P 15.00 • 20 PAGESwww.edgedavao.netVOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

REDS IN RODY’S CABINET

Sports P16

Warriors a win away from title

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

SALUTE. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte raises a clenched fist before members of the New People’s Army (NPA) upon his arrival in Kiamba, Saranggani Province to fetch Private first class (Pfc) Khen Subere of the 27th Infantry Battalion who was captured by the NPA last April 13 in T’boli, South Cotabato. Armando B. Fenequito Jr.

INSIDE EDGE Freed soldier wants to leave AFPP2Dengue cases drop P3

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Dutete said if he becomes

President, he will end the war with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) by giving it Cabinet positions.

In an interview during

the release of Private First Class (PFC) Khen Subere by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Tama-dang in Kiamba, Saran-gani Province last Satur-day, Duterte said the first thing he will do as Presi-dent is ask the CPP for its

agenda and what it thinks should be done to end the war.

“Kung gusto sila iha-tag nako ang DAR kay duol na sa ilang kasing-kasing ang yuta. Kaning DENR og DSWD (If they want, I will give them the Department

of Agrarian Reform since land is close to their hearts. I will also give them the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of So-cial Welfare and Develop-ment),” Duterte said.

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

FREDS, 10

‘I will give them three gov’t posts. DAR, DENR , DSWD’

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 20152 EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

THE Department of Health (DOH) 11 re-corded 1,407 dengue

cases in Davao Region from January to June 13 this year, or a 35 percent decrease from 2,168 dengue cases recorded on the same period last year.

Of this year’s dengue cases, DOH 11 recorded four deaths, which is also lower than the nine deaths recorded last year.

DOH 11 director Dr. Ab-dullah B. Dumama Jr. said de-spite the significant decrease in dengue cases the past sev-eral years based on their re-gional surveillance data from 10 hospital sentinel sites, peo-ple must not be complacent in the fight against the dreaded

desease.The fight against dengue,

he said, is a concerted effort and must be sustained.

Dumama released the lat-est DOH data on dengue cases as the Philippines observed the ASEAN Dengue Day Mon-day along with its regional neighbors.

The ASEAN Dengue Day is observed every June 15th of each year, with DOH 11 host-ing this year’s national event.

Health Sec. Janette P. Lore-to-Garin, meanwhile, strong-ly advised health workers and local government units (LGUs) to plan ahead instead of just responding to dengue outbreaks in their areas.

Garin said the ASEAN

health ministers have agreed in 2010 to hold the ASEAN Dengue Day to launch a con-certed effort in fighting this mosquito-borne disease.

“We are fighting a com-mon enemy and joining forces is the best way to defeat den-gue,” Garin said in a statement.

Dengue is transmitted to 100 tropical countries, in-cluding the Philippines, with close to 100 million people presenting with symptoms of mild or severe disease.

“Dengue is an important public health problem with a considerable and often un-der-valued disease burden in terms of frequency, cost and quality of life,” Garin said, adding that it is the

most prevalent and import-ant mosquito-borne infection worldwide.

The health chief said that a disease like dengue demands a multi-pronged response the engage govern-ment agencies, private sec-tors and the community, well beyond the health sector.

Based on national data, dengue cases in the Philip-pines from January to May this year now stands at 25,616 cases, which is 10 per-cent higher compared to the same period last year with 23,151 cases.

There were also 75 total deaths recorded, which is lower than the recorded 100 deaths in 2014.

DAVAO City Mayor Ro-drigo R. Duterte will endorse third council-

or Karlo S. Bello to succeed incumbent third district Rep. Isidro T. Ungab in next year’s election.

In an interview last Satur-day, Duterte said he had prom-ised Karlo’s father, 1BAP Party-list Rep. Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III, that he would let the young-er Bello run for the position af-ter Ungab’s third and last term.

“Mao na’y sabot sa amah-an na si Bebot niadto pa long long before. Giingnan lang sa nako na padaplin una and al-low Ungab to run (That was our agreement with his father long ago. I told him to give way and allow Ungab to run first),” Duterte said.

The mayor said he and Rep. Bello are close friends

and were part of the same activist group in their college days.

Earlier, councilor Bello said he would leave his fate in the 2016 electrion to the homegrown Hugpong Sa Tawong Lungsod.

Councilor Bello is now in his third and last term and has reportedly been eying the third district congressional seat in 2016.

Aside from Bello, coun-cilors Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz and Bernard Al-ag, also of Hugpong, are reporteldy also interested in the post.

Al-ag said he is ready to discuss this matter with the mayor but if the party decides to field another candidate as the successor of Ungab, he will just seek re-election since he is still in his second term.

SENATOR Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. thinks the move to

change our present form of government to a federal sys-tem has a good chance of suc-ceeding if the next President would push for it via charter change early in his term.

Appearing before the “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” radio show in Davao City with Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, Marcos backed moves towards federalism as the pos-sible answer to socio-econom-ic and social problems plagu-

ing the country, particularly in Mindanao.

Duterte has been pushing for federalism as an alterna-tive if Congress fails to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Marcos is Chairman of the Sen-ate Committee on Local Gov-ernment, the main committee tasked to deliberate on the proposed BBL.

However, Marcos had said the draft BBL is flaw-ridden and vowed to prepare instead a substitute bill that would ad-dress the issues raised against

TEN-YEAR-OLD Ronaldo “Ron-ron” Esgrina Jr. was given a big hug by a tall

blond doctor before he entered the operating room yesterday morning at around 11 a.m.

Excited yet nervous, the four-foot-tall boy dressed in an oversized white shirt with a smiley face and trekking shorts looked at his mother Josephine and saw her smiling. She was with other parents carrying their sons and daughters with

cleft lips. They, too, were also waiting for their number to be called.

“Kaya na nimo  (You  can do it),” Josephine said, hoping the 45-minute operation will finally repair her son’s cleft lip after the first operation failed in 2006 when Ron-ron was just a year-and-a-half years old.

Josephine recalled the eagerness of her youngest son who woke up early just

to catch the 5 a.m. van trip to Davao City from Barangay San Pedro in the municipality of Midsayap in North Cotabato last Saturday. She said she had to have Ron-ron sit on her lap throughout the trip to save the P250 fare.

“We came to Davao City with nothing but just hopes and prayers,” Josephine said. If the operation is successful, she and her son will go home the following using the P1,000 so-

licited by a relative preaching in a local church here.

Ron-ron is just one of many Mindanawons who seized the opportunity to change their lives through the help of free surgeries provided by Opera-tion Smile.

Passing through by word of the mouth or through post-ers on the bulletin boards in different community health centers and hospitals all over

DENGUE DAY. Grade 7 students from various schools in Davao City participate in the dengue bulletin board-making contest which is part of the observance of the 5th ASEAN Dengue Day at the Davao City Recreation Center yesterday. The event aimed to raise awareness on dengue and to mobilize resources for the prevention and control involving all sectors of the society. Lean Daval Jr.

Davao dengue cases dropBy CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY

OPERATION SMILE:

Changing the world one smile at a timecrc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

Duterte to endorse Bellofor 3rd district House seatBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

Bongbong: Shift to federalism to need next President’s push

FBONGBONG, 10FCHANGING, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 3NEWSEDGEDAVAO

THE soldier released by the New People’s Army (NPA) last Saturday after

two months of captivity is con-templating on resigning from the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP).

During his release, Private First Class (PFC) Khen Subere, 27, said he wants to spend his time with his family after having served the country for almost two years as a soldier.

Subere is a resident of Carmen, Davao del Norte, and is a member of the

27th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the 10th Infantry Division (ID).

He was released by the NPA to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on June 13, 2015 in Barangay Tamadang in Kiamba, Sarangani Province.

“Sa akoa, alanganin nako mo balik sa serbisyo basig pag-balik nako diha na pud ko mad-isgrasya (I am having second thoughts about going back to the service because this time I might get killed),” he said.

“Sa akong kabahin, ang kapildihan kay mawalaan kog

trabaho, pero dako gihapon kog pasalamat na buhi pa gi-hapon ko nibalik ko sa akong pamilya (The downside is I will lose my job, but, I am thankful that I am returning to my fami-ly alive),” Subere said.

He said he will ask for his salary from the month before he was captured and his bonus which was not released last December.

“Naa man pud siguro koy katungod isip usa ka sundalo na makuha to (I think I have the right to get it as member of

AFP),” he said.Subere was captured by

the Mt. Daguma Sub-Regional Command–Far South Mind-anao Region of the NPA last April 13 in Barangay Tabudtud in the Municipality of T’boli, South Cotabato.

Subere said he had gone to T’boli on April 11 with the per-mission of his squad leader to visit a relative for a day.

He said when he was about to return to camp, he was intercepted by a group of

THREE people were killed in an attack Sunday by the New

People’s Army in an interior town of Bukidnon.

In a statement Monday, the NPA Army Regional Com-mand said its South Central Bukidnon Sub-regional Com-mand attacked an outpost of the 69th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Mahayag, Barangay Namnam, San Fernando around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The statement said one soldier was killed and three others were wounded in the

firefight.One rebel and a 12-year

old child were also killed, it added.

The NPA claimed they seized 13 firearms, including a mini machinegun and an M203 grenade launcher.

The rebel group said the soldiers occupied the sitio hall as their barracks and were deployed in the area to guard the equipment of a construction company that was working on the Valen-cia-Davao highway. (MindaN-ews)

ALL is set for the histor-ic decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation

Front (MILF) firearms as the first phase of the decommis-sioning program which aims to put the arms and forces of the rebel group beyond use kicks off Tuesday, Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said Monday.

Speaking over the Church-run Radio here, Ferrer said the decommissioning is part of the agreement of both the govern-ment and the MILF contained under the Annex on Normal-ization of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsam-oro (CAB).

”All is set, President Aqui-no will witness the historic and vital part of the Mindanao peace process,” Ferrer said.

To be held at the old pro-vincial capitol compound in Barangay Simuay, Sultan Kuda-rat, Maguindanao province,

the simple ceremonies dubbed "Ceremonial Turnover of Weapons and Decommission-ing of the MILF Combatants" to be held at the old provin-cial capitol in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, will once again prove the MILF’s sincerity in the peace process even as the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law hit a snag at the country’s leg-islature.

Ferrer said the MILF fight-ers will undertake the regis-tration and turning-in of 75 weapons to the Independent Decommissioning Body (IDB).

Turkey's former ambas-sador to NATO, Haydar Berk heads the IDB with members Jan Erik Wilhemsen from Nor-way, Maj. Muhammad Aiman Syazwi Bin Haji Abdul Rahim from Brunei, and local experts, AFP ret. Lt. Gen. Rey Ardor, Dr. Mario Aguja, MILF spokes-

FIGHTING DENGUE. Department of Health-National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (DOH-NCDPC) Dr. Lyndon L. Lee Suy(left) says that although dengue cas-es decreased by at least 40 percent from previous year, action and programs for its

eradication should be intensified. Suy, DOH Undersecretary Vicente Belizario Jr. (cen-ter), and DOH 11 director Dr. Abdullah B. Dumama Jr. graced the 5th ASEAN Dengue Day commemoration press conference at the Apo View Hotel yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

Freed soldier wantsto resign from AFPBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

abf@edgedavao.net

DOCTOR DOCTOR. Ten-year old Ron-ron Esgrina Jr. plays “doctor”before his operation for treatment of his cleft lip on the first day of Operation Smile’s Mega Mission, a simultaneous five-day event held in Davao City, Pampanga, Manila, Cebu, and Bacolod. The operation was done in the Mindanao Cleft Center housed at the Brokenshire Memorial Hospital. Cheneen R. Capon

MAYOR Rodrigo Dute-rte yesterday con-firmed that he has

received death threats from drug syndicates.

This after reports came out that the country’s biggest drug syndicates are forming an alliance to stop Duterte from becoming the next Pres-ident of the Philippines.

Duterte said he received threats from such a drug car-tel but stressed that it was a raw report.

He also said he cannot verify as of the moment if the threats are from a drug syn-dicate operating in Mindanao or in the entire country.

Duterte said he is ready to face whatever happens to him.

“There is a threat but I don’t mind it. The informa-tion is not A1 (Intelligence Group), I was just told it was raw information,” he said.

Despite the threats, the mayor said he did not in-crease his security even out-

side of Davao City.“If it is my time, it is my

time. Why would I bother (with additional security)? Ready na ko mu-atubang sa langit, sa Ginoo. Ready na ko (I am ready to face heaven, to face God. I’m ready),” he said.

Last Friday, former North Cotabato Governor Manny Piñol posted on his Facebook account that Duterte had re-ceived death threats from drug syndicates.

“A raw but reliable intel-ligence report relayed to the Duterte camp last night said big drug lords based in Lu-zon, Visayas and Mindanao have linked up to put up a united front against a Duterte Presidency,” Piñol said in his post.

He also said that there are three strategies to neutralize Duterte, through assassina-tion, black propaganda, and the use of drug money during the campaign period and the elections to ensure the defeat of Duterte.

All is set for MILF decommissioning

Rody confirmsdeath threats

Soldier, rebel, childdie in Bukidnon raid

By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA

FALL, 10

FFREED, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 20154

ZUMBA TIME. Capitol employees participate in a one-hour Zumba exercise after the official opening of the 2015 Davao Oriental Sports Fest.

DavOr sports fest opensTHE 2015 Sports Fest or

“DavaoOrientalympics” kicked off Thursday,

June 11, at the provincial cap-itol covered court, this time highlighting the colorful spir-it of the theme “Isports-Ka-hiusahan, Isports-Kalipay” (Sports for Unity, Sports for Fun).

Eight clusters identified by eight colors will compete for different sporting and friendly games weeks before Davao Oriental marks its 48th Founding Anniversary this coming July 1.

These teams are com-posed of employees coming from different Provincial Departments, National Line Agencies and other govern-ment instrumentalities.

As the most awaited event in every founding anniversa-ry of the province, this year’s DavaoOrientalympics has three components: KASAD-PAN Sundowners Competi-tion, the Governor’s Cup In-ter-LGU Open Competition, and the BANGAW Inter-color Competition.

KASADPAN Sundowners Competition is open to all sports enthusiast who are 40

years old and above.Meanwhile, the Gover-

nor’s Cup Inter-LGU Open Competition will be played by representatives of the 11 towns in the province for sporting events.

The BANGAW Inter-col-or Competition is a scheme devised to truly promote fun and revelry through sports and a sense of togetherness among provincial govern-ment employees and other government instrumentalities by grouping them into colored clusters. They shall compete in various sporting and artistic events as well as parlor games.

The Champion team will receiv P75,000 cash plus a trophy. The 2nd Placer will re-ceive P60,000, 3rd Placer will get P50,000, the fourth plac-er will bring home P40,000, while four consolation prizes of P25,000 will be given to the non-winning teams.

On the opening ceremony, Governor Corazon N. Malanya-on said sports is the highlight of the 48th Davao Oriental Founding Anniversary and is intended to reward employ-ees who helped her achieve the provincial’s milestones

throughout the years.“The Provincial Govern-

ment truly cares for your health, recreation and physical fitness,” Malanyaon said.

Artistic events and friend-ly games were slated also to improve constituents’ talents, particularly in singing and dancing as announced by the

governor.“Sports, to reward the peo-

ple who have been working so hard these past months and also to break a lot of monop-

oly,” the governor said as she declared the official opening of the DavaoOrientalympics 2015. By Van Jorain O. Rufin, Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan

IN time for the 117th Phil-ippine Independence Day, the City of Tagum burned

old and worn-out flags in a ceremony dubbed “Huling Parangal sa Watawat ng Pilipi-nas” pursuant to the provision of the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.

Jointly spearheaded by the City Historical and Cultural Commission and the Tagum City Council of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, the ceremo-ny was attended by city offi-cials, DepEd personnel, teach-ers, and some students held at Rizal Elementary School.

A total of 105 flags, collect-ed by the commission from the different public schools in the city, were burned at dusk. In return, the commission gave away free Philippine flags to the schools that surrendered old flags to the commission.

The ceremony is a first in the history of Tagum, in compliance with Republic Act 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines which states that worn-out flags should be solemnly burned to avoid misuse or desecration.

This highlighted Tagum’s solidarity with the nation for

the 117th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Inde-pendence, which was also ob-served with a flag-raising cere-mony, wreath laying, and a 21-gun salute to the flag followed by a simple program at 8 a.m. at the Hall, which was adorned with the colors of the flag.

The event’s guest speak-er, Department of Education (DepEd) regional director Atty. Alberto Escobarte, cited corruption as a major road-block for Philippine develop-ment, saying it continues to grip the country despite its independence.

Escobarte urged Tagu-menyos to live a life for others, respect others, and do away with greed which, he said, was the characteristic of those who once enslaved the Filipi-nos.

For his part, Mayor Allan L. Rellon rallied on Tagumen-yos to unite.

“Sa araw-araw, ating sika-pin na supilin ang pwersa ng hidwaan at ating yakapin ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran. Sa ganitong paraan ay sigura-dong makakamit natin ang Tagumpay ng ating bayan,” he said. Louie Lapat/CIO Tagum

FLAG BURNING. Mayor Allan L. Rellon lights the fire that will be used in the burning of the old and worn-out flags. Photo by Leo Timogan/CIO Tagum

Tagum burns worn-out flags ARMM intensifiesanti-poverty programAHEAD of the expected

coming of a new polit-ical entity that will re-

place the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the regional govern-ment continues to embarked on an anti-poverty drive aimed at significantly reduce poverty incidence among its popula-tion.

Early this year, ARMM launched the national govern-ment’s Accelerated and Sus-tainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP), an inter-agency ef-fort “that seeks to reduce pov-erty by creating sustainable employment and income-gen-erating opportunities for the poor,” said Janice Musali, the region’s Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director and ASAPP lead convenor for the ARMM.

Of the five provinces com-posing the ARMM, Sulu has the highest number of pover-ty-stricken residents identified under ASAPP.

Based on the 2010 nation-al census, Sulu has 122,218 in-dividuals identified as poor out of its 718,290 total population.

ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman said the high poverty rate in the region continues to be a challenge to the regional government, but ASAPP will “help more Filipinos break away from the poverty thresh-old.”

“We are optimistic that this will be addressed more effectively with the introduc-tion of ASAPP, the efforts of the Provincial Government of Sulu, and the convergence of liveli-hood and development pro-grams of the working ARMM

government,” Gov. Hataman said in a statement released by the Bureau of Public Informa-tion.

“ASAPP is a poverty reduc-tion effort that pursues active participation of the private sector and local government units to make poverty reduc-tion rapid and sustainable,” Musali said.

In 2012, ARMM has re-corded poverty incidence of 48.70 percentage points and Sulu with a record high of 40.17 percentage points among families.

ASAPP was created by the Human Development and Pov-erty Reduction Cluster, which prioritizes 10 provinces in the country, including Sulu.

Programs to be financed under the initiative are the Universal Health Care, Condi-tional Cash Transfer, Sustain-able Livelihood, Abot Alam Program, and other initiatives geared at informal-settler fam-ilies.

Official data showed that poverty incidence in the Phil-ippines during the first se-mester of 2013 decreased by three percentage points from its level in 2012, it rose again in 2014 by 1.2 percentage points, as food prices increased faster than the incomes of the poor.

“The challenge is to ensure that economic growth will in-crease the incomes of the poor at a rate faster than inflation,” Musali added.

She said strengthening price control, providing pro-duction support facilities and markets, and livelihood op-

EDGEDAVAO

SUBURBIA

FARMM, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 5EDGEDAVAO

ECONOMY

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

521 hired in Kalayaan Job Fair

HELPING THE POOR. Convergence secretary general June Rodriguez (left) and Foundation for a Sustainable Society (FSSI) Mindanao program officer Kadu Macarimbang give the details of FSSI ‘s background and goal to provide

development and financing assistance to social enterprises in the country’s poorest and marginalized sectors. The two were guests in yesterday’s Kape-hansaDabaw at the Annex of SM City Davao. Lean Daval Jr.

This year’s HOTS are higher than the 286 hired in last year’s Kalayaan Job Fair.

DOLE 11 also revealed that most or 439 applicants hired during the event were employed locally, while 82 were employed abroad.

This year’s Kalayaan job fair was participated by a to-tal of 79 companies, which offered 15, 755 job vacancies locally and abroad.

Most sought-after jobs for local employment were call centers, customer service representatives, technical support representatives, sales personnel, cable lineman/splicer, sales consultant, driv-er/installer, operations su-pervisor, marketing officers and helpers.

The top vacancies for overseas employment, mean-while, included nurses, sales-man for food and non-food, customer service representa-tives, security guards, factory workers, sales associate, ma-sons, elderly care attendant, carpenter and manicurist.

The data also showed that a total of 2,061 applicants were nearly hired by differ-ent local and overseas com-panies. These applicants will

undergo further processes like interview even after the job fair.

No applicants were re-ferred to the Technical Educa-tion and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for further training unlike last year when DOLE 11 referred 41 job appli-cants for further skills training and capability training.

DOLE 11 regional director Joffrey Suyao earlier said the region’s employment rate in April remained at 94 percent, while the underemployment decreased from 19.3 percent in January to 16.6 percent in April.

Based on the compara-tive employment status of the Davao Region for 2014 and 2015, employed Dabawenyos reached 1,914 million of the 2,036 million total labor force ages 15 and above. This was lower compared to the 1,971 million employed in different sectors in the region like in sectors of agriculture and ser-vice.

Suyao expects the region’s employment status to further improve as the labor agency regularly conducts employ-ment interventions like job fairs.

A TOTAL of 521 appli-cants were hired-on-the spot (HOTS) during

the 2015 Kalayaan Job Fair

last June 12 at the NCCC Mall of Davao in Davao City.

Data released by the De-partment of Labor and Em-

ployment (DOLE) 11 showed that of the 3,583 registered job applicants in the one-day job fair, a total of 439 appli-

cants were hired on-the-spot by local companies. Eighty two other applicants were hired by overseas firms.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015THE ECONOMY6 EDGEDAVAO

DLPC is top taxpayer in 2014

crc@edgedavao.net

By CHENEEN R. CAPON

THE Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) emerged the

top taxpayer in Davao City in 20104, the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) reported.

CTO local treasury opera-tions officer Villa Dureza said DLPC got the top spot in the

list of taxpayers after paying P83.690 million in business tax last year.

Ranked second in the 2014 list was Mindanao Shop-ping Destination Corpora-tion, owner of SM Davao De-partment Store, after paying P16.861 million.

Coca-Cola Femsa Philip-pines Inc., got the third spot for paying P13.117 million while Holcim Philippines Inc., landed fourth place after pay-ing P12.242 million.

LTS Supermarket, owner of NCCC Mall Supermarket in Ma-a Crossing, came in next

with P10.260 million.The DSG Sons Group,

Inc., owner of Gaisano Mall of Davao ranked number six with P9.521 million while Supervalue Inc., owner of SM City Davao Supermarket, ranked number seven with P8.894 million.

The Mindanao Shoppers Daily Destination (P8.521M), owner of SM Lanang Premier, Mindanao Corrrugated Fibre-board Inc. (P7.528M) and LTS Supermarkets (P7.173M), owner of NCCC Supermarket in R. Magsaysay, complete the list of top 10 taxpayers.

Other top taxpayers in-clude Samsung Electronics Philippines Corporation (P7.137M), Kawasaki Mo-tors Philippines Corporation (P7.008M), Dole-Stanfilco (P6.8M), Honda Philippines Inc. (P6.5M) and PMFTC (P6.4M).

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

NORTHERN Mindanao’s Regional Development Council (RDC-10) re-

cently expressed its support for the implementation of the Mindanao Development Corri-dors, citing it as an innovative strategy that responds to the development needs of the is-land-region.

In a resolution signed on March 19, 2015, RDC-10 mem-bers and stakeholders are en-joined to ensure complemen-tation, synchronization, and convergence of resources with the existing development and physical framework plans, and other ongoing initiatives and emerging trends in the country that affect Mindanao.

“We are fully supportive of initiatives that promote sustainable development in Northern Mindanao, and an-choring our efforts to the Min-danao Development Corridors is one of the efficient ways of achieving our goals,” said RDC 10 Chair and Lanao del Norte Governor Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo.

He added the Northern Mindanao Development Cor-ridor (NMDC) has potentials of developing into a world-class industrial and services center, owing to its public infrastruc-ture that is suited for industri-alization.

“The presence of eco-zones and the location of industrial and agribusiness enterprises in the region, cou-pled with a strong agricultural sector and a budding business process outsourcing industry makes NMDC a key player in Mindanao’s socioeconomic de-velopment,” said Dimaporo.

The NMDC comprises the province of Misamis Ori-ental, Misamis Occidental, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Agu-san del Norte, and Surigao del Norte. Among the major programs and projects identi-fied under the NMDC are the Panguil Bay Bridge, which will provide uninterrupted access from Cagayan de Oro and Ili-gan cities to Tangub, Oroqui-eta, and Ozamiz cities and the

rest of Misamis Occidental and the Zamboanga Peninsula; the development of the airports in Ozamiz, Surigao, and Laguind-ingan; the construction of the Northern Mindanao High Stan-dard Highway, and the con-struction of the 1st segment of the Mindanao Railway System.

The Mindanao Devel-opment Authority (MinDA), through the Mindanao Peace and Development Framework Plan or the Mindanao 2020, adopts the Mindanao Develop-ment Corridors as a key spatial strategy aimed to improve in-frastructure, establish connec-tivity, and spur the develop-ment of growth clusters within the island-region, allowing it to achieve balanced and inclusive growth among its regions.

The corridors approach divides the island economy of Mindanao into three devel-opment corridors namely the Northern Mindanao Develop-ment Corridor (NMDC), South-ern Mindanao Development Corridor (SMDC), and Western Mindanao Development Corri-

dor (WMDC).“Our regional develop-

ment councils and local gov-ernment units know their ter-ritory better, which make them among our strongest allies in Mindanao’s development planning and in integrating the corridors initiative,” said MinDA Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino.

Antonino added the ini-tiative also aims to position Mindanao as a single, inte-grated economy that is able to leverage and fully participate in economic groupings such as the BIMP-EAGA, ASEAN, and the rest of the global economic communities.

“This strategy will tran-scend regional boundaries in terms of commodity flow and industry integration which will make regions in Mindan-ao more commercially viable,” she said.

RDC 10 joins Region 9, 12, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in support-ing the Mindanao corridors program.

Northern Mindanao RDC supports corridors strategy

THE Department of Tour-ism (DOT) 11 has start-ed capacitating around

70 homeowners in the munici-pality of San Isidro for a home-stay program.

San Isidro is one of the three municipalities that sit at the foot of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary

“The DOT 11 has invited a guest speaker from Manila who conducted a three-day training for homeowners from San Isidro,” ,” DOT 11 regional director Roberto P. Alabado III told Edge Davao in a recent in-terview.

Homestay is a type of al-ternative accommodation giv-en to tourists or guests visiting rural areas.

Alabado said the home-owners were trained to handle visitors professionally which he coined as the “DOT way.”

“The households were trained on how they can make their homes presentable to tourists,” Alabado said. “They

were also taught what possible services they can offer in the program.”

Alabado said the DOT 11 is planning to conduct inspection on homeowners who partic-ipated in the three-day train-ing, which was conducted few months ago.

Upon implementation this year, he said homeown-ers could offer the program at P300 to P500 per night to tourists who would like to stay overnight near Mt. Hamigui-tan.

With the absence of ho-tels and accommodations establishments in San Isidro, it would be economical and feasible to implement a home-stay program where tourist will be able to experience the local culture, he said.

The program would al-low local and foreign tourists to immerse themselves in the community.

“We’re expecting that there will be an increase in

‘Homestay’ program in San Isidro pushed

A NATIONAL payment system that will uni-fy transactions from

banks, mobile phones and oth-er channels is targeted for the Philippines by 2018.

Pia Roman-Tayag, head of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’(B-SP) Inclusive Finance Advoca-cy Staff, said they are currently checking the necessary mea-sures to ensure the safety and efficiency of the said payment system.

“This one is to make elec-tronic payments interopera-ble,” she said.

Tayag explained that this is very important specially to people in far-flung areas where banks do not have offices.

She cited that since the Philippines is an archipelago there is a need to maximize the benefits of technological innovations to widen access to financial inclusion.

Among the major factors now being looked into is how

to have a clearing operator that will ensure that transactions are transparent as well as how to address pricing and gover-nance issues.

Tayag said the central bank does not want to implement this payment system without making sure that this is trans-parent, efficient, designed properly and that there is enough competition and coop-eration among stakeholders.

“Security and privacy is a big issue that’s why we need to get it right,” she stressed.

The central bank official said there are about 8,900 banks and bank branches in the country but agents of elec-tronic money (e-money) such as drug stores and small store owners have larger number at about 10,000.

She said e-money services are the initial steps to increase financial inclusion among the poor, thus, the need to put up

BSP eyes national payment system

FISHING. A fish trader chooses from the collection of different varieties of fish on display at the Bankerohan bagsakan area in Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

FHOMESTAY, 10

FBSP, 10

I was browsing through my Facebook feed when a photo of

a manga cafe posted by a friend caught my eye. I found out that the photo was in fact taken not else-where but right here in Davao and I was fully determined to find the place as soon as I got home. For the uninitiated, a manga cafe is a coffee shop which serves refreshments and snacks while also of-fering plethora of manga or Japanese comics for guests to read and enjoy. After some exploring and some prodding, I finally found the cafe in the pho-to. Manga Toshokan Cafe is a quaint establishment located along Palma Gil Street right in front of the Royal Mandaya Hotel. Upon entering the cafe, the first thing that popped were the copious amount of manga on shelves that cover all the walls of the establishment. Aside from wooden tables and chairs, there are also Japanese-style tatami mat enclo-sures for those who want a more authentic Japanese experience. After depositing my bags at the counter, I was

ushered to my table where I was given a quick how-to at the Manga Toshokan by cafe owner Ms. Bernice Babista. She pointed out the different sections of the cafe’s manga library which range from shonen which usually have themes of ad-ventures and battles such as Bleach, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and the like; to shojo which feature stories on emotions and relation-ships and such as Sailor Moon, Fruits Basket, and Fushigi Yugi. No worries

for those who cannot read Japanese, most of the man-ga here have English text. “We wanted to create a space where Manga and Anime enthusiasts can get-together as share ideas and stories,” said Bernice “the library allows people to discover new manga ti-tles which are not normal-ly read in the mainstream here in the Philippines.” The Manga Toshokan (which literally means comic library in Japanese) also carries some famous

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

EDGEDAVAOINdulge! ART AND CULTURE

Gaga over manga at Davao’s Manga Toshokan Cafe

Enjoying some samurai action while slicing into my okonomiyaki.

Inside Manga Toshokan Cafe. Manga Toshokan Cafe’s counter.

English, Korean and Chi-nese novels as well as some Japanese manga magazines and art books to complete the library experience. For

the art enthusiast, the cafe also pro-vides art materi-als such as paper, pens, and colour markers where guests can ex-press themselves or at least try their comic drawing skills. “The Manga Toshokan also holds art classes in cooperation with Mr. Bai Manginsay for those who are really interested in ad-vancing their art skills,” added Bernice. The menu of the cafe is a unique mix of coffee shop staples such as coffee, tea and smoothies (no soda here). For people who are hungry, the Manga Tosho-kan Cafe offers sandwich-es, pasta dishes, as well as cakes. Being a Japanese-fusion concept, they also serve okonomiyaki, a Jap-

anese-style pizza,

as well as Japanese-style croquettes which are per-fect for groups of manga and anime otaku. The Manga Toshokan Cafe is a breath of fresh air in Durianburg’s cafe scene and shows the influence and appeal of Japanese culture on Dabawenyos. Follow me on Instagram or on Twitter at @kenneth-kingong for more travel stories, foodie finds, and happenings in, around and beyond Durianburg.

Manga and food to mix at the Manga Toshokan Cafe.

Manga Toshokan Cafe is a quaint establishment located along Palma Gil Street.

CONTINUING its com-mitment of provid-ing innovative pro-grams to the public, GMA Network is all set to launch the coun-try’s first-ever multi-platform program in search for today’s newest boy band – To the Top. Produced by GMA Public Affairs, To the Top is initially available online beginning this Saturday, June 13, via w w w.gmanet work .com/gma/tothetop. Serving as host of the program’s webi-sodes is Kapuso homegrown artist Julian Trono, who re-cently underwent a rigorous training under the Kpop sys-tem. Unlike other reality pro-grams which held open au-ditions, To The Top scoured the country and invited the best male vocals from dif-ferent schools and organiza-tions to join the auditions. From their auditions to determining the finalists, To The Top documents the journey of these young men from being solo artists or be-ing members of their respec-tive singing groups to ulti-mately becoming part of the country’s newest boy band. Guiding them are Moy

Ortiz, OJ Mariano and Sweet Plantado of the premier vo-cal ensemble The Company; Madelle and Prince Paltu-Ob, alumni of world-renowned dance group Philippine All Stars; and award-winning music producer Jonathan

IN ORDER to cater more to customers’ on-the-go lifestyle and enhance the customer retail experi-ence, Globe Telecom re-launched its online shop available at shop.globe.com.ph. The new Globe Online Shop gives custom-ers access to exclusive pro-mos, the newest device of-fers, and exciting freebies on a single platform. With the Globe Online Shop, customers can shop for the newest phones and postpaid plans and get savings from ex-clusive offers and best deals for a convenient shopping experi-ence, anywhere and anytime. It also boasts of an enhanced user experience with the site automatically adjusting to the user’s device screen, including mobile phones. The Globe Online Shop is home to special offers not avail-able in Globe Shops. Dubbed as online-exclusives, these of-fers are meant to rewards cus-tomers purchasing postpaid plans and devices online. Since

the portal launch, customers have received Spotify Premium codes and gift certificates as reward, while some were en-titled to discounted cash-outs for select plans. For those who want to keep tabs of the latest devices, shop.globe.com.ph also gives cus-tomers first dibs on select phones even before they be-come available in Globe Stores, complete with phone features and specs. Customers can also check out the Globe Online Shop from time to time to avail of exclusive freebies such as

free access to Facebook, Viber, and NBA League Pass with a plan purchase. “As part of our thrust on su-perior customer experience, we are very excited to launch our new Globe Online Shop which is a one-stop shop for customers to enjoy shopping with Globe. It’s an easy, con-venient, and hassle-free plat-form that aims to provide the best shopping experience for your favorite devices, postpaid plans, and offers. For Globe customers looking for the best deals and exclusive promos

for the latest smartphone and plan bundles, be sure to check out the Globe Online Shop ev-ery now and then and you are assured of a wonderful retail experience whenever, wher-ever,” said Joe Caliro, Head of Stores and Retail Transforma-tion Management at Globe. The Globe Online Shop fea-tures a comprehensive cart to checkout system that allows customers to easily review their order and submit all ap-plications requirements, incor-porating a save feature that allows customers to finish their applications at a time that is convenient for them. There are also chat and callback features, allowing customers to consult a product specialist when ap-plying for a new postpaid plan, and more complete product pages where you can zoom in on high resolution images of the device, as well as review the product’s features, plan in-clusions and specifications. To visit the new Globe On-line Shop, visit http://shop.globe.com.ph/.

RESORTS WORLD MANILA’S Newport Theater will finally stage the much-awaited premiere of Bituing Walang Ningning: The Mu-sical this coming June 17 throughout July. Bituing Walang Ningn-ing tells the story of a young fan’s rise from ob-scurity to stardom, the obstacles she has to over-come, ad the love she finds along her way to success. Originally a Pilipino Komiks serial by fiction-ist Narrissa Cabral, Bitu-ing Walang Ningning was made into a blockbuster movie in 1989, starring Sharon Cuneta, Cerie Gil and Christopher De Leon. In 2006, it was re-made into a hit television series

with Sarah Geronimo , An-gelika dele Cruz, and Ryan Agoncillo playing the lead roles. This year, Resorts World Manila, Full House Theater Company, and VIVA Com-

A2 INdulge! VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015EDGEDAVAOUP AND ABOUT

GMA launches first multi-platform program ‘To the Top’

Resorts World Manila to stage Bituing Walang Ningning musical

Globe revamps online shop for today’s on-the-go lifestyle

ENTERTAINMENT

Shangri-la Boracay’s CHI SPA has been named as a stand-out luxury spa in an annual list of world class hotel spas by a popular travel web-site. Properties were selected as provid-ing customers the best soothing treat-ments and rejuve-nating therapies in some of the world’s most desirable des-tinations. Boracay is one of the world’s top island des-tinations, known for its amazing beaches and vibrant nightlife. After a visit to CHI, The Spa travelers might want to add global hub for relax-ation. The spa is, in fact, its own village, with ten villas each overlooking a private bay. Most of the spa treatments are based on Philippine health tra-ditions – coconut prod-ucts, warm oil, heated stones, and supplies de-rived from local flora. If the nightlife gets all the energy, a private Yoga class or comprehensive wellness package will get you back on your feet the next day. Past visitors have commented on the clean and private beach, and said that the resort is perfect for families with kids of any age.

Royal Monceau Raf-fles, India’s The Oberoi Amarvilas Agra Hotel, Munich’s Bayerischer Hof, New Zealand’s The Langham Auckland, Ma-

laysia’s The Majestic Ho-tel Kuala Lumpur and Chiang Mai’s Rarinjinda Wellness Spa Resort. Two properties in the Philippines has already

been featured on the list in previous years – Dusit Thani’s Deverana Spa in 2014, and Crimson Re-sort and Spa Mactan in Cebu in 2013.

Shangri-La Boracay is one of the world’s top luxury spa hotels

Of the resort, a Fili-pino customer said, “The Travelers’ Treatment in the Chi Spa was a huge delight, soothing away all the stress in your body. Trips into town were al-ways fun, but really, if you want the peace, quiet and your own relaxation, there’s no need to leave the resort.” Spas that made the selection were chosen based on hotel ratings, customer comments, and consulting with hotel specialists on the ground. Joining the country’s five star resort in the global list are Bali’s Komaneka at Tanggayuda, Paris’

Ortiz, OJ Mariano and Sweet Plantado of the premier vo-cal ensemble The Company; Madelle and Prince Paltu-Ob, alumni of world-renowned dance group Philippine All Stars; and award-winning music producer Jonathan

Ong and his team. The first stages of To The Top began on June 13 via w w w.gmanet work .com/gma/tothetop. The compe-tition proper will start airing on GMA Network mid-July 2015.

with Sarah Geronimo , An-gelika dele Cruz, and Ryan Agoncillo playing the lead roles. This year, Resorts World Manila, Full House Theater Company, and VIVA Com-

munications Inc., bring to life this classic drama on stage, featuring some of the most love Original Pili-pino Music hits. Headlines by pop heartthrob turned West End star, Mark Bau-

tista as Nico Escobar; ac-claimed singer-actor for film, television and stage, Cris Villonco as Lavinia Ar-guelles; and introducing Monica Cuenco as Dorina Pineda; the stellar cast also

includes award-winning stage performers Michael Stuart Williams and Men-chu Lauchengco-Yulo; re-ality search standout, Ron-nie Lian; famed television host, John Nite and more.

POWER COUPLE Toni Gonzaga and Paul So-riano finally tied the knot in a star-studded wedding attended by prominent person-alities in showbiz and politics, as well as ABS-CBN executives at a ceremony in Toni’s hometown. Toni and Paul’s guests included ABS-CBN presi-dent and CEO Charo Santos-Concio, free TV head Cory Vidanes, Star Creatives head Malou Santos, ABS-CBN head of TV production Laurenti Dyogi, Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Manila mayor Joseph Estrada, Sen. Bongbong Marcos, Lea Salonga, Kris Aquino and Bimby Yap, Gary Valenciano, Dr. Vicky Belo, Aga Muhlach, and Charlene Gonzales, among others. By 3PM, fans waiting outside the church screamed and cheered as Toni arrived wearing her iconic Vera Wang gown. During their exchange of vows, Paul shouted “I love you, Celestine” in one part of his vow, while Toni emulated Paul’s excitement by stating in her vow that they can “finally do whatever they want.”

INdulge! A3VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 EDGEDAVAO

GMA launches first multi-platform program ‘To the Top’

Resorts World Manila to stage Bituing Walang Ningning musical

ENTERTAINMENT

Toni Gonzaga and Paul Soriano are married

Directed by premier concert and theater di-rector Direk Freddie R. Santos, and with mu-sical numbers backed by the Manila Philhar-monic Orchestra under

the baton of Maestro Rodel Colmenar, this production shall retell a well-loves story that has left an indelible mark in Philippine entertain-ment.

PG

PG

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

R-16

JURASSIC WORLD

Chris Pratt, Judy Greer

PG 12:30 | 3:20 | 6:10 | 9:00 LFS

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3

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

SAN ANDREAS

Alexandra Daddario, Dwayne Johnson

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

Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott

JURASSIC WORLD 3D

Chris Pratt, Judy Greer

June 10 – 16, 2015

Haus, and homegrown Cebuano brand Conch-ing’s which serves native Cebu chicken. And what’s a trip to

A4 INdulge!TRAVEL

Things to do while on a 24 hour lay-over in Cebu

WITH the current state of flight traffic at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, it may seem that Dabawenyos are looking at alternative airports to skip the flight de-lays as well as fill their international travel needs.

One of the best alter-natives for travellers is the Cebu-Mactan Inter-national Airport. With less congested skies over the area, flights from this Visayan hub are consis-tently on time unless it is a flight coming from or going to NAIA. Air-lines flying to and from Cebu are also varied with budget airlines as well as legacy carriers serving route. All these are welcome developments but some-times flights from Davao do not connect with in-ternational flights, there-fore a stop-over at the Queen City of the South is needed. Here are some things to do while wait-

ing for your international flight out.

Have ice cream at the Movenpick Hotel Cebu Just a 20-minute drive from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is the Movenpick Ho-tel Mactan Island Cebu. The 245-room hotel has a fabulous pool as well as a spectacular view of the sea and Olango Island. What makes a visit to the Movenpick a unique experience though is the special house-branded ice cream. Made in Switzerland and only available in the Philippines at the Mov-enpick Hotel Cebu, the rich and creamy tex-

ture of the ice cream is unlike any other in the world. With flavours such as Espresso Crouquant, Caramelita, and Pista-chio, each spoonful is like heaven in a bite which is well worth the side trip.

Visit the Mactan New-town’s Mactan Alfresco Don’t have time to drive to downtown Cebu but still craving for local Cebuano delicacies? Then a quick visit to the Mac-tan Newtown’s Mactan Alfresco might just fix your craving. Inspired by the popu-lar Singaporean hawker center, Mactan Alfresco is a covered food strip designed to showcase au-thentic Cebuano cooking and cuisine. Among the

dining establishments already open are Choobi Choobi, whose specialty is its Shrimp in a Bag, Mama Linda Inato BBQ

By Kenneth Irving Ong

Cebu without lechon? Guests can order delec-table lechon from Cebu’s Original Lechon Belly, Ana’s Lechon and Ayer’s Lechon.

Have high tea at the Radisson Blu Cebu For a longer lay-over period, travellers may want to head on to downtown Cebu and check in at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Located right beside SM City Cebu, the Radisson Blu Cebu gives travellers shop-ping convenience as well as a relaxing stay before heading out on an ad-venture. For those who would rather just while away the hours people watch-ing, then afternoon high tea complete with sweet and savoury treats at the Radisson Blu Cebu’s lobby is just what the doctor ordered.

And what’s a trip

to Cebu without

lechon? Guests can

order delectable

lechon from Cebu’s

Original Lechon

Belly, Ana’s Lechon

and Ayer’s Lechon.

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 7

Text and Photos by HENRYLITO D. TACIO

EDGEDAVAO

SCIENCE

Topsoil: Going, going, gone?ONE of the barangays in

Marilog District used to be accessible only by

passing through five kilome-ters of steep mountain trail. In the 1960s, it was predominant-ly occupied by the Bagobos. The wave of migration by the lowlanders in the early 1980s drove most members of the tribal community farther into the remotest mountains.

Today, the 31 households in the barangay are composed mostly of Cebuano-speaking settlers with a few remaining Bagobo families.

“At first, everything was just fine,” Manang Graciana recalled. “We had enough and almost everything was afford-able. We practiced slash-and-burn farming. Land was fertile and the use of fertilizer was unknown to use then.”

Then, in 1990, they no-ticed that the produce from their farm declined. This was evident in the farm of Maria-no Maughay. A jeepney driver for a decade, he decided to be-come a farmer when a distant

relative allowed him to till the 1.5-hectare land on the slopes of a mountain.

With very little knowledge on farming, Maughay cleared one-fourth hectare of the area and planted corn. Initially, the harvest was good. Eventually, though, production significant-ly plummeted. Even if he ap-plied fertilizer, the same thing happened.

What Maughay doesn’t know -- just like most upland farmers -- that the problem lies not on the crops or variet-ies they are planting but on the area where they are planting. The farm is totally devoid of topsoil, the primary resource in agriculture.

“Soil is related to the earth much as the rind is related to an orange,” an American geol-ogist once explained. “It is the link between the rock core of the earth and the living things on its surface. It is the foothold for the plants we grow. Therein lies the main reason for our in-terest in soil.”

Soil erosion is a serious

threat -- to the country’s food production. “Soil erosion is an enemy to any nation – far worse than any outside enemy coming into a country and con-quering it because it is an ene-my you cannot see vividly,” said Harold R. Watson, an American agriculturist who received a Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985 for peace and interna-tional understanding. “It’s a slow creeping enemy that soon possesses the land.”

Watson knows. He was the former director of MBRLC; he is now retired and back in his hometown in Mississippi. He came to the Philippines in the 1960s and during that time, he sounded the alarm of defor-estation and soil erosion.

But people laughed at him. They told him, “We’re never going to run out of trees!” That was before several presidents, other Asian governments, the United Nations – and countless farmers – recognized the value of his insights.

Although Watson is now retired and back in his birthplace in Mississippi, he said the Philippines must do something to save the topsoil. “Land is not being remade,” he pointed out. “Soil is made by God and put here for man to use, not for one generation but forever. It takes thousands of years to build one inch of topsoil but only one good strong rain to remove one inch from unprotected soil on the slopes of the moun-tains.”

Soil scientists claims 58 percent of the coun-try’s total land area of 30

Soil erosion Gully erosion (from the net)

million hectares is susceptible to erosion. “For one, the magni-tude of soil erosion in cultivated sloping areas has reached an alarming proportion,” deplored Angel C. Alcala, former secre-tary of the Department of Envi-ronment and Natural Resourc-es (DENR) and also a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.

Twenty-eight years ago, the environment department re-ported that 22 provinces in the country had already an “alarm-ing” soil rate. At that time, Batangas in Luzon and Cebu in the Visayas had been reported to have lost 80-85% of their topsoil to erosion.

Marinduque had 75-80% soil erosion while Ilocos Sur and La Union had 60-70%. Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboan-ga del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Orien-tal, Bukidnon, North Cotaba-to, South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz and Antique had more than 50% soil erosion.

Soil erosion is not a new phenomenon. Archaeological sites of civilizations, studies showed, were undermined by soil erosion. The fertile wheat-growing lands that made North Africa the granary of the Roman Empire are now largely desert. The lowlands of Guatemala that once nourished a thriving Mayan culture of five million people were drained of their fertility by soil erosion.

“Without soil, there would be no food apart from what the rivers and the seas can provide,” declared Edouard Saouma, for-mer director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organi-zation (FAO). “The soil is the world’s most precious natural resource. Yet it is not valued as it should be. Gold, oil, minerals and precious stones command prices which have led us to treat soil as mere dirt.”

Soil, aptly described as “the bridge between the inan-imate and the living,” consists of weathered and decomposed bedrock, water, air, organic ma-terial formed from plant and animal decay, and thousands of different life forms, mainly microorganisms and insects. All play their part in maintain-ing the complex ecology of a healthy soil.

In the humid tropics, start-ing from a sandy base, a soil can be formed in as little as 200 years. But the process normal-ly takes far longer. Under most

conditions, soil is formed at a rate of one centimeter every 100 to 400 years, and it takes 3,000 to 12,000 years to build enough soil to form productive land.

“This means that soil is, in effect, a non-renewable re-source,” says a FAO publication. “Once destroyed, it is gone for-ever.”

“No other soil phenome-non is more destructive world-wide than is soil erosion,” wrote Nyle C. Brady in his book, The Nature and Properties of Soils. “It involves losing water and plant nutrients at rates far higher than those occurring through leaching. More tragi-cally, however, it can result in the loss of the entire soil.”

In their book, Soil Erosion: Quiet Crisis in the World Econo-my, author Brown and Edward C. Wolf said soil erosion threat-ens food production: “The loss of topsoil affects the ability to grow food in two ways. It re-duces the inherent productivity of land, both through the loss of nutrients and degradation of the physical structure. It also increases the costs of food pro-duction.”

The two authors continue: “When farmers lose topsoil, they may increase land produc-tivity by substituting energy in the form of fertilizer. Farmers losing topsoil may experience either a loss in land productiv-ity or a rise in costs (of inputs). But if productivity drops too low or costs rise too high, farm-ers are forced to abandon their land.”

A recent study by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution concluded that ap-proximately 30 percent of the world’s arable crop land has been abandoned because of severe soil erosion in the last 40 years.

“When soils are depleted and crops are poorly nourished, people are often undernour-ished as well,” Brown and Wolf contend. “Failure to respond to the erosion threat will lead not only to the degradation of land, but to the degradation of life itself.”

Fortunately, the MBRLC discovered a sustainable farm-ing system that helps curtail soil erosion. It is known as Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT). “The principle of SALT is the same as that used by the Ifugao tribes,” explains Roy C. Alimoane, the current MBRLC director. “All we are doing is suggesting using nitrogen-fix-

ing trees and shrubs instead of rocks.”

The SALT system still re-quires careful management of the space between the rows of trees and shrubs. A combina-tion of permanent, semi-per-manent, and annual crops is recommended so as to rebuild the ecosystem and maximize yields while enabling farmers to organize their work time ef-ficiently.

In the SALT farm, one finds a mix of permanent crops (ca-cao, coffee, banana and other fruit trees), cereals (upland rice, corn, or sorghum), and vegeta-bles (bush sitao, winged beans, sweet pepper, tomato, eggplant, etc.). Every third strip of avail-able land is normally devoted to permanent crops. A combi-nation of various cereals and vegetables are planted on the remaining two strips of land. Each has its own specific area so that there can be a seasonal rotation.

“Crop rotation helps to pre-serve the regenerative prop-erties of the soil and avoid the problems of infertility typical of traditional agricultural prac-tices,” Alimoane explains on the importance of regular rotation of crops.

And yes, SALT helps control soil erosion. Its study showed that a farm tilled in the tradi-tional manner erodes at the rate of 1,163.4 metric tons per hectare per year. In a SALT farm, there is still erosion but minimal – 20.2 metric tons per hectare per year.

The rate of soil loss in a SALT farm is 3.4 metric tons per hectare per year, which is with-in the tolerable range. Most soil scientists place acceptable soil loss limits for tropical countries like the Philippines within the range of 10 to 12 metric tons per hectare per year.

In comparison, the non-SALT farm has a soil loss rate of 194.3 metric tons per hectare per year.

Meanwhile, Watson urged Filipinos to change their way of thinking about the environ-ment. “We face the reality of what man’s against the earth have caused,” he said. “We see land degradation expressing itself in destruction of forests, loss of topsoil, pollution of streams and even the air we breathe. We are facing not a mere problem; we are facing destruction and even death if we continue to destroy the nat-ural resources that support life on the earth.”

SALT farm

Alley cropping

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 20158 EDGEDAVAO

VANTAGE

No parallelEDITORIAL

MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte has been open in saying that if he becomes President, he would follow the style of Presi-dent Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who had turned the

military into his private army and set it against the very citizens they had vowed to protect. In more than one instance, Duterte had said he would declare martial law and shut down the Senate and the House of Representatives -- exactly what Marcos had done in 1972 in a supposed attempt to stave off the threat of communism. Critics have used this statement against the mayor, saying he is no better than the dictator and would use violence against the people themselves to accomplish his own selfish ends. Duterte’s statement, however, has to do with the officials who are currently running gov-ernment and not the people themselves. The martial law he would declare, he said, would be intended to cleanse government of all its dregs in all levels -- from the highest officials to the lowest worker. He would be doing a Marcos, in a sense, but it would be corruption at his crosshairs and not the population.

In this light, it is disturbing to see how Duterte’s television ap-pearance with Marcos’ son, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is being spun into a possible tandem between the two. The sen-ator, who has over the years reinvented himself into something of

a statesman, has never acknowledged his family’s offenses to the people and to this day continues to enjoy the wealth that the late strongman had siphoned off from the government’s coffers. Not only that, he has been trying to rewrite and revise history by saying the country was better off during his father’s time -- a line that is being repeated by many clueless young people today who never ex-perienced the difficult life under the iron hand of Marcos. Now the “iron hand” is being used to describe Duterte, and should there be a tandem between the man called “Digong” and Bongbong, then the description might stick for all the wrong reasons.

In truth, Duterte has little in common with the late dictator. One need only come to Davao City to get a sense of this. Over here, people are free to say what they want, even if it is against the city govern-ment or Duterte himself. Over here, groups do not even have to get a permit from City Hall to hold an anti-government rally. And over here, during the declaration of Proclamation 1017 by then-Presi-dent Gloria Arroyo placing the country under a state of emergency due to rebellion and taking away the freedom to hold protest ral-lies, even the media, sans government permit, were able to march around the city to assail Arroyo. One would be hard pressed to find a parallel with Marcos in all that.

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 TACIO • EDCER C. ESCUDERO • GREGORIO G. DELIGERO 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) 0930-669-3018

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

AT least two basic questions that have huge implications on the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) can be posed

to the investigation on the arrested”councilor from Leyte” who allegedly sold fake “official receipts” (ORs) and fake certificates of atten-dance (CAs) to his fellow councilors who at-tended the three-day PCL national gathering at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City last week. The councilor was arrested Thursday (June 11), the second day of the convention, by Davao City police.

These two questions are: 1. Is he the only one doing the modus or is a group behind it? 2. When did this modus of selling fake ORs and fake CAs start and how long has this been going on? We first note that everytime there is a PCL national event, there is a large number of coun-cilors nationwide participating or attending.

The answers of the suspect would surely pinpoint the breadth and depth of the modus that directly involves the public coffers of local government units. The modus has shades and the stigma of a Napoles-type of scam. Napoles scams thrived on falsification of public docu-ments and illegal fund disbursements for per-sonal profit. The public fund is at stake as the fake O.R. is obviously intended to be liquidated for a larger amount of public funds than what was approved for a councilor’s official travel.

If a group is behind the Leyte councilor’s alleged act, then this necessarily bring us to the second question that the modus might have already been existing for some time now. If

this modus has been going on for some time, without the knowledge of PCL national officers (?), while the liquidation of official travels is separate and disconnected from each other’s respective LGUs, then the scam of petty cor-ruption could burst into a scam of nationwide scale and magnitude as those councilors taking part in the scam could have already caused the disbursement of excessive amounts based on falsified attachments and proofs of travel. Is the case of the arrested Leyte councilor the tip of the iceberg of a Napoles-like scam?

******************************

According to the PCL invitation, the current national officers are charging only P6,800 reg-istration fee for the SMX conference while oth-ers, we heard from a Misamis Oriental coun-cilor Wednesday late afternoon, were paying more than P9,000 in registration. Others hoped they could pay less than P6,000 as they came late, thus missing some meals in the day. The registration is apart from their expenses for their hotel accommodation, fare (land, air or sea) and daily per diem.

Our government is really spending so much for the PCL activities. One vice mayor from Davao del Norte did not hide his contempt that

PCL invitation letters keeps on bugging him as it reaches the table since it always means a request for travel of one or more councilors. And he has to approve it “para walay samok (to avoid conflict).” A PCL invitation has the purpose of empowering, training, or educat-ing the councilors, and for the PCL regional and national officials, the purpose of attending important meetings is to see various beautiful places in the country. But not a few people in Davao del Norte saw one city councilor, then a national PCL officer, mastering the art of jet-setting in Manila, Bacolod, Boracay, Pala-wan, etc. throughout his second term before he was defeated as PCL national officer. He’s now on his last term.

Unfortunately, councilors who graduated their baccalaureate, masteral, or doctorate de-grees via the PCL Legislative Academy some two or three years back are still reimbursing the amounts for their travel for the PCL train-ings they attended which carried academic units. Those travels were disallowed by the Commission on Audit for being self-serving, but there was no uniform disallowance poli-cy on this issue COA-wide as others went un-scathed from the burden of disallowance and reimbursement. For those who are still reim-bursing, it’s still a blessing as they graduated or earned academic units while receiving sal-aries.

*****************************

Back to the recent arrest: the uncovering of the modus of selling fake ORs and CAs and the arrest of the suspect directly challenges the integrity of the PCL as an organization, as well as the brand of national leadership that the PCL has. Is there only one suspected bad egg that tarnishes all? Whatever, the act of one is becoming a PCL Davao scandal, breaking out when more than 4,000 councilors from all over the country were sitting in a nationwide legis-lative education conference.

The PCL national top guns should move posthaste to call for a deeper investigation and request the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the suspect and his activities.

More importantly, there is a need for them to request the COA for special investigation as there is a need for the State COA auditors to compare notes by backtracking the past years’ PCL-related travels of the councilors nation-wide and compare their liquidation papers. But this can only be carried out if the PCL national officers ask for the creation of a COA national probe team to specifically look into the PCL-re-lated travels.

The COA probe findings shoud come before the filing of CoC for the 2016 election, as chanc-es are many would be defeated in the polls for their petty corruption in the name of the PCL travels. That pitiful Leyte councilor is already judged a poll loser. But the PCL national offi-cers should stand on high moral ground now at this critical challenge. (Follow me on Twitter @chamonforte)

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

WHEN did the habit of listing down things or notes start? Well, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The

Bible also recorded the ten plagues that hit Egypt. There were twelve tribes of Israelites and there were also twelve disciples who ac-companied Jesus Christ in His ministry.

When I was still a little boy, my mother used to make lists of the things she wanted to buy before going to the market. When I started working, I made a list of things I would do in a day or within a week (I had to check one by one those I had accomplished).

Well, lists are here to stay. And so let me share to you those I have collected through these years. I hope you will learn a lesson or two from this collection:

The 10 commandments of business: (1) Handle the hardest job first each day. Easy ones are pleasures. (2) Do not be afraid of crit-icism – criticize yourself often. (3) Be glad and rejoice in the other fellow’s success – study his methods. (4) Do not be misled by dislikes. Acid ruins the finest fabrics. (5) Be enthusiastic – it is contagious. (6) Do not have the notion that success means simply money-making. (7) Be fair, and do at least one decent act every day. (8) Honor the chief. There must be a head to everything. (9) Have confidence in yourself; believe you can do it. (10) Harmonize your work. Let sunshine radiate and penetrate your relationships.

Ten excuses not recommended for ambi-tious men and women: (1) That’s the way we’ve always done it. (2) I didn’t know you were in a hurry for it. (3) That’s not in my department. (4) No one told me to go ahead. (5) I’m waiting for an OK. (6) How did I know this was differ-

ent? (7) That’s his job, not mine. (8) Wait till the boss comes back and ask him. (9) I forgot. (10) I didn’t know it was that im-portant.

Six basic rules of deci-s i o n - m a k i n g : (1) State the ap-parent problem or situation you face. (2) Gather the facts. (3) Organize and interpret the facts. (4) State the real problem or situation. (5) Develop alterna-tive solutions. (6) Select the most appropriate alternative.

Five rules for job failure: (1) Do only what is required. (2) Leave it till the last minute. (3) Let the mistakes go. (4) Don’t listen to your conscience. (5) Learn to be a convincing bluffer.

Ten reasons for a person’s unpopularity with other people: (1) Lack of dependability. (2) A tendency to exaggerate. (3) Grumpiness. (4) Sarcasm. (5) A sense of inferiority. (6) Boss-iness. (7) A compulsion to “show off” in front of them. (8) Poking fun at others behind their back. (9) A desire to dominate others. (1) A ten-dency to criticize and find fault.

Ten tips to improve your memory: (1) In-tend to remember. (2) Understand what you are trying to remember. (3) Organize what you know into meaningful patterns. (4) Become genuinely interested in what you want to re-member. (5) Use as many senses as possible.

(6) Associate what you want to remember with what you know. (7) If you cannot find a logical association for a new fact, invent your own. (8) If you have a great deal to remember, spread it over a few days. (9) Review what you want to remember as often as possible. (10) The best time to memorize is at night before you go to bed.

Nine rules to live longer: (1) Do not overeat. (2) Eat well-balanced, reasonably adequate meals, including fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products. (3) When tired, irritated, or nervous, eat sparingly. (4) Eat at regular times. (5) Avoid agitation and aggravation, particular-ly at mealtimes. (6) Keep your blood pressure down. (7) Learn to live with life as it is. Be phil-osophical. (8) Avoid excessive X-rays unless ab-solutely necessary. (9) Exercise each day, if only by walking.

Ten rules for successful living: (1) Find your own particular talent. (2) Be big. (3) Be honest. (4) Live with enthusiasm. (5) Don’t let your possessions possess you. (6) Don’t worry about your problems. (7) Look up to people when you can – down to no one. (8) Don’t cling to the past. (9) Assume your full share of re-sponsibility in the world. (10) Pray consistent-ly and confidently.

Twenty ways to be miserable in life: (1) Use “I” as often as possible. (2) Always be sensi-tive to slights. (3) Be jealous and envious. (4) Think only about yourself. (5) Talk only about yourself. (6) Trust no one. (7) Never forget a criticism. (8) Always expect to be appreciated. (9) Be suspicious. (10) Listen greedily to what others say of you.

(11) Always look for faults in others. (12) Do as little as possible for others. (13) Shirk

your duties if you can. (14) Never forget a ser-vice you may have rendered. (15) Sulk if peo-ple aren’t grateful for your favor. (16) Insist on consideration and respect. (17) Demand agree-ment with your own views on everything. (18) Always look for a good time. (10) Love yourself first. (20) Be selfish at all times.

Six mistakes of human beings: (1) The de-lusion that personal gain is made by crushing others. (2) The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected. (3) Insist-ing that a thing is impossible because we can-not accomplish it. (4) Refusing to set aside triv-ial preferences. (5) Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study. (6) Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

Eleven rules in public speak-ing: (1) Know what you’re go-ing to say in advance. (2) Look your listen-ers in the eye. (3) Take your time. Talk clear-ly, concisely, and deliberately. (4) Use an outline in-stead of memorizing a speech. (5) Be con-structive. Stress the merits of your view-point, not the flaws in someone else’s. (6) Use vi-sual aids to engage your audi-ence’s eye as well as ears, and capitalize by us-ing gestures to emphasize important points. (7) Go beyond self-interest. Showing the audience how you can help them achieve what they want is much more effective than putting yourself in the limelight. (8) Be specific. (9) Be yourself. You can learn from others, but don’t make the mistake of trying to imitate a successful speak-er. (10) Use a positive approach. (11) Stop at the right time. When you sense that you have scored your points and that the audience gets the message, stop talking.

The list of lists

Henrylito D. Taciohenrytacio@gmail.com

THINK ON THESE!

PCL Davao scandal: Tip of the iceberg?BY CHA MONFORTE

HASHTAGS BREW

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 201510NEWSREDS... FROM 1

Bongbong... FROM 2 Changing... FROM 2

Freed... FROM 3

All... FROM 3

Homestay... FROM 6

BSP... FROM 6Taking... FROM 14 (MOTORING)

ARMM... FROM 4

EDGEDAVAO

INDEPENDENCE DAY AT SM LANANG. Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang (5th from right) leads the symbolic releasing of white doves into the air during SM Lanang Premier’s 117th Independence Day celebration on June 12. Together with him are SM Lanang Premier Mall Manager Mary Therese Lapeña-Mana-lo (5th from left) and Assistant Mall Manager Jerome Yeo (extreme left) with

representatives from the Philippine National Police, DSWD Field Office XI, Bureau of Fire Protection (Lanang Fire Station), Coast Guard District South Eastern Mindanao, Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Girl Scouts of the Philip-pines, Park Inn by Radisson Davao, SMX Davao Convention Center and other community stakeholders.

“Ihatag nako sa ilaha tulo ka positions (I will give them those three positions),” he added.

Duterte said he would in-sist on CPP founder Jose Maria Sison that he accept his offer in order to end the war.

“I cannot wage the war against our own people,” he said.

Duterte said government must resolve the insurgency problem to avoid the killing of our Filipinos.

“We should accept each other as brothers,” he said.

Duterte said the govern-ment, especially the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) must wage war not on fellow Filipinos but on other countries such as China which now claiming parts of the West Philippine Sea.

Platform?Duterte, who has main-

tained that he is not running for the country’s highest post in next year’s election, never-theless laid out his plans if he becomes President.

He said he will implement land reform and provide a budget to retrieve the lands of beneficiaries who had sold back their lands to the land-owners.

“Kuhaon ko tong mga yuta na nangablaigyag usab, nan-gauli na lang didto sa ilang

mga amo tungod sa kapobre-hon (I will get those lands that were sold back the landlords due to poverty),” he said.

He said he will also pro-vide seedlings, fertilizers, farm-to-market roads, and markets for the famers.

Duterte said he will pro-vide free education to the people especially in the hin-terlands so that all Filipinod will have equal access to edu-cation.

“Ang Filipino basta walay edukasyon kay wala jud (If a Filipino is not educated he will not amount to anything),” he said.

Duterte said in his first year as President, he will stop spending on infrastructure and concentrate on resolving the country’s social problems.

“Magpbutang kog mga skwelahan, kanang pampas-aherong trains, i-subsidize ko na, magpaalkanse jud ko (I will build more schools. I will build passenger trains and I will subsidize them even at a loss),” he said.

Duterte said that he will spend for the rehabilitation of the trains but will not pass on the burden to the passengers.

He said the country must have an accessible transpor-tation service to cater to the thousands of passengers 24 hours a day.

the proposed measure despite efforts of Malacanang to push for the passage of the bill with-out any changes.

“If the next President will do that (push for charter change) he or she has to do it very early on---start the pro-cess on the first year (of his term), not on the last. That would at least allay suspicions this is being done to extend his term. So that’s a possibility,” Marcos said.

The House of Representa-tives had tackled the proposal of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. to amend the constitution and allow Congress to pass enabling laws lifting bans on ownership of land, business-es, schools and the media but failed to put it to a vote before Congress adjourned sine die on June 10.

“I think they’re necessary. Not because the concept is wrong but because the pas-sage of time changed things and situations have changed so we have to adjust accordingly,” Marcos explained, when asked on his stand on charter change.

However, he said specu-lations on the real agenda be-hind charter change persists because there is no enabling law providing specific me-chanics regulating the power of Congress to amend the con-stitution acting as constituent assembly.

“I share the fear of the Mayor that we do not know what will be taken up. Once the constituent assembly is

called to order, any member of that constituent assembly can stand up and speak on any subject,” Marcos said.

He believes the most ac-ceptable method of charter change would be through a Constitutional Convention where delegates are elected by the public.

“So at least those who want to be delegates can campaign and tell the people what their plans are if they are elected. In this way, it would be clear to the public what to expect from their delegates,” Marcos said.

As to federalism, Marcos said it is in theory a good op-tion because it spreads pow-er centers so that if there is a problem in one area it would not affect the entire country.

“Besides, there is recogni-tion that each area is different, with different needs and con-cerns, and with different assets and capabilities. So you have to treat each one differently, and the best people to determine what is needed in that locality are the people living there,” Marcos said.

Marcos said that in fact the country had experimented al-ready on the concept of feder-alism, with the defunct Interim Batasang Pambansa, which had regional representation, although it was abandoned later on.

“So I think it’s time to re-visit the concept and see if it would be the one best suited for the Philippines,” Marcos said.

Mindanao, Operation Smile’s charitable works bring hope -- and smiles -- to poor families.

“We have screened more than 400 patients with cleft lip and cleft palate in Davao City, of which more than 200 will undergo surgery this week until Friday,” Operation Smile International program coordi-nator Regan Ferrell said.

Ferrell said Davao City’s to-tal screened patients comprise almost half of the 974 total screened patients from simul-taneous operation missions in Manila, Pampanga, Cebu, and Bacolod last Saturday.

Since its first mission 21 years ago in Davao City, Op-eration Smile has already changed the lives of more than 20,000 Mindanawons with

cleft lip and cleft palate, giving them a more normal life and a chance to excel.

“Our goal is to change one smile at a time, and our hope is to help children have this abnormality (removed) so that they can have a normal (life),” Ferrell said.

She said Operation Smile is hoping in the next several years to eradicate the backlog of patients living with these deformities.

Operation Smile has been in the Philippines for 33 years. In Davao City, it has partnered with Brokenshire Memorial Hospital where it has a base. Partner surgeons and dentists conduct a regular free opera-tion at the Mindanao Cleft Cen-ter housed at the BMH.

person Von Al-Haq and Janati Mimbantas.

Under the mechanics of the decommissioning as agreed upon by both sides, 145 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) will register and processed to formally return to civilian lives.

According to Ferrer, prior to Tuesday’s formal decom-missioning, members of the In-ternational Decommissioning Body (IDB) have inspected and conducted ocular inspection of the serviceability of the guns.

”The IDB has reported the guns appeared to be good and working but the final determi-nation whether these guns still works will happen tomorrow,” Ferrer said.

”It was one of the most difficult decisions on the part of the MILF combatants,” Mo-haqher Iqbal, MILF chief nego-tiator, said. “A sacrifice for the sake of peace, for the sake of having real peace in Mindan-ao,” he added.

Aside from President Aquino, Ferrer said expected to attend are House and Sen-ate members, Peace Adviser Sec. Teresita Deles and MILF chieftain Murad Ebrahim, rep-resentatives from the interna-tional community helping in the Mindanao peace process and local officials.

“This is just the beginning of the whole process of nor-

malization, the decommis-sioning is the first important step,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer added that after the decommissioning process, the decommissioned guns will be kept will be brought to an agreed area, the Weapons Storage facility located inside Camp Iranun (Abubakar) in Sitio Bombaran, Barangay Tu-gaig in Barira, Maguindanao.

Camp Iranun, now home of the 603rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine military, used to be the biggest MILF home-base – Camp Abubakar, which fell to government hands in the 200 all out war waged by former President Joseph Es-trada.

About 30 members of the Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST) who will be supervised by the Joint Verification and Monitoring Team (JVMT) of the IDB will be backed by close circuit TV cameras.

”The idea is to put these weapons beyond use, that is what this thing all about,” she said.

Ferrer said aside from in-ternational representatives, 15 members from the Philip-pine military and police and equal number of representa-tives from the MILF will com-pose the JVMT.

President Aquino is ex-pected to arrive at about noon. (PNA)

the increase of tourist coming here especially with the recent pronouncement of UNESCO declaring Mt. Hamiguitan as a world heritage site,” Alabado said.

The coming opening of a visitors center and a museum in a portion of almost 30,000 hectare heritage site near San Isidro will surely draw local and foreign tourist.

Davao Oriental Gov.

Corazon Malanyaon said in a separate interview that the multi-million two-storey vis-itors center will have a small museum that will showcase the various species of plants and animals harmoniously co-existing in the mountain ranges of Mt. Hamiguitan.

Malanyaon said the opening of the local govern-ment-initiated facilities will be either July or August this year.

interoperability among all modes of payment.

Relatively, Tayag said the central bank will soon release the result of its survey on pub-lic’s appreciation, particularly the poor, and grasp on the fi-nancial system in the country.

She said initial results of the said survey show that most Filipinos are not enjoying ben-efits of reforms and innova-tions on this banking sector.

She disclosed that initial results of the said demand-side survey indicated that 40 per-cent of the respondents have savings but 68 percent of them

put their savings at home.“They’re not enjoying the

benefits of saving in an institu-tion that is protected and regu-lated,” she said.

Also, instead of relying on banks most of the respondents said they borrow mostly from family members and friends, with some of them taking out loans from informal lenders who charge very high rates.

“These are opportunities for growth in terms of provid-ing financial services. This is a market that needs the service and can actually pay for the service,” she added. (PNA)

portunities to poor population and improving peace and or-der situation will address the threats to food price inflation.

ARMM line agencies in-cluding its lead convenor, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-ARMM, will streamline their programs in the implementation of ASAPP

for poverty reduction, employ-ment and income generation.

As a result of the Com-prehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, a new political entity will be created through legislation, as agreed by the government and the Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front (MILF). (PNA)

NPA members.Subere said after he was

captured, his battalion com-mander declared him absent without official leave (AWOL) since he did not report back to his unit.

Mt. Daguma Sub-Region-al Command of NPA spokes-person Ka Dindo, however, criticized Subere’s officials for immediately declaring him AWOL without first conduct-ing an investigation.

it doesn’t feel it. It takes just a few turns to slot it into place and the visibility is good even when judging the ends of the cargo bed. What’s more, there’s a rear back-up camera.

From Iligan City, the con-voy backtracked to Cagayan de Oro before climbing up to our final destination: Da-hilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon. On the way, we had to tackle some twisty moun-tain roads similar to Marcos Highway heading up Baguio. In these circumstances, the NP300 Navara shone with the

responsiveness of its drive-train package. The stability of its chassis also helped. There were times when you can hear tire screeches from the un-laden pickup, but the Vehicle Stability Control didn’t light up even once. I figured then that it had everything under control. It did tip and understeer from time to time, but any other vehicle with a high center of gravity will. Still, it’s one of the most controlled in the pickup and mid-sized SUV category. Plus, the Zero Gravity Seats give surprising support, best-

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 11

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH SPECIAL POWER OF

ATTORNEY

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ASUNCION P. ABLAS-HERMOSURA has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH SPECIAL POWER ATTORNEY   executed among her heirs per Doc. No.533; Page No.08; Book No. XXX; Series  of  2015,  of  the  NOTARY  PUBLIC  FREDERIC VOLTAIRE Y. TAN6/16.23.30

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT No.(s) 1003838 under LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 299131-4 / NNN400273674 issued to JOSE CLEMENTE F. MENDEZ

was lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.

6/16,23,30

EDGEDAVAO

ICT HUB

FOLLOWING recent news of a breach of federal employee re-

cords, the Obama Admin-istration acknowledged Friday that in a separate attack hackers stole highly sensitive forms used in vet-ting federal employees for security clearances.

The hackers are linked to China, US officials told

The Washington Post and the Associated Press.

The forms contain ap-plicants’ personal informa-tion and could compromise federal agents’ ability to maintain their cover while collecting intelligence, ac-cording to a former US coun-terintelligence official cited by the AP.

“This tells the Chinese

the identities of almost everybody who has got a United States security clear-ance,” the former official, Joel Brenner, told the AP. The forms also provide in-formation from background checks about workers’ men-tal health, finances and fam-ily.

The breach was discov-ered as the government

looked into a previous at-tack, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The earlier attack, an-nounced June 8, was said to have compromised the data of up to 4 million current and former federal employ-ees, including Social Security numbers and other personal information. But a union of federal workers said Thurs-

day that it believed it was a far more extensive breach than the OPM has indicat-ed, affecting every single current and retired federal worker -- allegations the government disputes.

Regarding the breach revealed Friday, the govern-ment concluded with a “high degree of confidence that OPM systems containing

information related to the background investigations of current, former and pro-spective federal government employees, and those for whom a federal background investigation was conduct-ed, may have been exfiltrat-ed,” Samuel Schumach, a press secretary at the OPM, said in an emailed statement Friday.

China hack on US federalemployees targets clearances

WITH the suc-cessful South-east Asia re-

gional launch of the Hua-wei P8 and wearable devices in Bangkok Thailand on May 28, 2015, Huawei is keep-ing the momentum going by introducing the P8,

P8Max, P8Lite, Talkband B2 and AP007 power bank to Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and oth-er Southeast Asia coun-tries and regions.

Richard  Yu,  CEO  of Huawei Consumer BG, said Southeast Asia is

IN order to cater more to customers’ on-the-go life-style and enhance the cus-

tomer retail experience, Globe Telecom relaunched its online shop available at shop.globe.com.ph.

The new Globe Online Shop gives customers access to exclusive promos, the newest device offers, and exciting free-bies on a single platform.

With the Globe Online Shop, customers can shop for the newest phones and post-paid plans and get savings from exclusive offers and best deals for a convenient shop-ping experience, anywhere and anytime.

It also boasts of an en-hanced user experience with the site automatically adjust-ing to the user’s device screen, including mobile phones.

The Globe Online Shop is home to special offers not available in Globe Shops. Dubbed as online-exclusives, these offers are meant to re-wards customers purchasing postpaid plans and devices online.

Since the portal launch, customers have received Spo-tify Premium codes and gift certificates as reward, while some were entitled to dis-counted cash-outs for select

plans.For those who want to

keep tabs of the latest devic-es, shop.globe.com.ph also gives customers first dibs on select phones even before they become available in Globe Stores, complete with phone features and specs.

Customers can also check out the Globe Online Shop from time to time to avail of exclusive freebies such as free access to Facebook, Viber, and NBA League Pass with a plan purchase.

“As part of our thrust on superior customer experience, we are very excited to launch our new Globe Online Shop which is a one-stop shop for customers to enjoy shopping with Globe. It’s an easy, con-venient, and hassle-free plat-form that aims to provide the best shopping experience for your favorite devices, postpaid plans, and offers. For Globe customers looking for the best deals and exclusive promos for the latest smartphone and plan bundles, be sure to check out the Globe Online Shop ev-ery now and then and you are assured of a wonderful retail experience whenever, wher-ever,” said Joe Caliro, Head of Stores and Retail Transforma-tion Management at Globe.

Huawei SE Asia smartphoneshipments rise 120 percent

Huawei P8 is not only a device with stunning look but also a tool that ignites consumers’ creativity with a camera for low-light shooting, light painting, perfect selfies, director mode, time lapse, and more.

one of the key markets for Huawei, and the com-pany is very optimistic about the potential of this region, which is why Hua-wei is hosting the South-east Asia launch event so soon after the global launch last month.

“Southeast Asia is one of the most promising and high-potential economic entities in the world, both now and in the future. It is regarded as a strate-gic market and an engine driving the fast growth of Huawei ‘s Consumer Busi-ness. In 2014, Huawei saw over 10 million total shipments in this region.

With the launch of the P8, P8Ma x and P8Lite this year, we expect total ship-ments to reach 8 million units, a 167% increase,” Yu said.

The company has seen substantial growth in regional shipments in the region. Thom-as Liu, President of Hua-wei Consumer Busi-ness Group Southeast Asia said data from the company’s recent re-port shows that 2015 Q1 smartphone ship-ments in the Southeast Asia achieved a 120% in-crease compared to last year.

Globe revamps online shop

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

GENERAL SANTOS CITY MARKETING OFFICEEDMUND P. RENDONMarketing SpecialistGeneral Santos CityMobile: (Sun) 0925-357-3460 (Smart) 0907-202-3844

DAVAO CITY MAIN OFFICEJOCELYN S. PANESDirector of SalesDoor 14 ALCREJ Bldg.,Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel: (082) 224-1413Telefax: (082) 221-3601

MANILA MARKETINGOFFICEANGELICA R. GARCIA Marketing Manager97-1 Bayanbayanan Ave.,Marikina Heights, Marikina City Tel: (02) 654-3509

GO BOLD GO COLOUR• All text

• Telephone Number (bigger point size)

• Bold Header

• Background• Text

Price: 100.00 Price: 175.00 Price: 230.00

ADD-ON

• Pictures/Logos• Graphic Elements

12 CLASSIFIED EDGEDAVAO

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 13CLASSIFIEDEDGEDAVAO

NOTICE OF LOSSNotice is hereby given by LOYOLA PLANS

CONSOLIDATED INC. That CERTIFICATE OF FULL PAYMENT  No.(s)  21066737/21007071  under  LOYOLA PLAN Contract No.(s) 190256-7/190090-3 issued to CARMEN M. SACULINGGAN

REINSTATEMENT FORM: 2401-95690, 2401-95697, 2401-100860, 2401-100883, 2401-100996, 2401-101000, 2401-101001, 2401-101002, 2401-02316, 2401-02337, 2401-52356, 2401-52363 issued to TERESITA F.ERAMIS

were lost. Any transaction entered into shall be null and void.5/7/14/21

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE

WITH SALE

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late JOSEFINA P. HORCERA has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH SALE executed among her heirs per Doc. No.739; Page No.148; Book No. XXVI; Series of 2008, of the NOTARY PUBLIC  NAPOLEON F. SANGO

6/16.23.30

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF

PARTITION OF ESTATE

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late MARCELO ABLAS SR. and PAULINA PLAZA has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT executed among their heirs per Doc. No.416; Page No.85; Book No. XXXVIII; Series of 1992, of the NOTARY PUBLIC  ARTURO T. PINEDA

6/16.23.30

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH SPECIAL POWER OF

ATTORNEY

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late VICENTE P. ABLAS, SR. has been the subject of an EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT WITH SPECIAL POWER ATTORNEY   executed among his heirs per Doc. No.535; Page No.08; Book No. XXX; Series  of  2015,  of  the  NOTARY  PUBLIC  FREDERIC VOLTAIRE Y. TAN

6/16.23.30

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 20151414 EDGEDAVAO

MOTORING

THE Covenant Car Com-pany Inc. (TCCCI) ex-clusive importer and

distributor of Chevrolet au-tomobiles and parts in the Philippines teams up with the country’s top volleyball star and reigning UAAP Women’s Volleyball MVP - Alyssa Valdez as she is officially appointed as the 2015 Chevrolet Sonic’s sports and lifestyle ambassa-dor. Alyssa is a multi-award-ed athlete and team captain of the 2014 UAAP champions Ateneo Blue eagles and of the 2015 Asian U23 Women’s Volleyball Championship. She was also selected by the Philippine Olympic Executive Council to be the flag bearer for the Southeast Asian Games this June 2015. “We are de-lighted to welcome Miss Al-yssa Valdez to the Chevrolet family. We truly appreciate her contributions to the sport of Volleyball and the inspiration she brings to many young Fil-ipino aspirants.” said Atty. Al-bert B. Arcilla, President and Managing Director of Chev-rolet Philippines. “Alyssa em-

bodies the characteristics that best represent the Chevrolet Sonic – smart, vibrant, capable and strong in mind, body and heart.” Concludes Atty. Arcilla.

Apart from Alyssa’s tre-mendous on-court talent, her Filipina beauty is undeniably mesmerizing. Her five foot nine athletic frame paired with her disarming smile and star athlete charisma make Alyssa stand out. Alyssa effort-lessly transforms from fierce and strong Volleyball spiker to hipster, cool, girl next-door, college student to a stylish and sophisticated young lady. Whatever persona Alyssa proj-ects, she remains the simple and modest Batangena who always makes a special effort to accommodate fan requests and credits her teammates and family for her successes.

Like Alyssa, her car of choice, the Chevrolet Sonic is also a cut-above-the-rest. The Chevy Sonic is a subcompact sedan that comes in two strik-ing forms: in a 5-door sporty hatchback design that ex-udes fun and athleticism and

a 4-door stylish sedan that radiates sophistication and class. Built by a global brand with a strong heritage of over a hundred years of automo-tive experience, the Sonic is a strong and dependable vehicle that is equipped with modern technological features that add up to a unique and fun Chevy experience. Powered by a 1.4L ECOTEC engine with a 6-speed automatic trans-mission, the Sonic delivers commendable driving perfor-mance and pocket friendly fuel efficiency. Adding to the Chevy Sonic’s arsenal are cool com-fort and convenience features like steering wheel mounted audio controls, rear parking sensors, Bluetooth connectiv-ity and the Chevrolet Mylink; a touchscreen infotainmnent unit that is compatible to most smartphones today. With its easy to use interface, users can synchronize and access phone contacts, apps, photos and mu-sic files through the Chevrolet Mylink system, keeping you always connected to every-thing that is important to you.

FLYING into the largest pickup truck market out-side Metro Manila, Cagay-

an de Oro, it’s easy to see the im-portance of a well-engineered product for the people living here. More than just good-look-ing machines, they have to ne-gotiate the peculiar situation of the city. Jeff Rolida, Nissan Cagayan de Oro dealer prin-cipal, ex-

plained that the city is a boom town. Situated near the moun-tains, a powerful and torquey vehicle is important. Plus with infrastructure development in full swing around the city, a vehicle has to negotiate a lot of rough roads. This is the sort of market the NP300 Navara had to prove itself in.

Grabbing the keys at the first chance , set-

tle into the driver’s

seat. Getting in and out is a bit hard since the pilot doesn’t have the convenience of a grab handle (all others do). Once you get onboard though, the cabin’s very car-like. The fit and finish are great and the use of metallic accents and piano black inserts add to the techy feel. The seats are plush and the ergonomics are spot on. At first, I thought this would be a leisurely ride and drive. However, it felt more like a scene from Mad Max with the way everyone was push-

ing. There are no qualms though since it showed the capabilities of the NP300 Navara. With 190 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque, it may not have the most output in its class, but in practice,

the way the power is de-

livered is linear and usable. In full attack mode, it pulls strongly from a standstill, enough to dig you into the Zero Gravity seats. What’s more, the engine is will-ing to sing to its redline—a rar-ity in a diesel. And it’s mighty quiet even at full song.

Connected to the engine is an equally impressive sev-en-speed gearbox. Not only does it trump the others in terms of bragging rights, but in actual op-eration as well. It comes with a manual shift override, but trust me: you won’t need it, ever. The up-and downshifts are quick and imperceptible. The gearing is well-spaced though an odd occurrence happens between second to third and third to fourth: there’s a momentary loss of boost for a split-second only to have it come back big

time. Seventh gear works as an overdrive, boosting highway mileage and cruising comfort. Even with me pushing the wits out of it, it does 12.5 km/L.

Nissan likes talking about the unique five-link coil spring suspension and for good rea-son: it works. The ride quality is actually better than mid-sized SUVs. Even with just four peo-ple and no cargo onboard, it’ll absorb everything you throw at it. There’s still some shake coming from the cargo bed (a common thing among pick-ups), but the frame feels sturdy nonetheless. Road bumps, cuts, ruts and even the more notori-ous speed ribs (and there are a ton of them here) are reduced to nothing more than a slight nuisance. Even when the roads completely disappear, some-

times without warning, the NP300 Navara’s generous sus-pension travel enabled me to tackle deeper potholes without difficulty (or even a reduction in speed). And even if Nissan’s not saying it, the cabin’s also quiet with controlled wind, tire, and road noise even at high speed. If there’s some gripe though, it’s that the steering does loosen up tremendously at high speed (past 120 km/h) making it feel less grounded and stable.

The quick stop at Iligan City for a lechon brunch neces-sitated some maneuvering into a parking slot. It was a test for the NP300 Navara’s visibility and maneuverability. It may be one of the largest, if not the largest, offering in its class, but from behind the steering wheel

Alyssa Valdez joins Team Chevrolet

Taking the 2015 Nissan NP300 Navara 4x4 for a test

Further reinforcing the Son-ic’s dependability is its 5 year, 100,000 kilometer warranty that assures its new owners a worry-free and hassle-free ownership experience.

Both the sedan and hatch-back variants of the Sonic have modern and modish

interior designs with pre-mium materials. The car’s Corvette-inspired cockpit and motorbike design instru-ment cluster complement the sporty exterior and relive the rich racing tradition of the Chevrolet brand. The Sonic hatchback variant has flexi-

ble foldable back seats that provide more room for load-ing requirements and abun-dant storage spaces to orga-nize loose items. The Chevy sub-compact car shows that form and function can co-ex-ist. The Chevy Sonic SRP starts at P748,888.00

FTAKING, 10

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015 15SPORTSEDGEDAVAO

CEREMONIAL BALLS. University of Mindanao president Dr. Guillermo Torres Jr. (left) and ESDEVCO president Glenn Escandor (right) hit the ceremonial balls of the GET Memorial Golf Tournament last Sunday at the Apo Golf and Country Club. Boy Lim

THE Philippines moved on the verge of match-ing the country’s med-

al output in Myanmar two years ago following a timely gold-medal haul of four on Sunday in the 28th South-east Asian Games.

The tennis pair of Treat Huey and Denise Dy, the men’s male match racing

keelbo sailing team, and tae-kwondo jins Pauline Lopez and Samuel Morrison deliv-ered golden performances that could save the Philip-pines from a new low in this biennial showcase.

The much-needed boost raised the Filipino athletes’ output to 28 gold, 35 silver and 64 bronze medals, put-

LEBRON James had 40 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists to join Magic

Johnson as the only NBA play-ers with triple doubles in mul-tiple games of multiple NBA Finals, but his heroics were not enough as the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Golden State Warriors in Game Five.

The Cavaliers are now in the brink of losing the title se-ries against the Warriors, who are up 3-2 in the series. But James is still optimistic about his team’s chances.

“You  cope  with  it  by  un-derstanding it’s just one game and looking at the opportunity we have on Tuesday to force a game seven,” James said. “We’re going home with a game six and we’ve got enough

to win it. I feel confident.”Asked what gives him

confidence in his playmaking skills, James matter-of-factly replied: “I feel confident be-cause I’m the best player in the world. It’s that simple.”

But even James had to tip his hat to Curry catching fire. The reigning MVP scored 37 points to lead the Warriors.

“Steph got it going. He hit some huge shots which kept us at bay,” James said. “We needed our best defensive quarter tonight in the fourth quarter and we didn’t get it. We gave up 31 points in the fourth. Some of them were free throws, but a lot of them were them just breaking us down. So we’ve got to do a bet-ter job of that.”

MEXICAN toughie Rafael “Guerreri-to” Reyes is bound

to engage promising ALA Gym prospect Mark “Mag-nifico” Magsayo, who is un-beaten in 10 fights with 8 knockouts to his name, in a slugfest when they clash in “Pinoy Pride XXXI” at the Waterfront Hotel and Casi-no in Cebu on July 4.

Magsayo who looked sharp in training at the ALA

Gym in Balete Drive, Quezon City last week is now spar-ring with five division world champion Nonito “The Fili-pino Flash” Donaire in Cebu as Donaire himself prepares for his showdown with Frenchman Anthony Settoul on July 17 in Macau.

The 24 year old Reyes is a typical Mexican warrior who comes to fight and has a record of 12 knockouts in 16 wins with four losses.

In his last fight on March 30, 2015 Reyes scored a rousing 2nd round knock-out over Reyes Lopez but in what is a typical roller coaster ride, retired in the 4th round against unde-feated Carlos Diaz Ramirez who dropped Reyes in the 3rd round with a vicious uppercut. Ramirez was un-defeated in 16 fights with 9 knockouts.

However, before losing

by a 6th round TKO to un-defeated Eduardo Ramirez (10-0, 4 KO’s) on September 20, 2014, Reyes hammered Rodolfo Hernandez into submission, winning by a 2nd round TKO on Septem-ber 6, 2014.

With Magsayo’s desire to put on a show, fight fans can expect fireworks as Reyes isn’t the kind of fight-er who will back down no matter who the opponent is.

REACHING IN. Philippines’ Treat Huey in action during the mixed doubles finals. Huery and partner Denise Dy won the gold medal. Photo: SINGSOC

ROUNDUP

Sepak Takraw bets in finalsTEAM Philippines’

Jason Huerte, Em-manuel Escote and

Rheyjey Ortouste won their Men’s Sepaktakraw Dou-bles Semifinal game against Singapore at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

The Filipinos advanced to the finals against Myan-mar scheduled late yester-day.

The Philippines’ wom-en’s basketball team, known popularly as Perlas Pilipinas, settled for the bronze medal at the close of basketball competitions in the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

The Filipinas finished the round robin with 3 wins and 2 losses, winning against Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, and losing to Thailand and Indonesia to take the bronze.

Ricky Espinola and Da-vid Pelino won the bronze

medal in men’s squash jumbo doubles event. The tandem lost to Indonesia’s Furkon and Perdana, 0-2, in the semifinal round.

The Philippine men’s volleyball team lost to Thai-land, 25-21, 25-16, 25-13, on Sunday at the OCBC Arena Hall 2 to bow out of the 28th Southeast Asian Games competition.

The team wrapped up its campaign with a 1-2 win-loss card, same as the re-cord of the women’s squad.

Marck Espejo had 17 points for the Philippines, but Thailand was simply too strong and went on to complete a sweep of Pool A.

A quick start in the third set gave the Philippines a 2-0 lead, but Thailand easily regained control.

Jirayu Raksakaew fin-ished with 13 points while Kissada Nilsawai and Kitti-kun Sri-Utthawong had 11 points apiece for Thailand.

CHANGING TARGETPH bets now focused on avoiding lowest output

Lebron: We can bounce back

Mexican toughie bound to engage Magsayo in slugfest

ting them in a position to at least match their 29-gold haul in 2013 in Myanmar with the Gilas basketball team in the finals following a pulsating 80-75 win over Thailand.

The output, however, is still well below projections of top sports officials who had raised hopes of winning anywhere from 40 to 60 gold medals in these Games.

The Gilas Pilipinas ca-dets got big games from Troy Rosario and Almond Vosotros to reach the gold-medal match against Indonesia to be played in the final day of competitions on Monday, 8 p.m. at the OCBC Arena.

Huey and Dy outlast-ed Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and Sonchat Rati-watana, 7-6, 6-4, to rule the mixed doubles final to end a gold medal drought that ex-tended from Saturday.

Ridgely Balladares, Rommel Chavez, and Richly Magsanay then beat Singa-pore to take sailing’s lone gold in the SEA Games in the male match racing keelboat event. Later in the day, Lo-

pez and Morrison won their respective final bouts over Vietnamese opponents.

Archer Amaya Paz-Co-juangco settled for a silver medal in the women’s in-dividual compound while Nestor Cordova placed sec-ond in men’s single sculls 1,000m in rowing.

Following her gold in the mixed doubles, Dy failed to make it a double as she and Katharina Lenhert lost in their women’s doubles match to Thailand.

In archery, Paz-Cojuang-co also got two bronze med-als in the women’s team compound with Jennifer Chan and Joann Tabanag, and in the mixed team com-pound with Earl Benjamin Yap, who also got a bronze in the men’s team compound with Paul Marton Dela Cruz and Delfin Adriano.

Edgar Ilas and Benjamin Tolentino also got a bronze in rowing men’s lightweight double 1,000m.

The mixed wakeboard-ing team of Mark Howell Griffin, Angelo Linao, and Maiquel Selga also took the bronze.

FORMER Perlas Pilipinas team manager Cynthia Tiu blamed politics for the

national side’s failure to land a medal in women’s basketball in the 28th Southeast Asian Games.

Tiu said the decision of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi-nas (SBP) to transfer the reins of the national women’s team to the group led by businessman Dioceldo Sy just months before the SEA Games was the begin-ning of the end for the country’s gold-medal bid.

“What they did was really a gamble. Ayaw ko naman maging mayabang na sabihin na kami kaya naming mag-gold, pero we’ve been a team for seven years against their team na three months binuo,” said Tiu.

The Discovery Suites group of Tiu has backed the women’s team since 2007, winning sil-ver medals in back-to-back SEA Games in 2011 and 2013 with a lineup handled by longtime na-tional coach Heidi Ong.

That changed when the SBP

tapped the Sy group to form the SEA Games-bound team - a move Tiu decries to this day.

“I kept asking them (SBP), what was the urgency of chang-ing our team midstream?” said Tiu. “Nalulungkot ako sa nang-yari. Sana man lang kasi nagka-roon ng magandang transition.”

“Willing naman kami ipasa sa iba yung leadership ng wom-en’s basketball eh. Kaso ang sabi ko nga, patapusin na muna sana ang SEA Games sa Singapore kasi we’ve been preparing for it since January 2014,” she added.

Tiu said the coaching staff and players from the Discovery Perlas Pilipinas team were “un-rightfully relieved” of their posi-tions.

“I don’t even consider it (de-cision of SBP) as being bypassed. Mali ang approach dun. Parang kudeta yan eh. Kasi binigay na sa amin ang endorsement tapos biglang a few months to go, may pinalit silang bago,” she said.

“Masama talaga ang loob ko sa kanila.”

Politics blamed for ill-fated Perlas’ stint

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 201516 EDGEDAVAOSports

ONE STEPH AWAYCurry does it again, Warriors now a win away from title

AT least for one game, the Philippine na-tional men’s basketball team to the 2015 Southeast Asian Games were handed

a reality check on Sunday, one that reminded them that the other teams aren’t about to make things easy in this tournament.

Especially not Thailand, whose basketball program has improved due to their continuous participation in the ASEAN Basketball League.

But despite a semifinal scare, the stalwarts of the Gilas cadet team are convinced that the Philippines will remain the gold standard for basketball in the region.

“I always think the Philippines is superior. We eat, sleep and breathe basketball,” Natural-ized player Marcus Douthit told InterAksyon.com in an exclusive interview.

“I think these guys are trying to do like we do, but I’m pretty sure coach will get us more prepared than the others.”

Douthit credited Thailand for its improve-ment, particularly on defense, which held him down to just four points. The naturalized cen-ter, who has been playing for the national team since 2010 and has faced some of the best teams in Asia, described the Thais’ defense as the best he’s encountered on the international level.

“They extended the zone, they clamped in and I couldn’t post up.”

Kiefer Ravena, a veteran of the SEA Games, believes that the other ASEAN team will get closer over time but the Philippines will re-main on top of the heap.

“I think we should be invincible in the SEA Games,” Ravena said. “We won and it’s still a win. It will be competitive through the course of the years with teams really preparing and they want to be like the Philippines.”

The leader of the Gilas cadets said that the scare against Thailand will be a good thing for the Philippiines moving forward.

“We have to be alarmed. We have to have that sense of urgency with the program of Gi-las. Hindi namin pababayaan yan kahit cadets lang kami,” Ravena added.

“We have to be on top.”

Gilas cadets: ‘We’re still the best’

‘I hope on Tuesday we can hold that trophy. That's all I want to do’. STEPH CURRY

‘We eat, sleep and drink basketball.’ MARCUS DOUTHIT

VOL. 8 ISSUE 53 • TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

STEPH Curry stepped up with the NBA Finals tee-tering on a razor’s edge

Sunday and sparked Golden State over Cleveland 104-91, putting the Warriors on the brink of their first title since 1975.

The NBA 2015 Most Valu-able Player scored 37 points, 17 of them in the fourth quar-ter, as Golden State seized a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series. The Warriors could end a 40-year title drought by winning game six Tuesday at Cleveland.

“I hope on Tuesday we can hold that trophy. That’s all I want to do,” said Curry. “We’re confident. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. But we know the sense of urgency of the moment.”

Clinging to an 85-84 lead, the Warriors went on a 19-5

s p u r t late in the

fourth quarter to se-cure the victory, Curry scoring 12 points in the run. The NBA’s top 3-point shooter sank two

impressive shots from beyond the arc in the span and for the game made 13-of-23 from the floor and 7-of-13 from 3-point range.

“That was just Steph tak-ing over the game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He took over the game down the stretch and was fan-tastic.”

C u r r y twice an-s w e r e d baskets by Cleveland star LeB-ron James just be-f o r e t h e d e -

cisive scoring

burst, scoring 17 points in all in the final

period.“Those are plays I’ve

been making all year and ones I feel confident in,” Cur-ry said. “Obviously when they go in, it helps keep your confidence high.”

Curry was treated for minor dehydra-tion after the game by drinking liquids and

was expected to be in

top form Tuesday.James had 40 points, 14

rebounds and 11 assists to join Magic Johnson as the only NBA players with triple doubles in multiple games of multiple NBA Finals, but his heroics were not enough and

Cleveland must win Tues-day to force a seventh

game Thursday at Oakland.

“You  cope with it by un-

derstanding it’s just one

g a m e a n d

look-i n g

a t

the o p -p o r t u -nity we have on Tuesday to force a game seven,” James said. “We’re going home with a game six and we’ve got enough to win it. I feel confident.”

Asked what

gives him confidence in his playmaking skills, James mat-ter-of-factly replied: “I feel confident because I’m the best player in the world. It’s that simple.”

But even James had to tip his hat to Curry catching fire.

“Steph got it going. He hit some huge shots which kept us at bay,” James said. “We needed our best defensive quarter to-night in the fourth quarter and we didn’t get it. We gave up 31 points in the fourth. Some of them were free throws, but a lot of them were them just breaking us down. So we’ve got to do a better job of that.”

- Kerr: best yet to come -James-led teams in a 2-2

playoff series had not lost a game five in five tries since

his Miami squad fell to Dallas

i n the

2011 N B A

Finals. That’s also the last time his team dropped a playoff series after splitting the first four games.

Teams that have won game five of a deadlocked fi-nals have won the title in 20 of 28 tries.