bade goodbye as she succumbed to cardiopulmonary arrest on February 4. She was 96 years old. For her children, family, and friends, Nanay Soling’s demise does not mean an end but time to rekindle the legacy she left. At her ripe old age she was an epitome of a courageous woman, a visionary, a noted civic leader—traits that also run in the blood of her son Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and granddaughter Mayor Sara Duterte. A woman who once took up the cause for the people of the city during Martial Law, Nanay Soling was among the pillars of Davao’s Yellow Friday Movement at the height of the People Power Movement; she was a role model to other women. A retired public school teacher from Cabadbaran, Agusan, this great lady never got tired. Apart from being a convenor of the Yellow Friday Movement in the l980s, she also established the Soledad Duterte Foundation which pursued various projects in Marahan District, an area of the indigenous people where she has devoted her time teaching them livelihood skills for the community. Museo Dabawenyo, which opened in 2008, was also her brainchild. The widow of the late lone Davao Province Governor Vicente G. Duterte, she is also a collector of mementos. Her home in Juna Subdivision is a museum of collections from her teenage years up to the present. Verses and prayers are displayed in her house. She also loves to write her reflections.
A mini-museum located in the upper floor was opened in November 2010. Inside that room, Nanay Soling kept photographs of numerous events in her life as first lady of then Governor Duterte when Davao Province was undivided. Photographs on the wall took guests in memory lane when the Davao City Women’s Club, composed of prominent ladies and heads of civic organizations, was established. There were also photographs of her as a Davao Girl Scout Council Board president, a director of the Davao Nurses Association, and various other clubs during the early 50s and 60s. A chapel in her home also reflects Nanay Soling’s close relationship with the Creator. Last year during her birthday, while lying in bed due to a fractured ankle, she prayed for a fast recovery because she wanted to visit Marahan District where her training center is located. It is also in this site where her Sacred Mountain for pilgrimages will soon stand. The site will be completed with 14 Stations of the Cross, a grotto, and a chapel. Her eldest daughter Eleanor is thinking of putting out a biography for her mother. She said she thought of the book because her mother was also an aggressive writer. She said 50 percent of the book will be on Nanay Soling’s writings and commentaries for a certain chapter of her life, as well as some prayers and verses. “She had a colorful life. She had visionary dreams in her semi-conscious state. She could recall everything, even in tracing our family tree,” she said.
ESTIMATED total amount involved in the so-called Legacy Group scam which victimized many Dabawenyos. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is the complainant in various syndicated estafa and falsification cases against officers of the Legacy syndicate headed by Celso delos Angeles.
P25 billion
AMOUNT of financial assistance that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is directed to extend to Banco Filipino within 30 days in a 50-page decision of the Court of Appeals ordering the reopening the bank.
P1.1 billion
NET INCOME of Tanduay Distillers Inc. in 2011, according to the company’s filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange last Wednesday. Based on still unaudited figures, the net income jump is almost two times (92 percent) its 2010 profit.
$3.4 million
CLAIMS of stateowned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) against Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. According to Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., PSALM president and chief executive, Pinsent Mason has been engaged as counsel after a negotiated bid. Pinsent Mason will provide legal services to facilitate the claims filed by PSALM before the New York bankruptcy court.
P500 million
COST of the Mindanao Topographic Mapping Project, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) which seeks to update the 1960 topographic maps of Mindanao as tools for planning and investment programming of government agencies as well as the private sector.