BusinessWeek M I N DA N A O CREDIBLE
Volume XI, No. 93
AS OF 6:00 PM JAN. 12, 2020 (TUESDAY)
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Briefly Pork PRICES up THE rise of pork retail prices in Metro Manila was caused by a scaling back of production by commercial hog raisers due to the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), an industry official said. In a radio interview Friday, Nicanor M. Briones, Vice President for Luzon of the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, Inc. (ProPork). said Luzon is experiencing a shortage after most backyard and commercial hog raisers voluntarily cut back on their operations out of fear their animals will contract ASF. “You will go bankrupt if you are affected by ASF since there is no cure yet. Also there is no budget from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to assist hog raisers,” Mr. Briones said
Stable outlook FITCH Ratings’ affirmation of its ‘BBB’ investment grade rating with stable outlook for the Philippines’ is expected to attract more investments given the country’s improved fundamentals. In a reply to e-mailed questions from PNA, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said the latest affirmation of the country’s credit rating defies “the adverse economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that led to downgrades in the outlook and credit ratings of other countries around the world.” This development, he said, “signal(s) resilience and would also encourage the entry of more foreign investments/FDIs (foreign direct investments), amid improved economic and credit fundamentals of the country, thereby increasing international investor confidence/sentiment on the country and generating more employment and other business/economic activities in the country, as needed to help sustain economic recovery/rebound after the Covid-19 lockdowns.”
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Expansions excluded in coal moratorium www.businessweekmindanao.com
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YOUR MINDANAO-WIDE BUSINESS PAPER
Wednesday|January 13, 2021
Catching a dogtooth tuna By ROEL CATOTO, MindaNews
SURIGAO City – As the world got scared with the pandemic and everyone tried to distance themselves from other people to avoid catching the virus, I was safely secluded in Siargao, an island paradise in Surigao del Norte, fishing with good friends. I moved to Siargao four years ago to try my luck in the tourism industry, helping manage small resorts there. But the crowd in General Luna, the surfing capital where rich foreigners used to flock, got me worried. Even as most of its establishments, the streets and the shores were empty when travel to the island was banned in March last year and quarantines were set in place, I moved out and temporarily settled TUNA/PAGE 7
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By MYRNA M. VELASCO, Contributor
XISTING generating facilities with definitive expansion plans will be excluded from the coverage of the coal moratorium policy that was finally firmed up by the Department of Energy (DOE) in an advisory that it issued this week.
Aside from expansion projects, exempted from the prohibited coal plant investments are: a) the committed power projects; and b) the indicative power projects with substantial accomplishments on permitting. The indicative coal plant ventures that could still be implemented include those: with signed and notarized acquisition of land or lease agreement for the project; and those with approved permits or resolutions from local government units (LGUs) and the Regional Development Council where the power
plants will be located. On the whole, the ventures covered by the coal moratorium will just be the new or greenfield power plant developments that are still requesting for endorsements from the energy department. T h e m o r a t o r i u m’s effectivity was as of October 27, 2020 – when Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, made verbal declaration on the policy. The advisory was dated December 22, 2020 but it was only released January 11 this year. As could be gleaned from the Philippine Energy EXPANSION/PAGE 6
WICKED TUNA. Roel and his 55-kilo prize catch. photo courtesy of john rod catoto
Project delays seen to cripple power generation in Mindanao T H E d e l ay i n c r i t i c a l transmission projects brought about by the latest travel ban will affect the operations of power generation companies in Mindanao, a power plant developer said. This comes after
privately owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) earlier raised concerns that delays caused by the newest travel ban would hamper critical power transmission projects that had yet to be completed.
In a press release on Dec. 31, the firm said that the travel restrictions would slow down the vessels carrying transmission equipment for the submarine cable laying activity of NGCP’s MindanaoDELAYS/PAGE 7
ICONIC TREE HOUSE. Built in April 1960, the iconic Tree House of Pasonanca Park in Zamboanga City still stands and can still be rented for overnight stay. mindanews photo by jules l. be
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Local
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WEDNESDAY|JANUARY 13, 2021
CDO adopts zero contact policy
C
AGAYAN DE ORO CITY--As provided for in Ordinance No. 13992-2020 or the Ease of Doing Business Ordinance of the city, all departments and offices of the city government are now required to adopt a zero-contact policy. Such is observed through limiting the interactions of officials and employees with an applicant or requesting party in the preliminary assessment and evaluation of the sufficiency of submitted requirements of an application or request. This policy will be implemented unless such interaction is necessary for the processing of the request or application. Chapter 3 of the ordinance further mandates the observance of transparency to encourage the honest and efficient delivery
of government services and discourage wrong perceptions of graft and corruption. Departments shall require electronic
submission of applications, requests and/or payments for the effective implementation of the zero-contact policy whenever applicable
and communicate with applicants through email and other electronic means of communication or the websites of the government agencies
concerned whenever practicable. Interactions that are strictly necessary such as payment of applicable and other fees and complex or highly technical transactions are exempted from the zero-contact policy. The ordinance providing for the streamlined guidelines for the issuance of permits, licenses, clearance and certificates for business and nonbusiness-related transactions in all offices and departments of the
city government is in line with Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2019001, Series of 2019. This pertains to the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 11032, otherwise known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018. Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy, Councilors Ian Mark Nacaya, George Goking, Edna Dahino and Yan Lam Lim are the authors of the ordinance. (SP/PIA10)
Agusan Sur town to ban helmets in poblacion area Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy, Councilors Ian Mark Nacaya, George Goking, Edna Dahino and Yan Lam Lim authored the Ordinance No. 13992-2020 or the Ease of Doing Business Ordinance of the city. (SP)
BALINGASAG, MISAMIS ORIENTAL National Highway Balingasag, Barangay 4, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental Mobile Number/s: 0933-823-3161, 0933-823-3304 Tel. Number: 333-5161 CAGAYAN DE ORO P&J Lim Building, Tiano Kalambagohan St., Barangay 14, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel No. (08822) 727-829 / 231-6629 Telefax No. (088) 856-1947 Mobile No. 0933-823-3303 / 0943-708-7065 CAGAYAN DE ORO WAREHOUSE Warehouse 7, Bonbon Road, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Mobile No. 0917-825-4149 / 0943-708-7065 CARMEN, CAGAYAN DE ORO Vamenta Blvd., fronting CEPALCO, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 233-2011 Mobile No. 0933-823-3159 CORRALES, CDO Corrales Ave., Barangay 29, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 231-2055
DIVISORIA, CDO A. Velez St., Barangay 9, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 856-1947 Mobile No. 0917-841-4000 / 0933-823-3164 GINGOOG CITY G/F Wyne Militante Bldg., Lugod St., Barangay 22, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental Telefax No. (088) 861-0104 Mobile No. 0933-823-3168 LAPASAN, CDO National Highway (FICCO Bldg.), Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 231-6739 Mobile No. 0933-823-3160 PUERTO, CDO Purok 6, Puerto, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental Tel. No. (088) 859-0574 Mobile No. 0943-708-7537 CAMIGUIN B. Aranas St., Poblacion, Mambajao, Camiguin Telefax No. (088) 387-0491 Mobile No. 0943-708-7539
BUTUAN City – For security reasons, all motorcycle riders and back riders will be required to remove their helmets once inside the poblacion or town center of San Francisco town, Agusan del Sur, starting this Monday. “Public safety is our priority. I ask the people to follow what is stated in our local law,” Mayor Solomon T. Rufila said in a statement posted on his Facebook account on Sunday. Rufila was referring to Section 147 of Municipal Ordinance No. 09-2015 that requires riders of single motorcycles to remove their helmets once inside the town center The local police said
it has already mounted billboards and posters in strategic areas since last week to inform the general public. Violators would be slapped with a P200 penalty for the first offense, P300 for the second offense, and P500 for a third offense. Another local regulation, Municipal Ordinance No. 138-2019, requires a 20 kilometer per hour speed limit within the poblacion area will also BAN/PAGE 6 EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH SALE K NOW A LL ME N B Y THE S E PRESENTS: That the late SPOUSES EUTEMIO A. MILLAMA AND ALEJANDRA MILLAMA died intestate on March 14, 2011 and March 21, 2011 respectively both in Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, leaving behind them above mentioned legitimate children as their only heirs; that at the time of her death, the deceased spouses left behind the following properties to with TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-25367, Lot 817, Pls854, containing an area of FORTY THREE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY THREE (43,293) SQUARE METERS, Certificate of Title P-28420 situated in the barrio of Damilag, Municipality of Manolo Fortich, Province of Bukidnon, Island of Mindanao containing an area of EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY SEVEN (857) Square Meters, Certificate of Title T-47004 North: Lot 1365-D-3G-PSD-10-004935, South: Lot 1365-D-3-F-PSD-004935, East: Lot 1365-D-3-E-2 of SUBD. Plan PSD-105921 West Road, Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-41231 situated at #3802 San Lucas St. Kapisnon, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City, containing an area of TWO HUNDRED (200) Square Meters, more or less, Tax Declaration No. G-093072 ( BLDG. Only) Situated at Kapisnon, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City, Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-124626 situated in the Barrio of Kauswagan, City of Cagayan de Oro, Island of Mindanao, containing an area of EIGHT FOUR (84) SQUARE METERS, more or less, Tax Declaration No. G-208537, Lot 3134 N. Subd. Plan and has been the subject of an EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH SALE, filed by the heirs of SPOUSES EUTEMIO A. MILLAMA AND ALEJANDRA MILLAMA, in favor of JORY D. MONTILLA (Vendee) do hereby sell, transfer and convey unto said Vendee, his heirs, assigns and successors-in-interest the below described parcel of land with Transfer Certificate No. T-25367, per DOC #434; PAGE #87; BOOK #II; Series of 2011 under the Notarial Registry of ATTY. ALFRED LORD TENNYSON Q. GACCION IV. BWM: Jan. 13, 20 & 27, 2021
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CorporateWorld
AirAsia launches piso sale as domestic tourism starts to show signs L OW-COST carrier Philippines AirAsia, Inc. announced on Monday its “piso sale” offering, as it started seeing signs of recovery in domestic tourism.
“We have seen small but significant progress in terms of our load factor for the fourth quarter of 2020,” Philippines AirAsia Spokesperson Steve F. Dailisan said, noting that the airline saw
its load factor hit 58%, 69%, and 63% in October, November, and December, respectively. He added that 2021 opened with a “very encouraging” figure of 70% from Jan. 1 to 10,
Experiential learninglearning by doing By MELANE O. SALVA Teacher I Mambajao Central School
Experiential learning focuses on learners reflecting on their experience of doing something, so as to gain conceptual insight as well as practical expertise. Experiential learning is a wellknown model in education. Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984) defines experiential learning as "the process whereby knowledge i s c r e at e d t h r o u g h t h e transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience." Moreover, the cycle begins with an experience that the learner has had, followed by an opportunity to reflect on that experience. Then learners may conceptualize and draw conclusions about what they experienced and observed, leading to future actions in
which the students experiment with different behaviors. Some examples of experience-based projects include role playing, service learning, internships, studying abroad, open-ended projects (guided discovery), group projects and field study. The more open-ended and non-formulaic an assignment is, the more likely learners will rely on their own experience and reflection and immerse themselves in the topic. Environmental subjects are especially suited to experiencebased learning because humans play a role in just about every environmental issue. Thus, using an experience-based approach to an environmental topic invites learner to examine their own effects on the environment, whether positive or negative. Once learners have
become concretely aware of the ways in which they impact their environment, they can reflect on that and experiment with different environmentallyconscientious behaviors. Thus, experiential learning is the application of theory and academic content to real-world experiences, either within the classroom, within the community, or within the workplace, which advances program or coursebased learning outcomes that are specifically focused on e mpl oy abi l it y s k i l l s . Experiential learning requires the learner to not only engage in the experience activity, but also requires them to reflect upon their learning and how their skills learned through their academic studies can be applied beyond the classroom.
although still far from prepandemic levels. “We continue to work hard to sustain the momentum as we offer more good deals for our air travelers. This month we launched ‘piso sale’ to allow our guests #REDyscover the Philippines. So far, top destinations include Caticlan (Boracay), Bacolod, Cebu, and Zamboanga,” he noted. Philippines AirAsia is optimistic that with the easing of travel
restrictions in most parts of the country and the positive news on vaccine acquisition and distribution, the aviation sector “will soon recover from the setbacks brought by the pandemic,” Mr. Dailisan also said. The low-cost carrier’s “piso sale” is a regular seasonal campaign aimed at boosting domestic travel. This month’s piso base fare offering is available from Jan. 11 to 17, the airline said.
Guests can choose flights from Manila, Clark, and Cebu to Bohol, Caticlan (Boracay), and Puerto Princesa starting Jan. 11 to March 26, 2022, it added. Philippines AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Ricardo “Ricky” P. Isla said the airline company is optimistic that the “piso sale,” along with the health and safety protocols implemented by the local government units, “will lead to a revitalized tourism industry in 2021.”
Holcim Philippines launches environment-friendly mortar HOLCIM Philippines, Inc. unveiled a new mortar product that aims to improve the quality of walls, floors, and tile installation in building projects. In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the company said its new product, Holcim Multifix, is a combination of sand and cement modified with polymer for better
performance, and can be used just by adding water. Holcim said the new product is produced in its dry mix plant, which removes the need to combine materials on the construction site, and maintains the right proportion for the application of the mortar. “Being factoryproduced significantly reduces wastage of building materials such
as sand, thus making the product friendlier to the environment,” the company said. Ramakrishna Maganti, Holcim senior vice president for marketing and innovation, said Holcim Multifix will help solve the common problems of builders in producing mortars such as high-quality raw materials and varying skill levels of HOLCIM/PAGE 6
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Opinion
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Marriage medicine (Pt. 2) T h i n k a m i nu t e . . . Someone said: “Love is a fantasy that is cured by marriage.” But marriage is not the problem. It is people’s wrong understanding and expectation of marriage that is the problem. Yesterday we talked about the epidemic disease that is destroying many marriages. Today we will finish with another unhealthy condition, and then prescribe some medicine to heal and rebuild our relationship and life together. A third sign of sickness in marriage is a communication breakdown. As a comedian said: “My wife and I sleep in s eparate ro oms. We have dinner apart. We take separate holidays. We’re doing everything we can to keep our marriage together!” Many husbands and wives drift apart gradually over time—until finally they’re like two strangers sitting at the same table with nothing to talk about. They become “married singles” living separate lives under the same roof. Their daily attention to each other slowly fades away into their busyness and interest in other friends and
THINK A MINUTE
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Cooperative Philosophy: An idea whose time has come
It has been said that “a strong army can conquer a kingdom but that the strongest army in the world cannot stop an idea whose time has come!” That idea, that Philsophy, is cooperativism. Why? Such truism will be well understood if seen if this context. In a world so enamored in self-promotion, surface appearances and busy with trivialities and where there is so much veneration to the profit motive that has already captured the mindset of all governments, all institutions, all universities and even of religious groups and where there is so much denigration of spirituality, the countervailing force against so much materialism and consumerism is a philosophy called cooperativism. Indeed, the cooperatives may not have the financial power nor influential people but their biggest asset lies in the treasure of their basic
thought to effect social transformation. This is the truism why the framers of the 1987 Constitution categorically provided for an amazing provision as stated in Art. 12, Sec. 15 that states, “to promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments of social justice, equity and economic development.” Well, it was then the time of people power and the constitutional framers wanted to institutionalized people power by harnessing the collective power of the people through cooperativism. It was then the time of cronyism where only 50 families were in control of the economy. It was then their conclusion that harnessing p eople should not only be against the dictatorial rule but to transform a highly skewed societal order controlled by a few elites and oligarchs in a country that is oozing with ecological wealth but where
many were living then in so much poverty. It was only by collectively harnessing people power where power is put where it rightfully belongs: to the Filipino people in consonance with the Constitutional provision that “sovereignty lies with the people and all powers emanate from them.” It is only through people power that social wrongs can be rectified especially in the existence of so-called electric cooperatives which are only cooperatives in name as decided by a 2003 Supreme Court landmark decision. Where is social justice in the life of the so-called electric cooperatives where the 13 million members are called MCOs (member-consumerowners) because they already contributed more than one trillion pesos in the last 50 years in paying two items in their monthly billings, i.e., amortization of loans and reinvestment yet such
KIM'S DREAM
ORLAN R. RAVANERA until now have never been recognized. Hoy, gumising na kayo! Look at our country, an agriculture country yet we cannot even produce for our basic staples like rice and milk while the Philippines is the one supplying agricultural high value products to satisfy the consumerist lifestyle of the obese people in advanced countries. That is a great paradox in a country where 85% of the children fall under the category of being malnourished based on the IDEA/PAGE 7
MCO from January 13-26: Do's and dont's Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government will enforce t h e m ov e m e nt c o nt r o l order (MCO) in the Federal Territories and five other states from Wednesday (Jan 13) until Jan 26 to curb the spread of Covid-19. Here are the salient points: Places affected: Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor, S a b a h , Ku a l a Lu mp u r, Putrajaya and Labuan. * No interstate and interdistrict travels. * No social gatherings, such as weddings, wedding receptions, conferences, religious processions (including Thaipusam), meetings, seminars, courses, and group sport activities. * Roadblocks will be
mounted; movements limited to 10km radius. * Only two people per household are allowed to purchase groceries at nearby supermarkets or grocery stores. * Only two people allowed per vehicle. * Only five essential economic sectors allowed to operate: manufacturing, c ons t r u c t i on , s e r v i c e s , trade and distribution, as well as plantations and commodities. * Only 30% of workers w i t h i n a c o m p a n y ’s management g roup are allowed to go in to office; employers to determine number of employees p e r m i t t e d i n o f f i c e at any one time with total adherence to SOP. * Non-essential services
staff to work from home; employers must comply with this ruling. * Eateries and hawker stalls may operate but only takeaways are allowed. * Food delivery services allowed. * Supermarkets, healthcare services (including clinics, hospitals and pharmacies), and banks allowed to operate with strict SOP compliance. Students * Candidates due to sit for SPM in 2020 and 2021 are allowed to attend school with strict SOP. Religious activities * O n l y a m a x i mu m of f ive mosques/houses of worship committee members allowed at the premises. Recreational activities
NUTS & BOLTS
JEROME DE LA FUENTE
* Outdoor recreational activities allowed among t h o s e w it h i n t h e s am e household. * Individuals must keep 2m distance at all times. * Not more than two people are allowed to jog at any one time. * Cycling not allowed in groups; only one person allowed.
Our charity should be faith-driven JHAN TIAFAU HURST fun. So what marriage medicines can help us with these different marriage illnesses? First, accept your wife or husband the way they are. Remember, everybody has some weaknesses— including you! “The wife who criticizes her husband’s faults needs to remember they may have kept him from getting a better wife.” You cannot pick and choose which parts of your spouse’s personality you will love and accept, and which parts you will not. Real love accepts your mate’s weaknesses and also admits your own. This includes “I’m sorry” when you are wrong. Second, never forget what MEDICINE/PAGE 7
THAT’S how our charity should be. It should not just be a consequence of purely human empathy, sympathy and compassion, although these help a lot in living charity. It should not just be a matter of human altruism and philanthropy. These are already good signs of charity, but they are not enough. Such kind of charity cannot go the distance, cannot cope with all the tests and challenges of real charity. It cannot be universal and abiding. It would highly be selective and even discriminatory in its bestowal. It can only work during fair weather or when conditions are found to be conducive. When unfavorable conditions come, it would flee and disappear, and can even turn into anger and hatred. A faith-driven charity is the charity that is based on God’s love for us. It’s a universal and abiding kind of love, and can go all the way to loving the enemies,
to be willing to sacrifice for the others, including offering one’s life for the others, as exemplified by Christ himself and imitated by the martyrs. It is a charity that is never discriminatory, although it can be very discriminating in showing it, giving out one’s best in any given situation. It’s a total self-giving, freely given without counting the cost nor expecting any reward and completely rid of ulterior motives. It’s never a calculating kind of self-giving. With this charity, though only a humanly insignificant gesture is done, still it is done with one’s whole heart. We have to examine ourselves to see if we are approaching this fully human and Christian ideal of charity. We cannot deny that this kind of charity can only be a result of a vital identification with Christ. It can only be a result of our faith in God, in our full correspondence to God’s grace. As such, it is going to be
a lifelong pursuit and struggle for us to live it. When our charity is inspired and driven by our Christian faith, we would not mind if in living it we do not understand many things, if we would find ourselves inconvenienced and having to go through a lot of sacrifices and self-denials. We would just do it because Christ said so, commanding us to love one another as he himself has loved us. If we do not have faith, there is no way we can live such kind of charity that is commanded of us by Christ. We would consider it as stupidity. We cannot understand the real meaning of generosity, magnanimity, mercy and compassion. We cannot understand the paradoxical teachings of Christ—that we need to die to live, to lose to win, to give to receive, etc. How can we, for example, understand why we have to love our enemies, why we have to offer the other cheek when we
HINTS AND TRACES
ROY CIMAGALA are slapped on one cheek, why we have to walk two miles if we are challenged to walk one mile? In human terms, these would just be crazy ideas. Let’s try our best that our charity is always animated by our Christian faith. Let’s follow the example of all the saints, foremost of whom would be Our Lady who, even if she did not fully understand how can Son of God can be conceived in her womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, just said, “Be it done to me!”
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Banking&Finance
grants P645-M More investments seen for PH DBP loan to boost banana after latest ratings affirmation flour, coco sugar exports
F
ITCH Ratings’ affirmation of its ‘BBB’ investment grade rating with stable outlook for the Philippines’ is expected to attract more investments given the country’s improved fundamentals. In a reply to e-mailed questions from PNA, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said the latest affirmation of the country’s credit rating defies “the adverse economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that led to downgrades in the outlook and credit ratings of other countries around the world.” This development, he
said, “signal(s) resilience and would also encourage the entry of more foreign investments/FDIs (foreign direct investments), amid improved economic and credit fundamentals of the country, thereby increasing international investor confidence/sentiment on the country and generating more employment and other business/economic activities in the country, as needed to help sustain economic recovery/ rebound after the Covid-19 lockdowns.” “The improved economic and credit fundamentals of the Philippines in recent years, amid attractive demographics, with the
Education in a pandemic crisis LOURDINO A. SUGANOB Teacher III Mabini Elementary School
THE pandemic saw empty classrooms all across the world. Before the pandemic, the world was already facing an education crisis. In 2019, 53 percent of 10-year-old children in lowand middle-income countries either had failed to learn to read with comprehension or were out of school.COVID-19 has exacerbated learning gaps further, taking 1.6 billion students out of school at its peak. To mitigate the situation, parents, teachers, students, governments, and development partners must work together to remedy the crisis. Even before COVID-19 forced a massive closure of schools around the globe, the world was in the middle of a learning
crisis that threatened efforts to build human capital—the skills and know-how needed for the jobs of the future. More than half (53 percent) of 10-year-old children in low- and middleincome countries either had failed to learn to read with comprehension or were out of school entirely. Temporary school closures in more than 180 countries have, at the peak of the pandemic, kept nearly 1.6 billion students out of school; for about half of those students, school closures are exceeding 7 months. Although most countries have made heroic efforts to put remote and remedial learning strategies in place, learning losses are likely to happen.
IN-SERVICE (INSET) TRAINING FOR TEACHERS By: MARY ANN B. MANLA
The Department of Education (DepEd) scheduled the Teacher’s In-Service Training through its Regional Offices nationwide on December 14-19, 2020 with the theme ““Transforming Education the ASEAN way: forging partnerships in the Age of Global Disruptions.” MOGCHS in its pursuit of quality education combats the necessity to capacitate teachers through the conduct of Virtual/ Online INSET training. Dr. Pedro R. Estaño Jr., principal of MOGCHS gave an inspiring message to all participants with thoughts to ponder; to look forward despite the challenges of this new normal in education. Mrs. Nelda Orpilla, English department head gave words of welcome and acknowledged all participants from the English department. There were various topics shared by high calibrated master teachers namely : Suggested Measures to Foster “Academic Ease” during the Covid-19 pandemic, Interim Guidelines for Assessment
and Grading in Light of the Basic Education learning Continuity Plan, and Utilization of Virtual Platforms using google application processes and others. Strategies and approaches were highlighted to pave the way for teachers to bolster quality education despite the crisis – education must continue! As mandated by DepEd, teachers fortify skills to make them resilient and ready to take on the challenges in varied learning delivery modality. Whilst, the learning and development opportunity offered to DepEd teachers designed to update knowledge, skills, and competencies; mainly for the benefit of students, giving an effective and enhanced teaching-learning practices in this new normal. Genuinely, teachers relive the ancient proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child,” so does, the effort in capacitating themselves to get involved in the life of their students.
12th largest population in the world at about 110 million, would make the Philippines a compelling investment destination and additional hedge for the global supply chain of various global/multinational companies looking for increased growth/sales, thereby making the country as an attractive production and marketing hub, as well as an attractive entry point to the other free trade agreement (FTA) partner countries of the Philippines,” he said. Along with the improvement of the government’s fiscal performance, he expects the entry into the country of “more/bigger roster of international investments and international credit/ loans at much lower cost and with better terms into the country, in view of the need to finance Covid-19 programs and other economic stimulus measures needed to help sustain the economic recovery, going forward.” The debt watcher’s latest rate decision on the Philippines comes after it affirmed the country’s ‘BBB’ rating but changed the outlook from positive to stable in May 2020. In that same month, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its BBB+ rating with stable outlook on the country, and Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its own rating at Baa2 with a stable outlook. In June last year, Japan Credit Rating Agency
(JCRA) upgraded its investment-grade rating on the Philippines from BBB+ to A-, with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings said its latest rate decision on the country “balances modest government debt levels relative to peers, robust external buffers and still-strong mediumterm growth prospects, notwithstanding the deep pandemic-induced economic contraction, against relatively low per capita income levels and indicators of governance and human development compared to peers.” It said the pandemic’s impact on the domestic economy is greater than earlier expectations “due to the domestic infection rate and government policy measures to curb the spread of the virus.” Fitch Ratings added the pandemic negatively affected private consumption and investment thus, the 10-percent contraction of the economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), in the first three quarters of the year. It forecasts full-year 2020 print to be around -8.5 percent, citing improvement in economic indicators in the last quarter. “We expect economic activity to continue to recover in the coming quarters, and project GDP to expand by 6.9 percent and 8 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively,” it added. (PNA)
STATE-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has granted a PHP645million loan to Hijo Superfoods, Inc. (HSI) for the establishment and expansion of its banana flour and coconut sugar manufacturing facilities, a top official said. In a statement Thursday, DBP president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Herbosa said the bank's credit support to "Project Honeycomb" of HSI, a start-up unit of Hijo Resources Group, would boost the production
of its export products and provide continued livelihood to local farmers and suppliers. “DBP has always been supportive of the initiatives of our local industries that benefit not just the local community but promote the country as well through their worldclass products,” Herbosa said. Project Honeycomb involves the manufacture of banana flour as well as coconut sugar which HSI has been producing since 2010. EXPORTS/PAGE 6
Students have grown in unexpected ways ETHEL C. BANGUIS Secondary School Teacher III Ozamiz City National High school
As we mark the Feast of the Epiphany, the celebration of the visit of the gifts-bearing Three Wise Men to Jesus, I’m reflecting on how wise this generation of school-goers is. Due to what they are living through, they are receiving gifts in the form of life lessons and the personal qualities
these bring. As a result, about 20 years or so from now, the world is in for a treat. By then we are likely to have the finest group of adults in key leadership roles in our governments and workplaces. The first signs of what they are capable of are there already – they
were in plain sight in our schools and classrooms in the run-up to Christmas. It was quite extraordinary to watch youngsters’ collective capacity to accept that even Christmas isn’t exempt from Covid-19 restrictions. The year produced learning for them that far exceeds what
they can do in the classroom. They have skills and abilities than many of us only learned when we were a good deal older. We might quibble about which ones come to mind or resonate most powerfully, but here are three that I have obs er ved up clos e – and admired.
BASA (Bata Agakon Salidahan Amumahon) Program in the New Normal of Panampawan Elementary School By: ANNALYN L. ENLAWAN Teacher III Panampawan Elementary School
BASA (Bata Agakon Salidahan Amumahon) Stations to every Zone were made possible for Kinder, Grade-I, Grade Two and Frustration Readers. This is under our Project Ginunitay Program. Each zone has identified space where the school provided television and Universal Serial Bus (for video lesson storage) through the provision of school MOOE and SEF for teaching reading. It is the school’s initiative to answer the most crucial part of the learning process, which is teaching beginning reading. It is in partnership with Zone leader who
will serve as co-guide of the teacher and parents. Schedule is employed by the teachers to always practice social distancing. Safety health protocols are followed such as provision of footbath, hand sanitizer, face mask and face shield for the learners. Barangay health workers also set schedule to manage safety health protocol in the said BASA Station. Waivers to the parents and permit from the Barangay are provided and signed asking to have home visitation and reading assessment from the video lesson since most of the learners does not have
android phones for video call. Education today might have 360-degree leap of change but this gives us an opportunity to be creative, resourceful and decisive in making things happen. This made us realize that seeing and expecting the unseen is not off beam. It is the best tool for preparation and fertilizer of personal and professional growth. Willingness to learn is a great armor to be resilient and challenges are the vitamins of the champion. Together we will win this crisis because education never fails.
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Expansion... from page 1
Plan (PEP) unveiled by the DOE last month, it is still expecting 9,550 megawatts of capacity addition from coal plants in the next 20 years, primarily to support the country’s continuing need for baseload power. Cusi, in his coal m o r a t o r i u m a d v i s o r y, reiterated that the policy is being enforced so the Philippines could increase the share of renewables in the energy mix. Besides that, the DOE chief also indicated that the energy sector would like to allot space
for the promotion of more innovative technologies; as well as increase flexibility of technology utilization and resources in the power system. The end goal of the coal moratorium and intended shift to cleaner sources of energy will be to pare carbon footprints and enhance measures that could help abate the impact of global warming, given the fact that the Philippines is considered highly vulnerable to natural disasters. In the past 10 years or from 2010 to 2019, the DOE stated that most of the power capacity additions in the countr y had been from
Teaching in the new normal ALEXIS V. LAROSA Teacher II Alubijid National Comprehensive High School
IMPLEMENT learning recover y programs. Most immediately, governments must ensure that students who have fallen behind receive the support that they need to catch up to expected learning targets. The first step must be to carry out just-in-time assessments to identify these students and their support needs. Prep ar ing for f utu re shocks by building back better. Looking to the future, it is not only imperative that we recover from the pandemic but that we use this experience to become better prepared for future crises. To support this, countries need to build their capacity to provide virtual education in the future. Schools
should be better prepared to switch easily between face-to face and remote learning as needed. With this in mind, it will be necessary to develop flexible curricula that can be taught in person or online. Additionally, teachers need to be better equipped to manage a wide range of IT devices in the event of a future lockdown. Offering short training courses to improve their digital skills will help. Using the post-pandemic to rebuild education systems and make them resilient is a priority. At the same time, it is important to build the future education system that will not be subject to lost learning during the next pandemic.
Enhancing cooperative learning among learners By MELANE O. SALVA Teacher I Mambajao Central School
According to Bransford (1999), the use of cooperative learning groups in instruction is based on the principle of constructivism, with particular attention to the contribution that social interaction can make. In essence, constructivism rests on the idea that individuals learn through building their own knowledge, connecting new ideas and experiences to existing knowledge and experiences to form new or enhanced understanding. The consideration of the role that groups can play in this process is based in social interdependence theory, which grew out of Kurt Koffka’s and Kurt Lewin’s identification of groups as dynamic entities that could exhibit varied interdependence among members, with group members motivated to achieve common goals. Morton Deutsch conceptualized varied types of interdependence, with positive correlation among group members’ goal achievements promoting cooperation. Cooperative learning follows this idea as groups work together to learn or solve a problem, with each individual responsible for understanding all aspects. The small groups are essential to this process because students are able to both be heard and to hear their peers, while in a traditional classroom setting learners may spend more time listening to what the teacher says. Cooperative learning
is defined as a division for labor undertaken to solve a problem. For any given task, learners divide the work and come together to present findings. Each learner makes an individual contribution. It is a teaching strategy in which small teams, each with learners of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. It makes the use of varied techniques which are learning together and alone, constructive controversy group investigation, jigsaw procedure, student teams achievement divisions (STAD), complex instruction, team accelerated instruction (TAI), cooperative learning structures, and cooperative integrated reading and composition. Consequently, there is no doubt that teachers play a key role in establishing cooperative learning experiences in their classrooms. This includes structuring the groups and the tasks so that learners understand what they are expected to do and how they are expected to behave. It also includes teachers understanding that they have a role in promoting learner interactions during small group discussions. Helping learners to interact and work together not only enable learners to learn from each other but also to accept responsibility for the tasks they have to complete and the decisions they have to make.
coal plants – accounting for 66-percent or an aggregate capacity of 6,194MW. For the other technologies, the energ y depar tment showed relatively anemic capacity build-up, with solar capacity expansion just seen at 10-percent for 920MW; 7.0-percent for diesel plants at 657MW; 6.0-percent for natural gas at 582MW; and 4.0-percent for wind plants at 394MW. At the height of the pandemic, the DOE qualified there had been challenges experienced in the operation of the power system “with the sudden electricity demand reduction and the affected sustained operation of the baseload power plants.” Given such circumstances, the energy department opined that “there is a need to shift to a more flexible power supply mix to have a more sustainable power system that will be resilient in any structural changes in demand and will be flexible enough to accommodate entry of new and cleaner technologies.”
Ban...
from page 2
be strictly implemented starting Monday, Rufila said. The speed limit will apply to all types of vehicles that will traverse the major thoroughfares in the downtown of San Francisco town. Violators of Ordinance No. 138-2019 will be fined P1,000 for the first offense, P1,500 for the second offense, and P2,000 for the third offense. (PNA)
Holcim... from page 3
workers. Mr. Maganti said the poor quality of mortars is one of the reasons that affect the quality of walls. He added that aside from being a wall plaster, Holcim Multifix can also be used for screeding, a finishing layer of concrete slabs for levelling floors, and also for tile laying. “Holcim Multifix helps make it easier for our partner builders to produce good
Education in the Face of the Pandemic KAREN MAE B. BONDAUG
The COVID-19 pandemic has caught the world off-guard, the Philippines, especially, since March 2020, it was only a few months ago when most people actually felt the true impact of this virus. Among other agencies, the Department of Education had the most challenging undertaking. Next to feeding the hungry is feeding of the mind. Finding a solution to hunger seems to be a lot easier than solving the educational crisis in the Philippines. With the threat just lurking around the corner, it was not possible to hold the usual classes anymore. When other countries were quick to bounce back, the Philippines was still grappling with the situation. Most countries around the world opted to conduct online classes, however, it was not feasible for most Filipinos. With many parents losing their job due to the pandemic, only a few students can in reality, afford online classes. Although the department presented varied options to sustain students’ learning, veritably,
the most practical solution to this problem is offline distance learning, or commonly known as Modular Learning. With this, the department, administrations, and teachers embarked on one of the most challenging venture they have had to face. Starting with the planning down to the implementation, everyone was involved yet apprehensive. Focusing on the teacher’s perspective, it was a bit overwhelming. Since the preparation and official opening of School Year 2020-2021, teachers have been bombarded with so many tasks. Most of which are so novel it took a while before we truly understood what it was for and how we can do it efficiently. The tasks given to us were not easy, but it was also not impossible. Years of being a teacher taught them to be flexible and adaptable. Together with the parents, the Department of Education, teachers, administrators and stakeholders work together to achieve a common goal, continuing education amidst the pandemic.
New normal education MARIAN G. SUGANOB Teacher III Mangga Elementary School
RADICAL inclusion should be the new normal. Keeping schools safely open is now a priority even in countries that are experiencing second waves of COVID-19 infection, many of them at infection levels higher than that of their first wave. Overwhelmingly, countries that have fully opened schools are much more likely to stay open. Learning from countries that are reopening effectively against a backdrop of rising infections is essential. Implementing academic support programmes, such as catch-up classes and tutoring, and providing additional resources as remedies to learning lost during school closures are the most highly prioritized measures by
countries in advance of reopening. These are closely followed by policies to support the physical, social, emotional and mental health of students as well as teacher professional development, which is closely connected with distance learning support. This will be an important consideration for countries who choose to remain closed in advance of a full reopening. We must preserve the new habits that we have managed to acquire over such a short timeframe to combat the adverse effects of the pandemic on our education systems and make them sacred in established routines and processes as building blocks of countries’ national education plans.
quality walls. It is factorymixed using Holcim cement and quality sand for superior performance,” Mr. Maganti said. “Since we are not screening sand, there will be less material wastage. Holcim Multifix is the only all-in-one drymix product in the Philippines,” he added. Holcim said its new product will be initially retailed as 25-kilogram bags in select areas in Luzon and will be introduced in Mindanao by the first quarter of 2021. On Wednesday, Holcim shares at the stock exchange fell 2.03% or 15 centavos to close at P7.25 apiece.
Exports... from page 5
It is planning to ramp production to 9 metric tons (MT) daily from the current 12 MT monthly, through the use of advanced technology and modern machinery. The banana flour component is a start-up initiative that would have an initial capacity of producing five MT a day using bananas sourced from HSI’s own farms and similarly classed harvests
of other Cavendish bananaproducing companies. DBP senior vice president for southern and western Mindanao lending group Ana Marie Veloso said the project assures a more sustainable livelihood for local coconut farmers amid the fluctuating prices of copra in the international market. Veloso said HSI is eyeing to ship the sugar and banana flour products to the export markets, with the company expecting to earn more than USD10 million in gross revenues. “On another note, the products of Hijo are also considered as healthier a lter nat ives to regu l ar processed sugar thereby contributing immensely to the nation’s efforts to combat and control non-communicable diseases such as diabetes,” she said. DBP is the seventh-largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy -infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment; social services, and community development. (PR)
Returning to the old normal FLORENCE C. CASCO Administrative Officer I Ozamiz City School of Arts and Trades
SO, from a work standpoint, it feels like if we can just get through the worst of this winter, we may see a different kind of worklife emerge in spring and summer. Which means people returning to the workplace again. Some people don't have a “workplace” to return to (other than my local coffee shop), but I do have a keen interest in this topic as it impacts all of my clients and friends. So, not sure my opinion is the most credible, but I’ve long had thoughts on workplace culture and how and when employees get their jobs done. But, it’s also going to be a huge year for workplace transformation. As people return to the workplace, it’s going to change–forever. In many ways, it already has.
But, I see a number of workplace changes occurring in the year ahead. Much like everything else in society, we’re living in a very black-and-white world. You’re either on one side–or the other. And, in the workplace world this will manifest itself in the “working remotely” vs. “working at the office” groups. You’ll fall in one or the other, and there will be little gray area (even though a lot of people hope to work 2-3 days in the office vs. 5). I just think there are too many people who still want to work in the office full-time–and those people tend to be in management positions. Meanwhile, the “work from home” crowd tends to be the rank-and-file. Just a generalization, but I’ve found that to be true over the years and I don’t think COVID has changed it all that much.
Teacher's resilience in the new normal KRIZAIDA ALLEYA A. ESPINOSA GUSA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
IT’s no secret that education systems here and abroad took a heavy beating from the COVID-19 pandemic. And while we often hear of students’ and parents’ struggles with online learning, teachers have their fair share of challenges as well. From prep ar at ion of lesson plans to conducting the classes and the handing out of assignments, teachers have to make sure that the quality of learning remains even with the absence of face-to-face interactions. Preparing lessons during this pandemic is way more challenging than b efore since the concern is not just limited to making sure that the learning will be transferred to the learners, but also to
making sure that this is actually delivered to them The planning part is complex now since classes are online. My audio-visual m at e r i a l s , c a m e r a , a n d microphone need to be tested at least two days before my actual class. Before, it was a day before because I just needed to prepare my visual aids. Not all families can actually afford the expenses (of securing a stable Internet connection). The Internet stability in our country is (also) really challenging, aside from the fact that the teacher’s presence in the process of learning is actually compromised. (Limited) teacher presence affects the learning of the students according to studies.
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Tuna... from page 1
in the adjacent town to its north, Pilar, known for its rich fishing grounds but with far less people. It was in Pilar where I started learning the intricacies of fishing, with the help of the humble Siargao legends. While tirelessly doing it every day, I learned that fishing is a game of the rich but is also the main source of livelihood of one of the poorest sectors of society – the fisherfolk. With no tourists flocking to the island, I was out of work and had hoped that while distancing myself from the crowd, I could make a living out of fishing. I was fortunate to be doing it passionately with friends, among them seasoned fishing hobbyists Mike Cancio, Andre Antigua, Luis Banson and Mauro Agustines. Fishing is dangerous and hard. Anything could happen in the open water. I experienced rough seas. I puked countless times because of the big waves. We were once rescued because our boat’s engine conked out. I survived several squalls. And every time we fish, we endure the scorching heat of the midday sun. I got frustrated several times, the days when my lines were cut after a few minutes of battle with huge underwater creatures. DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE KNO W A LL MEN BY T HESE PRESENTS: This DEED OF SALE made and executed by and between: VIRGIE P. NAVARRO, of legal age, widow, Filipino citizen and with residence and postal at Sambulawan, El Salvador City herein referred to as “VENDOR”; -And ORLANDO L. MANZANO, of legal age, married, Filipino citizen and with residence and postal address at Bayabas, West Bound Terminal, Cagayan de Oro City, herein referred to as the VENDEE; That the VENDOR is the portion owner of certain parcel of land under Original Certificate of Title No. E-5117, situated in the Sambulawan, El Salvador, Misamis Oriental containing an area of TWO HUNDRED (200) square meters, more or less, and has been the subject of an DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE, filed by the heirs, in Favor of ORLANDO L. MANZANO, per DOC #123; PAGE #25; BOOK #CXXIII; Series of 2020 under the Notarial Registry of ATTY. RAMIL G. GARREON. BWM: January 6, 13 & 20, 2021
EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE AMONG HEIRS WITH DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE KNO W A LL MEN BY T HESE PRESENTS: That the late NESTOR G. PAGAPULAAN died intestate on ____________ at_________________, EFI G. PAGAPULAAN, died intestate on __________ at _______________ and JOSELITA G. PAGAPULAAN died intestate on ______________ at _________________ at the time of their death left a certain real property with Original Certificate of Title No. E-5117, situated in the Sambulawan, El Salvador, Misamis Oriental, containing an area of ONE HUNDRED (100) square meters, more or less and has been the subject of an EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE AMONG HEIRS WITH DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE, filed by the heirs of NESTOR G. PAGAPULAAN, EFI G. PAGAPULAAN, JOSELITA G. PAGAPULAAN, in favor of ORLANDO L. MANZANO, per DOC #124; PAGE #25; BOOK #CXXIII; Series of 2020 under the Notarial Registry of ATTY. RAMIL G. GARREON. BWM: January 6, 13 & 20, 2021
I wondered what kind of fishes these were. They must be big, strong, with sharp teeth. Before the pandemic, I prepared myself to join the Siargao International Game Fishing Tournament held annually in Pilar every April. But last year’s event, like many sports competitions all over the world, did not push through. The cancellation was a blessing as it gave me time to sharpen my knowledge on fishing and hone my skills day by day without the pressure of an impending tournament. I am grateful for the relentless guidance of the local fishing legends – the Gonzales brothers, Clifford and Gresan, and Niel Espinele. Before the New Year, I braved going home to Surigao City to be with my parents, doing some semblance of physical distancing at home. Late afternoon of December 29, I went out to sea with my brother, John Rod, who has no experience fishing in the open water, and boatman Romelito Rasonabe. I was lucky I brought home my fishing gear with me – an Ecooda Black Expert for the rod, Ecooda Black Hawk 2 5000 for the reel, and a 250-gram silver zebra lure from Hook Pro Siargao. We took off from the west coast of Surigao City, from Barangay Mabua, and decided to drop my lure three kilometers from the nearest shore, about 165 meters deep. It was my first drop, and suddenly I felt a strong tension on my line. What luck! This prompted me to pull my jigging rod as fast as I could, in the hope that I could set the hook on whatever sea creature beneath the waves had grabbed my lure. Sensing that my hook was set, I shouted “Isdaaa!” (Fish!). The battle ensued between me and the fish. It was something hard and unbelievably heavy. I braced myself solidly on the banca’s floor with both legs
spread wide to keep my balance. I thought I caught a big ruby snapper or amberjack or a sailfish, the kinds of fish we often catch back in the waters of Siargao. Ensuring my lines are tight enough, I patiently waited for maybe eight minutes as the fish was trying to escape, and gradually tightened the tension dial on my reel to drag the fish up. But it wasn’t easy battling the fish’s pull. I was worried the line would break as I was using only a 40-pounder. I didn’t expect to catch some big fish on this outing so close to the shore. But this fish, I felt it must be over 130 pounds. It finally surfaced around 12 minutes after it bit the lure. I was astonished and completely in disbelief with what I saw. “It’s a dogtooth!” I screamed. For anglers, a dogtooth tuna (Gymnosarda unicolor) is a prize catch because of its rarity and the difficulty to get it. The Ocean Blue Fishing website says that “doggies” are “not an easy catch.” “Catching a doggie is like trying to pass College Honors Abstract Algebra – it is a struggle. And because it is difficult to land, most couldn’t resist having dogtooth on top of their fishing bucket list…. Dogtooth tuna [is] awfully strong so be prepared to hold on tight and hope for the best,” it says. Another fishing website, fishingbooker.com, said that the dogtooth, “once hooked … will normally make a high-speed run towards the bottom. No amount of drag will be enough to stop the reel from screaming and, if the fish makes it to the reef structure, your line from being cut.” My arms and hands were shaking from the bout with this beast about as tall as I am (173cm). Days later, I could still feel the pain on my shoulders from that battle. I got scared looking at the fish floating in the water, even
PRA Form No. 10.1 (LCRO) Republic of the Philippines CITY CIVIL REGISTRY OFFICE 1F South Wing Administrative Bldg. City Hall, Capistrano-Hayes Sts. Cagayan de Oro City NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC In compliance with Section 5 of R.A. No. 10172, a NOTICE is hereby served to the public that ARNIE LOU VALCORZA ACTUB has filed with this Office a petition for the correction of clerical error of the CHILD’S SEX from “MALE” to “FEMALE” in the Certificate of Live Birth of ARNIELON VALCURSA ACTUB who was born on MAY 10, 1985 at TIGNAPOLOAN, CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY MIS. OR. And whose parents are ARNOLPO B. ACTUB and EMMA P. VALCURSA. Any person adversely affected by said may file his written opposition with this Office not later than JANUARY 07, 2021.
(SGD) EVANGELINE C. TAPANGAN City Civil Registry
BWM: January 6 & 13, 2021
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if it was hardly moving. “It has 20 sharp canineshaped teeth per jaw. And once your line hits the teeth, it’s done,” master angler Clifford Gonzales, who manages Hook Pro, told me later. He said 75 percent of lines will be cut when a dogtooth tuna bites the lure. So this must be the kind of fish that cut all my lines in our fishing expeditions in Siargao. Now that the big fish was on the surface, we were in a quandary on how to bring it to shore. I asked the boatman to get his gaff and hook it on the fish’s jaw, then used a nylon rope to strap it to the side of the boat and dragged it, the way Santiago pulled his large marlin to shore in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” But recalling what happened to the fictional hero’s fish, I was afraid the dogtooth, too, will attract sharks, feast on it, and put our lives in danger. We decided to just haul it into the boat. Romelito (the boatman) and I helped to bring it up, but the boat nearly flipped because of the weight. I asked my brother, who was taking videos and pictures with his phone, to stop shooting and help by moving away to keep the boat’s balance. I was afraid to hold the dogtooth by its jaw. Who knows it might still have the strength to snap my hands into pieces. So we held it by its gills, counted to three, and pulled it up with all our might. We confirmed later it weighed 55 kilos. As I looked at the fallen sea creature by my side, I was amazed at its size. I could not believe I caught this elusive fish. I laid my back against the boat’s bow to ease the pain in my back, sometimes shaking my head to make sure it was not a dream. I must have glanced at the fish a hundred times on our way to the shore. I felt sorry for the hapless sea creature. I killed him. As we reached the shore, my boatman called out his neighbors for help in unloading the fish. People began gathering, asking questions, curiously looking at how the fish punctured and deformed my 250-gram lead lure. Camera phones flickered and more people kept coming, unmindful of the need for physical distancing. I asked some gentlemen to help carry the fish to our car before the police might arrive and disperse
us for breaking health protocols in this pandemic. Just like old times, we butchered the fish. I gave out maybe half of the meat to friends and sold what could no longer fit in our ref. I’m flattered by the congratulatory notes sent by fellow fishing hobbyists. Clifford Gonzales was among them, and I replied that it was the result of his constant guidance and support. “You are the new king,” said James O’Donnel, of Dope Trips that offers a fishing and surfing charter in Siargao. But I reminded him I didn’t catch the fish in Siargao. Thus, Andre Antigua remains king of the island after he got a 41-kilogram dogtooth a few months ago off General Luna. But, what a yearend catch it was for me, my greatest catch ever. (Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)
Delays... from page 1
Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP). The project aims to unify the three grids across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Global Business Power Corp. (GBP) Commercial and Sales Head Philip D. Dasalla said that MVIP’s completion would allow Mindanao firms to sell excess power to retail markets in Luzon and Visayas. “The timely completion of MVIP is critical to the power industry as it will enable power generators in Mindanao such as our affiliate company, Alsons Thermal Energy Corp., which owns Sarangani Energy Corp., to sell excess capacities to wholesale and retail markets in Visayas and Luzon,” Mr. Dasalla said. Asked whether the projected delay would impact GBP’s operations in selling excess power, he said that it would. “Yes, as well as other power generation companies in Mindanao. Kindly note that the Mindanao grid has the highest reserve margin among the [three] grids,” Mr. Dasalla said. Meanwhile, Aboitiz Power Corp., which operates the 300-megawatt (MW) coal-fired plant under Therma South, Inc. in Mindanao, said that it would not be affected by the reported delay of the MVIP. “Specific to AboitizPower, we don’t expect our Therma South, Inc. (TSI) coal facility to be affected by the reported delay of the interconnection as our supply is transmitted only
within the Mindanao grid and it is already fully contracted to distribution utilities in the region,” Aboitiz Power Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed response on Thursday. He added that NGCP needed the full support of the government to ensure that critical transmission projects in all three major islands, particularly those entering load centers in major cities, should get implemented on time to “sustain a stable and reliable energy supply and service for the country.” For Alsons Consolidated Resources, Inc. Chairman and President Tomas I. Alcantara, the long-awaited interconnection of the Visayas and Mindanao grids through the MVIP would “greatly benefit” power consumers. “While we fully support the national government’s efforts to protect the country from the new COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) variant, we at Alsons share NGCP’s concern about possible further delays to the completion of the interconnection project as a result of the latest travel ban,” Mr. Alcantara said. “We simply cannot have any further delays to this project as access to power is imperative to our country’s economic recovery,” he added. AC Energy Corp. President and Chief Executive John Eric T. Francia said that the MindanaoVisayas link was crucial in balancing power supply and demand in the country. “Hopefully, the project will be completed in time for the expected economic recovery and resurgence in power demand,” Mr. Francia said. He further explained that Mindanao is in a position to provide power to Luzon and Visayas once the demand resurges, since it is “expected to be in an over-supply situation in the coming years.” AC Energy is the majority stakeholder of the 552-MW thermal coal plant GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. in Mindanao. Last month, NGCP said that it understood the need to control the virus and protect the people. However, there must be “creative ways” to balance health concerns with keeping the economy afloat. “NGCP’s critical projects cannot face any further delays as this may have an implication on the stability and reliability of power transmission services, especially with the growing demand for power,” the power grid operator said in a statement.
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Manokboy brings back Manok Bisaya to Gitagum By TITO MIKE
G
ITAGUM’s newest food house is bringing back iconic Manok Bisaya dishes to this rising town of
Misamis Oriental. Manokboy Food House had its soft opening on January 1-8, 2021 showcasing its Litson Manok,
Jack Biantan with Vince and Yvonne Manubag of Codi Beach Resorts taking first dibs on Manokboy's opening day.
Litson Baboy and Liempo. Its Litson Manok sells for P195 per kilo and its roasted chickens are usually one kilo in size. Better still, it can be purchased in portions of ¾ , ½ and ¼ kilo unlike other sellers who only sell full and half-sized litson manok portions. Their liempo also retails for a very affordable P100 only per piece. “This is our recipe we developed inhouse through years of testing because I love to cook,” says owner and manager Leonides “Jack” Biantan who admits he loves to tinker in the kitchen. “Of
From soccer to litson manok - Manokboy Food House owner Jack Biantan checks the litson manok and liempo turning on the grill.
course, it has our secret ingredient which makes it different and tastier than other litson manok.” However, Jack disclosed the Big Reveal will come in a week’s time during Gitagum’s town fiesta on January 17, 2021 when it will open its carenderia featuring
the beloved and iconic Manok Bisaya (native chicken) dishes such as Adobo, Halang-Halang and Tinola, to name a few. We will cook Manok Bisaya the old-fashioned way,” Jack said. “For instance, I noted many carenderias here in Cagayan de
Dedication of Manokboy Food House on Dec. 8, 2020 during the feast of Our Lady Mary of Inmaculate Conception, the Patroness of the Philippines. A decorative rubber tree is planted in front of the store as a symbol of its dedication to serve the people of Gitagum and provide shade for its customers.
If interested, contact:
DANICA SUDARIA
dannycarosesudaria0512@gmail.com 0936-046-2356
Oro cook chicken tinola with sayote, but we will cook our tinola with kapayas nga balbangahon, the way it should be properly cooked.” “Over the long term we plan to raise Manok Bisaya in our farm here in Gitagum,” he added. “Although they are difficult and expensive to raise because they take so long to grow, they are also very delicious.” Gitagumanons will have a double treat from Manokboy on its fiesta day on January 17 because aside from the Manok Bisaya dishes, Jack will also be rolling out his special litson baboy prepared by his lechonero from Lumbia. “My biggest critics are my 15-year old son and my two nieces. They love the Lumbia lechon. We will have it ready sa fiesta. And the other lechon manok recipes. Pero baligya ni ha dili ni fiesta party kay bawal ang fiesta party tungod sa COVID-19.”