Edge Davao 7 Issue 227

P 15.00 • 20 PAGES

www.edgedavao.net

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

EDGEDAVAO Serving a seamless society

FINISHED. Construction workers disassemble metal pieces of scaffolding after putting on the finishing touches on the façade of Felcris Centrale along Quimpo Boulevard in Davao City which will be inaugurated on February 17. Lean Daval Jr.

NEW BACKDOOR

Pablo survivors leave Ph through DavOr

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

D

crc@edgedavao.net

AVAO Oriental has become a backdoor for survivors of 2012’s typhoon Pablo to leave the country as undocumented workers in search of jobs in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Unfortunately, many of them end up being trafficked and exploited in those countries.

At the sidelines of yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao Annex, National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) 11

reintegration officer Rea B. Sa-an said the number of cases of distressed and undocumented OFWs in Davao Oriental may exceed the agency’s target of 225 for the region for this year.

NRCO, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), provides livelihood training, livelihood assistance fund, and support services to OFWs who suffer in foreign lands. Most of its beneficiaries were women. “ M a r a m i n g

nagbabackdoor sa Davao Oriental and most of them (become) victims of human trafficking,” Sa-an said.

She said most undocumented OFWs head for Malaysia and Indonesia where some are arrested and deported back to the Philippines.

“Ang mahirap sa backdoor ay wala silang (The problem with going out through the backdoor is that they don’t have) documents.

We need documents, at least pay slips from their

employers, to prove that there’s an employeremployee relationship status,” she added.

Sa-an said the NRCO cannot extend any assistance to an aggrieved OFW who cannot present any document that can prove that he or she worked in a foreign land.

She said she is going to Banaybanay, Davao Oriental today for a threeday validation of the alleged cases of Filipinos going to

FNEW, 14

INSIDE EDGE

ROCK YOUR PROM! Indulge A4

2 THE BIG NEWS EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

City Health to DMEMS: Comply or be shut down SNACK TIME. A couple treats their children to freshly-cooked bananacue while enjoying a cool morning at Rizal Park in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

T

abf@edgedavao.net

HE Davao City Health Office (CHO) urged the Davao Medical Education Management Services (DMEMS), the company that operates three dormitories for Indian medical students of the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF), to undertake measures to repair the drainage system in

the kitchen of its dormitory in DMSF Drive.

The CHO environment and sanitation division made its recommendation in its report dated January 28 after it found in its third inspection last week that the drainage of the kitchen was defective and wastewater was overflowing from the drainage pipe.

Quitain repeats warning on missing flag ceremony

C

ITY administrator J. Melchor Quitain yesterday reiterated that he will sanction City Hall personnel who do not attend the weekly flag ceremony.

In yesterday’s flag raising ceremony, Quitain ordered all the administrative officers in all departments to submit an attendance of their personnel every flag raising ceremony “so that I can know who has not been attending and I will be able to take appropriate measures against these people.”

Last month, Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) head Erwin Alparaque

said strict monitoring will be implemented in all the departments to make sure all employees comply with the compulsory attendance for the flag ceremonies.

Alparaque said every department head of the city is also required to submit the attendance to HRMO to ensure that all their employees are present at the flag ceremony.

He said if an employee is not around during the flag raising ceremony, he or she will be automatically marked late.

One who is habitually late for the ceremony will

FQUITAIN, 14

The inspectors also recommended that DMEMS institute pest control measures especially against flies to ensure the safety of the food served to the students.

The report said the team found an abundance of flies inside the kitchen and dining area and noticed that there was no vermin abatement

plan.

In an interview, CHO environment and sanitation head Robert L. Oconer told Edge Davao his office will inspect the facility again today (Tuesday) after giving it five days last week to comply with structural requirements.

Oconer said aside from his team, other departments will

join the inspection today.

He said the five-day deadline lapsed since last Friday and if DMEMS does not comply with the order, “we will recommend to the Mayor for the total closure of the establishment.”

Earlier, Oconer said the DMEMS dormitory in Margarita Village, named

Happy Home Dormitory, also has a structural violation, while the one along Jacinto Street has no violations.

Based on the CHO report dated January 14, the garbage bins at Happy Home Dormitory had no covers and plastic liners.

Some of the toilet doors

wires and cables within the vicinity of City Hall and the Sangguniang Panlugsod will be placed underground.

The ordinance aims to bolster the image of the city as internationally competitive, making it tourist- and investment-attractive while sustaining and enhancing its environment.

“This effort of the Sangguniang Panglungsod (City Council) of Davao provides Dabawenyos a clear model of sustainable and aesthetic response to the rising demands of progress and their impact to the city’s environment,” the

order said.

The technical team will be chaired by the mayor to be represented by city administrator Melchor V. Quitain, The vice-chair will be City Engineer’s Office (CEO) chief Roland C. Reyes.

The members of the team will be the Office of the City Building Official and the heads or duly authorized representatives of the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Communications, City Planning and Development Office, Public Safety and Command Center, City Transport and Traffic

Management Office, Department of Public Works and Highways, National Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Commission, Davao City Water District and Bureau of Fire Protection.

The team will also have two authorized representatives from Davao Light and Power Company, PLDT-SMART, Globe Telecom, DC Tech, Sky Cable, and BayanTel. The technical team will formulate and implement the integrated plan design or plan within 30 days upon its creation.

FCITY, 14

Team formed to bury City Hall wires T

HE Davao City government has issued an order forming a Wires and Cable (WAC) technical team that will lead the underground placement of electrical and communication wires between City Hall and the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) Building.

Executive Order No. 2 series of 2015 signed by Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte last January 28 constitutes the WAC technical team based on Ordinance (EO) No. 0177 - 14 series of 2014 which states that all electrical and telecommunication

FTEAM, 14

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

NEWS 3 PSA to use Google Earth in conduct of 2015 census

EDGEDAVAO

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

T

HI-TECH CENSUS. Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) provincial statistical officer Randolph Gales (left) bares the agency’s plan to use Google Earth in conducting its 2015 mid-decade Census on Population and Housing starting

in August while Local Civil Registrar chief lawyer Leo Anthony Braceros listens. The two graced yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

US EMBASSY ON MAMASAPANO:

HE Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) will be using Google Earth as it conducts the 2015 mid-decade Census on Population and Housing starting on August.

PSA 11 provincial statistical officer Randolph Gales told reporters that about 5,000 enumerators will be conducting a door-to-door survey in Davao Region.

“PSA will source out updated maps from Google Earth. Aside from being a secondary basis in our census, it will be also used for checking the validity of census results,” Gales told reporters during the weekly Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Annex yesterday.

Google Earth is a virtual

“

On Monday, a day after a bloody clash between supposedly friendly forces – the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with whom it signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in March last year — US troops in civilian clothes were seen accompanying wounded members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police, into a white helicopter with green stripe that shuttled between the PNP provincial police office in Shariff Aguak town and

Mall management says Abreeza ‘structurally safe’

T

HE management of Abreeza Mall yesterday said its structural consultants have declared the mall “structurally safe” after last Saturday morning’s incident in which one of the mall’s internal roads collapsed.

In an official statement, mall management said there were “no injuries, and our structural consultants have declared Abreeza Mall as structurally safe and stable as it continues with its normal operations.”

The incident happened at 8:25 a.m. on January 31 when one of the internal roads adjacent to the Material Recovery Facility in the Abreeza Estate gave way as a result of rapid ground settlement.

Earlier reports said sev-

eral meters of the road beside the ongoing Aeon Towers construction collapsed.

Mall operations manager Luigi Escano was quoted as saying a similar incident happened in September last year and that the management of Aeon Towers shouldered the minor repairs made on the road that time.

In its statement yesterday, management said Abreeza’s technical team is closely coordinating with the City Engineer’s Office, Office of the Building Official, and AEON Towers in thoroughly assessing and gathering more facts about the incident.

“At this point, the area remains closed and traffic has been rerouted,” the statement said.

the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion in Camp Siongco, Datu Odin Sinsuat town also in Maguindanao.

As of Saturday, the death toll in the tragedy in barangays Tukanalipao and Pidsandawan in Mamasapano, Maguindanao has reached almost 70: 44 SAF personnel, 18 from the MILF, their names given by MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal – for a total of 62 combatants. The figures for slain civilians vary from two to six.

Cotabato City-based Fr. Eliseo Mercado, Jr., former

Notre Dame University President, posted on Facebook that an informant told him one American soldier was killed and another injured during the operations.

“There were no US casualties,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer also denied a report of the Manila Standard that US military intelligence and drones were used in the Mamasapano operations.

The Standard quoted a police general as saying the US government “provided President Benigno Aquino III

FNO, 14

globe, map and geographical information program that is accessible through personal computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

Gales said Google Earth was used in 2010 to doublecheck the validity of the data gathered from the 2010 housing and population census at the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

He said the good thing with Google Earth is that it can provide updated aerial shots of the areas.

Gales said maps provided

by Google Earth will be printed and given to enumerators as a source of information during the conduct of the one-month

FPSA, 14

Public ignores civilians slain in Mamasapano: Hataman

No American casualties, T no intel help, no drones NO US casualties, no help on intelligence, no drones.”

This sums up the response of Kurt Hoyer, press attaché and the spokesperson of the United States Embassy in Manila, as more allegations of US involvement in the operations in Mamasapano have surfaced in newspaper reports and social media and various groups have called for an investigation into its the alleged involvement.

“Our involvement was as stated,” Hoyer told MindaNews in a text message over the weekend.

crc@edgedavao.net

HE clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan. 25 also claimed the lives of four civilians, Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao emphasized in his message Monday to officials and employees of the regional government.

Speaking during the flag-raising ceremony, Hataman lamented that public attention has focused only on the 44 PNP Special Action Force operatives and 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas who died in the clash.

The encounter also killed four civilians, including a five-year old girl, injured six other civilians and displaced over 6,000 residents in six barangays of Mamasapano, ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Action Response

Team (HEART) said.

Classes in 13 schools have been suspended affecting over 6,000 students, HEART added.

Hataman read his solidarity message for the civilian victims whose families, he said, have to endure psychological and emotional pain.

The governor and all employees wore black t-shirts with the words “Truth, Justice, Peace”, and all offices inside the ARMM complex had their flags flown at half-mast to honor all those who died in the clash that “could have been avoided”.

At one point in his speech, Hataman paused, wiped his tears and offered prayers for all the victims and the attainment of genuine peace in Mindanao.

He said he felt the stigma

FPUBLIC, 14

CRACKED. A construction worker walks near the huge cracks at Abreeza Mall’s service road which collapsed last Saturday. Abreeza’s structural consultants assured the public that the mall’s main structure is safe. Lean Daval Jr.

4 BIGGER PICTURE EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

OUTRAGED. A woman holds a sign stating: “In memory of Mr. Haruna Yukawa,” a Japanese hostage killed by the Islamic State, during a rally in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015. Appalled and saddened by news Sunday of another Japanese hostage Kenji Goto’s beheading, apparently by Islamic State extremists, Japan ordered heightened security precautions, but vowed not to give in to terrorism. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Phl condemns brutal killing of Japanese journalist by ISIS T

HE Philippines on Monday joined the international community in “resolutely” condemning what appears to be the brutal execution

of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto by Islamic State militants.

Last week, an ISIS militant was shown in a video beheading journalist Kenji

Goto, 47, sparking outrage in Japan.

The video, which came less than a week after the execution of another Japanese man by the same

“He was immensely relieved and he was desperate to come home to Australia and reunite with his family, his parents Lois and Juris, his brothers Michael, who was with him, and Andrew,” Bishop said.

She said Australian consular officials in Egypt moved as quickly as they could to collect Greste from prison and escort him to the airport and make arrangements for his departure.

“From my discussion with him he was very keen to be back on a beach and be lying in the sun in Australia,” she said.

“He expressed his heartfelt thanks for the support he received here in Australia during this ordeal. He thanked the Australian Government, the public of Australia and particularly the journalists who had rallied to his cause and he told me that it had

sustained him through the very long time that he spent in jail.

“He is now in Cyprus. He has been met by Australian consular officials there and will then make his way home to Australia to be with his family and friends once more.”

Greste’s family, who will hold a press conference in Brisbane later on Monday, confirmed his release from jail in a statement posted on social media.

His brother Andrew said the family was ecstatic and called for the world to respect his brother’s privacy and to give him time to appreciate his freedom.

“We’re ecstatic that Peter has been released and we now ask if the world could respect his privacy, to give him time to appreciate his freedom before he faces the media,” Andrew said. (PNA/Xinhua)

group, has not been validated, but Japanese officials believe it is authentic.

“We express our condolences to the Japanese people as they cope with the

recent loss of two Japanese lives,” a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) statement said.

The Philippines, it added, “joins Japan and the

international community in global efforts to thwart the propagation of extremist ideas, terrorism, violence and crimes against humanity.” (PNA)

Egypt frees Australian journalist from prison

A

U S T R A L I A journalist Peter Greste has been deported from Egypt after spending more than a year in jail, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Monday.

Greste was set free by order of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who issued under a new law allowing foreign prisoners to be deported. Greste, and two colleagues, CanadianEgyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed, were jailed under charges of spreading false news and aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

The fate of Fahmy and Mohamed is still uncertain.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Bishop said she had spoken to Greste shortly after he was released on Monday and he had been released “unconditionally.”

Juris, right, and Lois Greste, parents of Australian journalist Peter Greste seen in a poster, and his brother Andrew, pose with a poster of him after speaking to the media at a press conference in Brisbane, Australia Monday, Feb. 2, 2015.

Peter Greste, a reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released from an Egyptian prison and deported Sunday after more than a year behind bars. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

5 ECONOMY

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Operation of DGTB sea route to finally start this year: MinDA

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

O

crc@edgedavao.net

PERATION of the Davao City-General Santos City-TahunaBitung (DGTB) sea route is set to finally commence this year.

The DGBT sea route was supposed to kick-off last June 13, 2014 with the departure of MV Beverly of Indonesianbased shipping line PT Kanaka from Bitung, Indonesia. The ship was supposed to dock in General Santos City on the next day, en-route to Davao City on June 16 of last year.

Romeo Montenegro, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) director of investment promotions and public affairs, told Edge Davao in an email that the expected operation of the private sector-initiated sea route is still “consistent with the timeline of the ASEAN.” “Afesco Shipping Company, (jointly formed

by Filipino and Indonesian investors) is currently working on the necessary permits from Indonesian maritime offices so it could operate internationally,” Montenegro said.

He said the sea vessel, which will be initially utilized

by Afesco for the DGTB sea route, is a roll-on roll-off (RORO) ship owned by the local government of Talaud, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Montenegro said that the Philippine Asean RORO Interagency Committee (IAC) headed by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has been meeting regularly to discuss plans of action for 2015.

“A bilateral consultation between the IAC and the government of Indonesia sometime first quarter of this year is currently being planned out to fast-track the establishment of the route, and formulate strategies in sustaining the operation once launched,” he said.

MinDA has tapped private entities who expressed interest to operate within DGB and other East Asean Growth Area(EAGA) points. .

“While the final schedule and regulatory requirements to commence this operation

are yet to be firmed up, the following goods were initially identified as products for export: feeds, cement, fertilizer, ice cream products, poultry, fresh fruits, synthetics; while imports, on the other hand, include: matured coconut, copra, corn, feeds, lumber, cement, cordage, high value crops (bell pepper, calamansi, potatoes, okra, ampalaya), meat (goat, pork, beef), peanuts, aqua products, charcoal, soya, coffee beans, sugar,” Montenegro said.

He added that the Philippines can export non-perishable product as the Indonesian Ministry of Trade lifted the ban of three of the six identified commodities in Bitung Port, namely: garments, toys, medicine, processed food and beverages, shoes and electronics.

However, on July 3 last year, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade officially released its updated regulations via Ministry of Trade Regulation No. 36/M-DAG/

PER/7/2014) allowing the entry of three out of the six goods: food and beverages; electronics and garments.

“The said regulation identifies Bitung Port as one of the international gateway ports of Indonesia, allowing for more liberal import/export policies and regulations and more active trade in international goods, including goods from Southern Philippines,” Montenegro said.

This was made possible through the combined efforts of concerned agencies in the Philippines and Indonesia, especially in the light of their efforts to increase transport connectivity, trade and investment in BIMP-EAGA, according to him.

The previous classification of Bitung Port as “Category I” (“National Port” but with limited international port calls), Montenegro said, has hampered the launching of the DGTB RORO initiative, given the restrictions on the entry of six identified commodities.

EXPANSION. Philippine Health Insurance (Philhealth) 11 social insurance officer Kleah Gayle Dublin gives updates of the agency’s expansion programs to better serve members and ensure that all citizens are given the health care they need. Dublin was a guest in yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

6 THE ECONOMY

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

DTI to revive jewelry industry T

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) here is working towards the revival of the local jewelry industry through its Shared Service Facility (SSF) initiative.

Considered as the One Town One Product (OTOP) in the town of Monkayo, the industry is surely a vital component of its economy.

DTI-Comval officer-incharge Lucky Siegfred M. Balleque said that the aim of reviving the jewelry-making business gets a boost as the office has provided machines and equipment through its SSF Project.

“Once a thriving cottage industry in the town known for its gold-rich mountain of Diwalwal, jewelry making business declined after Typhoon Pablo swept the municipality to ruins last December 4, 2012.

The calamity brought the town into survival mode, prioritizing food and shelter before anything else,” Balleque said.

With jewelry being considered more of a luxury than a necessity, jewelry makers stopped producing and looked for other trade and livelihood options that they

Villar retail arm investing P3B for six AllHome branches

T

HE Villar family’s retail arm All Value Holdings Corp. is investing close to P3 billion to put up six more AllHome appliance and furnishings stores in Luzon this year as part of the company’s plan to further expand its retail portfolio amid the country’s real estate boom.

At the opening of AllHome Store in Daang Hari in Molino, Bacoor, Cavite over the weekend, All Value Holdings chairman Manuel B. Villar said they will open AllHome branches in Imus City, Cavite; Sta. Rosa City, Laguna; and Las Pinas City in the next three to four months.

Villar did not identify the sites for two other AllHome stores the company aims to set up near the projects of flagship Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. in the later part of 2015.

“The sales (results) of the first six stores were very encouraging that we decided to go full-blast this year and next year. A booming real estate (market) is another reason.

There are many newly-built houses and condominiums so the demand is high,” he told

reporters.

The company already opened six branches in Taguig City, San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan, Starmall Alabang, Starmall Talisay, Cebu, Vista Land Mall in Pampanga and Starmall in Muntinlupa.

In 2016, Villar said the company will start opening six more AllHome stores in the Visayas and Mindanao to support the needs of buyers of Camella Homes, a Vista Land property.

The AllHome is part of the Group’s plan to develop the commercial areas within various Vista Land properties that also include Brittany, Palmera Homes, Crown Asia and Vista Residences.

“Starting next year, we will be very aggressive in going to the regions in the Visayas, Mindanao (as well as) Northern Luzon to service our Camella Home buyers, home buyers (from all developers) and contractors nationwide,” Villar said.

He said putting up six one-stop home improvement shops every year is “tough.”

(PNA)

Education made easy with Insular Life’s College Provider

D

O you know that the average rate of annual tuition fee hike is at

10%?

Can you imagine the cost of college education ten years from now?

Being unprepared to deal with the rising cost of education may greatly affect the future of your child. The increasing cost of education may be a hindrance in providing your child the best education there is. As a parent, will you allow yourself to be defeated by tuition fee hike and let your child not obtain a degree?

Why not start saving NOW? Today is never too late to save and invest for your child’s education. Get GUARANTEED cash for your child’s education through College Provider!

College Provider is a 5 year-pay educational plan that offers a college cash fund for your child at age 17.

It also provides life insurance benefit for your child equivalent to the college fund until he reaches 21. Plus! It is Guaranteed Issuance for you and your child. No medical examination required and health questions asked.

No rejection regardless of health condition!

To find out more about College Provider, please visit Insular Life’s Davao office at G/F Insular Life Bldg. C.M. Recto Ave., Davao City, Davao Del Sur or call telephone numbers (082) 222-3465, (082) 305-5670 and (082) 305-6389. You may also e-mail us at: idirect@insular. com.ph or check-out: www. collegeprovider.com.ph.

know will give them food to eat right away.

Apart from this scenario, the Jewelry Training Center established by the local government unit (LGU) of Monkayo was also completely destroyed by the typhoon, taking away the jewelrymaking tools and equipment and the structure that serves as the training ground for future artisans.

“Even before Typhoon Pablo happened, DTI-Comval has already conceptualized the establishment of an SSF in Monkayo to cater to micro, small and medium Enterprises

(MSMEs) involved in jewelry trade,” he said.

The facility is envisioned to become a production center to produce various designs of jewelry in volume.

To ensure that the project will take off, DTI-Comval identified an association of jewelry makers as the project cooperator. However, the identified association was not able to come up with its counterpart, forcing the office to look for another cooperator.

Fortunately, the LGU Monkayo accepted the DTI offer to become the co-

ANOTHER FEATHER IN THE CAP. Officials of cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines led by Misamis Oriental Plant Manager Bobby Garza andBulacan Plant Manager Ric Santiago stand to left and right

operator for the project.

Exactly two years after Typhoon Pablo devastation, the long dreamed Jewelry making production center has finally materialized. The Shared Service Facility (SSF) project for jewelry making was formally launched in Monkayo on December 4, 2014. DTI provided almost half a million worth of Jewelry making machines and equipment to make volume production possible for small jewelry makers not only in Monkayo but for neighbouring areas as well.

Monkayo Mayor Joselito

Brillantes and DTI Comval OIC Atty. Lucky Siegfred Balleque signed the Memorandum of Agreement during a simple ceremony made as one of the activities to also commemorate Typhoon Pablo anniversary in Monkayo.

Atty. Balleque said that despite the disasters and other challenges, DTI would not let this industry be neglected, being not only the OTOP of Monkayo but of the province as well. Thus, DTI is working hard to revive the jewelry making industry thru its SSF project. DTI-CV/PKE/ jmm

respectively, of Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos (middle)as they receive excellence awards during the recent Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards.

Holcim plants cited for energy efficiency T

HREE plants of cement manufacturer Holcim Philippines were commended by the Department of Energy (DoE) for energy efficient operations, with the company’s Bulacan facility elevated to the Hall of Fame for sustained excellence.

For improving its energy performance by at least 5% from the previous year, Holcim Philippines’s plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan received an Outstanding Award, its third straight, in the Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards. The company’s facility in Lugait, Misamis Oriental was conferred its first Outstanding Award, while

Holcim’sBacnotan, La Union plant received a citation.

Ninety-one companies were recognized during awards held in December at the DusitThani Hotel.

Holcim Philippines President and CEO Ed Sahagun thanked the DoE for the recognition and promised to sustain the company’s efforts to boost efficiency.

“Cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive business.

Our company always strives to improve our efficiency to help us manage our costs and environmental impact. Our country needs every drop of cement that can be produced and Holcim Philippines

commits to doing this in the most efficient way possible to further support the market,” Sahagun said.

Holcim’s Bulacan plant was recognized for posting energy savings equivalent to 23.6 million liters of oil or 46.3 million kilograms of avoided carbon dioxide (CO2). The plant achieved these through its investments in efficiency initiatives and water recovery systems and increased use of alternative fuels and raw materials.

The Misamis Oriental plant’s energy savings was equal to 18.1 million liters of oil and 35.5 kilograms of avoided CO2. Finally, the La Union

plant improved its energy consumption by 3.0 million liters of oil and 5.9kilograms of avoided CO2.Two managers of Holcim Philippines were also commended as among the 50 Outstanding Energy Managers in the country.

The DoE has been conferring the awards for over 30 years torecognize firms that significantly reduce their energy consumption.

Participating companies submit consumption reports that are evaluated by energy officials from the public and private sector. The award is a tribute toEmilio Abello, the former Chairman and CEO of Manila Electric Co.

second highest budget with P29.6 million while Davao del Norte has an allocation of P21.48 million and Compostela Valley P19.6 million.

According to the data of the DA 11 GPBP team, the allocation of Davao del Sur is much higher compared to the other provinces because they have included the budget for Davao City which is P14.5 million.

Agriculture regional director Remelyn R. Recoter

said that in identifying beneficiaries for GPBP, every municipality has a Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) together with civil society organization (CSO) personnel.

Livelihood projects identified include high value crops production such as cacao, coffee, and vegetables; livestock production and restocking. Irrigation and postharvest facilities and provision of farming tools

and equipment such as hand tractor and threshers will be also provided to identified beneficiaries.

“The action team together with the CSO ang nag dedecide kung anong proyekto ang kailangan ng community na makapaunlad sa kanilang kabuhayan,” Recoter said.

She urged GPBP beneficiaries to sustain the project to further help andenhance their livelihood.

(ChePalicte- DA 11)

DavSur gets biggest chunk on GPBP agri project

T

HE province of Davao del Sur got the biggest allocation for the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting Process (GPBP) for this year.

Formerly known as Bottoms-up Budgeting (BUB), the Department of Agriculture (DA) 11 GPBP has a total of P107.4 million budget for2015 and P36.72 million of which was allocated to Davao del Sur. Davao Oriental has the

7 AGRITRENDS

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

The potentials of cacao rediscovered Text and Photos By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

“

LIFE is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” When Tom Hanks delivered those lines in the Oscar awarded Forrest Gump, most of the choco aficionados agreed.

There’s no person in this world who may not like chocolates at all. “Any sane person loves chocolate,” declared Bob Greene. In fact, “nine out of ten people like chocolate. And the tenth person lies,” said John Q. Tullius.

Chocolate consumption worldwide has been growing at 3 percent annually, recent studies have shown. “Though the majority of cacao is consumed in North America and Europe, demand is

Cacao plant with pods

Cacao pods

Cacao flowers

growing more rapidly in Asia where strong economic growth, particularly in India and China, is resulting in more people being able to afford luxury foodstuffs such as chocolate,” according to a position paper written by Adam Keatts and Christopher Root.

Chocolates come from the seeds of cacao (called cocoa), which was first cultivated by the Mayas around the 7th century A.D. They carried the seed north from the tropical Amazon forests to what is now Mexico. In the 16th century, the Spanish planted cacao across South America, into Central America, and onto the Caribbean Islands.

In the 17th century, the Dutch transported the cacao to other

places around the globe like Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, and the Philippines.

“In 1670, Spanish mariner Pedro Bravo de Lagunas planted the first cacao in San Jose, Batangas,” reports The Philippines Recommends for Cacao. After that, cacao growing flourished in various parts of the country – until pod rot wiped out plantations of it.

In the 1950s, the imposition of Import Control Law resulted in efforts to revive the industry by intergovernmental agencies and by private sector for self-sufficiency and export.

By the time the industry was blooming, pod borer infestation surfaced. Control of the disease was quite expensive. As a result, established plantations were again wiped out; others were abandoned.

This particularly happened in Mindanao, where most of the cacao crops were grown. In 1990, about 18,388 hectares were planted to cacao, according to the Department of Agriculture.

By 2006, the area declined to less than 10,000 hectares.

During this period, production fell from 9,900 tons to about 5,400 tons, with two-thirds of the production coming from Davao region alone.

As production plummeted in the Philippines, demand for cocoa beans in the international continued to grow. In 2010, the annual world market needs was 3.6 million tons of cocoa beans.

The demand was growing annually by 90,000 tons.

Since cacao is considered an equatorial crop (crops that thrive well in regions occupying the equator), the Philippines has a great potential growing cacao.

“I really could not believe why we cannot export cacao beans when the Philippines is ideal for cacao growing,” Roy C. Alimoane, director of Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC).

“Mindanao, for instance, is best for cacao production.”

Although cacao can be grown anywhere in the country, Mindanao has two a dva n t a g e s : good rainfall and good soil.

Studies have shown that the potential expansion for cacao growing is huge: about

Cacao and some of its products

Cacao beans and pods 2,000,000 hectares of coconut lands are “highly suited” to be interplanted with cacao.

In Davao City, Councilor Leonardo Avila III is encouraging farmers and entrepreneurs to plant cacao. “I urge farmers and agribusiness sectors to invest in cacao because it’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Avila, when he was still the chief of the city agriculture office. “It’s a suitable crop in diversifying the existing tree crops and in making more money. And there is already a ready market.”

In fact, the market is so promising that even Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) has selected cacao as one of the commodities it singled out as having the high potentials of uplifting the standard of living of farmers and depressed communities.

The Philippines needs about 40,000 metric tons of cocoa annually. But Filipino farmers can only produce 10,000 metric tons. This means that to supply the annual needs, it has to import 30,000 metric tons from other countries.

Valente D. Turtur, executive director of the Cacao Industry Development Association in Mindanao, urged farmers in Davao region to plant more

cacao tree to meet the global demand of cocoa.

“By 2020, there will be a chocolate meltdown because of the shortage of cacao in the world market. By this time, the Davao Region will be ready to produce the cacao that the market demands,” Turtur was quoted as saying.

According to studies, at least two hundred million cacao trees should have been grown by 2020 to reach the target volume of 100,000 tons of cacao beans. That’s more than two times the annual domestic demand of the country.

Currently, only about 20,000 hectares are planted to cacao in five Davao provinces (Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, and Davao Occidental) and the city of Davao. The region contributes 70 percent of the total cacao production in the country. “The Davao region has to plant seven million trees to meet the 2020 target,” Turtur said.

But its’ not only in Davao region that cacao grows well.

Cacao is also conducive to grow even in Zamboanga.

In fact, the profitability of cacao production has convinced Ramon T. Ubando, a handicapped farmer from Opao in Dapitan City, to go

into cacao farming. Because of a severe vascular disease he acquired since childhood, the middle of his right hip and knee in his right leg had to be amputated. That was in 1973 when he was still 40 years old.

Ten years ago, he became interested into farming. He raised some livestock in his backyard to make both ends meet. “His farm was augmented by his inquisitive efforts of seeking crops and technologies that alleviates economic status of his family,” reports Ariel A. Lao-ay, who used to work as a technician for a program that was funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

That was how Ubando discovered cacao growing.

Thanks to a six-month training conducted by the Department of Agrarian Reform. Equipped with technical skills and enthusiasm, he started a 100hill cacao budwood garden in one-fourth of a hectare in his farm. He propagated and maintained five different cacao clones. “Cacao puts cash into my empty pocket,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Davao’s reputation as a source of quality cacao beans is growing, not just domestically but in other countries as well.

8

EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

EDITORIAL Taxing the plantations

A

GRICULTURAL plantations located mostly in the hinterlands of Davao City are responsible for the strong agribased economy of the city. Indeed, our economy cannot be what it is today without these plantations no matter what crops they have been planted in them – abaca, ramie, rice, corn, durian, mangosteen, pomelo, and lanzones in the past, and coffee, cacao, pineapple, mango, and mangosteen now. The livelihood of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Dabawenyos, had been dependent and continues to be dependent directly or indirectly on the pesos and dollars produced by these plantations.

However, it is likewise a fact that the operation of these plantations has been putting stress on our natural resources, most especially the watershed areas which are our perennial sources of potable water, an indispensable resource Dabawenyos cannot do without. It is a must that this invaluable resource be protected, thus the need to regulate the activities and practices of these plantations most specially the big ones, whose operations destroy the environment if not restrained by rules.

The realization of this need has given birth to the ordinance mandating the management and protection of the city’s watershed areas totaling eight in the latest reckoning. The ordinance cannot

EDGEDAVAO

Providing solutions to a seamless global village.

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building, Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, Philippines Tel: (082) 224-1413 301-6235 Telefax: (082) 221-3601 www.edgedavao.net editorial@edgedavao.net marketing@edgedavao.net

be enforced without manpower and budgetary support, thus the need to generate funds by way of tax imposition.

That activity has been started by the City Treasurer’s Office, based on the identification of the plantation in coordination with the Watershed Management Council, chaired by the sitting mayor himself, in this case, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, who as everybody knows is oftentimes the brains behind trail-blazing ordinances crafted during his terms.

If one scrutinizes the ordinance, he could easily say that the imposition, by way of an environment tax, is not really that much. It is only 25 centavos per square meter a year, but only on plantations with the size of 50 hectares and above located within the identified watershed areas.

There is more to the ordinance that environment tax or revenues to be generated for the city government. The ordinance also identifies areas where cultivation is prohibited, a provision designed to protect out watershed from erosion, desertification, flooding, and other forms of destruction caused by indiscriminate propagation of crops even in banned areas.

We are hoping that at the end of the day, the ordinance will result in an all-important dividend – the protection of our watersheds.

ANTONIO M. AJERO Editor in Chief

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO Managing Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR. Associate Editor

CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY Consultant

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR. KENNETH IRVING K. ONG CHENEEN R. CAPON BAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO Reporters MEGHANN STA. INES AQUILES Z. ZONIO NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. FUNNY PEARL GAJUNERA Lifestyle Photography CHA MONFORTE JOSEPH LAWRENCE P. GARCIA ARLENE D. PASAJE Correspondents Contributing Photographer Cartoons MUNDA • HENRYLITO TACIO • MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO AURELIO A. PEÑA • MARY Columnists: CARLOS MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. ANN “ADI”• C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • VIDA MIA VALVERDE • Economic Analysts:• ENRICO BORBON MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN EMILY “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER PEREZENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA EconomicM. Analyst:

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTE

the national association of newspapers

GENERAL OFFICE SANTOS CITY CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICE CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OLIVIA D. VELASCO JOCELYNRICHARD S. PANES C. EBONA SOLANI D. MARATAS OLIVIA D. VELASCO SOLANI D. MARATAS MARKETING OFFICE | Marketing Manager General Manager of Sales SpecialistFinance General Manager DirectorAdvertising FinanceLEIZEL A. DELOSOLEIZEL A. DELOSO | MarketingFLORENCE ManagerS. VILLARIN

RICHARD C. EBONA AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JR Circulation Marketing Supervisor

Unit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts. Unit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts. Marketing Specialist Cagayan de Oro City c/o PZ Villarin Marketing Cagayan de Oro City Tel: (088) 852-4894

Tel: (088) 852-4894

Salvani St., Oringo Brgy. City Heights Tel: (083) 303-2215

MANILA MARKETING OFFICE

ANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing Manager Blk. 1, Lot 10, La Mar Townhomes, Apitong St., Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

EDGEDAVAO

O

NE of the stories I remember about our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal was when he went to a river one day.

While crossing the river, he lost one of his slippers. It was too far to catch, so instead of crying, he took the remaining slipper and threw it near the other slipper that was caught by the strong current.

“Why did you throw the remaining slipper?” his friend asked him. “I can’t use it anymore,” Rizal replied. “I hope that if someone could find my slippers, he can use them.”

This vignette from Rizal’s life came into mind one day while I was waiting for the bus to move forward. I had just lost my cap – the red Ohio cap which I bought at Walmart when I visited my aunt in Columbus. There was some sentimental value attached to the cap: I wore it during my entire three-month stay in the United States. Most of the pictures taken had me wearing the cap. Even during my return flight from Duluth, Minnesota to Manila, I was still wearing it.

All of a sudden, the red Ohio cap was gone. I remembered that I put the cap in the bench while writing. I was so engrossed with the ideas coming into my mind that when the bus arrived in Digos City, I immediately went down. Yes, I forgot to wear my favorite red Ohio cap. It was not until I was in another bus that I knew my cap was gone. “I should not have worn that cap on this trip,” I said silently as if I was blaming myself. “Well, it’s gone. I hope that whoever finds that cap could use it.”

Letting go of material things – especially those which you consider your favorites – is very hard. As much as possible, you want to keep them – forever. The same is true with parents. I know some who don’t want their kids to grow up. I don’t know if that’s the real purpose of being parents.

Parents who are very possessive of their children should be reminded of the words of Bernie Siegel: “Today I am amazed at the things our children have done and their wide range of interests. They are all living their lives and not the ones I would

I

S it grief for the death of the 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force or deep-running revulsion for the Moro people in general that ignited the calls for all-out war in Mindanao? There is nothing wrong with calling for justice and accountability except that the emerging subtext is the desire for revenge.

Honor the fallen troops. Of course, the nation should be grateful for their sacrifice. But at the cost of fanning anti-Moro sentiments?

Just a week before the clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao we awed Pope Francis and the world with our collective display of piety. Filipinos – Catholics and non-Catholics alike – lined the streets of Manila and Tacloban City and filled Luneta to hear the Pope’s message of peace. Why, he even shared his hopes for lasting peace in this troubled island of ours.

Unfortunately, Mamasapano happened no thanks to the indiscretion of the President of the republic no less. And when

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Let it go

VANTAGE POINTS

9

have planned THINK ON THESE! for them. But I have learned that their lives are theirs, not mine, and in living their own lives they have given me experiences and an education I would Henrylito D. Tacio never have had if I’d been henrytacio@gmail.com fool enough to make them do what I thought they should do.”

There was once a lonely girl who longed desperately for love. One day while she was walking in the woods, she found two starving song birds. She took them home and put them in a small gilded cage. She nurtured them with love and the birds grew strong.

Every morning, they greeted her with a marvelous song. The girl felt great love for the birds. She wanted their singing to last forever.

One day, the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl watched anxiously as the bird circled high above her.

She was so frightened that the bird would fly away and she would never see it again.

So when it flew close, she grasped at the bird wildly. She caught the bird in her fist and clutched it tightly within her hand. Her heart gladdened at her success in capturing the bird. Suddenly, she felt the bird go limp.

She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate clutching love had killed the bird.

She noticed the other bird teetering on the edge of the cage. She could feel the bird’s great need for freedom – its need to soar into the clear, blue sky. She lifted the bird from the cage and tossed it softly into the air. The bird circled once, twice, three times.

The girl watched delighted at the bird’s

enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned if the bird would not return to the cage. She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly, the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody, she had ever heard.

The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tight, the best way to keep love is to give it – to let it go. “Letting go doesn’t mean we don’t care,” says Melody Beattie. “Letting go doesn’t mean we shut down. Letting go means we stop trying to force outcomes and make people behave. It means we give up resistance to the way things are, for the moment. It means we stop trying to do the impossible – controlling that which we cannot – and instead, focus on what is possible--which usually means taking care of ourselves. And we do this in gentleness, kindness, and love, as much as possible.”

Mary Manin Morrissey contends, “The Tao Te Ching says, ‘When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.’ When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need. Have you ever struggled to find work or love, only to find them after you have given up? This is the paradox of letting go. Let go, in order to achieve. Letting go is God’s law.”

Here’s another thought from Julia Butterfly Hill: “As I started to picture the trees in the storm, the answer began to dawn on me. The trees in the storm don’t try to stand up straight and tall and erect. They allow themselves to bend and be blown with the wind. They understand the power of letting go. Those trees and those branches that try too hard to stand up strong and straight are the ones that break. Now is not the time for you to be strong, Julia, or you, too, will break.”

As I walked through life, I encountered some people who are still living in the past.

There are those who believed that their life partners are still alive. To think of, their spouses were already buried six feet under.

“I will love him forever,” said a wife. “She is my all,” a husband commented.

But wait, they are gone. They passed away and you have mourned for them. You

can still think of them but life goes on. You are alive and kicking. You can look back at yesterday but you have face today. And there is still tomorrow, which you have no control whatsoever. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds, “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

Forget the past and live for today. One sage penned: “Look to this day! For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of achievement. For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision.

Live for today and make every yesterday a dream of happiness and tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Let all your sorrows, heartaches, and misgivings go! “We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go,” echoes Frederick Buechner. “We become something new by ceasing to be something old. This seems to be close to the heart of that mystery. I know no more now than I ever did about the far side of death as the last letting-go of all, but now I know that I do not need to know, and that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing. God knows. That is all that matters.”

Leo Buscaglia urges: “Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?”

An unknown author explains it succinctly: “To ‘let go’ does not mean to stop caring; it means I can’t do it for someone else. To ‘let go’ is not to cut myself off; it is the realization that I must not control another. To ‘let go’ is not to fix; but to be supportive. To ‘let go’ is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes; but to allow others to effect their destinies. To ‘let go’ is not to be protective; it is to permit another to face reality. To ‘let go’ is not to regret the past; but to grow and live for the future. To ‘let go’ is to fear less and love more.”

media showed the casualties of the botched operation a lust for vengeance eclipsed that show of religious ardor. Ignorance of history and prejudice blinded many of us to the bigger issues at stake.

Sadly, media is feeding such desire for retributive justice by highlighting only the anguish of the comrades, families and loved ones of the slain police commandos.

The nation’s ability to count subsequently suffered. National TV made sure the number of casualties stopped at 44. It’s as if the conflict only happened in Mamasapano.

It’s as if mourning has become an exclusive ritual.

And whatever happened to objectivity in news reporting with judgmental terms like “massacre” and “butchers”? Close to 400 SAF operatives joined the operation.

Both sides were armed. Eighteen members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front died in the clash and several others were wounded. I don’t know how that can be called a massacre. If the SAF suffered more casualties, it was because of factors other than being hapless.

Tears for the fallen 44? I won’t argue with that. But what about the fears and worries of Mamasapano residents who were displaced by the clash on January 25?

What about the families and loved ones of the rebels who died? What about the wife and children of that non-combatant who was found dead with his hands hog-tied?

Yes, why not include in the count the thousands of other victims (mostly civilians, mostly Moro people) who were killed in the wars in Mindanao? What about the crimes of wars past for which

we are yet to account? For instance, who remembers the burning of Jolo in February 1974 by government forces that killed around 20,000 Muslim, Christian and Chinese residents?

Indeed, an accounting may be needed especially for those who are either ignorant of history or too young to know the ugly past that they wish to resurrect by agitating for war from a safe distance.

Many of these people have neither seen blood nor smelled the stench of death.

They thirst for blood but I doubt if they’d be willing to be sent to the frontlines first.

Not as combatants who do the fighting.

Maybe not even as journalists who record the narratives of human agony and suffering.

The pope is back in Vatican. Time to start another war, if not in the battleground, then in our hearts.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com)

War in our hearts

10 ICT HUB EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Google earnings disappoint, but CFO eases the letdown G

OOGLE has gotten into the habit of missing analysts’ earnings targets, frustrating investors who believe the online search leader would be more profitable if it wasn’t pouring so much money into far-flung projects such as Internetconnected eyewear and driverless cars.

The latest letdown came Thursday with the release of Google’s fourth-quarter financial results. The earnings were well below analysts’ predictions, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that Google Inc. hasn’t cleared a key hurdle for publicly held companies.

But investors’ disappointment with the performance seemed to dissipate during a pep talk

by Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette.

He assured investors that Google intends to spend in a “prudent manner” and left open the possibility that the company might funnel some of its $64 billion in cash back to shareholders, especially if a law is passed to allow money stashed in overseas accounts to be brought to the U.S. at lower tax rates.

Those remarks, made during conference call to discuss the results, reversed an initial sell-off in Google’s stock.

After shedding 2 percent in extended trading, the shares rebounded to post a 2 percent gain of $10.47 to $523.70. At the end of Thursday’s regular session, Google’s stock had dropped by 8 percent from where it stood just 13 months ago. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed by 9 percent over the same stretch.

Google earned $4.8 billion, or $6.91 per share, a 41 percent increase from the same period in 2013. If not for certain expenses and gains, Google said it would have earned $6.88 per share. Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings of $7.12 per share, according to FactSet. Google’s revenue for the period covering the holiday shopping season rose 15 percent to $18.1 billion. After subtracting ad commissions, revenue stood at $14.5 billion — nearly $250 million below analysts’ expectations.

“They are still in investment mode and that is affecting (profit) margins,” Edward Jones analyst Josh Olson said.

Pichette described the fourth quarter as “noisy” because the strengthening dollar depressed the quarter’s revenue by about $468 million from what it would have been had currency rates remained unchanged from a year

earlier. Revenue would have been lower by $616 million, if Google hadn’t hedged against the currency upheaval, Pichette said.

Google’s slumping stock price has primarily been driven by two factors: steadily rising expenses and a general shift by people toward using smartphones instead of desktop and laptop computers to do searches and peruse digital content.

Ad prices have been sagging because marketers haven’t been willing to pay as much to pitch consumers who are squinting at the smaller screens on smartphones.

Google registered a 3 percent decline in the average price for the ads that appear alongside its search results and other online content, a measure known as “cost per click.” It’s the 13th consecutive quarter that Google’s cost per click has fallen from the previous year.

The desktop-to-mobile transition also unleashed a flood of applications that make it easier for people to go directly to the digital content that they want, instead of searching on Google. People are also searching within apps once they’re in them, relying on services such as Amazon to find products or Yelp to find restaurants.

Google could be making

from a one-third share in 2013.

Apple Inc. contributed to Samsung’s latest reversal in fortune, launching iPhones with bigger screens that robbed Samsung’s Galaxy phones of a key selling point.

Samsung was already battling competition in low-end phones from upstart manufacturers such as China’s Xiaomi.

Samsung is struggling in countries such as China because “they’re sort of being eaten from the bottom up by regional players” including Huawei and Xiaomi, said Ben Bajaran, an analyst at Silicon Valley research firm Creative Strategies.

“And now with Apple being

competitive in larger phones, you’re seeing Samsung losing any edge they had at the high end,” he said.

In the second quarter last year, Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the biggest selling smartphone maker in China.

Samsung now ranks third in that market, after Apple raced to the top in the fourth quarter, according to research company Canalys.

Thanks to its bigger iPhones, Apple sold a record 74.5 million iPhones last quarter, which along with high prices helped make it the world’s most profitable company.

According to Strategy

BATTLE OF THE BIG PHONES

S

DOWNWARD. Google’s earnings were well below analysts’ predictions last week, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that Google Inc. hasn’t cleared a key hurdle for publicly held companies. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) more money if the company decided to add fewer workers to its payroll and rein in its spending on far-out technology, such as the Google Glass project that the company recently scaled back as it suspended sales to consumers.

But CEO Larry Page believes Google needs to continue taking risks and making big

bets on ambitious ideas that he calls “moonshots” in an effort to open future moneymaking opportunities and perhaps make the world a better place.

Self-driving cars is one such project in the works.

The company hired about 2,000 employees in the fourth quarter, contributing to a 35 percent increase in its

operating expenses.

“From an investment perspective, we’ll continue to seek a healthy balance between growth and discipline and the willingness to throttle back when we reach the limits of what we can manageably absorb,” Pichette said. MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer

Analytics, Apple tied Samsung in global smartphone sales, the first time Samsung has not had a big lead since late 2011.

The research firm said Apple’s new iPhones were “wildly popular” in China as well as the United States and Europe.

Counterpoint, another market research firm, put Apple narrowly ahead of Samsung.

A third firm, International Data Corp., estimated Apple came just short of a tie with Samsung. It’s not unusual for research firms to produce slightly different estimates.

But IDC said Apple’s sales were especially “impressive” because the new iPhone models are selling at a higher average price than older models, at a time when Samsung and other rivals are competing to offer phones at significantly lower prices. Apple shares gained 1.5 percent Thursday and are up more than 7 percent since it announced iPhone sales figures for the December quarter.

Samsung, in contrast, reported its fourth straight drop in quarterly earnings.

Profit sank 27 percent to 5.3 trillion won ($4.9 billion).

Strategy Analytics estimated that Samsung shipped 74.5 million smartphones in the quarter, down from nearly 90 million in the previous year’s quarter. Samsung has not given a precise figure but estimated it

sold between 72.2 million and 75.1 million smartphones.

Until September, Apple lacked one thing that Samsung and other phone-makers had: a supersized smartphone screen.

Apple’s older iPhone 5 had a screen that measured 4 inches diagonally, while screens of 5 inches or larger have been the standard in Asia for more than a year. The new iPhone 6 measures 4.7 inches and the 6 Plus is 5.5 inches. And that’s made a huge difference.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone was criticized for a cheap looking design. Samsung replaced parts of the design with metallic features in subsequent models after the criticism.

Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, said Samsung and Apple were tied each shipped 74.5 million smartphones in the final quarter, making it the first quarter since 2011 Samsung’s fourth quarter profit was a moderate improvement from the previous quarter’s 4.2 trillion won and higher than analysts’ forecasts of 4.4 trillion won, according to financial data provider FactSet. Sales fell 11 percent from a year earlier to 52.7 trillion won while operating profit slumped 36 percent to 5.3 trillion won, in line with Samsung’s preview

earlier this month.

The company’s fourthquarter net income beat forecasts mainly thanks to the solid performance of its component businesses, such as memory chips and display panels. The semiconductor division was a key cash cow generating about half of Samsung’s quarterly operating income.

Samsung didn’t give clear guidance of how its mobile business would perform during the current quarter.

Instead, to appease investors the company announced a 40 percent increase in its annual dividends for 2014. Its share price fell 1.3 percent in Seoul.

Repeating its previous statements, the company said it will try to differentiate its smartphones with new materials and designs and will reduce the number of smartphone models to streamline its business.

Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Note Edge, the bigsize smartphone with a curved side display, but it remained a niche product. Output of curved screens remains limited until a new production line goes into operation later this year.

The company is expected to unveil an update to its flagship Galaxy S smartphone in the spring. YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Technology Writer

Samsung down in China while Apple gains

AMSUNG lost the battle of the big phones last quarter as Apple’s copycat large iPhone lured buyers in the crucial Chinese market.

The South Korean company said Thursday its October-December profit sank, with an improvement in its semiconductor business insufficient to mask its mobile problems.

It was in China, the world’s largest market for smartphones, where Samsung’s dramatic decline was most evident. Its weakness there is a key reason why Samsung’s share of global smartphone sales dropped to about one quarter last year

APPLE VS SAMSUNG. A man uses an Apple iPhone near an advertisement of Samsung Electronics’ micro SD cards at a Samsung shop in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

11 COMMUNITY SENSE

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Davao to host confab of Y’s Men, May 8-10 T

HE Y’s Men Club of Metro Davao will host the national convention of the worldwide organization at the Waterfront Insular Davao Hotel on May 8-10.

This was learned from Jose N. Valenzuela Jr., Y’s Men

Valenzuela

Metro Davao president, who said that officers and members and their ladies numbering close to 200 from all over the country are expected to attend the convention.

Major features Lawyer Leoncio “Nonoy”

P. Villa-Abrille, a veteran civic leader, has been appointed convention chairman.

He said some of the notable events in the convention are the attendance of Asia President Yaz Okano, the installation of the 2015-

Villa-Abrille

2016 regional officers, regional leadership training, and the organization of a national Y’s Menettes (ladies and spouses) clubs.

He said members of the families of participants will also be treated to tours of the city’s cultural and eco-tour destinations.

Villa-Abrille said Y’s Men clubs to be represented include those in Cabanatuan City, Young Professionals of Metro Cabanatuan, Palayan City Achievers and Developers, Tuguegarao City, Manila Central, Manila Downtown, Makati Sampiro, Makati Golden, Raha Rhilippines, Y’s Men and Y’s Women of Metro Quezon, Manila Union, Negros Occidental, Metro Iloilo, Cebu City, Midtown Cebu,

Metro Cebu, Talisay South, Dumaguete, Ormoc and Metro Davao.

Paciencio Rosalem Jr., who as Y’s Men regional director is currently the highest ranking officer of the organization in the Philippines, said this is only the second time that Davao will host the national gathering, the first being in the late 90s.

Y’s Men, YMCA Rosalem also explained that the Y’s Men was born in Toledo, Ohio, USA in 1922 to support a local chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA). The first Y’s Men Club was founded by Judge Paul William Alexander together with a group of other young men.

Y’s Men International is

now oriented to serving the worldwide YMCA, the largest non-governmental youth organization, Rosalem said. He said Y’s Men is a club of “men of and for the Y,” that’s why it was named the Y’s Men Club.

As part of the preparations of the Valenzuela-led host group, committees have been formed to take care of the various aspects of the national convention.

One strategy is to expand the membership base of the organization through recruitment of new members.

Another strategy is to involve the officers and members of its sister association, YMCA, Davao headed by Fernando “Boie” Ongkingco Jr., in the hosting activities, Valenzuela said. AMA

South Cotabato gears for PRDP projects

T

HE provincial government of South Cotabato is targeting to begin by the second quarter of the year the full implementation of various projects in the area under the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP).

South Cotabato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Monday all mechanisms are now in place for the implementation of the initial PRDP sub-projects that were approved for the area, among them the P39-million cassava granule production and marketing project in Polomolok town.

The PRDP, which is implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA), issued a “no objection letter” to allow the cassava project to proceed to the procurement stage.

Program implementers are expected to issue a second “no objection letter” within the next two months to allow the full implementation of the project.

“We have set various support programs and mechanisms to ensure the proper and successful implementation of the projects in the province,” she said.

The governor said they are very much prepared

and eager to start with the implementation of the approved PRDP sub-projects in the province, which is among the initiative’s priority areas.

Fuentes met with PRDP officials and World Bank representatives here last week for the first review of the project’s implementation.

“I assured them that we will value these development opportunities that will be coming in and we will implement the projects even better,” she said.

The provincial government of South Cotabato had proposed for around P80 million worth of enterprise development and infrastructure support projects for the initial phase of the PRDP. Aside from the cassava project, it sought for the development of a farm-tomarket road in Tupi town and a potable water system in Tampakan town.

The cassava production and marketing project will be implemented by the Polo Samahang Nayon Multipurpose Cooperative based in Polomolok town.

The project, which is expected to benefit around 1,600 farmers and farm laborers, is the first project that will be implemented under the PRDP’s enterprise

P6.8M WORTH OF PROJECTS. Amid inclement weather, Tagum City Mayor Allan L. Rellon and other city officials join the blessing and inauguration of various locally funded infrastructure projects on January 30, 2015. The constructions of P6.8 million worth infrastructure projects, which include

12 makeshift classrooms in four public elementary schools, multi-purpose buildings, road concreting and drainage rehabilitation and/or construction, commenced between the second and third quarters of 2014 and were completed on the last quarter of 2014. Photo by Edwin B. Lasquite of CIO Tagum

development component.

South Cotabato was earlier chosen by DA, as among the country’s pilot areas for the PRDP, which is the expanded version of the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP).

South Cotabato province emerged as the top performer among the 26 provinces in Mindanao that were covered

by MRDP-2 as it posted an accomplishment rating of 129 percent in terms of project implementation and fund

The province was chosen as lead area for the program due to the local government’s “excellent performance” in the implementation last year of various projects under the MRDP–Adaptable Program Loan Phase 2 (MRDP-2).

disbursement.

Among Mindanao’s six regions, Region 12 or the Socssksargen region posted the highest combined accomplishment rating for MRDP-2 that ended in 2014.

(PNA)

12

CLASSIFIED

There’sa betterway toget attention.

Advertise

EDGEDAVAO

Call: 224-0733 • Tionko St., Davao City

with

EDGEDAVAO CLASSIFIEDS

Billiard Supplies

Phone Nos.

Cell Nos.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

INdulge!

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

EDGEDAVAO

TRAVEl

New, fresh, and local at

Hong Kong’s PMQ

I

love big cities with their hidden corners or spots that are oftentimes overlooked by the tourist map. Oftentimes, these quiet corners tend to be gems when one is looking for locally designed stuff or artisanal treats.

On a recent trip to Hong Kong, I was finally able to find the PMQ. Located along Hollywood road in Central, Hong Kong Island, the PMQ used to be called the Police Married Quarters where Chinese rank and file police officers lived in 140 single rooms and 28 double rooms with an open courtyard. It was renamed PMQ after a massive restoration and renovation last year and is now the home to almost 100 design studios and shops, offices for creative enterprises, and even lodging for visiting designers.

There are also restaurants as well as cafés that serve artisanal teas and coffee as well as exhibition spaces and galleries.

I love how the spaces allow the designers to interact and mingle with each other and allow guests to freely see their design processes as well as interact with the designers themselves, a beautiful

marriage of building conservation, the arts, and entrepreneurship as well.

Shopping at the PMQ is not cheap, but you can be confident that whatever you are purchasing is unique and the experience of exploring the many halls of the PMQ

Exploring the halls of PMQ. is really worth the time spent. If you have extra time, I would suggest a quick coffee break at Café Life which served one of the best Vienna drip cof-

Many young Hong Kong designers can be found at the PMQ.

One of the few tea houses at the PMQ.

A home accessories shop cum exhibition space.

Coffee Break at Café Life.

fee I had ever had.

PMQ is located along Aberdeen, Hollywood and Staunton roads in downtown Central Hong Kong. You can take the

MTR Sheung Wan Station Exit E2 and walk through the Grand Millennium Plaza to reach Bonham Strand. Cross the road and turn left

onto Wellington Street and walk for around two minutes. Turn onto Aberdeen Street and walk for around three minutes to reach PMQ.

EDGEDAVAO

A2 INdulge!

UP AND ABOUT

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

ENTERTAINMENT

Charo Santos-Co ABS-CBN president and chief executive officer (CEO) Charo SantosConcio was recently conferred the Fleur-delis Award, the highest form of honor given to outstanding graduates of St. Paul University Manila.

Philhealth Run to benefit homeless children PH I L H E A LT H Regional Office XI (PRO XI) has chosen the SOS Children’s Village Davao as its local beneficiary for the anticipated nationwide running event dubbed “Philhealth Run: Ready, TSeKap, Go!” which is slated on February 15.

According to its Village Director, Leonilo Rivera, SOS Children’s Village is a non-profit organization that provides long term family-based care and education to homeless, abandoned, orphaned and neglected children to help them build their dreams and shape their future.

“Currently, we have 800 community based and 182 center-based children living in the village and have raised successful graduates who are coming back as benefactors of the organization. With the growing number of children, we are very happy to be the recipient of this activity and we call out to everyone to join and run for this cause.”, Rivera shared.

PRO XI which has been in the forefront of suc-

According to St. Paul University Manila president Sister Ma. Evangeline Anastacio, Santos-Concio was cited for her outstanding achievements in the field of television and unwavering loyalty to her alma mater.

“Charo is a true inspiration to the Paulinian community because of her exemplary achievement in her field and her commitment to uplift the human spirit through the creation of meaningful dramas and public service programs on television,” said Anastacio about Santos-Concio, who graduated with a degree in communication arts cum laude from St. Paul University Manila in 1976.

Santos-Concio said her love for and fascination with media started even when she was a young girl. And while studying at St. Paul, she worked part-time as a voice talent and a host of a noontime show at a radio station.

“My passion to get into the media industry never died. I realized that I could actually serve my country

through media,” said Santos-Concio. “At ABS-CBN, I’m doing what I love to do and have always wanted to do, which is to tell stories that inspire, inform, and empower people. And this award means so much to me because more than anything, it is an affirmation that I have had success by simply doing what I love.”

Prior to her Fleur-delis Award, Santos-Concio bagged three international honors in 2014 for her outstanding leadership and accomplishments as the president and CEO of the country’s largest multimedia conglomerate.

Santos Concio won the

A different Jerry Yan in THE original Asianovela heartthrob Jerry Yan returns to PH primetime television as an eligible bachelor turned instant father in ABSCBN’s newest Asian drama “Unforgettable Love.”

cessful running activities including the Mindanao Run for Hope in 2012 and the first nationwide Philhealth-DOH Run in 2013, believes that the proceeds from the run will definitely mark a significant change in the children’s lives.

Filbert Sollesta, PRO XI Run committee chairperson asserted that the activity which also intends to boost awareness on Philhealth and its services, will make a huge impact

in supporting its beneficiary’s advocacies by helping sustain the basic, medical and educational needs of the children.

Philhealth run is also an avenue to stir public awareness on the pressing issues involving displaced children and the need to support them through the organization’s various programs which include the Individual Child Development and Alternative Family-based Program, among others.

Targetting at least 4,000 runners for Davao City leg alone, the run will set off at SM Ecoland and will stake exciting prizes in its 3k, 5k, 10k and 20k categories.

Philhealth currently offers its 10 + 1 Barkada Promo for bulk and group registrations as it bids to draw runners from across the region to join the run in Davao. Those interested may log on to www. run2015.philhealth.gov.ph for more run details.

First loved by Filipinos as Dao Ming Si in the phenomenal Taiwanese series “Meteor Garden,” Jerry takes on his most challenging and most romantic role yet in this drama produced and shot in mainland China. Playing opposite him as his love interest is one of China’s most popular actresses, Tong Li Ya. “Unforgettable Love” tells the story of Gio, a rich man who is in for the biggest surprise of his life when he learns that the boy he saved from an accident during his own company’s event turns out to be his son. Through a paternity test, the clueless Gio confirms that he is indeed the child’s father.

All this time, Gio has had no idea that the woman he

had a one-night stand with and barely remembers, Nina, got knocked up and bore a baby, the soon-to-be heir of Li Corporation.

Now that the bizarre situation already makes sense to him, Gio does everything to get his son. He takes the matter into court and wins the

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

EDGEDAVAO

INdulge! A3

oncio named outstanding Paulinian alumna Julia Barretto and Inigo Pascual celebrate singlehood in Chalk’s first singles issue

Gold Stevie Award in the Female Executive of the Year in Asia, Australia, or New Zealand category at the prestigious Stevie Awards for Women in Business; the Gold Stevie Award for the Woman of the Year category for all Asia-Pacific nations (except Australia and South Korea) at the 2014 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards; and was named Asian Media Woman of the Year by ContentAsia, a premier information resource that covers the entertainment media industry across Asia-Pacific region.

Santos-Concio, who completed an Advanced Management Program at the Harvard University, was

appointed CEO in January 2013. Prior to this, she was ABS-CBN’s president and chief operating officer since 2008. She was previously the head of Channel 2 Mega Manila Management.

Onscreen, Santos-Concio hosts ABS-CBN Channel 2’s longest-running drama anthology “Maalaala Mo Kaya.”

She began her career in the company as a television production consultant in 1987 after working as a line producer for BanCom, Audiovision, Vanguard Films, Regal Films, and Vision Exponents.

She also worked as a film production manager for the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines.

n “Unforgettable Love”

JULIA BARRETTO and Inigo Pascual, two of the country’s hottest teen stars embrace the single life and share about their rising showbiz careers in Chalk magazine’s first Singles Issue for February.

Groomed to be the next Kapamilya love team royalty, Julia and Inigo speak up about how it’s like to be exposed to the limelight at a young age with a showbiz history in their family’s roots.

The teen stars also gave Chalk magazine a sneak peek of their lives before they entered the glitzy world of showbiz and their approach on dealing with issues that come with fame.

As Chalk magazine’s first Singles Issue, Chalk is packed with

bright ideas on how to celebrate the love month for all the people in the single department in a cool and exciting way. Chalk also takes the cue to put a positive spin on being single through powerful stories of being happy and single

and a handful of lessons coming from the experiences of a proud #NBSB (No Boyfriend Since Birth).

Celebrate Valentine’s season with Chalk magazine out in newsstands today!

Showbiz power couples share their love stories in Starstudio magazine KRISTINE HERMOSA and Oyo Sotto take the lead among the 10 celebrity couples featured in StarStudio’s fully loaded kilig issue for February with an exclusive interview with the Sotto couple together with the newest addition to their growing brood, Kaleb Hanns Sotto.

Kristine and Oyo also spill their secrets on how they raise their kids away from the glitz and glamour of showbiz and how they keep their love alive plus an inside scoop on Kristine’s thoughts on her big comeback.

StarStudio’s February issue is all about spreading love as it shares stories of the best engagement and weddings of 2014 including the love story of Chito Miranda and Neri Naig, John Prats and Isabel Oli, Bianca Gonzalez and JC Intal, and a whole lot more.

StarStudio also prepared a special feature on the elaborate wedding of Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera last December 30 that made waves before the year 2014 ended.

Read all these and more in StarStudio’s February issue out in newsstands today!

January 28-February 3, 2015

INTO THE WOODS Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp GP

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

TAKEN 3 / * VICE

custody of the boy. But Nina will not let Gio get their son easily and fights hard just to get him back. Will the two ever get along? As Gio opens his heart to his son, will he also open his heart to Nina?

Watch the love story you will never forget unfold in “Unforgettable Love” pre-

miering Monday (Feb 2) after “Aquino and Abunda Tonight” in ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

For more updates, follow @Kapamilanovela on Twitter or like the official Kapamilyanovela Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ ABSCBNKapamilyanovelas.

Liam Neeson / * Bruce Willis PG13 / *R16

11:40 | 1:50 | 4:00 LFS / * 6:10 | 8:05 | 10:00 LFS

THE BOY NEXT DOOR Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman R16

R-16

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

HALIK SA HANGIN Gerald Anderson, Julia Montes PG13

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

EDGEDAVAO

A4 INdulge!

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

STYLE

Rock your

prom!

SINCE the prom season is here, I figured that I should share some quirky new ideas for that trendy look. Here are some ideas that’ll surely spice up your prom ensemble. Why? Because what is normal is too mainstream!

If I could go back to high school and attend prom again, I’d definitely rock these not so ordinary ideas.

Game of Thrones Hairstyles - You have woken the dragon. The runway has been oozing with GOT influences, so why not bring them into this realm? For all the Khaleesi’s, Queens and Ladies out there with long locks (for those who don’t you could add extensions) feel like royalty while channeling hair styles from the powerful women of GOT. Sugar & Spice Headgear Not everyone wants to be a princess or a queen, and for those lassies who want to be fairies, unicorns and vampires, a few metallic spikes and flowers could be your crown of glory! If you’re more of the boho carefree chic, a simple flower crown would be prefect, you could use real flowers like babies breath or peonies or if you’re crafty D.I.Y one made of

artificial flowers, so you could re-use it for another occasion.

Colored hair extensions - Because colors are fun!

Since most highschoolers can’t dye their hair in unnatural colors yet (its not allowed in almost every high school here in the PH). No one’s getting scolded, it’s just a clip on, and it’s awesome. Cuz hair chalk and colored hair spray tend to bleed when you sweat, clip-ons are way better.

Follow @zelhairextension on Instagram, they have tons of hair candy extensions from every shade of the rainbow to choose from.

Wedged Sneakers - I had a hard time looking for reference photos for this idea, but I can’t seem to find any, all the OTDS online are all under casual wear. So I made my own inspiration board. Why wedged sneakers? First they’re comfortable, you can wear them even after prom, you could last all night dancing without slowly murdering your feet. The sporty feel is a bonus to a chic ensemble.

Tattoo/ Printed / Bejeweled Tights - If you plan on going with a simple dress, kick it up a notch with tights! They could be in a solid color, printed, bejewelled or even torn! Its up to you! Follow @anwco_ on Instagram scroll down from their collection of hats and you’ll see they’ve got a pretty awesome collection of awesome tights.

But if you don’t have time to buy online you could D.I.Y it! There are tons of tutorials you can find online.

Temporary Tattoos Truth be told, as cute as some accessories might be, some are a bit bulky, and we sometimes have a hard time moving around on them. Some bangles might slide up and down our arms while dancing, and sometimes it could be extremely distracting.

Even loosing some (possibly expensive) )accessories right then and there is a risk. Temporary metal-

lic tattoos are the perfect alternative for bulky accessories, for those who’d really want to let loose and have fun without worrying about those stuff. You could get them everywhere lately, my IG feed has been flooding these babies. Take it from Chanel and Betsey Johnson, temporary tattoos are the new kids on the block when it comes to accessories.

Quirky Clutch Bags - Let’s

save those sophisticated clutch bags when we’re old and boring (if you’d allow yourself to turn into that, HAHA!) Juniors and Seniors, you’re young, so embody it with quirky clutch bags you could play around with. Have them reflect your personality!

For those bookworms, I’ve seen cash boxes on our local malls, disguised as a book, you could use that as a clutch bag too! Or even buy a jewelry box, the ones that are used for jewellery sets, take out the foam inside and let loose, decorate the hell out of that box.

Even a clear envelope from the bookstore, just add in some gems, studs, spikes or lace and you got yourself an awesome clutch bag without putting a hole through your wallet.

These ideas are not for the faint of heart. Not everyone could pull them off, but if you decide to go for it, make sure to rock them!

Tag me on Twitter or Instagram, @kyriekoutre and share your prom experience. For more adventures in and around my wonderland that is Gensan, Tuna Capital of the Philippines.

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

EDGE

13

EDGEDAVAO

Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

WANTS YOU!

ZION

ACCUPRINT PUBLISHING, INC.

MACHINE OPERATOR (Printing Press)

Qualifications:

Account Executives (2) - Male / Female, not more than 30 years old - Candidate must posses a Bachelor/ College Degree in any Business field.

- Willing to work under pressure, flexible, persuasive, can speak fluently and computer literate - A team player - With Basic Salary, Transportation, Communication, allowance + Commission For interested applicants, you may send your resume to: HR Department EDGEDavao

Doors 13 & 14 Alcrej B;dg., Quirino Ave., Davao City Tel. No. (082) 221-3601 Email: edgedavao@gmail.com

- At least high school graduate, not more than 30 years old - Physically and mentally fit - Can handle minor repairs of the machine - Has the ability to be cool under pressure of deadlines and complex projects - Experience of at least one year Door 14 Alcrej Building, Quirino Ave., 8000 Davao City, Philippines E-mail: marketing@edgedavao.net zion_publishing@yahoo.com Telefax: (082) 2213601 Website: www.edgedavao.net

14

NEWS

New... FFROM 1

Malaysia and Indonesia through the province’s backdoor.

She said the information is from reports from residents, local governments, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration

(OWWA).

Sa-an said according to the reports, the undocumented OFWs leave Davao Oriental on big vessels heading for Malaysia or Indonesia.

had no door knobs and some are damaged. Also, there were no proper fire exits in the building.

The employees also had no health cards, the report said.

The University Park Suites and Residences in Jacinto Street, for its part, has a business permit but not a sanitary permit to operate. The garbage bins had no covers and plastic liners, the report said.

In the commissary at DMSF road, the dormitory

has no business and sanitary permit to operate.

The report also noted a lot of flies and some rats in the kitchen area. The presence of domesticated animals such as dogs and cats was also observed.

The report said the food preparers were not wearing proper sanitary suits and protective garments. The entire preparation area was very filthy and full of stains, the report added

be sanctioned based on an executive order issued by Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.

Alparaque said noncompliance with the rules and regulations and violating the executive order is already insubordination.

Last year, Quitain reprimanded some administrative officers after observing that only a few of them were joining the flag ceremony.

He asked some of them to submit an explanation letter on why they were not able to attend the ceremony.

In a memorandum issued on November 27, Quitain said all employees, including contract of service or job orders, should strictly observe the flag ceremony, retreat ceremony, and other commemorations of legal and special holidays.

“Failure to observe and comply with the policy shall be a ground for the filing of

appropriate administrative for violation of reasonable office rules,” he said.

For first offense, the employee will be reprimanded.

For second offense, the employee will be suspended up to one month, and for third offense the employee will be dismissed from service.

Quitain, however, said employees who are performing utility and sanitation work, civil security and security guards, ticket checkers on duty are exempted from attending the activities.

Pregnant women and employees whose condition or illnesses are directly attributed to sunlight exposure and prolonged standing were advised to seek exemption from the Human Resource Management Office.

The City Hall flag ceremony starts at exactly 8 a.m. every Monday, while the flag retreat is at 5 p.m. every Friday. By Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

census.

For Davao City, about 1,500 enumerators will be conducting the census.

“We expect that for Davao City we will have a bigger population of more than a million,” Gales said, adding that the city has a more than 2.36 percent population growth rate for the past years.

Based on PSA’s 2010 Census, Davao City’s population was still classified under young. “Most our population are young ages,” he said.

On the 2013 projected household population of Davao City, it is estimated that more than half or 58.73 percent of the 1,554,618 projected population in 2013 belonged to working age which is from 18 to 64 years old while 34.86 percent or a total of 541,870 of the population belong to youth (34.86 percent).

Gales said the increase in population in the city was brought about by urbanization and migration.

“One of the questions that will be asked in the census is

the term of residency. We will be able to identify the number of local migrants in Davao City and in the region for the past five years,” he said.

Gales also said the census will provide data on housing characteristics that will be used by the statistical agency to assess the level of poverty in Davao City and in Davao region.

“The housing characteristics like the constructions materials used, tenure status of lot, and ownership of a house are among the indicators of poverty level,” he added.

Gales asked homeowners and exclusive subdivision operators to cooperate with PSA as it conducts its census six months from now.

“The lack of cooperation from homeowners and subdivision owners usually cause delay in gathering necessary data,” he said.

Gales said the result of the census will come out by next year and will be officially released by President Benigno Aquino himself.

City... FFROM 2

Quitain... FFROM 2

PSA... FFROM 3

EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

TALKS TO CONTINUE. Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)’s Ednar Dayanghirang believes the Mamasapano incident which claimed the lives 44 PNP Special Action Force (SAF) members should not stall

the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Dayanghirang graced yesterday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

Team... FFROM 2

No... FFROM 3

It will establish coordination and working relationship among the members of the team and monitor the full implementation of the ordinance.

The WAC team should also recommend additional provisions or actions that will promote and strengthen the objectives of the ordinance.

The ordinance states that there is an urgent need to set up a rational system in the installation of wires, cables, and poles. The security and aesthetic need urgently demand that the area around City Hall and Sangguniang Panlugsod be freed from the visual clutter of overlapping wires and cables, it adds. By Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

hurled against Muslims as a result of the bloody Mamasapano encounter.

“As if the Mamasapano incident was entirely our fault, as if we do not have the right to demand justice,” he said in Filipino.

“While we honor the death of the combatants, we also honor the innocent civilians who also perished.

“They know nothing about the conflict. I could feel how they feel right now. I was once a child living in conflict zone. I can feel it, that is why we should call for peace, justice and truth.”

Hataman cautioned those who are calling for the abandonment of peace talks with the MILF and for an allout war in Mindanao.

“We should know the truth first before making judgments. It is not peace if it is not based on justice,” he said in Filipino.

Close to 400 SAF members swooped on Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano on Jan. 25 to serve arrest warrants for suspected Malaysian bomber Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and local bomb expert Abdul Basit Usman.

The operation, however, resulted in a firefight with the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the MILF.

The clash has created uncertainties on the future of the peace process between the government and the MILF. In March last year, both parties signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the political entity that will replace the ARMM. ARMM Executive Secretary Laisa Alamia said P10,000 financial assistance was given to each of the six residents who were injured in the clash and P25,000 to each of the families of the four who died.

Hataman said a fundraising will be launched for the civilian victims.

He said the Mamasapano incident should not be made a reason to stop the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. “There’s no other solution to the Mindanao issue but peace. War is not the answer. Only peace based on truth and justice can unite all of us. Through it we will not experience the cruelty and horrors of war,” he said.

“I appeal to our leaders, lawmakers and all Filipinos, let us unite and support BBL because I believe it will prevent war from happening in Mindanao,” he said. (Ferdinand B. Cabrera/ MindaNews)

Public... FFROM 3

with ‘actionable intelligence’ to pin down the precise location” of Marwan, “Let me be clear. Our involvement was as I stated.

At the request of the AFP, US service members serving in JSOTF-P responded to assist in the evacuation of casualties after the firefight in Maguindanao,” Hoyer said.

The presence of US troops on Monday fueled speculations of US participation in the operations to get Marwan, a Malaysian national on the list of the US government’s most wanted terrorists and who was reported killed three years ago in what was media reports described as a “USbacked airstrike” in Jolo, Sulu.

Marwan’s remains, however, were not found in the aftermath of the dawn operation that left at least 15 persons dead. $5 million + $1 million The United States’ National Counterterrorism Center in its website said Zulkifli, 49, an engineer trained in the United States, is believed head of the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (MM) allegedly a terror group, and a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah’s central command.

“Since August 2003, he has been present in the Philippines, where he is believed to have conducted bomb-making training for the Abu Sayyaf Group,” the NCTC website said.

Zulkifli carries a $5m (220 million pesos) reward for anyone who could provide information leading to his arrest, the NCTC said.

Abdul Basit Usman, described by the NCTC as a Filipino citizen, a “bombmaking expert” with links to the Abu Sayyaf and the JI, carries a million dollar (44 million pesos) reward.

Probe The US government’s denials, notwithstanding, Bayan Muna Reps. Neri

Colmenares and Carlos Zarate last week filed a resolution asking the Joint Committee on National Defense and Security; Public Order and Safety; and Peace, Unity and Reconciliation to investigate the alleged involvement not only of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and suspended PNP chief Alan Purisima in the Mamasapano operations but also the United States’ alleged involvement.

In a press statement on Sunday, Zarate cited reports from witnesses in Maguindanao said at least one American soldier died during the fighting.

He cited a report from Jerome Succor Aba, spokesperson of Suara Bangsamoro, that they were able to interview a 40-year-old farmer in Brgy. Tukanalipao, Mamasapano who allegedly saw at least “one body of a Caucasian soldier” minutes after clash.

Zarate said he hopes to get the farmer-witness to testify during the investigation.

He recalled that the civilians arrived in the area after troops of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front withdrew to the Islamic Center in Sitio Inubog, Brgy.

Pimbalakan, Mamasapano.

Zarate said the farmer, as well as other civilians who arrived in Pimbalakan narrated seeing a helicopter that “hovered over the bodies to carry ‘specific bodies.’”

Bayan Muna reiterated in its statement that the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement, forbid foreign military troops from engaging in direct military operations in the Philippines.

The statement also cited Suara Bangsamorom as saying six Moro civilians were killed during the military operation in Mamasapano, hours before the actual encounter. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

SPORTS

EDGEDAVAO

15

Melo, Knicks routC Lakers ARMELO Anthony hears those voices saying he’s getting old, that he can’t jump like he once did.

Hard not to, since some of them are coming from right in his locker room.

Anthony answered in his own way Sunday, scoring 18 of his 31 points in the third quarter as the New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80.

He stared back toward his own bench in the second quarter after rising high to slam down a lob pass from Jason Smith, revealing that his teammates were teasing the 30-year-old forward recently after seeing him dunk. ‘’They said they haven’t seen that before in a long time,’’ Anthony said, ‘’and we had this conversation before the game today, so it was just one of those moments where I had to look at the bench and let them know that I’ve still got it.’’

With Kobe Bryant out for the season and both teams among the worst in the NBA, it was anything but a Super Sunday in New York, where the national TV audience

that was originally scheduled to see it missed the Lakers shooting 35.5 percent from the field.

Anthony stood out above the ugliness, turning mostly to his jumper in the third quarter to help New York pull away.

He shot 13 of 25 and grabbed eight rebounds. ‘’Melo got hot, had it going and gave them a nice cushion,’’ Lakers forward Carlos Boozer said. ‘’We tried to fight back a little bit but it was a little too late.’’

Langston Galloway added 13 points for the Knicks, who have won five of seven and did it easily, building their first 20-point lead since they were up 21 in a victory over Philadelphia on Nov. 22.

Boozer had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Jordan Clarkson also scored 19 points.

The Lakers had snapped their nine-game losing streak with a double-overtime victory over Chicago on Thursday but they remain lost on the road, where they fell for the seventh straight time.

HE three Mexican boxers who will be fighting the fighters of the ALA Boxing Stable will meet the Davao media today (Jan. 3) at 11:30 a.m. at The Tower Inn in connection for their fights in the Pinoy Pride 29: Fist of Fury on Saturday at the University of Southeastern Phils. Gym in Bo.Obrero.

They are Cesar “El Polar”Chavez, Juan Luis “Perla Negra” Hernandez and Julio Cesar “”Pingo” Miranda.

Chavez will be challenging reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) International junior welterweight champion Jason “El Niño” Pagara while Hernandez takes on WBO Intercontinental junior featherweight king Genesis for their own 12-round title-fight.

Miranda, on the other hand, faces WBO and IBO International junior bantamweight champion

“King” Arthur Villanueva in a 10-rounder 115-pound nontitle bout.

All of them arrived yesterday from Manila and will also be holding a public workout on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. at the SM City Davao.

The Mexicans will finally meet their Filipino rivals during the official press conference of Feb. 5 at 11:30 a.m. at The Royal Mandaya Hotel. The official weigh-in will be conducted on Feb. 6 at 11:30 a.m. at the SM City Davao.

Meanwhile, tickets for the fights are sold at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, SM City cinema and ticket outlets and SM online ticket. Ticket prices are P150 (general admission), P500 (courtside seats), P1,000 (VIP 4th row), P1,500 (VIP 2nd row) and P3,000 (VIP 1st row).

For inquiry, call cp. no.

0927-8641159. - LITO DELOS REYES

Mexican fighters meet Davao media today T

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony shoots the ball over Los Angeles Lakers forward Ryan Kelly during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. (Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports)

I

’VE said this once and I’ll say it again. It’s Bob Arum who calls the shots. Not Manny Pacquiao.

Just when everyone thought the megafight the world wants to see is a done deal, here comes Bob Arum saying there is no deal yet.

That’s why Bob Arum is the real Big Game Bob. Manny Pacquiao is a fighter and not the matchmaker. These are two different animals. Manny fights who he is told to fight.

That’s his role. He cannot dictate Bob. That’s not in his job description.

So while we thought the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is on, here comes Bob putting a halt to the excitement and early celebration by boxing fans. After the two fighters talked and agreed to their gentleman’s

Satisfying Bob’s craving first agreement or LET’S GET IT ON usapang lalaki in our streetspeak, Bob says nothing has been finalized. Even the May 2 schedule does not sit well with Bob. He wants a June playNeil Bravo date.

I told you.

This ain’t the end of the saga towards making the fight between these two fighters happen.

For as long as Bob is Big Game Bob.

That’s the reality when you have a promoter. He is in charge.

We don’t need to beg for Manny to choose Floyd as his next opponent. We don’t need to coax Floyd into fighting Manny.

Manny and Floyd, just as we are, wanted to settle the score between themselves which is by way of a megafight knowing fully well that it’s the fight that will define their places in history.

Floyd is an undefeated champion and would hope to keep that 0 in his record until the end of his career. But the legend in Floyd will not draw confirmation without a W over Manny.

On the other hand, Manny is the only 8-division champion in this planet. His legend likewise is all cemented except for that

one match to solidify his place in boxing’s annals.

There is no need to elaborate how this fight matters not only to the sport of boxing but also to the world of sports. Not since the Ali-Frazier fight or the Leonard-Hagler fight had this much interest.

So what is keeping Big Game Bob from making this fight?

His fair shake.

As matchmakers, Bob and Al Haymon know their business. Bob has been in this business before Manny was even born. Long enough to know what he can make out of this opportunity.

Let’s shift the pressure then. From Floyd and Manny to Bob and Al. Come on big boys, let’s get this on.

16 EDGEDAVAO Sports

VOL. 7 ISSUE 227 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Pinoy boxers KO Thais F

ILIPINO boxers Adones Cabaquinto and Aston Palicte knocked out their Thai rivals to emerge as the new International Boxing Federation (IBF) Asia junior welterweight and World Youth super flyweight champions during the 6th edition of MP Promotions’ Tibay ng Pinoy at the Davao City Recreation Center on Saturday evening.

After punishing Denkamon Pakdee Gym in the first two rounds with his solid left-right combinations, Cabalquinto landed a left straight on the face of the Thai for a technical knockout win in 27 seconds of the third round.

Former world-rated Bobby Pacquiao awarded the golden belt to Cabalquinto together with Games and Amusements Board Commissioner Fritz Gaston and referee Bruce MacTavish and MP Boxing Davao Stable chief trainer Nonoy Neri.

Palicte, on the other hand, had a shorter work against Jomyuthlek Sor Narongchai by stopping the Thai in 2:11 of the first round.

The undefeated Cabalquinto, also reigning World Boxing Council Asian

Boxing Council and Philippine jr. welterweight champion, improved his record to 19 straight wins with 12 knockouts.

Palicte, on the other hand, connected a left upper cut to the body that sent down Narongchai lying on the floor for several minutes.

It was Palicte’s 11th knockout in 15 wins against only one loss and no draw while Narongchai only suffered his third loss in 16 fights.

In the undercard, Drian Francisco stopped Jason Egera by a TKO in 8th round; Tapales KO’d Jecker Buhawe in 1:51 of 2nd round; Ronerex Dalut won by a split decision over Marvelou Aballe; Jay-ar Inson beat Gabie Siempo by unanimous decision; Rimar Metuda TKO’d Philip Parcon in 2:47 of 2nd round; Orly Silvestre stopped Ryan Raloso in 4th round; Gerald Paclar outclassed Rene Mark Cuarto by unanimous decision; Aries Benavidez beat Jayson Sanchez by majority decision; Jose Ravelo Avalle beat Sammy Caballero by unanimous decision; Ronnie Baldonado stopped Baltazar Susas in 1:38 of 2nd round by TKO. (LDR)

HE Region 11 swimming team represented by the Ateneo de Davao University dominated the 4th Catholic Educational Association of the Phils. (CEAP) Mindanao Games held Saturday at the AdDU Matina swimming pool in Davao City.

Region 11 collected 16 gold medals plus four silvers and three bronze medals against Region 10’s 7-15-11 gold-silver-bronze medal haul.

Sam Trinidad led Region 11 by winning four individual gold medals in the men’s 50 meter backstroke (33.91), 50m breastroke (37.63), 50m freestyle and 100m breastroke (1:18.44).

Catte Ellaine Yap added three golds in the women’s 50m butterfly (34.67), 50m freestyle (32.75) and 100m backstroke (1:23.53).

Teamamtes Gian Sam and Le’an Cantil both pocketed two golds while Lemuel Ledesma topped the men’s 100m backstroke (1:20.57).

Sam ruled the men;s 50m butterfly (33.12) and 100m freestyle (1:04.58) while Cantil dominated the women’s 100m freestyle (1:20.50) and 50m backstroke (43.65).

In the team event, Sam combined with Trinidad, Ledesma and Jeremy Sarona to win the

men’s 200m medley relay at 2:21.95 against Region 10’s 2:33.65.

They also won the men’s 200m freestyle relay at 2:04.40 against Region 10’s 2:14.69 played by Mark Gotinao, Christian Madrigal, Michael Ramonal and Jeremiah

Referee Bruce MacTavish raises the hand of the newly-crowned IBF Asia junior welterweight champion Adones Cabalquinto after scoring a technical knockout against Denkamon Pakdee Gym of Thailand during MP promotions’ Tibay ng Pinoy 6 at the

Region 11 tankers rule CEAP Minda Games T Requilme.

Region 11 represented by Yap, Cantil, Alexandra Balao and Kolleen Divinagracia captured the 200m freestyle relay at 2:45.75 and 200m medley relay at 2:57.97.

Region 10’s gold medal winners were Requilme,

Alexandra Goyeneche, Diane Nilles and Mark Gatinao.

Trophies and medals were awarded by host Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) Executive Director Jimmie-lou de Vega and event sports coordinator Billy Cruzada. -- LITO DEOS REYES

BLUE TANKERS. The members of the Region 11 swimming team represented by the Ateneo de Davao University in the 4th CEAP Mindanao Games held Jan. 31 at the AdDU Matina swimming pool. Photo by Tommy Iñigo

Davao City Recreation Center on Saturday.Also in photo are former world-rated boxer Bobby Pacquiao (3rd from left), IBF supervisor Fritz Gaston (4th from left) and MP Davao Boxing Stable chief trainer Nonoy Neri (rightmost). Tommy Iñigo

Mayweather’s uncle doubts Pacquiao can give a challenge

B

oxing trainer Jeff Mayweather, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s uncles, does not think there is a welterweight or a light middleweight fighter in the world who can compete with his nephew – not even Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao.

In a wide-ranging interview with On the Ropes Boxing Radio, “Uncle Jeff” was asked who among the world’s welterweight and light-middleweight boxers would give his nephew the greatest challenge.

“It’s not Pacquiao,” Mayweather immediately answered. “Pacquiao is just a place that he hasn’t visited yet.”

Mayweather believes that his nephew has already beaten the best light-middleweight fighter in the world, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and that he has also defeated the best welterweights.

“I don’t think there’s anyone out there that really has a real chance of beating Floyd,” the trainer said.

“Manny is the only one that hasn’t had a chance that’s on that level.”

Mayweather said there

was a time, perhaps five years ago, when a fight between Floyd Jr. and Pacquiao may have been a “50-50 split.”

“Since that time, he’s had a loss, he’s been knocked out,” said Mayweather. “But still, you have fans that are still crazy over him.”

“Floyd hasn’t lost, he’s been beating younger fighters, up-and-coming fighters, all these guys that are some of the top guys in the weight class,” he added.

“Manny Pacquiao has lost and he’s been knocked out cold, but everybody is still speaking like he really has a chance with Floyd. The reality is, he really doesn’t have a chance.”

Floyd Jr. can prove his uncle right by fighting Pacquiao on May 2, but so far a fight between the two pound-for-pound kings have yet to be finalized.

Even Mayweather does not know if the big fight will ever happen.

“To be honest, I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” he said. “I can’t tell anyone if the fight is going to be made.

It’s not my business to tell – that’s for Floyd and Manny to do.”