A DAVAO-based group of private sector leaders started this week rehabilita-tion work called “Roof a Classroom”

Project (Project RAC) in typhoon Pablo-rav-aged areas in the province of Davao Oriental.

Taking off from what businessman Sam-my Afdal had started in the typhoon-devas-

tated areas, the group headed by Msgr. Fer-nando Capalla, retired archbishop of Davao,

has joined forces with Gawad Kalinga to initially provide roofings to more than 700 classrooms in the towns of Boston, Baganga and Cateel in Davao Oriental.

The group’s plan of action was final-ized during a breakfast meeting hosted by

A total of P31.2 billion worth of infrastruc-ture, schools, crops, livestock and fishery is the latest overview of the damage that Pablo

wrought in the Davao region, according to the Re-gional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) 11 based in Davao City.

This was bared in a situational report on the

effects of Typhoon Pablo in Region 11 presented before members of the Rotary Club of East Davao headed by banker Florante Santiago yesterday by

EDGEP 15.00 • 20 PAGES

www.edgedavao.netVOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

Serving a seamless societyDAVAO

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1,022 people dead; 2.701 injured; 465 missing

‘Pablo’ damage reaches P31.2 B

Ana kadako?!

Initiative of private group led by Msgr. CapallaGawad Kalinga joins project

Launch Project RAC in DavOr

By EJ Dominic Fernandez

Roofing for 700 classrooms

Latest situation report:

BUSY DOING SOMETHING ELSE. These traffic enforcers just chat among themselves and watch as a large buildup of public utility vehicles slows down traffic flow in front of a mall along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City late afternoon of Saturday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013THE BIG NEWS2 EDGEDAVAO

FHIGH-TECH, 12

FCESSATION, 12

FSTARTING, 12

High-tech gadgetry

Starting today

ThE Department of Labor and Employ-ment (DOLE)-Re-

gion 12 is pushing for the declaration within the year of five more baran-gays as child labor-free as it moves to eliminate cases of child labor in the region.

Chona Mantilla, DOLE Region 12 director, said they are currently working with various stakeholders for the implementation of convergence initiatives that would help cleanse the region’s barangays of child laborers, especially those employed in hazard-ous situations.

Region 12 compris-es the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacu-rong, Kidapawan and Co-tabato.

The official said this year’s campaign against child labor will mainly focus in barangay Lagao (Gensan) and in Malire and Cadungon in Antipas,

Saguing in Makilala and Presbitero in Pigkawayan, all in North Cotabato.

The five barangays were among the 80 iden-tified by the DOLE central office last year as priority areas of its flagship Child Labor-Free Barangay Pro-gram.

In Gensan, DOLE iden-tified barangays San Isidro and City heights as among the areas that have high cases of child labor.

Last year, DOLE initial-ly declared barangays Ke-matu in T’boli, South Cota-bato and Bula (Gensan) as child labor-free.

The declaration came after the signing of agree-ments among concerned agencies and stakeholders for stricter enforcement of child labor laws, strength-ening of advocacy cam-paigns against child labor and exploitation as well as the provision of alterna-tive employment for the families of the area’s child workers. [Allen V. Estabil-lo/MindaNews]

DOLE wants barangays declared child labor-free

ThE issue on cross-border law-yering will be one

of the significant legal top-ics highlighting the 14th National Convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and its 40th founding anniver-sary celebration at the SMX Convention Center which opens here today, Wednesday and ends Fri-day, Jan. 18.

Lawyer Carlos Zarate, IBP-Davao Chapter former president, said cross-bor-der lawyering refers to al-lowing foreign lawyers to practice their profession in the Philippines.

Zarate said there are now over 50,000 lawyers in the country and about a half of them are actively practicing their profes-sion.

At present, only Filipi-no lawyers are allowed to practice in the Philippines. But Zarate said there are some big law firms which are strongly lobbying for cross-border lawyering. Majority of these law firms are those which have mul-tinational clients.

he said cross-border lawyering, if allowed in the country, is a big disadvan-tage to Filipino lawyers as foreign lawyers have more

resources compared to Filipino lawyers.

Other issues that will be discussed in the gath-ering include the Frame-work Agreement on Bang-samoro and amendments to the Rules of Court.

Zarate said some changes in the rules of court affect lawyers, like requiring them to file judi-cial affidavits which is cur-rently suspended due to a petition filed by the Na-tional Prosecutors League before the Supreme Court.

he said requiring a lawyer to file a judicial af-fidavit is detrimental to

IBP convention to tackle cross-border lawyering

SENATE Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano ques-

tioned the act of Senate President Juan Ponce En-rile in doling out millions of pesos to members of the Senate in the guise of additional “maintenance and other operating ex-

penses (MOOE).” Cayetano said he wel-

comes the audit of the MOOE saying the Senate is not yet off the hook in this issue. he said he fa-vors suggestions that the audit be conducted by a private firm considering that the object of the au-

dit is the Senate.In a press conference

at the Probinsya restau-rant yesterday, Cayetano said, “It’s not about the money, it’s about integri-ty,” when asked about the cash gifts that Enrile gave out, P1.6 million

By Che Palicte and EJ Dominic Fernandez

A group of 17 sci-entists arrived in Davao City yester-

day to conduct a study on the land formation of “Pablo”-affected-areas with the use of optical re-mote sensing technology called Light Detection and

Ranging (Lidar) of the Nationwide Operational Assessment of hazards (NOAh).

Dr. Elsie Mae Solidum, assistant regional direc-tor for technical services of the Department of Science and Technolo-

gy (DOST) 11, said in an interview yesterday at Dream Path, SM Annex, that the scientists arrived in Davao City to study the land formation with focus on areas from New Bata-an to Monkayo.

Scientists to study land in Pablo affected areas

A foreign-trained phy-sician of Davao City-based Central Lab,

said that smoking cessa-tion counseling would be of great help in convincing smokers to quit the vice.

Dr. Antonio Ybiernas, who recently trained in the Mayo Clinic in the Unit-ed States of America, told newsmen that smoking

cessation is an important step a smoker’s struggle to stop the vice and enhance the length and quality of his life. he said that initial interview, medication and strict implementation of the Sin Tax Law will con-tribute a lot to the effort to make people quit smoking.

Dr. Ybiernas believes that when a person strives

hard to quit smoking it would be more effective than having medication itself. “Abstinence is better than medication,” he add-ed.

The Department of health (DOh) is expecting a massive decrease in the number of smokers from 17 million to 2 million by

Cessation counseling can helppeople stop smoking: Ybiernas

Cayetano questionsEnrile’s cash gifts

HOLY INFANT JESUS. Devotees of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague queue so they can offer short prayers and wipe the miraculous icon with handkerchiefs and towels during its 45th anniversary at the Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague in Shrine Hills, Matina, Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

CANCER CONSCIOUSNESS. Dr. Gay Martinez- Lapus, one of Davao City’s oncologists (left), explains why smoking is the leading cause of cancer for adults , while Dra. Mae Dolendo, pediatric oncologist (center), bares updates on the battle against that children’s cancer which she describes as multi factorial during their appearance in the Kapehan sa Dabaw

to promote the National Cancer Consciousness Week on Jan-uary 13-20. With them is Dr. Chita Matunog, oncologist at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, who announced the much-improved financial coverage of PhiliHealth of cancer patients. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAO 3

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 20134 EDGEDAVAOSUBURBIA

IN a geo-hazard map-ping presentation conducted on January

10, 2013 at the Provin-cial Capitol, the Philip-pine Atmospheric, Geo-physical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) made it clear that what happened in New Bataan on December 4, 2012 during the occur-rence of Typhoon Pab-lo was a debris flow or a moving mass of loose mud, sand, soil, rock, wa-ter and air.

It is based on the geo-morphology (landform) of the area according to MGB-XI supervising sci-ence research specialist Beverly Mae M. Brebante as they saw it during their ocular visit.

Brebante who often visits New Bataan added that Brgy. Andap, known

with beautiful inland re-sorts and being a Forest Protected Area, is neg-ative of any logging and mining activities.

Project NOAh (Na-tionwide Operational As-sessment of hazards) Ex-ecutive Director Dr. Majar Lagmay also said that the heavy debris flow is re-garded by the geologists as a world class phenom-enal event which could aid in their continued di-saster mitigation studies.

With the geo-hazard mapping, the province could determine those high risk areas particu-larly within those hardly hit municipalities of the typhoon. It would also be easier to identify safe ar-eas for habitation where the victims at the evacu-ation centers can be relo-cated. [GRACE ALMEDIL-LA/ GILBERT CABAhUG, IDS-COMVAL]

PABLO AT 40 DAYS.  Reconciliation with nature, prayer for the victims and thanks-giving for the survivors.  With attendees of about 2,000, the Municipal Tribal Council of New Bataan spearheads a commemoration ceremony and offering of prayer for the

victims, and the expression of gratitude and prayer of strength for the survivors.  [AL-BERT DAYAO/ IDS COMVAL]

Debris flow in New Bataan, a phenomenal event--MGB

LOCAL officials in Kab-acan, North Cotabato have offered a cash

reward for the capture of the killers of Vice Mayor Pol Dulay.

In a resolution, mem-bers of the municipal coun-cil approved on Monday the release of P200 thou-sand as reward for any in-formation that could lead to the arrest of the gunmen.

Meantime, Kabacan po-lice chief, Supt. Leo Ajero, said a task group was cre-ated to look into the killing of Dulay, whose death was believed to be election-re-

lated.Dulay was seeking

re-election for a third term as vice mayor under the Liberal Party.

The Task Force Dulay will be led by the regional offices of the Criminal In-vestigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Ajero said the task group met with Kabacan Mayor George Tan around Monday noon to discuss the conduct of the investi-gation.

Around 3pm on Friday, Dulay was about to board

his motorcycle parked just outside a department store when a still unidenti-fied gunman pumped bul-lets into his chest. he was declared dead upon arriv-al at the Kabacan Medical Specialist hospital.

Noel Dulay, the victim’s son, eyed politics as a pos-sible motive in his father’s killing.

But Ajero said they are also also looking at other angles, and that they are leaving the investigation to the task force. [Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaN-ews]

Bounty up for killers of Kabacan vice mayor

A community-based news outfit, Bukid-non News, has initi-

ated a documentation and research project concern-ing voters’ education in the province for the May 2013 elections.

Dubbed “Dialogue Bukidnon: Piliay 2013,” the project aims to help voters know the candi-dates more and influence the agenda to be tackled in the campaign.

The project seeks to provide an opportunity for both voters and can-didates to listen to each

other.It will conduct focused

group discussions (FGDs) among different sectors to identify issues that candi-dates should address in their platforms of gover-nance.

During the FGDs vot-ers from select areas in Bukidnon will be asked to answer questions con-cerning the qualities of candidates and the local issues that they must ad-dress.

The project propo-nents noted that usually it is the candidates alone

who determine the topics discussed during cam-paigns.

The voters, who are supposed to be the “em-ployers” hiring their local officials as public ser-vants, are forced to react only and toe the line, they added.

The results of the FGDs will be used as basis for the preparation of research guide in the conduct of key informant interviews among the candidates in relation to their positions on certain issues. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)

‘Dialogue Bukidnon’ set up for 2013 polls

ThE first day of im-plementation of the election gun

ban in Sultan Kudarat province netted two persons and the recov-ery of three firearms, police said. Armed with a search warrant, ele-ments of the Isulan Po-lice Station raided the house of hamsa family in Barangay Kalawag Dos Sunday afternoon.

Senior Supt. Rolen Balquin, Sultan Kudarat police provincial direc-tor, said the search and arrest was made follow-ing a tip from concern citizens about the fire-arms being kept in the

house of Jun Talipasan and his brother Emy Guindal.

Seized from them were two home-made cal. 45 pistol and an M-16 Armalite rifle, all unlicensed and have been considered loose firearms after Decem-ber 31. Charges of illegal possession of firearms have been filed against the suspects who are now detained at the Isu-lan police detention cell.

Balquin appealed to licensed gun owners in Sultan Kudarat province to go to the nearest po-lice office and renew their license with corre-

sponding penalties.The PNP set Decem-

ber 31, 2012 as the last day of renewing licenses to own while permits to carry firearms outside residence have been sus-pended started Sunday.

According to Balquin, the police headquarters in Camp Crame has or-dered all police offices nationwide to conduct house to house search of loose firearms for gun owners who failed to re-new their licenses.

The PNP has esti-mated about 600,000 to 800,000 loose firearms nationwide, excluding those in the hands of

rebel groups.In Koronadal City, a

farmer showed up at the city PNP office to surren-der a powerful impro-vised explosive device and a hand grenade. Larry Abuan went to the police station with two 60-mm mortars com-plete with booster point detonating gadget and a hand grenade.

he told police offi-cials that the explosive was owned by his broth-er, Sgt. Mario Abuan who died due to sickness a few months back. A po-lice bomb disposal team is now in custody of the explosives. [PNA]

Gun ban in South Cot, Sultan Kudarat nets 2 persons, 3 guns IN a bid to keep pace

with the area’s develop-ment, the local govern-

ment of nearby Koronadal City is set to release 4,230 new tricycle franchises or Motorized Tricycle Opera-tor’s Permit (MTOP) to lo-cal operators this year.

City Councilor Floro Ca-lixton, chair of the council’s committee on transpor-tation, said Monday such move was based on the recent approval by the city council of a resolution that authorized the issuance of new tricycle franchises to help enhance public trans-port services within the city.

he said that since 1993, the local government had issued a total of 7,770 tri-cycle franchises but about half of such number is so far

inactive.Most of the issued

franchises were either cancelled due to some vi-olations or had expired be-cause of the failure of the owners to renew them, he said.

Citing data from the city’s franchising office, Calixton said at least 3,791 MTOPs in the area are pres-ently considered active.

“Since our population is presently at 161,662, only one tricycle is available for every 43 passengers here,” he said.

Koronadal City, which is a component city and capi-tal of South Cotabato prov-ince, is the regional seat and center of Region 12 or the Soccsksargen Region. [PNA]

Koronadal City issues 4,230 tricycle franchises

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

LABOR and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Di-mapilis-Baldoz Tuesday

said the number of collective bar-gaining agreements (CBAs) con-cluded at the plant level contin-ues to rise, saying this is good for industrial peace that the country enjoys at present.

“In 2012, some 168 compa-nies concluded their CBAs with their respective unions without the intervention of the DOLE’s National Conciliation and Media-tion Board. This means 168 few-er cases that would have entered the dockets of NCMB,” she said.

Records of the NCMB shows some 436 CBAs expired in 2012 and only 114 needed the inter-vention of the NCMB through notices of strike/lockout (NSL) and preventive mediation (PM) cases, 88 of which were success-fully concluded. Some 26 CBA ne-gotiations subject of NSL and PM cases are still pending.

The rising number of CBAs concluded without government intervention under the present administration has been palpa-ble, which Baldoz credits to la-bor and management’s growing maturity and their high level of trust and respect for each other.

“This also manifests their belief on the system of collective bargaining as a state policy of regulating labor-management relations, specifically in the set-ting of disputes and other terms and conditions of work.

Baldoz added that the high

level of mutual trust and respect likewise mirrors the effective-ness of the government alter-native dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, like labor-man-agement councils/committees (LMCs) and grievance machin-ery (GM) which the NCMB con-tinues to promote in both orga-nized and unorganized estab-lishments.

Labor-management coun-cils/committees and grievance machinery are aimed to facili-tate communication, build mu-tual trust, foster cordial rela-tions, encourage cooperation and joint problem-solving pro-cesses, and minimize the occur-rence of disputes.

There are some 2,092 LMCs and 2,284 grievance machinery

existing nationwide as of 30 November 2012, according to NCMB data.

These mechanisms contin-ue to benefit workers and em-ployers in terms of best man-agement practices, improved communication lines, improved productivity, corporate social responsibility and reduced inci-dence or labor disputes. [PNA]

5EDGEDAVAO THE ECONOMY

CBAs at plant level boosts industrial peace-- Baldoz

ThE National Telecommu-nications Commission (NTC) disclosed the 4th

quarter 2012 results of the Qual-ity of Service (QoS) Benchmark-ing Tests on the telco industry networks within sixteen cities and one municipality of the NCR. “Both Smart and Globe got pass-ing marks in these tests conduct-ed last December, involving post-paid subscribers” NTC Commis-sioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.

“The gains of our network modernization are now being felt more than ever by our cus-tomers – this is paramount for us and we are happy with this de-velopment,” Globe Telecom CEO

Ernest Cu observed. Through the last three quarters of the NTC-initiated tests, Globe has demonstrated enhanced perfor-mance resulting in progressively improving scores.

Citing the rapid advancement of the telco’s modernization program, now close to comple-tion of the first phase at 84%, the Globe CEO sees “that full equipment replacement and systems overhaul will increas-ingly bring about greater and better-than-standards perfor-mance and along with it, a differ-entiating customer experience”.

The latest results already show that Globe is surpassing

NTC benchmarks such as its 2% rating for Blocked Calls or Grade of Service, which more than met the less-than-4%-performance-standard.

In other categories, the dropped call rate of Globe at 1.2% is much better versus the lower-than-2%-standard. While its Average Receive Signal Lev-el, referring to signal strength, at -71.78dBm, is better than the -85dBm standard, its Aver-age Signal Quality, on the other hand, improved to 0.94, now much closer to the optimal 0 standard.

Call Set-Up Time of Globe at 11.98 is better than the 14

second-standard for a called number to ring from the time a subscriber finished dialing the number.

“Key cities nationwide are now enjoying our enhanced net-work with 3G and 4G hSPA+; but over and beyond NTC’s quarterly benchmarking, we at Globe keep personally checking and validating our network per-formance all over the country, do speed tests and get feedback from our customers,” Cu empha-sizes, “after all, committing to ensuring the quality of our ser-vice to the public as NTC exhorts the industry to do so, is our core mission in the first place.”

Globe posts strong gains in 4Q 2012 NTC testMONTHLY AVERAGE EXCHANGE RATE (January 2009 - December 2011)

Month 2012 2011 2010

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

September 43.02 44.31August 42.42 45.18

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

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

Stat Watch5.8%

1st Qtr 2012

6.4 %1st Qtr 2012

USD 4,931million

May 2012USD 4,770

millionApr 2012USD -135

millionApr 2012USD -209

millionMar 2012

P 4,580,674 million

Apr 2012

4.1 %May 2012P131,403

millionMay 2012

P 5,075 billion

Apr 2012

P 42.78Jun 2012

5,091.2May 2012

130.1 Jun 2012

2.8 Jun 2012

3.7 Jun 2012

349,779Apr 2012

18.8 %Jan 2012

7.2 %Jan 2012

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

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

3. Exports 1/

4. Imports 1/

5. Trade Balance

6. Balance of Payments 2/

7. Broad Money Liabilities

8. Interest Rates 4/

9. National Government Revenues

10. National government outstanding debt

11. Peso per US $ 5/

12. Stocks Composite Index 6/

13. Consumer Price Index 2006=100

14. Headline Inflation Rate 2006=100

15. Core Inflation Rate 2006=100

16. Visitor Arrivals

17. Underemployment Rate 7/

18. Unemployment Rate 7/

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

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

as of august 2010

LIVELIHOOD OUT OF BAMBOO. A man fashions furniture out of cut bamboo near the Davao River bank along Quimpo Blvd. Davao City yesterday. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 20136 EDGEDAVAOTHE ECONOMY

AN estimated P 7 0 0 - m i l l i o n worth of invest-

ments is set to kick � off in the Autonomous Re-gion in Muslim Mindan-ao (ARMM) this year.

Regional Board of In-vestments (RBOI) spe-cialist Jun Macalawan said topping the invest-ment plan for the prov-ince is the continuing P569-million investment poured in by the Dilinan-as Development Corpo-ration (DDC), a subsid-iary of fruit-producing giant corporation Del Monte Philippines.

In November last year, Acting ARMM Gov-ernor Mujiv hataman, together with Dilinanas executives, led the inau-guration of a 500-hect-are banana planation in Datu Abdullah Sangki town in Maguindanao.

The Datu Sangki plantation forms part of the 1,300-hectare ba-nana estate that DDC plans to set up across the province.

The plantation would include parcels of land in Ampatuan town, the site of the infamous 2009 Maguindanao massacre site that killed 57 peo-ple, including 33 local journalists.

More so, Unifrutti Group Philippines, an-other fruit conglom-erate, is also pursuing plans to expand its ba-nana and pineapple farms in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

The multi-nation-al, which has laid out a comprehensive US 20-million dollar invest-ment for the region, is currently maintaining a 1,000-hectare banana plantation in Maguind-anao but plans to ven-ture into pineapple pro-duction in Lanao del Sur.

Complimenting such development, Macala-wan said that a P300-M housing investment from Bombaran Development Corporation would be opened for workers later this month in Barangay Sarmiento, Parang, Ma-guindanao.

The project, compris-ing some 1,500 housing units and the first in the region, is expected to benefit 1,500 workers in the Parang area alone.

“The Bombaran firm is keen on expanding its housing develop-ment endeavor to ar-eas tapped by DDC and UniFrutti for its planta-tions this year,” he said. [PNA]

ThE Aquino ad-m i n i s t r a t i o n expressed ela-

tion over the reported success of the Dept. of Labor and Employ-ment in enhancing the services extended by Phil-Job Net in provid-ing at least 100,000 job vacancies at any given time, a Palace official said Tuesday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said during the regular press briefing in Malacanang the ad-ministration is looking forward to the continu-ing development of the Phil-Job Net website to be able to give assis-tance to the job seekers.

“We are pleased to share the report of La-bor Secretary Rosalin-da Baldoz to the Presi-dent regarding Phil-Job Net (www.phil-job.net), the official job portal of the Philippine Govern-ment,” Valte said.

“For the first time in its history, the num-ber of vacancies on the website has out-paced the number of applicants. As of today,

there have been more than 264,000 vacan-cies posted by employ-ers compared to a little over 117,000 appli-cants. The number of vacancies is also at an all-time high compared to only an average of 40,000 a month as of July 2010,” Valte said.

Since Baldoz took over the helm of the DOLE, Valte said she enhanced the services provided by Phil-Job Net to include job post-ings from skilled work-ers as well as legitimate employers.

Under Baldoz’s stewardship, Valte said the DOLE has also ex-panded the website’s coverage to provide at least 100,000 job va-cancies at any given time.

“We look forward to their continuing de-velopment of the Phil-Job Net website into an even more responsive and inclusive tool for both job seekers and job matching, which re-dounds to the benefit of our countrymen,” she said. [PNA]

ARMM targets P700-M investments for 2013

Gov’t elated over success of DOLE in enhancing services

SIN TAX AFTERMATH. To get around the newly approved Sin Tax Law which is expected to cause increase in the prices of liquor and tobacco products, this lady vendor sells cheaper cigarette brands which also require smaller capital. Lean Daval Jr.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013 SCIENCE/ENVIRONMENT7EDGEDAVAO

RENEWABLE energy developer hedcor reaffirmed its bid to

preserve and protect wa-tersheds by planting thou-sands of trees. Recently, the company attained a milestone of over 600,000 trees planted in water-sheds across the country.

“This year our target is to plant at least 200 thou-sand trees in our water-sheds,” Jabonillo said. “We will also strive to maintain a survival rate of 90% or more,” he added.

hedcor has long rec-ognized the importance

of watersheds on its busi-ness of hydroelectric pow-er generation. The com-pany has been operating run-of-river hydropower plants since 1972, and started building its own since 1990. Throughout this history, the company has always done its part in the preservation and pro-tection of watersheds.

Other than watershed management, the envi-ronmental initiatives of the company also include river bank stabilization, reforestation, agroforestry and road side rehabilita-

tion. On top of this, hedcor encourages its employees to each plant at least 20 trees every year. The com-pany also partners with residents of its host com-munities in the implemen-tation and sustainability of its ecological mission. The hydro company also ensures that it does not contribute in any way to water pollution. Further, the company even works as a whole to mitigate its carbon emissions during its operations.

“The good thing about being a part of hedcor

is the chance to be in-volved in environmen-tal projects,” said Ronald Tabunares who is a Forest-er with the company. “We exercise a responsibility

to take care of watersheds and the environment.”

A wholly-owned sub-sidiary of AboitizPower, hedcor has 19 run-of-river hydropower plants

in the Philippines. The company is ISO certified for Environment Manage-ment Systems as a direct result of the company’s green practices.

TREES FOR WATERSHED. Hedcor employees, together with residents of the host community, plant trees near the Tudaya Falls in Davao del Sur, to help preserve and protect the area.

To preserve watersheds

DISASTER experts will gather in Bangkok in May for

the 2013 Asean Regional Forum on disaster relief exercise, aimed at en-hancing civilian-military cooperation on disaster relief in the Asia-Pacific, Thai News Agency report-

ed.Director-general of

Thailand’s Asean Affairs Department Arthayuth Srisamoot said the con-ference from May 7-11 will be held in Cha-um district of Thailand’s sea-side province of Phetch-aburi.

To be co-hosted by Thailand and South Ko-rea, the international con-ference will set the stage for exchanges in disaster relief and management knowhow among the dia-logue partners and inter-national agencies. [PNA/Bernama]

ThE Department of Environment and Natural Resources

(DENR) recently desig-nated Taguibo River in Agusan del Norte as a wa-ter quality management area (WQMA) pursuant to the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.

Regional Executive

Director Joselin Marcus E. Fragada said Taguibo River is the third river in Mindanao designated as WQMA. The other two are Silway River in Gen-eral Santos City and the Sarangani Bay.

Fragada said DENR is designating WQMAs to ensure clean, safe and

sustainable water quality in the country.

he said DENR Sec-retary Ramon J.P. Paje recently signed the ad-ministrative order des-ignating Taguibo River as WQMA. Taguibo River is a source of water for Butuan City and nearby towns. [PNA]

AUThORITIES will pilot, in South Cota-bato province, strat-

egies aimed at effectively managing the ‘buyo-buyo’ plant (scientific name: Pip-er aduncum) which they describe as a highly aggres-sive invasive alien specie linked to degradation and suppressed regeneration of natural forests.

Such piloting will be conducted in the prov-ince’s Allah Valley Wa-

tershed Forest Reserve, a protected area where they said ‘buyo-buyo’ is becom-ing the dominant plant specie.

AVWFR is the pilot activity’s Philippine site under the 2011-2015 re-gional project called ‘Re-moving Barriers to Inva-sive Species Management in Production & Protection Forests in Southeast Asia.’

“We hope the pilot site will serve as model for the

country’s other national parks in management of forest IAS,” said environ-ment undersecretary Er-nesto Adobo Jr. Experts said IAS are plant and an-imal species intentionally or unintentionally intro-duced into areas where these don’t naturally occur.

Such species are dread-ed for being threats to the environment, human well-being and the econ-omy. The Department of

Environment and Natural Resources earlier identi-fied the common carp fish, golden apple snail, Asiatic painted frog, Asian house rat as well as water hya-cinth and ‘makahiya’ plants as among IAS that are al-ready widespread in the Philippines.

IAS found in the coun-try also include the jani-tor fish, clown knife fish, Jaguar guapote fish, Poly-nesian rat, Chinese soft-shelled turtle and the lan-tana plant, DENR noted. For AVWFR, Adobo said authorities concerned will develop an IAS manage-ment plan and implement it within the project’s du-ration.

“IAS inside the natu-ral park will be managed through a variety of meth-ods to determine the most cost-effective method,” he said. Adobo also said there’ll be activities to help restore AVWFR’s en-vironment.

“Restoration of the site will follow with help of the community and oth-er stakeholders there,” he noted. Authorities re-ported AVWFR is home to some 97 plant species. [PNA]

IT may be too much to expect Philippine pol-itics to rid itself of the

infamous 3Gs or guns, goons and gold now. But an environment group has asked that politicians should at least campaign without a fourth “G” – gar-bage.

“This early, we appeal to politicians across the political spectrum to re-strain from engaging in dirty campaigning and to strive for an ecological ‘zero basura’ outreach to the electorate. We will call the attention of candidates who will campaign dirty,” Edwin Alejo, coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, said in a statement Monday.

“Through ‘zero basu-ra,’ we hope to prevent and reduce waste and pol-lution from the vigorous campaign operations and activities during the next three months and avert the further degradation of our fragile environment,” he said.

“We also hope that candidates will come up with meaningful platforms integrating sustainable solutions to the chronic garbage, toxic, disaster and livelihood woes facing many of our communities, and not only shake hands, hug babies, or sing and

dance to amuse voters,” he added.

The call came a day after the start of the elec-tion gun ban and ahead of the official start of the campaign period, which is Feb. 12 for senatorial and party-list candidates, and March 29 for congressio-nal and elective regional, provincial, city and munic-ipal posts.

The election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will be synchronized with the midterm polls.

EcoWaste Coalition urged candidates to mini-mize the use of campaign materials such as leaflets, pamphlets, posters, stick-ers, decals, and plastic and tarpaulin streamers.

It said propaganda materials should be in post-consumer recycled paper and carry a remind-er that says “para sa ating kalusugan at kalikasan, huwag pong ikalat, itam-bak o sunugin (for our health and environment, don’t litter, dump or burn)” or its equivalent in local languages.

The group urged not to use confetti, buntings and balloons, which often get burned or discarded in waterways, seas and dumpsites. [MindaNews]

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

‘Poet and Peasant’ now on

a fade-out

8 EDGEDAVAO

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VANTAGE POINTS

( Conclusion )

By Honor Blanco caBieSPECIAl FEATURE

EDITORIAL

A matter of education

ONCOLOGISTS in Davao are one in saying that people’s hesitance to seek medical

assistance or simply consult their neighborhood doctor is one of the major stumbling blocks in the fight against all forms of cancer.This, as medical professionals specializing in cancer commemorate National Cancer Awareness Week as part of their effort to raise awareness of lay-men about a top killer disease in the country and elsewhere in the world.

Patients, including those who only suspect they have cancer, do not seek medical checkups for a va-riety of reasons. Many of them are afraid to confirm that they are in-deed sick with cancer and grapple with its implications to the patient’s and his family’s financial well-be-ing. This does not include the emo-tional devastation one suffers from knowing he’s facing a life-threaten-ing disease. Call it fatalistic, if not downright crazy, but some people do think that cancer will just go away without them doing anything about it.

Clearly, there is a need to put across the idea that it is best for one to confirm the disease early as it raises tremendously the chances of being cured.

It is a fact that fewer people are dying from cancer in the United States. According to a study, mor-tality rates have been falling since the early 1990s. Cancer death rates decreased by 1.8 percent per year among men and by 1.4 percent among women during the period from 2000 to 2009.

Dr. Gay Matinez-Lapus, a veteran Davao oncologist, told media practi-tioners last Monday that 30 percent of cancers are curable if detected early. In the same media forum, Dr. Chita Matunog, a cancer specialist at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, said another bright spot in the fight against cancer in our coun-try is the financial subsidy that the Philippine health Insurance Corpo-ration (Philhealth) extends to can-cer patients.

Indeed, cancer patients need not be totally helpless or hopeless.

ThE small town bands’ supply of soothing music for their captive listeners included Rafael hernan-

dez’s “El Cumbanchero,” Lara’s “Sola-mente Una Vez,” and “Quien Sera” by Ruiz and Gimbel, where a listener can easily be won by the sighing reeds and the hugging trombones.

There was also Serradel’s “La Golon-drina,” “Csárdás,” a traditional hungari-an folk dance — the name derived from csárda (old hungarian term for tavern), and was popularized by Roma music (Cigány) bands in hungary and neigh-boring lands of Serbia, Slovakia, Slove-nia, Burgenland, Croatia, Ukraine, Po-land, Transylvania and Moravia, as well as among the Banat Bulgarians, includ-ing those in Bulgaria.

”Csardas,” like “Poet and Peasant,” and “La Virgen de la Macarena� were very popular in that generation, who danced to the beat of Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood” and Tommy Dorsey’s “Song of India” as well as harry James’ “Cirib-iribin” during town fiestas.

In Manila, the Philippine capital, bands in colorful uniforms of red and white, blue and white, or the original khaki outfit, played “Stars and Stripes,” a patriotic American march widely con-sidered to be the magnum opus of com-poser John Philip Sousa.

They also played Sousa’s “Nation-al Emblem,” “Under the Double Eagle,” “The Washington Post,” which has re-mained as one of the composer’s most popular marches throughout the United States and foreign countries, including the Philippines.

Or they would play Sousa’s “El Capi-tan” or the locally composed “Dalagang Naic” or the “El Palikero.”

Or the bands would play ballroom beats like “La Cumparsita” as interpreted by the country’s trumpet king Anastasio Mamaril of Pangasinan, or “Cerezo Rosa” by Perez Prado as interpreted by Amy Galinato of the Jolly Boys of Ilocos Norte, the notes on his trumpet frolicking like some ice cubes falling on the pavement, doing one better than the own version of Cuba’s mambo king.

But Prado’s nearly eight-minute “Mosaico Cubano” was always a winner, punctuated by healthy and vibrant ap-plause from the audience, sitting on kind summer’s green grass.

Concerts at the Rizal Park had mem-bers of the audience feeling more com-fortable as they – young men and wom-en and their grand children – enjoyed the two-hour gift of sights and sounds on benches while the sun was reluctant-ly setting on the placid Manila Bay.

The concerts, now with other brands of cultural performances, are provided for free to the general public by the Na-tional Parks Development Committee.

Many old hands are agreed the per-formances in the metropolis, and nota-bly in the country, have started fading out.

The weekend serenatas in the coun-tryside have likewise gone to a moder-ately slow pace – and are on the last tied note of the last bar, no thanks to the lack of funds and local government support.

The string ensemble’s interpretation of “Poet and Peasant” before the local and foreign tourists here that weekend was literally, as one musician described it, a full bar to the now almost forgotten overture. [PNA]

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

PRESIDENT Aquino III cannot ig-nore the resounding message: Look into your promise to fight

corruption. The shootout clearly says you are failing.

In his platform, “A Social Contract with the Filipino People”, Aquino III, the candidate, highlighted eleven ef-fects of corruption that “A people [are] crying out for change”. The shootout does not reflect well on the perfor-mance of Aquino III, the President.

One effect, the 10th enumerated, states: “Our moral faculties as a peo-ple have been paralyzed.” The police on both sides of the shootout and the alleged crime syndicate members in-volved are (and were) within the con-text of the term “a people”. have their “moral faculties” been rid of the “pa-ralysis” from corruption or any sign of “change”?

The NBI probe into the jueteng an-gle as well as criminal and illegal as-sociation angles behind the shootout

will verify allegations of police pro-tection enjoyed by criminal syndicates that are in legal business as fronts of their more lucrative illegal operations from the police on both sides of the shootout. however, to quote a popular saying: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Similar probes in the past – long past, in fact – including those in Congress had traced “smokes” to the “fire”.

The daughter of the slain top po-lice official, Supt. Alfredo P. Consem-ino, an accounting clerk in the secu-rity agency of the alleged top jueteng operator, slain Victor R. Siman, told media the fact that her father and Si-man were partners in a legal securi-ty agency business (Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 10, 2013: Aquino

doubts Quezon …)In two Inquirer reports, five min-

utes apart on January 8 (Killed in shootout: 3 cops, 3 soldiers and ‘Juet-eng’ eyed in Quezon shootout), Siman was identified by police and military sources as operating a “gun-for-hire” group and illegal numbers games. Was Consemino, top Regional PNP of-ficial, not aware of this?

Even if the NBI would find Siman clean, Consemino’s business partner-ship with him in any capacity was a case of “conflict of interest” on the part of the latter – a form of moral corruption. This essentially is part of protection racket – well known in confidence, never proven in the open – thriving from the long past.

Like many presidents, is Aquino III also impotent against this moral cor-ruption? In its other forms, moral cor-ruption is staring at President Aquino III but appears unnoticed. – [Patricio P. Diaz/MindaNews]

IN the wake of super typhoon Pablo, where 358 tuna fisher-men are still missing in addition

to the eight confirmed dead 40 days after it unleashed its full wrath, I tried to coax General San-tos City Mayor Darlene Antoni-no-Custodio into looking at the possibility of honoring all the missing and dead victims with a memorial wall or monument where their names will be inscribed.

I got a positive feedback from her via a text message.

“That’s a great suggestion. Will have CEMCDO see how we can develop this,” she said.

I know it would be premature, may be even insensitive, to have a monument built now and the names of the Pablo victims inscribed when hopes that they are still alive still run deep in the hearts of their families.

But somewhere down the road, everybody will have to agree that we should give paean to our fishermen – both living and the dead.

Even members of the Socsksar-gen Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries (SFFAI) are support-ive of the idea and are willing to donate an area where to erect this monument honoring the faceless and nameless fisherman who made the supreme sacrifice to make General

Santos City the Tuna Capital of the Philippines.

Councilor Ronel Rive-ra was also e n t h u s i a s -tic but was reluctant to sponsor a r e s o l u t i o n that will get the ball rolling.

he nevertheless pursued the ini-tiative even as he warned that it may not go beyond sponsorship.

Rivera happens to be one of the two opposition lawmakers in the city council even though its presid-ing officer, Vice Mayor Shirlyn Bañas-Nograles, is also an opposition.

True enough, Councilor Eduardo Leyson IV immediately shot down the proposal saying it would be ille-gal to donate a portion of the Plaza heneral Santos without violating the city charter and the law that created it.

Which reminds me, how come the city council and the city government have been mum over the tragedy?

Why aren’t they asking why the missing fishermen were not adequately covered by insurance, SSS, Pag-IBIG and Philhealth?

Why, despite hosting all the Nation-al Tuna Congresses and knowing all too well that all Philippine tuna fishing vessels are to be equipped with vessel monitoring system (VMS) as required by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commis-sion, they are not investigating why this happened?

Or even still, why are business permits granted to these companies if they have been violating nation-al laws as well as international treaties and agreements? Are they too beholden to these companies they are speaking, hearing and seeing no evil?

This piece is not an indictment of the fishing industry, without which this city would not have grown as it is today. This is a wakeup call for everybody.

We have to get our acts together and ensure that our fishermen get all the protection they deserved.

In the meantime, why not a monu-ment wall for them, indeed?

If the city can give a hundred thousand peso or so as reward to a deserving tuna fisherman every Tuna Festival, why can’t we give tribute to those who died and went missing in the high seas for us to be where we are today? [Edwin G. Espejo writes for MindaNews and www.asiancorrespondent.com]

Economic optimism in 2013

VANTAGE POINTSEDGEDAVAO 9

Politics likely to doom idea honoring tuna fishermen

Cops Shoot Cops: Echo Clear( Conclusion )

( Conclusion )

By anatole KaletSKyCOMMENTARY

By Patricio P. DiazMINDA NEWS

CYCLICAL upswings are now evi-dent in every region of the world apart from Europe. American

growth accelerated notably in mid-2012, from 1.6 percent annualized in the first half to 3.1 percent in the third quarter, and although a slowdown in the fourth quarter is likely, the reasons are strictly temporary: hurricane Sandy and the November election. Now that big tax hikes or public spending cuts have been avoided by the “fiscal cliff” deal and the very high probability that further fiscal measures resulting from the debt ceil-ing showdown will not occur until 2014 or beyond – there are three reasons to expect the cyclical upswing to acceler-ate. housing construction, instead of be-ing the country’s biggest obstacle to re-covery, is rising strongly and resuming its normal role as the main driver of U.S. cyclical upswings. Financial conditions are normalizing, with banks increasing-ly able and willing to lend. And govern-ment employment cutbacks, another big headwind to recovery, are starting to be reversed at the state and local levels.

In Asia, meanwhile, growth is re-bounding after a year-long slowdown caused by the Arab Spring’s soaring oil prices, aggravated by fears of a Europe-an financial meltdown and then the sur-prisingly chaotic leadership transition in China. Europe is the one region pos-sibly still condemned to another year of recession, but its troubles will have limited global impact provided a finan-cial meltdown is avoided, which is now a good bet.

how, then, could expectations about 2013 be as gloomy as they were about 2012? The obvious answer is the uncer-tainty that prevailed until very recent-ly about economic policies all over the world – about the euro, about the role of central banking, about the Chinese lead-ership, about the U.S. election and most recently about the fiscal cliff. The fact is, however, that these political uncertain-ties are largely resolved. The euro has survived because Germany has aban-doned central banking taboos left over from the monetarist 1980s. President Barack Obama has been re-elected, al-lowing the Federal Reserve to continue its unprecedented monetary expansion.

Now that the policy questions have been largely settled, investors, business-people and consumers, even if they dis-like some of the political outcomes, will be forced to shift their attention back to economics and business conditions. And as they do this, they will notice that eco-nomic fundamentals are actually rather better than they thought. This greater confidence will initially be inspired by short-term cyclical improvements, but as time goes on the structural changes in the world economy will again come to the fore.

Pessimists like El-Erian maintain that long-term structural changes are pre-cisely the problem. The “New Normal” of excess debt and the failures of econom-ic policy revealed in 2008 make weak growth inevitable for years to come. I be-lieve, by contrast, that the trends created by the end of communism will again drive the world economy, and that new models of economic management are evolving to mitigate the failures of the old version of capitalism, which died in 2008.

Against the enormous opportunities created by the reinvention of global cap-italism, the deleveraging emphasised by proponents of the New Normal will prob-ably remain a powerful countertrend. But when the history of the 21st century is written, deleveraging will not be more than a footnote to the dominant narra-tive: the end of communism, the rise of Asia, the power of the Internet and the reinvention of economic management.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

FOR devout Catholics, Camillus de Lellis is a familiar name whose

intercession is implored in times of illness.

Even those not fa-miliar with the patron saint of the sick, hospitals and health workers see his work in the hands of priests in his order, known as the Ministers of the Sick

or simply “the Camillians.”In February, howev-

er, followers can get a glimpse of St. Camillus’ blessed remains: his pre-served heart.

St. Camillus’ relic will arrive in the Philippines February 18, said Camil-lian priest Dan Cancino of the Episcopal Commssion on healthcare of the Cath-

olic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The saint’s blessed re-mains will have a series of pilgrimages in the country before being flown back to Rome March 11, he added.

A mass and veneration rites will be held 6 p.m. upon the relic’s arrival at the Our Lady of La Paz Parish in Makati, where St.

Camillus heart will be dis-played until Feb. 19.

Masses for the sick will meanwhile be held on Feb. 23 at the San Fernando de Dilao Parish in Paco, Ma-nila (8:30 a.m.) and the St. Camillus College Seminary Chapel in Marikina City (5 p.m.).

On March 10, closing ceremonies will be held 4 p.m. at St. Camillus and San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel in Quezon City.

The pilgrimage is “a special moment for the sick to deepen their de-votion and relationship with St. Camillus espe-cially in experiencing the ever-present love of Christ to them,” Cancino said fur-ther.

Although noting that relics “do not possess magical or miraculous powers,” the priest none-theless encouraged pray-ing before them “because they strengthen our faith in Christ.”

A primer emailed to Yahoo! Southeast Asia explained that a relic is a “part of the body of a saint or a venerated per-son, else another type of ancient religious object” preserved for veneration. [Yahoo!]

A Pakistani cleric Tuesday urged thou-sands of protesters

massed in Islamabad to camp out for another day, defiant after police fired tear gas and the govern-ment ignored his ultima-tum to disband parliament.

Muslim preacher Ta-hir-ul Qadri delivered a frenzied address to an esti-mated 25,000 people wav-ing flags and chanting near the parliament building, blaming a corrupt govern-ment for the ills of a coun-try beset by a fragile econ-omy and Islamist violence.

he led his followers into the heavily fortified capital overnight, the cli-max of a 38-hour journey through towns and villag-es from the eastern city of Lahore, where they were showered with rose petals by supporters who lined the streets.

One intelligence official told AFP that there were around 25,000 people in the crowd, which would make it the largest political protest in Islamabad since the main ruling Pakistan Peoples Party took office after elections in 2008.

“I want to ask you to

stay until tomorrow. I’m going to stay,” Qadri de-clared in his second ad-dress to the crowd since the early hours, speaking from inside a bullet-proof box.

Police earlier clashed with stone throwers and protesters brandishing sticks, shooting into the air and firing tear gas.

D e m o n s t r a t o r s smashed vehicle windows as they continued their march and reached the edge of the heavily fortified

“Red Zone”, which houses parliament and Western embassies that closed on Tuesday.

Eight police were hurt in the clashes, doctor Tan-vir Afsar Malik, a spokes-man for the Federal Gov-ernment Services hospital, told AFP.

Organisers of the rally accused police of opening fire, of attempting to arrest the cleric and of trying to provoke them into vio-lence.

“They opened fire on

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri’s car and tried to smash the win-dows,” said Qadri spokes-man Shahid Mursaleen.

But Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the protesters were carrying weapons and had opened fire on police. he accused Qadri of “bulldozing” an agreement with the au-thorities for a peaceful ral-ly.

Military helicopters circled overhead as the protesters gathered near parliament. [AFP]

NATION/WORlD10 EDGEDAVAONATION BRIEFS

Argument

Amid protests out-side the Supreme Court, the first

ever oral argument to be led by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on the controversial Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 started, with petitioners insist-ing the law violated the constitutional rights of the public.

The argument was opened by petition-er and Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III who branded the law as a “Cyberdracula... with fangs that instill fear in the hearts of people.”

Cancelled

At least four do-mestic flights between Manila

and Mindanao were canceled Tuesday due to bad weather condi-tions, the Department of Transportation and Communications said. In a series of posts on its Twitter account, the DOTC said the affected flights were those of Air Philippines and Cebu Pacific.

PAGASA said Samar and Leyte provinces, Central Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies with occa-sional light to moderate rain showers or thun-derstorms.

Expect leaner and sexier health officials in six months.

Weight loss

Worried about the expand-ing bellies and

waistlines of its execu-tives, the Philippines’ Department of health (DOh) has launched a weight loss programme dubbed “Belly Gud for health” to help the ex-ecutives fight off stress and binge-eating that often come with man-agement work.

The six-month “light and enjoyable” chal-lenge will see under-secretaries, assistant secretaries, directors, division chiefs and pro-gramme managers of the DOh undergoing aerobic and isomet-ric exercises, nutrition counselling and stress management for a healthy waistline, said health Secretary En-rique Ona.

No assurance

A college degree may not neces-sarily mean great-

er chances of landing a job, the chief state stat-istician said, noting that Pinoys with higher ed-ucational attainments tend to be “choosy” with work.

Nearly one of every five unemployed Pi-noys is a college gradu-ate, National Statistical Coordination Board Secretary-General Jose Ramon Albert.

Overworked

Longer hours but among the world’s lowest wages. This

is the working condi-tion of “kasambahays” in the Philippines, new United Nations labor data show.

A domestic work-er in the Philippines works 52 hours a week in 2010, the 7th lon-gest work hours among the 39 countries with available data in the International Labor Or-ganization (ILO). This is also higher than the globally accepted stat-utory limits on work-ing time of 40 and 48 hours a week, said the report dubbed “Do-mestic workers across the world.”

WORLD TODAYGun control

President Barack Obama pledged to vigorously pursue

“sensible” gun control but, a month after a school mas-sacre traumatized Amer-ica, questioned whether tough new laws could pass Congress.

Obama said that Vice President Joe Biden had delivered “common sense” reform recommendations after meeting gun control advocates, firearms lob-by groups, mental health experts and software and movie industry officials.

Air strikes

France kept up its air strikes against Isla-mist rebels in Mali

as plans to deploy African troops gathered pace on Tuesday amid concerns that delays could endanger a wider mission to dislodge al Qaeda and its allies.

France has already poured hundreds of troops into Mali and carried out days of air strikes since Friday in a vast desert area seized last year by an Islamist alliance that com-bines al Qaeda’s north Afri-can wing AQIM with Mali’s home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine rebel groups.

Pollution

Shares in a Chinese facemask manufactur-er soared on Tuesday

as investors looked for op-portunities to profit from the severe air pollution that has blanketed large swathes of China.

The smog has been classed as hazardous to health but facemask maker Shanghai Dragon surged by its 10 percent limit for a second day to end at a five-month high, and pollution control equipment mak-er Fujian Longking also closed up 10 percent.

Dope

Shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong has ad-mitted that he used

performance-enhancing drugs, US media reported on Tuesday, as the sport braced for revelations in his first interview since being banned for life for doping.

Armstrong, who has consistently denied drug-taking, on Monday recorded a two-and-a-half hour interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey at his home in Austin, Tex-as, where a media scrum gathered hoping for a glimpse of the fallen icon.

Killed

A train carrying mili-tary conscripts de-railed southwest of

Cairo on Tuesday, killing 19 people and wounding 107, the health ministry said, highlighting the country’s chronic transport prob-lems.

The train was taking young recruits from south Egypt to a military camp in Cairo when two carriages went off the rails shortly after midnight in the Giza neighbourhood of Badra-sheen, officials said.

Supporters of Tahir-ul Qadri protest in Islamabad on January 15, 2013. The Pakistani cleric told thousands of people to carry on their protest in the city until Wednesday, after the govern-

ment ignored his ultimatum to disband parliament immedi-ately. [AFP]

Pakistan protesters defiant after clashes

The preserved heart of St. Camillus, patron saint of the sick, hospitals and health workers, is set to arrive in the Philippines Feb. 18, 2013.

Saint’s preserved heart to arrive in PHL

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

LISTING down per-sonal resolutions has been a fun practice

every start of the year. This new year, make your list more meaningful by

adding a commitment to a more energy-efficient life-style.

however, keeping with those resolutions you pledge every year is not

that easy. hence, Davao Light and Power Co. sug-gests very simple mea-sures which would help reduce your home energy consumption all year long.

Turn it off: Make a con-scious effort to turn off all electronics or appliances when they are not in use. If no one is watching TV—turn it off. Once you devel-op this simple habit, you’ll achieve savings the rest of the year.

Give up the clothes dryer: The second biggest household energy user, af-ter the refrigerator, is the clothes dryer. Over drying your clothes can end up costing you money as well. Thus, hang your clothing outside in the sun and air to dry as it is the most en-ergy-efficient method.

Lower the temp of your fridge: Get your fridge in tip-top shape by setting its thermostat to between 38 and 42 degrees (F). This temperature will protect your food from spoiling while saving electricity. Twice a year, clean the condenser coil at the back of your fridge. Condens-er coils tend to get dusty, making them less efficient.

Give up 2 degrees: During a hot weather, set your air conditioning ther-mostat to 78 degrees F (26° C) or more. Or better yet, try to enjoy the breeze from a fan in the height of a hot weather instead of turning up the air condi-tioning.

DAVAO City Water District entered into a memorandum of

understanding with the Development Alterna-tives Incorporated (DAI) through its contract with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Philippine Water Revolving Fund Fol-low-on Program (PWRF-FP) to help the water utility prepare a feasibility study on the proposed septage management project. The study is due April this year.

The MOU was signed by DCWD acting general man-ager Edwin V. Regalado and DAI / PWRF-FP chief of party Alma D. Porciun-cula last January 11 at the DCWD Matina office. Wit-nesses were Pollution Con-trol and Safety (PCS) officer John F. Baynosa and staff and the DCWD study team in charge of the prepara-tion of the feasibility study of the septage project com-posed of Ricardo P. Corcino (Production Department), Jade C. Veloso (Corporate Planning Department) and Christine S. Guarde (Engi-neering and Construction Department). Other mem-bers of the study team not present during the signing were Jeoffrey C. Butanas (Commercial Department) and John Christian M. Palo (PCS Office).

The MOU states that DAI / PWRF-FP will pro-vide technical assistance

to the study team in estab-lishing the demand for a septage program and sew-erage systems, evaluate various septage collection and treatment system op-tions, identify priority sep-tage management systems, develop technical designs and prepare the project financial analysis and re-lated business plan. To do so, DAI / PWRF-FP will provide a specialist who will conduct mentoring workshops, give advice on the tasks specified in the agreed terms of reference (TOR), monitor progress of the project and provide inputs to the analysis of the septage treatment process, technology options and sizing of facilities. DAI / PWRF-FP will also act as liason between the water utility and lenders for the credit financing of the proj-ect.

DCWD, on the oth-er hand, will designate a study team and assign a team leader in-charge of the feasibility study; carry out the preparation of the feasibility study outlined in the TOR; monitor prog-ress of the project; provide assistance to DAI / PWRF-FP advisory team during workshops and field visits; furnish hard and electron-ic copies of outputs under the study; facilitate and ar-range meetings with local government units (LGUs), non-government organi-

zations and other stake-holders; and participate in the advocacy, training and other related activities of DAI / PWRF-FP with oth-er LGUs and water service providers to invest on san-itation projects or to adopt the septage management model.

It was also agreed that both parties should ex-tend mutual cooperation to ensure timely perfor-

mance and successful conclusion of the various implementations of tasks, regularly convene to con-duct project monitoring meetings composed of duly designated represen-tatives from both parties and collaborate and con-tribute to the promotion of sanitation investments.

With the growing pop-ulation and fast economic development of Davao

City, DCWD intends to undertake a septage man-agement program that would address the grow-ing concerns in urban pol-lution especially its effect on the water bodies and resources of the city. Thus, it sought the help of DAI / PWRF-FP which has de-veloped a business model and tool kit for septage management for water district to guide water ser-

vice providers in septage systems development and encourage actual invest-ments in urban sanita-tions. In fact, DAI / PWRF-FP has already provided technical advisory ser-vices to other LGU’s and water service providers that helped them develop / complete their feasibility studies to a level accept-able to lenders. [Jovana T. Duhaylungsod]

11EDGEDAVAO COMMUNITY SENSE

SEPTAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN. Development Alternatives Incorporated - Philippine Water Revolving Fund Follow-on Program (DAI / PWRF-FP) chief of party Alma D. Porciuncula and DCWD acting general manager Edwin V. Regalado sign the memorandum of understanding for DAI / PWRF-FP’s technical support to the preparation of DCWD’s feasibility study of its proposed septage management project.

DCWD gears for septage management project

Consider air-drying clothes on clothes line.

Make energy saving part of your 2013 new year’s resolution - DLPC ThE Regional De-

velopment Council (RDC) 11 approved

Resolution No. 101 Series of 2012, which supports the institutionalization of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program other-wise known as the Pan-tawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Signed on October 9, 2012, the said resolution was inspired by Senate Bill No. 3412 or the Pan-tawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program Act Of 2009 (An Act To Reduce Pover-ty And Promote human Capital Development Through The Creation Of A National Condition-al Fund Transfer Pro-gram) filed on August 25, 2009 by Senator Miri-am Defensor-Santiago.

Pantawid Pamilya Set 1 started in Davao Re-gion in October 2008. Since its onset, the RDC 11 through the Regional Project Monitoring Com-mittee (RPMC) 11 has been receiving positive feedbacks about the pro-gram, with the beneficia-ries manifesting percepti-ble changes in their lives,

such as increased health awareness for children and pregnant women, in-creased attendance rate of school children, as well as improved understand-ing and awareness on Family Development and Responsible Parenting.

The RDC XI, through the recommendation of the RPMC 11, supports the institutionalization of the conditional cash transfer program as it shall contribute to achiev-ing the human develop-ment outcomes of Davao Region, particularly in decreasing infant and ma-ternal mortality rates, as well as increasing school participation and com-pletion rates especially among the economically disadvantaged house-holds.

To date, Pantaw-id Pamilya has 193,114 family beneficiaries in 44 municipalities and 6 cit-ies in Davao Region. Pan-tawid Pamilya is a pover-ty-alleviation strategy of the national government which provides cash as-sistance and social devel-opment to identified poor households in the coun-try. [DSWD/Sheryll Jane B. Sanico]

CCT institutionalization supported by RDC 11

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013ClASSIFIEDS ADS12 EDGEDAVAO

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Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director Liza R. Mazo, RDRRMC 11 chairperson.

Mazo said the freak typhoon destroyed irrigation systems worth P812,500,000, infrastructure val-ued at P602,700,000, P502,990,000 to Davao Oriental schools, P78,435,000 to Com-postela Valley schools, P28,831,447,100 to crops, P326,784,320 to live-stock, and P49,834,330 to fisheries.

“We talked about fac-ing calamities two years ago and said Davao is very prepared, but when Pablo hit us, I don’t know where it (our preparedness) went,” Mazo said.

“As far as the criteria for preparedness is con-cerned, everything was checked, but no amount of preparedness could withstand the 185- kilo-meter per hour wind,” she said.

Mazo’s report includ-ed a summary stating that 1,022 people died, while 2,701 were injured and 465 persons were listed as missing.

The breakdown shows that Compostela Valley had 618 dead, 424 in-

jured and 443 missing; Davao del Norte had one dead and six injured, and Davao Oriental, with 403 dead, 2,271 injured and 22 missing.

Mazo said, the Post Di-saster Needs Assessment (PDNA), “is yet to come up with a figure on how much will the national and local governments need to recover” the dam-age.

“We don’t stop here, we know we will recov-er because we are resil-ient people,” she said. “With the DRRM concept of building back better, we don’t simply want to go back to the pre-Pablo state, we want to go back better prepared,” the OCD official added. “By now we are thinking of rezon-ification, better urban planning and better land use.”

Meanwhile, the recov-ery stage for areas devas-tated by “Pablo” in Region 11 has started.

Antonio Cloma Jr., OCD 11 operations officer, said recovery efforts have be-gun in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

Cloma told report-ers at Camp Panacan in Davao City that relief operations are ongo-

ing along with debris clearing supported by the United Nations Chil-dren’s Fund (UNICEF).

he added that they don’t have an estimate on when the recovery program would end, al-though he made sure that the team which is currently working on it would double its effort to finish the job in order to move to the rehabilita-tion stage.

“At this time, take note that we implemented the so-called cluster ap-proach and the office of Civil Defense is in charge of logistics, so whatever problems with support to relief and recovery opera-tions arise, we are always ready to coordinate with different stakeholders in the delivery of relief goods and construction materials,” Cloma ex-plained.

he added that they supported the Tam-bayayong program of the Armed Forces of the Phil-ippines (AFP) because they knew that the inten-tion is the immediate re-pair of damaged houses, which is also one of the concerns of the office of Civil Defense. [With a re-port by Che Palicte]

businessman Joey Mem-pin. The concept was dis-cussed by Jesus G. Dureza, former presidential advis-er for Mindanao, who like-wise formally introduced Afdal to the group. The discussion was joined by Gawad Kalinga executive director Luis Oquenana who flew in from Manila just for the project.

Others in the group are Manuel “Bobby” Orig of AboitizPower, Art Milan of Davao Light and Power Company, Inc., Anthony B. Sasin of the Anflo Group of Companies, Leonilo G. Claudio of the Internation-al Visitors Program (IVP), GK focal persons Rene Ri-eta and Mempin, Alex Bue-naventura of One Network Bank and Antonio M. Ajero of Edge Davao.

Aside from marshaling the forces of more than a dozen foundations, the effort will also employ the voluntary services of or-ganized coconut farmers in Davao Oriental, accord-ing to Msgr. Capalla who’s been working with the sector for decades now.

The group intends to provide galvanized iron sheets, umbrella nails and other roofing materials worth P20,000 per class-

room blown away by ty-phoon Pablo on December 4. This will quickly provide shelters to classrooms and facilitate the early re-sumption of classes in the destroyed schools.

Donations in checks to the projects may be made payable to GawadKalinga/Roof A Classroom Project.

A party composed of Afdal, Dureza and Rie-ta is scheduled to fly to Davao Oriental sometime next week to inspect the progress of the projects al-ready started by Afdal and assess the actual needs on the ground that should be addressed.

During the meet-ing, Bishop Capalla also pointed out the need of addressing psycho-social problems brought about by the traumatic experi-ence of typhoon victims specially children, many of whom have shown signs of phobia for rain, strong winds and water. he said the University of Sto. To-mas is one of the groups willing to involve them-selves in this project, but there is still need to iden-tify local point persons to coordinate the efforts.

Under the partnership with Kawad Kalinga, those

who wish to donate for the “ROOF A CLASSROOM” (RAC) PROJECT can do any of the following:

a) Issue a check pay-able to GAWAD KALINGA/RAC and send the check to JESUS G. DUREZA c/o Ad-vocacy Mindanow Foun-dation, Inc., Door 2, LDL Bldg, Roxas Street, Davao City 8000. It will be depos-ited under the GK account opened for the purpose.

b) Deposit your donation directly to the Account number to be spe-cially opened by Gawad Kalinga and devoted to the RAC project. After de-positing, inform by email jessdureza@gmail.com or text to +639178995377 informing the group about the deposit made.

All donations will be published and each donor will get an official receipt and the corre-sponding tax deduction document for the amount. Other information as to updates of the project, etc. will be sent periodically to each donor. A FaceBook account under the name “Typhoon Pablo” “ROOF A CLASSROOM” (RAC) PROJ-ECT will also be opened and maintained for the purpose.

ThE issue on cross-border law-yering will be one

of the significant legal top-ics highlighting the 14th National Convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and its 40th founding anniver-sary celebration at the

SMX Convention Center which opens here today, Wednesday and ends Fri-day, Jan. 18.

Lawyer Carlos Zarate, IBP-Davao Chapter former president, said cross-bor-der lawyering refers to al-lowing foreign lawyers to practice their profession

in the Philippines.Zarate said there are

now over 50,000 lawyers in the country and about a half of them are actively practicing their profes-sion.

At present, only Filipi-no lawyers are allowed to practice in the Philippines.

SENATE Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano ques-

tioned the act of Senate President Juan Ponce En-rile in doling out millions of pesos to members of the Senate in the guise of additional “maintenance and other operating ex-penses (MOOE).”

Cayetano said he wel-comes the audit of the MOOE saying the Senate is not yet off the hook in this issue. he said he fa-vors suggestions that the audit be conducted by a private firm considering that the object of the au-dit is the Senate.

In a press conference at the Probinsya restau-rant yesterday, Cayetano said, “It’s not about the money, it’s about integ-rity,” when asked about the cash gifts that Enrile gave out, P1.6 million each to his favored ones,

but only P250,000 each to senators Santiago, the two Cayetanos (Alan Pe-ter and Pia) and Trillanes with no explanation for the huge discrepancy.

Cayetano said Enrile did not vote for the Re-productive health Bill and the Sin Tax Bill, “but Malacanang did not cut off his (Enrile’s) funds, so I said to myself, this Mar-tial Law, GMA and Enrile type of tactics is not good for the system.”

Cayetano viewed the gift-giving act of Enrile as a defense mechanism be-cause he was worried that the approval of the Rh Bill and Sin Tax Bill pushed by Malacanang but which he opposed would lead to his replacement as Sen-ate president, athough Malacanang has shown no signs of replacing him.

“It is a shame that we are facing this issue (En-

rile’s gift giving) amid all the turmoil that the coun-try is facing, like calami-ties, the on-going peace and order process, the Atimonan (Quezon) mas-sacre and crimes in highly urbanized cities,” Cayeta-no said.

he mentioned a text message he received from a military man who aired his disappointment say-ing, “they deducted from our salaries to donate to ‘Pablo’ victims, but here we have senators talking of millions as Christmas gifts.”

Cayetano welcomes an audit by the Commis-sion on Audit (COA) with regards to the MOOE that Enrile gave to senators, “because COA chairper-son Ma. Gracia M. Pulido Tan has a good reputa-tion, so I’m hoping it will be a no nonsense audit, although she had said on

A group of 17 sci-entists arrived in Davao City yester-

day to conduct a study on the land formation of “Pablo”-affected-areas with the use of optical re-mote sensing technology called Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) of the Nationwide Operational Assessment of hazards (NOAh).

Dr. Elsie Mae Solidum, assistant regional direc-tor for technical services of the Department of Science and Technolo-gy (DOST) 11, said in an interview yesterday at Dream Path, SM Annex, that the scientists arrived in Davao City to study the land formation with focus on areas from New Bata-an to Monkayo.

Solidum said, “With

this technology, we will be able to have a clearer vision of the flow of wa-ter, mud formation, and fault lines in certain areas so that we can save more lives (in any future calam-ity).”

Disaster Risk Ex-posure Assessment for Mitigation – LiDAR (DREAM-LIDAR) is a flag-ship program of the Aqui-no Administration for di-saster mitigation that was launched only on Novem-ber 22, 2012.

DREAM-LiDAR is a program under NOAh of DOST that is composed of 50 personnel, mostly scientists and engineers mainly from the Universi-ty of the Philippines-Dili-man, which will warn communities of possible deadly floods in certain

areas.The DREAM LiDAR

technology is implement-ed using two Cessna 206 aircraft leased by UP that carry the LiDAR system, and which are stationed at the DiosdadoMacapa-gal International Airport inside Clark.

The program is sup-posed to include 500 days of flight from Luzon down to Mindanao begin-ning last November 12. however, when typhoon “Pablo” hit, according to Solidum, “the DREAM-Li-DAR program was given 10 days of flight from New Bataan to Monkayo, because the unprecedent-ed events that happened in that area during the typhoon, especially in An-dap, brought high interest to these scientists.”

A foreign-trained phy-sician of Davao City-based Central Lab,

said that smoking cessa-tion counseling would be of great help in convincing smokers to quit the vice.

Dr. Antonio Ybiernas, who recently trained in

the Mayo Clinic in the Unit-ed States of America, told newsmen that smoking cessation is an important step a smoker’s struggle to stop the vice and enhance the length and quality of his life. he said that initial interview, medication and

strict implementation of the Sin Tax Law will con-tribute a lot to the effort to make people quit smoking.

Dr. Ybiernas believes that when a person strives hard to quit smoking it would be more effective than having medication

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

hALL OF Fame train-er Freddie Roach has ruled out a tune

up fight for Filipino Manny Pacquiao before meeting Juan Manuel Marquez for the fifth time.

But he looks forward to vaulting back from what was a bad 2012 to a better 2013.

The five-time ‘trainer of the year’ honoree of the Boxing Writers Associa-tion of America has, in fact, recalled all his men from their respective vacation, including Filipino assistant trainer Marvin Somodio, for duty, precisely, for that purpose.

Somodio, who left Sat-urday after receiving a telephone call from Roach to cut short his leave, is, in fact, expected to join the Wild Card staff Mon-day morning (Tuesday in Manila) to start his tour of duty at the Roach-owned sweat shop along Vine St.

in downtown hollywood, Los Angeles.

Roach, in a report by Boxing Scene, objected to a suggestion that Pacquiao, who lost twice last year, including an emphatic knockout loss to Marquez, fight this April 15 or 20 against a lighter opponent before plunging into action again against the Mexican legend.

Four possible oppo-nents – current WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who dethroned him from his 147-pount crown in June, Brandon Rios, Robert Guer-rero and even Jessie Vargas and Vyacheslav Senchenko – are being mentioned to face the Filipino superstar this summer.

“They’re talking about a tune up fight in Macau (or Singapore, and Abu Dhabi), with him and Mar-quez on the show together against different oppo-

nents and then a rematch in September. That’s be-ing negotited right now,” Roach told Boxing Scene.

“The thing is, I don’t really want a tune up fight. I would rather just go straight into the fifth fight,” he stressed.

“I don’t think a guy of Pacquiao’s level needs a tune up fight. Thing is, he’s going to get right back on the horse. The first thing he said to me (after the loss to Marquez), we need to do it one more time.” (PNA)

SPORTS 13EDGEDAVAO

TALK ‘N Text goes for their third straight Philippine Cup title

tonight against a Rain Or Shine side that itself wants to get out of a 0-3 hole.

The Tropang Texters has history and momen-tum on their side. They are up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 set to-night at the SMART Ara-neta Coliseum starting at 6:00 p.m.

Meantime, TNT spark-plug Jason Castro has earned the vote even of his closest rivals for the Best Player of the Conference award.

Castro’s teammate, Ranidel de Ocampo, and Meralco Bolts star Solo-mon Mercado – both in the running for the honor after finishing inside the Top Five of the tournament’s statistical race - admitted on Tuesday that they have cast their votes for the cat-quick guard from Pampan-ga.

Another contender, sta-tistical topnotcher Arwind Santos of Petron, did not even bother to cast his vote in the poll that ended on Monday afternoon.

Mercado believes a best player citation is long overdue for Castro, who for so long has played second fiddle to Texters star Jim-my Alapag.

“he’s never been Best Player of the Conference, he’s always done great and his team has always been good and finally, he should get the recognition,” said Mercado.

The Bolts star said the choice for him came down to Castro and Alaska rookie

Calvin Abueva. “Calvin had a great conference, but to me I feel Jason deserves it a little more,” he added.

De Ocampo, meantime, said he voted for Castro be-cause he felt his teammate deserves the award more than him.

“Mas may pagasa siya kaysa sa akin. Mas deserv-ing siya sa boto ko, kaysa sa sarili ko,” said de Ocampo.

“Championship ang gusto namin lagi kasi pang lahat yun, kung tutuusin nga ang individual honor na gusto lang namin yung Finals MVP, kasi ibig sabi-hin nun champion kami,” de Ocampo stressed.

The sweet-shooting big man from Tanza Cavite, likewise, is conceding the Finals MVP to Castro, as-suming their team wraps up the series with Rain or Shine soon.

The best player award will be handed out before Game Four of the Finals on Wednesday night.

Both de Ocampo and Mercado also have words of wisdom for fan favorite Abueva.

“Kung hindi makuha ni Calvin yung BPC, huwag niya dibdibin yun. Ituloy niya lang yung sipag niya sa laro, I’m sure balang araw makukuha niya yun,” said de Ocampo, adding that he, too, believes Abue-va has what it takes to be rookie-MVP.

Mercado said: “Calvin has the opportunity to win it this year, he just have to keep his head up. he had a great conference especial-ly for a rookie and he has a lot of time to win that award.”

PBA PHILIPPINE CUP GAME 4

TNT goes for 3-peat tonight

CEBU CITY, Jan. 15 (PNA) -- The Ken-yans wiped out the

locals in the 42K and 21K event in the 2013 Cebu Marathon over the week-end.

Cebu’s hope for a title, Mary Grace delos Santos, gave up her crown in the women’s 21K, but to a worthy opponent at the Cebu IT Park.

”She is really fast,” said delos Santos after learn-ing of 21K winner Jackline Nzivo’s time of 1:18:28 minutes.

Delos Santos, who was still on a recovery run af-ter her grueling Milo Mar-athon last month, came in second but improved her time.

”It was a non-pres-sured run. I know I was the defending champion, but I had to take it because

I was still recovering from Milo. So I was really sur-prised to surpass my per-sonal best in the 21K,” said delos Santos, the over-all champion in the women’s 42K of the Milo Marathon.

Delos Santos improved her time Sunday by a min-ute to 1:20.

Coming in third was Mary Joy Tabal, who, de-spite losing, was still ec-static about her first per-formance in the 21K.

She finished in 1:21:44, a huge improvement from her old record of 1:23 for three years.

Nzivo, who has been winning titles all over the country in just the short six months that she’s been here, said she was watch-ing out for delos Santos.

“I know she will be my toughest opponent,” said Nzivo. (PNA)

Kenyans rule Cebu marathon

Roach rules out tune-up fight

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Jan. 14 (PNA) -- The Philippine

health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth)-Region 12 is optimistic of meeting its targeted 5,000 runners for the Koronadal City leg of the nationwide Philhealth Run 2013 next month.

Ramon Aristoza Jr., Philhealth’s acting area vice president for Min-danao, said they have launched a massive regis-tration drive for the event, which is slated on Feb.

17 at the South Cotabato Sports Complex in Koro-nadal City.

he said several insti-tutions and local govern-ments have already signi-fied their support to the activity, which coincides with the celebration of the agency’s 18th anniversary.

Among the early sign-ees for the activity was the provincial government of South Cotabato that pledged to sponsor at least 200 slots for its employees and officials, he said.

With the registration for each slot set at P250, South Cotabato’s initial contribution to the event is valued at P50,000.

South Cotabato Gov. Ar-thur Y. Pingoy Jr. said they allowed Philhealth-12 to put-up a registration ki-osk inside the provincial capitol compound to allow other interested employ-ees and clients to register and join the activity.

“We’re very supportive of this activity because of the positive impact of the

cause that it has been pro-moting,” said South Cota-bato Gov. Arthur Y. Pingoy Jr.

Philhealth Run 2013 mainly intends to high-light mother and child protection in the country.

Organizes said the pro-ceeds of the run’s Region 12 or Koronadal City leg will go to the Reception and Study Center for Chil-dren (RSCC) of the Depart-ment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Re-gion 12.

KORONADAL LEG5,000 runners seen in PhilHealth Run

ROACH. No fight in April.

Talk N’ Text will go for their third straight Philippine Cup title in the PBA tonight. But will Rain Or Shine go down without a fight? (PBA photo)

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013ClASSIFIEDS ADS14 EDGEDAVAO

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LOT FOR SALE180 sq. meter, Farland Subd., Dumoy, Toril, P 350,000 only

Contact: 0927-706-2510 Account Executives (2)- Male / Female, not more than 30 years old- Candidate must posses a Bachelor/ College Degree in any Business field.- Willing to work under pressure, flexible, persuasive, can speak fluently and computer literate- A team player- With Basic Salary, Transportation, Communication, allowance + Commission

HR DepartmentEDGEDavaoDoors 13 & 14 Alcrej B;dg., Quirino Ave., Davao CityTel. No. (082) 221-3601 Email: edgedavao@gmail.com

For interested applicants, you may send your resume to:

EDGE DavaoServing a seamless society

Tiny’s passion for beauty and art began in her early childhood when she start-ed playing with her mom’s makeup kit. “I remember being scolded by my mom for making a mess of our bedroom walls with my drawings. I used to draw faces on walls using my mom’s makeup.” Tiny has always been fascinated with colors. In high school, she learned about makeup application by browsing through fash-ion magazines and going online to check out tips and techniques. After high school, Tiny

surrounded herself with friends and colleagues who shared similar inter-ests in hairstyling, makeup, and photography. She was captivated by the beauty she discovered in portrai-

Manquilleuse Tiny Pinili

TIny PInIlI is fast becoming Davao City’s preferred manquilleuse (makeup woman / artist in layman’s terms). In a span of 5 years, this beauty maven has made a name for her-self with her magic wand of a brush, pretti-fying brides and models all over the region. With a continuing drive to excel in her pro-fession, she has become known for her dedi-cation, attention to details, natural sense of style, and diverse creativity.

INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013

EDGEDAVAOWOMEN

Tiny’s approach to hair and makeup is “less is more” especially with brides and bridesmaids. She pays close attention to her client’s personality and best features. She also loves to explore her creativity, break the rules, and just play with colors.

FMANQUILLEUSE, A4

OvArIAn cancer (malignancy of the ovaries) is the fifth most common fe-male cancer. In the United States, there will be an estimated 22,280 women that will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, according to statistics from the national Cancer In-stitute. In the U.K., the num-ber of women affected by ovarian cancer in 2008 was around 6,500, according to the charity Ovarian Can-cer Action. This amounts to an average of 18 British women being diagnosed every day. These figures translate to a 1 in 54 chance of getting ovarian cancer in a wom-an’s lifetime. The majority of cases occur in those over 50. Types of ovarian cancer are: Epithelial Tumors – These are on the surface of the ovaries. This is the most common type and accounts for 90 percent of cases. Borderline Tumors – These are “low malig-nancy” tumors also found on the surface of the ova-ries. Because they are low malignancy, this type of cancer can be treated with surgery alone. Germ Cell Tumors – This is cancer of the germ cells that would have be-come eggs. This accounts for 5-10 percent of ovarian cancer cases. Sex Cord Stromal Cell Tumors – This is cancer of the connective tissue that holds the ovaries together and also produces female sex hormones. This type of cancer is very rare and ac-counts for less than 5 per-cent of cases. Risk Factors There are certain things that increase your risk of getting ovarian cancer. These are:  •  Never  having  been pregnant during your childbearing years  • Being in later life (over 50)  • Having a family history of ovarian cancer or cancer of the rectum, colon, uterus or breast or a previous his-tory of having any of those cancers  •  Using  hormone  re-placement  therapy  (HRT) that is an estrogen-only product for more than 10 years

  •  Ovarian  stimulation for IvF procedures may in-crease the risk of borderline ovarian tumors, although more studies are needed  • Being overweight with a body mass index of over 30  •  Having  your  first  pe-riod when you are very young or having a late menopause  • Having a history of en-dometriosis  •  Being  Ashkenazi  Jew-ish, Dutch, Polish, Icelan-dic, norwegian or Paki-stani. Ovarian cancer is some-times referred to as the “si-lent killer” because women don’t always realize they have cancer until it has spread. Due to this, it has a high mortality rate.  However,  the  medical profession is working at reducing the death rate by helping women to recog-nize the early symptoms. Early Warning Signs If you develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms for the first time when you are over the age of 50, it may be ovarian cancer because it is unlikely

that women over this age will get IBS for the first time. Symptoms to look out for are:  •  Bloating  or  increased stomach size  •  Persistent  stomach pain  • Feeling full after only a small amount of food  • Difficulty eating  •  Frequent  urination  or other urinary symptoms  • Changes in your bowel habits  •  Back  pain  and/or  ex-cessive fatigue Although similar, ovar-ian cancer symptoms are persistent, whereas IBS symptoms can come and go. If you are over 50 and you suddenly develop these symptoms and they don’t go away, please see your doctor. It may be nothing to worry about, but he can at least rule out serious ill-nesses. Treatment Treatment consists of surgery which will remove the cancer and radiation therapy in an attempt to try to kill off any leftover can-

cer cells and prevent them from coming back. This is called local therapy. Sometimes chemo-therapy may be offered, which will either be put into the abdomen and pel-vis through a tube, taken by mouth, or injected into a vein. Side effects of chemo-therapy are varied, but can include:  •  Depletion  of  blood cells that help fight infec-tion leaving you more vul-nerable to infection  • Hair loss  • Appetite loss  • Diarrhea  • Sores on your lips or in your mouth  • Nausea  and/or  vomit-ing  • Joint pain  •  “Pins  and  needles’  or numbness in your hands or feet  • Kidney damage  • Hearing loss Depending on your stage of cancer, your age and whether you wish to have children or not, you may be given surgery to remove your ovaries, fal-lopian tubes, uterus, lymph nodes and the omentum (a tissue layer that covers the intestines). If you are young, have only stage 1 cancer and you want children, it may be possible to ask your surgeon to only remove one ovary and one fallo-pian tube, and to leave your uterus intact. Post-operatively, you may be in some pain and may require painkillers for several days. It can take a few weeks to feel normal again and to be able to do your normal activities.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A group of American pediatricians is telling school districts that children need recess and free time during the school day, and it should not even be taken away as punishment. “We consider it essentially the child’s personal time and don’t feel it should be taken away for academic or punitive reasons,” said Dr. Robert Murray, who co-authored the new policy statement for the American Academy of Pediatrics. The statement, published Monday in the journal Pe-diatrics, says recess is a “crucial and necessary compo-nent of a child’s development.” Recess helps students develop communication skills, such as cooperation and sharing, and helps counteract the time they spend sitting in class, accord-ing to the statement. “The cognitive literature indicates that children are exactly as we are as adults. Whenever they’re perform-ing a complicated or complex task, they need time to process the information,” said Murray, a professor at Ohio State University in Columbus. “Kids have to have that time scheduled. They’re not given the opportunity to just get up and walk around for a few minutes,” he added. Previous research, according to the statement’s au-thors, found children pay closer attention and perform better mentally after recess. Last January, a review of 14 studies found kids who get more exercise from - among other things - re-cess and playing on sports teams tend to do better in school. But a 2011 survey of 1,800 elementary schools found about a third were not offering recess to their third grade classes. Murray told Reuters Health that schools in Japan of-fer children about 10 minutes of free time after every 50 minutes of class, which he said makes sense. “I think you can feel it if you go to a lecture that after 40 to 50 minutes of a concentrated activity you need to take a break,” he said. Currently, the American Heart Association calls for at least 20 minutes of recess every day, but Murray said recess needs depend on the child. “Most schools - on average - are working on the framework of 15 to 30 minute bursts of recess once or twice a day,” he said. There is, however, consensus on when in the day children’s recess should take place. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Agriculture both recom-mend schools schedule recess before lunch. Previous studies have found that children waste less food and behave better for the rest of the day when their recess is before their scheduled lunch, the pedia-tricians’ statement notes. The statement also says schools should not substi-tute physical education classes for recess. “Those are completely different things and they of-fer completely different outcomes,” said Murray. “(Phys-ical education teachers are) trying to teach motor skills and the ability of those children to use those skills in a bunch of different scenarios. Recess is a child’s free time.” The pediatricians also warn against a recess that is too structured, such as having games led by adults. “I think it becomes structured to the point where you lose some of those developmental and social emotion benefits of free play,” said Murray. “This is a very important and overlooked time of day for the child and we should not lose sight of the fact that it has very important benefits,” he added.

Ovarian cancer is sometimes referred to as the “silent killer” because women don’t always realize they have cancer until it has spread. Due to this, it has a high mortality rate.

A2 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAOHEALTH

Pediatricians say kids need recess during school

Ovarian cancer facts

JUST how much Jodie Foster thought about her much talked-about speech at the Gold-en Globes is not known exactly, but it wasn’t off-the-cuff. She kept to her script. “It didn’t take me too long to write,” she told me on the Globes red carpet

before any of us knew what she was about to do upon receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award. “But there was a lot of whittling down,” she added. “I had to do a lot of whittling down.” Considering the Oscar winner’s remarks clocked in at six minutes and 47 seconds, we could only imagine how long the

original draft would have taken to read. Interestingly enough, Foster said the most fun she’s ever had at the Globes was in 1996 when she presented her good pal Mel Gibson with the Best Director award for Braveheart. “It wasn’t about me,” she said. “It was all about him. It was totally fun.”

Jodie Foster’s Golden Globes Speech: “It Didn’t Take Me Too Long to Write”

WELL, if anyone can get it outta you, it’s Oprah Winfrey. After the highly antici-pated sit-down interview with Lance Armstrong today (which will air on OWN this Thursday), someone close to the situation spilled that the former athlete confessed to Oprah that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France, according to Fox News. Gasp! The exchange between Armstrong and Winfrey was “emotional at times,” according to a source, and it followed an apology to the staff at the Livestrong Foundation that left some of them in tears. According Rae Bazzarre, Director of Communica-tions and External Affairs at Livestrong, Armstrong

“offered a sincere and heartfelt apology for the stress [the Livestrong staff has] endured because of him and urged them to keep up their great work fighting for people affect-ed by cancer.” Meanwhile, Oprah tweeted, “Just wrapped with @lancearm-strong More than 2 1/2 hours . He came READY!” Ready and willing. Arm-strong reportedly said, “I

told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I’ll answer the questions directly, honestly and can-didly. That’s all I can say.” And this interview was so important, that there’s going to be an interview about the interview. (Yeah, it takes a second to understand.) CBS says Winfrey will be on CBS This Morning tomorrow to discuss her sit-down with the cyclist.

LET’S go back, back to the beginning. Sure, that might be a lyr-ic from a Hilary Duff song, but it’s also the premise of The CW’s Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, which premiered tonight and introduced viewers to a 16-year-old Carrie Brad-shaw, (with AnnaSophia Robb seamlessly stepping into Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic Manolos). It’s 1984, Carrie is just a young high school stu-dent dealing with the loss of her mother, a bratty younger sister, first love (No Mr. Big here) and ex-periencing the magic of New York City for the first time. Now that the series has finally debuted, we’re curious to hear what you thought of Carrie’s origin story. Gone are Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, Carrie’s BFFs in the origi-nal series. Don’t worry, SATC fans, you won’t miss ‘em after meeting young

Carrie’s group of mis-fit friends: Mouse (Ellen Wong), Maggie (The Kill-ing’s Katie Findlay) and Maggie’s BF Walt (Brendan Dooling), whose coming out story we can’t wait to see unfold. Replacing Mr. Big as the guy in Carrie’s

life is Sebastian (Austin Butler from Life Unexpect-ed), whose basically the non-jerk version of James Spader in Pretty in Pink. Seeing as we were huge SATC fans prior to watch-ing The Carrie Diaries, we were almost surprised by how much we adored the pilot. Of course it helps that the author Candace Bushnell is serving as an executive producer, but we can’t stress enough how impressed we were with Robb’s performance. She perfectly captures Parker’s spirit (and certain mannerisms!) without ever crossing the line into impersonation territory; she is simply Carrie Brad-shaw. Plus, we loved the subtle nods to the origi-nal series, including the shot of Carrie writing in her diary from her win-dow. There’s a lot of heart and sincerity to the series that can appeal to all ages. And who doesn’t love ‘80s fashion?!

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Lance Armstrong admits doping to Oprah Winfrey

The Carrie Diaries: Save it or sink it

A4 INdulge! VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013EDGEDAVAOWOMEN

ture, and started collabo-rating with her friends for fashion shoots. She then worked together with the creative team of leadFoto Studios and fellow makeup artist Mae Ann Cortez, through whom she has built a strong client base throughout the city. realizing that this was the career she wanted to pursue, Tiny decided to enroll in a beauty academy in Manila, where she stud-ied hair and makeup un-der the tutelage of world-renowned instructors. Tiny’s approach to hair and makeup is “less is more” especially with brides and bridesmaids. She pays close attention to her client’s personality and best features. She also loves to explore her creativity, break the rules, and just play with colors. Being a makeup artist is not just a career choice to Tiny. It is also a hobby and a passion which she has remained dedicated to from the moment she set her foot in the beauty in-dustry. Her creative talents go beyond make-up as she has exhibits her skills in hair styling for high pro-file commercial and bridal shoots. “I find excitement and satisfaction in meeting and developing strong bonds with all the clients I work with.” To date, her portfolio of work features her skills and standards beyond doubt. She has just recently part-nered with friends Deeno Jeong and Clarice Samson-lu in planning out her goal of opening a beauty acad-emy. For details and inquiries on hair and makeup servic-es, please check Tiny’s web-site at www.beauteeny.com. You may also email her at tinypinili@beauteeny.com or call 09177023205.

FFROM A1

Manquilleuse...

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2013 SPORTS 15EDGEDAVAO

Day Two at Melbourne Park on Tuesday brought another day of perfect weather but a few anx-ious moments for Williams, who fell awkwardly on her right an-kle in her 6-0, 6-0 win over No. 110-ranked Edina Gallovits-hall.

Williams had the ankle heavi-ly taped by trainers and was able to continue and still dominate the Romanian player. Later, she said she hoped to continue play-ing - she’ll have a scheduled day off Wednesday, returning Thurs-day to play her second-round match - and maintain her quest of winning her third Grand Slam tournament in a row and sixth Australian Open.

‘’I think I was really, really close to panicking because a very similar thing happened to me last year, almost on the same side, the same shot,’’ Williams said. ‘’I just had to really remain calm and think things through.’’

She left little doubt she’ll be back to play her second-round match Thursday against Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who needed a 14-12 win in the deciding set to clinch her first-round match Tuesday against Magdalena Ry-barikova of Slovakia.

‘’Oh, I’ll be out there,’’ Wil-liams said of her second-round match. ‘’I’m alive. My heart’s beating. I’ll be fine.’’

Azarenka trailed 3-0 in the second set of her match with Monica Niculescu before leveling the set at 4-4 and winning 6-1, 6-4.

‘’I started well but I struggled a little in the second set,’’ Azaren-ka said.

Told that her biggest threat on her half of the draw had injured her ankle, Azarenka wondered, tongue-in-cheek, how serious Williams’ ailment could be: ‘’I heard she won love and love, so what kind of injury are we talking about?’’

Murray, playing with more confidence since his U.S. Open win in the final over Novak Djokovic that ended a 76-year drought for British men in ma-jors, beat Robin haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. The second-seeded Feder-er defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Murray needed just 1 hour, 37 minutes, and Fed-erer 1:23 in their first-round matches. They’ll need to conserve their energy for a potential semi-final against each other to deter-mine a final against top-seeded and defending champion Djokov-ic, assuming all three men are still around on the final weekend.

Before a ball was hit Tues-day, players and officials were shocked to hear of the serious illness and pending resignation of ATP World Tour executive chairman and presi-dent Brad Drewett. The ATP said in a statement Tuesday that Drewett, a former player, has mo-tor neurone disease, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, but will continue in his role on an interim basis until a successor is found ‘’in the near future.’’

Drewett has held

the top ATP posi-

tion since Jan. 1 last year. The 5 4 - y e a r - o l d

Australian was a top 40 singles and

top 20 doubles play-er before he retired as

a player in 1990.Federer, president of

the ATP Player Council, said the news was difficult

for the tour and its players.‘’I saw him yesterday and

he told me the news,’’ Fed-erer said. ‘’Obviously very

emotional ...’’Murray said it was ‘’shock-

ing news.’’‘’he’s definitely had an im-

pact in the time he’s been work-ing there,’’ Murray said. “It’s a big shame.’’

It was Murray’s first Grand Slam match as a major champion.

‘’It didn’t feel much different to me,’’ he said. ‘’I was still ner-vous before I went on to play the match.

‘’The benefits of that is if I get myself deep into a Slam this year and you’re playing against the top players - that’s when you’ll draw on that experience and use it in the right way.’’

It’s been 12 months since Murray started working

with eight-time major w i n -

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Big names roll• Serena survives injury• Federer, Murray in straight sets win

Serena Williams of the US lies on the court after falling during her first round match against Romania’s Edina Gallovits-Hall at the Australian Open.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 15: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France celebrates after winning his first round match against Michael Llodra of France during day two of the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

ner Ivan Lendl, and he attributes much of the suc-cess in his breakthrough 2012 to his partnership with his new coach.

It’s relaxed ‘’in front of the cameras,’’ Murray joked. ‘’Behind closed doors he works me very hard ... he tells you exactly how it is and that’s exactly

what I needed.’’In other men’s matches, No. 6 Juan Martin del

Potro, 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 13 Milos Raonic of Canada, who beat Jan hajek 3-6,

6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (0), No. 14 Gilles Simon, No. 17 . Philipp Kohlschreiber, No. 21 Andreas Seppi

and No. 25 Florian Mayer advanced.Williams sounded almost matter-of-

fact about her ankle ailment and its potential to affect her play in the rest of a Grand Slam she has won

five times.‘’I’ve played this

tournament with so many injuries and

w a s able to come off pretty on top,’’ she said. ‘’So for me, it’s just another page and a g r e a t story to tell the grandkids o n e day.’’

Williams is favored to win the season’s first major, coming into Melbourne with 35 wins in her previ-ous 36 matches, including titles at Wim-bledon, the London Olympics and the U.S. Open.

In other women’s matches, former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki won the last six games to beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to advance along with No. 16 Roberta Vinci, No. 17 Lucie Sa-farova and No. 29 Sloane Stephens, the American teenager who beat Simona halep of Romania 6-1, 6-1.

Former U.S. Open and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her comeback from a knee injury that kept her out of the U.S. Open, end-ing her run of 40 consecutive majors. Also, No. 14 Maria Kirilenko had a 6-4, 6-2 win over American Vania King, and China’s Peng Shuai beat Canada’s Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-0.

And 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan upset No. 12-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-2, 6-0 to become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the Australian Open.

While Serena Wil-liams will have t h e day off to rest h e r weary an- k l e

Wednesday - along with Murray and

Federer - Djokovic returns to play his second-round match

against American Ryan harrison. Second-seeded Maria Sharapova takes

on Misaki Doi of Japan and Venus Williams plays Alize Cornet, with a third-round match-

up created if French Open champion Sharapova and Venus Williams win their matches.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Serena Wil-liams frightened a few people, including her-self. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka

had a momentary lack of concentration. Two of the big-gest names on the men’s side at the Australian Open - Roger Federer and Andy Murray - had straight-set wins.

VOL.5 ISSUE 225 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 201316 EDGEDAVAOSPORTS

FILIPINO SENSA-TION Charly Su-arez, fighting for

the Milan-based Italia Thunder, scored his second victory in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) at the Mediola-num Stadium in Milan Saturday.

The Panabo City na-tive Suarez was ranged against Asian champi-on Anvar Yunusov, a Tajik who carried the colors of the United States (USA Knock-outs) in the competi-tion organized by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). The tournament is on its third season. Last year, Suarez fought for India’s Mumbai Fight-ers (the team is cur-rently on leave).

The fight was the most fiercely fought in the 5-fight card, with the Filipino trailing going into the fourth round. however, the Davao native, buoyed by the lusty cheers of about 500 Filipinos in the audience who came out to support him,

won the late exchang-es. The fight was so close that 2 of the judg-es scored it a draw.

Suarez was jubi-lant after the victory, especially because un-known to anyone, he was nursing a shoul-der injury prior to the fight. “I had to suck it up because so many Filipinos had bought tickets in advance. I didn’t want to disap-point them.”

he thanked the offi-cials of Amateur Boxing Association of the Phil-ippines (ABAP) led by chairman Manny Pan-gilinan and president Ricky Vargas for giving him the opportunity to fight in the interna-tional league which has a 5-round format sans head guards and sin-glets.

In an email to ABAP executive director Ed Picson, Suarez said he was going to undergo laser treatment for the injury before he goes up the ring again in March, possibly in the United States. (PNA)

Davao pug wins in boxing World Series

Daria Gavrilova of Russia plays a backhand in her first round match against Lauren Davis of the United States during day two of the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. More Australian Open stories on page 15. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)