Metro CDOTIMES (September 20-26, 2021)

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CAGAYANLifestyle TIMES Weekly DE ORO

Volume 9 | No. 7 | Cagayan de Oro City | September 20-26, 2021

Retail Chain ramps up to meet pandemic challenge

Primer Group Mindanao Annual Get Together 2020 in Cagayan de Oro City.

Mr. Edgar Rabino is 2nd from left, 2nd row (in blue shirt). (RMB)

By MIKE BAÑOS

T

HE coronavirus pandemic has literally shaken the foundations of human civilization, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest that has been hit, but retail players have flexed their creativity to turn threats imposed by the new normal into opportunities to further strengthen their resiliency.

In Mindanao, The Primer Group of Companies has had to face the challenges imposed by the pandemic on its retail and distribution of consumer brands and products, including popular international brands and lifestyle products, on top of operating its own lifestyle boutiques including R.O.X, The Travel Club, Res|Toe|Run, Bratpack & GRIND. “It’s very challenging to meet sales targets especially considering in 2020 contraction was more than half vs. previous year,”

said Edgar M. Rabino, Primer Regional Sales Manager for Mindanao.

“However, we have managed targets to more realistic goals, backed with incentives to encourage more sales and adjust to realistic, doable targets.

We have also leveraged partnerships with local media and bloggers to attain a higher visibility in multi-media platforms.”

Since the start of the pandemic, Rabino said he has been mostly working from home, although still visited their stores and boutiques once in a while, but had not managed out

The Primer Group has leveled up to the fast changing retail landscape with its growing online presence.

of town trips due to the quarantine restrictions.

Challenges to opportunities “From being used to field work and seeing the real thing, mentoring our staff face-to-face, it has been a big adjustment to

remote monitoring, at the same time ensuring safety first and maximize use of social media,” he added.

Logistics has been especially daunting with a cascading effect on the availability of products compounded by delays in

international shipments, and having to deal with various quarantine restrictions to various areas where their stores and boutiques are located.

“When you consider this has been further exacerbated by manpower

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constraints during ECQ, additional costs such as storage fees because of the necessity of having to tap third party logistics, all these add up to being costly and timeconsuming,” Rabino stressed.

Retail Philippines According to Mordor Intelligence’s Philippines Retail Sector - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, And Forecasts (2021 2026), the retail sector in the Philippines has been facing challenging times in the study period, which worsened due to the sudden COVID-19 pandemic.

The majority of forms of physical retail, including specialty stores, department stores, and other small and medium store owners around the country are facing challenges owing to the lockdown and physical distancing measures.

CHALLENGES/PAGE 7

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Siguil Hydro Power Plant in Sarangani On-Schedule to deliver Renewable Energy by 2022 The Alsons Power group’s 14.5 mega-watt (MW) P4.5 billion run- of- river hydroelectric power plant at the Siguil River basin in Maasim, Sarangani Province, is in the advanced phase of construction.

The Siguil Hydro plant is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2022 to provide a source of renewable power to key areas of Mindanao.

The photo shows work being done on the Siguil Hydro plant’s head tank that will control the pressure of water from the Siguil

River as it powers the facility’s turbine and generator.

Alsons Power- Mindanao’s first private sector power generator plans to develop at least seven more run-ofriver hydro power facilities in different parts of Mindanao and Negros Occidental.

The group currently operates four power facilities in Mindanao with a total generating capacity of 468 MW serving over 8 million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces.

Mindanao coal power plants to CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly Metro

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be converted to renewable energy

THE Philippine government aims to phase out coal plants in its most coal-dependent island group and substitute them with renewable energy facilities.

Finance spokesperson and assistant secretary Paola Alvarez said 9 June that the DOF is now in talks with multi-lateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) to initiate a phase-out of coal power generation and determine the scale of resources needed to retire a “meaningful share of coal power in the Philippines”.

“We will acquire all coalfired plants in the region and repurpose them as we increase renewable energy capacity,” Alvarez told panelists in a virtual roundtable discussion organized by the British Embassy in Manila.

The project will lead to the development of a Coal

Replacement fund, which would acquire coal-fired power plants from current owners, and retire them in a phased manner. As the study is still in the proposal stage by the ADB, details will not become concrete until the third quarter of this year.

This will coincide with their plan with the Department of Energy (DOE) to first improve the generating capacity of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant in Mindanao, which has deteriorated due to lack of maintenance over the years.

Alvarez said that the government plans to switch most of Mindanao’s energy requirements to hydropower by “exploring how sustainable finance can be “utilized”, in a bid to spur more investments in the region.

The World Bank in April approved a US$700,000

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As of December 2020, Mindanao’s power mix accounts for 49.4 per cent of installed generating capacity, making it the most coal-dependent of the archipelago’s three island groups.

The decades-old Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex in Mindanao.The rehabilitation project is estimated to cost around US$300 billion, according to the World Bank.

financing agreement to fund the long-delayed rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant, claiming that it will reduce Mindanao’s reliance on electricity from coal-fired power plants.

Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, is the most coaldependent of the archipelago’s three island groups, accounting for 49.4 per cent of installed generating capacity.

Renewable energy accounts for 31 per cent of the power generation mix, according to 2020 data from the DOE. Mindanao currently has 2,264 megawatts (MW) in installed coal capacity.

Luzon generates 40.8 per cent of its energy from coal, withg the Visayas at 38.2 percent.

“Even if we talk about new coal-fired power plants, there

are still negotiable agreements to these contracts. Under the law, you cannot just cancel these [existing coal] contracts without repercussions. We recognize that it will take some time, that’s why we have until 2030 to meet our nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets,” Alvarez noted.

NDCs are a country’s target to reduce carbon emissions, which is submitted to the United Nations (UN).

The Philippines earlier pledged to reduce its harmful greenhouse gases by 75 per cent by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement.

While the country is one of the world’s lower carbon emitters with a mere 0.33 per cent of the global emissions total, it is among the most vulnerable to climate change. ( Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez, eco-business.com)

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LOCAL HISTORY IS NATIONAL HISTORY AND NATIONAL HISTORY SHOULD BE LOCAL HISTORY:

(Towards a New Perspective of Philippine General History)

I

N THE old high school curriculum before the K-12 curriculum, Social Studies for First Year High School was Philippine History and Government. One of the course topics was the difference between nation and state.

A co-teacher used to illustrate this difference by citing the case of Yugoslavia as a state composed of nations, commenting dramatically how it was possible to love your nation but hate your state.

Yugoslavia, of course, no longer exists, but a lot of new states do which were the nations that used to compose it. Most if not all accounts of Philippine general history are, I believe, histories of the Philippines as state; we don't have general histories of the Philippines as nation.

In the case of old nations, the history of their becoming a state usually includes the history of their becoming a nation: the nation usually preceded the state. We know, however, this has not been true of what have come to be called post-colonial societies in which the reverse has usually occurred: the state has preceded the nation.

In not a few cases, the postcolonial state is still a nation in the process of becoming.

Whether the Philippines is still a nation in the process of becoming is a question that all Filipinos should answer, among them historians, and we historians should answer that question only as historians can, by turning to history. One mistake we should not commit is to assume that the state is

By PAUL A. DUMOL, Ph.D., University of Asia and the Pacific identical to the nation: the state is a legal creation; the nation is the product of history.

History is always the history of a people bound together as a society. But if history is the history of a nation coming to be, then what society is such a history the history of?

In the Philippines the answer is “towns.” This we realize when we consider

Aguinaldo’s invitation to 100 town presidentes to ratify the proclamation of Philippine independence on August 1, 1898. There were no Filipino provincial governors then; there were no Filipinos who could answer for the people of a province. The history of the Philippines as the nation emerges is the history of its towns.

Philippine history as the history of Philippine towns?

I imagine the specter of dull, tedious labor rising before us, but the work to be done is not, I would like to assure you, either dull or tedious.

I have recently examined the foundation dates of present-day towns that were

founded in the Spanish era.

The patterns which arise are fascinating: Luzon sees a steady growth in the number of towns from the sixteenth century to the present; Visayas has only a few towns going back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but the numbers jump in the eighteenth and leap in the nineteenth centuries; Mindanao has very few to

show for the three centuries of Spanish dominion—less than a hundred, and all, as you might expected, located along the coast of northern and northeastern Mindanao. What is the significance of these statistics?

The significance of these statistics is something we grasp only if we realize the significance of the town itself as a social organization.

The towns were new social organizations.

At the time of Rizal, the oldest towns in Laguna were around three centuries old; before them you had villages, “barangays,” which were centuries and centuries old. It is important to note that the towns were not simply large barangays. The Philippine town was a conglomeration of barangays, a territory comprising several barangays, and there was nothing like it before the coming of the missionaries.

Sometimes the sultanate of Sulu is cited as a sophisticated form of social organization compared to the modest barangay, and yet the sultanate of Sulu and its tributary barangays did not form a single society, just as the sultanate did not form a single society with

China to whom it paid tribute.

The town, however, was a single society, whose ruler was not called “mayor,” but “governor,” because the Spaniards considered him the ruler of a territory. The towns were a radical development in the history of the peoples of these islands: Wherever they were established, they constituted the end of the atomized societies in Luzon and Visayas that had existed for centuries by assuming them into larger communities.

The radicalness of this development is borne out by a singular difference between barangay and town: whereas the inhabitants of a barangay tended to be all related to one another, the town was precisely composed of different families. From the vantage point of the nation in the twenty-first century, the town was obviously the first step in the direction of nationhood. It was the community in which different families learned to live together, cooperate, and contribute to a larger goal than the personal or familial; in the town citizens learned a deeper

Other towns produced other men during this time that we now call national heroes.

In October 1898 two sergeants of the American army made a tour of towns in northern Luzon—in the Ilocos and the Cagayan River valley. They kept a diary, and the descriptions they made of the coordination among towns for receiving visitors and escorting them to the next town, the little ceremonies they observed in their civic life, the social life that the gentry in that part of the country lived, are impressive, especially

meaning of the common good.

I do not think it accidental that the national community eventually bore the name of the town—bayan.

Rizal, writing at a time when there was as yet no national society, was himself partially the product of a society—precisely the town, which, on the other hand, Rizal compared to a cancer patient in the Noli me tángere. But it cannot have been all that bad, we may protest to Rizal, if it managed to produce you.

given the remoteness of these municipalities from Manila: we were not the savages the Americans made us out to be.

If the town is the break from the past, the break from centuries of atomized communities whose members came from a single family, then that break proceeded steadily in Luzon in the three centuries and more of Spanish domination, but was stalled till the nineteenth century in the Visayas. It would begin in Mindanao only in the twentieth

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century.

What this implies about the development of civic consciousness, not to say nationalist consciousness, in these places should give us pause. The length of time that towns have been existing is important for the emergence of the nation, as civic attitudes and practices need generations to take root. (At least three, and at the end of three generations, those attitudes and practices are still fragile.)

The number of towns in a given area is just as important for the emerging nation, because we are talking about attitudes and practices that should spread to as wide a public as possible. Basically, we are talking about a transition from an old culture to a new, and such a transition will reach a happy conclusion only if it lasts long and spreads wide.

The year 1898 is telltale: we link it to our proclamation of independence, but it was also the year that saw the proclamation of the Republic of Negros, the Federal Republic of Western Visayas, and the Republic of Lucbuan. The proclamation of Philippine independence was made in Luzon, while the three others were made in the Visayas and Palawan: four different visions of society.

At the end of the nineteenth century, I do not think we could call ourselves a nation. The history of the Philippines prior to nationhood is a history of the break from the past, which occurred at different times in different

HISTORY/PAGE 4

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History... from page 3

places, and the history of the spread of that break.

That history becomes complicated in the twentieth century by a series of events culminating in the establishment of the Philippine state. Rightly called the history of the Philippine state, that series of events has eclipsed the history of the Philippine nation; in fact, we have confused state with nation and taken it for granted that we are a nation, albeit a failed one, considering the many Filipinos who don’t behave as though they were part of a nation.

But is that correct? There are parts of the Philippines in which the period of atomized villages continues; others, still in the period of towns; and still others, already with a nationalist consciousness— to all of which we must add the new phenomenon of the twentieth century, regionalism.

Barangay, town, region, nation: The development of civic and nationalist consciousness in the Philippines is geographically and socially uneven, which is why it is accurate to say that we are not yet a nation or that we are a nation in progress, but to say we are a failed nation is anachronistic.

How trace the history of the nation in the twentieth century and beyond? I would like to capture the essence of that history in this Tagalog phrase: mga bayang patungo sa sambayanan.

The word sambayanan speaks of unity in diversity: that is the destination to travel to if we are to have peace, and I do have the Muslim peoples in the south in mind. The focus of the history of the Philippine nation should be “ang mga bayan” and the perspective that of the “sambayanan” toward which ang mga bayan are (hopefully) on their way.

The twentieth century was the pivotal moment of the emerging Philippine nation: a) its demographic geography was completed with the incorporation of the Cordillera peoples and Tausugs, Maguindanaos, and Maranaos, among others, into Americanruled Philippines; b) a network of roads and bridges and transportation and communication networks stretched over the archipelago which had never before been thus united; c) the framework of the present state that we have was erected—the legislature, the executive office, the bureaucracy, and constitutions written by representatives from

all over the archipelago; d) two linguae francae developed—first, English; then, Filipino.

These developments are usually reduced to incidental information, so focused are we on the history of the Philippine state. The twentieth century was obviously the century of increasing socialization between ethnic groups— something rarely pointed out in our textbooks, but we are in fact witnessing the emergence of the Philippine nation.

The written history of this emergence must be marked by specificity: What was the actual scope of the road-building program of the Americans?

What parts of the country did the first transportation networks cover? What provinces did most of the civil servants come from? What was the literacy level of Filipinos in English by province or region?

Are we cultivating trivia? No, we are watching the country emerge. And so the context

of the new society to be established. Education at the secondary and tertiary levels is crucial to the development of civic and nationalist consciousness.

What has been done for the Spanish era—the listing of all surviving Spanish-founded towns with their foundation dates—must be done for high schools, colleges, and universities in the twentieth century by town and province, if it has not been done yet. In the uneven increase and spread of high schools, colleges, and universities we see the modern Philippine society taking shape.

To these schools must be credited the hundreds of young people who gave up their lives happily for the country during the Japanese invasion and occupation. To them must be credited the emergence of a modern Philippines from a technical and technological point of view, in spite of the fact that, throughout most of the twentieth century, only a small

in which these developments take place is important; so, too, is the perspective by which the significance of these developments will be measured.

There are, to my mind, three key developments in the twentieth century (there may be more) that have affected ang mga bayan deeply: the first is education, the second migration, the third the emergence of cities.

The break from the past, in the sense of the foundation of municipalities that were conglomerations of barangays, continued to occur in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the twentieth century, but in another sense. The break from the past was now the result of the foundation of high schools and universities throughout the archipelago.

Historians agree that the catalyzing factor for the generation of Marcelo del Pilar and Rizal, the first generation to dream of a single society encompassing the archipelago, was the education they received in high school and university.

Rizal marked the threshold

percentage of the population actually availed of high school and college education. I have no doubt the free high schools available since 1986 will revolutionize Philippine society.

Earlier, I mentioned how the “break from the past” took place in Mindanao only in the twentieth century. That would pose a problem as far as the development of civic and nationalist consciousness is concerned, but a solution to that problem has been effected by the migration of ethnic groups from Luzon and the Visayas—Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Ilonggos, Cebuanos.

In general, migration in significant numbers within the country, which has been going on since the late nineteenth century, has not usually been given the importance it should have, considering that the sambayanan should be characterized by unity in diversity.

Mindanao was not the only destination of migrants within the Philippines. Even more relevant to unity in diversity is a third radical development

that began only in the second half of the twentieth century: the rise of cities.

I would define the Philippine city as a large community—mammoth in the case of Metro Manila— composed of different ethnic groups, and this sort of community is once again new to these islands.

In the city, different ethnic groups find themselves constrained to live and work together, and in that sense, the city is a microcosm of the Philippine nation in the process of becoming. The histories of migration within the Philippines and of the emergence of cities are histories we must write with the same specificity with which we should write the history of schools in municipalities and provinces. That unevenness should be there, the slow or fast growth should be noticeable, because the history of Metro Manila is not the history of the Philippines, just as the history of Cebu is not the history of the Visayas and northern Mindanao.

I have hardly said anything about the history of the Philippines as a state, and that has been deliberate as I have wished to focus on the history of the Philippines as a nation. Nevertheless, these two histories are not parallel lines that will never meet.

As with so many other themes of Philippine history, Rizal has anticipated their intersection. At the end of the Filibusterismo Fr Florentino complains that the Filipino people are lacking in faith but not in vices, with little appreciation for human dignity and civic virtue.

This criticism is ironic if we consider that at the time of the writing of the Fili we were only four years away from the Philippine Revolution and six from June 12, 1898. We were on the cusp of establishing, or at least wanting to establish, the Philippine state, a state that would be based on the appreciation for human dignity and civic virtue. It is precisely during this time that the first critiques of

traditional Philippine societies appear: I have in mind, aside from the ending of the Fili, Andres Bonifacio’s Decalogue, Emilio Jacinto’s Cartilla, and Apolinario Mabini’s own version of the Decalogue. Their common theme, a powerful river running just beneath the surface of their exhortations, is an ethical change.

Is this ethical concern, noble as it may be, of any relevance to historians? Rizal links it to the very viability of social life, of civic life. In that long speech of Fr Florentino at the end of the Fili, he tells Simoun: I do not mean to say that our freedom should be won by the edge of the sword, the sword counts for very little in modern use, but, yes, we have to win it by meriting it, elevating reason and the dignity of the individual, loving the just, the good, and the noble to the point of dying for it.

Renato Constantino ridiculed these words of Rizal, comparing Rizal’s freedom to a medal pinned on a boy scout for good behavior. But wisdom is justified by her children.

What Rizal meant by “freedom” was not independence, but civic freedoms. He saw these as guaranteed by institutions, precisely the institutions of the state(!), and he saw that the institutions would be useless if the citizens they were to serve would not value those freedoms with their own lives, if those freedoms were not, in short, supreme values for them. What would be the use of independence if the slaves of today were to become the tyrants of tomorrow?

Rizal’s worst fears have come true. As soon as the American watch dogs of our democratic institutions had left the country, we distorted these institutions into instruments of the traditional datu culture.

The struggle for social justice, which we might date from the Sakdal uprising in the late 1920s morphing into the problem with the Hukbalahap and continuing today in the clashes between the NPA and the present government, may be read as a deep dissatisfaction with the present state and its institutions, and so, too, the migration of Filipinos, whether for work or to seek a new home.

The civil society movement that arose with the assassination of Ninoy in 1983 may be likewise read as a deep dissatisfaction with the distortions made to our political institutions: that is the significance of EDSA 1, the jailing of two presidents, the Napoles case and the PDAP,

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among others.

Today we frequently call this phenomenon the mismatch between our political institutions and our culture.

We frequently blame the Americans for the mismatch, but we too are to blame, for not heeding Rizal.

The truth is that our schools have largely turned a blind eye on these writings.

How many do a close reading of the “Cartilla”? Or of Mabini’s introduction to his “Verdadero decálogo”? It is wrong, however, to regard this mismatch as a clash of cultures. Rizal, Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Mabini grounded their criticism of traditional Philippine society on ethics, and ethics for Rizal was above culture, or should I say intimior cultura, deeper than culture. What is at stake, he points out in chapter 33 of the Fili, is nothing less than our understanding of what the human being is.

The present state and its institutions challenge the emerging nation to develop the values that its institutions presuppose. Since Marcos’s declaration of martial law, we find ourselves in a period we may call “Wrestling with Institutions.” We are testing our institutions, trying to understand them. The disagreement between the President and the Supreme Court is but the latest chapter in this period of Philippine history. But that is what makes Philippine history fascinating and exciting: we are seeing the emergence of a modern nation before our very eyes.

Let me encapsulate this brief paper in two points expressed by its title: “Local history is national history, and national history should be local history.”

By “local history is national history” I mean that, while the Philippine nation is still coming to be, the history of communities in the Philippines as they evolve toward nationhood is our national history; by “national history should be local history” I mean that general developments applying to the entire Philippines should be particularized in terms of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Philippine general history, at the moment, should be a history of the Philippine nation in statu nascente with the Philippine state constituting the framework in which that birth is taking place.

(A paper read at the Philippine Studies Association Conference on "Philippine Studies in the 21st Century : Mapping the Shifting Terrains of Inquiry," November 12, 2014, National Museum, Manila.)

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NGCP mangrove project now a protected area and ecotourism site

T

HE National Grid Corporation of the Philippiones (NGCP) Corporate Social Responsibility 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 to orient KUFA members on the importance of mangroves to the environment and the people. They also

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conducted research to determine the most suitable varieties to 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 Filipinoled, 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.

Aboitiz turns Iligan farmers into agripreneurs

Aboitiz Foundation is also leading efforts to assist farmers in Iligan City. (photo

supplied )

THE Aboitiz Group, through its corporate social responsibility arm Aboitiz Foundation and food unit Pilmico, is assisting farmers in Iligan City to be efficient “agripreneurs” and create more sustainable livelihood.

Through the Inclusive Agribusiness Project, the Aboitiz Foundation and Pilmico donated farm equipment to Hindang farmers to help increase their production volume and meet market demands.

The former also donated a corn sheller for the Marawi-Baloi farmers in Nangka, Baloi, Lanao del Norte under the Angat Lahat sa Agribusiness (ALAB) livelihood program in partnership with Go Negosyo.

“Most importantly, together with our partners Pilmico Foods Corp. and Go Negosyo, we intend to contribute to achieving sustained income for their members, which will lead to an improvement in their quality of life and well-being,” Aboitiz

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Foundation President and Chief Operating Officer Maribeth Marasigan said in a statement.

“We, the members and officers of Hindang Banana Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (MPC), extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Aboitiz Foundation and Pilmico in helping us get back on our feet in this pandemic. This is a big help for us farmers in ensuring that we have bountiful crops. Thank you),” said Larry Coracol, chairperson of Hindang MPC. Marawi Baloi Farmer Association President Abdul Baari Lininding expressed gratitude towards Aboitiz Foundation and Go Negosyo for their continuing efforts in helping small agribusinesses in the province “and for providing the needs for our business to grow especially in these times where our livelihood is deeply affected by the 2017 Marawi Siege and the Covid-19 pandemic.”

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Balingasag Seashore, Misamis Oriental taken 22 October 1944 (NARA)

This Day in World War II History:

77 Anniversary of Spyron Submarine Landing in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental th

The 110th Division played a vital part in During World War II, Mindanao, to deliver establishing supply lanes US Navy submarines 3 men and 20 tons of in Mindanao. Under its helped supply Filipino supplies to Balingasag, supervision, water byand American guerrillas Misamis Oriental. This ways were opened, seawith arms, ammunition later proved to be the going vessels and fuel and supplies, also last Spyron mission to were procured for them, ferrying personnel in Northern Mindanao. all of which activities and out of the islands.

Balingasag was within markedly contributed to Known as the the area of responsibility facilitating supply.

SPYRON (for Spy of the 110th Infantry Narwhal surfaced Squadron) Operation, it supported the Filipino and American Guerrillas resistance to the Japanese occupation after the Philippines fell to the Japanese Imperial Forces in early 1942.

The Spyron operation was key to the success of the resistance.

Without the arms and supplies ferried by US submarines, the guerrillas would have LCI(L)-363 being unloaded at Gingoog, Misamis Oriental most likely by guerrillas of the 110th Infantry Regiment (US been unable to sustain Navy Photo) their intelligence th gathering and sabotage Regiment, 110 Division on the night of Sept. operations against the 27, 1944 and sighted (Guerrilla) which Japanese Imperial Army. extended from the the proper signal from Last Mission to Tagoloan River, Misamis the shore of Balingasag.

Balingasag Some 45 minutes later, Oriental to the Eastern On Sept 27, 1944 a heavy rain obscured border of the province.

Narwhal was back under At this time, it was all land and at 1744 hrs.

Cmdr. Jack C. Titus a small boat with a US led by Maj. Rosauro (who took command ensign was sighted. All P. Dongallo, who starting with her 11th cargo was unloaded by took over from Capt.

War Patrol) in Northern Francisco N. Luz on Feb. 2100 in spite of the bad 1942, who succeeded the weather and at 2103, first commanding officer Narwhal commenced Capt. Pedro D. Collado. clearing the coast.

By Sept. 28 she left The 110th Infantry the Mindanao Sea for Regiment was one of the organic regiments of Siari Bay where she the 110th Division which embarked 81 liberated POWS and one doctor. garrisoned that portion of Misamis Oriental East The prisoners had been aboard Japanese of the Tagoloan River, the province of Agusan, transports sunk province of Surigao and by the submarine USS Paddle (SS-263) off that of Davao.

Sindangan Point on At the time of the September 6.

SPYRON mission to Balingasag, the division For exceptionally meritorious conduct was headed by Lt. Col. Lt. Col. Ernest Edward in the performance of Ernest E. McClish.

McClish (FamilySearch.org)

By MIKE BAÑOS

outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. NARWHAL (SS-167), during the FOURTEENTH War Patrol of that Submarine from 14 September 1944 to 5 October 1944 in Japanese waters, Commander Jack C. Titus, United States Navy, was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Transition With the increasing American air and naval presence in the Philippines beginning January 1945, it was now possible to use surface craft to supply guerrillas. The limited cargo capacities of the submarines previously constrained the amount of material they could deliver. The Spyron submarine missions ceased when surface deliveries began.

Task Group 70.4 was created to aid Filipino Guerillas in the southern areas of the Philippines. As originally constituted,

the Task Group consisted of Landing Craft, Support (Large) LCS (L) 9 and 10, and Landing Craft Infantry (Large) LCI (L) s 361 and 363 under the command of Lieutenant Albert C. Eldridge.

Organized on 24 January 1945, the Task Group was charged with Major Rosauro P. Dongallo, the supply and support Sr., Commanding Officer, of Filipino guerrillas 110th Infantry Regiment, 110th Division, 10th Military in Mindanao. From District, USFIP based in February 1945 to May Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.

1945, Task Group 70.4 completed thirteen missions.

One of most notable of these was the guerrilla raid on Talisayan, Misamis Oriental, which was conducted to eliminate and wipe out the Japanese garrisoned at this key objective.

Amphibious in nature, the operation involved guerrilla units of the 110th Infantry Cmdr. Jack Clarence Titus Regiment, 110th Division, as a Midshipman in 1933. th He was awarded the Legion 10 Military District of Merit for exceptionally (Mindanao), United meritorious services during States Forces in the the Narwhals 14th War Patrol which included the Philippines (USFIP) with Balingasag landing. an original strength of volunteers was issued.

200 men but which rose The US Navy Task Group to 350 when a call for 70.4 coordinated the operation.

You can read more of the Guerrilla Raid on Talisayan at https:// www.metrocdo. com/2020/10/30/ guerrilla-raid-ontalisayan-2/.

This is an abridged version of this story.

For the full version, please proceed to https://www.metrocdo. com/2020/10/29/ guerrilla-submarinesin-northern-mindanaoUSS Narwhal SS-167 size made it suitable as a supply and during-world-war-ii/ troop transport to guerrillas in the Philippines during World War II.

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CAGAYANTIMES Lifestyle Weekly DE ORO

Challenges...

September 20-26, 2021

customers further by emerge due to the customer experience, offering free shipments COVID-19 pandemic. and accomplishes this from page 1 for some brands Some 93 percent of through the retail when they purchase a Filipino respondents Due to the fear of and distribution of minimum amount.” said they highly consider the world’s top and contamination, many Digital Trends convenience alongside customers temporarily premium consumer On a positive note, price when deciding what brands in outdoor, stopped visiting the Rabino noted a marked to purchase online, the stores. travel, footwear, fashion, shift to online marketing study which surveyed However, though action sports, wellness 12,500 individuals in 14 customers were welcome and sales since the and urban lifestyle. It pandemic started. countries, including the into the stores, often has also established “It’s been an upward Philippines, reveals. the limited number of a solid ground in the trend like everybody’s It said 87 percent of people in-store capacity industrial products and going digital na talaga, Filipino respondents said services landscape, with and frequent/regular while we can’t afford they're willing to spend disinfection have added companies in full-scale to give up our brickmore for ease of access to printing, air-conditioning unexpected costs which and-mortar stores, we products or services, with and creative graphic further cut into retailers’ brainstorm with 3rd party 90 percent saying mobile design and services. shrinking bottom lines. consulting firms. Our payments should also be The increased labor The company is widely available. demand is another factor Omni-Channel is in the aggressively expanding to pipeline and hopefully “People these days that is challenging the become the leader in the will be launched soon, want what they want, retailers to be active on global distribution and it’s the multi-channel when they want it, where innovation of premium the market. The ban on mode of selling. This they want it," Facebook large gatherings and goods and services. Its means we aren’t really Philippines country social events has a huge retail authority alone doing away with the director John Rubio impact on occasional has grown to over 150 told reporters in a press and seasonal sales, which physical store but rather premium brands, with complementing, you can briefing. are a large part of the around 450 freestanding fulfill your customers "Research tells us retailing in the country. stores worldwide. desires in whatever mode that we should draw The apparel segment Headquartered in Manila, they chose rather than inspiration from the fact has been affected greatly Philippines, the Primer focusing on either,” he that for most consumers, Group employs over in 2020, especially the explained. the best journey is no branded and luxury 3,500 individuals. It is journey at all. And by players in the market who “In fact, virtual store present in 10 countries tours are now being done putting your customer are active in apparel and including Hong Kong, across all our stores upon first, you can eliminate footwear due to the low Indonesia, Japan, friction, inspire discovery Malaysia, Singapore, demand for the products. customer request and engagement through our and maybe even set a new Taiwan, Thailand, A Grant Thornton official/respective FB standard in convenience," Vietnam, Australia and International report pages,” Rabino added. he added. says retail has been in a the United Kingdom.

According to a recent The Primer Group major slump for the past To learn more about report commissioned Established in the two years; the pandemic the Primer Group of

by Facebook, Filipinos Philippines in 1985, only accelerated Companies, you can visit prefer convenience, the Primer Group its restructuring. their website. You can live selling and mobile of Companies aims Department stores and also connect with them payments when shopping to be the leader in shopping malls were through their Facebook online, as new trends delivering superior also affected by the and Instagram pages. growing market share Republic of the Philippines of online retailers. Since REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF MISAMIS ORIENTAL the main selling point of 10TH Judicial Regional department stores is their BRANCH 21 Cagayan de Oro City in-store experience, they are yet to fully respond IN RE: PETITION FOR THE RE-ISSUANCE MISC. CASE NO. R-CDO-21-02210-LR to the increasing demand OF OWNER’S DUPLICATE OF OCT 14061 for online shopping.

REGISTERED UNDER THE NAME “The problems MAURICO TABALBAG, MELODINA B. DRUBBELS, imposed by the pandemic

Petitioner, have actually been a -versushappy problem for retail THE REGISTER OF DEED OF in 2020 since it made us MISAMIS ORIENTAL, realize the value of virtual Respondent. x----------------------------------------------------/ marketing and develop engagements with various ORDER communities such as marketplaces online in This is a verified Amended Petition for the re-issuance of owner’s duplicate of OCT P-14061 registered Facebook, Viber, and under the name MAURICIO TABALBAG is filed by herein petitioner, MELODINA DRUBBELS, alleging among others that petitioner is a new owner of a land situated in Barrio Cogon, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, accelerate our digital having acquired the same through a Deed of Absolute Sale from the Heirs of Mauricio and Benita Tabalbag on transformation,” Rabino February 9, 2018; that sometime on March 23, 2019, when she was abroad a jeepney coming from Register said. of Deeds of Cagayan de Oro, she had lost a brown envelope containing document, including the Owner’s In fact, Rabino said Duplicate Certificate of OCT P-14061; that an Affidavit of Loss was executed by herein petitioner to prove the The Primer Group was fact of loss and the same affidavit was duly annotated by the Register of Deeds of Misamis Oriental; that the Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of OCT P-14061 was turned over nor mortgaged to any third party of financial fortunate it had already institution; that Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of OCT P-14061 in on file and intact in the Office of the Register started facilitating of Deeds of Misamis Oriental. Thus, this petition. cashless payments even Finding the amended petition sufficient in form and substance, let the initial hearing be made on OCTOBER prior to the pandemic, 4, 2021 [MONDAY] at 8:30 in the morning at the Ground Floor, Hall of Justice, Masterson Avenue corner with already about 50% Macapagal Road, Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. During the hearing, the jurisdictional requirements of posting, publication and notice to all persons who have interest which would be affected by this petition, of its transactions being will be proved. done through its dotcoms At the expense of the petitioner, let copy of this Order , together with copies of the petition and its annexes, where customers can buy be published at least once a week for three [3] consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in via credit card, and other the Province of Misamis Oriental. Let also a copy of this Order, together with copies of the Petition and its contactless payments. annexes, be posted at the Bulletin Board of the Barangay Hall of Barrio Cogon, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, where the property covered by the subject title is located; at the Bulletin Board of the Office of the Registry “In addition, within of Deeds of Misamis Oriental; at the Bulletin Board of the Provincial Capitol of Misamis Oriental and at the Cagayan de Oro City we Bulletin Board of this Court at the Ground Floor, Hall of Justice, Masterson Avenue corner Macapagal Road, have had opportunities Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City at least fourteen [14] days prior to the date of hearing. to provide work and Any person having or claiming any interest over the property subject of the lost title is directed file their share income to service written opposition and may appear on the said date of hearing.

Let a copy of this Order be furnished to Petitioner’s Counsel, Atty. Odilon Apolinario , and the Register providers like riders of Deeds of Misamis Oriental. who have become an essential part of our retail SO ORDERED. ecosystem,” he said. “For Done this 7th day of July 2021 in Cagayan de Oro City. orders outside the city and region, we also tap (SGD) GIL G. BOLLOZOS 3rd party cargo forwarders Presiding Judge and couriers like LBC, and even incentive CT: Sept. 6, 13 & 20, 2021

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Metro

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

CAGAYANTIMES Feature DE ORO

September 20-26, 2021

Page 8

High profile stakeholders discuss investment hotspots outside Metro Manila at REIF 2021

W

ITH an incredible lineup of some of the most inspired speakers of the real estate industry, the Real Estate Investment Forum 2021 (REIF) staged its 4th edition of this yearly event.

Hosted by the charming Ivyreene Calderon, or “Ice”, as she likes to be called, the event endured over 2 hours and was partnered

by Lamudi Philippines and Realestatenews.ph. In fact, Kenneth Stern gave the audience insightful data about what is hot in the property searches right now and what trends can be seen in the listings of residential and commercial properties in Metro Manila and outside in the provinces.

There truly seems to be a push away from the Metro City towards “greener pastures” and vacancies in both office space and residential condos in NCR have gone up. Rowena Natividad from IWG talked about the changing landscape within the office segment and how businesses are trying to adapt to the disruption of the pandemic.

She highlighted how there

is a general search for smaller spaces and a surge to form smaller teams and use shared workspaces that allow employees to stay nearby their homes.

Work from home and work near home seems to be the trend hereby. Her “15-minutes-city” concept explains this all wherein she idealizes the idea of living and working within a radius of 15 minutes either by foot or bicycle. Andy Manalac, Chairman of Havitas Developments and Founder of Realestatenews.ph, listed the locations that have been targeted by savvy investors around Metro Manila and identified areas like La Union, Clark, Tagaytay, Batangas, and Sto Tomas as some of the hotspots of investment for escaping Metro citizen. With schools closed and the “work-fromhome” arrangements, many have in fact chosen their second homes or leisure homes as their primary residence over the past 16 months.

A refuge away from the Metro. Architect Romolo Nati in fact underlined how the same condo lifestyle can be enjoyed also in the

nearby province like Sto Tomas where his company, Italpinas Development Corporation (IDC), is building a green mixeduse building right at the Sto Tomas exit of the South Luzon Expressway.

Also, Architect Nati said how properties along the North/South corridor have enormously gained in popularity in the case of Sto Tomas it takes only 40minutes to travel to Makati. ‘Miramonti Residences’ first phase is currently under construction and features 23 floors of a modern condo lifestyle with passive green design features. His legacy with sustainability was carried forward from his previous projects in Cagayan de Oro, Primavera Residences, and Primavera City, the latter in its 2nd phase of construction, and both popular landmarks of Uptown CDO. Miramonti Residences is the perfect example of living surrounded by green areas, away from the buzzing city but still be able to enjoy the lifestyle and the amenities of the city condos. Another speaker,

Architect Cathy Saldana, a very popular figure within the architecture community in the Philippines, discussed the architectural role to adapt to these new trends. Open spaces and a sustainable approach with nature as the common denominator are being seen more and more especially in provincial areas.

She has a big bet on the Clark area for future investments as she can see infrastructure moving along with the expansion and development of this very interesting area driven by economic factors and a general push out of Metro Manila. The last speaker, ICCPI Vice President, and Real Estate Marketing expert, Lorens Ziller, talked about the great reset for real estate and how certain trends have dramatically been accelerated like the use of technology, the migration towards greener areas out of the Metro, and a more sustainable approach to real estate and community development.

He noted that to attract investments the Philippines needs to be even more competitive compared to its

neighboring peers and that it is not enough to focus on retirees as it is business that drives business. Therefore attracting entrepreneurs and giving them the chance to own their companies and eventually, real estate will be the key to unlock great potential. Ultimately, he concluded, real estate marketing has transformed through technology and social media and has become more of branding with the project, the developer and it’s CEO at the center. That is why “Thought Leadership” has risen dramatically as a winning marketing tool for its clients not only in the Philippines.

The event concluded with a short Q&A that offered the opportunity to several attendees to ask their questions. For those who missed it, the event will still be available on the Facebook pages of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the Infrastructure and Construction Focus Group, and on the Youtube Channel of Focus Philippines.

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