edge davao 9 issue 13

P 15.00 • 20 PAGESVOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 www.edgedavao.net

EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Photo by Lean Daval Jr.

MAYOR RODRIGO DUTERTE AND THE MASSES

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 20162 EDGEDAVAO

COVER STORY

[email protected]

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO

UNCONDITIONAL LOVEMY MAN. Presidential bet Mayor Rodrigo Duterte raises the hand of his chosen one, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, his ruinningmate for Vice President, during Wednesday’s rally at the Freedom Park. Lean Daval Jr.

CANDLE LIGHT. Supporters light up their candles during

Wednesday’s rally at the Freedom Park. Lean Daval Jr.

ENLIGHTMENMENT. More supporters hold up their candles during Wednesday’s rally at the Freedom Park. Lean Daval Jr.

COVERAGE, National and local media crane up their cameras for a vantage view of the rally. Lean Daval Jr.

RECORD CROWD. An aerial shot of the biggest political rally ever in Davao City.

AS early as three o-clock in the afternoon, peo-ple of ordinary walks

of life started to mill at the Freedom Park. Some of them wearing Rodrigo Duterte shirts they themselves had printed or bought. There were those too who convert-ed Duterte plastic ads into placards nailed on wood.

Like ants, they multiplied into the dusk and from patch-es of people came the thou-sands that had the stretch of Corner Ponciano Bangoy to Roxas filled to every space of real estate. From kids as young as toddlers and senior citizens, they all came that night to spread their arms in a warm embrace to a man they have taken into their lives as lolo, father, brother, friend, son and Mayor.

Who is this man and why do they show them so much love? It’s not ordinary affec-tion. It’s unconditional. It’s passionate. Unselfish. It’s al-most like a religion.

His late mother Nanay Soling Duterte would have risen from the grave that night to personally witness this un-precedented expression of support, a King’s coronation it was almost, a canonization. Whatever you call it. It was as electric as Woodstock. A rock concert would have paled in comparison.

Who is Rodrigo Duterte and why are Dabawenyos cra-zy for him? How rabid can ra-bid be? This must be the tell-all tale of a man-who-would-be-president.

On stage, as the mammoth

crowd estimated at 20,000 roared at the sight of his im-age magnified by the bright lights and moving strobes, presidential candidate Mayor Duterte kissed the Philippine flag, raises his right hand and declared: “I am Rodrigo Dute-rte. I am a Filipino. I love the Philippines. It is the home of my birth, it is the land of my people.”

At that note, it’s like the ground caved in. All emotions went unbridled. Some were crying unabashedly. Some were sobbing and holding back. But everywhere you looked, everywhere cameras panned and clicked, people were delirious.

This is a political rally, an ordinary scene for pol-itics-loving Pinoys. It’s the thing in every elections. Fes-tive, dance-filled, entertain-ing. For those who have lived through many elections, a political rally is nothing much but a fiesta show.

That Wednesday night was different. It was a politi-cal rally like no other.

Mayor Duterte spoke for an hour. He has been away from the city since filing his candidacy for President as a substitute for the PDP-Laban Party. He was his usual ele-ment—enriching, entertain-ing and engaging. The crowd chanted his name in many oc-casions, laughed at his jokes, and received him—every-thing in him unconditional-ly--in emphatic approval.

These are people who came on their own. No hakot. No free ride. No free food. No free shirts.

The highlights were not the entertainment on the side although these are also of-fered free by some artists like Chad Borja, Richard Reynoso, Rannie Raymundo and Renz Verano who lent their talents to sing Makabayan songs. Even the sexy, gyrating Mocha Girls performed for the man they believed would be the country’s best hope. Again, all for free.

Television cameras craned, drones hovered above, photo cameras clicked

and recordings rolled. The media, from giant television networks to independent groups, all came to cover the event.

ABS-CBN reporter Do-ris Bigornia, at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, rushed her news report be-fore boarding a flight back to Manila with her crew. She re-corded her sound bites at the pre-departure area.

“Ayusin natin dahil tiniti-ra na ako sa social media hin-di raw lumalabas si Duterte sa atin,” she was overheard saying. She made calls and in-sisted on the videos she hand-picked. Not the ones shown the previous night where Mayor Duterte was merely shown handshaking some crowd in another event.

“Show the videos, halos ikamamatay namin yan dito,” she was heard telling the par-ty on the other line.

The rally spanned through the wee hours of the night, around 10 o’clock to be exact. Before it capped that night, candles were lighted after Mayor Duterte spoke. The burst of light illuminated throughout the area. From an eagle’s vantage view, it would have looked like an ocean of fireflies lighting up below.

From that view, a macro-cosm of the country’s current conditions and future holds out to a man in whose hands could turn the sorry to glory, the powerless to the enabled, the criminals to their graves and the corrupt men to jail.

This is Rodrigo Duterte. From zero to hero.

“I am Rodrigo Duterte. I am a

Filipino. I love the Philippines. It is the home of my birth, it is the land of my

people.”

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 3EDGEDAVAO

NEWS

PRESIDENTIAL bet Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte’s camp called

the move of the side of his op-ponent Vice President Jejomar Binay “desperate” for bringing up the Commission on Audit (COA) report that questioned the spending of around P46 million in education funds in 2015.

“It’s a pity that the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s party is now attempting to paint everyone black out of its desperation to escape the burning allegations of mas-sive corruption hurled against the UNA (United Nationalist Alliance) standard bearer,” Duterte’s spokesperson Peter Laviña said in a statement sent on Friday.

Laviña said the issue was already raised and answered last year.

“We see UNA desperately trying to muddle and confuse the public as it evades the al-legations of corruption hound-ing VP Binay right now,” he said.

He said there is nothing new in the issue being raised by the Binay camp since it is an old information made to ap-pear fresh.

“I would say, this is a worthless piece of informa-tion. But, really, nice try,” said Laviña.

Laviña said, based on the information from the Depart-

ment of Education (DepEd), “the questioned funds were used for the promotion of phys-ical education programs, which is allowed under the law.”

He said under Republic Act No. 5447, the creation SEF, said “the fund shall be used to improve school facilities, print and buy books, pay salaries of teachers, grant scholarships, and promote physical educa-tion programs.”

Laviña said the funds were used to send athletes and their coaches to sporting events across the country.

“These programs are ba-sically designed to promote physical education programs. What’s wrong with that?” he said.

He said if the spending was anomalous, cases would have been surely filed against city officials, including Duterte.

“But unlike Binay who is saddled with corruption cases, nothing was filed against Dute-rte,” Laviña said.

Earlier on the same day, UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan also issued a statement, ques-tioning the alleged misuse of Davao City’s SEF amounting to about P46 million, cited in a COA report.

“If he really were tough on crime and corruption as he projects himself to be, why were there anomalies commit-ted under his watch?” Ilagan said.

THE Davao City council momentarily set aside a dialogue with the De-

partment of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) last Friday over the P18.9 bil-lion Sasa Port Modernization project.

In an interview with EDGE

Davao, city council’s floor lead-er councilor Bernard Al-ag said the meeting with the DOTC was postponed last Friday be-cause most of his colleagues were not available.

“Dili available ang mga konsehal, Mo larga sila’g Cebu (The councilors are not avail-

able because they will go to Cebu),” he said.

Al-ag said to catch up with the discussion, he will file a resolution which will be passed on first reading in the next session on March 29 to call the officials of DOTC.

“They want to consult the

local government,” he saidHe said the officials are

expected to appear in the city council by first week of April to explain huge amount of the project.

Al-ag said the council is asking the DOTC to explain

Duterte: Binay is desperateBy ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

[email protected]

Sasa Port dialogue postponedFREE FOOD. Hungry young boys and girls munch on free porridge distributed by personnel of the city government of Davao at Rizal Park yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

F SASA, 11

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 20164 EDGEDAVAONEWS

ELEMENTS of the out-lawed Bangsamoro Is-lamic Freedom Fighters

(BIFF) tried but failed to over-run a para-military detach-ment in a remote village here, police on Saturday said.

Senior Inspector Junete Napat, Aleosan town police chief, said about 50 suspect-ed BIFF from Datu Salibo, Maguindanao harassed the detachment of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) at about 8 p.m. by firing assault rifles and rifle grenades.

But the militiamen were prepared and engaged the attackers in a gun battle that lasted for about two hours un-til the guerrillas retreated back to Liguasan marshland.

The militia detachment was one of the many outposts established by the military to prevent BIFF, now under at-tack by government forces in Datu Salibo, from harassing civilian communities in North Cotabato.

The Rio Grande de Mind-nanao served as the borders of Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

Napat said no casualty was reported on the side of the mi-

litiamen. Paramilitary troopers could not say if the attackers suffered casualties either.

The morning after, govern-ment forces recovered about 100 pieces of empty shells from M-16 Armalite rifle, Ga-rand rifle, fragments of rifle grenade and empty shells for cal. 50 Barret rifle in an area where the BIFF positioned, about 100 meters away from the detachment.

Barret rifle is a signature firearm of the BIFF.

It was the second harass-ment against the Aleosan de-tachment this year. Last Febru-ary 18, BIFF also attacked the CAFGU base.

Capt. Joann Petinglay, 6th Infantry Division spokesper-son, said the harassment on Aleosan detachment was part of the diversionary tactics of the BIFF which suffered heavy losses during Army offensives in Maguindanao.

“This is part of the terror-ists’ tactics to ease the offen-sives in Datu Salibo,” Petinglay said. The military launched attacks against the BIFF after the outlawed group harassed workers of a government flood control project in Maguindan-

THE Supreme Court (SC) was asked on Friday to re-verse its decision that set

aside the decision of the Com-mission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc, which disqualified Senator Grace Poe to run for president in the May 9, 2016 elections.

In a joint motion for recon-sideration (MR), petitioners Atty. Estrella Elamparo, former Senator Francisco “Kit” S. Ta-tad, former University of the East (UE) College of Law Dean Amado Valdez and Dela Salle University (DLSU) Professor Antonio Cabrera asked the SC to reconsider its decision and dismissed the petitions of Poe for lack of merit.

They also asked the SC to af-firm the decision of the Comelec that nullified the certificate of candidacy (COC) for president of Poe over questions on her cit-izenship and residency.

They argued that the SC rul-ing favoring Poe was a “perver-sion of the Constitution”.

Last March 8, the SC En Banc ruled that Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares is qualified to run for president in the May 9, 2016 elections.

Nine justices voted in favor of and six justices voted against granting the consolidated pe-titions of Poe, which assailed the decision of the Comelec En Banc that nullified her COC for president in the May 9 elec-tions.

Those who voted to grant the petition are Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal Sereno and Associate Justices Jose P. Perez, Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr., Lucas P. Bersamin, Diosdado M. Peralta, Jose P. Mendoza, Fran-cis H. Jardeleza, Alfredo Benja-min S. Caguioa and Mariano C. Del Castillo.

Those who voted to deny

the petition are Senior Associ-ate Justices Teresita J. Leonar-do-De Castro, Arturo D. Brion and Antonio T. Carpio, and As-sociate Justices Bienvenido L. Reyes, Marvic Leonen and Este-la M. Perlas-Bernabe.

In a 47-page decision, the SC declared that Poe is a nat-ural-born Filipino and also complied with the residency re-quirement to run for president in the May 9 elections.

With a 9-6 vote, the SC reversed the decision of the Comelec which cancelled the COC for president of Poe in the May 9 elections.

The SC said that the Comelec has committed “grave abuse of discretion” in the deci-sion it rendered.

According to the SC, the pieces of evidence are more than sufficient to believe that Poe is a natural-born citizen.

The SC said that the issue

should not focus on who were the parents of Poe such that their identities were not estab-lished, but rather, were her par-ents Filipinos.

If the basis will be the sta-tistics presented by the Solicitor General as well as the circum-stancial evidence presented by Poe, the SC said, there’s a big possibility to say that the par-ents of the senator were Filipi-nos.

Among the circumstancial evidende pointed out by the SC were that Poe was abandoned when she was just a baby in a church in Iloilo City, where majority of the population are Filipinos, as well as her physical trait which is typical in a Fili-pino such as the straight black hair, almond-shaped eyes and oval face.

The SC said that the private respondents or those who pur-

At least five members of the outlawed Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom

Fighters (BIFF) were con-firmed injured in a clash with government forces in Datu Sal-ibo, Maguindanao, the military said Friday.

An undetermined number of BIFF gunmen tried to over-run the Sopad Detachment of 24th Mechanized Company of 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Barangay Sambo-lawan by firing assault rifles, rifle grenades and grenades at 11 p.m.

The attacks triggered a four-hour firefight, ending at about 3 a.m. Five areas near the military detachments had blood stains, an indication the hostilities left BIFF fighters in-jured.

The morning after, resi-dents and soldiers witnessed the remnants of fierce armed hostilities as showed by con-crete walls riddled with bul-let holes, coconut trees with marks of bullet hits, road blocks filled with holes and metal roofing of the detach-ment with traces of rifle gre-nade explosions.

Lt. Colonel Warlito Li-met, 2nd Mechanize Battalion commander, said soldiers re-covered hundreds of empty shells for cal. 45 pistol, M-16 Armalite rifle and Barret rifle.

An abandoned mosque near the detachment was not spared as it bore bullet holes.

“It was a well planned at-tack but soldiers’ alertness and firepower foiled the attempt,”

IN observance of the Holy Week, Davao City Water District’s offices in Bajada,

Matina, Toril and Ma-a and collection centers in SM La-nang Premier, Victoria Plaza and Felcris Centrale will be closed from March 24 to 27. Regular operations will re-sume on March 28.

General manager Ed-win V. Regalado assures the general public that DCWD will still be able to attend to customer concerns despite offices and collection centers being closed on said days.

The emergency crews of DCWD’s Pipelines and Ap-purtenances Maintenance Department will be available

24 / 7 to attend to emergency pipeline leak repairs.

The Central Informa-tion Unit (CIU) / DCWD Call Center will also be available to accommodate inquiries, complaints, reports and concerns relating to DCWD services and can be contact-ed thru the 24-hour hotlines 297-DCWD (3293), 0927-7988966, 0925-5113293 and 0908-4410653. Custom-ers may also visit DCWD’s website (www.davao-water.gov.ph) and official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/davaowater) for updates and announcements on DCWD services. (Katrina Belen M. Roble)

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) is not seeing any legal impediment in the

proposed bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate authorizing the barangay chair-men to swear into office any government officials, including the next Philippine President.

In the legal opinion of the DOJ sent to Deputy Executive Secretary Mildred Yovela Uma-li-Hermogenes, DOJ Undersec-retary Zabedin Azis said that the Department does not pose any objection if House Bill No. 2729 and Senate Bill No. 2693 are passed into law.

The two proposed bills are

amending Section 41 of Execu-tive Order No. 292, more popu-larly known as the “Administra-tive Code of 1987”, or Republic Act No. 6733.

Both the House and the Senate have proposed to al-low the barangay chairmen to swear into office the govern-ment officials, including the President.

The DOJ legal opinion add-ed that is not a “mandatory le-gal requirement” but was only “traditional” that the oathtak-ing of the new Philippine Pres-ident is taken before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC). (PNA)

SC asked to reverse ruling on Poe’s case

Next PHL President can take oath before village chief -- DOJ

BIFF attacks NorCot CAFGU detachment

DCWD offices and collectioncenters closed, March 24-27

Army, BIFF clash in Maguindanao

TEBOW CURE MOBILE COIN BANK. Tebow Cure Hospital development and sustainability officer Vince Bitana (rightmost), DMCI Homes sales head Brenda Cielo-Bagsik (leftmost), VXI senior talent acquisition officer Mark Bulda (second from left) and site HR manager Erika Villalba lead the unveiling of the Tebow Cure Hospital’s mobile coin bank

which will be placed at SM Lanang Premier, SM City Davao and other leading malls in the city. The unveiling was held during FAST Fridays media forum at SM Bowling Center of SM Lanang Premier. Lean Daval Jr.

FBIFF, 11FARMY, 11

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 5EDGEDAVAO


ECONOMY

THE Department of Agri-culture (DA) regional of-fice here voiced concern

over the worsening problem on Fusarium Wilt infestation as an increase in the areas af-fected in the Davao Region has been reported.

Virgilio Gutierrez, science research specialist of the DA-11 and the focal person on Fusari-um Wilt management, said the spread of the disease to other areas could worsen especially during the rainy season which come by June.

“We are apprehensive when the wet season sits in by mid of this year,” he said.

According to Gutierrez, the disease is soil borne and its transmission is fast when there is heavy rain and flooding.

The DA has infused P102.1 million funds for the region to address the disease for the years 2015 to 2016.

The budget, Gutierrez said, is divided by province of which P34.2 million is allocated for Davao del Norte; P15.4 million for Compostela Valley; P5.1 million for Davao del Sur; and P1.3 million for Davao Oriental. He said Davao City is allocated some P5.1 million separately by DA.

The funds will be used for intervention activities such as eradication of the disease, crop shifting, provision of GCTCV-219 (a Philippine se-lection of a Giant Cavendish Tissue-Culture Variant from the Taiwan Banana Research Institute), good agricultural practices (GAP), production of information, education and communication materials, and others.

Based on their geotagging in 2013, it was learned that some 701,000 mats (mother plant and suckers) were infect-

ed with the disease spread out in the different provinces of the region.

Gutierrez said they have introduced eradication of the disease to areas where infesta-tion is below five percent that they considered manageable to treat. But if above five per-cent of the area is infected they recommend crop shifting to cacao, coffee or corn because these are more resilient to the disease.

He said their 2015 report on the areas affected with the disease around the region ac-counted for 15,500 hectares.

“We fear that the num-ber would increase given that owners of some small banana farms won’t allow assessment of the area on the presence of the disease. And with the onset of the rainy season there is no stopping of the spread to other areas,” he said. (PNA)

LOCAL share prices sus-tained their rally above the 7,300-mark on Fri-

day, tracking the Wall Street and most Asian markets.

The benchmark Philip-pine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) advanced 95.84 points or 1.33 percent to 7,306.74 from previous day’s 7,210.9 close.

“This came after the (Unit-ed States) Fed suggested a more gradual rate hike path, resulting to a weaker dollar and gains in most of Asian cur-rencies,” said RCBC Securities Inc. in a market report.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.82 percent, while Chi-na’s Shanghai New Compos-ite Index gained 1.73 percent.

However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.25 percent as a stronger yen was deemed a dampener to the export-led economy.

It expects a more mut-ed market next week given a shortened trading week in ob-servance of Lent.

At home, the market’s rally was led by property that surged 2.08 percent.

Only the sub-indices of mining and oil and industrial sectors finished in the red.

Volume of transactions reached 1.28 billion shares valued at Php11.17 billion.

Market breadth was skewed to the positive with 100 advancers against 80 decliners, while 40 issues un-changed. (PNA)

AS more farmers cannot cultivate their land due to the dry spell brought

about by El Nino, senatorial re-electionist Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Friday suggest-ed that the government hire them to repair and rehabilitate the irrigation systems and pro-vide them income while they cannot work on their land.

“Our farmers cannot culti-vate or harvest due to the dry earth. During this period, Pan-gilinan said we should provide our farmers replacement in-come and hire them in the on-going repair and rehabilitation of irrigation canals,” said the former Presidential Assistant on Food Security and Agricul-tural Modernization.

Pangilinan said the Nation-al Irrigation Administration,

with the help of the local gov-ernment units, could prioritize this temporary employment program and start identify-ing the farmers who could be hired for the job.

“Strategically, not only with El Nino, but with climate change, this and other mea-sures like an agriculture and fisheries calamity fund sepa-rate from the general calami-ty fund should be par for the course,” he noted.

“In the aftermath of the typhoons, according to the NDRRMC, the poorest are the most affected by the destruc-tion brought by typhoons,” he said, referring to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Highlighting that most of the poor are farmers and

fisher folk in the rural areas, Pangilinan said, “We should be able to immediately respond. Our target is to have the farm-er and the fisherman gainfully earning soon after disaster struck.”

El Nino, an abnormal weather pattern caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean near the equator that occurs every 3 to 7 years, has brought drought in the country, partic-ularly in the provinces covered by Northern Mindanao and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). North-ern Mindanao or Region 11 is composed of Compostela Val-ley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, and Davao Occidental, while ARMM con-sists of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Ta-

wi-tawi.The Philippine Atmo-

spheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Asso-ciation has projected that the dry spell will be extremely experienced in the country, particularly in the Visayas and Mindanao regions in the first half of this year.

The Department of Agri-culture (DA) last month said the damage brought by El Niño had already reached some Php4.7 billion in the agricul-ture sector alone, equivalent to 349,620 metric tons of crops destroyed and 121,490 farm-ers affected.

The dry spell started Sep-tember last year, affecting some 85 percent of areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. (PNA)

ANOTHER town in South Cotabato has declared a state of calamity as

the long dry spell continues to wreak havoc in the town’s ag-riculture sector, officials said Friday.

On Thursday, the Sang-guniang Bayan of Tantangan, South Cotabato passed a reso-lution putting the town under state of calamity in response to recommendations of the town’s disaster office.

The provincial government

of South Cotabato, meanwhile, is mulling putting the entire province under state of calam-ity as the drought has damaged almost PHP300 million worth of crops.

Tantangan was the third LGU that declared a state of ca-lamity in the province. Earlier, Koronadal City, and the towns of T’boli and Surallah, made the same declaration as the dry spell continued to damage agri-cultural products.

In an emergency meeting

Friday, South Cotabato Gov-ernor Daisy Fuentes who also chairs the Provincial Disas-ter Risk Reduction and Man-agement Council (PDRRMC), urged the provincial council to put the province under state calamity as damages to crops reached more than PHP285 million.

Province-wide, the drought destroyed more than 11,000 hectares planted to pa-lay, corn and other high value crops.Affected are more than

9,300 farm families.The provincial board is ex-

pected to decide on the PDRRM recommendations on Monday to allow the province to use its calamity fund to cushion the impact of the long dry spell.

In nearby North Cotaba-to province, the drought de-stroyed almost PHP1 billion worth of crops, affecting more than 10,000 families, accord-ing to Engr. Eliseo Mangliwan, provincial agriculture officer. (PNA)

ALTHOUGH toll fee hikes are not expected during the upcoming Holy

Week, the Manila North Toll-ways Corp. (MNTC) said that it could be implemented but did not give an expected timeline for it.

During the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SC-TEx) integration ceremony on Friday, MNTC President Rodri-go Franco stressed that toll fee hikes will “not be implemented in relation to the integration.”

“Right now there’s no in-crease scheduled for the Holy Week,” Franco said but noted that there are pending peti-tions with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Franco further said that toll rate adjustments should have happened in 2013 or 2015 but these petitions have not yet been approved.

TRB previously said that the Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) earlier filed a petition for a 15 to 55 percent increase in toll fees by January 2016 however, they continue to undergo review.

“We don’t know when these petitions will be ap-proved or implemented. We don’t know when the toll free hike will be implemented. It depends on the TRB,” he added.

The NLEx-SCTEx inte-gration project, which costs PHP650-million, involves the

Another SoCot town declares state of calamity due to drought

Pangilinan says gov’t must hire farmers to repair, rehabilitate irrigation systems

Areas of small banana farms infected with Fusarium Wilt increasing in Davao Region

MNTC: Toll fee hike up to TRB

PHL stocks rally back to 7,300

NEW STORE. Choobi Choobi Flavors Corporation president Contantine Tanchan walks through media practitioners the background and overview of his

newly-opened restaurant at SM Lanang Premier during FAST Fridays media forum at SM Bowling Center of SM Lanang Premier. Lean Daval Jr.

Kung Fu Panda 3 toysMCDONALD’S has a new treat for

Happy Meal fans and it’s more than a new set of awesome Happy Meal

toys. It’s a timeless favorite among Filipinos and a fun snack for kids and adults alike – corn!

Starting March 9, corn-loving custom-ers may choose between McDonald’s Fries and a yummy corn cup to complete their Happy Meal.

The new corn option goes perfectly with McDonald’s newest Happy Meal toy offering, Kung Fu Panda 3! Corn is a great source of energy to be able to train like Po, focus like Master Shifu, and con-quer obstacles like the Furious Five.

Find these famous Kung Fu Panda characters in McDonald’s Happy Meal starting March 9. There are eight Kung Fu Panda 3 Happy Meal toys to collect! If connected side-by-side, the characters will do their signa-ture move simultaneously with a push of a button.

With the new corn option and Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal toys, McDonald’s contin-ues to offer more fun food choices and cute toys both for kids and kids-at-heart.

Both offers are available at all McDon-ald’s restaurants nationwide through the front counter, Drive-Thru, or McDelivery by dialing 86-2-36, visiting www.mcdelivery.com.ph, or by ordering through the McDo PH App, available for free in both Android and iOS.

Gather your family and friends and head to your nearest McDonald’s to discover the kind of happiness only a Happy Meal can bring. Share your bonding moments with McDonald’s via the official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/mcdo.ph, or by tagging @McDo_PH on Twitter and Instagram. #McDo-HappyMeal

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VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 7EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMY

SMART Communica-tions and PLDT Global partnered with the

British Government in cel-ebrating the Great British Festival held recently at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Smart International Ser-vices and PLDT Global show-cased their fixed-line and mobile roaming services, SMART UK SIM and Smart

Surf Abroad, respectively – services that help make the United Kingdom acces-sible to travelers, students and even expatriate Filipino workers.

British Ambassador Asif Ahmad (3rd from left) dropped by the Smart booth during the opening ceremo-nies of the festival and was welcomed by PLDT Global president and CEO Alejan-

dro Caeg (2nd from left) and Tina Mariano, Smart FVP, Global Access and Interna-tional Services (3rd from right). Also in photo are, from left, Smart Internation-al Services’ Brand Manager, Alan Del Campo, Smart In-ternational Services’ Junior Brand Manager, Abby Bauca, and PLDT Global’s Market-ing Communications Man-ager, Joyce Lucio.

Smart, PLDT Global support British fest


VANTAGE

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

OLIVIA D. VELASCOGeneral Manager

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EDITORIALIs right to expression absolute?

FRIDAY’S traffic logjam that caused hundreds of passengers, mostly tourists who came to the city for the Araw ng Davao celebration, to miss their flights, and motorists to get stuck on the road for hours had

to bear the brunt of what is to be a legitimate expression of constitutional freedom.

There is a saying that no matter how you express your redress of griev-ances, it is your constitutional right. We may disagree on the way you ex-press it, but the bottomline is that we are duty-bound to defend that right to the point of dying.

The question: Is there a limit to how you express that constitutional right where the safety and the welfare of other people are also imperiled? Is the constitutional right of self-expression and the manner in which it is being manifested absolute or bears constitutional limits?

Let’s take a close look at the law. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for redress of grievances.

In any event, the Philippine Constitution, like its American archetype, to appears to use the language of absolute prohibition: “no law shall be passed.”

Yet it is not “speech” which is absolutely protected from restriction, but only “freedom of speech.” Thus, the threshold issue is the definition of free-dom of speech. In other words: what speech should be free?

There is also what we call the “clear and present danger rule.” When the

speaker advocates violence or other illegal conduct, the state may curtail his speech if its presents a “clear and present danger” to society.

The Law teaches us that the doctrines of overbreadth, vagueness, and the least restrictive means backstop the free speech guarantee. Vis-a-vis these doctrines, the “clear and present danger” doctrine represents a judicial stan-dard for justifying abridgment of free speech, in the process of balancing the conflicting interests of the individual and of society.

Now, we may fight and die for that right of the indigenous peoples to re-dress their grievances in an expression of constitutional right on Friday no matter if it did not sit well within our zones of comfort, mobility and safe-ty. However, there is a tipping point where, as some legal eagles would say, “words are not only the keys of persuasion, but the triggers of action, and, those which have no purport but to counsel the violation of law cannot by any latitude of interpretation be a part of that public opinion which is the final recourse of government in a democratic state.”

Therefore, there is wisdom in believing District Judge Hand, in Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten when he said “to advise a man to an act is to urge upon him either that it is his interest or his duty to do it. Yet to assimilate agitation, legitimate as such, with direct incitement to violent resistance, is to disregard the tolerance of all methods of political agitation which in normal times is a safeguard of free government.”

Right to expression is not absolute. Period.

“Friendship- my definition- is built on two things: respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble.” ― Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

***

TODAY’S generation doesn’t know who Marilyn Monroe is. But in the past, she was considered one of Hollywood’s

famous stars -- a sex symbol. Although she never received an Oscar nomination, she ap-peared in The Misfits, Some Like It Hot (for which she won a Golden Globe), and Gentle-men Prefer Blondes.

She had been married three times but had few friends. At one time, she said, “When you have a good friend that really cares for you and tries to stick in there with you, you treat them like nothing. Learn to be a good friend because one day you’re gonna look up and say I lost a good friend. Learn how to be respectful to your friends, don’t just start ar-guments with them and don’t tell them the reason, always remember your friends will be there quicker than your family. Learn to remember you got great friends; don’t forget that and they will always care for you no mat-ter what. Always remember to smile and look up at what you got in life.”

Monroe’s statement came to mind when I read the Jewish story about two men who were inseparable friends from childhood. Though their love bound them together, a series of unfortunate circumstances forced them to live in separate and hostile countries.

One day, one of them -- a merchant -- visited the other who is living in another country. And it came to pass that the king

was informed of a stranger from an enemy coun-try was walking the streets of his capital. It so hap-pened that the merchant was walking at the street and was arrested. After a brief trial, the king ordered the executioner to cut his head.

The merchant fell to his knees and begged the king to allow him to complete his business before he was killed. “Your majes-ty, all my money is invested with other mer-chants, and we have no written documents,” he pleaded. “If I die without clearing my fi-nancial affairs, my wife and children will be destitute. Please, permit me to go home and set my business in order and I will return.”

“What do you think of me, a fool?” the king replied. “Who has ever heard of a pris-oner returning without force?”

“Your majesty,” the merchant said, “I have a friend in your country who will take my place while I am away.”

The king ordered the friend to his court and asked, “Are you willing to take his place for your friend? Understand that if he does not return, you will be executed?”

“I count it an honor to offer my life as replacement for my closest friend,” the man said. The king was astonished and allowed the merchant to go and do whatever unfin-ished business he had for one month. “If you don’t return in 30 days, we will cut off the head of your friend,” he was told.

On the last day of the month, the king

waited until dusk for the merchant to return. Just before the sun was to set, the king or-dered the executioner to cut the head of the “prisoner.” As the man knelt before the great wooden block, there was a shout from those assembled, “The merchant has returned!”

As the merchant arrived, he saw that his friend was about to be executed. Quickly, he moved to the execution block and pushed his friend aside gently. “I am ready to assume my punishment,” he said, kneeling.

The other man was not easily convinced, “I am ready to die in your place,” he said firm-ly. The two men argued for several minutes, each declaring his intention to be the one who would be executed. Meanwhile, the king and his court watched the discussion with amazement.

Finally, the king ordered the sword to be removed, saying: “I have never witnessed such devotion in all my life. Both of you are pardoned.”

Next, the king called the two men before him. “Deep friendship is a rare jewel,” he told them. “I beg you, allow me to join you as a third.”

From that day on, the two men became companions of the king.

In The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith wrote: “You can go through life and make new friends every year - every month practically - but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel.”

Allow me to end today’s column with an-other anecdote taken from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic:

Out of Miami come many sad stories of Cuban refugees who had to abandon their

homes, businesses, profession -- all that they knew and loved -- in order to preserve their rights as free men. Hundreds were bidding for every available job, no matter how me-nial. Beaten and afraid, they found them-selves very much alone in a strange hard-ly-friendly new world.

One such incident concerns a man who had been a high official in Cuba’s customs and immigration service. He had applied for work at a Miami hotel, hoping to be taken on as a bellboy or a dishwasher. The manager, who had been several times to Cuba, hap-pened to recognize him.

“Say, weren’t you once in the Cuban cus-toms office?” he inquired. The man acknowl-edged that he had been.

“Now, I remember you,” the hotel man-ager remarked. “Three years ago, I visited Cuba, and had a terrible time with the cus-toms department. Everything I said to the officials only seemed to make things worse for me. Then a perfectly strange official came along and straightened them and me out. That man was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” the refugee replied.“When I found out I wasn’t going to have

to go to jail, I was so grateful I offered you US$100. But you said you’d rather have a friend.”

The Cuban smiled and nodded at the memory. “Well, you have a friend,” the hotel manager went on. “This hotel is your home as long as you need one. Friendship works both ways.”

Famous American boxer Muhammad Ali once said: “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 VANTAGE POINTS 9EDGEDAVAO

IT is obvious that young professionals are looking more at entrepreneurship than at being employed. This is good news!It is exciting to see so many optimistic,

energized entrepreneurs, eager to bring their products to market. All too often in many parts of the world, skepticism is what dominates. A tendency to find reasons why something won’t work – rather than reasons why it will – spells death to creativity and innovation.

Having instead a positive mindset – a pas-sion for your product – is critical for entre-preneurs to succeed. Passion is about having a belief in your product, that it can change lives and that it is the best it can be. Equally important is the personality to convey that passion to others, to those who can help bring the dreams to reality. But passion and personality alone are not enough. Dreams, however, big and potentially world-chang-ing, can quickly fade or run out of steam, and

too often great ideas die because the entre-p r e n e u r s b e h i n d them are dazzled by short-term s u c c e s s . Almost al-ways this comes to the simple reason of failing to set out a via-ble business plan. A willingness to take risks goes with the territory of being an entrepre-neur. But youthful ambitions must be tem-pered and risks must be calculated, aligned with a strategy, and drafted into a compre-hensive plan. To experienced business lead-ers, this might seem obvious. For headstrong and ambitious young entrepreneurs, howev-

er, this can often be ignored in an overconfi-dent rush to get their product to market.

Let’s look at some tips for entrepre-neurs:

1. Focus on the customer: every decision and every feature of your product should be assessed and framed according to how it improves the customer experi-ence.

2. Target the small but significant: many big successes come from making small changes, reinventing something used ev-ery day.

3. Soak up advice: networking is crucial; absorb as much knowledge as you can from others. Learn to process and sort through that advice and to apply it to your business.

4. Practice and practice your pitch: there is no set format to a successful pitch, but learn to tell your story in 10 seconds or

less. It helps focus your mind.5. Have a plan: do thorough market re-

search, build a plan with short-term and mid-term projections. Put down on paper a process that shows your concept works.

6. Trust your instincts: if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. This is espe-cially true when choosing a business partner, mentor or investor.

7. Avoid talk of failure: the start-up indus-try is driven by results and track record. Mistakes happen but failures – especially avoidable ones – will be held against you.

Don’t be discouraged: knock-backs are in-evitable; some people will underestimate or look down on you. Take this as a chal-lenge!

Remember, in Silicon Valley, companies are born and die every day. There is no safety net and that is a powerful influence pushing entrepreneurs to succeed!

Eight tips for entrepreneurs

That’s what friends are for

Henrylito D. [email protected]

THINK ON THESE!

Henry J. Schumacher

EUROPE BIZ

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016


DAVAO KORONADAL PARTNER ESTABLISHMENTS

10

Advertise with

Tel No. 082.221.3601/224.1413Email: [email protected] [email protected]


DAVAO

EDGEDAVAO

PROPERTY

WITH its construction development moving on pace, the Matina En-

claves saw its sales progress go up the target curve.

Since commencing construc-tion in November last year, sales for the Matina Enclaves’ Building 3 has risen to 65 percent--reason why sales execs at the Escandor Development Corporation (Es-devco)-owned development are in the mood to be upbeat.

Building 3 is the third of ten projected towers comprising the Residences sector of the mixed-use real estate project located at Quimpo Boulevard next to the fa-mous Davao City Golf Club.

Project manager Gerald Kent Garces reported the sales update last Friday as he provided con-struction development progress for the initial venture of Esdevco into real estate development. Es-devco is owned by the Escandor family known for their security agency firm Davao Allied Security and Investigation Serices (DASIA) and The Royal Mandaya Hotel, among others.

“It’s a big sales progress giv-en that the market today is really very tough,” said Garces who com-mended Matina Enclaves’ sales team as well as participating real estate brokers. “I congratulate the sales and marketing teams for a

Matina Enclaves Building 3 sales now 65%[email protected]


job well done.”Among the major develop-

ments for construction, Garces said, are the awarding of contract for the swimming pool project which is slated early next month and the preparation of detailed drawings of Arcadia in May.

Garces also stressed that preparation of detailed drawings of Arcadia may start or end in May 2016.

Foundation works is set to commence next week for Build-ing 2. Meantime, the turn over for Building 3 has been set to January 8.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 11EDGEDAVAO NEWSBIFF... FROM 4

Army... FROM 4

MNTC... FROM 6 Sasa... FROM 3

SC... FROM 4

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for RENEWAL of a Certificate of Public Convenience with DROPPING and SUBSTITUTION OF UNIT to operate a TH FREIGHT TRUCK Service

Case No. 2011-XI-00359

LADOR AND SONS, INC.Petitioner

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

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioner is a grantee of a Certificate of Public Conve-nience issued in this case au-thorizing the operation of a TH FREIGHT TRUCK service on the route: WITHIN DAVAO CITY and from said place to any point in Region XI accessible to motor vehicle traffic and vice versa with the use of FIVE (5) units, which Certificate will expire on August 24, 2016. In the pe-tition filed on March 10, 2016, petitioner requests authority to extend the validity of said certif-icate with the use of FOUR (4) units out of the FIVE (5) units previously authorized. In the same petition, petitioner like-wise requests to DROP One (1) of the authorized unit particu-larly the unit bearing Plate No. LXD 436 and to SUBSTITUTE the same with other unit bear-ing Chassis No. FP445D-560044 to operate along the same route.

NOTICE, is hereby giv-en that this petition will be heard by this Board on APRIL 11, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at this office at the above address.

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

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

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

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 11th day of March 2016 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation

and CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Office No. XI

Davao City

Petition for Approval of Sale and Transfer of UNIT with Renewal a Certificate of Public Convenienceto operate a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular Service.

Case No. 2016-XI-00355(2010-XI-00141)

AMOR A. TANUDRA,Petitioner-Vendor

MELANIE I. GICA,Petitioner-Vendee

NOTICE OF HEARING

Petitioners request authori-ty for the Approval of Sale and Transfer executed by AMOR A. TANUDRA in favor of MELANIE I. GICA of a Certificate of Public Convenience with Equipment issued in this case authorizing the operation of a PUJ DUAL Ordinary Regular service on the route: SASA VIA JP LAUREL AVENUE and for cargoes as dual service from said route to any point in Region XI with the use of ONE (1) unit, which Certif-icate will expire on March 15, 2017. In the same petition filed on March 10, 2016, petitioners likewise request authority to extend the validity of said certif-icate to operate along the same route with the use of the same unit previously authorized.

NOTICE, is hereby giv-en that this petition will be heard by this Board on APRIL 11, 2016 at 09:30 a.m. at this office at the above address.

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

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

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

WITNESS the Honorable BENJAMIN A. GO, CESO V, Re-gional Director, this 11th day of March 2016 at Davao City.

TERESITA DELA PEÑA-YÑIGUEZ

Chief Transportation Development Officer

because despite of their oppo-sition, the agency still continue the project.

He said although there group of people who filed peti-tion before the Supreme Court to stop the bidding process but it was not yet acted by the higher court..

The group of Councilor Diosdado Mahipus Sr., former councilors Peter Laviña, Pilar Braga, Antonio Vergara, Ben-jie Badal and Samal City Re-sort Owners Association, Inc (SCROA) SCROA represented by lawyers Harry Roque and Roger Rayel filed an urgent petition for writ of continuing mandamus/writ of Kalikasan with prayer for Temporary En-vironmental Protection Order (TEPO) before the Supreme Court last Wednesday to pro-hibit the implementation of the alleged overpriced port modernization project.

Roque, also one of the complainants, said the project is being rushed to be imple-mented by the DOTC during the election season.

The petitioners also said the DOTC did not secure an environmental clearance cer-

tificate (ECC) from the De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and did not consult members of the affected communities before proceeding with the bidding process last year.

Sasa Port is a government operated port terminal with a total area of 18.09 hectares. The facility handles mainly container cargo, some gener-al and break bulk cargo and small number of passengers.

The Sasa port modern-ization project is a project en-rolled under the Public Private Partnership (PPP). DOTC has invited bidders to finance, de-sign, construct, operate and maintain the Sasa Port project.

Last year, the City Council unanimously voted to object to the project because there was a violation of Local Gov-ernment Code of 1991 under section 27 which says no proj-ect or program “shall be im-plemented by government au-thorities unless the consulta-tions mentioned in Sections 2 (c) and 26 hereof are complied with, and prior approval of the council concerned is obtained.” ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.

ao.Petinglay said the BIFF

has resorted to harassment or hit and run attacks, not only against the military, but other areas in Maguindanao as well. Aside from Aleosan detach-ment, on Friday afternoon, BIFF also harassed and fired at a dump truck owned by the Maguindanao provincial gov-ernment in a remote village in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

The dump truck was working on road project in Ampatuan.

Petinglay said military operations against the BIFF

in Maguindanao and nearby areas continue despite the ob-servance of Holy Week.

“Our operations continue, we cannot just leave the area because suspected IEDs still litter the communities earlier occupied by the BIFF,” she said.

She said soldiers can pause and pray even while they are in the battle fields.

The armed conflict in Ma-guindanao started on Febru-ary 5 after the BIFF prevented workers of a PHP58-million flood control project aimed at saving villagers from floods ev-ery rainy season. (PNA)

Limet told reporters. He said on Tuesday night, the BIFF also harassed the same detachment located along the Datu Saudi Ampatuan-Datu Piang high-way, both in Maguindanao.

The road is regularly fre-quented by commuters, even at night. No civilian casualty

was reported.The morning after the

hostilities, soldiers found an improvised explosive device fashioned from 60 mm mortar with fragmentation grenade as triggering mechanism. Army bomb experts later detonated the IED. (PNA)

conversion of the two toll col-lection systems into a single system to reduce toll collection stops.

Franco, however, assured that the budget for the inte-gration will not be ‘recovered’ from the toll fees.

“We thought that by the integration we are also saving on capex (capital expenditure). If we don’t integrate, by the lev-els of traffic we have now, we would have to spend a lot of money anyway building addi-tional toll plazas, and additional infrastructure,” the MNTC pres-ident said.

“So, instead of spending for better infrastructure, we

thought the level of service will be improved if we spend for integration rather than expan-sion of the toll plaza capacity,” he added.

Franco meanwhile said that following the integration of NLEx and SCTEx, MNTC is also looking at integrating NLEx-SC-TEx to Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union (TPLEx).

“That (the integration of NLEx-SCTEx to TPLEx) would be the natural next step. We will try to talk to concessionaire and their operator to see if an integration is possible,” he said referring to San Miguel Corp. (SMC). “It’s something we could eventually explore.” (PNA)

sued the cancellation of Poe’s COC have the responsibility to prove that the parents of Poe were foreigners.

On the issue of residency, the SC was convinced that Poe was telling the truth when she declared in her COC that she shall have been a resident of the

Philippines for 10 years and 11 months come the eve of the May 9, 2016 elections.

The SC believes that the change of domicile by Poe be-gan on May 24, 2005 when she returned to the Philippines and decided to leave the United States as their residency. (PNA)

DLPC-TESDA MOA SIGNING. Davao Light and Power Co. represented by its president Jaime Jose Y. Aboitiz (2nd from left) and executive vice president and chief operating officer Arturo M. Milan (rightmost) and TESDA Davao City/Sur represented by provincial director Engr. Nestor Tabada (leftmost)

and TESDA 11 director Dr. Gaspar Gayona enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the Project BELT.COM (Basic Electrical Lineman’s Training Center of Mindanao. The MOA signing ceremony was held at the DLPC Ponciano office on Friday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 201612EDGE Serving a seamless society

DAVAO PARTNER ESTABLISHMENT


DAVAO GENSAN PARTNERS

EDGEDAVAOCLASSIFIEDS

Although Davao does have a wide array of eth-nic cuisines, Indian food was not one of them as the Indian community in Davao was relatively small but with the coming of many new Indian na-tionals, both to study and to do business in Davao, there are now many new eateries which specialise in Indian cuisine to give these nationals a taste of home. One of these places is Pankaj Indian Cuisine lo-cated along Aurora Street just off of busy Roxas Avenue which I was able to visit and try thanks to a heads-up from fel-low travel writer Jojie A.. Owned by Juvy Sta. Maria and her boyfriend Pankaj

Panchal, Pankaj Indian Cuisine serves authentic vegetarian and non-vege-tarian Indian delicacies. Indians are very par-ticular with it comes to the authenticity of their food, and Pankaj Indian Cuisine is all aces here with owner Pankaj actu-ally manning the kitchen. “All of our spices come from the local Indian

Davao’s ‘hot’ new cuisine

grocery which import the said spices direct from In-dia,” said Pankaj, “for our Basmati Chicken we use true long-grained Basmati rice.” The dishes served at the restaurant come from a the north to the south of the country offering dishes that are already familiar to me such as Samosa (fried stuffed sa-voury pastries) and Tan-doori Chicken (chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices and grilled in an earthen oven or tandoori), as well as dishes that are new to my palate such as Mutton Curry (stewed lamb cooked with various Indian spices), and Dosa (crisp flatbread made of Dhal or lentils and usually served with a vegetable curry dipping sauce). Un-tensis are optional but you may ask the staff to pro-vide them if you want. Although I love spicy food, the heat of the dish-es may be a bit daunting for the uninitiated, but Juvy says they can adjust the spiciness of the dish-

es since al the dishes are cooked fresh. Of course Bicolanos might want to have the heat index of their orders dialled up to volcanic levels. My favourite dish dur-ing the tasting was the Chicken Biryani. The chicken was tender and moist and the bed of bas-mati rice had enough spice to enhance the chicken while not entirely over-whelming it. The yoghurt (made in-house), which was served together with the dish provided some sour tanginess and fresh-ness. The lunch experience I had at Pankaj Indian Cuisine was not just a de-licious experience for me, but it was also an exciting one which adds another ethic cuisine for everyone to taste and enjoy in Duri-anburg. Pankaj Indian Cuisine is open daily for lunch and dinner. They also ac-cept deliveries as well as food pick-ups. You can call them at 271-1836 and 922-5442511.

*** Talking about India. The Holi: Festival of Col-ors 2016 is happening this Saturday (March 19) at the Main Entrance Carpark of SM Lanang Premier from 5PM onwards. Inspired by the original Holi festival in India, Holi: Festival of Colors promotes the ideas of unity and camaraderie through the colors of ev-eryday life. Aside from experienc-ing Indian dances, songs, food, and exhibits, guests to the Holi: Festival of Colors 2016 will be given colourful Gulal Holi Pow-der, imported from India

to use throughout the fes-tival. Tickets at Php300 are now available at Pankaj Indian Cuisine (Aurora Quezon St.), Kirti Acces-sories (Gaisano Mall of Davao), Indian Grocery (Juna Subd., Matina), Food For You (DMSF Area), Indian Spice Resto (DMSF Area), DMEMS - Indian Dormitory (near Ateneo University), Al-coHall (Dacudao Ave.), Premier Elite Institute (Rizal Extension), Gentle-man’s Lounge (Loyola St., Obrero), and at the Davao Medical School Founda-tion.

FOOD

EDGEDAVAOINdulge!

WHILE VISITING SINGAPORE AND PENINSULAR MALAYSIA, I always make it a point to try the local Indian eateries for some spicy Indian cuisine. Complex with its many layers of flavour and tongue-numbing heat, food from the subcontinent never fails to tickle my palate.

Juvy Sta. Maria and Pankaj Panchal.

Chicken Biryani. Colorful and fun times at the Holi Festival.

Spicy tandoori Chicken served with some Roti.

Indian cuisine is never boring. Egg curry and vegetable curry are just two of Pankaj Indian Cuisine’s many vegetarian dishes.

Various kinds of Dosa served with a curry dip.

VOL. 9 ISSUE 11 • THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

Starting March 2016, TGIFriday’s takes you on a delicious tour around the world with the newest addition to their menu. Five versions of delectably juicy and flavoured chick-en wings cooked to rep-licate some of the world’s most loved destinations is now made available un-der one roof. Every dish

comes with a specially concocted sauce. With or without sauce, you’d love munching on these ba-bies. Now, you need not take a vacation leave to savor some of the world’s most sought after flavours. All you need is your appetite, family and friends and your fingers for a much needed delectable time. I tell you, you’d not look at chicken wings the same

way ever again. (Person-ally, I love the Texas BBQ Wings – I love dishes that surprise my palate. I love the smoky flavour you get as you bite into the meat. And no sauce for me.) Fly across the globe and head over to the land of milk and honey for an awesome foodie time. TGIFriday’s offers two appetizingly delicious chicken wings recipes for an ultimate indulgence

unlike any other. Their Spicy Jack Dan-iels’ Wings is a take on their famous Jack Dan-iel’s line of dishes that

has since been a crowd favorite. Perfectly cooked wings tossed in Friday’s signature Jack Daniel’s glaze, dusted with hot

pepper powder for that extra kick and topped with fresh corn salsa. A definite mouthful for the hungry you. If Southern comfort is what you are after, then a must try is their Texas BBQ Wings to satisfy a craving in a snap. Juicy wings covered in smoky BBQ sauce and Texan spice served with cool ranch dressing and apple lime slaw -- now, who’s hungry? Craving for some Asian inspired flavours? No need to book a flight and go through immigra-tion. Now, you can expe-rience Thailand’s many flavours in one sitting – minus the hassle. Take a bite off a mouthwatering

plate of Honey Sriracha Wings – sweet and spicy wings topped with slices of pickled jalapenos and served with homemade bleu cheese dressing -- that highlights a com-bination of gastronomic flavours that which Thai-land is known for. Head over to China and be inspired –cultur-ally and gastronomically – in an instant. Enjoy munching on some Kung Pao Wings and experi-ence the richness of Chi-na one bite after another. TGIFriday’s Kung Pao Wings is cooked with their own version of chili blended sauce, garnished with fresh cilantro and tossed with nuts for that ultimate crunch. Momentarily say good-bye to Asia and journey on a baroque gastronom-ic adventure only Italy can offer. For the cheese lovers, TGIFriday’s Gar-lic Parmesan Wings is your best bet satisfying a craving. Perfectly cooked wings with creamy par-mesan, topped with fresh thyme and served with cool ranch dressing is what’ll greet you every single time. Indulge on a Wing’s World Tour and catch this delicious trend only at TGIFriday’s. Available nationwide until May 2016. Every order is good for sharing.

TGIFriday’s knows how to make a memo-rable experience – and it’s not just because of their food. With TGIFriday’s, there’s al-ways a reason to indulge and celebrate ev-ery single day… not just on Fridays.

A2 INdulge! EDGEDAVAOFOOD

World of wings tour at

TGIFriday’s

Their Spicy Jack Daniels’ Wings is a take on their

famous Jack Daniel’s line of dishes that has since been a

crowd favorite.

Garlic Parmesan Wings.

Jalapeno Wings.

JD Wings.

Texas JackWings.

Kung Pao Wings.


THE ORIGINAL MULTIMEDIA STAR DONNA CRUZ has been busy promoting her new album – “Now and Forever” for weeks now and has been loving every moment of it. Her comeback, this time via Star Music, has “perfect timing,” she said. “Star Music showed interest when I was really ready. If I really missed something ever since I got married, it’s singing and the feeling that people like listening to my songs and my singing. It’s one of my greatest joys in life. Singing is my first love and I will always go back to it,” said Donna, one of the most successful Filipino recording artists in the 1990s Her new album contains two originals – “A Love to Last” and “Langit Ang Pag-ibig” – both composed by veteran composer Vehnee Saturno, to whom Donna owes her success. This is why the fans of Donna should expect songs from the album to sound like, if not better

than, her previous hits. “Tito Vehnee had a huge part in, and should take a lot of credit for the success of my previous albums and songs, so you can expect to hear ‘Donna Cruz’ kind of songs in the album. You will also recognize my way of singing or style when you listen to the songs, only, with more feelings or emotions now because I have experienced and I know

the feeling of loving someone so much and feeling so much love,” she said. Aside from the two originals, “Now and Forever” contains six of Donna’s favorite OPM songs, which she personally chose and dedicates to her family and friends. “Fans should expect to fall in love more with the person they love while listening to the songs

kasi nakaka-in love ang lyrics. The songs I chose are all about love, how it feels to be loved, and to love someone so much,” she said. These songs include “Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin,” “Friends,” “Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin,” “Nag-iisang Ikaw,” “Hanggang,” and “Ika’y Mahal Pa Rin,” on which she duets with Piolo Pascual. “When I was recording each song, I was really into it as if I was just singing to to my husband, my son, my daughter, my parents, and friends. It was all positive,” she shared. “Now and Forever” can now be streamed on Spotify and is now available at all record bars nationwide at P250. Digital tracks can also be downloaded via online music stores such as ABS-CBN Store, iTunes, Mymusicstore.com.ph, Amazon.com, OneMusic.ph, and Starmusic.ph. For more information, visit Starmusic.ph or follow Star Music’s official social media accounts at Facebook.com/starrecordsphil, Twitter.c o m / s t a r r e c o r d s p h and Instagram.com/Starmusicph.

IN CELEBRATION OF WOMEN’S MONTH, SM Lanang Premier is giving ladies enticing treats on Wednesdays and selected dates in March. The metro’s premier shopping and lifestyle d e s t i n a t i o n , together with Flawless, the country’s preferred aesthetic beauty clinic for face, body and medical services, is bringing model and TV host Divine Lee for a talk on March 18, 4 pm at the mall Atrium. Shoppers are invited to see Divine share her beauty and skin care tips and wellness regimens on Friday. Every P500 worth of product or service from Flawless-SM Lanang Premier branch from March 11 to 18 entitles a customer a chance to meet and greet the fashionable cover girl and celebrity blogger. On March 16, 23 and 30, women can enjoy Wednesday Sale and grab as much as 70% off on fab finds at The SM Store and all participating stores mall-wide. Ladies can also catch the Mad for Make-up Fair at the Atrium on March 18-20 for great make-up deals on a wide range of cosmetic products. Make-up artist Carinne Bacani will also give a talk on how to boost or enhance a woman’s beauty on March 20, 5pm at the same venue. It’s all about ‘her’ this Women’s Month at SM Lanang Premier. For inquiries, contact 285-0943 or visit SM Lanang Premier on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for event updates and sale alerts.

ON EARTH HOUR’S 10TH YEAR, SM City Davao once again renews its commitment to taking a stand against climate change on March 19, Saturday. The observation kicks off with bicycle, skates and hover board free exhibition at the Parking C by 4PM. Young artists will also be painting upcycled globes on-site for the Art for Earth Painting Competition. At 6PM, the program continues with Earth Rocks!, an acoustic jam competition open to all bonafide college students. By 7:30 PM, biking enthusiasts will be sent off to bike around the city for the Earth Hour Night Ride, spreading the message of the celebration to take a stand against climate change. An in-mall parade will also be participated in by mall employees, tenants and representatives for government agencies. Former Rivermaya front man and The Voice Philippines finalist Jason Fernandez performs as the lights are shut at 8:30 PM. Parties interested to join the

Art for Earth and Earth Rocks! competitions may call SM City Davao Marketing Department at 297-6998 local 126 or visit the Mall Administration Office located at the 3rd floor of the Annex Building.

Renew your commitment to Mother Earth and observe the Earth Hour at SM City Davao. Like SM City Davao or follow them on Twitter and Instagram for event and promo updates.

INdulge! A3EDGEDAVAOENTERTAINMENT

Jason Fernandez at SM City Davao Earth Hour Celebration on March 19

Flawless beauty with Divine Lee at SM Lanang Premier

Donna Cruz launches comeback album

G

PG/*R13

PG12:00 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 7:30 | 10:00 LFS

ALLEGIANT

Shailene Woodley, Theo James

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

KUNG FU PANDA 3

12:35 | 2:20 | 4:05 LFS/ * 5:50 | 7:55 | 10:00 LFS

NORM OF THE NORTH/ *LONDON HAS FALLEN

Rob Schneider, Heather Graham/*Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman

12:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 | 6:00 | 8:00 | 10:00 LFS

Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman

MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN

Jennifer Garner, Queen Latifah

March 16 – 23, 2016


Bok, 53, got into the sport of motocross racing in the 80s during his college years when he was lent a bike. “The rest is history,” he said. It wasn’t a surprise that sons Abu, 19, and Thirdy, 23, got into the sport as well, with their dad taking them to his motorbike trail rides, motor shows and races. In fact, this was Bok’s way of encouraging his boys to enter the sport, “I want for them to have the sense of competi-tiveness. As in all races, prepa-ration is everything. In real life, the same is true.” In 2005, Abu, then 9, and Thirdy, 13, rode their first bikes and father and sons went out riding every weekend. Two years after they were racing in the mini-class category. From Quezon Province to Tawi-tawi, they regularly at-tended local and national races if time permitted. Retired from competing, Bok turned organizer for the Araw ng Dabaw Motocross and Ka-dayawan mx races since 2010. “These day I leave the com-peting to the kids, who ends up

with podium finishes and are brand ambassadors for Phoenix Cylomax Motorcycle Oils for five years now.” He also has taken another role— as his kids’ race manag-er, financier, mechanic, trainor, adviser. His wife and daughter join in as cheer leaders towel bearers, and “tig-paypay.” “It’s a family thing,” he said. “This sport has galvanized our bonding. Since we interact most of the time, from preparation to actual racing, we are always there for them.” If there is another essential thing the Mata men agrees on, it’s being well groomed. “Good grooming is very important. Our sport attracts a lot of audience so we have to look good when we take off our helmets. Being presentable also applies off the racetrack,” they said. For their grooming they trust Rocky’s Barbershop. Bok has been a loyal patron of Rocky’s barbershop after his first haircut at the Victoria Plaza Mall branch 19 years ago in 1997.

“I chanced by it, saw how the place is neat, gave it a try, and found my haircut really cool. The staff were very profession-

al,” Bok said on his first visit. Just like in motocross, Bok introduced his kids to Rocky’s, Thirdy in 2006 and Abu in

2007, and just like their dad, the two boys became regular clients. Excellent quality of service, consistent output and con-venience in location of the branches in all the popular malls in the city were the unan-imous comments. “We go to the nearest one. No ‘suki’, we trust all the bar-bers enough to get a good hair-cut,” said Bok and Abu, who prefer the good old barber’s cut, and Thirdy, who prefers a trim on his wavy locks. On Rocky’s 20th year, this is the Mata men’s message for their favorite barbershop, “Our very best wishes on your 20th anniversary! May your great success continue for many more years!” Rocky’s Barbershop is the first barbershop to open in a mall in Davao City in 1986. 2016 marks its 20th year in the men’s groom-ing business. All five branches are conveniently located in malls- Victoria Plaza, Abreeza Mall, GMall, SM City & SM La-nang Premier. Bok, Thirdy and Abu Mata are the featured Father and Sons personalities in the 2016 Tradi-tions calendar of Rocky’s.

A4 INdulge!PEOPLE

Groomed for the raceTHE MATA MEN AGREE ON THIS: FEED THE NEED FOR SPEED.

EDGEDAVAO VOL. 9 ISSUE 11 • THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 13EDGEDAVAO CLASSIFIEDS

We are now hiring for the ff. job vacancies:

1. CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER (C.S.O.)Scope of Work:• Handlingofcustomerservices(e.g.inquiries,complaints,scheduling

of services)• Preparationofquotationforclients• STARTINGSALARY:P12,000(BASEDONPRIOREXPERIENCE)

2. TECHNICAL ENGINEER (T.E.)Scope of Work:• Installation/Programming/Configurationfortheff.products*CCTV, PABX, PABGM, INTERCOM, BIOMETRICS, ACCESS CONTROL,

FIRE ALARM • STARTINGSALARY:P13,000(BASEDONPRIOREXPERIENCE)

3.ACCOUNTS MANAGER (A.M.)Scope of Work:• Sales&MarketingforNewClients• STARTINGSALARY:P15,000UP(BASEDONPRIOREXPERIENCE)

4. STORE SUPERVISORScope of Work:• Responsiblefordailystoreoperation• Handlingofmanpower

Please email your resume to: [email protected] or [email protected]

For walk in applicants, you may call the ff. branches:Cebu Office: (032) 2380912

Globe: 09173293471 • Sun: 09255014723

Davao Office: (082) 2212789 Globe: 09177952469 • Sun: 09322448030

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 201614 EDGEDAVAOSports

ALMOST THERECMO-TRMH Green Archers sweep elims

THE Department of Education (DepEd) has set out the

guidelines for the imple-mentation of a clean, green, and eco-friendly 2016 Palarong Pambansa to be held from April 10 to 16 in Albay.

In a memorandum, Ed-ucation Secretary Armin Luistro recognized the need to inculcate in stu-dents the values of disci-pline, teamwork, as well as care for the environment through the forthcoming national sports meet.

The education chief urged all participants to adhere to the clean, green, and eco-friendly measures during the conduct of the Palaro.

Eco-friendly initiatives include efficient water and light usage; bringing reus-able eco-friendly feeding and kitchen utensils in-

stead of using styrofoam or plastic materials; prac-ticing the proper waste segregation, collection, transport, storage and dis-posal of solid wastes for the whole duration of the Palaro; and proper water, sanitation, and food safety measures.

Special prizes will be awarded to the delegation that able to adhere to these pro-green policies for the duration of the sports pro-gram.

The Palaro Executive Committee will be giving four recognition awards such as Most Disciplined Delegation; Most Orga-nized Delegation; Best Bil-leting Center; and Cleanest, Greenest and Eco-Friendli-est Delegation.

Special prizes will be awarded to the delegation and participant who are able to realize these pro-

green policies for the du-ration of the games

As a highlight of the clean and green activi-ties, each region will be required to plant native trees, with a minimum of 30 trees, within their bil-leting school premises or in the community to be led by the regional director, to-gether with the sports and school officials.

This will be the first time that the staging of the Palaro will be held in Albay and also the first to have 18 regions take action after the inclusion of Negros Island Re-gion.

There are 24 billeting centers which will house about 18,000 delegates from the 18 regions of the country who are participat-ing in the national school games competition. (PNA)

POWER MOVE. Jeron Teng of CMO-Royal Mandaya Hotel Green Archers makes his way inside against the defenders of Montaña Pawnshop in their match last Friday won by the DLSU-powered Mayor’s Men. LEAN DAVAL JR.

UNSTOPPABLE. Ben Mbala of CMO-Royal Mandaya Hotel Green Archers slams one in as a hapless Montaña defender could just look on in awe. At left is Jeron Teng (21). LEAN DAVAL JR. [email protected]


THE Dela Salle University Green Archers-powered

City Mayor’s Of-fice-Royal Man-

daya Hotel (CMO-TRMH) inched closer to the 2016

Araw ng Davao

c h a m p i o n -ship on Friday night with a masterful 85-77 win over Montaña P a w n s h o p before a wild-ly- c h e e r i n g crowd who

came to see the poster boys from the UAAP.

For the third straight game, Cameroonian slot-man Ben Mbala was in his unstoppable self, firing 23 points punctuated by monster jams that rever-berated around the Davao City Recreation Center

b e f o r e f o u l -

ing out with 20 seconds left. Jeron Teng, son of Davao’s legendary Alvin Teng of the San Miguel Beer days of old, had a rather silent night net-ting 10 points but the crowd went electric each time he had the ball.

The more telling blows, however, came from a lit-tle-known back-up and a pair of sweet-shooting backcourt. Relief center Jay-man Gob went to work with 13 points and the backcourt duo of Jolo Go and Thomas Torres had a combined six triples for the Green Ar-chers and 21 points total.

Ferdinand Lusdoc paced the Pawnbrokers with 21 points. Montaña will now battle University of the Vi-sayas (UV) for third place.

The championship is set Satur- day night (played

a s o f

presstime) and by now, the outcome would have been settled.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (After elims)

W L*CMO-TRMH Dela Salle 3 0*Goldstar Hardware 2 1Montaña Pawnshop 1 2UV Green Lancers 0 3

*Finals being played as of presstime Saturday (March 19)

DepEd calls for eco-friendly ‘Palaro’

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016 15EDGEDAVAO SPORTS

LEADING THE WAY. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors scored 31 points as the Warriors improved to 62-6 with a 130-112 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks.

THE Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thun-der clinched NBA playoff

berths as reigning champions Golden State continued to roll to-ward the post-season with a win at Dallas.

In Orlando, Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and added five assists to lead the Cavaliers to a 109-103 victory over the Magic.

Irving, who had 33 points Wednesday in a victory over Dal-las, scored 10 points in the deci-sive fourth quarter as the Cavs overcame a big night from Magic guard Victor Oladipo.

Oladipo scored a career-high 45 points, but only six in the fourth period.

Cleveland superstar LeBron James, back after resting one game, had 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as the Cavs improved their East-leading re-cord to 49-19.

They made their playoff spot official, but coach Tyronn Lue said there was no time to cele-brate.

“We thought we were going to make the playoffs, so it wasn’t really a big deal to clinch,” Lue said. “We have bigger things ahead of us.”

- Westbrook triple-double -Russell Westbrook and Kev-

in Durant again led the way for the Oklahoma City Thunder as

the Northwest Division clinched a playoff berth with a 111-97 victory over the lowly 76ers in Philadelphia.

Westbrook delivered his league-leading 13th triple-dou-ble of the season with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I come out and compete every night at a high level and try to keep my energy up for my teammates,” Westbrook said. “I think it’s fun to see where we’re playing the right way. It’s fun for our guys to see everybody happy playing the right way.”

Durant added 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, scoring at least 20 points for the 54th straight game.

Enes Kanter scored 16 points and Steven Adams had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Thunder, who improved to 47-22.

They are third in the West-ern Conference behind the Gold-en State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs.

- Warriors cruise past Mavs -The Warriors improved to

62-6 with a 130-112 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Warriors avenged one of their six defeats this season -- a loss in Dallas on December 30 when reigning NBA Most Valu-able Player Stephen Curry was sidelined with a minor injury.

NOVAK Djokovic set up a mouthwatering Indian Wells semi-final show-

down with nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who the world number one Serb considers his biggest rival on the ATP Tour.

Both Nadal and Djokovic eased through their Indian Wells quarter-final contests in straight sets Friday and will now square off in a match worthy of a title clash.

“It is going to be a game of cat and mouse,” Djokovic said. “I enjoy the rivalry against Rafa. It is probably the most exciting rivalry I have had in my career.”

World number five Nadal survived an early assault to de-feat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 in the joint ATP and WTA Tour hardcourt tournament in the Cal-ifornia desert.

The Nadal-Nishikori match kicked off a star-studded pair of Indian Wells quarter-finals on Fri-

day featuring four of the world’s top 10 players.

Djokovic defeated ninth ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2).

“I beat a top 10 player and that is important for my confi-dence,” said Nadal, who is hoping to put to bed speculation that his career is on a downward spiral.

He has won 14 Grand Slam titles but none in the past 18 months.

“Tomorrow is another op-portunity for me to play against another top player.”

The swashbuckling Spaniard is looking for another stamp in his championship passport, having already won Indian Wells in 2007, 2009 and 2013, while Djokovic is going for a record fifth crown.

“I feel I am strong mentally and I have the right energy,” Nadal said. “I am able to fight for every ball and I now believe in myself the whole match.”

Nadal had just two aces but

he took care of his serve Friday by winning 62 percent of his first-serve points. He broke Nishikori four times.

He closed out the 93-minute match with a forehand down the line that Nishikori stumbled after but came nowhere near to getting a racquet on.

Nadal improved to 8-1 lifetime against Nishikori and avenged a loss in their most recent meeting last year at Montreal.

Nadal and Djokovic are near-ly even in their 47 head-to-head meetings, with the Serb owning a 24-23 edge.

Nadal knows it is not wise to bet against Djokovic and if anyone else wins the Indian Wells title it would be a big surprise.

“He’s a clear favourite be-cause he’s winning all the matches almost every time,” Nadal said of Djokovic.

Two-time defending champi-on Djokovic has already won twice this year including the Australian

Open.He is hoping to use Indian

Wells as a stepping stone to win-ning his first French Open in two months and complete the career Grand Slam.

Djokovic has had a distinct advantage against Nadal, coming out victorious in nine of their last 10 matches.

Djokovic said he needs to get off to a fast start against the Span-iard.

- ‘Mental advantage’ -“I won the last couple of times

we played against each other so maybe that can give me a slight mental advantage,” Djokovic said.

“When you step on the court you feel the tension. That’s why it is important to use that strong emotion and intensity and chan-nel it in a positive way rather than a negative way.”

Djokovic blasted two aces, 18 winners and had four double faults in the two hour, six minute match on Friday.

GILAS Pilipinas will be wearing fancy new jerseys equipped with

the latest in performance wear technology when the team goes to battle in the Fiba Olympic Qualifiers this July at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Nike unveiled the 2016 Gilas Pilipinas national team kits as well as the jerseys of Team USA, China, and Spain among other countries it sponsors during the Nike In-novation Summit in New York City.

The new jerseys’ most notable feature is the Nike Aeroswift technology that has innovative base layers for a lighter, tailored fit ‘to mini-

mize game-time distractions and maximize performance,’ according to the statement released by Nike. Even the shorts’ waistband have been adjusted to be more comfort-able, breathable, and secure.

Slight changes in the look have been made to the new Gilas jerseys as well. The fonts used on the letters and num-bers have been tweaked, plus the team name and number are luminous. Also, on the white home jerseys, the font color has been changed to red, compared to the blue font color previously used.

Gilas Pilipinas will de-but the new jerseys on July 5 when they face France.

BRANDON Knight scored nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter after Phoe-

nix nearly blew a 19-point lead, and the Suns hung on for a 95-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night (Satur-day, Manila time).

Knight, who recorded his first NBA triple-double with a career-high 15 assists against the Lakers in the Suns' 120 -101 win on Nov. 16, finished the game with four free throws, a 3-pointer and a 14-foot running jumper.

Rookie Devin Booker had 21 points and seven assists for the Suns in a matchup of teams with second- and third-worst records in the league. The Suns are 19-50, and Lakers 14-55, with the team with the worse record having a better chance of winning the draft lottery.

Lou Williams scored 30 points off the bench for Los An-geles. Kobe Bryant didn't play again because of his chronically sore right (shooting) shoulder.

The Lakers have 13 games left in his 20th and final pro season, and none are more im-portant to the NBA's No. 3 ca-

reer scorer in terms of his health than his scheduled swan song on April 13 at Staples Center — one of the most coveted tickets in franchise history.

The Lakers are 6-27 since beating Phoenix 97-77 at Sta-ples Center on Jan. 3 for their season-best third straight victo-ry. That was the night the Suns had their lowest point total ever against their Pacific Division ri-vals.

No player on either team reached double digits in scoring until Tyson Chandler's follow shot gave Phoenix a 52-40 lead with 8:31 left in the third. The Lakers shot a measly 28.1 per-cent entering the fourth quarter and trailed 68-54.

The reserves then took over for Los Angeles and reduced the deficit to 84-83 on a 3-pointer by Williams with 3:52 remaining.

Ryan Kelly had a chance to put the Lakers ahead for the first time since the opening minutes, but missed both free throws with 1:18 to play. Kelly was called for offensive goaltending 29 sec-onds later on an attempted tip-in of Larry Nance Jr.'s missed layup on the Lakers' next possession.

GIFT. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, assisted by Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) 11 regional director Regino “Boy” Cua, turn over the basketballs to DLSU Green Archer Jeron Teng. LEAN DAVAL JR

Lighter jerseys for Gilas

Nadal, Djokovic book semis clash

Knight catches fire for Lakers

Cavs, Thunder clinch playoff spots, Warriors thump Mavs

VOL. 9 ISSUE 13 • SUNDAY - MONDAY, MARCH 20 - 21, 2016EDGEDAVAO16

edge davao 9 issue 13

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