Metro CDOTIMES (July 12-18, 2021)

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CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly DE ORO

Volume 8 | No. 48 | Cagayan de Oro City | July 12-18, 2021

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By T2 MIKE

HE shophouse that was so common all-over South-East Asia and the Philippines’ leading urban centers will soon be having a revival in Uptown Cagayan de Oro.

The shophouse which did double duty as a residence and business was once ubiquitous in Southeast Asia and also found in Southern China, Hong Kong, Macau, The Canoy Ancestral House along A. Velez St. was built during the 1930s by Mariano Canoy.

(Canoy Family Collection)

Singapore, and as far as Sri Lanka. .

Shophouses were a convenient design for urban settlers, providing both a residence and small business venue, The Velez Residence at the corner of Capistrano and RN Abejuela Sts housed the iconic Ah Fat Bakery.

(TItus Velez)

often designed to be narrow and deep so that many businesses can be accommodated along a street. Each building’s footprint was narrow in width and long in depth, not unlike those found in modern townhouses.

Traditional Shophouses Traditional shophouses usually have one to three floors. The front of the shop on the ground floor along the street in most cases is used for commercial purposes as a formal space for customers, with the upper floors intended for residential use.

The ground floor usually serves as food and drink shops, offices, shops, or workshops.

Merchandise was usually displayed in front of the house, and was protected

The NUS Baba House on 157 Neil Road – Singapore’s most famous Peranakan dwelling (static.mothership.sg)

by a veranda from rain and sunshine, and also served as a reception for customers.

If the ground floor included living spaces, these were usually located in the rear with reception, guestrooms,

informal spaces for family members, toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, and infrastructure.

The upper part of the house was used as living quarters, usually with an inner courtyard (airwell) midway between

Casa del Chino Ygua one of the oldest bahay na bato in Cagayan de Oro (from a reproduction courtesy of XU Museo de Oro)

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the front and rear of the house for ventilation.

“The shophouses in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia tried as much as possible to have the residences up on the third floor. Big wholesalers such as rice and such commodities used the second floor as bodegas,” noted Charles Lim, a Singaporean tourism and marketing consultant now based in Cebu. “They lived a very principled life - they prioritized their jobs/ businesses to be able to feed their families.”

SHOPHOUSE/PAGE 11

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

July 12-18, 2021

Sports Tourism is Alive!

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CAGAYAN TIMES/Sudaria Group of Companies Publisher MIKE BAÑOS Editor-in-Chief SUSAN P. DENNIS GEAN T. CESAR RANDY FAMACION MAI MAI SISON KLAUS DORING ANNIE GORRA RAGO WENDY RAMOS-GARCIA Contributing Editors CLIFFORD SANTILLAN Layout Artist PINKY DOMINGO Marketing KHRISTHA RIVA FELICILDA Advertising ATTY. MARIO T. JUNI Legal Counsel The Metro CAGAYAN de ORO TIMES newspaper is published weekly at Tanleh Bldg., Abellanosa Street, Consolacion, Cagayan de Oro City.

It is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 10 with Certificate No. 01801884, and with Business Registration Plane No. 17211 with Business License Certificate 2014-00691. TIN No. 311-982-549-000 Tele/Fax #: (088) 856-3344 Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CagayandeOroTIMES email us at thecagayandeorotimes@gmail.com Member: Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. (Oro Chamber)

facebook.com/CagayandeOroTIMES

By CHARLES LIM

Italy Wins Euro 2020 Inside Wembley With 60,000 Spectators.

Nope, football isn’t coming home this year to England as Italy beat the Three Lions by penalty shoot-out after a tense game that went into extra time in the 2020 Euro finals.

Or maybe it did, briefly for 65 minutes, between Luke Shaw’s second minute goal for England and the equalizer

by Italy’s Leonardo Bonucci.

England’s dream of reaching the finals, was perhaps already a homecoming of sorts.

Italy started as favorites and produced a memorable performance as they came back into the game from being one down. Clearly, they had a well-oiled machine to record their 34th game, undefeated.

Only Harry Kane and Harry Maguire converted the penalties for England with keeper Pickford brilliantly saving two. Youngsters Marcus Rashford, Jardon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all failed to convert, perhaps feeling the intense pressure.

Domenico Berardi, Bonucci and Federico Bernardeshi converted for Italy for the 3-2 score to bring football home to Rome to end their own title

drought.

Inside Wembley Stadium over 60,000 (seems like 90,000), England fans created a memorable atmosphere, never seen quite like this in this generation. The pandemic had made the football “tribe” overly emotional as they sang a new-found anthem - the hit made popular by Neil Diamond in the late 60s Sweet Caroline: Hands, touching hands, reaching out Touching you, touching me Sweet Caroline Good times never seem so good I’ve been inclined To believe it never would but now I Look at the night And it don’t seem so lonely Imagine thousands of voices creating those sentimental moments, spurring the home team on.

Many on the stands and at home were teary eyed.

On the concern of allowing spectators to watch the games live, health authorities are on tenterhooks if this would be the super spreader of COVID

19, of whatever variant, We would know in the days or weeks to come. We pray that UEFA and the London host city had taken all precautions during this tournament.

Over in Rio de Janeiro, halfway across the world, Argentina beat arch rivals Brazil 1-0 in an el classico Copa America finals over the weekend too.

However, due to a more uncontrollable pandemic situation, the government only allowed 7,800 spectators or ten percent of the iconic 78,000 seat Maracana Stadium.

In Japan, where the much awaited 2020 Tokyo Olympics will begin in a few days’ time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japan Host Organizing Committee (JHOC) have firmly decided that there will be no live audience in all

events. No foreign as well as local spectators.

They have magnanimously taken a stand to safeguard the host nation that is still under emergency due to the epidemic. Japan has spent no less than $15 billion preparing for the games and was expecting millions of foreign spectators in the month-long summer Games as well as the Paralympics 2020 in August.

They will now have, in quarantine at the Games Village at the Bayside, around 15,000 athletes. Still, sports tourism is alive.

The fact that the Games will proceed is a tribute to athletes all around the world who have dared to dream.

The IOC have not let you down; the Olympic spirit is as strong as ever.

Godspeed to all our 19 Olympians!

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ARTS & CULTURE | HEALTH | EVENTS | TRAVEL & TOURISM | PEOPLE

CAGAYANTIMES Feature DE ORO

July 12-18, 2021

Page 3

A German Expat in the Philippines

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS

By Klaus Döring

Chapter XXIII:

Right in the Middle of Full Life A big hello sounded. GMATV director Bam Salavani recognized Rossana immediately.

Then schoolmate and host Onnie Alfaro.

“What are you doing here in Davao? Are you on vacation?”

Questions about questions from all sides stormed us. “After the short commercial break, you are part of the show,” called Bam Salvani. And so we were German guests on this TV show for the first time. During the following years we became an integral part of the show.

“Testigo” and “Singgit Davao” were re-launched and were taken under the wing of GMA News & Public Affairs and GMA Entertainment TV Group, respectively. In August of the same year, “Singgit Davao” was relaunched as “Kuyaw!” in time for the Kadayawan Festival. Just to mention some: other hosts

were Eureka, Emily Urgino and Al Ryan Alejandre - later City Councilor of Davao City.

I felt very much at home with the radio, newspapers and television. Mindanao Times Lifestyle writer Josie San Pedro had mentioned my mother, Rossana and me in her column “passages” during the great event “Singgit Davao at two” - the stepping stone for our future. I must confess, not all expats in the Philippines went the same or similar path like I did.

For the first years I liked to take a jeepney. I found it interesting to get to know a lot of people while driving. And, step by step, I learned Bisaya.

Nevertheless, one day a VWbeetle from the Archdiocese parked in our garden. A little old but he drove. We called him affectionalle “Knatterton”. But it really never cracked.

I started writing lifestyle columns. The International Harvardian University (IHU) Grand Alumni Homecoming was a special event. It was at the same time the rebirth of the IHU - Manisan Dancegroup. The dream of the old and new lead dancer Rossana had come true.

It was at the event that I met Rodrigo Duterte for the first time - then Vice Mayor of Davao City.

The month of October approached. It was the time when Rossana and I stayed regularly in Manila: October 3 - the German National Day - or the Day of Unity, and -of course- Oktoberfest. This time everything was different. The then General Manager of the Apo View Hotel, my friend Wolfgang and I did it: the Bavarian Sound Express from Germany was on stage in Davao City too. Unfortunately only

once and never again.

Oktoberfest, an annual festival in Munich, Germany, held over a two-week period and ending on the first Sunday in October. The festival originated on October 12, 1810, in celebration of the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, who later became King Louis I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festival concluded five days later with a horse race held in an open area that came to be called Theresienwiese (“Therese’s green”).

The following year the race was combined with a state agricultural fair, and in 1818 booths serving food and drink were introduced. By the late 20th century the booths had developed into large beer halls made of plywood, with interior balconies and bandstands. Each of the Munich brewers erects one of the temporary structures, with seating capacities of some 6,000. The mayor of Munich taps the first keg to open the festival. Total beer consumption during Oktoberfest is upwards of 75,800 hectolitres (about 2 million gallons). The breweries are also represented in parades that feature beer wagons and floats along with people in folk costumes. Other entertainment includes games, amusement rides, music, and dancing.

Oktoberfest draws more than six million people each year, many of them tourists.

Rossana was meanwhile working as supervisor at MercoMercantile Corporation of Davao, with different branches all over Davao City. Merco has become a household name. Since 1946, it has continued to serve the growing city of Davao. At the helm of running things is Johnny Ferrazzini, president of the Mercantile Corp. of Davao or Merco.

During that time he ran the family-owned business with his son Anton, who was the general manager, and heir apparent. One day, Johnny asked me, “Klaus, do you want to do your radio show at a bigger radio station? I can introduce you to Mr. Willie Torres, the president and top gun of UMBN - University of Mindanao Broadcasting

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Network!”

Well, I jumped into the deep end, after all, I had brought my large CD collection from Germany with me. My first time slot was Sundays from 10 pm - midnight. “Let’s find out the feedback of our listeners”, Willie Torres told me. “Classics at Night with Klaus Döring” has started.

And then came the big surprise that really nobody expected, least of all me.

(To be continued) ‘Klaus Doring was born in Spenge, a little village near Bielefeld in North RhineWestphalia, former West Germany. A publishing house manager and journalist by profession, i.e. managing editor for law magazines in Berlin, New York and Amsterdam, radio and TV host.’

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

Jikyeong Kang to Lead AACSB Board of Directors July 12-18, 2021

AIM president will be the first board chair from an Asia Pacific Business School

A

Jikyeong Kang

SIAN Institute of Management (AIM) president, dean, and MVP professor of Marketing, Jikyeong Kang, will serve as 2021-22 board chair of AACSB International (AACSB), world’s largest and the most prestigious business education alliance and accreditation body.

“As a long-time volunteer of AACSB, I am honored to serve as chair of the board of directors during this pivotal time for business education,” said Jikyeong Kang.

“Access to high-quality business education has the potential to create meaningful, lasting impact worldwide, and I believe AACSB is wellpositioned to lead this effort. I look forward to joining my colleagues on the board of directors in this exciting endeavor.”

Appointed as the first AACSB board chair from an Asia Pacific business school since it’s inception in 1916, Kang brings to the table her extensive background and expertise in the field of business education.

At present, Kang

serves as the first female president of AIM, a position she assumed in 2015. Alongside venerable Ivy League business schools such as Harvard University, Yale University and Duke University, AIM is the only school in the Philippines with AACSB accreditation—one of the first 10 schools to be accredited in Asia.

Kang likewise holds key positions in other renowned international organizations. She is a board member of European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD); a council member of the Association of Asia-Pacific Business Schools (AAPBS); and a board member of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), which was founded in 2007, supported by the United Nations Global Compact. She is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Management (IAOM).

Additionally, she serves on the international advisory boards of several premier international business schools, including Stockholm School of Economics, ESADE Business

School, Hanken School of Economics, LUMS Business School, and Yonsei Business School.

Recognized for her efforts to expand global diversity and inclusion initiatives, Kang’s experience will guide her and the AACSB board of directors to further foster engagement, accelerate innovation and amplify the impact of business, regionally and globally.

“Jikyeong brings a diverse, global perspective to AACSB and a deep understanding of the connections between business education and the business community.

We look forward to her inspiring and thoughtful leadership as we focus on driving positive societal impact and furthering AACSB’s diversity and inclusion efforts, worldwide,” said Caryn Beck-Dudley, president and CEO of AACSB. Kang’s term as board chair begins July 1, 2021, and extends one year.

As a valued thought leader, Kang is steadfast in her commitment to drive positive change, and support AACSB and AIM’s goal of creating our society’s next generation of great leaders.

PhilExport 10A has new Executive Director Michael B. Ragay has been installed as the new Executive Director of PhilExport-Cagayan de Oro (10A).

In a circular dated 16 July 2021, PhilExport 10A said besides his official function as executive director, Mr. Ragay will also be

in charge of the organizations Membership and Organizational Concerns.

While the team is in transition, Mr. Ragay will be assisted by the following PhilExport 10-A officers on the following : Ms. Lolita B. Cabanlet, President for

Advocacy and Representation Concerns, and Ms. Valery Jedi R. Lasmarias, Secretary, for Exporter Accreditation via Client Profile Registration.

PhilExport 10-A is an affiliate of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc.

Michael B. Ragay

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The Forgotten Trees of Cagayan de Misamis J July 12-18, 2021

By MIKE BAÑOS

UST a week ago, I was compelled to bring back this story about some fruit trees of Cagayan de Oro, which not only seem to have disappeared over time, and either forgotten or never heard of by our residents.

Two trees which have figured prominently in the culture and heritage of Cagayan de Oro are the Lambago and Kayam.

Lambago "Our place was once known as Kalambagohan because of the abundance of lambago," Roy Gaane, the late president and founder of Kagayanon International, recalls.

The Lambago tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus) is a member of the Malvaceae tree family that thrives in low altitude areas like seashores, riverbanks and other areas reached by tidal streams.

The lambago produced a yellow flower with some red stripes. As the day came and went, the flowers deepened to orange and then to red before falling off. The branches of the tree would bend over time and the wood has been used for boats, firewood, wood carving, rope and many others.

"They serve as antierosion sa mga riverbanks, trapping silt during the seasonal floods of the Cagayan River,” longtime resident Titus Velez recalls. “We use to climb this tree from one tree to another. Kasi almost interlocking ang mga branches. The branches are also very flexible and strong even the small ones. We also use the branches as an improvised diving board. During summer we would enjoy its shade.”

“Under the tree we would cook banana with ginamos and one bottle of coke. We could sleep

is bigger,” Gaane said. “ You can look it up in Google under the name of Tahitian Chestnut or Polynesian Chestnut."

The tree was even linked in popular culture to one of the city's barangays. in the branches while bringing the old transistor "When I was still radio (the ones with Nora in grade school, there were kayam trees in Aunor's face on the dial), Consolacion, then known while listening to dramas from dyHP. We also fly out as the red light district of Cagayan," Gaane kites there, well actually on a small clearing besides said. "When men who patronized the district the trees,” he added. were asked where they "Those were the had been, they would say, days. The last lambago

A clump of cherries (also known as cereales elsewhere) at Searsolin, Upper Balulang (photo by Mike Baños)

I saw was along Iponan river but it's not there anymore. I'm not sure if there are still lambago if we go upstream. I think it is a victim of rapid urbanization."

Kayam On the other hand, the Kayam was better known to elder Kagay-anons for its nut which was a popular delicacy during their childhood days in the city.

"I remember that my mother had a suki who would deliver cooked or boiled kayam to the house," wrote Wendy Ramos-Garcia in her reminisces entitled Memories of the Old Hometown. "I haven't seen kayam for a long, long time now."

"It tastes like castañas (chestnuts) except it

Kayam trees aka Tahitian or Polynesian Chestnut

nang kayam 'mi.”

Even as late as two decades ago, Gaane also recalls other fruits of his childhood in Cagayan de Oro but which are now hard-to-find.

Alubijid/Pangi "There was the alubijid tree once found by the side of the Provincial Capitol," he said. "Its fruit is evergreen and its seed is hairy like that of the siniguelas except that the alubijid is round and big as a tennis ball. It probably can still be found in the town of Alubijid.

It's crunchy like an apple, green, with hairy kernel.

Just like the pangi fruit which was once found in Barangay Tagpangi. It must still be there,” he added.

Cherry/Cereales Gaane also recalls a

Heritage Tree, Madras Thorn, Fort Canning, Singapore

fruit better known as the cherry which was brownish and about the size of lanzones.

When he was a grade schooler in Ateneo de Cagayan (now Xavier University), Gaane said he was a patron of the cherries which used to be sold by the Neris who had a property right next to the old gymnasium.

“I remember that cherry tree which belonged to the family of Luisito Neri,” RamosGarcia said. “It was delicious but the tree was full of thorns.”

Jazmin RamosSumalinog, eldest daughter of former Pilgrim Institute High School Principal Severino Ramos recalls they used to have a cherry tree in

their front yard.

“Didto mi sa taas sa cherry pirmi magsaka to get the dark plumcolored ones. Daghan gusto mopalit when the fruits look so tempting to passersby,” she said.

“Dante, Bobom, Totic and myself agreed to own part of the tree as our respective branches, so that we get fruits only from our assigned branch. Nakaka miss !”

“The cherry is known as cereales in Davao and serali in the Visayas,” said Sylvia Aguhob, a food tech faculty from Xavier University’s College of Agriculture. If you wish to see them, cherry trees still line the pathway in the car park of the Southeast Asian Rural Social Leadership Institute

Kayam Nut

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(Searsolin) at the Manresa campus of XU. Songsong Kabaw Another fruit which was once abundant in Carmen in what is now the Golden Village was the songsong kabaw.

"When ripe it is red and hairy like the mabolo but you only eat its flesh like the mangosteen,” Gaane recalls. Like the cherry, he said he hasn’t seen one since his high school days.

The late journalist Ben Emata also has fond memories of the fruit known locally as songsong kabaw or susong kabaw elsewhere. "This is a sweet fruit that looks like the nipple of a carabao,” he muses. “When I went hunting during my childhood days, songsong kabaw were abundant side by side with bayabas or guavas. I have not seen this fruit for a very long time. It was not sold in the market since it was a wild fruit."

Philippine Heritage gives songsong kabaw’s scientific name as Annonaceae Uvaria rufe and its found from Northern Luzon to Palawan and Mindanao where it is known as the TREES/PAGE 9

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

NGCP’s Mangrove Project now a Protected Area and Ecotourism Site July 12-18, 2021

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GCP’s CSR initiatives continue to gain recognition as its mangrove project at Brgy.

Kulasihan, Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte has been transformed into an ecotourism site and declared a protected area through a Sangguniang Bayan Resolution.

In partnership with the Lanao Aquatic Marine Fisheries Center for Community Development, Inc. (LAFCCOD) and Kulasihan Fisherfolks Association (KUFA), the

mangrove reforestation project is part of NGCP’s efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In 2018, members of KUFA were engaged to plant an initial of 50,000 seedlings on the waters of Panguil Bay, occupying an area of approximately 7 hectares.

The project is unique from other tree planting programs as it adheres to a more holistic approach to ensure sustainability. Prior to the project’s commencement, LAFCCOD organized trainings

KUFA established a nursery for the mangrove seedlings to ensure that they are properly propagated before they are transplanted.

The community transformed the coastal area into an eco-tourism site where visitors can observe the mangroves along the boardwalk and stay in cottages.

to orient KUFA members on the importance of mangroves to the environment and

the people. They also conducted research to determine the most suitable varieties to

Members of the Kulasihan Fisherfolks Association (KUFA) were engaged to plant and nurture an initial 50,000 seedlings.

plant in the area.

“Our partnership with LAFCCOD and KUFA enabled us to integrate nursery establishment, planting, growing, parenting, and nursing of mangroves into our strategy. This gave us the confidence that we would reach our target of at least 80% survival of the mangroves, which we exceeded after our assessment,” the company said.

After 3 years of continuous management and monitoring, the site is now home to more than 46,000 mangroves of 3 different species.

From previously being a dump site, the protected mangrove area will also serve as the community’s natural sea barrier and a sanctuary for commercially valuable fish and other marine life. The host community also transformed the area into an ecotourism site after building a boardwalk and cottages for visitors.

NGCP is a Filipino-led, privately owned company in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid, led by majority shareholders and Vice Chairman of the Board Henry Sy, Jr. and Co-Vice Chairman Robert Coyiuto, Jr.

Green tech makes insulation, packing foam materials from waste Researchers from the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSUIIT) have successfully converted plant-based raw materials and waste by-products into valuable and renewable polyols

and polyurethanes (PU) that can be used for commercial production of coatings, insulation, and packing foam materials.

Dr. Arnold A. Lubguban and his team at the Mindanao State University-Iligan

Institute of Technology’s (MSU-IIT) BioProducts Research Laboratories (BPRL) developed the ground-breaking green technology in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology –

Project staff performing optimization experiments on the production of rigid foams.

Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOSTPCIEERD).

The innovation uses renewable feedstock to produce highly functional polyols and PU-based bioproducts for commercial applications such as rigid insulation foams, semi-flexible packaging foam materials, and waterborne anticorrosive coatings.

Partner industries Chemrez Technologies, Inc. and Nuevochem Specialties, Inc. provided key support to the project.

“One of our innovations provides baseline data and methods for the commercialization of biomass-based polyols (Phase 1) and polyurethane foam insulation sheets (Phase 2) through an environmentally

friendly process, that is also characterized by reduced production costs because the raw materials are readily available by-products or waste products,” Lubguban noted.

DOST-PCIEERD executive director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit underscored the council’s pivotal role as a good corporate neighbor and a responsible steward by providing innovative solutions that preserve and sustain our natural resources for future generations.

“Our main goal is to fully harness the potentials of science, technology, and innovation and constantly improve what is essential to the lives of those we serve,” Paringit remarked.

“We will constantly provide new opportunities and invest in more efficient and environmentally sustainable greener

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technologies to build a more livable community,” he continued.

This year the project team will focus on the pilot scaling and optimization of their bio-based polyols to about 40 liters for PU insulation, coatings and packing applications.

Once proven, this innovation would benefit various industries and the environment for more sustainable initiatives.

The “Production of Bio-Based Polyols and Polyurethanes for Industrial Applications,” is a 36-month program with two (2) project components that are aimed at developing bio-based polyols and PUs from renewable resources.

For more information, please contact Dr. Arnold A. Lubguban at aalubg@ gmail.com or check out their Facebook page (https://web.facebook. com/BPRL.msuiit).

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CAGAYANTIMES Feature DE ORO

July 12-18, 2021

Page 7

Z.C. Eatery:

That Quintessential Kagay-anon Carenderia

BY T2 MIKE

EVERY city worth its salt prides itself with a place where a resident or visitor can have a heavenly meal for an earthly price. These are most often carenderias (or carinderia, if you must), small hole-in-thewall food stalls selling simple meals for the man-on-the-street.

Z.C. Eatery along Pabayo street was once Cagayan de Oro’s garbo (pride) for such a place.

Set up by Zita “Z.C.” Cosare-Vequilla at the ground floor of her mother Victoria Mabalos’ residence in 1988, it’s a simple, nofrills carenderia you can hardly tell apart from the row of sari-sari stores and a tailoring shop which keeps it company in relative anonymity.

“I stared by just selling viands for my neighbors, but soon my customers began asking me to put up a table where they could eat the foods fresh and hot, so I put up a table with some benches and soon we already occupied the entire ground floor of my mother’s house,” Manang Zita said back in a 2007 interview.

It’s a place the high and mighty have no qualms coming to for a first-hand culinary nirvana of Manang Zita’s simple fare.

“One time, Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno brought along Bukidnon Rep. Migz Zubiri and Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon,” recalled the owner-cook with a smile. “We’ve also had other celebrities come here like PBA commentator Ed Picson, pro basketball stars Nelson Asaytono and Gilbert Demape, the late comedian Yoyoy Villame and his colleague Max Surban, and ABS-CBN reporter Paul Henson, to name a few.”

Manang Zita’s menu is simple as it is savory: paksiw na isda

(or inun-on in Bisaya, with no more than 18 pieces of fish a day cooked), two vegetable dishes (rotated daily, that day it was kamote salad and ginataang nangka), humba, kinilaw, sinugba, nilagang baka and tinolang lauya are

drinking our hot tinola can make them sober,” Manang Zita noted.

“Even if our store is still closed, they know they can come in for a bowl of hot tinola if they knock.”

Business picks up as early as ten o’clock when people from all

Ordinary looking ZC Eatery served extraordinary fare

businessman Joe Epon as he greeted Manang Zita on his way out. “But nothing beats sipping it hot, straight from the pot, it’s almost like taking a meal at home.”

DXIF Bombo Radyo Anchor Michael “M.I.B.” Bustamante, who frequented the place along with reporters Joel Jacobo and the late Mark Martirez, concurs.

“My favorite is the tinola lau-ya with fish heads and ‘halanghalang manok’ (spicy chicken) which are really delicious because its ‘inato gyud’ (a Bisayan expression which roughly translates to ‘our very own’ or home cooking),” Mr. Bustamante said

“Yeah, I remember that small carinderia.

When I picked up my kids from school on my dilapidated motorcycle, I passed by the place because I found the food fresh, warm and clean and the taste terrific.

My family had a feast everyday with the foods from that place. The owner was there all the time smiling and very accommodating. I wish I could visit the place and eat once more the sampayna, lauyang baka and adobo.”

Manang Zita only prepared enough food for breakfast and lunch to avoid leftovers. By two or three in the afternoon, Z.C. Eatery’s mouth-watering humba most of the food is gone and the store closes down available daily from to give everyone a muchMonday to Saturday. An deserved rest. additional special dish As a lumad Kagay(spicy chicken curry for anon (native resident) today) reinforces the Manang Zita opens the standard menu, but that’s doors of her eatery for it. all to enjoy lechon and All viands are kinilaw, served free in the uniformly priced at P50 tradition of the legendary per serving and the only Kagay-anon hospitality available beverage is every city fiesta on Coke (P11 for 8oz., P13 August 28, the feast of St. for 12oz. and P25 for Augustine. litro).

“I want to share “We price our servings the blessings God has at P50 but our customers showered on us all these get a substantial serving years with our neighbors with larger than usual and my customers who portions,” Manang Zita have been a big part explained. of our success,” she The household was up explained. early around two o’clock Manang Zita passed dawn to catch the choice on in Davao City on vegetables delivered to September 15, 2009 at the Cogon public market Manang Zita serves a customer with one of her mouth watering dishes behind the the relatively young age around this time. small counter at ZC Eatery of 64. While her sisters Cooking starts around Teofila and Isidra later three a.m. and sukis economic strata start also drop in and make enthusiastically. opened competing (patrons) are already coming in droves, many themselves at home in Z.C. Eatery’s allure stores along Pabayo inside having early of them taking home one of the eatery’s nine is so enduring it even street, neither quite morning sup of scalding their favorite dishes in formica-topped tables evokes vivid memories hot tinola. cellophane bags that’s and wooden benches. from Kagay-anons who’ve compares with the enduring culinary legacy “We have many who the staple of carenderias “I often take out tinola been living abroad for of Manang Zita and her have had one drink all over the country. But la-uya with fish heads decades like the late immortal Z.C. Eatery. too many and believe an almost equal number when I’m in a hurry,” said journalist Ben Emata.

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

July 12-18, 2021

Caring for Our Common Home

PPA partners with WWF to halve plastic pollution in 3 PH Ports The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will be partnering with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)—Philippines to reduce plastic pollution by 50% in three (3) selected Philippine ports including the Port of Cagayan de Oro under the Port Management Office of Misamis Oriental/ Cagayan de Oro. Through a Memorandum

of Understanding, the PMO MO/C along with PMO Batangas and Manila North Harbor, shall collaborate with WWF to develop port waste reduction and management models that can be adopted by local and global ports in addressing plastic pollution under WWF’s “No Plastics in Nature” initiative. This initiative aims to stop

plastic waste leakage to the environment by 2030.

The concerned PMOs and representatives from WWF convened on 27 May 2021 to discuss the potential project collaboration and the existing port waste and management system in ports. This partnership will also be involving communities and other port stakeholders

The Port of Cagayan de Oro at Macabalan, Cagayan de Oro City and Batangas Port are the only two seaports in the Philippines to have been awarded a Green Port badge by the Green Port Award System (GPAS) program, a green evaluation system for ports in the Asia-Pacific Region developed by APEC Port Services Network (APSN) to promote the green growth and sustainable development of the APEC port industry.

It has also been cited by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) under its Government Best Practice Recognition (GBPR) for Fostering a Green Culture for Port Operations and Management with Best Practices in environmental protection, conservation, and sustainability through the employment of technology; issuance and compliance with environmental policies and mandates; and inculcating environmental awareness among port stakeholders.

PMO MO/C has been implementing a program for the proper management

of port waste including plastics, hazardous materials, and residuals especially in CDO Port (Baseport). Additionally, the Baseport has an accredited service provider for Shore Reception Facility which collects vessel-generated wastes.

WWF—Philippines is a non-profit organization that works to improve Filipino lives by crafting solutions to mitigate climate change, providing sustainable livelihood programs, and conserving the country’s rich marine and land resources.

Cebu Pacific pursues sustainability initiatives despite pandemic Operates youngest, most fuel-efficient jet fleet in the Philippines

Cebu Pacific, the Philippine’s leading carrier, continues to innovate in line with its sustainability initiatives that it started long before the COVID-19 outbreak wounded global economies.

Physical and social distancing norms pushed the use of digital technologies.

Cebu Pacific, which had started its digital pivot even before the health crisis hit, responded by accelerating its digital transformation.

Major innovations were put in place since the lockdown happened: enhancement of the “Manage Booking” portal for any flight booking changes and self-service updating of passenger information; contactless flight procedures;

and Charlie the chatbot who answers customer concerns.

“Cebu Pacific has been providing affordable, safe, and reliable flights to our customers since 1996. We have ensured the sustainability of our operations by prioritizing the welfare of our employees and customers even before the pandemic. We will continue to offer quality service to the Filipino people, promote environmental stewardship, and support communities in the years to come,” said Alex Reyes, Cebu Pacific’s Chief Strategy Officer.

The company continues to reduce its negative impact on the environment. Cebu Pacific flights now use sustainable

alternatives to replace singleuse plastic spoons, forks, and stirrers.

In line with its sustainability moves, Cebu Pacific has received two new eco-planes this year. Each of these new planes can carry more people and yet consume less fuel, which enables a significant reduction in carbon emissions. CEB has the youngest, quietest, and most fuel-efficient jet fleet in the country.

Cebu Pacific partnered with UNICEF, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and World Vision for various relief efforts, as part of its drive to uplift communities.

Last year, Cebu Pacific

raised various funds: more than P4 million for UNICEF’s Change for Good Program, which collects spare currency from passengers for the benefit of vulnerable children; P2.4 million worth of flights for frontliners of its partner organizations under the Points for Good Campaign; and over P1.3M worth of food supplies for those who were stranded in different locations in the country, during the first waves of community quarantines.

The drive to safeguard the well-being of its employees further intensified during the pandemic. Employees were given access to health monitoring tools, COVID-19 support, and programs for

their physical and mental wellness.

Cebu Pacific, as part of the JG Summit group, has committed to securing enough vaccines for every employee, as well as their dependents, because vaccination is an important step in protecting its people and their families.

Cebu Pacific also fully supported the government’s health and safety initiatives by transporting personal protective equipment (PPE), essential cargo, and COVID vaccines to provinces within the airline’s reach.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/ CEB_2020SustainabilityReport to view its 2020 Sustainability Report.

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July 12-18, 2021

Trees... from page 5

susong-kalabaw, susog kaba, and a host of other regional variants.

According to MarketMan of the wonderful blog Market Manila, songsong kabaw is a member ot the Annonaceae family, which counts among its cousins, guyabano (soursop), atis (custard apple) and ylang-ylang.

Unfortunately, the songsong kabaw seems to have gone the way of most of the forgotten trees and fruits of the old Kagay-an, as old-time residents fondly call their city, or rather the city as they remember it.

Camanchile/Kamunsil Just lately, I posted a photo of the fruit of Camanchile, also known as Kamachile in the Tagalog region and hereabouts, Damortis/ Kamantiris in Ilokano, and as Kamunsil in Hiligaynon (Ilonggo), that used to grow abundantly in the empty lot beside my parents house in Zamboanga City, to see if people still remember or had ever experienced it.

Lambago blossom

Camanchile Fruit

A Plate of Freshly Harvested Cherries, known as Cereales in Davao and Serali in the Visayas

Also known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, blackbead, sweet Inga, or monkeypod (Pithecellobium dulce) in other counties, it was introduced in the Philippines from Mexico via the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.

“When I was in Grade 5 sa RER subdivision around 1985, gapanguha mi ani. Lami kaayo.

Naa pa ang mga trees hangtod karon dapit sa club house/Tennis court,” recalls Cloyd Winstanley.

“Good times. Daghan na

sa una around CDO but gipamutol na ang uban kay gipang pulihan ug buildings. Wild fruit siya.

Unique iyang taste.”

The camachile fruit or pods with a white acrid, sweetish pulp that is eaten raw. It looks like a bean but actually belongs to the pea family. It is mostly used for cooking, in the same way sweet tamarind for dishes like “Sinigang sa Sampalok,” and is also an ingredient for candy, pastries and desserts.

Folk Medicine

Camanchile is extensively utilized in folk/herbal medicine of many countries: The bark is used as an astringent for dysentery and antipyretic for eye inflammation in India, to treat gum ailments, toothache and cancer in Mexico, the leaves used as a poultice with alcohol to treat bile, prevent abortions/miscarriages, the pulp from the fruits as an astringent and hemostatic, and for hemoptysis.

The ground seed is sometimes used to clean ulcers while other extracts from the plant are used to treat hemorrhages, convulsions, chronic diarrhea, diabetes, fungi, and tuberculosis.

Long-time residents Mon Cardenas, Bing Flores, and Czarina Aca admit they first ate the fruit in their home provinces of Ilocos Norte, Negros, and Nueva Ecija, respectively, but did not see any in Cagayan de Oro. However, it seems that the tree still grows in many areas, especially along creeks and rivers, although most which used to thrive in now built-up areas have been cut down to make way for “progress.”

Songsong Kabaw (photo courtesy of MarketMan)

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

July 12-18, 2021

Check turnover of the sci-tech project fund to LGU-Talakag, Bukidnon.

DOST-Bukidnon empowers marginalized communities in Talakag Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT REGIONAL TRIAL COURT 12th Judicial Region, Branch 21 Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT AND EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF NOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SALE: EJF NO. 21-96 Upon extra-judicial petition for sale in accordance with the provision of Republic Act 720, as amended filed by 1st VALLEY BANK, INC. represented by its President/Chief Executive, ATTY. NICOLAS J. LIM, Mortgagee, against HENRY PACTOL ELUMBA, of legal age, widow, Mortgagor of Poblacion, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte executed on November 4, 2019 to satisfy the Mortgage Indebtedness, the principal obligation which has been overdue in the amount of THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND (P300,000.00) PESOS excluding penalties, Sheriff’s expenses, Publication and other related incidental expenses, the undersigned or his duly authorized deputy will sell at Public Auction on September 9, 2021 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning to 1:45 o’clock in the afternoon at the Session Hall of this Court to the highest bidder, for CASH or MANAGER’S CHECK and in Philippine Currency, the following described real property with all improvements thereon, to wit: ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. (2019000153) 149-2020000034 Registry of Deeds of Lanao del Norte A residential lot, Lot No. 1087-73, Plan No. Csd-10-022317-D, Republic Act No. 10023 and pursuant to a Residential Free Patent issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, at Quezon City, on January 01, 1900 and spread in the records of the said department. Transcribed in the “Registration Book” in the Registry of Deeds for Province of Lanao del Norte pursuant to the provisions of Section 103 of P.D. No. 1529 on the 27th day of February 2020 at 10:29 A.M. Registered in the name of HENRY PACTOL ELUMBA, of legal age, Filipino, widower, a resident of Poblacion, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. Bounded on the East Lot 1087-425, (Road Lot), Csd-10-022317-D; SW Proposed Road; North Lot 1087-74 Containing an area of ONE HUNDRED SIX (106) SQUARE METERS. This Lot is a portion of Lot 1087, Pls-35 and is covered by Residential Free Patent Application No. 103505-676, situated in Poblacion, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte.

By NB Calotes, DOST Bukidnon

MARGINALIZED communities in Talakag, Bukidnon recently received P2.8-million in science and technology project funds from DOST-Bukidnon aimed at assisting them meet their basic needs, improve their livelihood, and promote their well-being.

The funds were coursed

by DOST-Bukidnon, through the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) program, a nationwide flagship program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) that aids marginalized communities in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA).

The DOST-CEST program is dedicated to ending poverty, especially in GIDA communities and identified conflict-driven areas through five key entry points: Health, Human Resource Development,

Livelihood and Economic Development, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and Environmental Protection.

The agency will implement a six projects that include various science and technology interventions.

DOST-Bukidnon will distribute Ceramic Water Filters to communities that lack drinking water, install two Automatic Rain Gauges in flood-prone areas, and provide a Plastic Densifier and Shredder for better solid waste management.

The project also includes deployment of six units of Science and Technology Academic Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosks (STARBOOKS) units to the community. STARBOOKS is a stand-alone digital libraryin-a-box designed to help students in the grassroots gain access to thousands of up-to-date S&T learning materials.

All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above-mentioned time and date.

In the event the Public Auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on September 16, 2021 without further notice.

Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte, Philippines. July 13, 2021.

ATTY. BERNARDINO M. BERING Clerk of Court VI & Ex-Officio Sheriff

CT: July 16, 23 & 30, 2021

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Through the Malnutrition Reduction Program (MRP), undernourished children aged 6-59 months will be given the nutrient-rich Bigas-Monggos or Big-Mo for a period of 120 days. Big-Mo is a food technology developed by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOSTFNRI). It contains 130 Kcal (energy) and four grams of protein per 30 grams serving portion - enough to meet the 18% of recommended energy and 28.6% of the recommended protein intake for children 6 to 59 months.

To boost the community livelihood initiatives of Talakag, a group of marginalized coffee farmers in the Miarayon area will receive a complete set of food-grade equipment, training, and assistance to acquire a License to Operate from the Food and Drug Administration.

Another set of projects is scheduled to be turned over to LGU-Talakag by the end of the second quarter this year for more S&T interventions particularly for the Indigenous Peoples, women, children, and farmers.

For more information about CEST and other DOST programs, interested parties may visit the DOSTBukidnon office at Vicente Neri St., Malaybalay City (with StaySafe.ph app R code), or email bukidnon@ region10.dost.gov.ph, or call 088-813-5463, 09564068669.

Inquiries may also be sent to Julie Anne H. Baculio, Science Research Specialist I (stpromotions@region10. dost.gov.ph, 0917-709-3706) of DOST Region X.

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Shophouse... from page 1

As the town prospered and population rose, some front shops were put to professional uses such as clinics, drugstores, law offices, pawnshops, or travel agencies.

Street corners were prized as the best location for food and drink shops.

Food and drink shops usually served snacks or ready cooked viands in the turoturo or carenderia traditions.

Such stalls have now been replaced by food courts.

Manila Shophouses In the Philippines, shophouses were especially prevalent in the Rosario area of Binondo, mainly due to the limitations imposed by our Spanish colonizers on where the Christianized Chinese were allowed to settle,” said Kenneth Irving Ong, a lifestyle writer and blogger from Davao currently doing research on the history of Chinese immigrants in the Philippines.

“Chinese who did not convert to Catholicism were not allowed to venture outside of the Parian around Intramuros as well as ply their wares outside it as well.

But once they were baptized Catholics, they were then allowed to practice their professions and businesses in Binondo, Tondo and Sta. Cruz. Of course being pragmatic, these individuals would choose to live where they work since it was cheaper and more efficient.

This is the case for Manila’s Chinatown,” he added.

Parián (or Pantin, also Parián de Arroceros) was an area adjacent to Intramuros built to house Chinese merchants in Manila in the 16th and 17th centuries during the Spanish colonial period.

According to a blog post from ParianSugbu, shophouses also flourished in Cebu, the country’s oldest city where the Chinese Mestizodominated Parian district had become the most dynamic commercial area in the city by the middle of the nineteenth century, At the same time, it became more of a suburban residential district rather than a trading ghetto.

Parian began to evolve from

July 12-18, 2021

a commercial to a semiresidential district, evident on the old pictures of the Parian shop houses. Some of the residents of Parian created various businesses and establishments, such as bakeries, specialty shops, theatres and movie houses, printing presses, and hardware stores. These establishments lined the street of Colon, making it one of the most progressive commercial areas of the country.

The Bahay na bato But in the more progressive and urban centers outside Manila and Cebu, esteemed Kagay-anon Architect Edwin Uy said shophouses were often found in the ground floor of the ubiquitous Bahay na bato (or Balay nga bato hereabouts) that was the status symbol of the elite or prosperous merchant middle-class, which integrated the characteristics of the nipa hut with the style, culture and technology of Chinese and Spanish architecture. The 19th century was the golden age of these houses, when wealthy Filipinos built fine houses all over the archipelago.

These were mostly characterized by an elevated, overhanging wooden upper-story nipa hut (with balustrades, ventanillas, and capiz shell sliding windows) and grounded on Spanish-style solid stone blocks or bricks and posts as foundation instead of just wood, bamboo stilts, or timber posts.

They are usually roofed either by Chinese roof tiles, nipa or cogon thatch, and had the bahay kubo’s icon features such as open ventilation and elevated apartments used as living spaces, with the ground floor used for storerooms, cellars, and other business purposes in the traditional shophouse layout. This type of construction was soon known as the bahay na bato, or as Jesuit Ignacio Alzina calls it, arquitectura mestiza (mixed architecture).

Like bahay kubo, much of this ground level was reserved for storage, or in business districts, were rented out to shops. Horses for carriages were housed in stables called caballerizas.

Bahay na bato had a

Reception area of a typical shophouse in Old Thalang Road, Phuket, Thailand (RMB).

rectangular plan that reflected vernacular Austronesian Filipino traditional houses integrated with Spanish style. These quaint mixes give the Bahay na bato an architectural style that evolved from both East and West, and thus makes it truly Filipino, as it corresponds to Philippine history of being born through a melting pot of east and west. Although retaining the basic form, the 19th-century bahay na bato reflected changing tastes through the incorporation of motifs from the prevalent styles such as Victorian.

The Bahay na bato also has several variations along ethnic lines. The Bahay na bato in Cebu, for example, differs from the one in Ilocos, and so on. Today, these houses are more commonly called ancestral houses , due to most ancestral houses in the Philippines being of bahay na bato architecture.

The Cagayan de Oro/ Misamis Oriental Tradition Indeed, there is one major difference between the bahay-na-bato and the traditional shophouses found elsewhere in South East Asia, Manila and Cebu. The upper residential spaces of the bahay na bato was mostly contiguous and occupied by the extended family landlord/ owners, while those in other countries were usually laid out as self-contained units with the merchant/ resident occupying all floors, similar to how present-day townhouses are designed.

In Cagayan de Oro, one

An old photograph of Colon, taken between 1917 and the late 1920s. Note the long stretches of sidewalk covered by its distinctive tile-roofed and hardwood post awnings, the result of numerous two-storey shophouses with uniform shaped entrances forming a continuous arcade parallel to the street. Old sidewalk paving was made of either piedra china (granite) blocks, or more commonly coral stone faced with lime plaster. The street was still unpaved, and the occasional electricity pole has already begun to snarl its visual frontage.

(Photo courtesy of Lucy Urgello Miller from Glimpses of Old Cebu, USC Press)

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The inner courtyard of a shophouse now used as a tourist inn in Old Thalang Road, Phuket, Thailand (RMB)

The shophouse tradition is evident in the Parian of the Colon district in Cebu City. (pariansugbu.com)

of the best examples of the bahay-na-bato is the Casa del Chino Ygua at the corner of Hayes and Velez streets, often acknowledged as one of the oldest residences in the city. Constructed in 1882 as a “Bahay na Bato” by the Chinese merchant Sia Ygua who originally came from Xiamen, China, the original structure was built from bricks transported from China aboard Chinese junks. The house has been renovated twice, once after World War II when it was badly damaged, and again more recently, but still retains the shophouse tradition of renting its ground floor to various merchants.

Another, is the Mariano Canoy residence along Velez street constructed during the 1930s for his wife Laureana Rabe, which still stands to this day. According to their apo Rhona Canoy, the leftmost stall in the ground floor use to be rented by her Lola Aning for her sarisari store. Later, the Canoy Furniture Shop of Mariano took over the entire ground floor. Still later, the leftmost stall was rented by Mindanao Motors before they moved to the lot along CM Recto Avenue now occupied by Centrio Mall. Eventually, the ground floor was used by Radio Mindanao Network’s flagship radio station dxCC before network founder Henry Canoy and family resided in the rear area.

Still another is the residence of Mariano Itoy Velez and Patricia Cocay Velez which housed the iconic Ah Fat Bakery at the corner of Capistrano and RN Abejuela streets.

Shoppe Houses Uptown Now, a real estate developer is seeking to revive the shophouse tradition with the first commercial-home development in the region.

Dubbed The Shoppe Houses, the development will be located in its Uptown Metropolis and is envisioned to be a commercial space and a home at the same time.

The Uptown Metropolis in Upper Balulang, Cagayan de Oro City is a master planned development located at the premium view of Xavier Estates.

“This is a two-area metropolis,” said developer A Brown Co., Inc. (ABCI) “Area A shall house the central business district with an Information Technology Block for offices, shopping center or mall, commercial spaces, and institutional facilities such as a hospital and a school, while Area B complements the opposite side with The Shoppe Houses, townhouses, and the twintower condominium at its highest point.”

“This 3-storey building responds to the present needs of the contemporary businessman and will initially feature 25 units structured in clusters of 2, 3 or 4 units,” said Robertino E. Pizarro, ABCI President and CEO. Each Shoppe House will have a total floor area of 231 square meters (70sqm ground floor, 80.5sqm 2nd floor, and 80.5 sqm 3rd floor with veranda), and a 32sqm Promenade Space and a parking area opposite the location.

Like traditional shophouses the ground floor shall be exclusively used for

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business with the 2nd and 3rd floors usable as either commercial or residential use at the owner’s discretion.

ABCI recommends best uses for the ground floor commercial spaces for offices, spas, banks, pharmacies, doctor’s clinics, grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants.

“The Shoppe Houses will complement existing schools, churches, tertiary hospital, accommodation and recreation facilities, and other commercial establishments located within its 5-kilometer radius,” Pizarro noted. “It also complements the growing number of residents in Xavier Estates and Ignatius Enclave, Adelaida Park Residences and other neighboring subdivisions.”

ABCI touts The Shoppe Houses accessibility which is a mere 7 kms from downtown Cagayan de Oro via Fr. Wm. Masterson SJ Avenue, or 9 kms from downtown via the South Diversion Road.

It is likewise only 2 kms from the proposed BalulangMacasandig Bridge leading to downtown, and the same distance from the proposed PN Roa Avenue-Upper Carmen Diversion Road leading to the Laguindingan International Airport.

With a panoramic view of the hills surrounding the city, a flood-free location, complete drainage system and favorable geo-hazard analysis results, The Shoppe Houses in the Uptown Metropolis is expected to lend further impetus to the already burgeoning Uptown Cagayan de Oro property boom.

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July 12-18, 2021

Page 12

Real Estate Expo REEM 2021 to be held digitally

R

EAL Estate in the Philippines will be once again on the center-stage at the digital edition of the Real Estate Expo Manila from July 14 to July 16 2021. What used to be an exciting physical event held at SMX exhibition center will this year adapt to the new normal and offer, at the same time, the opportunity to many Filipinos abroad to access the digital expo-grounds and all for free.

In partnership with the Infrastructure & Construction Focus Group the event will also feature a 2-day conference with two afternoon sessions on July 14 and July 15 with exceptional speakers from the biggest companies in the real estate industry in the Philippines.

The likes of Lamudi, JLL, IWG, Savills, IDC, Havitas, ReHub and Federaland will deliver their insights and presentations on topics like how spaces have been re-defined in the new normal, what changed due to the pandemic with real estate buying, what it means planning sustainable developments, how

homeowners have rediscovered their home as a new asset and much more. One of the highlights of the conference will certainly be Arch. Romolo Nati, Chairman and CEO of Italpinas Development Corporation, with his presentation on Green Building and Sustainability in Real Estate.

With IDC's green building projects in Cagayan de Oro and in Sto Tomas, Batangas the listed real estate developer was really at the forefront of the sustainability in real estate movement in the Philippines.

The use of passive green design features in the mixed-use buildings benefit its residents with savings on electricity, more natural ventilation for a healthy lifestyle which all has been made affordable for most Filipinos.

Certainly these projects have made a great impact in Northern Mindanao and in Batangas where such forward thinking ideas were not the norm until recently.

Other prominent speakers will be previous NREA chairman and president Andy Manalac,

Lamudi's managing director Kennth Stern, JLL's country head Christophe Vicic, ICFG's managing director Lorens Ziller, Savills managing director Michael McCullough and ReHub President Mary Gaw-So. On the expo side virtual visitors will have free access to the exhibition grounds where they can visit the booths of the various exhibitors, book appointments, sit in their meeting rooms and talk screento-screen as if it was an online conference call. Other features of the exciting event platform are VIP-rooms to meet the speakers as well as an exclusive lounge where one can sit on a virtual table with several attendees and have a group meeting.

These unique features are what defines the new normal and I am sure that this is just the beginning of an era where people can experience events like these from the comfort of their home or office even if that is thousands of km away.

Registrations can be made on the event platform directly on the following website: https:// reemvirtual.floor.bz.

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