P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015

RODY: WHO AM I TO TURN YOU DOWN?

Miñoza catches up with Bayron

‘Pa-reglahan’ says Mayor Duterte if pushed to run

Sports P16

FINE PERFORMANCE. The National University Pep Squad, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) back-to-back cheer dance competition, performs during the opening of the 3rd University Fair at the Annex of SM City Davao yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

IT is not surprising for Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to be asked these days

whether or not he is running for President in 2016.

In answering the the same question thrown at him wherever he goes--from his Listerning Tour to speaking engagements to television guestings--Mayor Duterte has a surprisingly new answer.

“Pa-reglahan.”A press statement from

the Duterte camp yesterday said that after survey ratings in the presidential race have shown him steadily climb, the tough-talking Mayor would be willing to face his destiny should the Presidency be-come a moral obligation for him.

“Pa-reglahan ko na lang

kung muabot gyud na nga panahon,” is the curt answer of Duterte when asked what he would do when it becomes clear that the people really want him to lead the country, according to the statement.

“Pa-reglahan” is actually a street slang, which means taking on a challenge.

In the recent Pulse Asia

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

FRODY, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

WHATTHE?

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THE City Government of Davao and its private sector partner have al-

located P15.1 million for the 30thKadayawan Festival in August this year.

City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) chief Lisette Marques said the budget was approved by Kadayawan Ex-ecutive Committee (Execom), the bulk of which coming from the private sector.

“P5 million of this will be

shouldered by the LGU (local government unit) mostly cash prizes for some competitions,” Marques said in yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall.

She said another P5 mil-lion is also allocated as subsidy for the tribes who will join the celebration, and the meal for the security team.

The budget this year in-creased by more than P3 mil-lion. During last year’s cele-

bration, the city allocated P12 million for the Kadayawan Festival.

For this year’s edition, Marques said the Execom did not add nor remove any ac-tivities from that of last year’s celebration.

Activities like Indak-Indak sa Dalan (street dance compe-tition), Pamulak (floralfFloat parade), Tunog Mindanao, Sayaw Mindanao, Yugyugan sa Kadayawan, Hulagway sa

Kadayawan and Kadayawan sa Lumadnong Katilingban, which include events such as the Davao River Festival, Pa-nagtagbo, Lumadnong Ban-tawan, Lumadnong Dula and Hiyas ng Kadayawan are still in the calendar.

Marques, however, said there are categories in some events which have been re-moved. The street dance com-petition, which has Davao-

GOVERNMENT forc-es have arrested two members of the New

People’s Army (NPA) Tuesday afternoon at Campo Uno in Ba-ranngay Andap, New Bataan, Compostela Valley.

The joint operation of 66th Infantry Battalion and New Bataan Municipal Police Station in CompostelaValley resulted to the arrest of Edwin Sarvida and Edwin “Dodong” Langoy, allegedly bomb carri-ers of the rebel group.

The Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) said the two rebels were nabbed in an operation conducted in the area at around 2:00 p.m.

Seized from Sarvida and Langoy were two improvised explosive device (IED) weigh-ing a total of five kilos.

The operation was launched after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) receiving reports from an informant that NPA rebels have been sighted in the area.

Police authorities are

now preparing to file charges against the arrested rebels for illegal possession of explo-sives.

There are already 47 reb-els arrested and 58 unexplod-ed IEDs seized by government forces under Eastern Mindan-ao Command since January 1 this year.

On April 1, 2015, a civilian was killed while seven were injured in an IED explosion along the road of Brgy. Mahay-ag, San Miguel, Surigaodel Sur.

On April 20, 2015, two in-nocent civilians were wound-ed as a result of an IED explo-sion that was perpetrated by NPA bandits along the nation-al highway in Sitio Bagong Sil-ang, Brgy San Vicente, Makila-la, North Cotabato.

EastMinCom said the con-tinuous manufacture and use of these IEDs are gross viola-tions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect of Hu-man Rights and International Humanitarian Law. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

THE Davao City Engineers Office (CEO) cannot assure that the under-

ground cabling project in be-tween City Hall and Sanggu-niang Panlungsod (SP) will be completed by December.

Office of the City Building Official (OCBO) assistant head lawyer Joseph Dominic Fe-lizarta had earlier announced that the underground cabling will start after the Araw ng Davao celebration last March, but actual works started only last month.

In yesterday’s I-Speak Me-dia Forum, CEO Urban Drain-

age Maintenance head Engr. Andrew Lepardo attributed the delay to the problem they en-countered in locating the por-tion to be excavated due to the drainage lines.

“We experienced problems on locating the excavation be-cause there are old and new drainage lines in which in the old line had no existing plans for it,” Lepardo said.

He said the wires and cable (WAC) technical team conduct-ed an evaluation and updated plan so that the drainage will not be affected during the ex-cavation.

Aside from facing difficulty in locating the area for excava-tion, there was also delay in the coordination with other elec-tric, telecom and cable utilities.

Lepardo said the WAC in-cluded all utilities in the under-ground cabling project.

The burying of cables will be also halted during the week-long Kadayawan Festival, he added.

Last January 28, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Ex-ecutive Order (EO) No. 2 series of 2015 constituting the WAC technical team based on Ordi-nance No. 0177 - 14 series of

2014 which states that all elec-trical and telecommunication wires and cables within the vi-cinity of City Hall and SP will be placed underground.

The technical team will formulate and implement the integrated plan design or plan within 30 days upon its cre-ation.

It will establish coordina-tion and working relationship among the members of the team and monitor the full im-plementation of the ordinance.

The WAC team is also tasked to recommend addition-

UNCOLLECTED GARBAGE. The uncollected garbage stinks and is an unwelcome sight in Freedom Park along Roxas Avenue early Thursday morning. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

P15.1M allottedfor KadayawanBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

City Hall-SP underground cabling suffers delay

2 NPA rebels arrested

TELEVISION CHANNEL FOR DOGSChina is set to become the 23rd country to

broadcast the world’s only television network that caters uniquely to man’s best friend.

On Wednesday, Gilad Neumann, CEO of Dog TV, said he was proud that China Telecom was set to start carrying the channel initially in Shanghai before rolling out to other regions within the country.

“By broadening our offering and further expanding network availability, we’re provid-ing millions of families the opportunity to keep their dogs happy and mentally active while they are home alone,” he said.

Although dismissed as a gimmick when it launched, Dog TV is scientifically developed and has proven hugely popular with pet owners.

Programming is designed specifically for their eyesight and hearing range and aims to both relax and stimulate canine viewers, and the channel is already available in the US and South Korea and across much of Europe, includ-ing Germany and the UK.

China is the third largest pet market in the world and is home to an estimated 27 million domesticated dogs.

FP15.1M, 10

FCITY HALL, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 3EDGEDAVAO NEWS

REGISTRATION. A couple examines the voter’s application form before filling it up outside the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office at Magsaysay Park yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) XI will not hesitate

to file charges against individuals who will be caught tampering with their electric supply.

BFP XI Spokesper-son Fire Senior Inspector Nestor Jimenez said that they are closely monitor-ing all residential hous-es which tamper energy supply.

Jimenez said this is a violation of the Republic Act 9514, or the Compre-hensive Fire Code of the Philippines.

Any person caught

doing it will be fined with P37,000 and failure to pay such amount will lead to an administrative case.

Jimenez also said that if the court found that a person committed tam-pering, he or she will im-prisoned for a day to 1 month with a penalty of P100,000.

“Tampering is usually the cause of fire, that is why the law do not allow it, every house has a max-imum electric capacity if it exceeds to its maximum capacity it will create fire,” Jimenez said.

From January to De-

cember of 2014, BFP collected more than P500,000 from the viola-tions committed by sever-al establishment and res-idential owners in Davao City.

Most of the violations committed were failure to comply on the standard fire exit of BFP, no precau-tionary signages, no fire extinguishers, no emer-gency lights and tamper-ing.

Jimenez said that for the first semester of 2015, they have inspect-ed 24,281 buildings in the entire region.

From the 24,281 buildings inspected they have collected over P37 million as collectible fees.

Previously Jimenez said that they are closely monitoring all the build-ings in the region to com-ply on their standard pro-cedures of the Fire code of the Philippines follow-ing the Valuenza fire inci-dent.

“We are closely moni-toring all establishments in the region to prevent what had happened in Valenzuela and to ensure the safety of the workers,” Jimenez said.

FLASH floods and land-slides threaten parts of Luzon including

Metro Manila on Thursday due to southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon “Fal-con” which has maintained its strength, according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geo-physical and Astronomical Services Administration (PA-GASA) on Thursday.

In an interview, PAGASA weather forecaster Shelley Ignacio said that as of 6 a.m., the eye of Typhoon “Falcon” was located 860 km east northeast of Itbayat, Ba-tanes (22.2°N, 130.0°E) with packed maximum sustained winds of 130 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 160 kph. It is forecast to move west northwest at 20 kph.

Igancio said that Falcon

is not expected to make land-fall in any part of the country as no public storm warning signal has been raised in any part of the country.

While maintaining its speed and movement, Falcon is expected to Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Friday morning and will head towards Taiwan or China.

However, Ignacio said Falcon continues to enhance the southwest monsoon now affecting Luzon and Western Visayas.

On Thursday forecast, PAGASA said monsoon rains which may trigger flash floods and landslides will be experienced over Metro Manila, the regions of Ilocos, Cordillera, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa.

THE first round of argu-ments regarding the Arbitral Tribunal’s juris-

diction to hear the Philippines’ case against China concluded on Wednesday at The Hague, the Netherlands.

“For the continuation of the First Round of Arguments, the Philippines’ lawyers fur-ther explained to the Arbitral Tribunal how the case does not constitute specific exemp-tions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which would preclude the tribunal from exercising jurisdiction over the case,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a news bulletin issued on Thursday.

The news bulletin said that “during the morning hear-ing, Professor Philippe Sands

briefly addressed questions propounded by a member of the tribunal from yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) hearing. Ad-vocates Lawrence H. Martin, Professor Bernard H. Oxman and Paul S. Reichler took turns presenting arguments involv-ing various points on why the Philippines’ claims fall square-ly within the jurisdiction of the tribunal.”

“For the afternoon hearing, Professor Alan Boyle present-ed to the tribunal arguments regarding the strength of the Philippines’ environmental and fishing claims against Chi-na. Professor Philippe Sands closed the First Round of Ar-guments by summarizing the submissions of the Philippines presented in the course of the hearings,” the news bulletin further stated. (PNA)

THE Davao City Risk Re-duction Management Council (CDRRMC) not-

ed a low level of disaster pre-paredness compliance among residents.

CDRRMC head Emmanuel Jaldon, speaking in yesterday’s I-Speak media forum at City Hall, said that although peo-ple are aware with disaster preparedness, many of whom are not compliant especially during evacuation.

“I think there is something wrong with the involvement of barangays and the people,” Jaldon said.

Based on the City-Wide So-cial Survey (CWSS) conducted by the Ateneo de Davao Uni-versity-Social Research Train-ing Development Office last May, 52 percent of 628 respon-

dents in the three congressio-nal districts of Davao City do not evacuate during disaster.

This, despite 62 percent of the respondents said they are aware of the disaster response system of the city government, Fifty percent of those inter-viewed are also aware of the early warning system.

There were 210 respon-dents from the first district and 209 each in the second and third districts.

Jaldon said the most com-mon reason of the respon-dents based on the survey was that there is no need to evacu-ate since they are already used to it.

To emphasize the im-portance of evacuation, the CDRRMC will conduct an evac-

BFP to sue people caught tampering electric supplyBy FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

PHL lawyers wrap upfirst round of arguments

EARTHQUAKE DRILL. Davao City Risk Reduction Management Council head Emmanuel Jaldon announces the staging of the earthquake and tsunami drill in 21 coastal barangays on July 23. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

CDRRMC: People don’t want to evacuate during calamitiesBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

‘Falcon’ continues toenhance ‘habagat’

FCDRRMC, 10

F‘FALCON’, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 20154 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

GENERAL SANTOS CITY– THE police force is set to get an important

augmentation in personnel capability. This after 277 new Philippine National Police (PNP) Police Officer 1 (PO1s) took their oath on July 2.

The traditional reception rites for new police officers took place at the Police Re-gional Office 12 (PRO 12) grounds at Tambler.

From the 277 new PNP re-cruits, 78 came from General Santos; 61 came from Sultan Kudarat; 59 came from South Cotabato; 38 from North Cota-bato; 33 from Sarangani Prov-ince; and eight from Cotabato City.

Twenty-five female re-cruits formed part of the oath taking and reception rite.

Two hundred out of the 277 was the quota allocated for Public Safety Forces (PSF) and the 77 remaining was based on the regular quota for PNP.

During the traditional reception rite, the new PO1s were made to do 69 roll-like-a-barrel exercise, squat thrust, mountain climbing, frog leap, trunk twister, push up, kanga-roo jump, eight-count push-ups, knee-bending, and mod-ified squat thrust. These were executed in the six stations of the reception for ten minutes each, as administered by assis-tant instructors.

According to PNP tradi-tion the rites aims to show the physical strength, emotional and psychological stabili-ty and the drive to embrace

the life of being a member of the PNP. Also, at that very in-stance, their regimented lives began.

Chief Supt. Lester Oropesa Camba, director of the Police Regional Office 12, challenged the new recruits as he deliv-ered his message before their turn over for training at the Regional Training Center.

“Always follow instruc-tion, hindi kayo mawawala. Sa mga parents, tulungan ninyo sila, moral lang. Iwasan yung mga bawal,” he stated. “First time in history, inulan ang re-ception sa PRO 12. Rain signi-fies blessings. I hope that you will be having blessings in the days to come.”

The new recruits were set for six months training inside the Regional Training Center

(RTC) by the RTC and RSTU personnel training team. They would spend another five months exposure in the police stations, traffic, or investiga-tion, and finally one month back to the RTC for assess-ment.

The 78 new PNP recruits will later be additional law enforcers in the city, whose primary role is to serve and protect the people.

The oath taking and re-ception ended with congratu-latory messages from friends and families.

“Lipay kaayo ko, bisan pigado naka graduate man bata ko college. Ang anak ko nga ni amo ning subang ko nga PNP recruit,” said mother Em-erson Morales. (Gensan CPIO/Sharmagne Villacastin)

AFTER two years and nine months, Police Senior Superintendent Froilan

Quidilla has relinquished his position as the city director of General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO).

The turnover of command was held Monday (July 6) at Camp Fermin Lira after SSupt. Quidilla officially received his reassignment orders from Phil-ippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Dir. Leonardo Espina.

Quidilla will be temporarily replaced by SSupt. Maximo La-yugan from the Regional Public Safety Battalion 12.

Quidilla will be transferred to the Police Regional Office 11 as the chief-of-staff of Chief Superintendent Wendy Garcia Rosario.

During the official turnover ceremony, Quidilla expressed his gratitude to City Mayor Ron-nel Rivera for his untiring sup-port.

“I (thank) the mayor for giving me the opportunity to serve him under his administra-tion,” Quidilla said. Quidilla was

already the PNP city director when Mayor Rivera assumed of-fice last July 2013. “Finally, I am now stress-free,” Quidilla joked.

“I have to commend SSupt. Quidilla for the effort he has giv-en to implement peace and or-der here in the city. Even though we faced many incidents during his (Quidilla) term, we still can-not discredit his effort,” Rivera emphasized.

When asked to rate Quidil-la’s performance, Mayor Rivera gave two objective answers. “For results, I will give him 7 (out of 10). For his effort, I will say it is 8,” Mayor Rivera explained.

As for the new OIC city po-lice director, Mayor Rivera indi-cated that he will expect better performance when it comes to maintaining the peace and order situation of the city.

“We have an ample time to observe the performance of La-yugan. Of course, the local gov-ernment unit of General Santos City will still give the same level of support to him so that we can make Gensan a peaceful and liv-able city,” Mayor Rivera stated. (Gensan CPIO/ Ian John Lagare)

CITY Hall employees were able to build a classroom in a far-flung school with

their P10 contributions.The General Santos City

Government Employees As-sociation (GSCGEA) donated a makeshift classroom to the New Society High School Ex-tension at Purok Cabuay, Ba-rangay Sinawal through their Sampu Ko, Klasrum Mo pro-gram.

The classroom was official-ly handed over to the officials of New Society High School on July 3.

One makeshift classroom costs around P110, 000. On the other hand, a regular class-room following the standards of Department of Education amounts to P600,000 or more.

Sampu Ko, Klasrum Mo is a program initiated by the GSC-GEA to complement the thrust of City Mayor Ronnel Rivera to improve the educational sys-tem of the city by providing

school facilities such as arm-chairs and by giving scholar-ships to needy but deserving students.

Currently, Mayor Rivera leads a donation program for public schools called Armchair Donation and PTA Donation.

During the classroom turnover ceremony, Rebecca Magante, head of the City So-cial Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), said it was her first time to participate in a simple but noble advocacy.

“Sa tagal ko dito sa city gov-ernment, ngayon lang ako na-karanas na magbigay ng class-room para sa mga paaralan natin. Nakakatuwa kung iisipin dahil ang classroom na binigay namin ay galing lang sa P10 na kinakaltas sa aming sahod buwan-buwan (For how many years here in the city govern-ment, it was my first time to ex-perience to give classrooms for our schools. It is quite amusing

CITY Mayor Ronnel Rivera threw a lifeline to seem-ingly financially flounder-

ing city government employees who are drowning in financial obligations.

From July 1 to 3, Mayor Rivera directed the Human Resource Management and Development Office (HRMDO) to conduct a Financial Manage-ment and Values Enrichment Seminar at Tierra Montana Hotel to teach government em-ployees how to wisely handle their money.

“What I have noticed when I started to assume my office is that there is a quite number of employees who have problems with their finances,” Mayor Ri-vera said.

“Di talaga maiiwasan na maapektuhan yung perfor-mance nila dahil sa problema sa pera kaya ito ang naisip ko na magandang intervention (It is inevitable that their financial problems can hamper their performance. That is the reason why I thought this as a good in-tervention),” the mayor noted.

Mayor Rivera also indicated that having sound finances will

prevent employees from being tempted in engaging in mal-practices in government, such as graft and corruption.

The HRMDO invited Edu-ardo Roberto Jr, a financial management expert and the self-help book author of “Ang Pera na Hindi Bitin”, to be the guest speaker for the three day seminar.

Roberto taught them how to inculcate wise spending hab-its so that they can get out of debt. Roberto is the husband of former Binibining Pilipi-nas-Universe Miriam Quiam-bao.

HRMDO head Leah Tolimao said the seminar participants were local government employ-ees in the lower salary bracket.

Tolimao said that as em-ployees in the lower salary bracket, they also have low net take-home pay—around and below P3,000 per month.

“Most of these employees are the more vulnerable to fi-nancial problems because of their debts, loans, and improper management of their resourc-es,” Tolimao explained. (Gensan CPIO/ Ian John Lagare)

PUBLIC LIBRARY UPGRADED. Students and other visitors, including senior citizens can read, study and make use of the free Wi-Fi in the reference area of the public library. They can visit the newly launched website of the public

library at www.library.spgensantos.ph where job openings are posted, according to the reference librarian Cecilia Guaza. (Gensan CPIO/ Jan Rey Libunao)

277 recruits join police force

LAYUGAN IS NEW GENSAN POLICE CHIEF. City Mayor Ronnel Rivera talks with Police Senior Superintendent Maximo Layugan, the new OIC City Director of the General Santos City Police Office (GSCPO), who assumed office Monday,

July 6, at Camp Fermin Lira. PSSUPT Layugan replaced outgoing GSCPO City Director Froilan Quidilla who served Gensan for two years and nine months under the administration of Mayor Rivera . (Gensan CPIO/ Russell Delvo)

Gensan has new PNP director

Rivera enrolls LGU employees in financial management class

LGU employees donate classroom

FLGU, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

FAST-GROWING home-grown real property de-veloper Prestige Homes

and Realty Development Corporation (PHRDC) has ac-quired another 9.5 hectares area in Catalunan Grande for its expansion project called Granville III.

“It will just be meters away from the Granville I and II,” PHRDC general manager and owner Miraluna I. Cerbo told EDGE Davao in a recent interview.

Cerbo said the acquired the property will be another low-cost to mid-cost realty project after almost all of the 800 units in the 10-hectare Granville I and II were sold out in just 15 months.

“The Granville III will gen-erate a total of 600 units,” she said.

PHRDC president and owner Manuel D. Cerbo Jr. said only 54 percent of the to-tal 9.5 hectare will be saleable, while the rest will be for road networks, open space, and amenities

“The amenities of the Granville III will be almost the same with those of Granville I

and II,” he said.Among the basic ameni-

ties of the third Granville sub-division include a basketball court, mini swimming pool, multi-purpose club house, among others.

He also said that the Gran-ville III will be surrounded by a perimeter fence just like its first housing projects, and will be installed with CCTVs and guard houses for better secu-rity of homeowners

Cerbo said the land de-velopment of the Granville III will be finished by 2017, while units will be turned-over to homeowners by the middle of 2018.

The couple owners of PHRDC said they are confi-dent of the market here.

Cerbo said there is really a demand for housing and there are only a few players in the industry that develop low cost to mid-cost housing projects.

“There is still a housing backlog for low-cost to mid-cost housing in Davao,” Cerbo said, adding that the improv-ing employment status of the region increase the purchas-ing power of Dabawenyos.

PHRDC to build Granville IIIcrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPONCerbo: It will just be meters away from the Granville I and II

He said the growing num-ber professionals from the ICT-BPO sector and other sec-tors are among the markets the company can tapped.

Overseas Filipino work-ers are also those who con-

tinue to patronize low-cost housing projects, according to Cerbo.

In fact, most of PHRDC’s clients in its two projects are young professionals and OFWs.

“They were among the clients served by our sales team,” Cerbo said, adding that almost 98 percent of the 800 housing units in the first two phases of Granville located in the southern part of the city

were already acquired.The land development

of the first phase of Granville will be completed by the last quarter of this year, while the second phase will be finished in June 2016.

UNIVERSITY FAIR. SM Prime Holdings Inc. regional operations head for Mindanao Debbie A. Go (eight from right), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 11 director Joffrey Suyao (10th from right) SM City Davao mall manager Lynette Lopez (11th from right), Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta

(12th from right), Counsul General Abdullah Zawawi Tahir (13th from right) of Malaysia and representatives from participating universities and schools lead the cutting of ribbon to mark the opening of the 3rd University Fair at the SM City Annex yesterday. The event will run until July 11. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 20156 THE ECONOMY EDGEDAVAO

THE Department of La-bor and Employment (DOLE) 11 encouraged

universities and training schools to produce graduates that have the soft skills in order for them to get hired.

DOLE 11 regional direc-tor Atty. Joffrey Suyao told re-porters and college students during the opening of the University Fair at SM City An-nex yesterday that employers nowadays are also keen on

assessing the soft skills of the job applicants aside from their educational attainment.

Suyao was referring to “innate” soft skills like loyalty, trustworthiness, effectiveness in both oral and written com-munication skills and work attitude.

“Job applicants may have education qualifications, but the lack of soft skills disquali-fies them,” Suyao said.

Soft skills, he added, have

now bearing to employers.Latin honors are just plus

factors that some employers look into but the attitude and the behavior of a job appli-cant weigh more, according to Suyao.

He said that the lack of soft skills made it harder for new graduates to find employment. Many produce of schools pro-duce graduates who either lack creativity or critical think-ing abilities making them less

employable.“A study revealed that a

college graduate took an aver-age of one year before landing into a job, and two years to find a permanent job,” Suyao said.

Suyao said it is crucial that colleges and training schools here produce talents who al-ready the soft skills required by each industry.

“The close coordination between industries and edu-cational institutions allow the

latter to produce proper and appropriate talents,” he said.

With this, job mismatch and underemployment will be addressed. Job skills mismatch continues to be a persisting issue in the local and interna-tional labor sector.

Suyao said job skills mis-match is a product of either enrolling in college course dictated by parents, peer pres-sure, or just because it’s part of the trend.

“The lack of experience and mismatch of skills re-quired by the industry make some graduates hard to be em-ployed,” he said.

Suyao said producing in-dustry-ready graduates can be addressed by aligning the cur-riculum of schools to the needs of the labor market.

He also said that the labor agency is offering eight-day training where graduates can develop their soft skills.

Soft skills are vital to employerscrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE Sangguniang Pan-lungsod (SP) has recom-mended to the Bureau of

Internal Revenue (BIR) up to only 50 percent increase in the zonal valuation for commercial areas in Davao City.

The SP recommendation was contained in a resolution it approved on second reading during last Tuesday’s regular session. The approved 50 per-cent increase of the present zonal valuation of the BIR in 2002 is viable and sustainable, according to the local lawmak-ing body.

Councilor Danilo Dayang-hirang, chair of the SP com-

mittees on finance, ways and means and appropriation, said BIR’s proposal of 200 to 500 percent increase will only “hamper the economic growth” of the city.

Dayanghirang recognized the role of the real estate in-dustry as “one of the prime movers of the economy as developments have mush-roomed in the city, with major industry players taking part in shaping the city as the pre-ferred urban destination of the south.”

But, the introduction of the new zonal valuation, he said, will deter new developments

which translate to loss of in-come opportunity for the city.

The proposed new zonal valuation rate will also have negative effect to developers of low-cost housing projects, according to Dayanghirang.

“Developers would have difficulty introducing low cost housing projects to serve the majority of the people of Davao since the proposed high zonal valuation for raw land in areas suitable for low cost housing makes it no longer feasible,” he said.

All efforts by the local gov-ernment such as tax incentives and private sectors in making

the city as the preferred area for investment by different lo-cators will be “pointless since investors would rather look for other areas in which they could get better value for their money and enjoy better re-turns.”

“The Davao City local gov-ernment and its constituents will be greatly affected by the potential slowdown of the city’s economic development as result of the implementa-tion of the proposed increase of the valuation of property,” Dayanghirang said.

The positive investment

SP wants hike in zonal valuenot to go beyond 50%: Danny

THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) said on

Thursday it has enhanced its efforts in providing conve-nience for employers in the government and private sec-tors’ task of paying contribu-tions.

With a new policy guide-lines, PhilHealth said that pay-ing of premium contributions of employers and employees

can now be done at any of the accredited collecting agents (ACAs) or e-payment facilities of PhilHealth.

“The new policy, which was articulated in PhilHealth Circular 009-2015, mandato-rily requires employers with 11 or more employees to re-mit their premium payments directly to ACAs of their choice and not to PhilHealth offices,” PhilHealth President

and CEO Atty. Alexander A. Padilla said.

The new policy will make premium remittances more convenient to employers and will free them from long queues in PhilHealth Local Health Insurance offices, es-pecially during deadlines, he added.

The PhilHealth chief said they came out with the poli-cy to ensure that hassle-free

transactions are being en-joyed by the more than 86 million beneficiaries of Phil-Health nationwide.

He also said that through the new policy, a more ef-ficient posting of premium payments can be made.

He, however, clarified that mandatory payment in ACAs shall not apply to micro-firms or businesses with less than

PhilHealth makes premium payment easier

RENEWABLE energy company Euro Hydro Power (Asia) Holdings

Inc. (EPHI) is investing P95 billion for the establishment of hydro power projects in Mind-anao.

Alan Uy, president and chief executive officer of the company, said Tuesday during the ground breaking ceremony of its New Bataan mini hydro plant that these projects will have combined capacity of 571 megawatts. The plants, he add-ed, are expected to be set up in the next five years.

This, he said, developed af-ter noting the need to augment the power supply in Mindanao. To pursue its plans, EPHI will tap 129 rivers in the island.

“Five years ago, we dreamed to come up with a project that will benefit the community that is af-fordable, reliable and envi-ronment-friendly project anchored in the problem to address the power supply in

Mindanao,” he said.The first to be construct-

ed was its P490-million mini hydro plant in New Bataan, which has a capacity of 2.4 MW.

The company’s priori-ty sites, at present, are New Bataan, Compostela Valley; Ruparan, Digos City, Davao del Sur; Marbel, South Cota-bato; Sawaga, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon; Bayug, Iligan City; Lake Sebu, South Cotabato; Alamada, North Cotabato; Ti-tunod, Lanao del Norte; and Polandoc, Zamboanga del Norte.

The biggest so far is its planned hydro plant in Bayug with capacity of 17.80 MW. The company also bared interest to establish hydro power plants in 29 sites in Davao Oriental.

EPHI was assisted by the government-led One Stop Shop Facilitation and Monitor-ing Center.

Undersecretary Janet

Firm investing P95Bin Minda hydro plants

Phl study presentedbefore APEC meetingA PAPER released by state

think tank Philippine In-stitute for Development

Studies (PIDS) was delivered this week at the second minis-terial meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC).

Written by Dr. George Man-zano and Ms. Shanti Aubren Prado, PIDS consultants, Evalu-ation of the APEC Environmen-tal Goods Initiative: A Dominant Supplier Approach assesses the list of 54 environmental goods and services that the APEC promised in 2012 to liberalize by the end of this year. It pres-ents evidence to guide APEC countries in implementing its initiative by identifying specific goods from the list that can be considered for sectoral liberal-ization, ranked by the measure of their supply predominance and comparative advantage in the APEC.

Environmental goods and services (EGS) are a public good subcategory, referred to by the European Commis-sion as “products, services and

technologies that contribute to green growth, environmental protection, climate action and sustainable development”. In 2012, the APEC member-states agreed to reduce tariffs to at least five percent. The hope is that by bringing down the bar-riers within the APEC, there will be a subsequent increase in trade for EGs, more green jobs will be generated, and a more environmentally sustainable growth will be pursued.

“Reducing trade barriers in environmental goods and services (EGS) would make it cost-effective for industries to adopt environmental technol-ogies,” the authors explain. The reduction will make intra-APEC business and trade of EGS more productive and profitable, and will make it easier to help APEC members address climate change challenges.

But Manzano and Prado of the University of Asia and the Pacific underline that it is im-portant that the APEC under-

FSP, 10

FPHILHEALTH, 10FPHL, 10

FFIRM, 10

KADAYAWAN TIME. Davao City Tourism Operations Office head Lisette Marques bares the schedule of activities for the 30thKadayawan Festival next month. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

DavWell inducts new set of officersTHE Davao Wellness & Spa Association (DavWell) whose members include some of Durianburg’s most well-loved spas re-cently inducted its new set of officers.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015

EDGEDAVAOEVENTINdulge!

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. DavWell President Ms. Fides Castañeda-Bernabe.

Councilor Villafuerte,Dr Alex Tan, DavWell President Fides Bernabe, DOT’s Ms. Eden David and Councilor Al ryan Alejandre.

DavWell Officers with Mayor Duterte.

DavWell Members and officers with friends from DOH, DOT, and Tesda.

The oath-taking cer-emony was held on June 26 at the New Orleans Cafe and the oath-tak-ing ceremony was led by none-other than Davao’s very own Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Led by the ever dy-namic Fides Castañeda-Bernabe and seconded by Cherry Faye Al-ag, DavWell envisions to help Davao City become one of the top destinations for spa and wellness in the country through the set-ting of high standards of professionalism among business owners as well as in partnership with government agencies and

industry affiliates. From just six members when it was founded in 2010 DavWell has now grown to 22 members composed of business owners operating mas-sage, spa and sauna ser-vices as their main line of business. This covers 55

spa and wellness estab-lishments within Davao City.

The organisation is also active when it comes to fostering competence among the spa and well-ness owners, managers, professionals and thera-pists in ensuring public safety while promoting a positive image of those operating and working in the industry ensuring guests to duly registered establishments are pro-vided professional and high quality services.

IF your Dad likes doing (Do-It-Yourself) projects, ACE Hard-ware has high performance tools in compact and light-weight designs that make perfect gifts. These are versatile for home improvement jobs: handtools for home repair projects, tool boxes to organize your Dad’s favourite tools, and rotary tools that can complete a wide variety of projects like routing, cutting, drilling and sanding with its attachments and accessories. Truly the helpful place, ACE Hardware also has cordless drill drivers for screwdriving and drilling tasks, angle grinders for quality grinding surfaces and planer for professional planing – all with ultimate com-fort and convenience. High pressure washers for essential cleaning tasks can also be great options. While shopping at ACE Hardware stores, also check out its Great Tools, Great Savings promotion wherein you can avail of great sav-ings and discounts on handtools, tool boxes, powertools and pres-sure washers. You can also earn rewards points with your SM Advan-tage, Prestige, and BDO Rewards Cards when you shop. These great tools from ACE, Skil, Black and Decker, Dewalt, Bosch and Karcher are available at selected branches of ACE Hardware, ACE Express and ACE Builders stores nationwide. Visit our website at www.acehardware.ph or like us at www.facebook.com/acehardwarephil-ippines or follow us at twitter and instagram at acehardware_ph

A2 INdulge! VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

Winners of Sineng Pambansa Climate Change Scriptwriting Contest announced

Great tools for Dad from ACE Hardware

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Bosch Aquatak Pressure Washer for essential cleaning tasks.

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Black and Decker Combo Pack includes a small angle grinder and a hammer drill for home improvement projects that will be a perfect gift on Father’s Day.

THE Film Development Council of the Phil-ippines (FDCP) has announced the winners of the Sineng Pambansa Climate Change Scriptwriting contest 2015. After over a 100 scripts were submitted to the contest, the selected jury has been able to decide on the winners of the Full Length Documentary category and the Short Fiction feature cat-egory. The winners of the Full Length Documentary cat-egory of the contest are: 1st place – Disigisaw written by Sheryl Rose M. Andes, 2nd place – Environgers written by Analisa Puod, 3rd place – The Water Bearers written by Mario L. Mendez Jr.

The winners of the Full Length Documentary cat-egory are to receive cash prizes of Php 100,000 for first place, Php 50,000 for second place, and Php 25,000 for third place. As for the Short Fiction feature category, the jury has deliberated on a 4-way

tie, going to the follow-ing scripts: Ang Bisikleta ni Lolo Kiko (written by Maricel C. Cariaga). Ang Dalawahan (written by Vinson Lance S. Gabato). The Assignment (written by Crisanto P. Fuego). Hu-kay (written by Marvin C. Gabas) The cash prizes for this category, totaling Php 85,000, are to be equally distributed amongst the 4 chosen winners. Each winner of the Short Fic-tion feature category will receive a cash prize of Php 21,250.

Winners will be directly contacted by the organiz-ers to arrange for the re-ceiving of prizes. The Climate Change Scriptwriting contest en-couraged writers to delve into the urgent and con-cerning topic of climate change which has had its presence felt more than ever in recent years. These scripts are to be the basis of future short films or full length documentaries that inform and capture peo-ple’s imagination, rousing them into action. The themes of the scripts

should have tackled the various complexities of cli-mate change, ranging from scientific explanations to its impacts on the com-mon person. The script it-self would have contribut-ed toward instilling in the reader, and later on in the viewer, an awareness that urges them to confront the issues of climate change. The contest was con-ceptualized from FDCP’s belief in the multifaceted effort it takes to trans-form awareness into action through audiovisual pre-sentations.  With the hope

of making climate change-consciousness second na-ture, scientific and creative communities must work together toward this com-mon cause.  Cinema, a cul-tural agent like no other, is adept at evoking urgency on a mass scale and can contribute to inspiring the advocacy of mitigating cli-mate change for the pro-tection and preservation of our communities. The contest took place earlier in the year, with a submission deadline of March 6, 2015 for both types of script categories.

ARTS & CULTURE

SEASONED ac-tress and television host Jean Garcia remains a loyal Ka-puso as she signed on July 2, another three-year exclu-sive contract with GMA Network. Present during the contract signing were GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon; GMA Entertainment TV’s Senior Vice President Lilybeth G. Rasonable; GMA Vice President for Drama Productions Red-gie Acuña-Magno; and Jean’s manager Director Manny Valera. During the contract signing, Jean revealed that she is very thank-ful with the way GMA has been taking good care of her career all these years, “Maraming, maraming salamat sa GMA talaga. Hindi sila nawawalan ng tiwala sa akin. Fourth year ko na sa kanila na natapos na, tapos ito, may blessing na naman at nagbigay na naman ng tiwala ang GMA sa akin. We are proud kasi member tayo ng Kapuso family at na-kakapagpasaya tayo ng mga tao.” Jean is likewise very proud for the contin-ued success of The Half Sisters in TV rat-ings and its remarkable achievement as the No. 1 daytime program na-tionwide, “Gusto kong magpasalamat, hindi namin alam kung paano ba nangyari na patuloy pa rin ang pagiging No. 1 ng The Half Sisters

maybe because yung commitment and love and passion sa work. Plus siyempre maganda ang storya, ang mga writers pinagpapagu-ran lahat ng paggawa, ang director, ang bu-mubuo ng produksyon, staff and crew, at mga artista hindi tumitigil sa pagtatrabaho ng 101%. We are very blessed and grateful sa audience da-hil hindi sila bumibitiw sa The Half Sisters and GMA.” Aside from The Half Sisters, Jean is also the host of the relationship-advice program of the network, Love Hotline.

Atty. Gozon has noth-ing but praises for Jean and considers her as one of the most versa-tile stars in the country, “Actually matagal nang nasa bakuran natin si Jean at isa siya sa mga pinakamagagaling na artista na kilala ko at tayo ay very thankful na nadesidihan niya to stay with us. Napakagaling na dramatic actress ni Jean. Kahit ano naman ay pwedeng gampanan ni Jean, whether com-edy, serious drama, so walang problema di-yan.” Rasonable said that Jean is a very talented

artist and the network will continue to provide good projects for her, ”Sabi nga ni Atty. Gozon kahit ano ang ibigay nat-ing role sa kanya, gaga-mpanan niya. She deliv-ers. And not only does she deliver, she deliv-ers it well. Bakit naman hindi natin gugustihin na makasama pa siya at mabigyan pa siya ng magagandang projects na napapaganda pa niya because of her perfor-mance? Kasi she is very versatile. Kaya, more great drama projects for her.” Valera, on the other hand, said he is looking

INdulge! A3VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Jean Garcia renews exclusive contract with GMA Network

forward to a stronger working relationship with the network, “We are truly happy that GMA again renewed the contract of Jean for three years. We are looking forward to more good shows from GMA 7. The network has been very supportive of Jean as far as roles in their soaps are concerned. Maaasahan

din na ibibigay ni Jean ang kanyang 100% best para sa mga characters na ipo-portray niya in the future. Nagpapas-alamat kami dahil patu-loy ang pagbibigay ng break sa kanya as a talk show host. Iyon nga ang matagal na niyang hini-hiling. At napatunayan naman niya na mahusay siyang host.”

BINIBINING Pilipinas Uni-verse and Mindanao beau-ty Mary Jean “MJ” Lastimo-sa will grace the Mutya ng South Cotabato corona-tion night this Tnalak Fes-tival, committee in charge confirmed. Alvim Batol, committee chair-man, said the 2014 crowned Binib-ining Pilipinas will serve as one of the judges and will join by singer actor Christian Bautista during the pageant night. “Aside from her stint as a judge, she will also join the local offi-cials during the Governor’s Tnalak Charity Ball the following day, “Ba-tol added.

The 26 years old beauty queen from North Cotabato happily agreed to join the charity ball, a party intended for philanthropists who loved to share their blessings to less fortunate but deserving students. Proceeds will be given to the educational scholarship program of South Cotabato. This year’s Mutya ng South Cotabato is composed of 12 can-didates from various towns and companies in South Cotabato. “We are happy that towns are well represented,” Batol said “and we hope that we could produce a beauty queen who could com-pete nationally and hopefully in-ternationally.”

Binibining Pilipinas Universe MJ Lastimosa to grace Mutya ng South Cotabato pageant

PG

PG

PG 11:40 | 2:15 | 4:50 | 7:25 | 10:00 LFS

R-16

TERMINATOR GENISYS

J.K. Simmons, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney

PG 12:30 | 2:45 | 5:00 | 7:15 | 9:30 LFS

THE BREAKUP PLAYLIST

11:35 | 1:40 | 3:45 | 5:50 | 7:55 | 10:00 LFS

MINIONS

Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock

12:40 | 3:00 | 5:20 | 7:40 | 10:00 LFS

Sarah Geronimo, Piolo Pascual

MINIONS 3D

Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock

July 8 – 14, 2015

A4 INdulge!EVENT

MX3 Team and ABS-CBN ‘One Kapami-lya Go’ arrived in Palacio Vistalegre Madrid Spain on June 14, 2015. This was an event organized by ‘The Filipino Channel- TFC’ of the ABS CBN with the intention to get in touch, revel with, entertain, and serve the almost 100,000 Filipino Overseas Workers working in Madrid Spain.

MX3 takes over Madrid The TFC event was queued by excited 3000 Filipinos and several for-eign onlookers. MX3 Team participated to bring back to them the joy of ca-maraderie and the spirit of hospitality by sponsor-ing opening game events

and sharing to them MX3 Gift Packs, Health watch tips, Christian tracts and spiritual lift ups. The gath-ering was a showcase of Filipino ingenuity and talents. MX3 Products has proven Filipinos’ su-periority in competing in

the global market for food supplement- MX3 Plain and MX3 Plus; and food beverages- MX3 Tea and MX3 Coffee Mix. DMI with its MX3 Products has been invited to par-ticipate in these ABS-CBN

TFC events done in sev-eral countries. As offshoot, many have been taking the different Product vari-ants like MX3 Capsule for improving the immune system, MX3 Plus with co Q10 and L-Carnitine

for healthy metabolism, MX3 Coffee-mix, a taste-ful blend that is non-acidic with no sugar added, and MX3 Tea where 1 teabag can serve the whole family. The “One Kapamilya Go, Madrid” concert was

starred by John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo, En-chong Dee and hosted by Pooh. The Movie of Dan-iel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo also added more heart to the gathering. MX3 Team took the lead in facilitating the amus-ing game and gift-giving. There were MX3 prizes given to the audience. DMI has been generous in sharing MX3 products to lucky participants – all in the spirit of love and giv-ing back to the people the blessings from Above. The Madrid Spain gather-ing was an all- inclusive excellent event that nour-ished the spirits of our Global Kababayans. Let us continue to get in touch with our OFWs in any of the thousand ways that we can reach and bless them. They are a blessing to our nation. For more information about the MX3 Products, visit MX3 website at www.mx3.ph or call/text 0918-8888-693.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 7EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE

“The rainy season has come once again and for many com-munities in the Philippines, this means getting ready for strong typhoons.” -- Renee Juliene Karunungan, Advocacy Direc-tor of Dakila, an organization of artists working together cre-atively inspiring social transfor-mation

***

THREE’S a company, so goes a popular saying. So is disaster. In the Phil-

ippines, disaster comes togeth-er in three: typhoon, rain, and flood.

Among the three disaster, flood tops. Rain happens all the time. Of the 20 tropical cyclones that hit the country every year, only 6-9 typhoons make landfall, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PA-GASA).

But flood is a different sto-ry. Once it takes place, no one can stop it. Flood wreaks hav-oc not only to the surround-ing that it passes through but also destroys home, buildings, bridges, and even takes lives.

The Department of Sci-ence and Technology (DOST) classified flood under the hy-drometeorological hazard that also include tropical cyclone, storm surge and rain-induced landslide.

Volcanic eruption, land-slide, earthquake and its relat-ed hazards (ground shaking, liquefaction, ground rupture, tsunami and landslide) are cat-egorized under the geological hazard.

Flood -- which comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages -- happens “when water from streams, rivers and other bodies of water over-flow to low-lying areas due to heavy and prolonged rainfall and when rain waters are not drained rapidly due to inade-quate or defective system or when coastal water rises due to high tide or storm surge.”

Rosalie C. Pagulayan, weather specialist II of PAGA-SA, said typhoons generally bring floods. But typhoons are the not the only flood initiator. “Floods are due to the complex combination of weather, climatic and human

activities. Most floods occur as a result of moderate-to-large-scale rainfall events,” she ex-plained.

Weather disturbances

The Philippines, given the location and the topography of the country, experiences four other weather-causing phenomena which can bring floods. These are: thunder-storms, cold front, monsoons, and intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The weather bureau gives the following in-sights on the four phenomena:

Thunderstorms, called local storms, occur when tow-ering cumulus clouds reach a height where the tempera-ture is well below the freezing point. Among the associated hazards are heavy rain (which may cause flashflood) and lightning (which may cause death, burns or fire).

Cold front is formed when cold air moves over areas of warm air. Since cold air is heavier than warm air, the warm air is pushed aloft by the cold air giving rise to wide-spread cloudiness. The cold front affects the eastern part of the country from November to late April or early May.

There are two types of monsoon: Southwest and Northeast. In the former, the Asiatic continent becomes warmer than the surrounding seas and a low pressure cell develops over the continent. This causes a flow of moist southwest wind over the Phil-ippine area. At times, when this southwest flow becomes thick in depth, it persists for a long period causing contin-uous rains which may last for weeks during the months of June to September. The South-west monsoon is responsible for the great portion of rainfall during the country’s wet sea-son.

Known by sailors as the doldrums, the ITCZ is an area where the northern hemisphere trades meet the southern hemisphere trades. According to the weather bu-reau, ITCZ is characterized by towering clouds of cumulo-nimbus clouds accompanied with showers of widespread thunderstorms.

“The axis of convergence, which is usually oriented in an east to west direction, does

not remain stationery at the equator but migrates north or south of the equator,” a briefing paper from PAGASA explains. In the Philippines, it oscillates during the months of May to October.

All these weather distur-bances bring a lot of water causing flooding in affected areas.

But there are also human activities that cause floods, ac-cording to the DOST-published book, Reference for Emergen-cy and Disaster. These are: increased urbanization and coastal development; indis-criminate dumping of gar-bage in waterways, canals and drainage systems; informal settlers constructing illegal structures along and on top of waterways; deforestation; blasting that causes landslides and damming of rivers; and failure of levees.

Damage and health effects

A really big flood can cause billions of pesos in damage to agriculture, infrastructure, loss of productivity in industry and commerce, not to mention loss of human lives. Congested ur-ban centers like Metro Manila could stand still for days.

“With too much rain and floods, agriculture production especially in flood-prone areas will be adversely affected with physical and economic loss-es,” pointed out Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero, former head of Phil-ippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Develop-ment. “Floods will wash away crops, hasten soil erosion and increase crop spoilage due to poor storage and distribution problems.”

The Department of Health said floods will accelerate food-borne and water-borne diseas-es. “Flooding can contaminate the public water through the disruption of water purifica-tion and sewage disposal sys-tems, rupture of underground pipelines and storage tanks,” the health department said.

Using contaminated water can cause a wide spectrum of illnesses, among them: acute gastroenteritis, dysentery, ty-phoid fever, cholera, and hep-atitis A. “Foods that may have been in contact with contam-inated floodwater should not be eaten,” the health depart-ment advised.

In addition, there is an in-crease of leptospirosis cases after heavy rains or flooding incidents. This livestock dis-ease transmissible to many may be acquired through wading in water contaminated with urine of infected animal.

Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever and malaria also rise with the increase in mosquito breeding grounds. And with the cold weather also come airborne diseases like influenza, which spread fast in congested areas such as Metro Manila’s inner cities.

Flood safety rules

Because of these pro-jected economic and health problems, PAGASA said that flood damage mitigation and protection should be a concern not only during the disaster but should be practiced before, during and after the occur-rence of a flood. As such, it is-sues the following flood safety rules:

Before the flood, a person must find out how often his location is likely to be flood-ed. He should know the flood warning system (issued by PA-GASA) in the community and inform the family about it. The head of the family must know the daily weather condition. He must designate an evacu-ation area for his family and the livestock. In addition, he must assign family members instruction and responsibili-ties according to an evacuation

plan.In addition, people are ad-

vised to keep a stock of food which requires little cooking and refrigeration before the flood. The following must be kept: transistorized radio and flash light with spare batter-ies, emergency cooking equip-ment, candles, matches, first aid kit, and water.

When warned of flood, ev-eryone must watch for rapidly rising flood waters. The family should listen to the radio for emergency instructions. If the head of the family finds it necessary to evacuate, then he must move them to a safe area before access is cut off by flood waters. However, it is wise to turn off electricity at the main switch in the building before evacuating. “Also lock your house before leaving,” the PA-GASA suggested.

During the flood, the PA-GASA advised to avoid areas subject to sudden flooding. It cautions: do not attempt to cross rivers of flowing streams where water is above the knee; beware of water-covered roads and bridges; eat only well-cooked foods; and drink only bottled, boiled or treated water.

After the flood, the weath-er bureau recommended that you re-enter the house with caution using flashlight. “Be alert for fire hazards like bro-ken wires,” it warned. “Do not eat food and drink water until they have been checked for

flood water contamination.”The PAGASA also suggest-

ed that broken utility lines (electricity, water, gas and telephone) be reported to ap-propriate agencies/authori-ties. “Do not turn on the main switch or use appliances and other equipment until they have been checked by a com-petent electrician,” it said.

As floods are common throughout the country, the weather bureau has launched the Flood Early Warning Sys-tem (FEWS) capacities. It has five basic elements: predic-tion, detection, communica-tion, decision-making, and mobilization.

“In any disaster of given magnitude, the first line of de-fense is still awareness of the communities at risk,” remind-ed Pagulayan.

It’s rainy season once more. As another saying goes, forearmed is forewarned. Lis-ten to the woes of one flood victim: “The downpour of rain is unprecedented. The rain came without much warn-ing. When we woke up in the morning, there was intermit-tent heavy rain and I thought that it is seasonal – indeed the rainfall throughout this year has been quite heavy, unlike during the last three years. The rain water reached two feet on the main streets. I couldn’t drive, there was water everywhere.”

Now, for our weather fore-cast!

Season of floods beginsBy HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Flood in Bansalan, Davao del Sur

Saving lives during flood (Photo courtesy of Dr. Ted Esguerra)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

The price of being safeEDITORIAL

DAVAO City is now the safest city in the world, improving from its ninth-place ranking in May, and fifth ranking in June, ac-cording to the data released by crowd-sourcing survey site

Numbeo.com.Davao City has a crime index of 24.77 and a safety index of 77.23.This month’s rating is a significant improvement from the city’s

crime index of 18.18 although the city safety index went down from 81.82 in the previous survey.

Curiously, the Philippines has a crime index of 43.11 and a safety index of 56.89 according to the website.

Numbeo.com is a website that contributes data about cities and countries in the world.

The other significant figures for Davao City are its 82.72% rating on safety walking alone on daylight and 75.96% on safety walking alone during night time. The city also got a low rating on crime level at 21.95%.

The emergence of Davao City as the safest city in the world is a product of a no-nonsense local government leadership under Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the collaboration of government agencies in the

fight against criminality.A significant decrease of crime volume was noted for the first se-

mester of 2015 compared to the same period the previous year. The city recorded 6,869 crime volume from January to June this year and that is much lower than the 8,397 crimes recorded in the same period last year. The solution efficiency also increased. For the first semester, DCPO recorded 76.01% crime solution efficiency, higher than 55.50% last year.

Davao’s resolve to make itself safe not only for locals but also for tourists should be an example for the rest of the country. There was one time in the past when then Mayor Jejomar Binay, campaigning to become the second highesy official of the land, said Makati should be replicated in the entire country. If that happened, the Philippines must be in a very woeful state given what is now happening in the country’s business capital.

The resolve to make a city safe for everyone, as Mayor Duterte has said in one interview, could be very costly--bloody even. But it has to be done with everyone’s resolve and with everyone prepared to make it happen.

Columnists: MA. TERESA L. UNGSON • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • AURELIO A. PEÑA • ZHAUN ORTEGA • BERNADETTE “ADDIE” B. BORBON • MARY ANN “ADI” C. QUISIDO • LEANDRO B. DAVAL SR., • NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN • NICASIO ANGELO AGUSTIN • EMILY ZEN CHUA • CARLOS MUNDA Economic Analyst: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG • JONALLIER M. PEREZ

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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EDGEDAVAOProviding solutions to a seamless global village.

ANTONIO M. AJEROEditor in Chief

Columnists: CARLOS MUNDA • HENRYLITO D. TACIO • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • ATTY. EMILY ZEN CHUA • GREGORIO G. DELIGERO • JOHN CARLO TRIA • Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG

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VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

IN one hour of sustained physical exercise, the body can lose up to three quarts of water through perspiration. In that water are small

amounts of “electrolyte” minerals – mainly so-dium but also potassium – and carbohydrates (sugars), whose loss leads to fatigue.

For most of human history, the remedy to fluid loss was simple: drink water. But since the 1960s, sporting enthusiasts have an alterna-tive - the “isotonic drink,” containing not only water but electrolytes and other minerals, plus vitamins, complex polymer carbohydrates and amino acids.

In the United States, one of the sports drinks that is fast becoming popular is the water from coconut trees. Coconut water is available in supermarkets, health-food stores and even in some vending machines in single-serving sizes (average price, $1.70).

“Drinking what they call coco water, and what we call buko juice, is a growing trend in the US,” President Benigno Aquino III told the press when he returned from a working visit to the United States a couple of years back. “Be-cause of its nutrients, because it is natural and environment friendly, it is becoming the new natural sports drink in America and is now a hundred-million-dollar industry.”

One US health magazine hails coco water as “America’s healthiest beverage” for providing enhanced hydration, essential nutrition and all five essential electrolytes (calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous and sodium).

When compared with a popular sports drink per 100 milligrams, coco water has more potassium (294 milligrams versus 11.7 milli-grams), less sodium (25 milligrams versus 41 milligrams), more chloride (118 milligrams ver-sus 39 milligrams), more magnesium (10 milli-grams versus 7 milligrams), and less sugars (five milligrams versus six milligrams).

“Medically, the buko juice is one of the pur-est sources of energy in the world,” says Dr. Jose P. Naval, an occupational physician based in Davao. “It is considered to be sterile because of its sealed enclosure in the nut shell.”

Coconut is grown in almost all tropical coun-tries. The Phil-ippines, for instance, has around 340 million coconut trees planted on 3.4 million hect-ares.

As more countries will be joining the world’s US$1,000 million market for “sports beverages” particularly coco water, the UN Food and Agri-culture Organization has taken out a patent on a new process that would allow manufacturers to bottle coco water that is biologically pure, very tasty and full of the salts, sugars and vitamins demanded by both sweating urban joggers and serious athletes.

The process was invented by Morton Sat-in, Chief of AG’s Agricultural Industries and Post-harvest Management Service, whose pre-vious food inventions include high-fiber white bread and wheatless bread.

“Fresh coconut water is already highly val-ued in tropical countries,” Satin said. “A young coconut between six and nine months contains about 750 milliliters of water - really, its juice that eventually becomes the flesh.”

Satin regards coco water as “a natural iso-tonic beverage” that has “the same level of elec-trolytic balance as we have in our blood.” “It’s the fluid of life, so to speak,” he pointed out.

During the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut wa-ter – siphoned directly from the nut – to give emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers.

The recent epidemic of cholera on the Pa-cific Ocean atoll of Tarawa in Gilbert Islands re-newed interest in the use of coconut water as a rehydration fluid. “In areas of the world where

coconuts are plentiful, the advantages of steril-ity, availability and acceptability make coconut water theoretically feasible for the oral rehy-dration of patients with severe gastroenteritis when conventional fluids are unavailable,” the study said.

American nutritionist Jonny Bowden, au-thor of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, con-siders coco water to be a “perfectly good option” for people who want to stay hydrated. “It’s high in heart-healthy potassium, with most brands providing about 700 milligrams in an 11-ounce serving – that’s lots more than you get in a ba-nana,” he wrote. “It also has only about 60 calo-ries per 11-ounce serving.”

Diabetics can also benefit from drinking co-conut water. The Philippine Coconut Authority informs: “Potassium content of water is remark-ably high at all nut ages. Together with sodium and phosphorus, potassium content also tends to increase with the ages of the coconut to peak at nine months. This characteristic of coconut water makes it a very good drinking water for diabetics. Diabetics waking from a coma recover quickly after drinking coconut water.”

There’s more to coco water than all these. Bruce Fife, considered the world’s lead-ing expert on coconut and health, shared this anecdote in his book, Coconut Water for Health and Healing, on how coco water helped in treat-ing cataract:

“We discovered this by accident while on a cruise ship (years ago). A few of us were on an island day trip and wanted to get off the beaten tourist’s path so we hired a bus and driver to take us to the opposite side of the island (only 10 of us on that big bus). A man and his wife were taking the cruise as a sort last hoorah before her scheduled cataract surgery, we later found out.

“Anyway, there was a beautiful beach with coconuts laying everywhere and we got thirsty, but there was no drinking water. So we decid-ed to open up some coconut to quench our dry throats. We found a local with a big machete and through sign language we convinced him to open coconuts for us. The woman with the

cataracts got splashed in one eye by the coco-nut juice, and it burned a bit.

“We were all digging through everything we had for something to relieve her eye ‘injury.’ All we came up with was one moist washcloth. Her husband wiped her eye and placed the wash-cloth over it. About 10 minutes later she an-nounced we should head back to the ship. We did.

“The next morning at breakfast she said that her eye was much better and that she could see very well. We examined her eye closely and could not see any signs of the cataract, which was quite obvious the day before. She said she wished she had gotten splashed in both eyes. Then the idea dawned on us to ‘splash’ her other eye.

“We did that very day as soon as we got ashore and also repeated the other eye too. This time we were prepared. We went to the local market, grabbed a coconut, opened it, and strained it through a washcloth into a plastic cup, dribbled the juice into both eyes, placed a warm washcloth over both eyes, waited 10 min-utes, and the rest is history.”

No more cataracts and there was no surgery done. “Coconut water contains antioxidants as well as magnesium, potassium and other min-erals and enzymes which may un-denature or relax the lens proteins, allowing them to realign and become transparent again,” Fife wrote.

“Coconut water may be an ideal eyewash or eye drop solution. If it can heal the damage caused by cataract, it may have other beneficial effects on eye health as well. Using it regularly may be an excellent way to prevent cataract, glaucoma, and perhaps other eye problems,” the author concludes.

Meanwhile, Satin sees coconut water as a natural contender in the sports drink market. “Just think of it,” he said. “What could be better than a natural beverage product with the deli-cate aroma, taste, drinking characteristics and nutritional value of pure, fresh, tender coconut water, plus all the functional characteristics re-quired of a sports drink?”

IN the recent SLINGSHOT MNL event at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the Philippine government and the

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Fo-rum held a meeting that discussed, among oth-ers the possibility that startup businesses can take root very well in the Philippines. Over the next ten years, these can add a lot to our gross domestic products and create local income and employment opportunities just like Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which is already hitting about 25 billion pesos.

Startup businesses can build a new business culture

The structure of Philippine business are such as that around 9 in 10 businesses are small and medium enterprises but a larger propor-tion of wealth and assets remains concentrat-ed in the upper tier of the business elite. With a few exceptions, this has been the case since the Spanish period, where the Spanish business elite and their caciques mainly held ownership over lands and agricultural production. The In-dios were the uneducated workforce. With the entry of capitalist economics in the 20th centu-ry, the ownership structure of businesses many changed from the Spaniards and mestizos to the Americans and eventually, the Chinese-Filipinos. There was a little transfer of wealth but it can hardly be called democratization of the capital. While the 1950s saw a surge in local import sub-

stituting manu-facturing, such as auto assem-bly, Philippine made television sets from Radio-wealth, textiles from Filsyn and Tefilin, batter-ies and tires, a steel industry, among others. But these were largely decimat-ed in the Martial law years, when many of the sustainable manu-facturing enterprises were taken over by those connected with the Marcos regime.

Wealth concentration developed depen-dence, especially those in technology

This reality of wealth concentration over time built a culture of dependence on those holding the gold, so to speak. Even banks were unable to resist the reality, and therefore are forced to lend to those with the assets as well. Start ups therefore didn’t have a very good ex-perience in growing beyond the first year, and hence, many of these small business owners will fold up in favor of being employed, or struggle to survive, remaining small. The sad story of many inventors with good prototype products

are such that they need benefactors to obtain financing and further develop the technology to scale up and become sustainable. Otherwise, they sell their rights to bigger corporations. Some end up further developing the prototype, or kill its development if it competes with their own products.

Reforming capital and Building a venture capitalist culture

It is true that banks in the Philippines are conservative to the point that nothing gets lent without some form of security, such as real property, inventory or equipment. While this conservatism has shielded our financial system from too much lending exposure from the global financial crisis in 2008, the sad fact is that these financial resources are tied up in banks, and not used to develop new enterprises that can drive further economic growth. Only those with bank-able assets can avail of the necessary financing. Most of them already have the necessary assets to begin with. Banks lend as a pawnshop look-ing at the value of the exchanged asset unlike a financier that judges feasibility on the strength of the business plan.

Add to this the high cost of doing startup business within the first year of operation such as costs in electricity,telecommunications, per-mits and other preoperating requirements, not to mention bureaucratic red tape and you have a situation where only start ups with enough

assets can really survive. These essentially are startups with connections or equity from estab-lished business elites. Unless you have the back-ing of established business or assets that can get operating capital, the small businesses either fail or remain small.

In the case of agriculture in particular, while the law requires banks to lend a fourth of their assets to agricultural activities, this is still not the case, as many banks are afraid to lend to farms unless they possess larger more bankable assets. Hence, only the big farms can get bigger. Only they can harness technology well.

The potential for startup technology based businesses require important reforms in capital for it to be realized. How will they grow beyond the first year if all other factors prevent it from growing? Government must step in to encour-age the behavior of those with the capital with the right incentives and disincentives so that capital is freed up for others to use and partake. Beyond this, the other costs of business such as electricity and food need to go down, again with the right policies to create growth in these sec-tors. Further income tax reforms can take place such that the present high rates can be offset by direct reinvestment. These are but some of the important ways we can properly democratize access to the economy and create a sustainable inclusive growth. Otherwise, start ups cannot start.

Health benefits of coco water

Innovation, startups as future of PHL business

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 201510 NEWS EDGEDAVAO10 NEWSRODY... FROM 1

SP... FROM 6 CDRRMC... FROM 3

Phl... FROM 6 ‘Falcon’... FROM 4

Firm... FROM 6

P15.1M... FROM 2 City Hall... FROM 2

LGU... FROM 4

PhilHealth... FROM 6

EDGEDAVAO

climate that the City, he said, will be pointless without in-vestors that would spur eco-nomic activity.

“Any tax increases on land valuation should be attuned to the interest of local govern-ment units and its inhabitants for them to sustain economic

progress and development,” Dayanghirang said.

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII) as well as stakehold-ers on the real estate industry have also opposed the pro-posed zonal valuation. Che-neen R. Capon

11 employees, including em-ployers of kasambahays; or employers with 11 or more employees but are located in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas where there are no available ACAs or internet service providers.

The PhilHealth earlier announced that employers in both government and private sectors shall also adopt the Electronic Premium Report-ing System or EPRS for the online submission of their re-mittance reports.

For employers in areas where there are ACAs but no internet connectivity, they can

still submit their soft copy re-mittance reports to the near-est PhilHealth office.

PhilHealth also reminded the employers to pay in accor-dance with PhilHealth Circu-lar 001-2014 which provides that employers with Phil-Health Employer Numbers (PENs) ending in 0-4 should remit their premiums with-in the 11th– 15th day of the month following the applica-ble period.

Those with PENs ending in 5-9 should remit their pre-miums on the 16th-20th of the month following the ap-plicable period. (PNA)

Lopoz, executive director of Mindanao Development Au-thority, said this is anchored on their goal to have balanced energy mix in the island. Of the 242 pending hydro power projects assisted by the center, 129 will be set up by EPHI.

“The center will continue to assist renewable energy companies like Euro Hydro,” she said.

EPHI, a subsidiary of In-dophil Asia Equities Inc., in-tends “to be the leading pro-vider of hydro power technol-ogy that would generate envi-ronment-friendly, economical and renewable energy for every household within the circle of developing countries in Europe and Asia Pacific,” as cited on its website. (MindaN-ews)

take a more nuanced approach. Liberalizing all of the 54 identi-fied EGSs may not yield uniform benefits. Furthermore, mem-ber-countries may be less en-couraged to participate if there is unchecked spillover benefits to nonmember countries who maintain trade barriers for EGS

To prevent “free-riders”, Manzano and Prado recom-mend that APEC members fo-cus on reducing tariffs for EGS where APEC members have considerable comparative ad-vantage. The authors used the predominant supplier ap-proach in their study to iden-tify which EGS to consider for APEC-wide liberalization.

The results show that APEC has a dominant supplier role in renewable energy and clean technology production. These are followed by waste water management and pota-

ble water treatment, manage-ment of solid and hazardous waste and recycling systems, and natural risk management.

“The policy objective is to determine the cutoff level.” There is no “clear-cut answer” to determining the optimal APEC predominance supply benchmark and it will most likely be determined through a political process. The authors do recommend that policy-makers in APEC consider that, “it is rational to set the ceiling of the trade negotiations at the level where APEC princi-pally supplies 60 per cent of exports.”

The paper concludes that a nuanced implementation of liberalizing the trade of EGS will be good for the earth, good for business, and good for the economic growth of APEC member-states.

Survey last June, Duterte came in third to neophyte senator Grace Poe and former front-runner Vice President Jejomar Binay.

His backers now say that when the numbers indicate that there is a unanimous call from the people for Duterte to run for President, he would be compelled to accept the chal-lenge.

His supporters said that Duterte’s position on the issue of the Presidency has always been consistent with his previ-ous statements and his charac-ter as a political leader.

“The Presidency is destiny. If it is yours, it is yours,” Dute-rte was quoted as saying that he will not make extra efforts to beg for support and finan-cial contributions to become President.

“I don’t need it. I don’t covet it but when it becomes a moral obligation, I will have to take the challenge,” Duterte stressed.

Duterte, whose most re-cent pro-federalism Listening Tour leg was staged last week in Catanduanes, is expected to make more consultations with friends and family as well as pay a visit to the grave of his parents for some spiritual guidance.

“There will be no (spiritu-al) retreat before I make the decision. That’s not me. I will visit the graves of my father and mother and seek their guidance. Maybe, their spir-its will whisper to me and tell me which path to take,” he de-clared during a heart-to-heart talk with some of his closest advisers and friends in Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City two weeks ago.

The mention of the spiri-tual retreat before making an important decision was obvi-

ously a reference to what Pres-ident Benigno S. Aquino III did before declaring that he would run for President in 2010.

Duterte’s governance eth-ics were greatly influenced by his father, former Davao Gov-ernor Vicente Duterte who did not even allow his children to ride in his government-issued car while the Mayor’s combat-ive character was inherited from his mother, Soledad Roa Duterte, a retired teacher and social-political activist who he not only loved dearly but feared as well.

“My father taught me how a public official should act and behave while my mother made me kneel for hours before the icon of Jesus Christ every time a committed foolishness,” Duterte usually tells his close friends.

Duterte went on a media spree last week and is antic-ipated to be guesting on co-median Vice Ganda’s show on ABS-CBN “Gandang Gabi Vice” which airs this Sunday.

Duterte’s rising popularity, according to the statement, is rooted on his reputation as a no-nonsense local chief exec-utive who transformed Davao City from a killing fields of Communist assassins in the 1980s to one of the safest cities in the world today (numbeo.com declared Davaio City as the safest city in the world for this week with 75.23% safety index), Duterte’s ratings have been slowly but surely increas-ing in the last three surveys where his name was included in the list of Presidential pros-pects for the first time.

Duterte came in with 5% early this year, 12% in the sec-ond survey and 15% in the last survey of Pulse Asia, closing in on the tailspinning Binay and third to Poe.

based and Open categories before, will only have the Open category this year.

“Meaning, all our Davao groups have to compete with out- of-town contingents,” Marques said.

The Sayaw Mindanao will also have only one category this year, unlike in the previ-ous years where there were the Open and children’s cate-gories.

“They will integrate chil-dren in each of the groups,” Marques said.

The floral float parade will still have two categories, the traditional which uses mo-torized vehicle from trucks to multicabs, and the alternative which uses non-motorized ve-hicles.

Marques also bared that the Indak-Indak sa Kadala-nan will still have the grand

prize of P500,000. The second placer will receive P400,000 and the third placer will get P300,000.

A total of 10 consolation prizes at P15,000 each will also be awarded. The best en-try in the musicality will pock-et P50,000.

For the floral float parade, Marques said the grand prize in the traditional category will be P500,000. The second placer will receive P300,000 and the third placer will get be P150,000. There are two consultation prizes of P50,000 each.

The grand prize for al-ternative category will be P150,000, while the second and third placers will get P100,000 and P75,000, re-spectively. There are two con-solation prizes of P30,000 each.

al provisions or actions that will promote and strengthen the objectives of the ordinance.

The ordinance states that there is an urgent need to set up a rational system in the in-stallation of wires, cables, and

poles. The security and aes-thetic need urgently demand that the area around City Hall and SP building be freed from the visual clutter of overlapping wires and cables. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

uation exercise on earthquake and tsunami in the 21 coastal areas in the city on July 23.

“This is our start of assess-ment process, to see and de-termine the level of prepared-ness and awareness,” Jaldon said.

Evacuation as part of di-

saster preparedness will be used for easy recovery of a possible disaster-hit area in the city, according to him.

The drill will be staged in coordination with other agencies in the city which play different roles in disaster re-sponse.

Occasional rains are ex-pected over the rest of Luzon, Western and Central Visayas while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated thunder-storms will prevail over the rest of the country.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail over the entire archipelago with moderate to rough seas.

The state weather bureau also issued gale warning, strong to gale-force winds as-sociated with the southwest monsoon enhance by trop-ical storm Linfa (Egay) and typhoon Falcon may affect the seaboards of Luzon and Visayas will be rough to very rough.

“Fishing boats and other small sea crafts are advised not to venture out into the

sea while larger sea ves-sels are alerted against big waves,” it said.

Meanwhile, Ignacio said the agency continues moni-toring another typhoon still outside the PAR.

She said typhoon with international name Nang-ka is located approximately 2,740 km east of Luzon and has high chance to enter the country.

“Malayo pa ito marami pang pwedeng mangyari pero mataas ang chance pumasok sa PAR kaya continues moni-toring tayo,” Ignacio told the Philippines News Agency.

She said once it enters PAR it will be locally named “Goring”, the seventh tropical cyclone to affect the country this year and third for the month of July. (PNA)

because the classroom we gave just came from our P10 that we deduct from our monthly sala-ry),” Magante said.

“Actually, half lang ang gi-nastos naming para sa pagpa-tayo namin ng classroom nato. Ang kalahati ay galing na sa sariling bulsa ni Mayor Rivera (Actually, we only spent half for the construction of this classroom. The other half came from the pocket of Mayor Rive-ra),” Magante revealed.

The city government has around 1,400 regular employ-ees.

Mayor Rivera said that it was his commitment to the De-partment of Education that the local government of Gensan

will be their partner in advanc-ing educational reforms for the city.

“If we can continue this, we will be able to give more class-rooms to the public schools in the city, especially those that are located in far areas,” Mayor Rivera explained.

The GSCGEA also donat-ed a makeshift classroom to Calumpang National High School last October 2014.

Aside from the GSCGEA, the Igloo Storage, a subsidiary of the RD Group of Companies, has also donated three make-shift classrooms to the New Society High School Extension. (Gensan CPIO/ Ian John M. Lagare)

I-SPEAK FORUM. Davao City Engineers Office-Urban Drainage Maintenance head Engr. Andrew Lepardo explains the delay of excavation schedule of the underground cabling project between City Hall and SangguniangPanlungsod buildings. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 11

OVER 4.5 million Filipi-nos have used the Inter-net.org app since it was

launched in March, according to TNT, the value brand of leading mobile services pro-vider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart).

Internet.org is an initiative by Facebook – in close collab-oration with top tech firms, mobile networks and content providers – that aims to make mobile Internet services avail-able to two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected. In May, the Internet.org offi-cial website noted that it “has brought more than 9 million people online and introduced them to the incredible value of the Internet.”

Smart, through its val-ue brand, is the first telco in Southeast Asia to roll out the Internet.org app, which now provides Filipinos with free access to 30 websites offer-ing informative and practical content, including Facebook and Messenger. Smart and Sun subscribers are also able to enjoy the free sites on the In-ternet.org app and mobile site.

TNT and Facebook have

been promoting the app un-der the insightful ‘Panalo Ang May Alam’ campaign, which highlights how knowledge and information enable many Fili-pinos to win in life every day.

Milestone for Filipinos “TNT’s groundbreaking

partnership with Facebook to roll out the Internet.org app in the country is a milestone for Filipinos, who are now more empowered than ever with a wealth of information at their fingertips,” said TNT mar-keting head Cherish Caniza-res-Tupaz.

Tupaz noted that TNT has been the most suitable launch pad for the Internet.org ad-vocacy because of its huge subscriber base, making it the largest mobile prepaid brand in the Philippines.

“The overwhelming re-sponse to Internet.org reflects the mounting appreciation for the real life benefits of mobile Internet among Filipinos. In-deed, TNT is bent on reaching out especially the masses, who shall benefit the most from this service.”

TNT, Smart and Sun sub-scribers all over the country

may enjoy the free sites on the Internet.org Android app or by visiting www.internet.org on their mobile browser. Sub-scribers may download the In-ternet.org app on Google Play Store. Subscribers may also text INTERNET to 9999 for detailed information on using the app and site.

TNT Mobile Web Develop-ment Challenge

Under its ‘Panalo ang May Alam’ campaign to promote In-ternet.org, TNT has launched a Mobile Web Development Challenge, a nationwide call for Filipino developers to cre-ate Internet.org-compatible websites and apps that serve the specific needs of livelihood groups around the country.

The competition offered winning teams with devel-oper startup packages from Facebook with a total worth of USD800 thousand, the biggest prize to be awarded in a local developer challenge.

To further support the rollout of Internet.org app in the Philippines, TNT has also kicked off the Panalo Ang May Alam Eyeball, a series of fun and interactive sessions

around the country designed to introduce first-time mobile Internet users to the wealth of information available on the Internet.org app and mobile site.

TNT also launched the ‘Panalo ang May Alam’ Com-munities in Cebu, a program that allows livelihood commu-nities to integrate the use of app in their enterprises.

Available to over 1 billion people

Since 2014, Internet.org has rolled out in 14 countries, including Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Ghana, In-dia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malawi, Pakistan, Senegal, and most recently in Bolivia, making the app avail-able to over 1 billion people so far.

Smart supports the In-ternet.org app on the back of Philippines’ largest and most advanced mobile network, with over 90,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables around the archipelago.

For more information on the Internet.org app in the Philippines, please visit www.talkntext.com.ph/internetorg.

Pinoys using FB’s Internet.org breach 4.5M mark, says TNT

EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

SOUTH Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Tuesday guided

for weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings, as a supply shortage plagued its latest smartphone launch and tepid demand from key mar-kets likely undercut sales.

The guidance suggests that Samsung, while on a gradual recovery path, will struggle to replicate the explo-sive growth it recorded at the turn of the decade as smart-phone competition intensifies and demand softens in China and Europe.

Operating profit for the second quarter likely fell 4 percent from a year earlier to 6.9 trillion won ($6.13 bil-lion), Samsung said in a filing, its best profit in four quarters but also the seventh straight

period of annual decline.The average forecast from

a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 39 analysts was a profit of 7.2 trillion won.

“It doesn’t matter how competitive you are if overall demand is weak,” HMC Invest-ment analyst Greg Roh said. “Third-quarter earnings will likely be similar to the second quarter.”

Revenue for the quarter would fall 8.3 percent from a year earlier to 48 trillion won, well below the 53.4 trillion won average analyst fore-cast and the fifth consecutive quarter of annual decline. The company gave no other spe-cifics and is expected to report its full results in late July.

Samsung shares had jumped 2.1 percent as of 0213 GMT (10.13 p.m. EDT),

outperforming a 0.3 percent decline for the broader mar-ket as investors appeared to breathe a sigh of relief that the guidance was better than ana-lysts’ worst fears.

Samsung’s annual profit is expected to rebound this year from a three-year low in 2014, but its shares have languished in recent months amid doubts about sales of its new Galaxy S6 smartphones.

A failure to make enough curved-screen S6 edge mod-els to meet demand likely hurt mobile-related earnings, analysts believe. While the company says it has fixed the problem, it may be too late to fully capitalize on a lull in competition for new high-end devices ahead of the launch of the latest Apple Inc iPhones, expected as early as Septem-

Samsung profit guidance suggests costly S6 missber.

China’s economic slow-down is also pinching smart-phone makers’ earnings. Chinese rival Xiaomi Inc last week said first-half sales fell from the previous six months.

Industry-wide shipments in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, slipped in the first quarter for the first time in six years, researcher IDC said in May.

HDC Asset Management

fund manager Park Jung-hoon said Samsung probably decid-ed not to force volume growth for mid-to-low tier smart-phones, choosing to preserve margins at the expense of sales.

BILLION Electric, the largest provider of lighting control and

power technologies in the Asia-Pacific, is in search of partners to enter the smart lighting and smart energy markets in Southeast Asia . Billion aims to promote its Intelligent Street Light Control and Management System (LCMS) and indoor & outdoor LED drivers by working with system inte-grators to join tendering projects. Billion also tar-gets this region to launch BEsmart Energy Cloud to align with regional sustain-ability movements. South-east Asia is now the prima-ry market focus where the company wants to invest in long-term business co-op-erations.

Billion, established in 1973, began its initial busi-ness in the manufacturing, design, and the distribu-tion of power supplies, LED drivers, and lighting control solutions. Billion’s brand was officially launched in 2004, and since 2009, the company has added consid-erable resources to empow-er the base of R&D teams and build laboratories to develop Smart Grid and energy related products. Billion closed its fiscal year 2014 with revenue of US $38 million and is current-ly equipped with over 900 specialists.

Billion plans to intro-duce LCMS to help munic-ipalities boost street light efficiencies and city’s safety while concurrently reduc-ing energy consumption. Through the remote mon-itoring of street light per-formances, municipalities can save time and mainte-nance by setting preferred dimming schedules and switching lighting on or off on a cloud-based server.

From sunrise and sunset calculations, immediate street light outage alarms to IP camera integrations, Billion’s LCMS not only can brighten the driving sight-see, but also minimize la-bor with the improved LED lights and security.

Billion is also looking to promote BEsmart En-ergy Cloud to support the renewable energy move-ment. Billion integrates smart meters and Internet gateways with a cloud-com-puting platform, bringing IoT (Internet of Things) to build a well-connected en-ergy management system. The solution allows users to detect places for system efficiency improvement by grasping up-to-date in-sights into the electricity that supports their dai-ly operations. Combining metering devices with networking technologies, BEsmart Energy Cloud can bring visibility to energy consumptions and reduce utility costs by auditing ev-ery electrical activity.

“LCSM has grown to a mature stage, and has been successfully deployed by numerous lighting pio-neers in Taiwan , mainland China , and Europe “, says Martin Chang , the Prod-uct Line Manager of Intel-ligent Street Light Control and Management at Billion Electric Co. Ltd. “We are targeting Southeast Asia as we see a thriving potential in renewable energy, smart streetlights, and LED light-ing. We already have moved towards that direction by working with partners in Malaysia and Thailand. Cur-rently, we are looking for cooperation through the whole Southeastern Asia, especially in Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Philippines.”

Taiwanese technology giant to debut in the Smart Technology Market in Southeast Asia

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

Mobile: (Smart) 0930-669-3018

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA

Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,

Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANES

Director of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,

Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413

Telefax: (082) 221-3601

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EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015 EDGEDAVAO 13NEWSSenate suspends work due to heavy rains

The Senate on Thurs-day suspended work due to heavy rains

generated by the ‘habagat’ or southwest monsoon en-hanced by typhoon ‘Falcon.”

In behalf of Senate Pres-ident Franklin Drilon, Sen-ate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto issued the or-der suspending the work starting at 1 p.m.

Drilon is as part of the

Philippine delegation that went to The Hague, Nether-lands where the country’s arbitration case against China’s aggressive territori-al claims is being heard by the United Nations’ arbitral tribunal.

The suspension of work at the Senate came few minutes after Metropoli-tan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair-

man Francis Tolentino re-portedly recommended to Malacanang the early sus-pension of work in the gov-ernment offices.

Tolentino reportedly said the Metro Manila may-ors agreed during a meet-ing at the Metro Disaster Risk Reduction and Man-agement Council for early dismissal of government employees. (PNA)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 20151414 EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

MORE than 60,000 students across the nation are now

benefitting from the Aboitiz Group’s education-related ini-tiatives last year, amounting to P437 million or about 72% of its total corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget allocation.

Of its P610 million CSR spending in 2014, 21% or P129 million was directed to health-related and other corporate donations; 5% or P30 million in enterprise de-velopment programs, and the remaining 2% or P15 million for environmental initiatives.

This has been the largest amount the Group has allo-cated so far, up by 26% from P483 million CSR budget in 2013.

“In our focus area of edu-cation, our goal is to achieve universal public education by continuing to establish and develop Aboitiz Better-World schools that promise a better learning environment,” said Aboitiz Group CEO and President Erramon Aboitiz.

In partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), the Group, led by its social development arm Aboitiz Foundation con-structed of 27 classrooms in Ilocos Sur, Laguna, Albay, and Cebu for TechVoc high schools. Tthe Foundation will continue funding teachers’ training for Technical Educa-tion Skills Development Au-thority’s (TESDA) NCII certi-fication.

In 2014, the Aboitiz Group allocated budget for the construction of 185 new classrooms to help address the issue of overcrowding and lack of classrooms in public schools nationwide. In the last 26 years, it has donated more than 800 classrooms.

The Foundation report-ed turning over 23 regular classrooms in 9 schools in Benguet, Cebu, and Davao del Sur last year. It also turned over 42 additional Silid Pan-garap kindergarten class-rooms in partnership with the Aklat , Gabay, Aruga tun-go sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa

THINGS are fast shaping up for the much-antic-

ipated skyscraper this part of the country--the Aeon Towers.

The 33-level sig-nature project of lo-cal developer FTC Group of Companies has moved up to third level according to the firm’s latest construc-tion update.

Groundfloor slabs to formworks con-struction from ground level to third floor is underway. With the development now fo-cusing from ground level going up, the project’s engineering team has intensified work round-the-clock for the future tallest skyscraper in Mind-anao.

FTC Group of Companies president Ian Cruz said he is sat-isfied so far of the pace of the project, “I am happy to finally see things are moving up,” he said.

Aeon Towers is a 33-level mixed use-high-rise venture. It is the signature project of local developer FTC and, when completed by 2016, is reputed to be the tallest building in Mindanao.

Reputed to be a unique masterpiece of real estate, Aeon Tow-

ers is a marvellous skyscraper which fea-tures 473 residential units, a four-star hotel, office spaces, BPOs, retail mall, and base-ment parking.

“We offer what would embody the fu-ture’s high standard quality of condomini-um living in Davao City,” Cruz said. “Aeon Towers will improve people’s perception of high end condomini-um urban living. It will provide a peek of what the twenty-first centu-ry condominium living in Davao City will look like.”

“Amidst the ad-vance technology or state-of-the-art fea-tures of the condo-minium, the essence of home is never for-gotten in every corner of the designs. It must still remain a home that is ‘close to the heart’ so there is also the promise of fond memories and unfor-gettable experiences if people choose to stay in Aeon Towers.”

Despite promising to be a towering fig-ure of modern living, Aeon Towers is envi-sioned to be environ-ment-friendly. Con-sider the following: ultraviolet protective tint for sun rays, sound proof glasses, open

space in the middle for ventilation (no “inner units”), and rain wa-ter harvesting (which reuses rain water for cleaning and watering of landscapes found at the common areas). More importantly, the building is equipped with a lightning tran-sistor.

Projected time of turnover will be in De-cember 2016.

With the construc-tion side is now shift-ing to vertical devel-opment, its marketing team likewise intensi-fied its sales campaign for the keenly-awaited project.

Aeon Towers is offering P10,000 res-ervation fee in the residential units of the 33-level mixed use development that’s ex-pected to be complet-ed by 2016.

For only P10,000 reservation fee, one can be a step closer to that dream unit. For people who wish to know more about Aeon Towers, the proj-ect can be experienced at its Showroom or at SM Lanang Premier’s main atrium and at SM City Davao where ongoing exhibits are mounted. Real-time updates of construc-tion can also be viewed.

Construction works at the Aeon Towers project have moved up to slabs formworks from ground level to third level.

Aboitiz invests P437M in public education in 2014

Since 2014, more than 21,000 students in Mindanao are now enjoying better learning environments through the efforts of Aboitiz Foundation and AboitizPower subsidiaries in Mindanao like Therma Marine, Therma South and Hedcor.

(AGAPP) Foundation, which it has been supporting in the last four years.

Majority of the Founda-

tion’s infrastructure build-ing projects last year was focused on the Post-Yolanda Schools Rehabilitation Pro-

gram where it surpassed its commitment to build or reha-bilitate 200 classrooms. Ear-ly this year, the Foundation

completed physical turnover of 272 classrooms to North-ern Cebu schools devastated by the super typhoon.

Aeon Towers’ constructionnow moving up to level 3

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015

It’s U-turn for DeAndre Jordan

15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

JEREMY Lin has agreed to a contract with the Charlotte Hornets, the

free agent point guard an-nounced on his Facebook page Wednesday night.

Lin spent last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 11.2 points and 4.6 assists per game.

“Going into my first true free agency as an NBA

IT’S basketball season once again as the first ever Ma-tina Enclaves Inter-School

Basketball Tournament rais-es its curtains on Saturday at the Davao City Recreation Center.

The opening ceremonies is set at 7:00 am with all 18 teams parading in their new line-ups for the season.

“We are embarking on this event to showcase the talents of promising, young players from the different schools of Davao. It is our contribution to sports hav-ing supported some sports events in the past including the recent Heartstrong Char-

ity Game featuring the Ate-neo Lady Eagles,” said Gerald Garces, Matina Enclaves proj-ect head.

The Matina Enclaves is a mixed use property develop-ment project of the Escandor Development Corporation (Esdevco) with no less than sports patron Glenn Escan-dor at the helm as president.

Competing in the Juniors Division are ten top squads in the local basketball front composed of multi-titled Ateneo de Davao University, Ford Academy, Assumption College of Davao, and Pre-cious International for Group A. Holy Child College of Davao

will banner Group B along with University of the Imac-ulate Conception, Philippine Women’s College, Stella Maris Academy, and Davao Chris-tian High School.

In the Mini Divison, Group A will have UIC, ACD, SMAD, and Precious. For Group B, it will be ADDU, Agro, HCD and Davao Christian.

Junior Teams

Group AADDUFordACDPrecious

Group BUICPWCHCDSMADDavao Christian

Mini (Grade School) Teams

Group AUICACDSMADPrecious

Group BADDUAgroHCDDavao Christian

WHAT happens when two basketball-cra-zy executives take

their competitive juices in the basketball court?

Shootout. Fierce but friendly.

Exactly that’s what turned out to be when City Mayor’s Office and Anflocor played Game 2 of their Friendly Se-ries on Tuesday night at the Davao City Recreation Center.

City sports consultant and business mogul Glenn Escandor waxed hot for CMO, backed up by Matina En-claves, as he shot the lights out practically all night in a fierce exchange with Anflocor top honcho Cary Lagdameo.

The City Mayors Office edged Anflocor, 73 – 62, with Escandor firing 14 points. CMO’s top gunner Christo-pher “Bong” Go was his usu-Matina Enclaves hoops open Saturday

CMO’s Escandor, Anflocor’s Lagdameo in shootout

Lin: From Kobe sidekick to MJ’s manDEANDRE Jordan gave the

Dallas Mavericks his word. Then he gave the Los An-

geles Clippers his signature.After a Clippers

contingent includ-ing Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick, Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers descend-ed on Jordan’s home in Houston on Wednesday night (Thursday, Ma-nila time) for a last-ditch push to keep their defensive pillar, Jordan backed out of a verbal agreement with the Mavericks to stay with the only NBA home he’s ever had.

The Clippers announced Jordan’s deal late Wednesday night. It’s a four-year pact worth more than US$87 mil-lion, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The terms, first reported by USA Today, include a player option after the third season. The person spoke on condition of an-onymity because the team was not releas-ing contract details.

The Clippers also sent out a tweet wel-coming Jordan back to Los An-geles.

“WE’RE OFFICIALLY CEN-TERED,” the tweet read.

Once and for all.Jordan initially agreed to a

four-year deal worth more than $80 million to leave the Clippers after seven seasons and join the Mavericks, a team that offered him a more featured role on of-fense. But that was last Friday, and the contract could not be

s i g n e d u n t i l

12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, according to NBA rules.

That gave Jordan time to think it over, and when word got back to the Clippers that he was having second thoughts, they pounced.

They gathered to meet with Jordan and talk things over, then held the Mavericks at bay as owner Mark Cuban tried to get one more meeting to close the deal.

Cuban and Jordan’s agent, Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports, tried repeatedly to reach the big man while he was holed up in his

house with his teammates to no avail, according to two

people with knowl-edge of the situation. They spoke on con-dition of anonymity

because all parties in-volved were not publicly

discussing the process.Griffin even tweeted a photo

of a chair pushed underneath the handle of a door.

“Don’t agree with the furni-ture layout but I’m not an interi-or designer,” Griffin quipped.

Desperate measures for a desperate team.

Earlier this week, Redick said on Bleacher Report radio that the Clippers deserved an “F’’ in free agency after losing Jordan.

“We had one priority this summer, and that was to re-sign D.J., and we missed out on that,” the guard said.

“So barring some miracle, (the) makeup of our

team is completely different now.”

Without him, the Clippers were scram-

bling to find an answer at center and in danger of falling far back in the loaded Western confer-ence.

Now, with Jordan back to center a lineup that includes All-Stars Griffin and Chris Paul and added Pierce and Lance Stephen-son this summer, the Clippers again will have plenty of talent to compete.

player this offseason, the one thing that mattered to me the most was finding a team that would be a good fit for me,” Lin wrote on Facebook.

“I wanted to be on a team where I would be able to play freely and truly play the game I love with joy again.

“That has always been the most important thing to me. After a LOT of prayer and long discussions with family and friends, I want-ed to personally let you guys know I’ll be joining the Charlotte Hornets.”

Free agents are allowed to sign contracts after mid-night Thursday when the NBA lifts its moratorium.

In five NBA seasons with Golden State, the New York Knicks, the Houston Rockets and the Lakers, Lin has career averages of 11.7 points and 4.8 assists per game.

He appeared in 74 games with the Lakers last season but played just 1,907 minutes, his low-est total since he played 34 games and 940 min-utes with the Knicks in the 2011-12 season.

TUNE-UP. The Ateneo de Davao University Blue Knights went to General Santos City last weekend for tune-up matches with Holy Trinity College of Gen. Santos City. The Blue Knights see action in the Matina Enclaves Inter-School basketball tournament on Saturday.

JEREMY LIN. Signed by Hornets.

ESCANDOR

al sharpshooting form as he led CMO with 32 points, 12 coning from beyond the arc where he shoots with un-canny accuracy as if he was shooting free throws.

The City Hall dribblers are now up 2- 0 in the series.

Escandor and Lagdameo in one point traded baskets that put extra spice in the friendly match.

Lagdameo, a Damosa Land top executive, had his dazzling moments in the game with timely baskets that kept Anflocor in stride with the CMO.

The younger brother of Rep. Anton Lagdameo fin-ished fewer points than that of Escandor who shot well from the arc. But Lagdameo, a quick combo guard, showed that he has the firepower to carry his Anflocor team on his shoulder.

CMO exploited the porous perimeter defense of Anflocor in the early going of the final half as Go and Escandor came out on fire to provide City Hall dribblers the lead.

Anflocor had a chance to make it close after Solis and Barrios who had 18 and 10 markers found their touch at the crucial time.

But CMO manageably blocked it off by overpower-ing their defenders for game changing perimeter baskets.

Anflocor was leading mostly the entire second quarter following a tight opening period. (Rico Biliran)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 201516 EDGEDAVAOSports

TURNING BACKTIME FOR FRANKIEBirdie binge helps veteran Miñoza catch up with Davao boy Bayron

VOL. 8 ISSUE 71 • FRIDAY - SATURDAY, JULY 10 - 11, 2015

FRANKIE Miñoza rode on a fiery five-birdie spree linking both nines

to shoot a six-under 66 and tie Jay Bayron at the helm as erstwhile joint leaders Ramil Bisera and Micah Shin reeled back with over-par scores midway through the ICTSI Apo Golf Invitational at the Apo Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

Back on the ICTSI tour after skipping last week’s leg at Palos Verdes, Miñoza wheeled back into title con-tention following a mediocre 72 start, recalling fierce form to turn in the best score in a day of floundering fortunes at the flat but challenging layout.

From joint 10th Wednes-day, Miñoza got a shared view of the top with Bayron, who birdied two of the last four for a 70 and a 138, one ahead of longshot Nilo Sala-hog, who assumed the chal-lenger’s role with a 70 for a 139 after practically all the others stumbled with so-so scores on the tough putting surface of Apo.

Tony Lascuña, whose opening 69 sparked hopes of a big weekend finish for the reigning but still win-less Order of Merit champi-on, lost his momentum and

struggled with a one-over 73 marred by a double bo-gey on No. 14. He fell four strokes behind at 142 in a tie with Shin, who also failed to sustain his solid 68 with a 74 ruined by three bogeys in the last six holes at the front.

ICTSI Palos Verdes win-ner Miguel Tabuena, tied with Lascuña at fourth at the start of the day, also wavered at the finish with bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7 and signed a 73 and remained in joint fourth with a surging Mhark Fer-nando, who shot a 69.

Elmer Salvador, who won at Riviera and placed second at Palos Verdes, ral-lied with two birdies in the last seven holes to fire a 69 and tie Jhonnel Ababa and Clyde Mondilla at even 144. Ababa rebounded with a 70 while Mondilla, who scored a breakthrough at Canlubang last year, matched par 72.

Thirty four others ad-vanced to the last two rounds with Dante Beciera (79), Michael Bibat (79), Orlan Sumcad (74), Peter Villaber (73), John Kier Abdon (76), Japanese Yuta Sudo (76), Ko-rean Thomas Kim (77), Solo-mon Gines (74) and Artemio Murakami (80) making the cut pegged at nine-over 153.

Cassius Casas, winner

of two events last year, continued to struggle coming off a hand injury and missed the weekend play with a 155 after an 80, together with Tournament Players Champi-onship champion Mars Pucay, who succumbed to Apo’s challenges and skied 79 for a 157.

Miñoza, who also co-led halfway through the ICTSI Riviera Classic but faded and ended up joint seventh, proved hungry coming off a tour break and a two-birdie, two-bogey stint in the first round.

After three pars, the veteran campaigner birdied the par-5 13th, closed out the backside with back-to-back birdies then rattled off three more from No. 1. Miñoza, who had a year-best joint fourth place effort at ICTSI Sherwood of the Asian Development Tour, stumbled with a bogey for the second straight day on the par-3 No. 4 but birdied the ninth to finish with a pair of 33s.

TIED FOR THE LEAD. Frankie Miñoza (left) hits a wedge on hole no. 10 on a day he strung up five birdies to catch up on the leaderboard with Dabawenyo Jay Bayron (foreground) who had to summon a rescue on the tricky no. 6 at Apo Golf and Country Club. ICTSI Photo