Edge Davao 6 Issue 12

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

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EDGEDAVAO Serving a seamless society

LOUD HEAD. Brandishing a megaphone, a leader of one of the progressive groups which staged a protest rally outside the Commission on Higher Education in Bo. Obrero, Davao City yesterday, to condemn the new round of tuition fee increase implemented by various universities and colleges in the city.

Lean Daval Jr.

INdulge

A1 Page A4

Seda opens doors Sports

Page 16

10 for Jr. NBA

Plastic poster ban ignored

PLASTIC CAMPAIGN MATERIALS. Several election campaign posters made of plastic are seen mounted around Davao City after the start of the campaign period last Saturday. The Commission on Elections has already warned candidates to use recyclable materials for their campaign collaterals.

Lean Daval Jr.

By EJ Dominic Fernandez

H

ere’s one for Davao City candidates: Use of plastic-made campaign materials may lead to disqualification.

According to Comelec resolution No. 9615, section 6, provides that political parties and candidates should use recyclable and environment-friendly materials

for their campaign collaterals. The same resolution specifically states that candidates must avoid those that contain hazardous chemicals and substances in the production of their campaign and election propaganda.

In local government units like Davao City where local legislation FPLASTIC POSTER, 11

EDGEDAVAO

Plastic sad kaha ni sila?

2 THE BIG NEWS

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

For Pablo victims

TF Tambayayong built 422 houses

By Che Palicte

T

He Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) eastern Mindanao Command (eastmincom) “Task Force Tambayayong” has constructed a total of 422 houses for typhoon Pablo stricken areas in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

Captain severino Vicente David, deputy commander of eAsTMINCOM bared during the weekly Kapehan sa Dabaw in sM Annex Atrium that “Tambayayong” erected 222 houses in Compostela Valley Province and another 200 units in Davao

Oriental while repairing some 34 chapels, markets and school buildings.

“We already stopped the Tambayayong but our effort continues, we will provide security and assistance to DsWD in giving the relief goods,” David explained.

He said that they are more focused in helping the typhoon survivors who lost the head of their families.

“They find it hard to cope up without a husband and a father, so we see to it that they will be given more attention than

FTF TAMBAYAYONG, 11

People should report violators – DILG 11

D

e PA rT M e N T of Interior and local Government (DIlG) region 11 director Merilo limbaro encouraged voters to report local candidates who are violating the Commission on election resolution No. 9615, known as the “Fair election Act” during the Kapehan sa Dabaw sM Annex, ecoland Yesterday. limbaro said citizen vigilance will show the local candidates of the growing awareness of the electorate.

He said he will personally not vote candidates who are violating the rules and regulations of the Comelec because, “if they (candidates) are breaking

the law even before they are seated in the government, how much more if they win.”

He also observed that in District 2, specifically in the Buhangin area, there were more violations on posting of illegal campaign materials.

He said that the main role of DIlG on the elections is to implement the prohibitions of the “Fair elections Act.” Appointing employees for government jobs or civil service positions is not allowed during the elections period from February 28 till the end of the elections, he said.

“If appointing is nec-

FDILG 11, 11

APRIL FOOLS DAY PROTEST. A member of progressive group Kabataan points to a streamer where the list of schools that increased their tuition fees

was posted outside the Commission on Higher Education regional office in Bo. Obrero, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Militant studes claim:

CHED fooled us on April Fools Day

By EJ Dominic Fernandez

M

IlITANT students took the April Fools Day to vent out claims the Commission on Higher education (CHeD) made a fool of them.

Bai Ali Inday la, second nominee of the Kabataan Party list, led some 30 student and youth protesters who staged a rally in front of CHeD 11 office yesterday protesting the approval of the tuition fee increase among higher education institutions.

April 1 marks the deadline for submission of requirements from the 32 schools that will increase their tuition fees. la said, “instead of disapproving the tuition fee increase, CHeD even posted a tarpaulin in front of their office to announce the schools that will increase their tuition fees.”

“They are fooling us on April fool’s day, because according to a source the Department

of Budget only gave a P231 billion budget for education, when in fact, P331 billion is needed,” she said.

The protesters lamented that CHeD Memorandum Order No. 3 is not useful as it only allows consultation among students and the schools to reach an agreement whether or not there should be a tuition fee increase.

According to la, the consultations had many loopholes, spe-

LTO 11earned P51M in January 2013 alone

T CLEAR VIOLATION. Posters of a local candidate are mounted in an electric post, one of the prohibited structures where campaign materials are not allowed, along E. Quirino Avenue, Davao City yesterday. A heap of campaign

posters was also notably mounted in non-common poster areas around the city. Lean Daval Jr.

cifically citing one where schools are to increase the tuition fee of incoming freshmen “when there are still no freshmen students to attend the consultations.” she also encouraged the youth to exercise their right to vote. The Commission on elections (Comelec) earlier said about one third to two thirds of the country’s voting population belong to the youth-student sector.

He land Transportation Office (lTO) has generated a total of P51.9 million revenues for the month of January 2013 alone surpassing year’s one-month collection in the same period.

The lTO collected P46.6 million in revenues in January last year.

The bulk of lTO’s collection is sourced from vehicle registration which accounted for P38.2 million. Vehicle licensing accounted for P8.2 million while law enforcement recorded P5.4 million in fines, largely because of the aid of closed circuit

television (CCTV) cameras.

Assistant regional director of lTO Macario Gonzaga told edge Davao yesterday, that an increase of 11.37 percent was recorded this year. “since the number of vehicles increases, we also have a yearly increase in registrations,” Gonzaga said, adding that the licensing increased up to 7.65 percent this year.

He added that lTO law enforcement revenues decreased by 2.42 percent from P5.5 million last year to P5.4 million this year.

FLTO 11, 11

SUBURBIA

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 •TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Bishop on political dynasties: ‘Politics is not private property’ l

AMBAsTING political dynasties across the country on easter sunday, Malaybalay Bishop Jose A. Cabantan urged the conversion of the faithful “to new values so politics treated as private property will be changed.”

In his easter message, Cabantan called on parishioners to “roll away the

stones to allow the light to dispel darkness in the tomb.”

“There will be no radical change in our political situation unless we all undergo a change of heart—conversion [that is]—in our priorities, in our values,” Cabantan said.

Along with political dynasties, the bishop noted as among the “stones” the

SLEEPY ANGEL. A child playing the role of an angel yawns during the “Sugat” (literally meeting or encounter) between the resurrected Jesus Christ and the

reproductive Health law, ongoing killings, “unabated suffering of the poor,” especially President Benigno Aquino III’s recent vetoing of the Magna Carta for the Poor, the electoral process of 4Ps (patronage, personality, power and popularity), and the ongoing ecological destructions.

Cabantan cited “Proclaim the Message, In season and Out of season,” a pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, which mentioned the stones as storms “that we all hope will be silenced by the risen lord.”

The bishop lamented that instead of being the art of gov-

Blessed Virgin Mary dawn of Easter Sunday, March 31 at the St. Augustine Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro City. [MindaNews/Froilan Gallardo]

ernment and public service, politics in the country had sadly “degenerated into an arena where the interests of the powerful and rich few are pitted against those of the weak and poor many.”

The Constitution, he added, describes public office as a public trust meant for the good of civil society at large.

But Cabantan stressed that many politicians look at it as “a means of enrichment and a source of influence and power for self and family enlargement.”

“It hence easily becomes considered and actually treated as some sort of private property to be passed on from one generation to another in the manner of a feudal title— the perpetuation of power that is at the base of so-called “family dynasties,” he said, citing the CBCP Pastoral exhortation on Politics in 1997.

Cabantan said the most basic pastoral action needed to stop political dynasties is “conversion to new values,” adding this should be the aim of political teachings.

Political dynasties have thrived in the Philippines for decades despite a constitutional provision against it.

The 1987 Constitu-

3

tion of the Philippines, particularly Article 2 (Declaration of principle and state policies), section 26 states “the state shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.”

There have been several proposed measures to provide teeth on the constitutional provision but Congress had failed to pass it into law.

The list includes senate Bill (sB) 2649 or the Anti-Political Dynasty Act of 2011, sB 1317 in 2004, and sB 1468 and House Bill 2493, both in 2007.

Cabantan, along with Fr. Biven Belderol, chair of the diocesan commission on good governance, facilitated earlier this month an orientation on lay people’s discernment in choosing candidates running in the May 13, 2013 local and national elections.

Belderol told diocesan priests in a meeting in January that vote buying, too, is among the biggest problems faced by the movement for good governance.

The campaign period for the local elections officially started on March 30, Black saturday. [Walter I. Balane/MindaNews]

DENR 12 still clueless over SK illegal loggers Heroes rise for homeless

T

He Department of environment and Natural resources (DeNr) in region 12 is still clueless on who could be behind the massive illegal logging activities uncovered recently in Bagumbayan town in sultan Kudarat province, a top official admitted sunday.

Datu Tungko saikol, DeNr-12 regional director, said no case has been filed against those behind the seized 300,000 board feet of illegally cut lumber, valued at P13.5 million.

“Wala tayo ma file-lan ng kaso kasi di identify kung sino sila (We cannot file a case because we don’t know whom to sue),” he told MindaNews in a phone interview.

But saikol said that various armed groups, which he did not identify, have surfaced as possibly behind the illegal logging activity, noting though “that the DeNr could not pinpoint them.”

With still no one to be held accountable for

the seized illegal lumber flitches, saikol said they would automatically be forfeited in favor of the government.

The official said the sawn forest products are considered illegal with the issuance of President Benigno Aquino III of executive Order 23 in 2011, which imposed a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests. saikol said they are planning to haul the seized forest products with the help of the military to the lowlands.

To prevent further illegal logging activities in the mountains of sultan Kudarat, saikol suggested for the military to take the lead since the DeNr has no capability of going after “these usually heavily armed men.”

On March 20, the military conducted an operation, together with DeNr-12 personnel, that led to the recovery of the 300,000 board feet of illegally

cut lumber.

A 30-minute firefight ensued between the government troops and the armed men behind the illegal logging activity, who later withdrew to unknown directions, Col. Dickson Hermoso, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said at the time.

A text message from an anonymous concerned resident there that day claimed that the armed men allegedly belong to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the armed wing of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic liberation Front (MIlF).

In a statement issued last Tuesday, the DeNr-12 said that the seized forest products are equivalent to 150-truckloads at an estimated 2,000 bd. ft. per load.

The illegal lumber products, in assorted sizes, were stock piled at sitio salatan, Barangay Ka-

bulnan in Bagumbayan town, it added.

DeNr-12 said the uncovered illegal logging activities fall within the Industrial Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) area of silvicultural Industries, Inc. (sII). sII is a private company that has an existing production sharing agreement with the DeNr under IFMA 022, hence had the obligation to protect its leased area.

It was the sII management who sought the assistance of the local DeNr to quell the encroachment of illegal loggers in their IFMA area, the statement said.

The operation was jointly carried out by elements of the Army’s 46thInfantry Battalion based in Barangay Kamasi, Ampatuan, Maguindanao, and the DeNr personnel stationed in Tacurong City.

(Bong s. sarmiento/MindaNews)

in Davao del Sur town

T

He local chief executive sta. Cruz, Davao del sur found heroes and heroines from the volunteers who shared their efforts, skills, time and resources in the five-day “Bayani Challenge 2013” which built homes for disaster survivors. sta. Cruz Mayor Joel ray lopez has only praises and appreciation for more than 700 volunteers from various sectors in the municipality which was among the 37 towns and cities nationwide that participated in the simultaneous Gawad Kalinga house building on March 23-27, this year.

Q

During the closing rites on Ash Wednesday, March 27, at the two-hectare site in sitio loay, Barangay Zone 2, the mayor said these heroes and heroines have braved and endured the scorching heat of the sun for five days just to put up together permanent shelters for families who were victims of flashfloods last year.

Among the volunteers were some 45 male and female members of the 1st Davao del sur ready reserved Battalion of the Army reserved Command (AresCOM) stationed at Digos City. [PNA]

uips

‘WE know that Agus and Pulangi have been net earners.

The generation cost for hydro is 97 centavos per kilowatthour, and Napocor is selling it at P3 per kilowatt-hour, so how can they losing.’

--Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair Luwalhati Antonino who opposes the privatization of the Agus-Pulangi hydro-electrical complex.

PDI, APrIl 22, 2012

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

6 comebacking dads to rely on track record in past terms

by Antonio M. Ajero

s

IX former Davao City councilors will rely on their record as lawmakers for their bid to comeback to the city’s sangguniang Panlungsod (sP).

They are Ma. Belen sunga-Acosta, Bonifacio e. Militar and leonardo Avila III in the First legislative District; Danilo C. Dayanghirang and Diosdado Angelo Mahipus sr. in the second; and Victorio s. Advincula sr. in the Third. They are all considered veteran city lawmakers, having served at least three three-year terms each. Advincula, Militar and Mahipus are known private law practitioners on the side.

Acosta and Dayanghirang have a record of becoming topnotchers in their respective districts, while Militar, Avila and Mahipus are well known for their roles in the passage of landmark ordinances during their close to two decades’ experience in local lawmaking.

Militar, who had a

brisk law practice before entering politics, is known for being either author or sponsor of many important ordinances on his own, or in pursuit of those certified as urgent by then Mayor rodrigo r. Duterte.

“I trust in my many legacies to the Dabawenyos as a lawmaker,” Militar told edge Davao, referring to landmark legislations such as the Anti-smoking Ordinance and the ordinance against firecrackers, among others.

Advincula, now in his 80’s, is the longest serving councilor having been appointed for the first time in the late sixties more than 40 years ago during the first term of then mayor and later congressman elias B. lopez in the late 60s. Vic is running with a limp and a cane literally and figuratively, as an independent bet, since a son, his namesake no less and incumbent councilor Victorio Jr., is also running, for his second term.

The elder Advincula

Comelec to ask bets to remove posters in non-designated areas

T

He Commission on elections (Comelec) 11 will issue notices to local candidates to remove campaign materials posted outside the designated areas, an official said sunday lawyer Wilfredo Jay Balisado, Comelec-11 region director, said his office will still have to document violations on campaign materials posted outside the designated zones.

“We are still verifying reports, document them, and we will ask the violators to remove them,” Balisado said in a text message.

However, Balisado did not mention who are the local bets reportedly posting materials outside the common poster areas, or how many complaints were coming from the region. republic Act 9006 or the Fair election Act only allows the posting of campaign materials to common poster areas or within private property as long as they have the owner’s consent. Plazas, markets and barangay centers are considered common areas.

Under the Omnibus

Q

uips

election Code, a person found guilty of any election offense could face imprisonment of not less than a year but not more than six years and disqualification from running for public office.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez reportedly warned sunday local candidates to follow election rules, as there have been complaints received by the central office about tarpaulins of candidates in non-common poster areas, citing Visayas and southern Mindanao, including Davao City.

He said the Comelec is “establishing the procedure” so that all the reports to the central office would be referred to the local Comelec officials “for immediate action.” lawyer Aimee Ampoloquio, election officer for the city’s first district, said in a phone interview sunday she has not yet received any complaint about election campaign rules violations, nor “observed any illegal posting of election campaign materials in her district.” [lorie Ann A. Cascaro/ MindaNews]

‘We cannot just allow candidates to post their campaign materials on electric posts, trees and other public structures. That is why we are allowing them to set up temporary structures in designated Common Poster Areas for the exclusive purpose of displaying their campaign materi– Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez als.’

ran for mayor in 1980, and congressman at least twice.

Most of the six had served as sP floor leader, with Advincula sr. having served the most number of times in the position believed to be the most coveted among councilors, that of floor leader. except for Avila, all have tried their hand at running for congressman.

Mahipus, who started serving in the sP as a youth leader in the late 70’s, is the only one who had run for vice mayor.

Two of the comebacking councilors, namely Avila and Dayanghirang, served in the current sara Duterte-Carpio city administration.

Avila acted as head of city agriculturist office, while Dayanghirang was special consultant for engineering and the food for work program of Mayor Inday. They were considered resigned upon filing of their certificates of candidacy last year.

ACOsTA

ADVINCULA sR.

AVILA

DAYANGHIRANG

MAHIPUs

MILITAR

Solons urge Pinoys to work hard to sustain PHL’s economic growth

A

group of congressmen today said the benefits of the country’s phenomenal economic growth as attested by the latest credit rating upgrade by Fitch ratings which credited the Philippines for its resilient economy and high level of foreign currency inflows,

is not expected to just fall unto the lap of Filipinos who do not work hard enough to earn their keep.

For one, Western samar Congressman Mel senen sarmiento said the fruits of the country’s economic growth which was a result of sound economic policies and a

ELECTION 101

s

eCTION 18 of Comelec resolution No. 9615: “Common poster areas shall be allowed by the election Officer only in selected public places such as plazas, markets, barangay centers and the like where posters may be readily seen or read, with the heaviest pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic in the City or Municipality.”

“Parties and candidates may put up Common Poster Areas in every Barangay: One (1) Common

no-nonsense campaign against graft and corruption, is not easily translated into quick economic relief for the country’s poor. “economic growth doesn’t quickly translate to a better life to the poor.

We still need to work hard because no matter

how good the economy has become, it is still impossible to reap the benefits of our economic growth if we just sit and wait for the good things to come. A good economy is not like winning a lottery ticket where everyone becomes rich in an instant,” sarmiento said.

Poster Area is allowed in a Barangay with 5,000 registered voters or less. An additional CPA will be allowed for every increment of 5,000 voters.

Info graphics courtesy of GMA News

5 THE ECONOMY Commercial area expands more than threefold EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

By Greg G. Deligero

D

AVAO City’s commercial areas increased more than threefold and even expanded outside the designated business district during the past 15 years, records obtained from the City

Talomo posts higher increase than Poblacion Buhangin outpaces Agdao Planning and Development Office (CPDO) showed.

An inventory of commercial areas conducted

by CPDO showed that from 1997 to 2012, the areas utilized for commercial use in Davao City increased

by 207.37 percent from 509.45 hectares in 1997 to 1, 565.86 fifteen years after.

The “spatial development strategy” of Davao City under its Zoning Ordinance identified District

SOME DAYS ARE LIKE THIS. A vendor relaxes while waiting for customers to buy the knockoff perfumes and lotion he is selling on the corner of San Pedro and Ilustre streets, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

I as the Central Business District where most of the barangays are classified as urban barangays which are conducive for the conduct of commerce and trade But in a 15-year period, District II posted the highest growth rate in the increase of areas utilized for commercial use, registering 396.02 percent. The highest increase is particularly noted in Buhangin wherein the commercial area increased by 741.77 percent. Agdao and Bunawan also posted an increase with 200.76 percent and 260.34 percent respectively.

The dramatic increase in Buhangin stemmed from the influx of entertainment and retail establishments.

Commercial areas in District I also more than doubled, with 158.73 percent increase. Talomo posted the highest increase with 434.56 percent while Poblacion registered an increase of 84.84 percent.

District III posted the lowest growth rate with only 80.12 percent. The highest rate of increase is found in Calinan with 259.65 percent.

In 1997, District I cornered 65.95 percent of the total land area utilized for

commercial use, 78.87 percent of which are in Poblacion while the remaining 21.13 percent are in Talomo.

District II followed, by comprising 23.82 percent, with Agdao cornering more than half of the area, with 52.13 percent. Only 10.05 percent of Davao City’s commercial areas are found in District III with Toril cornering the bulk 75.33 percent while the rest was divided by Calinan and Tugbok.

In 2012, District I remained dominant by cornering 55.66 percent of the total land area utilized for commercial use, exactly 56.34 percent of which are found in Poblacion while the remaining 43.66 percent in Talomo.

District II still ranked second as it comprised 38.44 percent of the entire commercial area In Davao City. The landscape at the district level, however, actually changed as Buhangin outpaced Agdao by cornering 58.77 percent while Agdao comprised only 31.61 percent.

District III only got 5.9 percent of the total area utilized for commercial uses in the city with Toril still leading with 54.50

percent followed by Calinan and Tugbok .

“The expansion of business establishment is toward the north or District II. Heavier traffic volume in the Distrcit II may cause delays to those who want access to the Poblacion area,” said city planning chief roberto P. Alabado III. With this trend, he said there’s a need to focus on better site planning of commercial establishments to avoid traffic congestions in the area “which could affect accessibility to the central business district.”

One solution, Alabado said, is the provision of commercial districts within the residential zones to avoid commercial development along the roads in Buhangin area.

To strengthen the location of District I as the city’s designated central business district, he said the local government is now initiating an “urban renewal plan” for the downtown area and the Chinatown to rationalize its growth.

“We need more public investments to increase accessibility and urban management facilities,” he said.

6 THE ECONOMY

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Globe broadband segment outperforms competition G

Quarterly revenues soar to P2.4 billion

lOBe Telecom announced that its broadband brand Tattoo posted P2.4 billion in revenues for the 4th quarter of 2012, outperforming its competitors whose revenues declined for the same period.

This brought full year 2012 broadband revenues to P8.7 billion, a significant 16% growth from previous year’s levels on the back of rising demand for data and internet connectivity.

“We attribute the sustained growth of Tattoo to the fact that the brand continues to deliver on its promise of reliable internet connection coupled with a deep understanding of

the needs of the customer in terms of value for money and product usage.

Tattoo offered trailblazing programs that offer the best value-for-money plans, flexibility, perks and privileges, speed and seamless connection backed-up by the strong after sales support of Globe,” says Nikko Acosta, Head of Tattoo Broadband.

The significant growth of broadband revenues has largely contributed to the total all-time high revenue of Globe of P82.7 billion. subscriber base for Tattoo broadband grew 18% higher with 261,000 new subscribers by end

2012. Of the 18% growth, 77% are new Tattoo Onthe-Go subscribers.

Tattoo was launched in 2009 as a nomadic broadband service with bold and edgy imagery and value-for-money prepaid offers. In January 2011, Tattoo evolved into an aspirational brand for the youth still retaining its core value-for-money consumer proposition but this time leveling up the customer experience with customizable plans and services with the brand promise of “living without limits”.

Tattoo also launched its home broadband service portfolio under the Tattoo@Home brand cater-

ing to the household and family’s varied needs with customizable home broadband plans.

Tattoo gained global recognition as Best Broadband service Provider in the Philippines for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012 awarded by no less than the international research and consulting firm, Frost and sullivan.

For 2013, Tattoo, the most reliable broadband in the Philippines evolves further as a socially-relevant brand empowering subscribers to use their social media presence in making a difference in the lives of other people and moving their world.

EDGEDAVAO

Davao by the numbers Since the approval of the Davao City Zoning Ordinance in 1996, a total of

2,272.34 hectares are approved to be utilized for housing development projects.

744.62 hectares or 32.74 percent of which are devoted for socialized housing.

Source: cITY PlANNING AND DeVeloPMeNT oFFIce

Anti-poverty fund?

(Conclusion) ECONOMIC ANAlYSIS

B

UT this cycle of government pump priming, increase in employment and increase in consumption does not lead to more employment in the rural areas. This is because the producers of goods and services are located in the urban areas.

There are no factories in the rural areas. As soon as the government projects are completed and those who’ve worked on them have spent the money it’s back to zero and a terrible hangover for the rural folks Ironically, therefore, the pump priming that the P-Noy government is preparing for the rural areas actually benefits the urban areas more. As income and consumption increase in the rural areas because of government projects being implemented, factories in the urban areas increase production to meet the increase in consumer demand. The increase in production causes more of the unemployed in the urban areas to be employed but not those in the rural areas.

Demand for agricultural products also increases but the principal beneficiaries are those who have land.

Those who merely work on them receive meager wages barely enough for survival. so how is government supposed to remedy rural poverty? Government must remind itself of the roots of rural poverty. The principal source of income in the rural areas is agriculture and, to a much lesser extent, fishery. To benefit

more fully from agriculture requires owning a piece of land to grow crops and raise livestock. But past colonial expropriation of land has dispossessed many and consolidated land ownership to a few. The majority has been reduced tenancy and, as I’ve pointed above, with meager incomes barely enough for survival.

The 8th Congress of which I’m privileged to have been a member has passed the Comprehensive Agrarian reform law (CArl) as remedy. The intention of the law is to enable the greater number of those in the rural areas to own a piece of land on which they can plant crops and raise livestock to supply consumer demand both in the rural and urban areas.

Government pump priming in the rural areas therefore works better when a greater number of people are in control of the principal means of production which is land. But implementation of CArl has been painfully slow. P-Noy has promised to fully implement CArl by the end of his term. But why can’t it be sooner? My guess is that he is yet to fully appreciate the strategic implication of CArl in making the Philippines an economic powerhouse sooner.

AGRITRENDS

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 •TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Hog raising in PHL:

7

A promising backyard venture

H

OG raising in the Philippines, a basically agricultural economy, can be a possibly profitable venture -- as attested by the rising number of people across the regions who have gone into swine raising.

From as far north as Cagayan and Ilocos Norte to Tarlac and Nueva ecija north of Manila to leyte in eastern Visayas, raisers say they are literally in business, with swine raising a profitable agriculture venture which could help improve some people’s lives. swine raising has become very popular in many regions because during town fiestas people expect nearly every household to have “lechon” or roasted whole pork on their dining tables.

According to the Cavite-based International Institute of rural reconstruction (IIrr), “upgraded native pigs in family backyards which are fed mostly with rice bran and kitchen wastes consist a great part of the existing swine industry in the Philippines.”

These hogs attain 75 to 80 kilograms body weight in 300 to 400 days and requires about 6 to 7 kilograms of feed to gain a kilogram live weight.

Hogs from europe and the United states, introduced in the Philippines in the 1980s for domestic breeding and commercial production, take only six months to raise and by then weigh about 90 kilograms, the IIrr says.

These hogs need only 2.57 kg of feeds to gain one kilogram body weight

based on a University of the Philippines los Banos study.

The IIrr says swine raisers are convinced that cross combination of standard pure breeds give better profit.

In a feasibility study done by IIrr, swine raising for six months goes this way: for a sow or gilt that costs P2,500 each, a hog raiser needs at least P493 for five bags of swine gestation materials at P189 per bag.

The prices, of course, can rise abruptly without enough prior notice, according to those in the industry.

Four swine lactation materials will cost P795 at P199 per bag, and for a bag of swine pre-starter material a bag is needed

which will cost P267.

Drugs and vaccine costing P100 will combat swine plague and hog cholera, according to IIrr. Hog raisers have been advised that when buying swine feeds the following must be considered: nutritional content, availability in the area, soy bean oil meal, coconut, corn bran and cassava.

The following can be added to the low-cost feed formulation for mineral supplement: salt, ground oyster shell, well sifted kitchen ash and fish sauce.

The recommended green feeds for hogs that will give the swine much amount of valuable starch, protein, minerals and vitamins are: sweet potato or camote leaves, kangkong or swamp cabbage,

talinum, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, grass, water lily, banana stalks, kulasiman (Portulaca oleracea), tapilan grains, chopped corn plants, munggo leaves, bean leaves, ipil-ipil or kumpitis (laucaena glauca), the indigenous “mani-manian” and pungapong (Amorphallus campanulatus).

Others are suggesting imported breed beginners can raise hogs which will give the best performance and income.

The imported breeds include the well fleshed solid white large white Yorkshire which has medium erect ears, an advantage being the sow has the superior mothering abilities, which means the beginning raiser can expect to have good litters and

reduced mortality rate.

At the same time, large white Yorkshire, which adapts well to confinement but should not be placed in rugged conditions, produces fine quality meat compared to other breeds -- which translates into higher profits.

The landrace, white in color and possesses short legs and medium dropping ears, also has excellent mothering ability and litter size. landrace can be a superior milk producer and can produce pigs with superior growth rate.

The Duroc, with varying shades of red, can be procreative and is also known for good mothering ability. It can produce pigs that are superior in

growth rate, with good performance in rugged condition.

The Hampshire, black in color with distinguishable white belt around the shoulders and body, has generally short legs and lacks body thickness.

Industry hands say Hampshire has a good reputation of weaning a high percentage of pigs farrowed and can easily adopt to rugged conditions.

The Pietrain, very meaty with spotted black and white color, has wellshaped shoulders, hams and loins.

The carcass has high lean meat percentage but the only problem is it has a low constitution and they are highly susceptible to stress. some industry experts suggest if one were just beginning in the industry, it would be far better for one to buy what they call a “chop suey” breed first.

This is a mixed and unknown breed commonly raised by small backyard raisers.

There are also tips for raisers as far as gilts are concerned.

According to experts, gilts must have well developed udder with a minimum of properly spaced teats.

Beginners must avoid those gilts with inverted teats which don’t produce milk. Inverted teats might be inherited and raisers must not have any abnormalities in one’s breeders.

The beginner, as far as possible, must choose sows with long body for better udder development. [PNA]

will cover 1,000 hectares and several coconut processing centers .

Meanwhile, the government will also establish small processing centers that costs around P50 million in each agri-in-

dustrial estate.

DA will invite private investors to set up medium to large-scale processing plants to further boost farmer income once a coconut agri-industrial estate is constructed. [PNA]

Agri-estates to be constructed

by DA using coco levy funds

T

He Department of Agriculture (DA) has plans to put up agri-industrial estates in coconut producing areas around the country.

In a recent press conference at the DA main office, Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala said this plan will help boost the income of farmers.

He said that the main source of funding for this project will be the coco levy funds.

Quezon Province, Northern Mindanao, Davao, eastern Visayas and southern luzon are among the possible locations of these projects.

About P250 million to P300 million will be allocated for the establishment of at least five agri-industrial estates, according to Alcala, which

Q

uips

‘PAL is a good company with an excellent brand. Despite so many problems over the last 20 years, the company has always been above water.’

--SMC President Ramon S. Ang, A TYcooN, cerTIFIeD PIloT AND eNGINeer.

8 VANTAGE POINTS

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

China as peacemaker ANAlYSIS

By ElizaBEth CoBBS hoffman

(1st of two parts)

N

EDITORIAL

Plastic politics

I

N case some candidates in Davao City do not know, use of non-biodegradable plastic is banned in the city.

There is a provision in Comelec resolution 9615, section 6 in particular, which encourages political parties and candidates to use recyclable and environment-friendly materials for their campaign collaterals.

It specifically states that candidates must avoid those that contain hazardous chemicals and substances in the production of their campaign and election propaganda.

The word “encourages” may connote that it is not a rigid rule. However, there’s a catch.

In interpreting the rule, the Comelec explained that in local government units where local legislation governing the use of plastic and other similar materials exist, parties and candidates shall comply with the same.

Curiously, Davao City is among the local government units which implement the plastics ban. The list includes Quezon City; los Banos, laguna; lucban, Quezon; Tanay, rizal; Bacolod, Muntinlupa, las Pinas, Marikina and Makati.

That means Davao City candidates are not only “encouraged” but are strictly re-

EDGEDAVAO

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Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc.

OLIVIA D. VELASCO General Manager

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quired to follow.

The ban on non-biodegradable plastic is spelled out in section 7, Article V of the Ordinance 0361 series of 2010 of the Davao City ecological Waste Management of 2009. The ordinance took effect on June 28 last year.

The plastic campaign materials are everywhere, even before the actual campaign period started last saturday. There are plastic info materials of an awardee official littered around the city long before the onset of the campaign season.

We find this so ironic. With more reason, award-winning officials should be law-abiding.

There are also some re-electionist councilors and a known environment advocate with plastic campaign materials mounted as of saturday’s get-go. Talk about the hackneyed “lawmakers, lawbreakers” tag!

It’s a shame that most of the candidates are selling themselves as pro-environment but are themselves violators of earth-friendly measures. If these leaders cannot follow a simple rule, how else can we expect people to obey the law?

Now, if we must ban plastic materials, then we should also do the same to “plastic” politicians.

ARLENE D. PASAJE Cartoons

RAMON M. MAXEY Consultant

GREGORIO G. DELIGERO Associate Editor

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. • JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA Photography

EJ DOMINIC C. FERNANDEZ • CHERRY MAE D. PALICTE Reporters

AQUILES Z. ZONIO Staff Writer

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

SOLANI D. MARATAS Finance

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JR Circulation

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

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UCleAr escalation on the Korean Peninsula demands creative solutions. With a 2,200-year history of non-aggression, China is in the best position to take the lead — and relieve the United states of a burden it has shouldered for too long.

In fact, no other nation has had as stable a pattern of world citizenship. Over two millennia, China has not attempted to conquer its neighbors or spread its system of government on any scale remotely comparable to the romans, Mongols, British, Germans, French, spanish, russians, Japanese or even Americans.

China does brutally resist the secession of Tibet, which it considers part of its ancient patrimony. But it has not grasped for lands beyond its historical borders.

There is no reason to think the Middle Kingdom has merely been biding its time. Indeed, if any nation can be said to have a long-term strategy, it is China.

Premier Zhou enlai, when asked what he thought of the French revolution of 1789, allegedly replied, “It’s too soon to tell.”

China also has a 2,200-year record of authoritarian rule. even so, it has become steadily more open — at its own glacial pace. China’s government is more responsive to its people now than it was under the Han, Ming or Qing dynasties, ending in 1911. After a long period of civil war in the first half of the 20th century, worsened by a brutal Japanese occupation, the dictator Mao Zedong restored order. since 1979, the repressive government has slowly provided more freedoms to its 1.3 billion citizens — beginning with what President Franklin D. roosevelt called “freedom from want.”

Today, the Chinese people are freer to save, accumulate, conduct business and travel abroad than perhaps at any other time in China’s 2,200-year history as a coherent state.

Pundits and professional worriers tend to paint China as a burgeoning military threat. This is a serious misinterpretation of a very long track record that includes the peaceful re-annexation of British Hong Kong and continuing restraint toward Taiwan (lost first to the Japanese, and then as a result of civil war). Unjustified suspicions blind policymakers to important security options at a volatile time in Northeast Asia. like pioneers of yore, we need to read the trail to understand where China is headed and how we might ease its path.

For centuries, China was the economic powerhouse of the globe. As Adam smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, commented in 1776, “China is a much richer country than any part of europe.” Today, more than anything else, the ancient nation wants to be rich again — though in ways that do not leave commoners mired in squalor, as before. Its commercial policies are aggressive, but it is not territorially expansive. China understands that physical conquest — as Japan’s World War II experience proved — can undermine economic success in the modern world.

Instead, to achieve its goals, China needs regional peace and stability.

It has a far greater stake in capitalist south Korea’s health and happiness than even the United states, which has guaranteed seoul’s safety for the past 60 years as part of its campaign to stop the worldwide spread of communism — a task now completed. south Korean companies such as samsung are among the world’s largest producers of semiconductors, the electronic chips that nourish everything in the electronic food chain from toys to automobiles. semiconductors are key to economic growth around the globe.

EDGEDAVAO VOL.6 ISSUE 12 •TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

T

VANTAGE POINTS

Growing people’s cynicism

He serIOUs PrOBleM Is TOO MUCH POlITICs -every year both senate and the House have to review the national budget thoroughly before they will agree either to increase or realign public expenditures. Under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, it has been a great deal more thorough specifically this year compared to the past two years or it had been during the time of his predecessors. even so, Congress leaders and senior officials do not think they have accomplished enough. Public money still is far from being used as efficiently and effectively as it used to be.

Today, as in the yesteryears, close to half of the government’s usable budget – that portion of the country’s annual appropriations left over after providing for debt services – more than half of the usable funds goes to personnel services alone. As a result, government simply does not have enough capital resources to keep up even its basic services – and what it does spend has gone disproportionate to the non-poor sector instead. simply put, the situation probably was the primary reason that recently prodded President PNoy to veto the much-awaited P3 billion Magna Karta for the poor.

What is more lamentable is that there have been several bills in Congress aimed at easing out mass poverty and stirring up countryside development that are crying out for attention. These include proposals for rural infrastructure like farm-tomarket roads, post-harvest facilities

and irrigation system, for expanding energy source, water supply and countryside investment. What makes matter worse, for instance, after analyzing budget trends independent economists and financial experts concluded that the bulk of public money actually goes to the country’s richer regions and priority development funds ended up in the coffers of bogus organizations.

Many administration policies actually are not implemented accordingly as provided under the existing government procedures. As a matter of fact, our tax system takes – in percentage terms – more from the poor (about 30 percent) than the rich, which is only 20 percent. Tax evasion involving mostly big capitalists and influential entrepreneurs cost the government about P40 to P50 billion a year. Government says it implemented an intensive tax collection campaign yet independent financial experts refuted the claim saying there is actually no effective capital-gains tax and taxes of real property and other profitable ventures are both extremely low and lightly enforced.

Another serious problem is too much politics. like our socio-economic policies, politics still has a

kind of duality. side by side with the politics of patronage in traditional society, what we have is a modern political community largely based in Metro Manila and other bustling metropolis. Public policies therefore are mainly crafted by lawmakers who likewise live in the big cities.

On the other hand, the urban middle class has begun to exert its influence on national politics and imposed its own standards on legislators who were overwhelmingly elected by the poor majority. Obviously, we now have a discrepancy between what the poor majority accepts and what the big-city middle class insists on.

These problems will become more and more severe in coming years – unless Congress and the Aquino leadership soon raise the political will to do something about it. The urgency of their work is underlined for them by the increasing impatience of the people – the poor majority in particular – and the growing pessimism about their prospects and the future of the country. The executive and the legislative branches of government cannot take their responsibilities lightly certainly because they cannot command people’s loyalties to the leadership, the legislature and the representative system it stands for unless they can prove to them over and over again that they have their interests at heart. Of course, they cannot take the problem casually when what are at stake are the chances of the ruling party to dominate the midterm elections scheduled for May.

COMMENTARY

By Xu KE

to pursue nuclear and long-range missile capabilities.

The latest escalation of tensions has proved that sanctions alone, no matter how strong they might be, are not an effective way to resolve the crisis.

The only practical way to prevent the deteriorating situation from spiraling out of control is to build trust between the relevant parties and to establish the consensus among them that their disputes can only be resolved on the negotiating table.

China, as a strategic stake-holder in the region, has long called for calm on the Korean Peninsula.

Now both the DPrK and the United states should tone down their rhetoric and work with Beijing for an early return to the long-stalled six-party talks.

After all, a volatile Korean Peninsula threatens the national interests of all the parties concerned.

[PNA/Xinhua]

Cooler minds must prevail on Korean Peninsula

T

He Democratic People’s republic of Korea (DPrK) said saturday that it has entered a “state of war” with south Korea, marking the latest flare-up of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang’s move came after the United states sent B-52 strategic heavy bombers and B-2 stealth bombers to south Korea to participate in war games.

For years, the DPrK and the United states, deeply suspicious of each other’s intentions, have seen their relations plummet to new lows.

Despite the rhetoric, many believe war is still a distant reality on the Korean Peninsula.

However, the latest tit-for-tat strategies employed by Pyongyang and Washington have definitely raised tensions in a volatile region at China’s doorsteps.

It’s time for both sides to take a step back and let the cooler minds prevail to avoid any further escala-

tion of the situation.

The chronic crisis on the peninsula was deeply rooted in the fragile relationship between Pyongyang and Washington, which features mistrust, misunderstanding and animosity.

The United states has long adopted a punishment-heavy approach in dealing with ties with the DPrK. It has imposed rounds after rounds of severe sanctions against Pyongyang and held large-scale military drills regularly in the region.

This approach has only heightened Pyongyang’s sense of insecurity and forced it to resort to more extreme actions to defend itself, including breaching United Nations security Council resolutions

9

Rising from the ruins of ‘Pablo’ SPECIAl FEATURE

By CarmEla C. Duron

A

PPrOACHING from Caraga town in Davao Oriental, the idyllic roadside towards neighboring Baganga has started to turn green. Various weeds and shrubs in abundance crept and have almost covered an assortment of felled trees, mostly coconut.

Along the road, piled coconut lumbers are primed as housing material for permanent shelter and other serviceable structures for typhoon Pablo victims.

The scenery in this side of the east coast is almost back to its former beauty before the devastation caused by Pablo last December 4, 2012. schoolchildren’s voices reciting poems can be heard again and so with their songs. Back to playing at their restored school grounds, the children’s genuine shrieks and unrestrained laughter and banters can be heard again.

Municipal officials and college students continue to render voluntary services to fellow victims who are more vulnerable. Families are picking up torn lives and tossed homes, almost achieving the peace and serenity that they once held.

The transformation is evident. It can be felt by the people in the area as well as the throng of responders immersed in the town.

Three months past the harrowing global disaster, Davaoeños in Davao Oriental are starting to live normally again.

Through the all-out relief, recovery and rehabilitation initiatives of the Department of social Welfare and Development (DsWD) and by various local, national and international agencies, typhoon victims or the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have overcome the ordeal.

“I received P2,260 for clearing of coconut trees and other trees that block the barangay road,” says lloyd emuy of Barangay Batiano. emuy is one of the participants in the DsWD Cash For Work Program in his barangay. He was able to work for 10 days.

He has four children and his family has received relief assistance for over five times from DsWD and other agencies. some 193 villagers on Wednesday eagerly trooped to the wrecked Batiano barangay hall to claim their Cash For Work from DsWD workers. The Cash for Work program is one of the interventions of DsWD and is introduced during the early recovery Phase wherein a family head may work for 10 days and will receive a daily wage of P226.00.

The World Food Programme and other humanitarian agencies have also extended Cash for Work and Food for Work programs to victims of typhoon Pablo.

Most of the victims who joined the Cash For Work are farmers. “I uprooted weeds, hauled coconut tree debris from the roadside, and cleared sitios in our barangay. With God’s grace, we are recovering. The ration has helped,” recounted Mary Jane Baltazar of Batiano who is now busy tending her vegetable patch and raising chicken and hogs.

Arnold Ignacio, 36, a father of four from Barangay Ban-ao also enlisted in the Cash for Work. “We cleaned the roads, cut trees and piled boulders. I will use this money to build a house,” said Ignacio who is now back to growing eggplants, ampalaya, cucumber, okra and other vegetables.

Municipal social Welfare and Development Officer Daryl Bohol, a victim herself, encouraged residents. “even as we received assistance, we also need to help ourselves so that we can return to our normal lives. We can do it.” “let us start working as relief assistance will soon phase out. We should not rely on it as it will not last forever.

We have to strive to regain normalcy,” stressed lambajon Barangay Captain Marlon Avellanosa.

“If you have faith in Christ, nothing is impossible. Thank you so much to those involved. Thanks for all your help to us,” misty-eyed Maryann Tagsip of Barangay lambajon conveyed her gratitude. Tagsip received a core house from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In Baganga, 200 families are now staying in DsWD bunkhouses while 53 families have just received their core house through the Debris to shelter (D2s) project of IOM. To date, some 12,088 families in Baganga have already been served by DsWD with food and non-food relief assistance.

Families in Baganga, young and old are, rich and poor have started to rebuild their lives from the ruins, and rise they will. [PNA]

10 SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

DENR readies for forest fires A

s summer sets in, secretary ramon J. P. Paje has ordered all field officials of the Department of environment and Natural resources (DeNr) to adopt new strategies and draw up preventive and remedial measures against forest fires.

According to Paje, forest fires, which are particularly prevalent in the summer season, are a major and permanent hazard that could completely destroy forests. In an effort to address the issue, the DeNr has invested in comprehensive training programs to equip its forestry workers with the needed skills to fight forest fires effectively.

This year, Paje called for an inventory of the agency’s fire-fighting equipment and the capability of its field personnel in putting out fires in response to the increased risk of forest fires due to the onset of the dry season.

He also tasked his 16 regional executive directors to update their remedial measures on preventing flare-ups, particularly grass fires that usually occur in degraded forestlands due to flammable ground debris that could burn up as a result of drought and high temperature.

“We have to make sure that forest fires won’t hap-

pen in forestlands where tree-planting activities of the National Greening Program (NGP) are on the upswing otherwise the program’s gains will literally go up in smoke,” Paje explained.

Paje also ordered the prioritization of strict monitoring of protected areas, which also function as habitat for endangered species of plants and animals, for potential outbreak of forest fires and to ensure sufficient water supply in communities.

According to records of the DeNr’s Forest Management Bureau, the Cordillera Administrative region (CAr) tops the list of forest fire hotspots, followed by Central luzon and southern Mindanao.

The DeNr regularly updates its personnel capabilities through a series of trainings held at its environment and Natural resources Academy in Carrangalan, Nueva ecija. last year’s trainings focused on prevention and management of forest fires in tree plantations in consonance with NGP’s objective of establishing tree plantations in denuded forest lands.

Among the strategies being employed by the DeNr to boost its forest fire prevention and fighting capabilities include the

TARSIER CONSERVATION PROGRAM. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-XI through its Protected Areas and Wildlife Division (PAWD) starts its Tarsier Conservation Program this year by conducting tarsier population count and habitat assessment activities specifically in Brgy. Bobon, Mati, Davao Oriental and Brgy. Suaon, Kapalong, Davao del Norte. PAWD,

together with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (PENROs) of Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental and some NGOs will help craft the Management Plan for the tarsiers and their habitats’ conservation and protection. [PAWD Photo File]

involvement of community members in its trainings in coordination with the Bureau of Fire Prevention of the Department of the Interior and local Government, with which the DeNr has a standing agreement to conduct joint

pounding structures to trap and store rainwater, clearing of new growth in fire lines or “fire buffers” inside tree plantations, and conduct of forest fire drills with forest resource-dependent communities especially in drought-prone

areas.

From 2000 to 2010, the DeNr recorded a total of 34, 921 hectares were affected by forest fires, with 19,607 hectares located inside natural forest, while the other 15,314 hectares inside plantation areas.

classified as public forestland and could not be in any manner disposed of, much less sold as a titled property,” Paje explained.

The new land scam has come to public attention after GMA 7’s investigative program “Imbestigador” featured Vanguard for resourcefulness and self-reliance livelihood and Housing Foundation, Inc. (Vrs Foundation), which was reportedly involved in the selling of lands within the UMrBPl. In an entrapment operation held last Feb. 20 at the group’s office in Antipolo City, Vrs Foundation officer Juanito sta. Maria was arrested after receiving marked money from a DeNr asset, who posed as buyer of a real property being sold by the foundation.

The operation was carried out by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police and the DeNr led by Assistant secretary for Internal Audit and Anti-Corruption Daniel Nicer.

Further investigations revealed that Vrs Foun-

dation was also engaged in buying Certificates of stewardship Contracts (CsCs) from upland farmers taking part in DeNr’s Integrated social Forestry Program (IsFP) and would use these CsCs as bases to resell plots of lands in the guise of “transfer of rights.” started in the 1980s, IsFP grants a 25-year stewardship contract to qualified forest occupants, allowing them to settle and till the upland areas; in return they agree to protect and reforest these lands.

However, Paje said that under the IsFP regulations CsCs cannot be assigned or transferred without permission from the DeNr secretary. “rights to IsF areas cannot be transferred, sold or even titled; more so if they are inside protected areas.”

Paje called on all other victims to come forward and file charges against the foundation, urging them to report to Nicer’s office any unlawful sale of public land, especially those involving DeNr people.

trainings as well as forest fire-fighting operations.

Forest fire preventive measures consisted of monitoring for kaingin (slash and burn) activities and unauthorized bush burning in pasturelands, construction of water im-

Public warned of scam DENR sets standards for fine particle pollutants involving forest lands T

He Department of environment and Natural resources (DeNr) took an important step to protect the health of Filipinos from particle pollution by setting the air quality standard for particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller, or commonly known as PM2.5.

PM2.5 is a fine particle found in smoke and haze, and can be directly emitted from sources such as forest fires or they can form when gases emitted from power plants, industries and vehicles react in the air. Once inhaled, these particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health problems.

DeNr secretary ramon J.P. Paje recently issued Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2013-13 setting the National Ambient Air Quality Guideline

Q

Value (NAAQGV) for PM2.5 at 75 micrograms per normal cubic meter (µg/Ncm) for an average of 24 hours or short term, and 35 µg/ Ncm for an average of one year or long term, starting from the DAO’s effectivity until Dec. 31, 2015.

The DAO also provides tougher standards after 2015. effective Jan. 1, 2016, the NAAQGV for the short and long terms will be at 50 and 25 µg/Ncm, respectively.

Paje said the standards for PM2.5 were issued in accordance with the provisions of republic Act 8749, or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.

“This administrative order was anchored on the basic right of Filipinos to a balanced and healthy ecology, as well as the government’s policy to maintain a balance between development and environ-

uips

‘THE survey is a good basis to review what you have done, what you are doing and what you will do.’

-- Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero on political surveys.

mental protection,” Paje explained.

He, however, clarified that the DAO was not for compliance purposes, but to set standard values in evaluating the quality of outdoor air in a surrounding environment, also known as ambient air.

“These values are established in the same way that we have established standards for total suspended particulates (TsP) and PM10. These will help us determine which actions to take vis-à-vis the impact of air pollution on our health,” he explained.

Technical personnel of the DeNr’s environmental Management Bureau (eMB) will conduct sampling periodically using manual methods, or continuously using automatic real-time ambient monitors.

Compared to TsP and PM10, PM2.5 pollutants are of finer particles usually emitted by vehicles and burning plants. Their small size allows them to stay in the air longer and travel farther, and can pass through the body’s smaller airways deeper into the lungs, leading to respiratory and circulatory diseases, cancers and brain damage.

e

NVIrONMeNT and Natural resources secretary ramon J.P. Paje has warned the public against buying lands in areas covered by the government’s agro-forestry program, saying these are public forest lands that are inalienable or could not be disposed of.

The environment chief issued the warning after authorities have discovered a massive land-fraud scheme involving an Antipolo City-based group selling lands located within the Upper Marikina river Basin Protected landscape (UMrBPl), which was declared a protected area by virtue of Proclamation No. 296 signed by President Benigno Aquino III in 2011.

Formerly known as the Marikina Watershed reservation, the UMrBPl is a 26,126-hectare protected area covering the upper reaches of the Marikina watershed in the province of rizal, flowing through Antipolo City and the towns of Baras, rodriguez, san Mateo and Tanay.

“Any part of a proclaimed protected area is

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Plastic poster...

FFROM 1

governing the use of

plastic and other similar materials exist, parties and candidates must comply with the ban.

Davao City is one of only ten local government units with an ordinance banning use of non-recyclable plastic.

The list includes Quezon City; los Banos, laguna; lucban, Quezon; Tanay, rizal; Bacolod, Muntinlupa, las Pinas, Marikina and Makati. several campaign materials mounted around Davao City at the start of the election campaign season last saturday were found to be made of non-biodegradable plastic materials in clear violation of the Commission in election’s thrust for environmentally-friendly elections.

Among the plastic-made campaign materials were that of reelectionist congressman Karlo Nograles, reelectionist councilors leah librado and small Abellera, and comebacking councilors Mabel sunga Acosta and leo Avila, a noted pro-environment advocate. election violations could lead to imprisonment from six months to one year, disqualification to hold public office, or fines. edge Davao sought a statement from the regional Comelec office yesterday but regional election director Wilfredo Jay Balisado was reportedly out of his station.

The City environment and Natural resources Office (CeNrO) likewise said that

TF Tambayayong...

City Ordinance 0361 series of 2010 does not include election campaign materials.

CeNrO chief, Joseph Felizarta said, “only plastic cellophane for food and groceries are prohibited, but posters are not included in the order and that prohibition on plastic posters is not mandated by the Comelec.”

Apparently, Felizarta is not aware of the Comelec’s resolution on non-biodegradable plastic campaign materials.

The said plastic ban provision on the Comelec resolution shall be undertaken jointly by the Comelec, Department of environment and Natural resources (DeNr) and the Department of Interior and local Government (DIlG).

FFROM 2

of those families who is still complete,” David added.

lt. General Jorge segovia, AFP eAsTMINCOM chief said that since they started helping the typhoon Pablo victims after ceasing military operations in the two provinces.

DILG 11...

“even if the Tambayayong was over, the NPA’s want us out of the scene, well, they can’t be successful on that, we will stay until the relief and rehabilitation is over,” segovia said.

“They (NPA) felt jealous because we will be seen by the peo-

ple there, and we have done a good job, paano sila? People won’t recognize their efforts of helping because they’re totally invicible,” he explained. segovia vowed to continue community service efforts and secure Pablo-hit areas.

“They can take sides personally, but they can’t promote candidates in their duty as officials,” he said.

According to latest records of the Comelec, there are a total of 2,2660,156 voters in the region.

In Davao City, there

are 415,812 voters in the 1st district, 297,930 in the 2nd district, and 254,132 in the 3rd district.

In Davao del sur, there are 523,862 voters; 493,178 in Davao del Norte; 370,620 in Compostela Valley; and 304,552 in Davao Oriental.

tions based on the recordings in their office.

He noted reckless driving involving motorcycle owners as the most common violation noted by lTO in the region.

“We believe that this violation generated much on the law enforcement revenue,” he said.

“This is the most

common reason for accidents, we can see in the television and in the newspaper that the root of many accidents here is caused by reckless driving,” Gonzaga explained.

He also added that they will continue to monitor the streets and they will impose tight policy with regards to violations.

FFROM 2

essary, the local Government Unit must ask permission from the Comelec to justify the appointment,” he said.

He also stressed that barangay officials must not use funds or projects to promote certain candidates because of their non-partisan personality.

LTO 11...

FFROM 2

“All revenues will go to the general fund of the lTO,” Gonzaga said.

Gonzaga also stressed the vital role of the installation of CCTV cameras to the increase and efficient collection of law enforcement violations. He added that with CCTV cameras in place in busy intersections, the lTO was able to look into the viola-

11 P36 M worth of TESDA scholarship for 2013

By Che Palicte

A

total of P36 million worth of scholarship grants will be distributed to over 3,000 scholars by the Technical education and skills Development Authority (TesDA) in Davao City and Davao del sur areas.

Nestor Tabada, TesDA Davao City-Davao del sur director said yesterday at the weekly Kapehan sa Dabaw in sM Annex Atrium that there are four scholarship programs available for 2013 which will benefit a total of 3,241 qualified applicants.

Tabada said the four core TesDA programs are Training for Work scholarship Program (TWsP) with a budget

of P9.6 million; Private education student Financial Assistance (PesFA) with a budget of P3.9 million; Cash for Training Program (C4TP) with a budget of P21.6 million in a tie-up to Department of social Welfare and Development (DsWD); and theCoca Cola Philippines-sponsored scholarship with a budget of P772,800.

Tabada said that qualified applicants must have the following qualifications: 17 to 55 years of age; resident of Davao City or Davao del sur; and a personal Income Tax return not exceeding P120,000 a year.

Tabada added that the available courses for the scholarship

grants are agriculture and fishery, tourism, business process outsourcing (BPO) and electronics.

“TesDA was able to generate 18,000 certified passers per year and a 66 percent employment rate,” Tabada said.

He also added that the tie up with Coca Cola Philippines is specifically for ‘sari-sari’ store women entrepreneurs.

“The Coca Cola scholarship started last November 2012 and ended last January for the first batch with 559 graduates and a total of 441 entrepreneurs for the second batch that started last March and will end in June”, he said.

hoping for Nojapa’s immediate release. “right now we are coordinating with the AFP; we are working as a team and we are documenting everything and we will be filing appropriate charges on the rebel group. We will enforce rule of law,” Pinili said.

He said that the rebel groups should know “that it is time to build this nation and they should not make people suffer.

“The government is just like a father, it will accept prodigal sons like them,” Pinili ex-

plained.

He added that Nojapa is safe and suspects that the rebel group will not keep the cop for long because it would be risky on their part especially in taking care of Nojapa’s health.

Pinili said that they have seen the pattern of Nojapa’s abduction and it would still result of freeing the captive.

“All they’re thinking right now is how to give the cop a graceful exit, para din bumango pangalan nila, marami na silang palpak e,” Pinili bared.

mon poster areas, or how many complaints were coming from the region. republic Act 9006 or the Fair election Act only allows the posting of campaign materials to common poster areas or within private property as long as they have the owner’s consent. Plazas, markets and barangay centers

are considered common areas.

Under the Omnibus election Code, a person found guilty of any election offense could face imprisonment of not less than a year but not more than six years and disqualification from running for public office. (lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews)

AFP, PNP call for cop’s release

T

He Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has called for the release of Police Officer 3 ruben Magno Nojapa Jr. who was abducted by the New People’s Army last March 18 at Barangay Mainit, Nabunturan Compostela Valley Province.

Deputy regional director for administration Chief supirentendent Anselmo simeon Pinili, yesterday said at the weekly Kapehan sa Dabaw in sM Annex Atrium that they are

Comelec-11 to erring candidates:

Remove posters in non-designated areas

T

He Commission on elections (Comelec) here will issue notices to local candidates to remove campaign materials posted outside the designated areas, an official said sunday lawyer Wilfredo Jay Balisado, Comelec-11 region director, said his office will still have to document violations on campaign materials posted outside the designated zones.

“We are still verifying reports, document them, and we will ask the violators to remove them,” Balisado said in a text message.

However, Balisado did not mention who are the local bets reportedly posting materials outside the com-

Q

uips

‘BUT of this we are certain –education should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few.’

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

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SPORTS 13

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Knicks rout Celtics 108-89 N

eW YOrK (AP) -Closing in on one goal of ending Boston’s division title reign, the New York Knicks added another.

While they were finishing off their second victory over the Celtics this week, injured forward rasheed Wallace drew a large ‘’50’’ on the board in their locker room, challenging them to strive for a 50-win season.

They’re on pace to get that, too, in what’s shaping up as their best season in two decades.

Carmelo Anthony had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the Knicks extended their winning

streak to eight games and moved closer to ending Boston’s hold on the Atlantic Division title with a 108-89 victory sunday night.

Coach Mike Woodson has talked about winning the division title since taking over last March, and Wallace has given the Knicks (46-26) another target. ‘’It’s very doable for us and we have something to look forward to,’’ Anthony said. ‘’Fifty wins is always a great thing in this league to accomplish, winning a division is always a great thing to accomplish, a great accomplishment in this league. so them two

things are definitely doable, we’ve just got to keep it moving, keep it going.’’

The Knicks won the season series for the first time since 2003-04, when they also went 3-1 against Boston. New York climbed back into a tie with Indiana in the race for the No. 2 seed in the eastern Conference, which would currently mean a playoff meeting with the Celtics.

Chris Copeland added 22 points and raymond Felton had 18 for the Knicks, who last won eight in a row from Nov. 28Dec. 12, 2010. They will try to extend the streak Tuesday at NBA-leading Miami.

the league’s Hall of Fame, along with Norman Black and Billy ray Bates. salud revealed that the idea to name the trophy after Parks was brought up in his first season on the job.

“I told him about that during the latter stage of my first season as commissioner when he was asking our office if he could watch the games live because he’s not associated with any team at that time,” said salud.

“It’s just unfortunate that he’s no longer with us, but to name the award after Parks, who won the

Best Import seven times and had shown proper decorum inside and outside the court, is only appropriate.”

News of the passing of PBA Hall of Fame import Bobby Parks after battling laryngeal cancer spread on saturday, leaving a trail of sadness in the Philippine basketball community.

Tim Cone, the longest-tenured coach in the PBA, shared his great respect for Parks, who holds the record for most Best Import awards won in the league.

PBA honors Parks T

He PBA will pay tribute to Bobby Parks by naming the Best Import trophy after the Hall of Fame reinforcement, who passed away saturday. league commissioner Chito salud announced the news a day after Parks succumbed to his battle with cancer.

“It’s only fitting,” salud said. “We will name the Best Import award after him.”

Parks won Best Import a record seven times in the PBA. He is one of only three imports named to

LOOKING FOR AN OPENING. Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce, left, looks to pass around New York Knicks’ Kenyon Mar-

tin, center, and Raymond Felton in a loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA at Madison Square Garden. (AP)

14 SPORTS

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

DASIA GHQ wins debut match s

HOrTHANDeD DAsIA General Headquarters clobbered DAsIA Motorpool, 89 – 70, to open its campaign on a high note in the escandor Group of Companies Basketball Tournament at the Genesis 88 Gym on sunday. seven players were enough for GHQ to post its first win in the tournament, pulling through in the final half of the match. skipper Benjie sobiaco torched in 30 points for GHQ which stayed within the striking distance in the first two period and turned things around in the final half.

Charlie Nino made 16 points and Jekjek Melendres converted four triples, including a backto-back midway of the fourth period, for a total of 12 points to backstop sobiaco’s performance.

Motorpool absorbed its second loss in as many games in the tournament sanctioned by samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (sBP) region XI. sherwin santiago scored 20 points in the Motorpool’s setback.

In the other match, Premia Packaging Corporation defeated rCBC Armored, 67 – 62.

Bouncing back from an opening day loss at the hands of Glenn escandor-led Genesis 88, Premia improved its slate to 1 – 1. louie Aquino drilled in 23 points as Persibal Duran made 12 baskets for PPC. Bandayanon had 27 points for rCBC.

Another mark for Messi GOING FOR THE GOAL. Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona makes his move against Celta Vigo. Messi scored two goals but Barca was held to a 2-2 draw.

ADrID – lionel Messi notched up another goal-scoring record saturday – but Barcelona’s cruise towards a 22nd title was halted when Borja Oubina hit a late equaliser which handed Celta Vigo a deserved

M

2-2 draw.

The visitors were without a number of first-team regulars and were punished for a slow start when Natxo Insa prodded home from close range to put Celta in front seven minutes before half-time.

Also, on the last shot he passed the legendary Wilt Chamberlain to become the NBA’s fourth alltime leading scorer. With that jumper, he scored points number 31,420 and 31,421 in a brilliant career. Watch: (It also didn’t hurt that the points came in the midst of an 11-2 run that pushed the lakers back into the game, as they desperately try to keep pace with the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks for the eighth and final playoff speed in the West. The lakers entered the second quarter down 12 points after giving up an embarrassing 37 first-quarter points to the Kings, but came back to take the lead in that second 12-minute frame. The lakers went on to win, 103-98.) seven years ago, Kobe Bryant fell short by 19 points when he scored the second-most amount of points in an

NBA game, tossing in 81 against the Toronto raptors in a win. Wilt famously went for 100 points in 1962, dominating a tiny New York Knicks front line in a dubious contest that saw his Philadelphia Warriors fouling New York down the stretch in order to get the ball back inside Wilt’s record-setting mitts. Nothing against Wilt, but Bryant’s difficulty and the iffy road that Chamberlain took toward his 100 points are why I rank Bryant’s 81 on the same level as The Big Dipper’s 100.

Bryant, on record at least, doesn’t appear to be bothered with moving up lists like these.

He would prefer another run toward the larry O’Brien trophy, one that would surpass lakers legend Magic Johnson in terms of championship rings. From esPN’s Dave McMenamin:

The lead only lasted five minutes though as Messi released Cristian Tello to curl home a fine equaliser and the roles were reversed 18 minutes from time when Tello cut the ball back for Messi to drill low into the net.

The goal was Messi’s 43rd league goal of the campaign and also secured another record for the World Player of the Year.

By scoring for the 19th straight game, he became the first player to score against every other side in

the spanish league in consecutive matches.

However, Celta gave their chances of survival a huge boost as Oubina headed home Fabian Orellana’s cross at the back post two minutes from time.

Move over Wilt, Kobe takes over no. 4 I

T took until the 8:50 mark of the second quarter for Kobe Bryant to score his first points on saturday, as he missed his first five shots and first free-throw attempt before hitting a pair of freebies against the hapless sacramento Kings. As is usually the case with scorers, though, seeing those shots go through the net worked wonders for Bryant. A possession later, Kobe (working the entire first half through a painful bone spur in his left foot) called off a Pau Gasol screen to take John salmons off the dribble for the score. On the touch after that, Bryant crossed salmons over to nail the pull-up jumper at the free-throw line, a perfect encapsulation of a far more efficient 201213 season (free throws, drives, short jumpers) that has turned Kobe Bryant into an offensive marvel even at the age of 34.

4TH ALL-TIME SCORER. Lakers star Kobe Bryant (left) has passed another Laker legend Wilt Chamberlain as the NBA’s fourth all-time leading scorer.

INdulge!

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

TRAVEL

Samal Island: Return to the beach

WIth daily temperatures that soar past 33 degrees Centigrade, summer is definitely here and what better way for Durianburg’s urbanites to cool down than a visit to the beaches of Samal Island?

Actually, with so many different and beautiful beaches (and even mountain resorts) in the region, it is merely a matter of making a choice and simply driving or taking the boat there.

In the case of me and my friends, it was actually John B. who decided on the day itself to go to Paradise Island and celebrate.

Just a mere 5-minute boat ride, Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort is one of, if not, the closest whitesand beaches accessible to Dabawenyos. There lies the beauty of living in Davao City where one can decide to hit the beach

on a mere notice, have

brunch on the beach, and be back downtown or at the mall in the afternoon.

I remember back in the 80’s when the resort was just starting out and the entrance fee was a mere Php25 per person.

Of course, with the influx of more people and the increase in the popularity of the resort, it is now at Ph200 per person but I guess the price is not yet high enough to dissuade the beach-going public.

On the menu for John’s birthday is Paradise Island’s famous chicken barbecue and crispy lechon kawali. We also had some stir-fried seafood and vegetables for the health conscious ones in the group.

The food of course was ordered way in advance thanks to Paradise Island’s legendary long food waiting time no thanks to the number of people on the resort and perhaps an outdated ordering system as John’s birthday pancit did not make it to the table.

Although I was not able to hit the water nor get some sun rays on my skin for my tanning project,

overall the quick beach fix was a welcome break for everyone in the group and is a herald to more summer days ahead.

Follow me on Twitter and on Istagram @ kennethkingong for more foodie finds, travel tips and happenings in, around and beyond Durianburg.

EDGEDAVAO

A2 INdulge!

UP AND ABOUT

The King and I extends run to May

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EVENTS

ThE voyage to the dazzling land of Siam continues in The King and I, extended until May 2013 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater!

The King and I, the fifth masterpiece of the celebrated tandem of Rodgers and hammerstein, is the story of a widowed English school teacher who travels to Siam to serve as tutor to the many children of the King. Anna’s task of introducing the kingdom to the modern world brings about disputes with the King whom he learned to respect and love over time.

Considered as one of the most beloved classics in theater, The King and I has garnered world-wide acclaim, including 5 Tony Awards for its original 1951 Broadway run, and 5 Academy Awards for its 1966 film adaptation. It is a story as beautifully intricate and multi-faceted as the culture it portrays, brought to life with timeless songs and melodies.

With musical numbers backed by the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and performances from the Philippine Ballet Theater, The King and I will be directed by premier concert and theater director Freddie Santos, with lead roles to be essayed by internationally renowned theater actors, Noni Buencamino / Bo Cerrudo (King) and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo / Shiela Valderrama (Anna).

Crystal Waves Hotel and Resort, Bread of Life Nueva Ecija choose Sun PLACINg itself in the vanguard of the modernization and development of the Nueva Ecija province, Sun Cellular, through its corporate solutions arm Sun Business, has been tapped for the communication needs of Cabanatuan-based Crystal Waves hotel and Resort.

Already one of the premiere destinations in Nueva Ecija, Crystal Waves sports multiple swimming pools of varying sizes, outdoor activity areas, souvenir shops, and accommodations for families of any size.

Crystal Waves president Erlinda San Pedro personally graced the contract signing event held in Cabanatuan City.

San Pedro is also the president of Bread of Life Nueva Ecija, an evangelical communion of churches spread across the Philippines. Bread of Life also formally entered an agreement with Sun Business during the event.

These partnerships with Sun Business provide both Crystal Waves and Bread of Life with key Sun Business services, namely Message Cast and Sun Cellular’s postpaid services.

One of Sun Business’ more popular services, Message Cast, lets Crystal Waves and Bread of Life disseminate information directly to a wide range of customers with its ability to text multiple recipients in just one click. The service also allows them to customize the sender name for easy brand recall and customer validation.

Present during the contract signing are (above photo, from left) Edita Juliano, Sun Cellular Field Operations head for North and Central Luzon, Erlinda San Pedro, President of Crystal Waves hotel and Resort and Bread Of Life Nueva Ecija, and Ronell Jiao, Sun Cellular Corporate Solutions head.

For more information on other business solutions, log on to Sun Business’ dedicated website, http://sunbusiness.com.ph/, or call 395-8PRO (776). You can also check for updates by logging on to Sun Cellular’s official Facebook page: facebook.com/suncellularph or on Twitter: twitter.com/suncelltweets.

Sun Business is powered by Sun Cellular, a member of the PLDT group.

MDCL Fashion Channel holds fashion concert MDCL Fashion Channel held a fashion concert last March 23, 2013, 6:00pm at the D’Leonor hotel, along JP Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City. The show featured Ms. Mercy Lim’s fashion designs summer collection as well as the couture designs of Davao designers Joao tarepe and Ronnie Nacua.

The fashion concert also featured ABS-CBN’s Jake Cuenca, Glam Models under Jon Nunez, Mutya ng Dabaw 2013 Marianne Mae te, ABSCBN’s Okiddo former host Charmaine Bless Shotwell and Stand-up Comedians.

The show also served as Mercy Lim’s post birthday celebration.

Part of the Proceeds of this show was donated to the less fortunate children of 2nd district under the auspices of CSSDO in Davao and Philippine Red Cross.

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! A3

ENTERTAINMENT

Reese Witherspoon goes brunette REESE Witherspoon is no longer legally blonde.

The actress debuted a new, darker ‘do in Nashville yesterday when she was spotted rocking a brunette look instead of her usual blonde tresses while out to lunch with hubby Jim Toth and their baby, Tennessee (so cute!).

So what prompted Reese to switch to the dark side?

Usually, a new movie role is behind a drastic switch with the ‘do (unless you’re Rihanna), but there’s no word on a specific project causing the change, so maybe her recent birthday celebration inspired the new hair (regardless, who doesn’t like to mix things up a bit from time to time?).

Witherspoon kicked

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off her 37th birthday by heading to Cabo San Lucas with her hubby for a romantic, kids-free vacay last week. The couple stayed right on the beach in a one bedroom suite

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that had a private pool, a source told E! News, with the birthday girl spending her days laying by the pool, tanning and relaxing.

Ah, the life.

Lindsay Lohan pays a secret visit to The Wanted’s Max George ThE guys from The Wanted got a little visit from a hollywood friend.

A source tells E! News exclusively that Lindsay Lohan stopped by the bands’ house last week in Los Angeles.

But you should probably know that this isn’t something that happens often...or at all.

The source also tells us that this is the first and only time LiLo’s gone to visit the band while both of them are in L.A. And, yes, at one point people thought a little something was going on between the actress and band member Max george, but our source adds that their relationship is “just friends,” espe-

cially since she’s now dating guitarist Avi Snow. hey, maybe Lohan just wanted to bounce some ideas off of them before

she hits the recording studio again.

The group’s new E! reality show, The Wanted Life, premieres in June!

Angelina Jolie wins copyright lawsuit over In the Land of Blood and Honey ANgELINA Jolie is in the clear in a lawsuit that claimed she plagiarized In the Land of Blood and honey.

A Los Angeles federal judge tentatively dismissed the copyrightinfringement suit Friday, in which writer James Braddock accused Jolie of copying his 2007 book The Soul Shattering for her film, according to The hollywood Reporter.

Braddock claimed Jolie’s romantic flick about love that flourished between a Serbian soldier and a Bosnian woman during war was based

partly on his book, and that she used it while researching her movie.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. gee shut down Brad-

dock’s claims, ruling that, while both stories focus on “love during wartime,” the contents of the two stories were not “substantially” similar.

Judge gee called In the Land of Blood and honey a story of “betrayal, revenge and tragedy with little or no hope,” and referred to Slamanje Duse (The Soul Shattering) as a story centered on “family, love and strength.”

The judge ordered Braddock to show the court why his complaint shouldn’t be dismissed without prejudice no later than April 12.

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VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

TRAVEL Seda Abreeza’s facade.

Seda Abreeza Hotel soft opening today SeDA Abreeza conveniently located at J.P. Laurel Ave., Davao City is the latest addition to the Seda hotel chain in the country. With its soft opening on today, Seda Abreeza initially offers two floors composed of tastefully – furnished and well – appointed Deluxe Rooms with King and twin beds in modern contemporary interiors by famed architect Conrad Onglao. each room at Seda Abreeza features state-ofthe-art facilities and amenities such as a 40-inch LeD hDtV , media panel with hDMI, USB and A/V connectivity, phone with Ipod dock , in-room electronic safe which can accommodate a 13-inch laptop, coffee/tea making facilities and complimentary WIFI to name a few.

Once completed, Seda Abreeza shall have a total of 186 rooms ranging from Deluxe, Club and Premier spread across all 11 storeys.

At the lobby level is Misto, an all day dining restaurant which serves buffet breakfast, ala carte lunch and dinner and all - time international favorites. Seda Abreeza also has 10 meeting rooms located at the lobby and the mezzanine level to accommodate special events and function needs, be they small and intimate to big and grand.

Seda hotel is right beside Abreeza, a threestorey ultra-modern shopping mall that sits on a four-hectare space of a sprawling 10-hectare commercial complex. It is

the first mall of the Ayala Group of Companies in Davao and houses over 300 plush shops, restaurants and swanky recreation hubs including four theaters with a three-dimensional cinema, a huge parking lot and lush landscapes.

To know more about Seda Abreeza and the other Seda Hotel chain properties, please visit www.sedahotels.com or call telephone numbers (+632) 322 8888 and 244 3000 .

Modern contemporary interiors by Conrad Onglao.

Deluxe room’s king bed.

EDGEDAVAO

SPORTS 15

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Uproar to Final Four louisville faces surprising Wichita state, Michigan takes on syracuse MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO’S THE FINEST OF THE FOUR? The Final Four cast is now complete with Michigan (top) facing Syracuse (right) and Louisville (bottom, left) taking on Wichita State (bottom, right).

A

TlANTA (AP) -- An inspired louisville squad vs. the surprising shockers.

A new group of Fab Wolverines vs. the stingiest zone defense in college basketball.

After a weekend of blowouts and another upset, the Final Four is set.

Top overall seed louisville will face Wichita state at the Georgia Dome next saturday, while Michigan takes on syracuse in the other national semifinal.

The winners advance to the April 8 championship.

On sunday, the Cardinals drew inspiration from a gruesome injury to guard Kevin Ware and cruised past Duke 85-63 in the Midwest regional. Michigan led from the opening tip, routing Florida 79-59 in the south.

A day earlier, syracuse shut down Marquette 5539 to win the east. Wichita state punched its Final Four ticket with a 70-66 upset of Ohio state out West.

In the final year of the Big east before it splits into two new conferences, louisville and syracuse provided a fitting send-off to a league that quickly became a basketball powerhouse after it was founded in 1979.

Before it goes, this version of the Big east has a shot at one more national title.

With two teams, no less.

The Cardinals - who, like syracuse, are moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference - were the only No. 1 seed to make it to the Final Four. And, boy, it’s been an impressive run. louisville (33-5) has won its four NCAA games by an average margin of nearly 22 points, capped by a second-half blowout of Duke after the Cardinals shook off the incredible shock of Ware’s injury with about 6 1/2 minutes to go before halftime. ‘’We won this for him,’’ coach rick Pitino said.

The sophomore

snapped his lower right leg after coming down awkwardly while defending a 3-point shot. The injury occurred right in front of the louisville bench, where the players gasped and turned away quickly at the sight of Ware’s dangling leg, which was broken in two places. russ smith collapsed onto the floor, along with several players, and was crying as doctors attended to Ware. While Ware was loaded onto a stretcher, the Cardinals gathered at midcourt until Pitino called them over, saying the injured player wanted to talk to them before he left.

Davao breaks Jr. NBA records

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AVAO City continued its streak of breaking records in the Jr. NBA Philippines 2013 presented by Alaska by posting the biggest number so far of Jr. NBA regional selection Camp participants -- 499 kids – at the University of southeastern Philippines here.

This tops the previous Jr. NBA rsC attendance record of 355 kids set in

the NCr regional selection Camp in 2011 at the Xavier school Gym in san Juan. Davao set its first Jr. NBA record in 2010 when it posted a record attendance of 250 coaches for the Coaches Clinic of the Jr. NBA that year at the Montaña Gym. Just last January Davao City again set an astounding record attendance of 1013 kids in the Jr. NBA school Clin-

ics held at the Ateneo de Davao High school Covered Courts.

The Davao camp participants came largely from Davao del sur, with more kids coming from Davao del Norte, Agusan Province, Iligan, Bukidnon, Compostela Valley, Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental and the Visayas (Ormoc, Bacolod, Cebu and Bohol).

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EDGEDAVAO Sports

VOL. 6 ISSUE 12 • TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

JR. NBA. Jr. NBA head coach Sefu Bernard (5th from left, back row) and former PBA star Jojo Lastimosa (7th from left) with aspirants of the regional

selection camp in Davao City in yesterday’s opening at the USEP Gym. Lean Daval Jr.

Jr. NBA coach eyes 10 Davao qualifiers

By Neil Bravo

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T least ten promising basketeers from the Jr. NBA Davao regional selection camp may emerge from the record field of nearly 400 aspirants that trooped to the UseP Gym yesterday.

Coach sefu Bernard, director of the Jr. NBA program, told edge Davao that he expects to come up with his Top 40 list after Day One before trimming it further down to Top 10 after the two-day camp which has attracted the most number of aspirants after two camps this year.

“We are extremely happy to see a lot of kids come out for the camp here in Davao. We were looking forward to this camp knowing that we had a good turnout here last January for the Jr. NBA clinic,” said Bernard who previously handled player development for the Toronto raptors.

Bernard is in town for the second time this year to personally handle the selection camp assisted by a battery of coaches including former PBA star Jojo lastimosa.

“We are looking for these kids to excel according to our star values (shooting, passing, rebounding, dribbling, defense, lay-up). There are so many parameters but we are also looking beyond the playing skills.

We will also weigh them through the intangibles, and that includes their attitude and how they play in a team,” Bernard added.

The Jr. NBA regional selection camp is brought to Davao by event partner Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and presented by Alaska Milk.

As of 1:00 pm yesterday, the five players who have notched the highest scores were Assumption College of Davao’s Mahloney Tarranza, Martin Condolon, earl Vincent Areola, Miguel Carlos Muin and

elwyn Kyle Toraja.

The 13-year old Tarranza, a 5-6 pointguard with a 69-inch wingspan, tallied 80.10 points, followed by Condolon with 74.60, Areola with 74.10, Muin with 72.16 and Toraja with 70.40.

Muin, a 13-year old power forward who came all the way from Zamboanga City, also showed a lot

SCRATCH. Baylor ‘s Brittney Griner (42) shoots as Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel (23) defends in the first half of a regional semifinal game in the women’s NCAA

of promise. He stands 5-8 with a 71-inch wingspan.

“We came here two times already for this camp. The first one was last March 9 but it was postponed. I am happy Migs did well today,” said Muin’s grandfather retired Tawi-Tawi rTC Judge Abdulmaid K. Muin, who accompanied his grandson for the Davao camp.

college basketball tournament in Oklahoma City, Sunday (Monday in Manila), March 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)