DAVAO ORIENTAL Gov. Corazon N. Malanyaon vehemently de-nied accusations she has been

involved in logging activities in the province which have been blamed for the loss of many lives and damage to property and people’s livelihood trig-gered by Typhoon Pablo.

“I was never involved in logging, I am not involved in it, and will never be. As a matter of fact, my advocacy

has always been for a total log ban since my days in Congress. I strongly pursued total log ban at the Sanggu-nang Panlalawigan, and that ‘s why

THE OMBUDSMAN dis-missed from the service an acting district collector

of customs in the Port of Davao, after finding him guilty of grave misconduct in an administrative complaint filed by a Davao City businessman.

Ordered dismissed from the service is lawyer Anju Nereo

Concepcion Castigador after be-

EDGEP 15.00 • 20 PAGES

www.edgedavao.netVOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

Serving a seamless societyDAVAO

FRETA, 12

FAFTER, 12

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Wharfinger also dismissed

Failure of collector to charge consignee in rice smuggling scored

Ombudsman firescustoms collectorReta vs Castigador

After ’Pablo’

Guvnor denies logging charge

Kastigadosi Castigador

By Antonio Ajero

Malanyaon cites advocacy against illegal logging

ATTRACTION. People watch as the colorful Christmas lights of the Grand Lights Show, one of the main attractions of this year’s Pasko Fiesta, illuminate the People’s Park grounds every night this Yuletide season. LEAN DAVAL JR.

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012THE BIG NEWS2 EDGEDAVAO

FDAMAGE, 12

FDAVAO, 12

SOME branches of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company

(Metrobank) in the Davao region are open on certain days during the Christmas season, in anticipation of higher demand for cash and an increase in custom-er traffic at its branches.

Selected Metro-bank branches nationwide will be open to serve the banking public on all Sat-urdays of December, all de-clared public holidays.

System and hardware checks are also being con-ducted to ensure that all of its 1,200 Automated Teller Machines nationwide are loaded with sufficient cash to meet the requirements of its customers over the long weekend. Metrobank operation support teams will be on duty 24/7 to ensure continuity of ATM and electronic banking ser-vices.

As an alternative to waiting in line to withdraw cash from ATMs, Metro-bank Metrobank ATM ac-countholders can pay for their purchases in over 20,000 department stores, supermarkets and other

establishments nation-wide through the BancNet point-of-sale (POS) termi-nals.

Customers can also make use of Metrobank Direct via http://www.metrobank.com.ph to in-quire about their balance, transfer funds or pay cel-phone, credit card, insur-ance and other utility bills.

*December 2012 holiday schedule Dec. 29 (Sat.) Davao - Matina 9:00AM - 4:00PMDavao - Damosa 10:00AM - 3:00PMDavao - Bajada 9:00AM - 12:00NNDavao - Buhangin 9:00AM - 12:00NNDavao - Center 9:00AM - 12:00NNDavao - Sta. Ana 9:00AM - 3:00PM Dec. 30 (Sun.) Davao - Sta. Ana 9:00AM - 3:00PMDec. 31 (Mon.) Davao - Toril 9:00AM - 12:00NNDavao - Tagum 9:00AM - 12:00NNDavao - Panabo 9:00AM - 12:00NN

Metrobank open during holidays

YOUNG PATIENTS. Vice Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte distributes Christmas gifts and monetary assistance to young patients as part of his “Pahalipay sa Pasko” program at the Southern Philippines Medical Center Saturday afternoon. LEAN DAVAL JR.

ROUTINE. Police officers conduct a routine patrol along San Pedro Street in Davao City where a large volume of people gather to witness various activities of Pasko Fiesta 2012 in the city. LEAN DAVAL JR.

THE damage wrought by Ty-phoon Pablo on

agriculture and fisheries has reached P29.1 bil-lion, according to Agri-culture Secretary Proce-so J. Alcala.

Crop production loss-es are estimated at P27.4 billion; livestock and poultry losses at P361 million; and fisheries at P124 million. Damage to agriculture infrastruc-ture, facilities and equip-ment is valued at P1.2 billion.

The banana sector has obtained the largest total damage of P50,096, followed by the corn sec-tor with a total damage of P41,942; high value crops sector with a to-tal damage of P29, 808; rice sector with a total damage of P25,724; and coconut P15,156.

Region XI, com-posed of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental, has suffered the largest to-tal damage of about

DAVAO Oriental will go into crop zoning to maxi-

mize immediate rehabil-itation of the livelihood of the 35,000 families left destitute by Typhoon Pablo.

Gov. Corazon N.

Malanyaon said crop zoning is the result of consultation between her office and the De-partment of Agriculture, with the latter commit-ting to pour resources into the province whose three municipalities—

Baganga, Cateel, Bos-ton—being the hardest hit.

The identification of crop zones maximizes production and helps farms withstand calam-ities.

“We need first to

identify cash crops that have shorter gestation periods so that we can start providing liveli-hood to these families,” Malanyaon said. Among these crops are corn, rice and vegetables.

Damage to agri now at P29.1-B

To fast-track farm rehab

Davao Oriental to go crop zoning

EXTORTION on the highways of the Autonomous Re-

gion in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), particularly in Maguindanao province, is still rampant, with acting ARMM governor, Mujiv Hataman, warning police-men and Land Transpor-tation Office (LTO) agents of sanctions once proven guilty of engaging in “ko-tong.”

Hataman issued the warning after a traveler, who re-

quested anonymity, told local radio station DXND that she was flagged down by uniformed police and LTO personnel and was asked to pay penalties for a traffic violation.

“At first, I was told to pay them P1,500, then P1,000, then later P300. I told myself I won’t give

them money, but we were in a hurry to go to a place so we had no choice but to hand over the cash,” she said.

Hataman told the ra-dio station that traffic in-spection has not yet been devolved to the ARMM re-gional government.

“It is still the LTO that is tasked to do highway check. I have not given an order to any of our

personnel or employees to perform such task,” he said.

After learning of the complaint, Hataman said he would ask the regional director of the LTO-ARMM to look into the matter,

The alleged extortion took place along the high-way in Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao, the com-plainant said. [Malu Cade-lina Manar/MindaNews]

ARMM guv hits kotong cops, LTO agents

THE Department of Transportation and Communica-

tion and the Department of Trade and Industry recently approved the Rights of an Air Passen-ger that will protect air travelers from unfair practices.

In a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan Saturday, Deputy Presidential spokesper-son Abigail Valte said Transportation Secre-

tary Joseph Emilio Aba-ya and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo signed the measure last Decem-ber 10.

The guideline took effect December 21, Valte said.

The passengers’ rights under this guide-line include the right to be provided with accu-rate information before ticket purchase, right to receive the full value of the service purchased,

and the right to compen-sation.

Passengers also have the right to be processed for check-in, and the right to sufficient processing time, Valte said.

The DOTC has been receiving complaints that airline companies do not open check-in counters on time that result to long lines of passengers, which prompted the gov-ernment to issue this guideline, she said. [PNA]

Gov’t okays guidelines protecting air travelers

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012 3EDGEDAVAO SUBURBIA

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 20124 EDGEDAVAOAGRITRENDS

IT is available anytime of the year, and the fruit -– with either

green or violet rinds -– is popular in vegetarian cuisine as substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads due to their high but healthy fat content, according to dietitians.

Called alligator pear, midshipman’s butter or avocado in English, “aguacate palta” or plain “aguacate” in Spanish and “abokado” in practically all corners of the Phil-ippines, the fruit of the tree belongs to the family Lauraceae including cam-phor, cinnamon and bay laurel.

The tree was intro-duced into the Philippines in 1890 by the Spaniards through seeds from Mex-ico. However, it was only from 1902 to 1907 that avocado was introduced successfully into the Phil-ippines by the Americans.

Documents suggest that through the Bureau of Agriculture (now the Bureau of Plant Industry which is under the De-partment of Agriculture), planting materials were received from Hawaii, Costa Rica and the United States.

In 1913, the Bureau of Agriculture, with the Col-lege of Agriculture of the University of the Philip-pines Los Baños, started

the countrywide spread-ing of avocado trees. Now, avocados are found grow-ing all over the country, most of which are culti-vated in backyards from Batanes to Tawi Tawi.

The name “avocado” is derived from the Aztec or Nahuatl word ‘ahuacatl‘, meaning ‘testicle‘ due to the fruit resemblance to the male reproductive gland.

The Aztec people were ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Na-huatl language and domi-nated large parts of Meso-america from the 14th to 16th centuries.

The Nahuatl words mean “people from Azt-lan,” a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time, and later adopted as the word to define the Mexican people.

Avocado is used as the base for the popular Mex-ican dip known as guaca-mole, as well as a filling for several kinds of sushi, including California rolls and is popular in chicken dishes and as a spread on toast, served with salt and pepper.

While avocados orig-inated in Mexico and Central America, to-day, avocados are being planted and harvested in countries like Indonesia,

Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, USA, Sri Lanka, Brazil, India, China, Japan, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ethiopia, Spain, Palestine, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Hawaii.

In some countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Brazil, av-ocados are frequently used for milkshakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other des-serts. The dessert drink

is made with milk, sugar and crushed ice. Choco-late syrup is sometimes added, dietitians say.

But beyond all this, avocados are also consid-ered as one of the healthi-est foods in the planet be-cause they contain in ex-cess of 25 essential nutri-ents, including vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, copper, iron, phosphorus, magne-sium, and potassium.

Some nutritionists and dietitians say one would need to eat two or three bananas to obtain the potassium content of one avocado, which also contains fiber, pro-tein and beneficial phy-tochemicals such as be-ta-sitosterol, glutathione and lutein, which help protect against various disease and illness.

They say that while avocado is high in fat content, it is mostly the monounsaturated fat which is a healthy fat va-riety.

There are at least a dozen health benefits that may be derived from eat-ing avocados, according to dietitians.

One, it can help main-tain a healthy heart be-cause an avocado contains vitamin B6 and folic acid, which help regulate ho-mocysteine levels, asso-ciated with an increased risk of heart disease.

An avocado also con-tains vitamin E, Glutathi-one and monounsaturat-ed fat which help in main-taining a healthy heart.

Two, the fruit can help lower cholesterol levels since it is rich in a com-pound called beta-sit-osterol which has been shown to be effective in lowering blood cholester-ol levels.

According to a study, patients with mild hyper-

cholesterolemia who in-cluded avocados in their diet for seven days had 17 percent decrease in total blood cholesterol levels, a 22 percent decrease in both LDL (bad cholester-ol) and triglyceride levels, and a 11 percent increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

Three, it can be a good control for high blood pressure since it is a great source of potassium, which helps in controlling blood pressure levels.

Four, the fruit has also anti-inflammatory properties. Experts say phytonutrient compound found in avocados, such as polyphenols and flavo-noids have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, thereby re-ducing the risk of inflam-matory and degenerative disorders.

Five, it also helps pro-mote good eye health, the fruit being an excellent source of carotenoid lu-tein, which known to help protect against age-relat-ed macular degeneration and cataracts.

Six, the monounsatu-rated (good) fats in avo-cados can reverse insulin resistance, which helping to regulate the blood sug-ar levels. Avocados also contain more soluble fi-ber, which keep a steady blood sugar levels.

Seven, avocados can help prevent birth de-fects since, experts say the fruit is rich in folate, a B vitamin commonly known as folic acid. One cup of avocado provides a person about 23 per-cent of the daily value for folate.

The high amount of folate in avocado is es-sential in the prevention of birth defects, such as neural tube defect and

spina bifida, according to the experts.

Eight, the high levels of folate in avocados also protect against stroke. A study has shown individ-uals who ate a diet rich in folate had a lower risk of stroke than those who do not.

Nine, experts point to studies which, according to them, have shown that avocado can inhibit the growth of prostate can-cer. The oleic acid in av-ocado is also effective in preventing breast cancer.

Ten, being rich in an-tioxidants, avocado is beneficial in preventing aging symptoms. The glu-tathione in avocado may boosts immune systems, slows the aging process, and encourages a healthy nervous system.

Eleven, avocados are one of the best natural mouth wash and bad breath remedies. They are said to be effective in cleansing the intes-tine which is the cause of coated tongue and this unpleasant condition.

Twelve, experts say it is good for weight gain, noting an avocado fruit has 200 calories for 100 grams.

Typically, fruits has approximately 60-80 cal-ories for 100 grams. Due to the high amounts of calories, avocado is a best diet for people who want to gain weight. Avocado is a healthy source of cal-ories, unlike many other calorie-dense foods that may contain excess satu-rated fats and sugar.

One does not have to wait for seasons. Throughout the year av-ocados are available – if not in some upland patch of the farm, in nearby su-permarkets in the cities. [PNA]

High nutritional value of all-season avocadoBy Honor Blanco Cabie

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

THE national govern-ment has allocated an additional P140 million

for the electrification of more remote communities in South Cotabato province next year.

South Cotabato second dis-trict Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuent-es said Friday such appropria-tion will mainly fund the con-struction of additional power distribution lines and the implementation of electrifica-tion projects in various sitios in the province.

She said the P40 million allotment will come from the national government’s ap-proved budget for next year while the P100 million will be sourced from the govern-ment’s savings for this year.

“These allotments were already approved and due for release early next year,” Fuen-tes said in her regular radio program.

Citing a recent meeting with Budget Secretary Floren-cio Abad, she said the release of the electrification funds will be coursed through the government’s Sitio Electrifica-tion Program (SEP).

She said her office is pres-ently identifying the areas that would be covered by the proj-ect, which will be concentrat-ed in non-energized villages and communities within the province’s upper valley area.

The upper valley area comprises the municipalities of T’boli, Lake Sebu, Ban-ga, Surallah, Norala and Sto. Niño.

Fuentes said which will be

implemented through power distribution utility South Co-tabato I Electric Cooperative (Socoteco I).

The national government had tapped local electric co-operatives as the main im-plementers of SEP, with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Electrifica-tion Administration (NEA) as supervising agencies.

NEA had earmarked some P6.27 billion for the imple-

mentation of SEP this year, with P3.70 billion coming from its 2012 budget and P2.57 billion from the nation-al government.

Meantime, Fuentes said they are currently working for the inclusion of Barangay Ned in Lake Sebu town into the SEP.

“We’re checking with NEA whether our allotment for the SEP could be used to fund the electrification of the entire

barangay Ned,” she said.Barangay Ned, which hosts

several coal mining projects and agribusiness production areas, has remained without electricity due to its inacces-sibility and distance to the power transmission lines.

Fuentes said that based on Socoteco I’s estimates, the electrification of the en-tire Barangay Ned would cost around P93 million. [Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews]

5EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMY

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011)

Month 2012 2011 2010

Average 43.31 45.11December 43.64 43.95November 43.27 43.49October 43.45 43.44

September 43.02 44.31August 42.42 45.18

July 42.81 46.32June 43.37 46.30May 42.85 43.13 45.60April 42.70 43.24 44.63

March 42.86 43.52 45.74February 42.66 43.70 46.31January 43.62 44.17 46.03

Stat Watch5.8%

1st Qtr 2012

6.4 %1st Qtr 2012

USD 4,931million

May 2012USD 4,770

millionApr 2012USD -135

millionApr 2012USD -209

millionMar 2012

P 4,580,674 million

Apr 2012

4.1 %May 2012P131,403

millionMay 2012

P 5,075 billion

Apr 2012

P 42.78Jun 2012

5,091.2May 2012

130.1 Jun 2012

2.8 Jun 2012

3.7 Jun 2012

349,779Apr 2012

18.8 %Jan 2012

7.2 %Jan 2012

1. Gross National IncomeGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

2. Gross Domestic ProductGrowth Rate(At Constant 2000 Prices)

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

Cebu Pacific Daily 5J961 / 5J962 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:15Zest Air Daily Z2390 / Z2390 5:45 Manila-Davao-Manila 6:25Cebu Pacific Daily 5J593 / 5J348 6:00 Cebu-Davao-Iloilo 6:30Philippine Airlines Daily PR809 / PR810 6:10 Manila-Davao-Manila 7:00Philippine Airlines Daily PR819 / PR820 7:50 Manila-Davao-Manila 8:50Cebu Pacific Daily 5J394 / 5J393 7:50 Zamboanga-Davao-Zamboanga 8:10Cebu Pacific Daily 5J599 / 5J594 8:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 8:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J347 / 5J596 9:10 Iloilo-Davao-Cebu 9:40Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 5J963 / 5J964 9:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 10:10Philippine Airlines Daily PR811 / PR812 11:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 12:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5J595 / 5J966 12:00 Cebu-Davao-Manila 12:30Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 12:55 Davao-Cebu-Singapore 09:05Cebu Pacific Thu 5J965 / 5J968 12:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 13:25Cebu Pacific Tue/Wed//Sat 5J965 / 5J968 13:35 Manila-Davao-Manila 14:05

Silk Air Mon/Sat MI588 / MI588 18:55 Davao-Singapore 13:35 Silk Air Wed/Sun MI566 / MI566 18:55 Davao-Singapore 15:20Silk Air Thurs MI551 / MI551 15:45 Davao-Singapore 12:05Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri 5J507 / 5J598 15:00 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 15:30Philippine Airlines August 15:55 Mani2Mani 16:50Zest Air Daily Z2524 / Z2525 16:05 Cebu-Davao-Cebu 16:45Cebu Pacific Daily 5J967 / 5J600 16:35 Manila-Davao-Cebu 17:05Philippines Airlines Daily PR813 / PR814 16:55 Manila-Davao-Manila 17:45Cebu Pacific Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat 5J215 / 5J216 18:00 Cagayan de Oro-Davao-Cagayan de Oro 18:20Cebu Pacific Daily 5971 / 5J970 18:40 Manila-Davao-Manila 19:10Cebu Pacific Tue/Sat/Sun 5J973 / 5J974 20:00 Manila-Davao-Manila 20:30Cebu Pacific Daily 5J969 / 5J972 20:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:00Airphil Express Daily 2P987 / 2P988 20:30 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:00Philippine Airlines Daily except Sunday PR821 / PR822 21:20 Manila-Davao-Manila 21:50Philippine Airlines Sunday PR821 / PR822 22:20 Manila-Davao-Manila 22:50

as of august 2010

BACK TO BUSINESS. This barbershop within the public market of Monte-vista town, Compostela Valley Province is back to business a couple of weeks after  Typhoon Pablo  battered the town. Most of the shops in the town

were closed for several days due to flooding and damage in the structures brought by the typhoon. [MindaNews/Ruby Thursday More]

P140M for electricity in South Cot villages

THE International Mone-tary Fund (IMF) released over the weekend its re-

view of progress toward the im-plementation of the 2010 quota and governance reform package, admitting that the updated sta-tus still falls short of the thresh-old to bring the reforms into effect.

As of December 14, 145 members having 77.1 percent of Fund quotas had consent-ed to their proposed quota in-creases under the 14th Gener-al Review of Quotas. As of the

same date, 129 members having 70.2 percent of the total voting power had accepted the pro-posed amendment to reform the Fund’s executive board, said the 188- member global lender in a statement.

However, the domestic leg-islatures of some important members, including the United States, have not approved the reform package, noted the IMF.

The IMF Board of Governors approved a quota and gover-nance reform package on Dec. 15, 2010. The package included

a doubling of IMF quotas and a shift in quotas to dynamic emerg-ing markets and under-repre-sented countries, and a proposed amendment to reform the exec-utive board that would facilitate a move to a more representative and all-elected executive board.

The IMF normally adopts a general review of its quota sys-tem about every five years. At a September meeting of the Fund’s executive board, directors re-affirmed their commitment to complete the 15th quota formula review by January 2013.

For the quota increases un-der the 14th General Review of Quotas to become effective, two conditions need to be met: First, the entry into force of the pro-posed amendment to reform the executive board, which requires acceptance by three-fifths of members having 85 percent of the Fund’s total voting power; second, the consent to the quo-ta increase under the review of quotas by members having not less than 70 percent of total quotas as of Nov. 5, 2010. [PNA/Xinhua]

IMF: More progress needed on quota reform package

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 20126 EDGEDAVAOTHE ECONOMY

ATTRACTION. Aliwagwag Falls, one of  the top tourist destinations in Davao Oriental,  had   crystal clear waters and lush surroundings before super typhoon Pablo hit Cateel town and neighboring coastal towns of  Baganga and Boston on December 4.   Photo

taken on December 21 shows Aliwagwag after Pablo.  [MindaNews/ Ruby Thursday More]

THE scale of the damage wrought by typhoon Pablo ear-

ly this month has brought agriculture in the Davao Region to a “tipping point” that it should now shift its agricultural landscape towards climate change resiliency, an official said.

“As agricultural lands were totally wiped out, it is time to change our agri-cultural landscape,” Con-stancio Maghanoy, Jr., De-partment of Agriculture (DA) 11 officer-in-charge regional director, said in an interview Thursday.

He told MindaNews that the region’s total rev-enue loss in agriculture had reached P28.6 billion as of December 18, add-ing the data will be updat-ed by Monday (Dec. 24).

He said that so far the estimated damage to rice, corn and high-value crops reached P22.1 billion, co-conut P5.1 billion, abaca P232 million, livestock P326 million, fisheries P53 million, and irriga-tion system P812 million.

He said a total of 18,323 hectares (ha) of rice worth P196 million, and 15,965 ha of corn worth P362 million were damaged by Pablo.

Noting that Davao is known for bananas, he said the region lost P9.7 billion or 13,884 ha of Cavendish bananas, P8 billion or 23,598 ha of Cardava or Saba bananas, and P2.1 billion or 3,963 ha of Lacatan bananas.

Also damaged were 782 ha of coffee worth P27 million and 889 ha of vegetables worth P176 million.

Maghanoy said the loss was more felt for products with high de-mand in the internation-

al market, particularly 2,070 ha of cacao and 7,333 ha of rubber which damage reached P291 million and P329 million, respectively.

He said the DA-11 and local government units (LGU) of Compostela Valley and Davao Orien-tal agreed in a meeting Wednesday evening to come up with a climate change-resilient program involving other govern-ment agencies.

Areas gravely dam-aged by Pablo such as Ba-ganga, Boston and Cateel in Davao Oriental will be assessed, while the entire region will be mapped out in terms of appropriate agricultural products with the help of geo-hazard maps, he said.

The official said the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall be included in the planning as it will help determine the areas for plantation crops and forest products consider-ing the government’s na-tional greening program.

Except for corn, which is a cash crop that is har-vested after three months, the region will also shift to varieties of high-value crops that are resistant to typhoons, droughts or heavy rains, he said.

The DA-11, Maghanoy said, will also recommend alternate cropping, adding that banana plantations affected with Fusarium wilt can be planted to ca-cao or oil palm instead.

He added the depart-ment will conduct soil testing in affected areas as Fusarium, a severe disease caused by fungus, is easily spread through flooding. [Lorie Ann Cascaro/Min-daNews]

After ‘Pablo’, Davao Region needs to shift agri landscape – official

QUIPS“Our people entrust us taxes from

their hard-earned money; it is only right that we use these funds to help them. This budget shows: we are in power not out of self-interest, but to open doors of opportunity especially for the marginalized.”

- President Benig-no S. Aquino III, in his speech during the Signing of the 2013 General Appropriations Act, December 19, 2012

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012 7EDGEDAVAO MOTORING

MOTOCROSS rid-ers from across the country,

including celebrities, trooped to the town of Malita in Davao del Sur last Friday for the Malita National Motocross MX. The event was one of the highlights for the town’s celebration of its 75th foundation day.

National motocross racing teams like Sel-J Sports headed by Jay Lacnit and his riders- Glenn Aguilar, Pepo Rubi, Don-Don Yuzon, Jacob Orbe, and Dexter Bacabac made the event an excit-ing one. The event was also graced by famous motocross riders Jovie Saulog, Bebet dela Cruz, Winsor Famorca, Jeven Lagrada, Atong and Bor-nok Mangosong, Peping Mar and Ambo Yaparcon. International motocross rider James Robo Robin-son was also a participant in the race.

The extremely chal-lenging race track was

made by well known rider Winsor Famorca.

Glenn Aguilar was de-clared over-all champion.

An estimated 20,000 people trooped to the racetrack Culaman, Mali-ta. Despite the scorching heat in the morning and the torrential rains in the afternoon, the crowd did not thin out. Spectators from all over Davao del Sur and other provinces like South Cotabato, Zam-boanga, Davao Oriental, Davao City, Gensan also witnessed the event.

It was a game of man and machine on one side versus mud and the el-ements of nature on the other. It being a race, it was also a game of man against man. At the end of the race, it showed not only who the best rider was but also who was able to maximize his machine most, and turned the ele-ments of nature and mud to his favor.

Celebrities like Jordan Herrera, Joseph Bitangcol,

Carlos Agassi, and Joross Gamboa were also pres-ent during the event.

The Malita National Motocross MX was made possible by Pilipinas Shell, Phoenix Petrol-uem, Petron, Claude Bautista, C o n g r e s s m a n Franklin Bautis-ta, Mayor Joseph Bautista, Aileen Almendras, Dinand Racing Team, Rural Bank of Digos, San Miguel Brewery, Crown Malita Builders, SMI, ECJ Farms, Dasureco, Goldwin Pawn-shop 1, Kag. Jojo Calma of Kiblawan, Dimsum Diner Digos, Davao Di-amond Hardware, Life-style Davao, Rural Bank of Digos, Regenti Corp, Waterscapes, CEWEE, MyPhone, Sun Cellular, AMTRAC, and Carl’s Pen-sion Inn.

Malita hosts National Motocross MX

James Robo Robinson does a cordova.

The crowd gasps as motocross riders do exhibitions on the race track.

Glenn Aguilar and Don-Don Yuzon are neck to neck for the championship trophy.Celebrity, Jordan Herrera is flanked by fans during the motocross.It’s mud versus machine during the Malita National Motocross MX.

Motocross riders wait for the go-signal.

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

Greed, justice and deception

8 EDGEDAVAO

By Edward HadaSOpINION

EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

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EDITORIAL

To rise from the ruins

BY the time this paper hits the streets, it shall be Christmas Day.

The Christmas season occurs towards the end of the year, so it is not unusual for people to be thinking about the last 12 months and the many events that unfold-ed during the period. 2012 was an unusually eventful year, made so because of the many catastro-phes that left hundreds of peo-ple dead and billions of pesos in damage to property and crops.

The most horrible disaster this year was easily the one that be-fell several towns of three prov-inces in the Davao region that were ravaged by super Typhoon Pablo. As of this writing, some 1, 700 people have been con-sidered dead, only a little over 700 of them identified. On the other hand, more than P34 bil-

lion worth of crops and prop-erty were destroyed by Pablo. The destruction and the trau-ma caused by the howler will linger for a long time to come. In sum, rising from the incalcu-lable physical and psychologi-cal destruction wrought by the storm is the greatest challenge not only to the elected leaders of the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, but also to the private sector whose part-nership and cooperation will be indispensable in rebuilding the communities levelled by Pablo, namely Montevista, New Bataan and Monkayo in Compostela Val-ley and Cateel, Boston and Ba-ganga in Davao Oriental.

Will the communities and their leaders be equal to the great task? We can only hope for the best.

VANTAGE pOINTS

GREED contributes to all the econom-ic and financial woes of prosperous societies. The United States and

other rich countries produce much more than is needed to support all of their peo-ple in comfort, so if desires were all truly modest, there would be few problems. Greed encourages people to decide that their own share is too small. Greed influ-ences the popular desire for GDP growth (more, faster), financial gains (higher house prices as a human right) and total economic security (guaranteed pension, come what may). Voters’ greed encour-ages governments to spend more and tax less.

During the boom years, politicians and economists consistently underesti-mated greed’s disruptive power. While few endorsed the extremist view that greed is actually good, even fewer act-ed as if it were dangerous. The rhetoric changed during the crisis. It has become fashionable to add “greedy” to the de-scription of any unpopular group – bank-ers, highly paid executives, rich people in general, welfare cheats.

In theory, the entry of greed into the public discourse ought to be helpful. If those subject to immoderate desire could be identified with certainty, then society might take up arms against them. While we might never win the battle, we could at least hope to shame and restrain the malefactors.

As a political agenda-item, though, “the fight against greed” has a big prob-lem; greed is much easier to identify in other people than in ourselves. The cur-rent debate on raising U.S. taxes on the very rich is typical. Few people have any doubt over who is being greedy about the tax system: it’s someone else. Yes, there is the odd Warren Buffett, a multi-bil-lionaire who thinks he is under-taxed. However, the tiny platoon of the self-ac-cusing is up against two large armies of the self-justifying. The privileged force, small but powerful, is certain that the government is already getting at least a fair share of their incomes. The poor, the middle class and the old, who make up the much larger tax-them-more brigades, fight among themselves, but they are all certain that their motivation is justice, not greed.

The problem is profound, and not merely economic. In all domains, greed can be crude – think of a toddler reaching for a sibling’s toy or slice of cake – but it often masquerades as a virtuous desire for deal that is “only fair”.

Lest I be accused of hypocrisy in this matter, I will accuse myself first of all. For example, a few months ago I decided that Reuters.com had not given my weekly col-umn its fair share of attention. I sent off an indignant missive, explaining that I did not want special treatment, only what justice demanded. In reply, my editor said that he received many similar complaints from writers, but was still waiting for one about having too much display on the website. Had I thought to protest the injustice to my peers when I thought they were short-changed? The answer: of course not. I would not have noticed that imbalance, because my supposed sense of justice was essentially selfish. It was greed, in this case for attention, dressed up as righteousness.

I am not alone, of course. Greed dis-torts everyone’s perceptions and judge-ments. The rich are particularly easy targets in a society which is theoretical-ly committed to equality. Consider how bankers responded to their boom-time bonuses – almost all measured in the hun-dreds of thousands of dollars. On most trading floors the mood on announce-ment-day was funereal. To a man (there were few women traders), they were per-suaded that their rewards were unjust-ly low. Only members of their charmed circle could possibly see anything other than greed at work.

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

LOLA Olmedo, a divorced single moth-er in southern Spanish city of Seville, finds herself hardly in a festive mood

as Christmas draws near.“I could be fired as early as next year. I

might have to do odd jobs, such as cooking meals for other people, or whatever else I can manage,” said the 53-year-old who now works for a public company planning on redundancy.

“My salary dropped from 2,000 to 900 euros, and I am saving for my kids’ univer-sity fees. The future is completely black,” she added.

Her frustration was shared by many others from eurozone countries in the middle of a three-year-old sovereign debt crisis and unpopular austerity measures.

For the past months, the single curren-cy zone was on track to establish a fiscal union and a banking union as a long-run solution for the debt crisis, while Athens was granted 50-billion-worth new aid to avert a catastrophic default.

But still, high unemployment and wel-fare cuts had triggered widespread social discontent over austerity and economic recession over recent years.

Dozens of large-scale protests took place in 2012, particularly in such coun-tries as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and Belgium. Most of them failed to block governments’ austerity plans, but led to massive economic losses neverthe-less in the process of venting public anger.

November 14 saw a European-wide protest organized by labor unions, during which protesters in Madrid clashed with police, Portugal was nearly paralyzed by a general strike, while Italian police arrest-

ed a few people, among others.Austerity measures, often imposed

upon troubled economies in exchange for bailout funds from the EU, were accused of aggravating recession and mass unem-ployment through salary and welfare cuts, investment shrink, tax hike among others.

In fact, an increasing number of euro-zone countries were trying to shift their focus from spending cuts to economic growth and structural reforms this year, as they realized the function of austerity as a double-edged sword that could hurt investment, jobs and consumption.

The current unemployment rate, in-creasingly high and yet disproportionate among eurozone countries, largely result-ed from tough austerity measures and la-bor market reforms as well as economic stagnation.

“It is hard to find a job in Brussels, but in my home country Spain, it is seen as a miracle... Going back is no longer an option or solution for me,” said Esteban Perez Re-sina, a graduate student in Belgium.

EU statistics showed the eurozone’s unemployment rate, expected to peak by next year, stood at 11.7 percent last month, while youth unemployment rate was nearly 24 percent on average. The fig-ure is even higher in southern Europe.

According to Dr. Stephanie Hare, senior analyst with global consulting firm Oxford Analytica, unemployment will continue to rise next year, mainly hurting those under

age 25 and women who tend to work in public sectors.

“There is a rise in poverty levels, a wid-ening gap between the haves and the have nots... There will be further protests,” she said in an interview with Xinhua.

The eurozone is forecast to remain in recession and the 17-member bloc’s GDP is expected to mildly contract next year. Even the economic powerhouse of Germa-ny is likely to witness flat growth in 2013.

Earlier this month, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi also warned that Europe would not leave the crisis until the second half of next year by the earliest.

“It depends on whether Europe gets its act together on the reforms and finds inno-vative ways to get people working again... It also depends on growth prospect in the US and emerging economies,” Hare said.

In the year 2013, EU leaders are sched-uled to continue hard negotiations on the 2014-2020 budget plan as well as on com-pleting fiscal and banking union, while two heavyweight member states -- Ger-many and Italy -- will go through national elections.

The bloc is also expanding itself in spite of crisis and skepticism, as Croatia is set to become the EU’s 28th member state next year and Latvia will be preparing to join the eurozone in 2014.

Olmedo, as the only breadwinner in her family and with little clue of EU eco-nomic and political affairs at the highest level, put all her hope on the next gener-ation.

“I don’t see prospects for 2013... All I want is a better future for my children,” she said. [PNA/Xinhua]

IGNORING THE RULE ON MORALITY – One thing seems clear: Top leaders of the assertive and influential Catho-

lic Church, pro-life advocates, women’s groups and the Bible-thumping Christian conservatives are not likely to give up from the argument over the recently approved Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill). In such a situation, they have yet to demonstrate their mettle by training their sights on the Supreme Court probably to make an ap-peal urging the highest court to reconsid-er the decision of both chambers of Con-gress, which legal experts say is already highly improbable.

After months of grueling and intense debates between the pros and cons, the controversial RH Bill finally gained the nod of Congress. A bicameral conference committee hearing has been scheduled to put the final touch of the draft before being submitted to President Benigno Aquino III for signing into law before the end of the year. Recent perceptions reflect the factual situation: it clearly showed that more peo-ple than ever are satisfied with decision of the House of Representatives and the Sen-ate in dealing with the RH Bill.

But before the disappointment and disgust raised by anti-RH Bill forces sim-mers down, the House leadership now talks about the divorce law. Yes, folks, what is there to prevent Congress from passing and approving a divorce law, or same-sex marriage law, or even a law allowing abortion - moralist groups, self-professed upright people, pro-life advocates and

church leaders, might asked? In the opinion of harsh critics the declaration of the House leadership set off a chain of reaction across the country that is putting lawmakers on the spot.

Unexpect-edly the House leadership hints that the divorce bill might follow suit. Meanwhile severe critics and political adversaries is-sued stern warnings to lawmakers to heed the proposed divorce law and church lead-ers even accused the Aquino administra-tion of alleged “dictatorial tendency.” Is the present dispensation traveling the dan-gerous path of ignoring the rule of law or to be precise the rule on morality? Funny politicians who strongly opposed the RH Bill for sure would again dispute any move related to divorce law and are presuming that the May 2013 midterm elections is a bad time for the Aquino leadership to take a principled but potentially unpopular stand on issues that might hurt the ruling party’s chances in next year’s polls. None-theless, throughout all the controversy, the PNoy leadership remains almost preter-naturally calm.

Schemers and proponents of the RH Bill voiced enthusiasm for a divorce law

and at this early stage had already agitat-ed people who likewise pride themselves as God-fearing and God-believing. These groups were incensed by the govern-ment’s decision allegedly ignoring the rights to preserve the sanctity of tradi-tional marriage. But the dominant ques-tion right now: “Is it not uncomfortable to have a shaky relationship and continues to live together in hate and misery or to engage in illicit relationship simply be-cause couples remain married to their original spouses?”

One thing sure is that moralists, up-right pretenders, various religious con-gregations and church leaders including Christian conformists would begged to disagree. As their wont, they would again stage a sit-in at different government of-fices and march protest rallies to protest the impending divorce law. What’s next, they might ask? Legalized same-sex mar-riage law after a divorce law? Allow abor-tion, prostitution, polygamy and drugs?

Most likely scenario if a divorce law is in effect – you had to navigate your way through a discontent sea of married cou-ples applying for divorce in different law offices. And the only thing curious peo-ple were surprised by will be the dense number of married people involved – they hadn’t expected so many couples are showing interest to end their unstable and irreconcilable marriages Of course, it’s a scene people who are against di-vorce ought not to see and expect to hap-pen.

By Miao Xiaojuan, raHul VEnkitCOMMENTARY

By XinHua writEr ran wEiANAlYSIS

Mideast upheavals hamper U.S.

pivoting to Asia 

VANTAGE pOINTSEDGEDAVAO 9

Gloom haunts Europe amid crisis, austerity 

AFTER taking office in 2009, U. S. President Barack Obama vowed to pivot his administration’s foreign

policy focus from the Middle East to Asia. In the span of almost four years, the piv-oting has been underscored by Washing-ton ‘ s high-profile activities in Asia and deep involvement in regional affairs.

However, with numerous crises still boiling in the Middle East, such as Iran’s nuclear standoff, Syria’s civil war, politi-cal upheavals in Egypt, escalating Pales-tinian-Israeli tensions, and so on, analysts argue that troubles in that volatile region are hampering Obama’s ability to pivot to Asia.

ASIA AS THE PIVOT?During the Bush administration, the

United States was bogged down with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which con-sumed much of its strategic resources. As a result, Washington has somewhat ignored Asia. But as the region has been increasingly reshaping global dynamics, America’s political elite decided to pivot to Asia in order to maintain its predomi-nant role amid the shifting of global geo-political and economic gravity center.

During his first presidential term, Obama, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of De-fense Leon Panetta, made frequent and high-profile appearances in the Asia-Pa-cific. He set Thailand, Myanmar and Cam-bodia as destinations for his first foreign travel after winning re-election in No-vember, a move widely interpreted as a firm bid to showcase his commitment to the “pivot-to-Asia” strategy.

However, since the unveiling of Obama’s Asia policy, its phrasing has evolved from the earliest “back-to-Asia,” and then to “pivot-to-Asia” and to the lat-est “re-balancing-in-Asia,” the change of which, in the eyes of many, has reflected an internal policy adjustment.

DRAG FROM THE MIDEASTNow, many analysts doubt whether

Washington has sufficient strategic re-sources to implement its so-called “piv-oting” or “re- balancing,” given the enor-mous upheavals in the Middle East, and the pressing need for widespread spend-ing cuts, even in U.S. defense and diplo-matic operations. Some critics bluntly point out that rhetoric outweighs sub-stance in the “pivot-to-Asia” strategy.

Admittedly, the Obama administra-tion has shown a declining interest in Middle East affairs, compared to its dip-lomatic fanfare in the Asia-Pacific. How-ever, the reality of a turbulent Middle East keeps on preventing Obama from pivot-ing away.

“The irony, of course, is that every time the Obama administration tries to turn toward Asia, the Middle East drags it back,” Robert Kagan, senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, commented in a recent article.

As a case in point, in order to avert an all-out war between Palestine’s Hamas and Israel, Obama urgently dispatched Clinton after the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to the Middle East for mediation.

“Thank goodness, President Barack Obama overcame his pivot penchant to Asia and has sent Secretary of State Hil-lary Clinton back to the Middle East. Her arrival can come none too soon,” Brook-ings’ Vice President Martin Indyk, who served as the two-time former U.S. am-bassador to Israel, wrote immediately after the diplomatic move.

In the end, under influences from Washington and Cairo, Hamas and Isra-el grudgingly reached a cease-fire and hence averted a full-scale war.

Critics’ stern warning

( 1st of two parts )

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

ABOITIZ Power Corporation (AP), its wholly-owned

subsidiary in the dis-tribution group Davao Light & Power Co., in co-operation with its social development arm, the Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (AFI), turned over last Wednesday, December 19, 2012, a new 6-class-room building to the De-partment of Education (DepEd), Davao City Di-vision. It is constructed at the Catalunan Grande Elementary School cam-pus at Catalunan Grande, Davao City.

The project cost about P5.4 million shared by Aboitiz Pow-er and Davao Light and drawn from the Aboitiz Foundation with the

Davao City government providing P710 thou-sand as its counterpart fund. Each room has its own lavatory, with tiled floors including the ve-randa and installed with ready-to-tap electric and water connections. It is also provided with low power consuming com-pact fluorescent lighting bulbs and rotating ceil-ing fans.

In addition, the Aboitiz-owned electric utility also donated to the Department a total of three hundred (300) wooden armchairs for the classes that will oc-cupy the six rooms in the newly constructed build-ing. Each room will also be provided with teach-er’s chairs and tables.

AP First Vice Presi-dent for Mindanao Af-fairs Manuel “Bobby” Orig who did the official turn-over together with

Davao Light Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (EVP-COO) Arturo M. Milan and City Vice Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte, told DepEd officials and the school administration that donation of school buildings is only one of several projects that the Aboitiz companies are undertaking to sup-port the government’s “Adopt-a-School Pro-gram”.

Orig encouraged the teachers and students to make the most out of the new classroom facilities. He said the additional classrooms surely en-hance the quality of edu-cation of the elementary students of the school. He added that the new rooms are conducive to improving teachers’ performance. Orig also cited a survey conduct-ed by the Social Weather

Station in Maguindanao where it was revealed that residents in the area find educating the chil-dren is most difficult in that Muslim-dominated province, and that while the interest to send the children to school is there, there is a huge gap in the availability of ed-ucation facilities. Thus, Orig said, students and parents in Davao City, among them in Catalu-nan Grande, are luckier since the private sector, especially big business-es, are helping fill the gap.

In her own turnover message read for her by City Building Offi-cial Engr. Jaime Adalem, Davao City mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio said that the new classrooms will help in a long way the Catalunan Grande Elementary School ac-commodate the growing number of students com-ing from the communi-ty. She also thanked the Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Aboitiz Pow-er for leading the way in helping government address the lack of class-rooms.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duter-te in his speech said he wished he could thank the Aboitiz companies enough for helping solve problems that should be the primary concern of government. The vice mayor added that he did not expect that when he intimated to the Aboitiz executives in Davao the need for assistance to provide new classroom facilities in Catalunan Grande middle of Sep-tember the school will be up and ready for classes this December.

He however, added that he is not surprised of the speed by which the problem is ad-dressed. The vice mayor said the Local Govern-ment of Davao City has long been in partner-

ship with Davao Light in many social projects and all these worked well up to completion.

For his part Baran-gay captain Paulo Z. Duterte in his message read for him by Ba-rangay Councilor Jun Macahig, thanked Davao Light and Aboitiz Power, and the Aboitiz families for that matter, for their generosity and continu-ing support in efforts to improve the quality of education offered by the public education-al system in Davao City specifically in his ba-rangay. He said it is this support by stakeholders like the Aboitiz Pow-er and its distribution utility Davao Light that encouraged the LGU of Davao City over the past years to work even harder despite the pe-rennial problem of lack of resources.

Meanwhile, City Di-vision Superintendent Dr. Helen D. Paguican lauded Aboitiz Power, Davao Light, Aboitiz Foundation, and the city government for joint-ly implementing the school building project. She said that by pool-ing their resources to be able to construct a new building the four entities just proved that a government-private partnership is viable even at the local level.

The Division Super-intendent added that since the DepEd and the Aboitiz companies start-ed its partnership on education projects some 30 school building with about 102 classrooms have been construct-ed and turned over in Davao City alone. Oth-er than thanking Davao Light, Aboitiz Power and Aboitiz Foundation Pa-guican also thanked the city government and the Local School Board (LSB) for providing budget to meet the funding coun-terpart requirement.

10 EDGEDAVAOCOMMUNITY SENSE

2 Aboitiz companies in Davao, LGU turn over new 6-classroom school building

Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Davao City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Helen D. Paguican cut the ceremo-nial ribbon during formal turnover of the 6-classroom building at Catalunan Grande, Davao City. They were assisted by Aboitiz Power’s Manuel “Bobby” Orig, Arturo Milan of Davao Light, Mrs.

Nenita Fabros of the DepEd Regional Office,.Witnesses to the ribbon-cutting are barangay officials, Parents Teacher Associ-ation officers, and Engr. Jaime Adalem who represented the office of the City Mayor.

The near full view of the 6-classroom P5.4 million one-storey school building that was turned over at the Catalunan Grande Elementary School in Catalunan Grande, City last December 19.

ABOUT 3.6 million members of the So-cial Security System

(SSS) can avail themselves of the SSS calamity relief package to help them and their families recover from the devastation caused by Typhoon Pablo, which is the strongest typhoon to hit the country so far this year.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said the three-part relief package offers early renewal of salary loans, advance release of three-months’ worth of pensions, and a two-per-cent cut in interest rates of the SSS Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan.

“Members in declared calamity areas can use their loan proceeds and advance pensions for basic and immediate needs such

as food, clothing, shelter and medicines. The funds can also serve as capital for members whose source of livelihood was disrupted by the typhoon,” he added.

The relief package is extended to members in the “declared and may be declared” calamity areas identified by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). These cur-rently include: Palawan (Region IV-B); Siquijor and Cebu (Region VII); Lanao del Norte and Misamis Ori-ental (Region X); Compos-tela Valley, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte (Re-gion XI); Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur (Re-gion XIII).

De Quiros said the package offers the Salary Loan Early Renewal Pro-gram (SLERP), which al-lows current borrowers to

renew their loan ahead of the prescribed schedule. To be eligible, members must have at least six post-ed contributions within the past 12 months prior to the month of application.

“Members with sanc-tions on loan renewal due to their availment of the SSS condonation program are also allowed to apply for SLERP, as long as they live or work in a declared calamity area. We will also waive the one percent ser-vice fee under the SLERP,” he said.

The second compo-nent of the relief package is the three-month ad-vance pensions for SSS pensioners in typhoon-af-fected areas. Their appli-cations for early pensions must be certified by their local Barangay Chairman as proof of their residence in a declared calamity

area.“Since SSS pensions for

January 2013 were already released to our partner banks, pensioners who ap-ply for calamity relief with-in December 2012 will get their February to April 2013 pensions in advance,” de Quiros explained. “Those who submit their applications within Janu-ary 2013 will receive early their March to May 2013 SSS pensions.”

The package’s last component, which is the two-percent cut in inter-est rates for house repair and improvement loans, is open to members whose homes were destroyed by Typhoon Pablo. The re-duced interest rates per annum are six percent for loans of P400,000 and be-low, and seven percent for loans above P400,000 to P1 million.

SSS offers calamity relief to members affected by Pablo

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012 11EDGEDAVAO SUBURBIA

REFRESHING. Survivors of  Typhoon Pablo  in an evacuation center in Compostela town, Compostela Valley province get a free shower from a Tagum City  firetruck. The project, done in different evacuation centers in Compostela,  Monkayo, Montevista and New Bataan, was initiated by youth volunteers and the provincial government,

and includes distribution of health kits for children aged two to 12 prior to the bath-ing, a change of new clothes from  among the relief goods, and feeding them after the refreshing shower.  [J. Clarion/IDS ComVal]

AID is pouring in to the province of Compostela Valley

which is waging a massive effort to rise again amid the devastation wrought by Typhoon Pablo.

The list of donors from the Incident Command Post of Compostela Valley shows not less than 360 individuals, families, cor-porations, small and me-dium entrepreneurs, aca-deme, civic and non-gov-ernment organizations have extended relief as-sistance to displaced fam-ilies and individuals.

The ICP of Compos-tela Valley has yet to cite the total value of various goods donated, but a sep-arate list of financial as-sistance bares the figure of P5.837 million from various local government units (LGUs) nationwide, from national govern-ment agencies and from individuals.

Compostela Valley ICP data show that 88,198 family food packs were distributed, a total of 3,300 hot meals served and 10,632 bottled water distributed.

The Department of So-cial Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD), the United Nations and the World Food Program (WFP) are taking part in serving the food packs and in seeing to it that these reach the 117,733 displaced fam-ilies in 238 affected ba-rangays in Compostela Valley.

A report of DSWD 11 shows that a total of P101,323,317 in as-

sistance had been ex-tended to a 199,991 typhoon-displaced and affected families in the entire region of Southern Mindanao. Of the total assistance in cash and in kind, P57,396,750.00 came from DSWD; P33,876,840.00 came from various local gov-ernment units (LGUs) and P10,049,727.00 came from NGOs and other GOs.

Of the total assis-tance to the affected ar-eas in the Davao region, P58,517,890 has reached Compostela Valley, serv-ing a total of 120,620 families (DSWD data) with 498,192 individuals (DSWD data) in 238 af-fected barangays all in the 11 towns of the province.

The local government of Compostela Valley also attends to the fami-lies of casualties totalling 588, 404 missing and 1,001 injured (data from Comppostela Valley ICP).

Part of the campaign of rebuilding Compos-tela Valley drummed up through “Tindog Com-val” advocacy, is the provision of shelter as-sistance that Gov. Arturo T. Uy said has also drawn out a number of support from various organiza-tions, particularly Gawad Kalinga and the National Housing Authority which have committed to build houses for the displaced. Typhoon Pablo totally damaged 31,261 houses and partially damaged 51,581 others. [PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Aban-gan]

Aid pours into Compostela Valley

THE province of Davao del Norte will receive an P8.528 million

grant for the rehabilitation of livestock in towns worst hit by Typhoon Pablo, ac-cording to Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario.

Del Rosario recently signed a contract of do-nation that the Davao del Norte provincial govern-ment entered into with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to restock lost live-stock.

The grant is part of the short-term and long-term action plans of the De-partment of Agriculture

for families affected by Typhoon Pablo to provide a starter source source of income and food for ty-phoon-affected families.

The grant will be used to procure 525 native chickens with feed worth P1 million; 91 heads of carabao along with P3 mil-lion worth of plows; 597 goats along with P3 million worth of feed.

Part of it is funding for the 24-hectare pas-ture development worth P528,000, and for the re-habilitation of multipli-er farms in the towns of Kapalong and New Corella

that would entail expenses of about P500,000.

The DA will soon download the P8.528 mil-lion grant and turn over ownership, operation, management and mainte-nance of the livestock that will be purchased to pro-vide livelihood assistance to typhoon-affected fami-lies.

The grant is on top of the P 1-million subsidy that the DA earlier had turned over to Gov. del Rosario during the visit of DA Sec. Proceso Alcala to conduct a consultation in Nabunturan, Compostela

Valley, with typhoon-af-fected farmers.

The provincial infor-mation office of Davao del Norte said the subsidy in-cludes 5,000 bags of certi-fied rice seeds, 1,000 bags of open-pollinated and hy-brid corn seeds, and four bags of ammonium sulfate per hectare of devastated farm lands.

The DA is also giving P1,500 financial assistance per hectare for clearing of damaged banana planta-tions, aside from supply-ing tissue-cultured banana plantlets. [PIA 11/ Jeane-vive Duron-Abangan]

DavNor gets P8.5 M for livestock rehab

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)

has been asked to install at least seven more weigh-bridges (truck scales) in Northern Mindanao, in-cluding four in Bukidnon, to make the campaign against cargo overloading among trucks more effec-tive.

This was contained in a resolution passed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Region 10, which was presented to the Bukidnon Provincial Development Council.

The proposal is among the recommendations by the RDC Infrastructure and Utilities Development Committee (InfraCom) to address at least six issues and concerns raised before them this year.

The committee recom-mended building weigh-bridges in the following “proposed strategic loca-tions:” Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental (Caraga side); Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental (Western Min-

danao side); Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte (Western Mindanao side); Kalilan-gan, Bukidnon (ARMM side); Damulog, Bukidnon (Southwestern Mindanao side); Kitaotao, Bukidnon (Southern Mindanao side); and in Aglayan, Malaybalay City (for cargoes coming from Bukidnon towns).

The InfraCom also rec-ommended that the weigh-bridge in El Salvador, Mis-amis Oriental be repaired, while the weighbridge in Puerto, Cagayan de Oro City be relocated to a “flat” location.

The committee cited that the heavy loads of trucks and trailers from other regions going to the Mindanao Container Ter-minal and the Cagayan de Oro Port “put much ten-sion in the road network of Region 10, which essen-tially shortens the life of the roads.”

The committee also recommended that the weighbridges shall be lo-cated prior to entering Cagayan de Oro, so that

trucks coming from out-side the city are weighed only prior to entering the city.

The InfraCom also not-ed that excess cargoes are not unloaded because the DPWH has no warehouse facilities or unloading equipment.

It recommended to the DPWH to explore the possibility of putting ware-houses and unloading equipment at the proposed weighbridge locations.

The committee also recommended that the Department of Transpor-tation and Communica-tions’ (DOTC) Land Trans-portation Office (LTO) implements strict moni-toring or checking of axle modifications made on trucks and trailers upon registration to reflect the exact Motor Vehicle User’s Charge.

Because of the obser-vation that violating truck operators have less re-sponsibility, the commit-tee also recommended for the DPWH, the DOTC, and

the LTO that the citation in the temporary owner’s permit shall not only men-tion the driver’s name but also the truck operator.

To stop the problem of overloaded inbound ship-ping cargoes, the commit-tee also recommended putting weighbridges in the ports.

“Overloaded contain-ers could be stored at the warehouses of the cargo handlers, with the consignee paying the re-quired storage fees,” it added.

The committee partic-ularly recommended for the DOTC and the Philip-pine Ports Authority to put up weighbridges in Iligan and Ozamis ports, and for drafting policy and guidelines on this pro-posed weighing in ports.

The DOTC was also asked to do regular cali-bration of weighbridges and portable axle load weighing stations to keep them stick to standards. [Walter I. Balane/MindaN-ews]

DPWH asked to install weighbridges

IT’S the holiday season and time to watch what you eat and drink.Kidney transplant sur-

geon Dr. Ismael Crisostomo of the Davao Regional Hos-pital (DRH) Saturday (Dec. 21) urged people to be conscious about what they are eating and drinking, es-pecially during the holiday season to spare vital body organs, especially the kid-ney, from malfunctioning.

Guesting in the yearend edition of the Kapihan sa Kapitoloyo of Davao del Norte, he explained the relationship of hyperten-sion , which usually occurs during holiday season, to the destruction of the kidney, as well as, the re-lationship of diabetes to kidney disease.

“Too much of the salt and the sweet is not good for your kidney,” he said

while also giving caution on eating of too much fats causing hypertension which can lead to kidney failure.

Crisostomo also warned of the danger to health that frequent eating of ready-to-eat foods, such as instant noodles, canned goods and other food of high salt content , can bring to the kidney.

He has noticed that people in urban areas usu-ally make ready-to-eat food come in handy because of their fast-paced lifestyle which prompts them to indiscriminately eat food that can unwittingly lead to so-called such “life-style disease” as renal dis-ease.

“Because they don’t have time to prepare their food,” he said. [PIA 11/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan]

This Christmas season

Take care of your kidneys

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 201212 EDGEDAVAOClASSIFIEDS ADS

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ing convicted in the case filed by businessman Rodolfo C. Reta almost three years ago for “grave misconduct, serious dis-honesty, and violation of Republic Act No. 6713, also known as The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Offi-cials and Employees.”

Also dismissed for the same offense in a 24-page decision by the Office of the Ombuds-man Mindanao signed by graft investigator and prosecution officer 1 Marilou B. Unabia was acting assistant wharf-inger Alicodsaman P. Di-masicil.

The decision was ap-proved by Deputy Om-budsman for Mindanao Humphrey T. Montero-so after the same was reviewed by Assistant Ombudsman Rodolfo M. Elman and Director IV Maria Iluminada S. Lapid-Viva.

The same decision also meted the penal-ty of suspension for six months on acting cus-toms examiners Lerrie L. Natividad and Moctar S. Amir, co-accused, for committing “conduct prejudicial to the inter-est of the service.”

“All these penalties are pursuant to Rule 10 of the Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service,” ac-cording the decision.

The Ombudsman di-rected the Customs Com-missioner (Rozzano Ru-fino Biazon) to immedi-ately implement the pen-alties in accordance with Memorandum Circular No. 01, Series of 2006 of the Ombudsman.

The case filed by Reta stemmed from the sudden closure by Casti-gador of the Designated Examination Area (DEA) contracted by the Bu-reau of Customs inside the Acquarius Contrain-er Yard solely owned by Reta. The DEA operation in a portion of Reta’s container yard is cov-ered by a memorandum of agreement between him and the BOC. The MOA was signed on Jan-uary 9, 2009 between Reta and then BOC com-missioner Napoleon L. Morales for a term of 25 years, free of charge.

The dispute between Reta and Castigador was triggered by the arrival on February 20, 2010 of 40 containers said to contain 320 bags per container of construc-tion materials from Thai-

land on board the vessel Matthias Claudi.

On February 26, 2010, complainant Reta instructed his counsel Manuel Quibod to report to Castigador that the cargo had been granted gate passes despite the fact that they have not been examined yet as recommended by cus-toms inspector and x-ray operator Nilo Lim.

Instead of acting on the irregularities re-ported to him by Reta’s lawyer, Castigador hand-ed a letter stopping the examination of cargoes by the DEA inside Reta’s container yard and thus transferring the exam-ination of cargo to the area of the Philippine Ports Authority. Casti-gador’s letter accused Reta of refusing to allow the examination of the cargo at his container yard. This was denied by Reta, saying that it was absurb for him to do so since it was his business to examine and strip the cargo.

As a result of the clo-sure of the DEA in his yard, Reta petitioned the court for a temporary restraining order and filed an administrative complaint with the Om-budsman. He accused Castigador and his men of eliminating him in or-der to cover up for smug-gling and other illegal activities in the port.

At one-time, the Court ordered Casti-gador arrested for con-tempt of court for defy-ing its order to use the DEA inside Reta’s con-tainer yard again.

The cargo from Thai-land which was misde-clared as construction materials turned out to be contraband rice.

In finding Castigador guilty of the adminis-trative charges levelled against him and the three others by Reta, the Ombudsman found cer-tain questionable acts involved in the case.

It said that the issu-ance of the gate passes even before the 100-per-cent examination recom-mended by x-ray inspec-tor Nilo Lim was irregu-lar.

The record shows the shipment arrived at the DEA only on February 26, 2010 and yet, the gate passes were pre-pared two days ahead of the receipt of the ship-ment in the DEA for ex-amination and were al-ready signed as received

by the consignee’s rep-resentative- a certain Michael Corong, broker of consignee Rapzel Gen-eral Merchandise, even before the conduct of the 100-percent examina-tion as recommended.

“Respondent Casti-gador, in allowing this irregular practice of pre-paring gate passes prior to inspection of the ship-ment allegedly to facili-tate the process within the ACY DEA in effect agrees with such irregu-lar practice. The control mechanism at the Port of Davao then leaves much to be desired,” the Min-danao Ombudsman stat-ed.

The act of Dimasicil in signing on the four gate passes amounts to grave misconduct, the Ombudsman said.

It noted that the ship-ment consigned to RAP-ZEL was not released on account of the four gate passes, as records would show that respondents, with the use of force, ef-fected the release of the shipment from Reta’s ACY premises to the PPA area where the examina-tion was done.

The Ombudsman added that the letter of Castigador transferring the DEA from the ACY to PPA was done without lawful authority. It said that Castigador on his own cannot suspend or revoke the MOA which was signed by the BOC commissioner and Reta.

The Ombudsman also said that Castigador’s failure to file a criminal case against consignee Rapzel for violation of the Tariff and Customs Code is tantamount to giving unwarranted ben-efits to the company.

“It is grave miscon-duct as the act com-plained of is inspired by an intention to violate the law, or constitute a flagrant disregard of well-known legal rules,” the decision said.

“It is a transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dere-liction of duty, wilful in character and implies wrongful intent and not a mere error of judg-ment,” it added.

The Ombudsman also castigated Castigador for failure to file the case in court, saying it was an act that sends the wrong signal to the importers and runs counter to the government’s drive to run after smugglers.

we have the log ban implemented now. Our move was way ahead of the Executive Order 23 of President Benigno Aquino,” she explained.

Malanyaon said that their relentless crusade against illegal logging cost the life of former Environment and Nat-ural Resources officer Eulogio “Baltic “ Balta-zar who was shot in a restaurant which coin-cided with a festivity two years ago.

“Undeniably, there are some permittees, but the permits were issued by the DENR. With per-mits, the activity is legal, and as such, you cannot question legal opera-tions,” she added.

To maximize com-pliance with President Aquino’s directive, she said the provincial gov-ernment established the Provincial Illegal Logging Task Force. The multi-sectoral composi-tion of the Task Force is

tasked, among others, to monitor cargoes of cut trees at the entry and exit points of the prov-ince.

Malanyaon said that her first move in the pursuit of ecological bal-ance and in addressing climate change was the launching of her Million Trees Movement (MTM) on June 22, 2009 in Brgy. Pintatagan, municipali-ty of Banaybanay where the governor was able to mobilize all sectors to participate in the simul-taneous early morning planting of trees, par-ticularly along national highways of the prov-ince.

After the launching, the Million Trees Move-ment planting was in-stitutionalized through an ordinance approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, making June 22 of every year a tree-planting day in the province.

The provincial gov-

ernment also estab-lished the tree nursery in Sitio Magay, Brgy. Don Martin Marundan, City of Mati. It has been the standing order of Malanyaon to ensure availability of seed-lings to address re-quests from barangays, schools, offices, and in-terested individuals to plant more trees.

Malanyaon said that it was the strong winds of Pablo and their gust-iness that claimed hun-dreds of lives, toppled structures, destroyed schools, houses, and swept away crops, an-imals, and other agri-cultural products as affirmed by concerned national agencies.

“What is important is I know that the pro-vincial government has fought against illegal logging and they can never put a good inten-tion down,” the governor said. [With a report by Neela Duallo]

P18,324; followed by region X, composed of Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occiden-tal and Misamis Occiden-tal with a total damage of P4,340;

Region XIII or CARA-GA, composed of Agu-san del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, with a total damage of P2,197.

Total damage of fa-cilities and infrastruc-

ture and equipment has reached P162,884.

Rice production loss-es of 9.6 thousand met-ric tons will account for only 0.47% reduction to the forecast produc-tion of 4.2 million metric tons for the first quarter of 2013 made by the Bu-reau of Agricultural Sta-tistics.

The corn production losses of 112 thousand metric tons are estimat-

ed to cause a 5.6% re-duction to the 2 million metric tons forecast for the first quarter next year.

As of now, the re-gional field staff of the Dept. of Agriculture are continuously conduct-ing damage and needs assessment and validat-ing earlier reports to prepare for the rehabili-tation of the affected ar-eas. [PNA]

She said those af-fected will be employed through the govern-ment’s food-for-work program and avail of the cash-for- work program.

On the cash-for-work, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon J. Soliman earli-er said that workers will be paid P218 a day. The scheme will also be used in the building of shel-ters for affected victims, said Soliman.

Malanyaon added that both the agriculture department and other groups have already lent 12 tractors being used to clear debris from the farms.

Davao Oriental, which sustained about P8 billion in damage to crops, was the top pro-ducer of coconut in the country with the three severely-affected towns among the big produc-ers. Based on the as-sessment of government officials, only about 10% of the total land area planted to coconut was spared by the typhoon.

Despite the devasta-tion, Malanyaon said the coconut industry will not be abandoned as it is “a sentimental crop,” be-ing the crop of the older generation.

What would be done, she added, is the plant-

ing of hybrid coconuts so that farmers will be able to start harvesting in the next five years. “There are areas that cannot be planted to coconut, so the crop zoning plan is very important,” she added.

At present, the prov-ince needs more tempo-rary shelters for families who lost their houses.

More tarpaulins, tents and other materi-als are needed for the victims, the governo added, even as Soliman earlier said that the gov-ernment will eventu-ally build core shelters which will become per-manent homes. [AD]

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012 13EDGEDAVAO COMpETITIVE EDGE

MOBILE operator Sun Cellular has been recognized

once again as Philippines’ Mobile Service Provider of the Year for 2012 by Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Best Practices Awards. This is the second straight year that Sun Cellular got the distinction from the global research and consultancy firm.

“We are happy to be acknowledged as the best for two years in a row, and now that we are part of the PLDT Group, we expect things to get even better,” says Orlando Vea, Sun Cel-lular’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Coming from its inten-sive research and rigorous rating process, Frost & Sullivan lauded Sun Cellu-lar for its consistent and robust growth in terms of market share, revenues and subscriber acquisition rate.

“Serving over 14 mil-lion mobile subscribers in 2011, Sun Cellular had outperformed the market average with an annual revenue growth of 14.4%. Sun Cellular is instrumen-tal in injecting competition in the Philippines mobile market with best value of-ferings. Its ‘Call and Text Unlimited’ services have been popular and effective

in gaining market share,” says Ms. Serene Chan, In-dustry Analyst – Telecom Sector, Asia Pacific ICT Practice of Frost & Sullivan.

Chan also pointed out to Sun Cellular’s innova-tiveness in launching new services in the age of social media, making it a very resilient player in the fast-paced mobile industry.

“With a strong mar-ket penetration strategy, it comes as no surprise that Sun Cellular has been growing above the mar-ket average rate. Between 2007 and 2011, Sun Cel-lular’s mobile subscribers had grown substantially over the last five years. By the end of last year, the op-erator held 15.6% share in the market,” Chan said.

Reporting a strong net service revenue growth of 17%, for the first half of 2012, Sun Cellular has enjoyed not only a pos-itive and upward busi-ness movement but also attained leadership in the industry in terms of growth. It attained a 15% growth for its Prepaid seg-ment and a 46% growth for its broadband business for the same period.

“Part of Sun’s success is its ability to come up with exciting offers that makes it the good choice for con-sumers given its best val-

ue-for-money proposition,” said Charles A. Lim, Sun Cellular COO. “For exam-ple, we now have the ‘Sun-droid Promo’ wherein for only P600 per month, you get not only an Android smartphone but a WiFi An-droid tablet computer as well” Lim enthused.

Frost & Sullivan is a growth partnership com-pany that has been work-ing closely with some of the world’s leading busi-

nesses for the creation of solutions and dynamic industry strategies. Be-ing a steadfast advocate of growth and business development, Frost & Sullivan presents various awards to companies that show exemplary perfor-mance in terms of market leadership, innovation and business strategies.

In 2009, Sun Cellular first garnered the Most Promising Telecom Service

Provider of the Year Award from the same award-giv-ing firm. After its integra-tion into the country’s larg-est telecommunications conglomerate, Sun Cellular is now looking at further growing its business to bet-ter serve its over 16 million subscribers and intensify even more the quality of its services nationwide.

“As we seek to address more consumer demands and face even tougher

business challenges, we will always be grounded by the call to consistently outshine our own perfor-mance year over year – through continuous inno-vation, network enhance-ment and betterment of overall service delivery,” shares Lim. “All these, to enhance the customer ex-perience at the end of the day.”

Sun Cellular is a mem-ber of the PLDT Group.

WINNER. Sun Cellular Senior Vice President for Postpaid, Broadband, New Business Marketing and Marketing Services Ricky Peña (middle), and Sun Cellular Vice Presi-

dent for Customer Relationship Management Reuben S.J. Pangan (right), accept the award from Frost & Sullivan Vice President for ICT Asia Pacific, Andrew Milroy.

Sun Cellular wins Frost & Sullivan award

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 201214 EDGEDAVAOClASSIFIEDS ADS

deadline for submission of ma-terials is 12:00 NN. deadline for Friday and Saturday issues is 5:00 PM. deadline for Sunday and Monday issues is Saturday 12:00 NN. For more informa-tion, please call our advertising office 221-3601; 301-6235 and ask for jane or Chay.

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Edge Davao hiring edi-tor, 3 reporters

EDGE DAVAO is in need of an editor and three staffwriters/reporters for its expansion program.

The reporters will be assigned to the business, science/environment and political beats.

On the other hand, the editor will su-pervise the reporters and do gate-keep-ing tasks.

Applicant must be a graduate of a four- year college course. For report-ers, experience is not needed although preferable. The editor should have at least one-year experience in editing.

Interested parties may send their ap-plication letter to Mr. Antonio M. Ajero, Edge Davao editor, thru email address ajero_antonio@yahoo.com. For inqui-ries, please call Mr. Ajero thru mobile phone 09052422686 or landline 221-3601.

INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012

EDGEDAVAOEVENTS

EvEry family has a Christmas tradition that is practiced year-by-year. In my family, we often celebrate Christmas by coming together for dinner, all wearing red to celebrate luck and good fortune.

A magical afternoon of dance

The energy of the Russian dance envigorated the crowd.The Chinese dance left everyone smiling.

The Dance of the Flowers.

There are also establish-ments who practice their own Christmas traditions, like Mana Davao and Marco Polo Davao’s Christmas light displays. But none are more spectacular than SM’s yearly Christmas ballet presenta-tions and this year features Ballet Philippines and their performance of Tchai-kovsky’s The Nutcracker at

SM Lanang Premier and Sleeping Beauty at SM City Davao. I was able to attend the presentation at SM Lanang Premier and was pleasantly surprised to see that Da-bawenyos came out in force to witness the presentation, showing that the Dabawe-nyo urbanite truly appreci-

FMAGICAL, A4

For two days in De-cember 2012, after Christmas Day, Cin-ematheque Davao will screen films geared for the fam-ily, as well as an Ital-ian film. The fam-ily films are Urduja and Dayo: Sa Mun-do ng Elementalia, both animated, and Pepot Artista. The Italian film is Leon-ardo Di Costanzo’s L’Intervallo. For more information, please call Cinematheque Davao at 282-4579 or find us at www.facebook.com/cinematheque.davao The following are brief introductions to the films: Dayo: Sa Mundo ng El-ementalia (2008) Directed by robert Quilao from a screenplay by Artemio Abad and Eric Cabahug, and produced by Cutting Edge Productions, this is the Philippines’ first full-length animated fea-ture film. The “tra-digital” animation technique is used, or a mix of tradi-tional animation and 3D animation. The film was screened as an official en-try in the 34th Metro Ma-nila Film Festival in De-cember 2008. The film’s narrative is based on data from Max-imo ramos’ Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythol-ogy and revolves around a boy who has to save his grandparents who are ab-ducted and brought to El-ementalia. Elementalia is home to various creatures adapted from Philippine mythology. Among the acting voices are those of Peque Gallaga, Noel Trinidad, Nova villa, and Pokwang. (running time: 92 mins.) Urduja (2008) This is the first of two animated films produced in the country in 2008, the other being the above-mentioned Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia. Although Urduja’s exis-tence has been debunked historically, the film is an adaptation of the legend of the warrior-princess of a tiny kingdom in 13th cen-tury Pangasinan in North-ern Luzon. An all-Filipino group of animators is behind this production, using the traditional hand-drawn

animation process. An all-Filipino cast of voice actors animates the film as well, including regine velasquez, Cesar Mon-tano, Eddie Garcia, and Jay Manalo. (running time: 100 mins.) Pepot Artista

Directed by Clodu-aldo del Mundo, Jr., this comedy-musical is about a ten-year-old Filipino boy and his dream of be-coming a movie star. His lineage is not show-biz, he is not a relative or the son of somebody connected to

the Philippine movie busi-ness, and he comes from a poor family. What happens to someone like Pepot is what makes a movie that is hilarious in many parts an ironic commentary on Philippine show business. L’Intervallo [The Inter-val] (2012) Directed by Leonardo Di Costanzo, this film has won a variety of awards from award-giving organi-zations of film in Italy. It is about a boy and a girl who find themselves locked in an abandoned building in a working class district. She is his prisoner because he is forced by the “boss” to act as her jailer. Both are victims and yet both blame the other for the situation.

SM City General Santos opens its newest anchor for conventions, shows, corporate activities, business functions and social events. Located, at the 3rd level of the mall, is a spacious Trade Hall with a total floor area of 3,131 square meters. The Trade Hall is also convertible to two exhibit halls, with an average of 1,300 square meters each, making it possible to have several events and functions at the same time. For smaller group gatherings, the Trade Hall has two meeting rooms to choose from, for your specific needs. Meeting rooms 1 and 2, with a floor area of 116sqm and 195sqm respectively, is also an ideal venue for Christ-mas parties, wedding receptions and other special oc-casions. The Trade Hall is fully air-conditioned rooms, with ad-equate fire protection and emergency exits, lightning and power, sound systems, voice and data ports, and WiFi.  It also has its own toilet area, lobby and separate preparation areas. The opening of the Trade Hall attests that SM City General Santos does not just take shopping, dining and entertainment to the next level, but it is also a perfect venue for bazaars, trade fairs, company sales, conven-tions,  conferences, fashion shows, and exhibits, among others. While you and your guests enjoy your family affair, you can also enjoy shopping, recreation and entertain-ment whenever you want... in the mall that has it all! For details and reservations, call our leasing department at (083) 878 0667.

ONE of the ways we can make our presents meaningful is adding a personal touch with the way we package our gifts. And with Christmas fast approaching, here are some tips on how you can be a wrap star with a little help from SM Stationery. 1. Add some dazzle to your wrapped presents by us-ing specialized wrappers and ribbons. You can also add some dazzling embellishments for a festive touch. 2. Just as you choose gifts, choose a wrap that suits the recipient’s personality. Also, opt for small patterned wraps for smaller boxes and large patterned wraps for bigger boxes, so that the nice pat-tern will be seen. 3. Go eco-friendly with the use kraft wrap-pers, gift bags and kraft-in-spired gift boxes and add some ornaments as decorations for a more festive look; 4. If you have a multiple gifts to wrap for the same person, wrap them in co-ordinating colors and stack them into a tower and tie a ribbon around the stack of multiple gifts. 5. Gift totes with gift tags make stylish packages. These are also convenient to use and best for instant wrapping solutions this holiday frenzy. Add some embellishments and elegant tissue wraps to make these even more fes-tive 6. Be Creative! There are no cut and dried rules in gift- wrapping so learn how to experiment. Find out more gift wrapping ideas at the Stationery section of all SM Stores. Also, visit our website at www.stationery.com.ph

A2 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012EDGEDAVAOUP & ABOUT

Cinematheque Davao showcases family films on December 26 and 27

Trade Hall now open at SM City General Santos

How to be a wrap star with SM Stationery

ARTS & CULTURE

WHAT are a few technical difficulties when a $5 million prize is at stake? Sure, The X Factor  be-gan and Carly Rose Sonen-clar, Tate Stevens and Fifth Harmony didn’t appear when hosts Mario Lopez and Khloé Kardashian Odom  first announced them—but one of them was ultimately declared the winner roughly two hours later. “They’re a little nervous to come out here and it’s that close,” Mario said, kill-ing a little time. “They’re going over probably mak-ing a deal when one of them wins!” Cue back to the red carpet outside the the-ater, where three SUVs pulled up and, one by one, expelled Tate, Carly Rose and Fifth Harmony for a joint performance of a popped-up (and, at moments, seemingly lip-synced) version of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” The grand finale right-ed itself once the top three returned to the X Factor  stage, Tate kicking off the solos with “Please Come Home for Christ-mas.” Variety wasn’t ex-actly the spice of life, with Fifth Harmony taking on “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” next, but the two together certainly got us in the spirit. They aired the req-uisite  Simon Cowell-in-

sults montage,  a carry-over from his American Idol  days,  starting with “I’m not being rude” and including, as always, the Brit comparing someone’s singing to a screeching cat. This marked the first year, however, for the montage of Britney Spears’ reaction faces, many of them quite priceless! Carly Rose closed out the caroling round with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”—and then it was time to announce who had finished two places short of the winner’s cir-cle.

Just as Simon optimis-tically predicted, Fifth Harmony did not win the whole thing, instead coming in third following what was a surprising ap-pearance in the finale in the first place. Calling last year’s effort with groups (Paula Abdul was the first mentor cleaned out of contestants) a “disaster,” Simon said his favorite part of this season was shepherding a group into the finals. “We’ve gained more than $5 million could [give us],” said Karla Cami-la Cabello—and we hope that she and  Ally Brooke Hernandez,  Lauren Jau-regui,  Normani Hamil-ton  and  Dinah Hansen maintain that optimism as they head off into their future. With Tate and Carly Rose left to ponder their fate, Pitbull got the joint danc-ing with “Don’t Stop the Party” and then  smooth operator Harry Styles and

the rest of One Direction—take heart, Fifth Harmony, they finished third on the U.K. X Factor—performed “Kiss You” and sent many pulses racing. (For the re-cord, there was no sign of Taylor Swift in their SUV when they pulled up to the red carpet.) Next up, the top two teamed up for a duet on “The Climb”—and then, the moment of truth, time to declare either Tate

Stevens or Carly Rose So-nenclar the winner of the second season of The X Factor. And—way to go out on a high note, L.A. Reid—it was Tate Stevens who won it all! As the 37-year-old high-way worker from Belton, Mo., embraced his mentor in a big bear hug, Britney could be seen consoling her 13-year-old protégée (who, we were happy to

see, remained composed and positive and immedi-ately crossed the stage to give Tate a big hug).  “First and foremost, I’ve got to thank the man upstairs for taking care of me,” Tate said, his voice cracking with emotion. “My family, all the country music fans, God bless you, and thank you so very much for all the votes. And this is the best day of my life.”

MICHELLE Obama is pay-ing tribute to a grieving community in the depths of a senseless tragedy. The first lady has penned an open letter remembering the victims of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elemen-tary School in Newtown, Conn., as she shares her anguish over the un-speakable loss while hon-oring the strength of their families and loved ones. “I know that I cannot be-gin to imagine the depths of your grief,” she writes in the Hartford Courant. “As a mother of two young daughters, my heart aches for you and your families. Like so many Americans, I wish there were something—anything—I could do or say to ease your anguish.” She also wonders, “How

can we go on—as families and as a community?” Obama, however, puts her deep faith in the resil-ience of a united commu-nity, and in a nation filled with resolve. “I also know that we have already begun to see the answer to that question in the countless acts of courage, kindness and love here in New-town and across America,” she adds. “In the months and

years ahead, may the memories of those beau-tiful children and those heroic adults be a bless-ing for their families, for your community and for our country, and may God bless you all.” The first lady’s words come on the heels of a string of moving memori-als across the nation and throughout Hollywood, including tributes from Ellen DeGeneres and The Voice.

INdulge! A3VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012EDGEDAVAO

The X Factor winner is revealed! Plus, the best of Britney’s faces, One Direction & awkward technical difficulties

Michelle Obama writes open letter mourning Sandy Hook victims

ENTERTAINMENT

A4 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012EDGEDAVAOEVENTS

The Sugar Plum Fairy. The Danish dancers.

The spring activated dolls.

The Spanish dancers.Flowers dance for the finale.Clara and the nutcracker.

Clara and the nutcracker prince.

Another beautiful scene from The Nutcracker.

ates culture (I heard that the show at SM City Davao the night before was also jam-packed) and such cultural performances are to be com-mended, especially since the show was free for everyone to experience. The mall show was a con-densed version of the tick-eted full show at the Cultural Center of the Philippines but for me, the magical 45-min-ute presentation was still well-worth the trip to the mall on a holiday shopping weekend. From the opening of the show, to the dancing dolls, to the energetic rus-sian dance, the adorable Chi-nese dancers, to the fantastic pirouettes in Dance of the Flowers, I was riveted to my seat, anticipating every leap and step and just like that, the lights came back on and 45 minutes breezed by like mere seconds. I really have to commend SM and Ballet Philippines for bringing a piece of culture to Davao’s scene and creating a new holiday tradition that can be enjoyed by everyone. A blessed and merry Christmas to all my readers! Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @kennethkingong for more foodie finds and happenings in and around the city.

FFROM A1

Magical...

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 2012 15EDGEDAVAO SpORTS

DAVAO’S Tony Lascu-na turned the final round of the P2.5

million ICTSI Wack Wack Championship into a vic-tory walk, firing a 72 on Saturday to score a nine-stroke victory over Elmer Salvador and win the Or-der or Merit title of the Philippine Golf Tour.

With the title virtual-ly bagged after posting a huge seven-point lead over fellow Dabawenyo Salva-dor and Que after three rounds, Lascuna just went through the motions and settled for two birdies and the same number of bo-geys at Wack Wack’s East course.

He wound up with an eight-under 280 total, pocketed the top prize of P450,000 and topped the money list with total earn-ings of P2.25 million.

The Apo-bred shot-

maker, also the high-est-ranked Filipino on the Asian Tour at No. 12, was joined by his wife Sher-yl and seven-year-old daughter Shnaryl as he received the prize from Wack Wack Golf and Coun-try Club president Dr. Phil-ip Ella Juico during awards rites graced by ICTSI PR manager Narlene Soriano and PGTI general manager Colo Ventosa.

“This is definitely the best year of my life since I started to play golf at 12,” said Lascuna, who also topped the ICTSI Eagle Ridge and Manila South-woods legs this year.

Salvador ended up with a birdie-less 74 after matching Lascuna’s open-ing 37 but still finished solo second at 289 as Que hobbled with a closing 40 for a 78 and tumbled down to joint sixth at 293.

VICTORIES are fast getting to be a vice.

For the third straight year, Vice Mayor’s Office will be spending Christmas with the cham-pionship trophy of the an-nual Mayor Sara Duterte and Vice Mayor Rody Dute-rte –AFP-PNP Basketball Tournament.

VMO closed out the sea-son with a mighty show-ing, sweeping DCPO in the championship series, 102-88, to complete its journey to become the first team to achieve unprecedented three-peat in the 10-year history of the league.

Greggy Delica, Rodel Bantilan and hotshot Chris-topher “Bong” Go took the scoring cudgels for VMO

which came out robust in the final half to pull away with the title-clincher vic-tory.

Delica poured in 21 points as he went too hot to handle at the paint while Bantilan scored 19 mark-ers, eleven of which came in the second half.

Go, the sweet-shoot-ing executive assistant of Vice Mayor Rody Duterte, wound up 18 baskets in limited minutes than usual, including two of his total 4 treys in the pivotal third period.

After a see-saw battle in the first two periods, the SP-based dribblers strike hard in the second half - outscoring the Policemen 34 – 20 in the third canto

– to swiftly establish an 18 points lead, 89 – 71, enter-ing the pay off period.

The Policemen fought hard in yearn of getting back in the game, jumping out a 6-0 run at the start of the fourth period. But the SP five managed to answer back with a triple from Bantilan and a three point play courtesy of Delica that folds downed the Police-men’s chances.

From there, DCPO showed traces of giving up as the Policemen start-ed to bid goodbye to their wonderful season, which ended with 11 wins and 3 defeats.

Playing official Antho-ny Padua paced DCPO with 23 points. Janwed Cagape

and Estong Uganap had 15 and 12 baskets for the los-ing cause of the Policemen who were trailing by just 4, 51 – 55, at the half. The opening canto ended 27 – 23 for VMO.

Roy Bangkas scored 14 points and Art Atablanco had 13 baskets for VMO which won Game 1, 115 - 94.

Meanwhile, Regional Public Safety Batallion de-feated Bureau of Fire Pro-tection, 109 – 101, to cop the third place honors.

A total of 12 teams took part in this year’s season of the league presented by City Government of Davao and sanctioned by Samah-ang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) Region XI. (RJB)

THE Samahang Bas-ketbol ng Pilipinas yesterday elected by

acclimation to a fresh four-year term the current SBP Board of Trustees led by president Manuel V. Pan-gilinan, who immediately called for a more aggres-sive grassroots develop-ment program.

SBP chairman Oscar Moreno, the Misamis Ori-ental governor, moved for the acclimation of the nom-inees and a seconded mo-tion drew a loud applause from those present, includ-ing FIBA technical officer Ben Turner.

The board is to go through a formal election of officers later in the day although no major chang-es are expected, with Moreno getting retained as chairman; Maynilad Water president Victorico P. Vargas, vice chairman; Atty. Marievic Anonuevo, board secretary; and Dr. Jay Adalem, treasurer.

“We may need another strategic planning session to plan more grassroots projects,” said Pangilinan, who is also the chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philip-pines.

IT’S just a matter of time now before Am-ar’e Stoudemire rejoins

the New York Knicks. Af-ter practicing with the Erie BayHawks, the team’s D-League affiliate, and re-portedly looking good and explosive in his scrimmage work, the 30-year-old power forward appears to be nearing the end of his rehabilitation from sur-gery to remove dead tissue in his surgically repaired left knee.

He’s not ready yet, but he’s close to once again donning a Knicks uniform ... which, according to How-ard Beck at the New York

Times, is something that New York’s front office worked very hard this off-season (and even before that) to prevent from hap-pening again:

This past summer, the Knicks offered Stoudemire to nearly every team in the league — “available for free,” as one rival execu-tive put it. But they found no takers because of his diminished production, his health and his contract, which has three years and $65 million remaining (counting this season) and which is uninsured against a career-ending knee inju-ry.

JUST three days after re-turning for the first time to the land of his birth,

Justin Melton has buckled down to work in his quest for a bigger purpose.

The 25-year-old point guard, who was born in Angeles, Pampanga but raised in the United States, is among a handful of play-ers who showed up for Smart Gilas 2.0’s first prac-tice on Friday night at the Meralco Gym.

If he succeeds in im-pressing national coach Chot Reyes, the 5-11 Melton could earn a spot in the national team bound for a pair of tournaments overseas early next year and, beyond that, the Fiba Asia Men in Beirut in late August.

He wants the shot bad-

ly enough to sacrifice his Christmas holidays to join Gilas’ three-week practice where he competes for spots in the team against a sprinkling of pros as well as amateur players from the national team’s cadet pool.

“I feel blessed (and this is) a great opportunity,” he said. “I’m just thankful to coach Chot for the chance to be here so I don’t mind missing out on the holidays because of the practice.”

Born to Cecilia Fortes and military man Donnie Melton, the guard played Division II basketball in the US NCAA for Mount Olive College in North Carolina and has spent most of his time playing as an import in Brazil since he graduat-ed in 2009.

Tony Lascuna emerges as the lone three-leg winner in the 15-stage Philippine Golf Tour.

Manny V. Pangilinan won another mandate a president of the Samahang Basketbol sa Pilipinas.

Dustin Melton is trying out for a spot in the Gilas line-up. The 5-11 guard plays import n Brazil.

Davao shotmaker is Tour’s best

MVP re-elected SBP president

‘Amare Project’ could ship Knicks star out

Fil-Am PG hopes to land Gilas spot

Winning is a vice

VOL.5 ISSUE 211 • TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25-26, 201216 EDGEDAVAO