P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.abf@edgedavao.net

CITY EMPLOYEES TO GET BONUSDuterte finds local source for Christmas bonus

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAOINSIDE EDGE

Comelec cancels Sen. Grace’s COC P2

Gov’t hunting down N. Cot bomb suspects P3

EDGEDAVAOSportsBoxing Revo 4:

Demecillo eyes KO

winP15

DEEP IN THOUGHT. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio appears to be collecting his thoughts before his presentation on the South China Sea dispute at the Ateneo de Davao University yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

SINCE the Davao City government cannot re-lease the Performance

Enhancement Incentive (PEI) and Productivity Incentive Bo-nus (PIB) for the city employ-ees this year, Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte will give another incentive intended for their Christmas celebration.

In an interview with EDGE Davao yesterday, Hu-

man Resource Management Office head Erwin Alapraque said the PEI and PIB will not be granted to employees be-cause of the absence of guide-lines from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“If we remember, there was already a PEI of one month salary granted to the city employees. With the PIB,

there is no guideline yet from the DBM so we cannot grant that bonus this year,” he said.

The PEI and PIB, totaling P30.012 million, is included in the P182.7 million sup-plemental budget number 4 which was passed by the City Council on December 4.

Alparaque said since the DBM has not released guide-lines for the proposed incen-

tive, Duterte took the initiative through the local finance com-mittee (LFC) to grant of bonus for the employees, which is dubbed Pahalipay para sa em-pleyado.

He said with the bonus scheme of Duterte, each reg-ular employee will receive a P10,000 bonus, while job orders, contract of service,

FCITY, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) will seal the muzzles of the guns

of all police officers in the city on Monday to pre-empt in-discriminate firing from their ranks during the holiday sea-son.

In an interview with EDGE Davao yesterday, DCPO spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said the muz-zle-taping ceremony will be held simultaneously nation-

wide as part of the Philippine National Police (PNP) tradi-tion during the observance of Christmas and New Year.

“This is already a tradition-al ceremony of the PNP every holiday season to ensure that no one will make indiscrimi-nate firing from the police per-sonnel,” she said.

Driz said sealing gun muz-zles will also help the police to determine if a police officer fires his gun.

“With the muzzle taping, if there are illegal discharges we can easily know the person be-hind it,” she said.

She said sealing the muz-zle of their firearms does not mean the police cannot use their guns because they need to prevent crimes while secur-ing the holiday season.

“We can use the gun only as our last resort in the perfor-mance of our duty,” she said.

Driz said any police offcer

who will be caught indiscrimi-nately firing his or her gun will face an administrative case, particularly grave misconduct.

If someone is hit by a bul-let, criminal charges will be also slapped on the police offi-cer involved in indiscriminate firing.

Driz urged the public to report persons, especially po-lice officers, who illegally dis-charge their firearms in the ob-servance of the holiday season.

THE Commission on Elec-tions (Comelec) has again slammed the door

on the presidential bid of Sen-ator Grace Poe after cancelling anew her Certificate of Candi-dacy (CoC) for president in the May 2016 elections.

Voting 2-1, the poll body’s First Division has ruled in favor of the consolidated petitions to cancel the lawmaker’s CoC, noting that the latter commit-ted material misrepresentation for claiming that she is a nat-ural-born citizen and has met

the 10-year residency require-ment.

“In complete disregard of what is clear under the law, the Constitution and jurispru-dence, Respondent declared in her CoC for President that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen, who is fully qualified to run and serve as President of the Philippines. The clarity of the law notwithstanding, Re-spondent chose to ignore and brush aside the Constitution and jurisprudence and misrep-resent herself as a natural-born

Filipino citizen, clearly in order to serve her purpose and suit her intent of running for the Presidency,” said the 49-page decision.

The ruling added, “This stark variance in Respondent’s declaration of her residence and her inconsistent state-ments in connection therewith are clear indications of her intent and attempt to deliber-ately misrepresent a material matter in her COC for President for the purpose of hiding of hiding her ineligibility and mis-

lead the electorate. This glaring disparity proves that Respon-dent intended and attempted to conceal the material fact that she is ineligible to run for Pres-ident for failure to meet the 10-year residency requirement.”

Comelec First Division head Commissioner Christian Robert Lim dissented in the ruling while the two members, Commissioners Rowena Guan-zon and Luie Guia voted to can-cel Poe’s CoC.

As for the citizenship, the

SUPREME Court (SC) Asso-ciate Justice Mario Victor Leonen has been desig-

nated as the ponente, or the justice who will draft the ma-jority decision, on the disquali-fication case filed against Sena-tor Grace Poe-Llamanzares.

After the raffle held on Thursday, the petition for cer-tiorari filed by Rizalito David against the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and Poe went to Leonen.

Leonen, being the justice ponente is very crucial in the case of Poe, since he will be

tasked to make a study and write the recommendation and draft the majority decision in the case.

Earlier, David’s petition to disqualify Poe as a senator in the 2013 elections had been decided in Poe’s favor by the SET with a voting of 5-4. How-ever, the petitioner appealed the decision before the SC.

In a petition for certiora-ri, David assailed the ruling of the SET declaring Poe as nat-ural-born Filipino “despite the absence of proof of blood ties

AN alleged burglar who had been operating in San Rafael, Marfori and

Doña Vicenta Subdivision, Davao City was shot by un-identified gunmen on Thurs-day night.

San Pedro Police Station identified the victim only as alias Ton-ton and Tisoy, 27-30 years old and with no perma-nent address.

According to the police report, Barangay 9-A captain Federico Llubit told operatives that he and his team were con-ducting foot patrol in Garnet Street in Marfori at around 6:30 p.m. when they heard three gun bursts from a few meters away.

Llubit said when they ap-proached the area, they saw the victim lying on his side with a gunshot wound in the head.

The assailants had already fled the area.

Scene of the Crime Oper-atives (SOCO) recovered an empty shell of caliber .45 pistol in the crime scene.

In an interview yester-day, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace C. Driz said Llubit told investigators that the victim had been tagged in their barangay as being in-volved in burglary.

“Naa diay atraso nang ba-ta-a na sa ilanng lugar kay no-tado siyang akyat bahay (The suspect has been the object of many complaints in the area for breaking into houses),” she said.

Driz said the police are in-vestigating the incident to find out the motive for the killing.

“The San Pedro Police Station is still identifying the perpetrators and the possible whereabouts of the suspects,” she said. ARMANDO B. FENE-QUITO JR.

ALMOST DESERTED. It used to be very busy during this time of the year, but these days the Philippine Postal Office is virtually empty save for a few who still prefer to send mail and greeting cards the old way. Lean Daval Jr.

Gun-sealing ceremonyfor police on MondayBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Comelec First Division cancelsGrace Poe’s CoC for president

Alleged burglar shot dead

SC Justice Leonen designated as ponente in DQ case vs. Sen. Poe

FSC JUSTICE, 10 FCOMELEC, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 3EDGEDAVAOEDGEDAVAO NEWS

MILITARY and police au-thorities are hunting down gunmen who set

off an improvised explosive de-vice in North Cotabato that sent total blackout in Cotabato City and parts of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, officials said.

Improvised explosive de-vices were set off at the foot of Steel Tower No. 68 of the Na-tional Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Baran-gay Pagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato at about 9:28 p.m. Thursday, according to Inspec-tor Jun Napat, Aleosan town police chief.

As a result, total black-out, which started at 9:28 p.m. Thursday until 10:30 a.m. Fri-day, hit North Cotabato’s first district and the whole of Magu-indanao.

Melfrance Bambi Capu-long, NGCP spokesperson for southern Mindanao, confirmed the bombing and said NGCP field personnel are now in the area to check on the status of the toppled steel tower.

Elements of the 40th In-fantry Battalion and Aleosan PNP are following up a lead about the where about of the

GOVERNMENT must fulfill its commitment to dis-band and disarm armed

groups that are sowing fear in indigenous peoples’ communi-ties and bring to justice those who are accused of violence and criminal activities, a UN official said on Tuesday.

Ola Almgren, UN Resi-dent and Humanitarian Coor-dinator, was referring to the

September statement of then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prosecute those responsi-ble for the spate of killings of Lumads in Mindanao.

“In the context of peace and security, the UN welcomes the September statement by the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the vi-olence. We look forward to a

swift and transparent process with findings that will be made public,” Almgren told partici-pants to the Progressive Ideas and Perspectives Learning Series session on Tuesday in Malacanang.

He noted that the Lumads “have for decades been dis-proportionately affected by the conflict and, as stated by the CHR (Commission on Hu-

man Rights), have long been exploited for political use by all parties to the conflict.”

In Mindanao, Lumad com-munities have been torn apart by the armed conflict between government and the Maoist New People’s Army. Many Lumads themselves have ei-ther become NPA guerrillas or members of pro-government

A NETWORK of biotech-nology advocates is set to launch a nationwide

campaign to counter the Su-preme Court’s (SC) recent deci-sion that permanently stopped the field testing of the trans-genic Bacillus thuringiensis eggplant or Bt talong and void-ed a key government policy on biotechnology adoption.

Reynaldo Cabanao, nation-al president of the Asian Farm-ers Network (ASFARNET)-Phil-ippines, said Friday they have started to mobilize their ranks for the massive signature drive urging for the reversal of the SC decision.

Cabanao, a farmer leader from Malaybalay City said they

will also hold a series of con-sultations and awareness cam-paigns among their members and farmers at the grassroots level regarding the matter.

ASFARNET-Philippines is composed of farmers associa-tions under the regional agri-culture and fisheries councils and regional farmers action councils.

The network has chapters in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“We will also hold regional mobilizations and later at the SC to show our strong opposi-tion to its ruling,” Cabanao told reporters at the sidelines of the National Agri-Biotechnol-

MAKESHIFT STOVE. A Lumad cooks rice the traditional way underneath the Agdao flyover where he and his family, together with other Indigenous People (IP) from Agusan, are staying. Lean Daval Jr.

UN to Phl: Disband armed groupssowing fear in Lumad communities

Reversal of SC rulingvs Bt talong sought

Gov’t forces hunting down suspects in bombing of NGCP tower in N. Cotabato

FUN TO PHL, 10

FREVERSAL, 10

FGOV’T, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 20154 EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

THREE more human immunodeficiency vi-rus/acquired immune

deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) treatment facilities may be established in SOC-CSKSARGEN Region next year, an official of the De-partment of Health 12 an-nounced.

Dr. Ali Tumama , regional program manager for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmit-ted diseases, confirmed in a press conference that the DOH is “planning for an ex-pansion of HIV/AIDS satel-lite treatment hubs.”

Tumama said Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital and the Cotabato Provincial Hospital are being consid-ered to become satellite fa-

cilities while the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City is ready to become a treatment hub.

At present in Region 12, only the HIV/AIDS Care Team (HACT) clinic at the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital (SCPH) in Koro-nadal City and the Social Hygiene Clinic at the City Health Office of General San-tos City have been designat-ed as satellite facilities of the Research Institute for Tropi-cal Medicine (RITM).

As satellites, these facil-ities are authorized to dis-pense antiretroviral (ARV) medicines to HIV/AIDS pa-tients.

John Codilla, South Co-

tabato’s HIV/AIDS focal person, said the HACT Clinic at the SCPH initially served 67 patients with ARV medi-cines provided by RITM.

Prior to the designation of the Gensan Social Hy-giene Clinic and the SCPH HACT Clinic as satellite facil-ities, all patients undergoing therapy travel to Southern Philippines Medical Cen-ter (SPMC) in Davao City to withdraw their ARV medi-cines provided free by the government.

Tumama said once the CRMC is appointed as a treatment hub like SPMC, it will be provided funds by DOH for its operation.

This would also mean that HIV/AIDS patients in

SOCCSKSARGEN Region need not go to Davao City for their therapy.

“The personnel of the CRMC have undergone all the necessary training. What is needed is an assessment of the CRMC to determine if its facilities are suitable for a treatment hub, “ he said.

This dates of assessment and the actual operation of CRMC as a treatment hub would also depend on the hospital administration sending a letter of intent to the DOH, Dr. Tumama said.

As of September, SOC-CSKSARGEN Region has 551 HIV/AIDS cases. Of these, 348 are recorded in South Cotabato and General Santos City. (DEDoguiles-PIA 12)

THE Provincial Disas-ter Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM)

has intensified its rescue training for persons with dis-ability (PWDs) to help reduce their vulnerability and build their resilience during calam-ities.

The training was attended by rescuers from various local government units, including members of the PWD sector headed by Engr. Darlito Pal-ermo, the Regional PWD Sec-toral Council Member from the National Anti-Poverty Commission.

“Our problem in terms of inclusion and participation of PWD’s in Risk Reduction and Management is the prepara-tion of the responders to ac-commodate the PWD sector,” said Palermo, who shared his

personal experience when his family once evacuated due to massive flood in Bangkal, Davao City.

DavNor Executive Direc-tor CCA-DRRM Romulo Tagalo said this endeavor is their first engagement with persons with disability.

“Ang DRRM dili lang pang-rescue sa mga physically able kundi pagsabot sa lain-laing panginahanglan sa ka-tawhan” (The DRRM rescues not just the physically able but also seeks to understand the different needs of the peo-ple),” Tagalo said.

Part of the training was to have an idea on how to live like a PWD. Physically able responders tried to become blind and deaf, and to rely on a wheelchair for accessibility. PIO DavNor

THE Commission on Hu-man Rights (CHR) in Davao region formally

inaugurated its child-friendly room in the time for the 67th Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights Day.

Atty. Irene Joy Montero, of-ficer-in-charge of the CHR 11, said this year’s celebration is focused on the more vulnera-ble sectors of society, particu-larly the children.

She said the children are given emphasis with the set-ting up of the Child Rights Cen-ter at the general headquarters in Manila and the putting up of Child-Friendly Space in every CHR office nationwide.

Montero said the opening of a child-friendly room in their office manifests their interest to reach out to the children.

“It will be used primarily whenever interviews are done involving children,” she said.

The room presents a more relaxed atmosphere especially for children.

Montero said the Human Rights Day celebration, which is anchored on the theme, “ Karapatang Pangtao, Igalang, Ipagtanggol at Isakatuparan,” is a manifestation of a pledge all over the world that every person is free with dignity and human rights.

She said all governments have the aim to respect and protect human rights.

Montero said human rights will only be given true importance if everyone joins in respecting, protecting, and realizing the rights of every person.

“We can only realize this pursuit if we unite and hold on to the ideals of freedom, equal-ity, and respect for human dig-nity,” Montero said. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)

A TOTAL of 1,331 urban poor homeowners asso-ciation members coming

from different barangays all over the island gathered in Ba-bak Gymnasium on December 4 to celebrate the Urban Poor Solidarity Week (UPSW).

The event came with the theme “MARALITANG TAG-ALUNGSOD: May K ka sa Tu-wid na Daan; Kakayahang Umunlad; Kahalagahan sa Lipunan; Karapatan bilang Mamamayan; Kasali sa Mala-wakang Pag-unlad.”

The Urban Poor Solidarity Week is an annual celebra-tion facilitated by the Local Government Unit of Island Garden City of Samal which has been celebrated for years since it has been implement-ed through the City Mayor’s Office- Human Settlement Di-vision in coordination with the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).

The celebration was also under the proclamation no. 367 that December 2-8 of ev-

ery year declared as Urban Poor Solidarity Week Celebra-tion. It is in this occasion where issues and problems on urban-ization, poverty squatting and other related concerns are be-ing aired and tackled.

It aimed to establish soli-darity and teamwork through sports activity with partner agencies as well as to promote and strengthen camaraderie among Urban Poor Organiza-tions (UPOs). Presentation of accomplishments in terms of policies, programs and proj-ects for the urban poor social-ized housing was one of the highlights of the activity.

The week-long celebration included several activities such as cultural presentation, par-lor games and sports activity participated by urban poor or-ganizations (UPOs), Non-gov-ernment Organizations and private individuals joining the celebration.

City Mayor Aniano P. An-talan was grateful to the co-operation and support of the

urban poor organization to the local government housing program which help expedite development of the city partic-ularly supporting the tourism industry.

During the activity, the award received by IGaCoS from the Housing and Urban Devel-opment Coordinating Council ( HUDCC)-NDAPSSS for win-ning the 2015 Best practices award Local drive Against Pro-fessional Squatters and Squat-ting Syndicates was presented to the audience.

This was the third consec-utive year that the local gov-ernment of IGaCoS received the award for curtailing the activities of professional squat-ters and squatting syndicates through sound legislative ac-tions, pragmatic policies, inno-vative anti professional squat-ting programs and projects and effective implementation thus enhancing its capacity to address housing and urban development concerns. Samal Info

DOH 12 to open moreHIV treatment facilities

MAGPUPUNGKO BEACH. Foreign tourists enjoy the water and the rock formation at the Magpupungko Beach and Tidal Pools in the municipality of Pilar, Siargao Island.. They waited for the low tide to enjoy the tidal pools. MindaNews photo by Roel N. Catoto

GIFT PUPPY. Maritess Kapok shows the puppy that she received from a resident in Bankerohan area in Davao City after singing Christmas carols along with other

lumads from Paquibato District. Kapok is one of the hundreds of lumads from the hinterlands who go around the city for caroling. MindaNews Photo by Keith Bacongco

DavNor holds rescuetraining for PWDs

CHR Region 11 openschild-friendly room

Urban Poor Solidarity Week held in Samal

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 20156 EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

Palace welcomes resultsof Labor Force Survey

THE Department of En-vironment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity

Management Bureau (BMB) has developed the Philippines Biodiversity Strategy and Ac-tion Plan (PBSAP), the coun-try’s road map in conserving biodiversity and critical eco-system for the next 13 years.

Supporting the DENR-BMB in crafting the road map are the United Nations Devel-opment Programme (UNDP), other national government

agencies, academe, civil so-ciety and development part-ners.

Through the UNDP’s Bio-diversity Financing Initiative (BioFin), the DENR-BMB has determined the financing gap of implementing the PB-SAP, estimated to be at least P334 billion (US$7.4 billion) over the next 13 years.

This covers actions on forest, coastal and marine, inland wetlands, caves and cave systems, protected ar-

eas, invasive alien species, agro-biodiversity, access and benefit-sharing and urban biodiversity.

“This may sound like a huge impost on the budget but it really is not. It should be seen as an investment in conservation and also as an economic investment with significant financial returns to the country,” UNDP Philip-pines Country Director Titon Mitra said.

“It is an investment that

needs to be made by both government and the private sector. This could see a mini-mum return of $10 billion per year from fisheries, eco-tour-ism and pharmaceuticals de-rived from genetic resources,” Mitra added.

The results of the study were presented today by UNDP and BMB in a press briefing attended by Mr. Guill-ermo Zuñiga, Former Minister of Finance, Republic of Costa Rica, now UNDP Bio Fin Team

Leader in Costa Rica, and rep-resentatives from the Philip-pines Department of Finance, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the National Economic and Development Authority.

The Philippines is one of 17 mega diverse countries, harboring more diversity of life per hectare than any other country in the world.

Yet, encroachment in for-ested areas, pollution, over fishing, poor land manage-

ment practices are leading to biodiversity loss at an alarm-ing rate.

BioFin is a global partner-ship seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner through building a sound business case for increased investment in the manage-ment of ecosystems and bio-diversity.

The Philippines is one of 29 countries involved in the initiative.

Road map to conserve biodiversitycrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

LICENSED architects in the country need more training to be at par

with other ASEAN nations, an official of the United Ar-chitects of the Philippines (UAP) said.

“The ASEAN integrations posed huge opportunities to our licensed architects here since firms from the Phil-ippines can bid and accept project from other ASEAN nations,” said Architect Glo-ryrose Dy, UAP Davao district secretary and UAP Davao del Norte president.

However, the lack of di-versified trainings and mas-

ter’s degree among licensed architects here limit their practice within the country.

“Of the 1,000 members of UAP here, only two to three percent of licensed architects here are qualified to work as principal architects in other ASEAN nations,” Dy said.

She said licensed Filipino architects who are employed in Singapore, for instance, are not hired as architects but as designers only.

“This happens because foreign employers reasoned that Filipino architects have no specialization,” Dy said.

In Davao City, Dy said

only few colleges or univer-sities offer specialization and masters program for archi-tects.

Dy said the University of the Philippines Diliman as well as the University of San-to Tomas in partnership with the Ateneo de Davao Univer-sity that offers masters pro-gram on architecture.

“More universities and colleges should offer diversi-fied specialization and mas-ters program for architecture to improve the competitive-ness of our architects,” she said.

Licensed architects here,

Dy said, should be open with the posted opportunity by the ASEAN integration.

“Many of the architects here have been satisfied with what they receive and earn from their projects here but they could earn more if they will have more trainings on specialization,” she said.

Dy said there’s huge de-mand for Filipino architects abroad who are known for their skills and talents.

Meanwhile, the UAP conducted last December 9 Balankasan, a diversified training forum for architects. CHENEEN R. CAPON

Licensed architects need training to be at par with ASEAN nations: UAP official

IN time for the Christmas sea-son, the Social Security System (SSS) has earmarked a total of

P6.34 billion for the 13th month pensions of over two million SSS pensioners for retirement, dis-ability and death which is sched-uled for release to the pension-ers’ bank accounts and via mail this December.

SSS Vice President for Ben-efits Administration Division Agnes E. San Jose said that with the 13th month pension, SSS

pensioners would receive dou-ble the amount of their regular monthly pension this month. The 13th month pension is an SSS year-end tradition that started in 1988.

“The allotted funds for the 13th month pensions were al-ready disbursed to SSS partner banks in November. As in previ-ous years, SSS pensioners can ex-pect to receive their 13th month pension at the same time as their regular December pensions,” San

Jose said.Over 99 percent of SSS

pensioners are enrolled in the Pension Payment thru the Bank Program, formerly known as the Mag-Impok sa Bangko Program, which enables them to receive their monthly pensions directly at their designated savings ac-counts. Some 12,500 pensioners opted to receive pension checks sent through the mail due to rea-sons such as lack of automated teller machines in their area.

“Almost P6.31 billion for 13th month pensions are sched-uled for release through pension-ers’ bank accounts. The remain-ing P34.61 million would be in the form of checks mailed to the designated addresses of the oth-er pensioners,” San Jose said.

The SSS deposited the 13th month pension funds to the re-spective banks of pensioners two weeks before December. SSS partner banks would then credit

SSS allots over P6B for 13th month pensions

MALACAÑANG on Thursday welcomed the results of the lat-

est round of the Labor Force Survey conducted by the Phil-ippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which showed another decline in unemployment.

In a statement, Presiden-tial Spokesperson Edwin Lac-ierda noted that from 6 per-cent in October 2014, the un-employment rate further de-creased to 5.7 percent, which is the lowest figure recorded in the past decade.

“We are pleased to an-nounce that the latest round of the Labor Force Survey, as re-leased today by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), registered another decline in unemployment. From 6.0 percent in October 2014, the unemployment rate further dropped to 5.7 percent—the lowest figure recorded in the past decade. Coupled with an improvement in employment and a decrease in underem-ployment, this serves as an indication of our economy’s robust growth. Our employ-

ment rate is currently esti-mated at 94.3 percent—an increase from last year’s 94.0 percent—while underem-ployment decreased to 17.6 percent from 18.7 percent in October 2014,” said the Palace official.

Secretary Lacierda said that according to the PSA re-port, employment growth was led by the services and indus-try sectors, which hired an ad-ditional 440,000 and 169,000 workers, respectively over the past year.

“The report also indicates that our youth unemployment rate decreased to 13.6 percent from 14.2 percent in October 2014, and that this decline in the number of unemployed was recorded across all educa-tional levels,” he added.

“In the interest of compa-rability, the above figures ex-clude data from the province of Leyte. Due to the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda, Leyte was not included in the October 2014 round of the La-bor Force Survey,” he further said. (PCOO News Release)

DUE to the adverse effects of El Niño and continued weakening of demand

from China, the manufacturing sector slightly declined in Oc-tober 2015 but is expected to rebound in the coming months and years ahead, according to the National Economic and De-velopment Authority (NEDA).

In the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries for September 2015, the manufac-turing sector’s Volume of Pro-duction Index decreased by 1.8 percent while its Value of Pro-duction Index continued to fall at 9.2 percent from its drop of 4.8 percent in September 2015.

“For the months and years ahead, the government ex-pects the manufacturing sector is expected to exhibit stronger growth,” said Economic Plan-ning Secretary Arsenio M. Bali-sacan.

“But for this holiday sea-son, driven by strong domestic demand, business firms are expected to increase produc-tion output in anticipation of brisker business activities. This will translate to higher volume of sales and possible expansion of businesses and new product lines,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Volume of Net Sales Index (VoNSI) and Value of Net Sales Index (VaN-SI) posted steep declines of -5.8 percent and -12.9 percent re-spectively.

For consumer goods, to-bacco grew vigorously, posting triple-digit growth rates for the first time in net sales, follow-ing the implementation of tax stamps. Tobacco grew by 129.2 percent in volume and 131.3 percent in value of production. It also boasted double-digit growth rates in net sales, grow-ing by 12.3 percent growth in volume and 13.4 percent in val-ue.

In contrast, the food subsec-tor continued to decline in both value and volume of net sales due to the persisting dry spell brought about by the El Niño and the devastation brought about by typhoons “Egay”, “In-eng”, and “Lando”.

For intermediate goods, net sales of wood and wood prod-ucts continued to increase by 34.1 percent in volume and 10.1 percent in value as even other construction-related materi-als declined with the declining number of non-residential con-struction permits from July to September.

Manufacturing slightly declines in October ‘15

NATIVE CHRISTMAS. Decorations from the booth of North Cotabato catch the interest of a foreigner at the Mindanao Trade Expo Christmas bazaar 2015 at the activity center of Abreeza Mall yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

FSSS, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 7

Blight in the oceans

IN the award-winning 1967 movie The Graduate, the character portrayed by

then newcomer Dustin Hoff-man (who earned a well-de-serving Oscar nomination for his performance) asks some advice on career direction. “Plastics, my boy. Plastics,” he was told.

Businesses all over the world are heeding the ad-vice. The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute re-ports: “Worldwide plastic production has been grow-ing as the durable, primarily petroleum-based material gradually replaces materials like glass and metal.”

These days, an average person living in Western Eu-rope or North America con-sumes 100 kilograms of plas-tic each year, mostly in the form of packaging. Asia uses just 20 kilograms per person, but this figure is expected to grow rapidly as the region’s economies expand.

It’s not surprising at all that wherever you go, you see plastics around. Unfor-tunately, most of these plas-tics end up in the oceans. A recent study conservatively estimated that 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing a total of 268,940 tons are cur-rently floating in the world’s oceans. This debris results in an estimated US$13 billion a year in losses from dam-age to marine ecosystems, including financial losses to fisheries and tourism as well as time spent cleaning beach-

es.The future seems to be

bleak. “Growth in the volume of plastic used in the global economy is projected to in-crease significantly over the next 10 years, especially in markets where waste man-agement is only emerging,” says a newly-released study, Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plas-tic-free Ocean.

“Unchecked, there will be 1 ton of plastic in the ocean for every 3 tons of fish in the ocean by 2025 – an unthink-able outcome,” says the study published by the internation-al group Ocean Conservan-cy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment

Over 80% of ocean plas-tics come from the land, the report says. These are dis-carded and not well-man-aged, thus leaking into the ocean. Only 20% is thrown directly or purposefully into the ocean from ships and drilling rigs, among others.

Most of the land-based leakage originates in five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. “As rapidly developing economies, these countries are now passing through a typical stage of economic growth as con-sumer demand for dispos-able products grows more rapidly than the waste man-agement infrastructure,” the report says. “We find that 75% of leakage comes from waste that is uncollected by

Plastics:

“Through its longevity (some products are estimated to re-tain their original recognizable form 400 years after discharge into the ocean), its ubiquitousness, and sheer volume, plastic de-bris is emerging as a new, truly global challenge.” -- From the Foreword of Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plastic-free Ocean

***

waste management systems, while 25% of leakage hap-pens from within the system itself.”

A recent study, “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean,” which was pub-lished in the journal Science, listed the Philippines as the third highest producer of plastic wastes thrown into the ocean -- after China and Indonesia.

“Almost 15 years of poor implementation of the Eco-logical Solid Waste Man-agement Act (RA 9003) and unheeded calls for a nation-al ban on the undoubtedly problematic and persistent plastic bags apparently helped a lot in putting the country at third place in the study’s embarrassing list,” said Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition.

Yet, according to the new study, the Philippines has remarkably high collec-tion with an aggregate rate of 84% all over the country, ranging from near 90% in some dense urban areas and 80% or lower in more widely dispersed population cen-ters.

So why is there a discrep-ancy?

The study found that 74% of the plastics leaking into the ocean from the Phil-ippines (about 386,000 tons of plastic trash) comes from garbage that has already been collected by haulers and garbage trucks. Only 26% (135,000 tons) of plas-tics in the open seas actually originates from garbage that is not collected.

“As an archipelago, the Philippines is not only sur-rounded by water but also has an extensive network of

rivers and tribu-taries,” the study observes. “As such, there is a high likelihood of misman-aged waste entering water-ways.”

To illustrate, the study cites a bottom-up compar-ison of the locations of a subset of open dump sites. It found out that over 50% of dump sites in the country were located within a dis-tance of 100 kilometers to waterways.

“This also has implica-tions for the leakage rate of waste that exits the system through illegal dumping by transporters,” the study says. “Our estimates suggested that 70-90% of the waste that fails to reach dump sites due to these practices actual-ly ends up in waterways.”

Although the lay person tends to think of plastic as a single material having nu-merous applications, more than 46 different polymers (chains of hydrogen and car-bon molecules) are actually in common use. A squeezable ketchup bottle, for example, is made of six layers of plas-tics, each engineered to do a different job, such as to give the bottle shape, strength, flexibility and impermeabil-ity.

The typical plastic bag that weighs just a few grams and is a few millimeters thick might seem thoroughly in-nocuous were it not for the sheer volume of global pro-duction: 500 billion to one trillion a year.

The Worldwatch Insti-tute says about 4% of the petroleum consumed world-wide each year is used to make plastic, and another 4% is used to power plastic manufacturing processes.

While plas-tics are boon to the industry, they are blight in the oceans. A survey conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace Philippines in 2006 discovered plastic bags and other synthetic packag-ing materials to comprise 76% of garbage retrieved from Manila Bay. In Laguna de Bay, plastic bags make up 25% of the solid waste that is polluting the lake.

“Plastic bags end up as litter as it makes its way to landfills, drainages and bod-ies of water, taking decades to decompose and damaging marine life when dumped into the sea,” said Senator Lo-ren Legarda in a statement.

Because they are usually buoyant, plastics are widely distributed by ocean cur-rents and wind. “Discard-ed plastic bands encircle mammals, fish, and birds and tighten as their bodies grow,” said the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute. “Turtles, whales, and other marine mammals have died after eating plastic sheeting.”

In the United States, plastic gears, six-pack yokes, sandwich bags and Styro-foam cups are so abundant in the ocean that they kill up to one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year.

Not only that. Plastics are hazardous to your health as well. “Many of the chemi-cals used in the production and processing of plastic are highly toxic, resulting in haz-ardous wastes, toxic air emis-sions and discharges of toxic effluents into waterways,” said a study which appeared in the Environmental Action.

The study further stated: “People don’t think plastic products are toxic because by the time they get to supermarket shelves, they’re not. But in-gredients in plastic produc-tion have dangerous prop-erties for those who work with them or live near plastic factories.”

Environmentalists cau-tion against burning those plastics to get rid of them completely. Scientists say that chlorine-based plastics, when incinerated, contribute to the formation of dioxins, a poisonous waste that forms when chlorine is exposed to extreme heat.

“Dioxins are considered highly toxic and are impli-cated in weakening the im-mune system, affecting fetal development and causing a skin disorder called chlorac-ne,” wrote Chynthia P. Shea, a former staff member of the Worldwatch Institute.

Just some thought about Styrofoam. It is made from the plastic polystyrene, which is based on building blocks called styrene monomers. When you drink your steam-ing cup of coffee or spoon your chicken noodle soup out of a Styrofoam cup, you also take in small doses of chem-icals that leach from it.

“Trace amounts of sty-rene as well as various chem-ical additives in polystyrene migrate into food – particu-larly when liquids are hot,” explains Dr. Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at the En-vironmental Working Group. However, the US Department of Health and Human Ser-vices says that the levels re-leased from food containers are very low.

A sea full of garbage (Photo from the net)

Ocean full of plastics (Photo from the net)

By Henrylito D. Tacio

EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

EDITORIALDaring Mar Roxas

MANY times as Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government and in his previous stints as Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry and

the Department of Transportation and Communications, Mar Roxas set foot in Davao.

Unless Mr. Roxas refutes this, there was no incident in any of his visits that he was in danger. He had spent days and nights in Davao. In one of his recent visits, he walked the street along Torres crossing the Archbishop Palace to a nearby restaurant.

To be precise, Mr. Roxas is not a stanger in Davao. He knows the city.

It is saddening to hear from Mr. Roxas that all of a sudden, he questions Davao as a safe city and tells everyone it is just a myth.

To take it from somebody who was in charge of ensuring the development and promotion of peace and order among local government units all over the country, including Davao City, that the latter is not safe and has high crime volume is like pointing a gun to himself and squeezing the trigger with his own thumb.

Mr. Roxas’ sudden change of heart and his newfound dislike

for Davao City could be a product of hate and despair that a man from Davao is leaving him behind in a margin so wide he should start thinking if he ever has a chance in the Presidential race.

The 2016 elections is just a political exercise. Putting down a city and its people because its leader is leading the surveys casts doubts on a man who is presenting himself as a leader who can take the country to a straight path, whatever that means as a political platform. Mr. Roxas is sorrily missing the point. Davao is not an enemy. If a man from this city is his main obstacle to Malacañang, putting down the city is definitely not the road to the presidency.

Davao City’s accomplishments as a city can be Mr. Roxas’ plus factor if he considers himself as a catalyst being the Secretary of the DILG. But if in his heart he knows he has done nothing to make this city among the most liveable cities in the world, not to mention the safest, according to respected global organization, he is better off not opening his mouth.

Davao dares Mr. Roxas to come to Davao City and walk in the city’s streets in the middle of the night without his cordon sanitaire.

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

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 301-6235

Telefax: (082) 221-3601www.edgedavao.net

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

CAGAYAN DE ORO MARKETING OFFICELEIZEL A. DELOSO | Marketing ManagerUnit 6, Southbank Plaza Velez-Yacapin Sts.Cagayan de Oro CityTel: (088) 852-4894

RICHARD C. EBONAAdvertising Specialist

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

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 • VIDA MIA S. VALVERDE • FRED C. LUMBA • HENRY J. SCHUMACHER • VANESSA KATE MADRAZO Economic Analysts: ENRICO “GICO” G. DAYANGIRANG

LEANDRO S. DAVAL JR. PhotographyARLENE D. PASAJE

Cartoons

KENNETH IRVING K. ONGBAI FAUZIAH FATIMA SINSUAT AMBOLODTO

MEGHANN STA. INES NIKKI GOTIANSE-TAN

Lifestyle

Printed by Zion Accuprint Publishing Inc. Door 14 ALCREJ Building,

Quirino Avenue, 8000, Davao City, PhilippinesTel: (082) 224-1413

Telefax: (082) 221-3601www.edgedavao.net

editorial@edgedavao.netmarketing@edgedavao.net

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICE

EDMUND D. RENDONMarketing Specialist

General Santos CityMobile: (Smart) 0909-424-7990

MANILA MARKETING OFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA | Marketing Manager

97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City

Tel: (02) 654-3509

NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVOManaging Editor

AGAPITO JOAQUIN JR.Associate Editor

CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEYConsultant

FUNNY PEARL GAJUNERACHA MONFORTE

Correspondents

ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.CHENEEN R. CAPON

Reporters

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

RICHARD C. EBONAMarketing Supervisor

SOLANI D. MARATASFinance

JOCELYN S. PANESDirector of Sales

AGUSTIN V. MIAGAN JRCirculation

PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTEthe national association of newspapers

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

THE annual economic briefing of the University of Asia and the Pacific normally sounds like the

most conservative set of observations on the Philippine economy, and often is accused of painting an economic picture in too many rose-looking colors.

Yet this years’ economic briefing is, in a word, startling. Perhaps for the first time in many years it focuses on poverty reduction as a focus. It dares to say that if growth intends to be meaningful and inclusive to poorer sectors of society, then it has to go up at least two percent-age points to the 8-10% Gross Domes-tic Product range from today’s 5-7%. It stabs government propaganda about being the second fastest growing econo-my in Asia. It may sound impressive, but we need more than that to make growth truly inclusive for the Filipino, a third of whom are poor. Whether or not it par-rots the inclusive growth calling of the PNOY government, or rides on the re-cent APEC activity’s slogan, remains to be seen.

Analyzing what the UA and Ps econ-omists are telling us, our economy, in ef-fect, has to grow 30% faster and bigger than today’s economy. What this means down the line is that what we produce must be much more and with greater value than what we are growing or man-ufacturing today. In agricultural terms,

growth year on year must at least be 10% in terms of output, the same rate as manufactur-ing, though the latter can considerably add value more than agriculture. The former’s size increase will poten-tially reduce food prices, pushing them down to within reach of poorer sectors, who will gain the livelihood to plant and harvest more so they can buy more as well. Can government make this growth happen?

Of course talking about poverty is not just about elections and campaign promises. Neither is it about exces-sive altruism or similar virtues of piety churchgoing or liberation calls of the left-leaning. Poverty by itself is both an objective economic condition and a state of mind and spirit, where the poor person is subject to forces often beyond his or her perception, in structures he barely understands. People shackled therein are forced to make do and be happy with the givens, no matter how brutal and heavy the manacle. One sim-

ply has to look at the scavenger, the dai-ly wage farmer, the urban poor settler. If that’s not uneasy enough, you can add a situation like disease and disability, couple it with a broken nuclear family, mix in a drug or gambling addiction and the manacle of deprivation and despair weighs down the spirit, leaving it devoid of hope, endlessly navigating the daily suffering with a resigned soul simply egging on neighbors and friends to share in the company of the misery that often sums life in the ghetto. This leads to an alienation from reality that deprives the person of the means to perceive his sit-uation and therefore traps him or her within that milieu. What results is a worldview that prevents the conscious-ness from figuring out how to snap free from the chokehold of want.

All things said, pulling away from poverty requires more than just nutri-tional support, conditional cash trans-fers, a relocation site, and training pro-grams. It requires a change in spirit. It needs an imagination and a strength of character to build a life to see life be-yond the obvious limits and well into the heights of hope and the depths of perception where happiness and con-tentment lie. It simply means being con-tent to live without want but with all the necessities to sustain life. Yes, the hope is that simple. The question is, why has

government for as long as we remember allowed poverty to persist in a full third of our population? Why allow them to live below the required 2,100 calories per day? How can government, with the powers vested in it by the people, persist in seeing children unable to attend free schooling?

Within the last 100 years, the relative percentage of poor to middle class has remained the same. The Philippines was never a rich country as claimed by those who say we were the second best econ-omy next to Japan after World War 2. Perhaps that is what they perceive and persistently believe without thinking that Japan and everyone else in Asia was left a wasteland after being vanquished by the allied powers after World War 2.

What I am trying to say is that a 10% economic growth alone cannot change the complex mindset and broken spirit of the poor that has been nurtured into a culture over several generations. It takes a deliberate effort to reorient the worldview. It takes programs and small victories where the hearts and minds of those we consider poor are lifted up into a consciousness that says they can change their condition. It requires inspi-ration for them to take part in inclusive growth. I am changing my own world-view and hoping that the coming elec-tions will provide just that.

THE entry of Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte in the presidential race brought a shift in the public

discussion and pushed people to dis-cuss what the candidates were able to achieve in their experience in public office. A lot of people were quick to use Davao City as a case study for Duterte’s effectiveness as an enforcer of public or-der.

It was inevitable that people even-tually debated about how Duterte achieved this with allegations of extra-judicial killings and human rights viola-tions hovering over and reinforcing his statements about his hardline stance against criminals.

For people like me, however, there is a moral dilemma about the justification for this kind of justice. Do the ends justi-fy the means? Have we exhausted every legal recourse to achieve justice and put these people behind bars? Given that law enforcement is ineffective and indi-rectly leads to innocent lives being killed by criminals, is it as immoral as killing the evil elements without due process? Is this really about choosing the lesser

evil?I had

this dis-c u s s i o n with a f r i e n d and he of-fered as a perspec-tive that p e r h a p s we’re ask-ing the wrong questions. And I think he’s right.

A lot of the discourse regarding poli-cy, or at least about justice, is geared to-wards reacting to the situation of crime and public disorder instead of prevent-ing it, or understanding why it exists in the first place.

And I think it’s equally important to also talk about what it takes for people to commit a crime because all this talk about criminals deserving to die is giv-ing the impression that they are people who are inherently evil and have no moral conscience, who have no families, or who are naturally unloved.

I don’t know that for sure as well but in a country that’s stricken with dire poverty, many criminals are victims of circumstance and don’t have the same opportunity to get an education, or a de-cent job, and whose moral judgment has been clouded with a desperate attempt to survive and exit the shithole where they may be right now through stealing or selling drugs.

I’m not saying their crimes are jus-tified. Not at all. Other people who are in poverty do not commit crimes, and in fact some of them work very hard for their children to go to school even if it means collecting garbage day and night to make a living.

But it doesn’t disprove how poverty and despair are conditions which may motivate some to resort to illegal means, especially when they can’t see and ap-preciate how the legal system helps them. Crime can be a manifestation of a loss of hope in this system in the same way that vigilante justice is.

This is saying that we could do more to improve their conditions and battle crime in a way that empowers the mar-

ginalized who are susceptible to com-mitting crime instead of relying on de-terrence, and on the fear of the people for the law. Programs like 4Ps are not enough to reverse the trend of corrup-tion that has besieged our country.

The discussion should not be about how we straighten up criminals but about how we strengthen political insti-tutions. The national government can-not claim ascendancy over Duterte or the Davao City government by relying on Duterte’s tolerance (or maybe even per-petration) of extrajudicial killings be-cause for one thing, it has failed to make any fruitful investigations about the al-legations or incarcerated any vigilantes. Secondly, neither of them can claim as-cendancy because they govern the sys-tem that fails to address the conditions that create crime in the first place.

This should be included in the stan-dards by which we assess the politicians who are running for office. Make this not just about ending crime but also about empowering the weak and giving people generally a reason to have faith in the system.

Lessons from the UA and P economic briefing

Crime and justice: Asking the wrong questions

John Triaecisouth@gmail.com

MY TWO CENTS’

Vanessa Kate Madrazo

MY MILLENNIAL MIND

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 201510CITY... FROM 1

SC Justice... FROM 2

Reversal... FROM 3

Gov’t... FROM 3

SSS... FROM 6

Comelec... FROM 2 UN to Phl... FROM 3

NEWS EDGEDAVAO

and consultants will receive P5,000 each.

Barangay health workers, barangay nutrition scholars, and auxiliary personnel will receive P2,000 each.

“It is already the practice of the mayor to give incentives to the employees especially

during Christmas season,” Al-paraque said.

He said under the LFC res-olution approved by Duterte, the distribution of the incen-tive will be on December 16 up to 23 so that employees can use it for their Christmas Eve celebration.

to a Filipino father or mother.”David argued that the

majority of the SET members have committed grave abuse of discretion in declaring Poe as a natural-born Filipino citizen.

He asked the SC to reverse and declare void the SET ma-jority decision and immediate-ly issue a temporary restrain-ing order (TRO) or injunction order which would immedi-ately disqualify Poe.

David also questioned Poe’s reacquisition of her Philippine citizenship which is considered an act which shows that she is a natu-ral-born Filipino after she has applied and declared as a Unit-ed States citizen.

Poe claimed that she is a “foundling” from Iloilo, adopt-ed by celebrity couple Fernan-do Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

She later on migrated to the United States but even-tually returned to the Philip-

pines and was elected senator in 2013.

The petitioner also criti-cized the alleged politicking of the senators in declaring Poe as a natural-born Filipino which is a clear violation of the Lerias doctrine, in which judges were reminded to rule on cases as judges and not as politicians.

David argued that the findings of the minority led by SC Associate Justices Anto-nio T. Carpio, Teresita J. Leon-ardo-De Castro and Arturo D. Brion, along with Senator Nancy Binay was the correct ruling by following the letters of the law.

The majority members of the SET who ruled in favor of Poe were Senators Loren Legarda, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Vil-lar and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV. (PNA)

poll body noted that Poe failed to prove her direct blood rela-tionship with a Filipino parent since her biological parents are unidentified.

It added that the respon-dent cannot assert to be a nat-ural-born Filipino as provided in the 1935 and 1987 Consti-tution and conferred to those with natural-born citizenship status.

“Extending its application to those who are not expressly included in the enumeration and definition of natural-born citizens is a disservice to the rule of law and an affront to the Constitution. It will only open the floodgates to unqualified persons whose allegiance to our country is questionable. This we must never allow,” added the decision, which was promulgated on Friday.

On the other hand, the Comelec First Division also ruled that Poe failed to meet the residency requirement of 10 years, thus, disapproving her claim to have re-estab-lished domicile of choice in the Philippines.

It pointed out that her be-ing an American citizen, her husband being a resident of the United States (US) as well as her frequent travels to the US using her passport all in-validate her claim that she had abandoned her US domicile and changed it to the Philip-pines.

“Assuming, however, that there are acts that reflect an intention to establish one’s domicile in the Philippines, the same regrettably cannot be giv-en weight. This is because Re-spondent was still an American citizen and a foreigner at the time she allegedly commenced the re-establishment of her do-micile or permanent residence in the Philippines,” the ruling said.

The petitioners on the con-solidated petitions are former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad, for-mer University of the East Law Dean Amado Valdez and De La Salle University (DLSU) Profes-sor Antonio Contreras.

Meanwhile, Lim in his 81-page Dissenting Opinion dis-agreed with the decision, as he is convinced that the senator did not commit material mis-representation on both issues.

He noted that Poe was

able to show proof of her in-tent to permanently reside in the country as early as May 24, 2005 and that the Division does not have the mandate to rule on whether she is a natu-ral-born citizen or not.

“On the issue of residency, both the Contreras and Valdez petitions failed to take into ac-count that as early as May 24, 2005, the respondent was able to show actual, physical, and personal presence in the coun-try, coupled with the intention of permanently residing here-in. There is hence no material misrepresentation in the COC of the Respondent as to the number of years she has been a resident of the Philippines,” Lim said.

He added, “On the issue of citizenship, the Valdez petition did not squarely put in issue the fact that the respondent is not a natural-born citizen based on her re-acquisition of her Filipino citizenship... Con-sequently, no ruling can be ren-dered whether the respondent misrepresented her claim to being a natural-born Filipino citizen in her COC.”

The head of the First Di-vision noted that the Tatad petition should have been dis-missed outright since he filed for the disqualification, instead of the cancellation of her CoC.

“The Tatad petition cannot be treated as one to deny due course to, or cancel the CoC of the respondent since the basis of the action is not whether the respondent committed material misrepresentation, therein, but that she lacks the citizenship and residency qual-ifications required by law to become President. The Tatad Petition should have been dis-missed outright for availing of the wrong mode to assail the qualifications of the respon-dent,” Lim explained.

On the other hand, Poe was given five days after receiving the copy of the ruling to file a motion for reconsideration (MR) before the Comelec en banc.

This is the second decision that a petition to cancel Poe’s CoC for president after the Comelec Second Division had granted the petition of Atty. Es-trella Elamparo, to also cancel the presidential aspirant’s CoC. (PNA)

paramilitary groups.The plight of Lumads af-

fected by the conflict hogged the headlines after the killing of three Lumad leaders in Su-rigao del Sur last September by suspected paramilitary men. Hundreds of Lumads evacuat-ed to the capital city of Tandag, obliging the Senate to conduct an inquiry a month after the incident.

“The UN agrees with the many calls for local armed groups, including IP armed groups, to urgently and sys-tematically be disarmed and disbanded and stopped from engaging in violence and crim-inal activities. The State must ensure that law and order is consistently maintained in all communities,” Algren said.

He added: “The UN sup-ports the premise made by the Department of Justice that under International Human-itarian Law, the protection of non-combatants ‘must never be compromised and violators must be held to account’.

“Non-combatants must be fully protected by the State and never be subjected to persecu-tion, targeting, harassment or violence due to their political beliefs. We must remember that the targeting or occu-pation of schools as well as the harassment or attacks on teachers and students are con-sidered grave violations under the UN Resolution 1612 which covers children in armed con-flict and for which there is a Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) estab-lished in the Philippines.”

Almgren was referring to complaints that military units have forced the closure of some Lumad schools in Mind-anao and converted these into camps.

The UN official empha-sized though that both State and non-State forces have put at risk the safety of civilians in Lumad communities.

“Activities undertaken by security forces as well as armed groups within and around IP communities in Mindanao have resulted in legitimate expressions of fear and inse-curity, in displacement, and is endangering the security and safety of non-combatants, in-cluding women, children and older persons,” he noted.

Almgren echoed the No-vember call of Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop

of Manila, to preserve Lumad communities as zones of peace.

He urged for the resump-tion of peace talks between government and the National Democratic Front to ensure lasting peace in the country.

He cited too that the ex-ploitation of natural resources is “another key element of the root causes of human rights vi-olations faced by the Lumads”.

He said pressures exert-ed by mining and logging in-terests have threatened the culture and livelihood of the Lumads “given the inextrica-ble ties between their life and their land”.

“Many who resist these advances have been subject to serious human rights vio-lations, including threats, dis-placement and loss of life,” he added.

In October, an internation-al fact-finding mission said the creation of paramilitary groups accused in the killing of Lumad leaders and ongoing military operations in Surigao del Sur are linked to the entry of mining interests in the prov-ince.

On Sept. 1, in Sitio Han-ayan, Brgy. Diatagon in Lianga town, members of the para-military group Magahat-Ba-gani allegedly killed Emerito Samarca, executive director of Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Liveli-hood Development (Alcadev); Dionel Campos, chair of Mala-hutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (Mapasu); and Kiwagan Datu and Mapasu member Datu Juvello Sinzo.

“Central to this issue (kill-ing of Lumads and military operations) is the rich mineral resources in the Andap Valley Complex around which these communities and municipal-ities are clustered,” the probe mission report said.

The same report said at least five mining companies are set to start operations in Andap Valley Complex, an area that encompasses the towns of San Miguel, San Agustin, Marihatag, Cagwait, Tago, and Lianga.

Since the Martial Law years, Andap Valley Complex has been the site of several clashes between government forces and the NPA that have sparked the evacuations of ci-vilians. (H. Marcos C. Morde-no/MindaNews)

ogy Congress at the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) campus here.

The ASFARNET-Philip-pines board unanimously en-dorsed a resolution on Thurs-day afternoon, expressing disappointment over the SC decision, which came out last Tuesday, Dec. 8.

The court upheld a ruling issued by the Court of Appeals in May 2013 that stopped the field trials for the genetically modified eggplant due to safe-ty concerns.

The SC also declared null and void the Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Order No. 08, series of 2002.

AO No. 8 provides for the “Rules and Regulations for the Importation and Release into the Environment of Plants and Plant Products Derived from the Use of Modern Technology.”

The SC ruling stopped applications for field testing, contained use, propagation and importation of genetically modified organisms, pending the promulgation of a new ad-ministrative order.

Dr. Gil Saguiguit Jr., director of the Los Banos-based South-east Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, said the SC rul-ing is a big challenge to the country’s biotechnology initia-tives and the entire agriculture sector.

He said it has held back the advances made by scientific institutions and researchers working on agricultural bio-technology.

UPLB’s Institute of Plant Breeding is at the forefront of the research on Bt talong while the International Rice Research Institute is currently conducting advanced trials on the golden rice.

“If we stop the experiments what will happen to us now? Other countries are currently using and experimenting bio-technology. So with this (SC rul-ing), our agriculture sector will be left behind again,” he said.

Saguiguit refused to com-ment on the SC decision as they have yet to get a copy and study it but noted that they are very much concerned about it.

As to the controversy re-garding the safety of biotech-nology crops or products, he said those claiming that they are not should prove them properly.

“If they say it’s not safe, then they should prove it. Be-cause when we say it’s safe, we can adequately prove it,” he said.

Saguguit said there are enough scientific evidences that have proven the safety of biotechnology products to human health and the envi-ronment, and its potentials in addressing the problems of a growing population.

He said the ongoing exper-iments, which follow stringent processes, are also meant to ensure that nothing will be comprised when it comes to safety.

“How can you prove that something is safe or not if you do not allow experimentation? As a research and educational institution, our stand is for us to always go back to evidences and scientific proofs,” he add-ed.

Field tests on Bt talong were done in some areas of Mindanao. One of these was at the UP Mindanao campus in Davao City which was ordered stopped by the city govern-ment in response to protests by environment groups. (Min-daNews)

suspects.Quoting a report from

NGCP, Arlene Hepiga of Cota-bato Light said the Kibawe-Simuay 138 KV line was still out as of 10:30 a.m. Friday.

She said NGCP tried shift-ing of loads for Cotabato Light via Tacurong Sub-Station since 10 p.m. but all three attempts failed overnight.

She said per NGCP notice, linemen were checking on the Salvo-Datu Piang station to Ba-rangay Capiton in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao which tripped during the shifting of power loads.

No one has claimed re-sponsibility for the attacks but

previous bombings of NGCP towers were blamed on out-lawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

Police in North Cotaba-to are also looking at a crime syndicate whose leaders were arrested last week as possible suspects in Thursday night’s bombing of NGCP tower No. 68 as a form of retaliatory attacks against government forces and installations.

The more than 13-hour power outage in Cotabato City occurred while the city resi-dents have been dealing with rotational brownout of 2 to 3 hours a day for the past two weeks. (PNA)

the money to pensioners’ bank accounts, and these pensions are allowed for withdrawal in accor-dance with the member’s date of retirement, death or disability.

“Given a member who retired on January 15 and whose spouse, who was also an SSS member eli-gible for pension, passed away on March 20 would able to withdraw his SSS retirement pension every 15th day of the month, and SSS death pension every 20th day of the month,” San Jose explained.

The SSS provides pensions for retirement, death and dis-ability under the Social Security (SS) Program, and for disability and death under the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program which offers additional benefits for work-related contingencies.

SS retirement pensions of P4.01 billion accounted for over 60 percent of the funds allot-ted for 13th month pensions.

Meanwhile, P2.06 billion was disbursed for SS death pensions, P200.30 million for SS disability pensioners, P52.71 million for EC death pensions, and P5.21 million for EC disability pensioners.

“With 2016 just around the corner, we call on pensioners to already mark in their calendars their respective schedules for the ACOP (Annual Confirmation of Pensioners). We have made it easy for pensioners to remem-ber their ACOP schedule since it is now based on the member’s birthday,” San Jose said.

Under the ACOP, pension-ers are required to make a once-a-year visit to the nearest SSS branch or depository bank to confirm their continuing eligibil-ity for pension. Those unable to make a personal visit can send the required ACOP documents to the SSS, or request for a home visit.

The lobby of the hotel was bedecked in wintery white accented with crys-tals and LED candles. Dominating the hotel’s massive lobby is a radiant white two-storey Christ-mas tree made of natural materials and covered in lights, casting a bright welcoming glow. “The management team came together and brainstormed on what concept we wanted to have this year for Christ-mas and we came up with a White Christmas to really give Dabawenyos an illusion of being in a winter wonderland,” said Royal Mandaya Hotel’s general manager Ben-jie Banzon Jr. “We really

took our time to make the decorations beautiful, the assembly of the giant Christmas tree took over a week to fabricate using in-digenous materials. It was hard but the final product was worth it.” Pressing the ceremo-

EVENT

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

The Royal Mandaya Hotel celebrates a White Christmas

URBANISSIMO A4

WITH the desire to bring a White Christ-mas to tropical Durianburg, the Royal Mandaya Hotel launched its Christmas livery in a simple yet fun celebration last December 8.

From Left: Yari Escandor , Violeta Escandor and Gerome Escandor.A sumptous buffet at the Royal Mandaya Hotel’s Kamayo Cafe.

Santa Claus gave out chocolates to the guets.

The Royal Mandaya Hotels massive white Chistmas tree is lit.

Yari Escandor (in red) together with DILG Secretary Mel Senen S. Sarmiento (third from left) press the ceremonial switch. With them are Royal Mandaya Hotel general manager Benjie Banzon Jr. and DILG director Ananias Villacorta.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

paired with delicious cock-tails prepared by the hotel’s top culinary team. Adding more highlight to the event was the gathering of Zumba enthusiasts for the Fitness Color Blast, dubbed as “the colourful and fun way to be fit and healthy this holiday season.” As the management’s ges-ture of gratitude for a fruit-ful year, the guests were given Christmas cupcakes with special thank you card and corporate giveaways in time for the season of giving this Christmas. “The jampacked Decem-ber 1 Salvo is another plus to Big 8 Corporate Hotel’s im-pressive portfolio of success-ful events, being not just the premier destination for first class accommodation but also the prime movers for many firsts in the city,” concluded Denisse Aldrin Cisneros, the hotel’s marketing officer.

BIG 8 CORPORATE HOTEL, the premier des-tination for business and leisure in Tagum City, has officially started its Christmas celebration last December 1 with the lighting of a record-holder Christmas tree.

By Henrylito D. Tacio

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOEVENT

Big 8 Hotelstarts Christmas season

City Mayor Allan Rellon, Big 8 Corporate Hotel’s General Manager

Roxan Obregon and Billy Quibod and family officiated the lighting of the

Big 8 Christmas Tree.

The ribbon cutting ceremony of the Christmas Bazaar 2015 marks another fist in the city of palms. Zumba enthusiasts blasting colors during the first ever Fitness Color Blast.

“As we set foot in Big 8 Corporate Hotel some three years ago, we have always dreamed of a Christmas Tree whose color, size and lights would somehow express our gratitude and thanksgiving for continuously supporting us in the tourism industry,” pointed out Roxan Obregon, the hotel’s general manager. “Without you, our loyal guests, we would have not been here,” Obregon said in her welcome address. To start the season with a big celebration, it lighted what touted to be the biggest hotel Christmas Tree in the Visayas and Mindanao. The ceremony was well-at-tended by significant person-alities from the government, private sectors and spectators who were awed by the Christ-mas decors and sparkling lights that surrounds the grand Christmas Tree. To make the event even

more memorable this year, the majestic voices of SMC Chorale serenaded everyone with their own renditions of classic Christmas songs thus setting the merry spirit of the season. Right after the ceremony, guests were directed to the grand opening of the first ever Christmas Bazaar 2015 conveniently located at the hotel’s covered parking area participated by online sellers, business establishments and entrepreneurs in the City of Pines. Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon, BMQ Group of Hotels President Billy Quibod and his wife Vilma Quibod, and GM Obregon led the ceremo-nial ribbon cutting. Free live-lihood training for physical therapy and flower arrange-ment followed right after the official opening of the bazaar. Guests were all delighted with the signature pica pica

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

‘Top One Project’ inks contract with GMA RecordsTOP ONE PROJECT (T.O.P.), the boy band that emerged from multi-platform boy band competition To The Top, now belongs to the star-studded roster of musicians under GMA Records. Mico Cruz, Joshua Jacobe, Miko Manguba, Adrian Pascual, and Louie Pedroso signed their contracts in the presence of GMA Records Managing Director Rene Salta and GMA Artist Center AVP Simon Ferrer. After winning the competition last August, the boys are overwhelmed to officially be welcomed into the family. “Nakaka-proud kasi matagal na [naming] hinintay [‘to, pati] ng mga family namin. Dream come true,” Adrian said. The boys affirmed that signing with the record label of the Kapuso network is an opportunity they will not waste. “I feel like we’re really blessed kasi yung opportunity na ‘to to be able to share music, binibigay lang sa kaunting tao and it was given to us. So, maraming

salamat, Lord,” Louie said. “Sobrang dami na pong artists na naging part ng GMA Records na talaga namang naging malakas ‘yung mark sa Philippine music industry so we’re very honored,” Joshua added. The new boy band feels blessed to be a talent of the label that signed the likes of Julie Anne San Jose, Alden Richards, and Janno Gibbs, among others. “Naniniwala ako that we are in good hands talaga kasi GMA has

produced stars that have shined through the years. It’s exciting to be part of it,” he said. TOP expressed that they are ready to take on the challenge of promoting the local music scene and are hopeful about the album they’re set to release in early 2016. “We’re happy [but are challenged] as artists kasi gusto naming i-uplift yung OPM. Dito sa album na ‘to, sana mabigyan naming ng justice [ang Filipino music],” Miko concluded.

THE portent of things to come in December for ABS-CBN Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) happened when ABS-CBN President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Content Officer Charo Santos-Concio announced last November 20 at the Q & A with Filipino actor Piolo Pascual at Asia Society Museum that for the first time, Filipino films have broken into Europe’s mainstream film circuit with the carriage of TFC@theMovies’ A Second Chance by Vue Entertainment, a leader in the premium e n t e r t a i n m e n t cinema sector in the UK. Vue International is the world’s largest cinema group outside of the U.S. On December 5 and 6, ABS-CBN achieved a Philippine cinema historical first when A Second Chance was screened on Vue West

End Leicester Square, Vue Westfield Stratford City, Vue Shepherd’s Bush, Vue Birmingham Star City and Vue Leeds The Light. The result? “The management of Vue was so pleased with the turnout for this Filipino movie that they decided to extend its run for another weekend,” shared ABS-CBN EMEA Managing Director Kai V. Rodriguez. “This is an achievement that Filipinos around the world should be proud of. A Filipino film just had the honor of being shown at Vue Cinemas

and moreover, was given an extended weekend run on December 12 and 13! We just made history.” But the celebration for ABS-CBN EMEA does not stop there. In the Middle East, A Second Chance started showing on December 3 in 21 theaters in UAE, five in Qatar, two in Kuwait, three in Bahrain, and two in Oman. After opening day, ABS-CBN EMEA received a congratulatory note from Gulf Films Chief Executive Officer Selim El-Azar for a record-breaking opening day

at the box office, adding that the movie was on pace to become the top grossing film in the weekend. It eventually did, surpassing the box office takes of Hollywood films last weekend. “The UAE comprises 85 percent of the movie theater market in the Middle East. But more than that, just as Variety reported three days ago, it has earned a reputation as the international hub for different types of productions, especially hi-tech ones. On the other end, in more conservative Middle East countries where

‘A Second Chance’ tops Mideast and UK movie charts

alcohol is forbidden and there are no night clubs, cinema is the public’s favorite form of entertainment. Thus, it is very clear how important the film industry is in the region. For a foreign, English-subtitled Filipino film like A Second Chance which just focuses on relationships with no special effects or gigantic million-dollar

production budgets and casts, to achieve the milestones we just did proves the strength in numbers of the Filipino market here and the growing international appeal of Filipino films that transcends cultural and language borders. To me, that is both the story and opportunity behind all this,” said Rodriguez.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

PG

PG/*PG

PG 12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

THE CREED

Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

PG 12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

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

THE 33 / *POINT BREAK

Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro /

*Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey

12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy

A SECOND CHANCE

Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz

December 9-15, 2015

A4 INdulge!

nial lighting button to-gether with Benjie were Yari Escandor and De-partment of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mel Senen S. Sarmiento. They were joined by Escandor family matri-arch Violeta Escandor, Gerome Escandor and DILG director Ananias Villacorta. Also present for the festivities were the hotel’s VIPs as well as top accounts and me-dia friends. The party ended with a sumptuous buffet which is a preview of the hotel’s Christmas buf-fet offerings. Benjie also announced the hotel’s Christmas room pro-mos and buffet pack-ages. “We are constantly improving our services and rooms,” beamed Benjie “by next year we will be renovation out 11 function rooms to bet-ter cater to the needs of our clients.” Follow me on Insta-gram or on Twitter at @kennethkingong for more travel stories, food-ie finds, and happenings in, around, and beyond Durianburg.

EVENTURBANISSIMO A1

The Royal Mandaya Hotel team pose with Santa.

Choral music filled the air while the

Christmas tree was lit.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 11

HISTORY OF DAVAOCurrencies of the ‘lumads’

EDGEDAVAO

CULTURE & ARTS

equivalent of 9 to 9.5 carats and was sold for three pesos per tael, the equivalent of 38 grams.

The earliest mention of bislig was in the 1628 Bicol-ano lexicon which described bislig as “Oro muy fino, que tiene mucha mezcla” (mix-ture that has a lot of fine gold). In the 1849 Ilocano dictionary, bislig was defined as (1) cubierto de oro (cov-ered with gold) and (2) as dorado por de fuera or ‘gold-en on the outside’ (browned out).

In the 1860 edition of the Tagala vocabulario, bislig was entered as a gold weight, the equivalent of 8 carats (oro de ocho quilates). It was, however, less precious than the ginugilan (22 carats), hilapo (22), palambo (22),

wasay (22), urimbuo (18), panika (16), panikang bata (14), lingginging (12), and lingginging bata (10).

Memoranda of 1580A fascinating discussion

that supports the gold narra-tive is the observation of Pe-ter Schreurs, MSC, in Caraga Antigua that the terms ‘bizlin’ and ‘linguinguin,’ mining ter-minologies popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, are noticeably similar to Bislig and Lingig, two towns in Su-rigao del Sur which, in the Augustinian Memoranda of 1580, were parts of an area collectively known as the “chief mines.”

The priest argued that old variations of Bislig, name-ly Bezlin and Bislin, can also be found in old Spanish ac-

counts, and Linguib, Linguid, and Lunguib for Lingig. This is backed by an early report found in the 55-volume ‘The Philippine Islands (1493-1898)’:

“The kinds of gold that are found among the natives of the city and vicinity of Manila are: Bizlin, which is worth two pesos a tael. The weight of a tael is one and one-eighth ounces. The sec-ond kind is Malubay, and the third is Linguinguin. These are the kinds of gold with which the natives trade and barter. The Malubay gold is worth the same as the Bizlin. The [native Filipinos] call it panica. There is another fin-er kind of gold which they call ylapo and another which they call guinuguran. From what I have heard this last is

the standard, because in as-say it is equal to the wrought gold of Spanish jewelry.”

In other reports bislig was cited as being superior to the sauyin, although its weight is one of the lowest in the schedule of carats. More superior to bislig, the equiv-alent to eight carat, were the ginugilan (22 carats), hilapo (22), palambo (22), wasay (22), urimbuo (18), panika (16), panikang bata (14), lingginging (12), and ling-ginging bata (10).

Other currenciesIndigenous currency

was not limited to gold. Sil-ver, which the Spaniards called teston, was also in use as main monetary unit. With the prosperity of the Galle-on Trade, the colonists in-

troduced the Mexican pesos. Then there was the peseta, the Spanish currency.

Actually, the earliest coins brought in by the galle-ons were the cobs or macuqui-nas, sourced from Mexico and other Spanish colonies. The colonists also introduced the silver dos mundos (pillar dol-lar) and the barilla (corrupted into barya), a bronze or cop-per coin worth one centavo. The latter was the first coin minted in the country.

When El Banco Banco Español-Filipinas de Isabel II, now known as the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), was opened on August 1, 1851, the pesos fuerte was introduced, making it the first dominant paper money in the islands. A decade later, the Casa de Moneda de Manila minted the first gold coins, with ‘Filipi-nas’ inscribed on them. These were alternately called Isabeli-nas and Alfonsinos.

When the Americans ar-rived, they introduced a new monetary scheme based on gold, also known as the gold peso, which was half the value of the American dollar in the early 1900’s. It was in use un-til 1949.

By 1903, the American government issued silver cer-tificates in two-peso, five-peso and ten-peso denominations, each bearing the portrait of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

In 1964, in response to public perception of the cur-rency’s stability, the Philip-pine peso was floated, which made it dependent on the global currency movement. Three years later, the peso was Tagalized to ‘piso.’

By Antonio V. Figueroa

LONG before the colo-nists introduced their own concepts of money

or currency to Filipinos, the lumads, including the natives of Davao gulf, aside from the customary barter of merchan-dise, used gold in varying de-grees of refinement.

Popular among the na-tives as medium of exchange, including the Manobos of Agusan, the Butuanons, and the Cebuanos, is the bulawan, or gold, or the sinubong, de-fined as rose gold or pink gold, which was preferred for use in jewelry.

This form of currency was called by the Spaniards as piloncitos, which are “small bead-like gold bits recognized as the earliest coin of the an-cient peoples of the Philip-pines, and gold barter rings.”

Gold-panning and gold-smithing were thriving occu-pations when the Europeans arrived in the islands. From Luzon to Mindanao, Span-ish chronicles, commencing with the accounts logged by Antonio Pigafetta, the diarist of Portuguese explorer Fer-dinand Magellan, recorded first-hand impressions on the availability of gold. This valu-able mineral was part of an-cient Filipino ornament, jew-elry, finery, and customs.

Gold termsIn the Boxer Codex, the

value of the mineral was well documented.

A colonial gold account, the report of Andres Miran-daola, administrator of the royal properties in the is-lands, which was sent to King Philip of Spain on September 8, 1573, related that a bislin was worth two pesos a tael, which is “one and one eighth ounces.” In contrast, “bislig (hardened, petrified) suggests the stony hardness of the base mixture of 12-karat gold” at a time when gold dust was used as a form of currency that was weighed out using little weights.

Interestingly, the gold-trading terms used during this time were synon-ymous and understandable throughout the islands. Ac-cording to Martin Castanos, Spanish procurator-general in the Philippines (1609-1616), a bislin (or bislig) was the

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 201512 EDGEDAVAO

COMPETITIVE EDGE

A STUDY report on a Regulatory Impact As-sessment on Microin-

surance (RIA-MI) in the Phil-ippines was jointly presented to the public last Wednesday (December 9, 2015) by the German International Cooper-ation (GIZ), the Department of Finance-National Credit Coun-cil (DOF-NCC) and the Insur-ance Commission (IC).

The RIA report indicates that Microinsurance in the Philippines is increasingly reaching more low income Fil-ipinos. Last year, the industry reported 31.1 million micro-insurance coverages, up from 19.8 million in 2012 and 2.9 million in 2009.

Microinsurance works in the Philippines. The insurance providers, for example, have responded effectively after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November 2013, paying out more than one hundred thou-sand microinsurance claims within the first three months, amounting to approximately half a billion pesos. The aver-age amount per claim paid was P4,777.

Starting as a corporate so-cial responsibility program by some insurance providers, mi-croinsurance today has proven it could generate some decent

profits to the companies. More MI-MBAs had been organized, from six in 2006 to 18 in 2012 and now 21. Commercial com-panies have started participat-ing in microinsurance begin-ning 2012 with only 12 com-panies, to 31 in 2013 and 42 companies today. MI- MBAs ac-count for 64% of total insured lives in microinsurance. In the commercial insurance space, there have been joint ventures, and some companies have set up subsidiary company for mi-croinsurance business.

“Clear policy direction and proportionate regulatory guidelines provide the driv-ing force to insurance market development. It provides cer-tainty for the industry to invest in microinsurance activities. It gives public confidence to trust microinsurance prod-ucts. The good numbers in microinsurance, as elaborated in the RIA report, is a product of multi-stakeholders dialogue and cooperation,” says Atty. Emmanuel F. Dooc, Insurance Commissioner.

“I am happy to inform that IC has issued the third regime of Microinsurance Regula-tions. The first regime in 2006 conceived the tier of MI-MBAs. The second regime in 2010 encouraged commercial com-

panies to participate more in the market.

Then microinsurance got institutionalized in the Insurance Code, as amended (2013). The 3rd regime called Enhanced Microinsurance Framework was issued in Oc-tober 2015. It provides broad-er options to deliver microin-surance and clearer guidelines on reinsurance based on les-sons after T. Haiyan.” Commis-sioner Dooc added.

“The Philippines is a lead-er in inclusive insurance mea-sures among countries in Asia. The country has proven that microinsurance works and could be sustainable using full market-based approach. The role of government in provid-ing clear policy directions has enabled the private sector and other stakeholders to contrib-ute to the advocacy of microin-surance market development,” stressed Gil S. Beltran, DOF Undersecretary and concur-rent Executive Director of the National Credit Council.

The RIA report offers many good practices with regards to the proportionality principle in regulations. This has pro-vided the Philippines with the credibility and confidence to lead the agenda discussion on microinsurance and disaster

risk financing during the APEC meetings of the Finance Minis-ter’s Process which concluded with the launch of the Cebu Action Plan.

“The journey of the Phil-ippines in microinsurance market development has been a source of inspiration and knowledge by many jurisdic-tions not only in Asia but also in other continents.” says Dr. Antonis Malagardis, GIZ RFPI Asia Program Director.

Many representatives from countries such as Indo-nesia, Nepal, Vietnam, Mongo-lia, Thailand, Ghana, Egypt and Germany visited the Philip-pines to learn from its success story. Some countries have in-vited the Philippines to share experiences, and more coun-tries have listened intently on how the Philippines made impressive progress in micro-insurance.

Dr. Antonis Malagardis added that “the RIA on mi-croinsurance is a first known initiative of a systematic and focused methodology to deter-mine the impact of policy and regulatory reforms to market development. It provides in-surance supervisors and other stakeholders, not only in the Philippines, with good lessons and recommendations.”

COMPTIA, the informa-tion technology (IT) in-dustry trade association

and the leading provider of vendor-neutral skills certifica-tions for the world’s IT work-force, has welcomed AMA Education System (AMAES) to its CompTIA Authorized Acad-emy Partner program.

According to AMAES chair Dr. Amable R. Aguiluz, AMAES is “proud to become an aca-demic partner of CompTIA. It couldn’t happen at a better time than now.”

Aguiluz said he will inte-grate CompTIA training and certification courses into the AMAES curriculum as early as Senior High.

“Education for all is what I dream for all Filipinos,” Agu-iluz said. “Not just education, but quality education, so tie-ups like this ensure that AMAES students learn the latest and most in-demand IT programs and skills in the workplace.”

With this collaboration students can graduate with both an academic degree from AMAES and interna-tionally-recognized, vendor neutral IT skills credentials from CompTIA. CompTIA cer-tifications will help enhance AMAES graduates’ employ-ability since most skilled jobs require technology knowledge and hands-on skills.

“We are extremely pleased and honored to partner with AMAES, because it helps CompTIA fulfill one of its pri-mary missions – to prepare the IT workforce of today and tomorrow,” said Dennis Kwok, vice president, Asia Pacific, CompTIA.

“AMAES is recognized throughout the region as an education leader in many ca-reer disciplines, including IT,” Kwok continued. “Together we can prepare new generations of students to fill jobs in IT technical support, cloud com-puting, networking, cyberse-curity, mobile technologies and other high-demand skills.”

Professional certifica-

tions such as those awarded by CompTIA are increasingly important in the hiring and promotion of IT workers. Hiring managers and HR pro-fessionals believe having IT job candidates with industry certifications saves time and resources in evaluating appli-cants, ensures a candidate’s credibility, and demonstrates that they have a baseline set of knowledge.

Once hired, certified IT professionals get up to speed more quickly, are more likely to stay with the company long term, have a higher likelihood of being promoted, and gen-erally perform better than non-certified IT staff.

Microinsurance serving 31M low-income Filipinos

CompTIA welcomes AMA to Academy Partner Program

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Approval of Sale and Transfer of Unit with Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ Dual Ordinary Regular Service.

Case No.2015-XI-01068(2001-XI-00033-DS)

JOCELYN D. DEAÑO,Petitioner-Vendor

MILDRED U. LASCUÑA,Petitioner-Vendee

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioners request author-ity for the Approval of Sale and Transfer executed by JOCELYN D. DEAÑO in favor of MILDRED U. LASCUÑA of a Certificate of Public Convenience with Equipment issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular ser-vice on the route MAGSAYSAY (DAVAO DEL SUR) –DAVAO CITY and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certificate will expire on June 18, 2016.In the same petition filed on Novem-ber 6, 2015,petitioners likewise request authority to extend the validity of said certificate to op-erate along the same route with the use of the same unit previ-ously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on JANUARY 18, 2016 at 09:30 a.m. at this of-fice at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days pri-or to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary ev-idence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documen-tary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evi-dence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 6th day of November 2015 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ Chief Transportation

Development Officer

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Renewal of a Certificate of Public Convenience to operate a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular Service.

Case No.2001-XI-01116

ROSENDA C. TAMAYO, Petitioner

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --x

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Convenience issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ-DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route: BARACATANand for car-goes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which certificate will expire on September 12, 2016. In the peti-tion filed on November 11, 2015, petitioner requests authority to extend the validity of said certif-icate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby given that this petition will be heard by this Board on JANUARY 18, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at this of-fice at the above address.

At least, TEN (10) days pri-or to the above date petitioner shall publish this Notice once in a one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Mindanao

Parties opposed to the granting of the petition must file their written opposition supported by documentary ev-idence on or before the above date furnishing a copy of the same to the petitioner, and may if they so, desire appear on said date and time.

This petition will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and the documen-tary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evi-dence.

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 11th day of November 2015 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ Chief Transportation

Development Officer

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 EDGEDAVAO 13DPWH workers give blood to Red CrossTHE Department of

Public Works and Highways Davao City

District Engineering Office Employees Association (DC-DEO-EA) on Thursday do-nated blood to the Philippine Red Cross Davao City Chap-ter.

The bloodletting

activity was conducted at the Davao City District Engineer-ing Office at L. Ma. Guerrero Street, where a total of 54 employees voluntarily add-ed their blood for PNRC use.

“The PNRC Davao City Chapter is presently on low inventory thus we are so elated by this gesture of the

DPWH employees,” said Dr. Richard Alvarez.

The initiative was led by District Engineer Fer-nando S. Ongkingco Jr. and sponsored by the employees association.

The PRC, Davao City Chapter was headed by Dr. Alvarez who was assisted

by PRC personnel Rizh Abel-lana, Virginia Pelimer, Irish Turaja and Alberto Lanzar.

“This is our Christ-mas gift to our people know-ing that blood is so important especially to the needy,” DE Ongkingco said. (A.L. Dacu-mos/Rose B.Palacio with reports from DPWH-XI PIO).

BLOODLETTING. District Engineer Fernando S. Ongkingco Jr., (center) is flanked by Dr. Richard Alvarez, Rizh Abellana, Irish Turaja, Virginia Pelimer, Alberto Lanzar of the PNRC Davao City Chapter and the DPWH DEO-EA members during the bloodletting at the DPWH-DCDEO.

THE prevalence rate of underweight and se-verely underweight chil-

dren aged zero to five years and nine months decreased to 5.43 percent from January to March 2015 as compared to 6.14 percent of the same period last year.

In an interview Thursday, National Nutrition Council (NNC) 11 Director Maria Te-resa Ungson attributed the success in bringing down the cases of underweight and se-verely underweight kids to the programs that they have implemented to improve the weight of the children.

One of such interventions was the therapeutic feeding which places the kids under six months of feeding pro-gram.

“Not one program can an-swer that. So usually Depart-ment of Health (DOH) has micronutrient supplementa-tion,” she said.

She added that the DOH has also implemented mater-nal health programs to ensure that mothers are kept healthy during their pregnancy.

“If the mother is healthy, she’ll give birth to a healthy baby. Less headache for the government, less budget needed to take care of the child if the mother is healthy,” Ungson said.

The 5.43 percent trans-lates to 36,324 children in 2015 as compared to 40,103 in 2014.

She said the agency usu-ally gathers data from Janu-

ary to March which will be-come the baseline data for the whole year.

The area in the region with the highest prevalence rate at 7.61 percent was Digos City, which improved as com-pared to last year’s 10.47 per-cent. Davao City came in sec-ond highest at 4.25 percent from last year’s 4.98 percent, followed by Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) at 4.01 percent in 2015 and 5.17 per-cent in 2014, Mati City at 3.87 percent in 2015 and 3.91 per-cent in 2014, Panabo City at 3.64 percent in 2015 and 3.77 percent in 2014, and Tagum City at 2.48 percent in 2015 and 3.57 percent in 2014.

Ungson said the NNC is also coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the conduct of a regular sup-plementary feeding program, most especially kids from family beneficiaries of Con-ditional Cash Transfer (CCT) fund, also loosely known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pili-pino Program (4Ps).

In 2014, the municipality with the lowest prevalence rate of underweight and se-verely underweight kids at 1.12 percent was Mawab, Compostela Valley; followed by San Isidro, Davao Orien-tal at 1.61 percent; Braulio E. Dujali, Davao del Norte at 2.22 percent; Nabunturan in ComVal at 2.41 percent; and Lupon in DavOr at 2.92 per-cent. Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews

Prevalence of underweight kids in Davao Region down to 5.43%

NEWS

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 201514

Advertise with

Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413Email: edgedavao@gmail.com marketing@edgedavao.net

EDGEDAVAOCLASSIFIEDS

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 15EDGEDAVAOSports

WORLD Boxing Fed-eration Asia ban-tamweight cham-

pion Kenny “Singwancha” Demecillo will leave nothing to chance when he goes up against dangerous challenger Edrin “The Sting” Dapudong tonight in the main event of Boxing Revolution 4 at the Davao City Recreation Center.

Demecillo, who easi-ly tipped the scales at 118 pounds, said he will not make any knockout predictions but will try to avoid any complica-tions if the fight goes the dis-tance. That said, the Cebua-no champion will go for the knockout. As to what round, he only shook his head.

On the other end of the

table is the usually relaxed Dapudong who promised ev-eryone a good fight. “We will go at each other. No one is going to run,” he told media during yesterday’s presscon at the Abreeza Mall shortly af-ter the weigh-in ceremonies. Dapudong tipped the scales at 118.25 in his first attempt but made it in his next try.

Dapudong, who last fought in June 28 in Davao City, said the long layoff will not affect him in this fight.

“I trained immediately one week after I won the fight last June. I am in excellent condition,” Dapudong said in vernacular.

Kenneth Improso of the Games and Amusements

Board (GAB) said the fight will be decided fairly and De-mecillo’s camp need not wor-ry of a hometown decision. “The fight will be decided fairly. The WBF is supervising this championship and our judges are fair and firm,” Im-proso said.

Promoter Jun Cantada also said that Sonshine Sports Management will have no hand in the decision of the fights so there is no need to worry on the part of Deme-cillo.

The hometown decision issue was raised on the basis that Dapudong is fighting un-der the Sonshine Stable and Davao City is considered his home.

In the main supporting bout, Lorenzo Villanueva will fight Jerry Castroverde over 10 rounds in the 128-lb division. Romel Asenjo will also tackle Lester Jun Pronco while Roskie Cristobal will try to improve his record against Ryan Quimbo.

The rest of the card will pit Jose Ocampo against Nel-son Gulpe, Vergel Deguma vs. Paolo Perono, Arnold Garde vs. Rodel Tejares, Michael Javier vs. Dinggong Quiñonez, Marvin Masong vs. Ar-Ar Borbon, Arvin Lagumbay vs. Ronnie Buscato and Gerald Alvarez vs. Noel Rosa.

Admission is free to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis.

GOING FOR KNOCKOUTDemecillo wants convincing win over Dapudong in Boxing Revo 4

FOUR-TIME scoring cham-pion Kevin Durant set up a rare triple-double with

his passing.The Thunder forward had

five assists in the first quarter. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his seventh career triple-double, and Oklahoma City beat the At-lanta Hawks 107-94 on Thurs-day night (Friday, Manila time).

Durant approached this game differently than the Thunder’s loss in Atlanta on Nov. 30. He took four fewer shots and had four more as-sists than that night.

“I just try to play the game and make it simple for myself,” he said. “I knew last time they were expecting me to be ag-gressive and score every time I

got the ball, so I tried to switch the game up.”

Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 assists. It was just the second time both Durant and Westbrook had at least 10 assists in the same game, and the first time it hap-pened in a win.

“I think it’s contagious when your top guys do that,” Durant said. “Russell did a great job of setting the tone, and I was able to be aggressive and make some plays.”

Durant got his final assist on a pass to Westbrook for a 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining.

Serge Ibaka matched a season high with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their third straight.

Kent Bazemore scored 22 points and Jeff Teague had 18 for the Hawks, who had won their previous two games. Kyle Korver added 12 and Thabo Sefolosha finished with 11.

The Thunder outrebound-ed the Hawks 52-34.

Oklahoma City led 60-49 at halftime behind 17 points from Ibaka and 14 from West-brook. Durant had eight assists before the break, matching the most he’s posted in the first half of a game in his career.

Bazemore scored 18 points in the first half on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4 for 4 from 3-point range.

Atlanta got back into the game with its 3-point shooting in the third quarter. The Hawks made 4 of 6 3s in the first five

minutes of the period to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 70-69.

Oklahoma City regained control in the final minute of the quarter when Anthony Morrow made a 3-pointer to bump the lead back up to 83-75.

Another 3 by Morrow ear-ly in the fourth quarter extend-ed Oklahoma City’s lead to 88-79. Later in the quarter, Durant pulled in a defensive rebound, then dribbled up the court and pulled up to make a transition 3-pointer that made it 95-85.

“I think we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. “At times, we weren’t playing that well, and Oklahoma City was playing at a very high lev-el.”

Lorenzo Villanueva (left) and Jerry Castroverde (right) strike a fighting pose. Lean Daval Jr.

Romel Asenjo (left) and Lester Jun Prono (right). Lean Daval Jr.

MAIN EVENT. Edrin The Sting” Dapudong (left) battles WBF Asia bantamweight champion Kenny “Singwancha” Demecillo strike a fighting pose after the weigh-in ceremonies yesterday at the Abreeza Mall. Behind them is GAB Sports and Games Officer Kenneth Improso. Lean Daval Jr.

njb@edgedavao.net

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

KD’s triple double pumps OKC over Hawks

VOL. 8 ISSUE 185 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 201516 EDGEDAVAO