MINDANAO DAILY T H E P U RV E YO R O F T R U T H , J U S T I C E , A N D D E V E LO P M E N T
Volume VI, No. 169
Website: www.mindanaodailynews.com
Thursday
December 22, 2016
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Duterte wishes for peace this Christmas ZAMBOANGA City--President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday expressed hopes that gunbattles will take a back seat this Christmas season. Asked by reporters here for his Christmas message, President Duterte said he is hoping for a peaceful Christmas, including with the communists and even terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.
“I’d like to greet everybody, lahat na, to the Filipino people, the law-abiding, and of course, if they find it in their hearts though this is not really something for the Moro but you know that this kind of events is closest to the hearts of the Christians. Na we can have a peaceful Christmas,” Duterte said in his visit to the Western Mindanao
Command (WesMinCom). He also urged terrorist group Abu Sayyaf to “take a vacation.” “Nakikiusap ako sa lahat na if we can have a peaceful Christmas. Maybe we can resume fighting some other day,” President Duterte said. “I’d like to greet everybody, the communists, the Abu Sayyaf, in behalf of the, sa taong Pilipino, Merry
Christmas and a prosperous New Year for all,” he added. Fresh from his state visits to Cambodia and Singapore, President Duterte took time Saturday to visit the 16 soldiers who were wounded in action (WIA) during their recent military encounters with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Basilan and Sulu. The soldiers were
Only 4 of 100 in Davao region are unemployed See PEACE, page A7
D
AVAO City--“Only four out of 100 people in the Davao region” are unemployed, Jason Balais, assistant regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 11 said Monday, thanks to the influx of investments following the election of long-time Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as President of the Philippines.
Balais told a press conference Monday that employment rate in the region went up to 96.4% in the third quarter this year, up from last year’s 94.5% for the same period while unemployment rate dropped from 5.6 % in the third quarter of 2015 to 3.6% in the same period in 2016. The Davao region comprises the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley and the cities of Davao, Panabo, Tagum, Samal, Digos and Mati. The DOLE in Region 11 noted that in 2012, unemployment rate was 6%; in
2013, it rose to 6.9%; and in 2014, it dropped to 5.6%. The same DOLE 11 report showed that unemployment rate was at 6% in the third quarter of 2012, 6.9 % in 2013, and 5.6 % in 2014 and 2015 and 3.6% in the same period. “Many of the investments have been focused on the Davao Region. If you have more investors in the Davao Region, it means that there will be more requirement for people to work and that will help certainly our job seekers find a job that they need because of the influx of investments in the region,” Balais said. CUT LOGS. Eleven trucks loaded with illegally cut logs were seized by DENR-ARMM during an anti-illegal logSee region page A7
ging operations in Maguing, Lanao del Sur Saturday, December 17, 2016. Photo courtesy of ARMM Bureau of Public Information
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