Recently Off The Press:Davao Gets Favorable Publicity in China :)

The first favorable publicity on the Philippines in China in recent months (per our DOT-Beijing), Comfort Magazine featured "Davao: A Wonderful Experience in Philippines" in its August 2012 Issue. Upon the invitation of DOT-Beijing, we received the Comfort Magazine crew in time for the 2nd International Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge. We feted them to an islands to highlands experience during their brief trip. Our Beijing office estimates a media value of RMB1.08M or US$180,000 or Php7.7M :) Madayaw!

Duterte: I am not qualified to head DILG

Davao Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte speaks on rumors he is eyed to replace the late Sec. Jesse Robredo.

DAVAO CITY -- Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte downplayed reports that he is on the shortlist of candidates to replace the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.

Robredo perished in a plane accident last week. Two of the pilots were also killed, while Robredo’s security aid survived.

In an interview after Friday's mass wedding at Plaza 9 gymnasium in NHA Subdivision, Ma-a, Duterte said he is not qualified for the position that Robredo left.

"This is my personal assessment," he said.

Together with Duterte in the shortlist is Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez, who is a member of the Liberal Party.

Duterte admitted that he also declined an offer by President Benigno Aquino III even before the late Robredo took the helm of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) post two years ago.

Even during the time of former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the DILG post has been offered to Duterte.

DILG'S functions range from supervision over local units, forest conservation, public instructions, control and supervision over the police, counterinsurgency, rehabilitation, community development and cooperative development programs.

Reports said in the shortlist are Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Panfilo Lacson, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, two Luzon governors and one Manila mayor.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ramon Carandang, however, refused anew to discuss the possible replacement for Robredo in DILG.

"It's not the right time. Hindi muna ako magko-comment dyan. Hintayin muna nating matapos itong prosesong ito (I won't comment on that. Let's wait for this process to finish). And then we can start talking about things like that," he said. 

Food safety ordinance to boost city's tourism

THE proposed ordinance on food safety, which regulates selling of street food in Davao City, does not only help vendors, but also impacts the city's tourism, a councilor said.

In Thursday's launch of the Davao Food Safety Team (DFST), Councilor Bernard Al-ag, author of the proposed Food Safety Ordinance, said regulating street food sold in the city will bring assurance to the public that the food served to them is safe.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2012/08/26/food-safety-ordinance-boost-citys-tourism-239493

Duterte confident that new Chief Justice can bring reforms

DAVAO CITY Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte expressed on Sunday his support to newly-appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, saying he believes the first woman chief justice has the capability to attend to her duties well given her outstanding credentials.

The new chief justice is married to Mario Jose Sereno of the Porras-Aledia-Sereno clan of Davao City.

Duterte makes pitch for RH bill during mass wedding of 51 couples

Long before the raging debate over the RH Bill, Duterte said Davao City has been implementing its own version.

“The Church has a different stand but as government officials, we can easily see the situation,” Duterte said.

“The priests are just taking the debate personally, but when people no longer have anything to eat, they turn to public officials for help,” he said.

Read More: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/258236/duterte-makes-pitch-for-rh-bill-during-mass-wedding-of-51-couples

Davao City Vice Mayor Rody Duterte: I'm not qualified to head DILG

DAVAO CITY -- Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte downplayed reports that he is on the shortlist of candidates to replace the late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.

In an interview after Friday's mass wedding at Plaza 9 gymnasium in NHA Subdivision, Ma-a, Duterte said he is not qualified for the position that Robredo left.

"This is my personal assessment," he said.

Together with Duterte in the shortlist is Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez, who is a member of the Liberal Party.

Duterte admitted that he also declined an offer by President Benigno Aquino III even before the late Robredo took the helm of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) post two years ago.

Even during the time of former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the DILG post has been offered to Duterte.

Davao City turns green

DAVAO CITY — About 90 percent of the 29,000 business establishments in this city are now complying with the provisions of the city's Ecological and Solid Waste Management Ordinance on the ban on the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags (with handle) and styro foams.


City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) chief Lawyer Joseph Dominic Felizarta said almost all business establishments in the city are already aware of the plastic ban.


He also said businesses that are using plastic in their daily operations, especially those types of plastics that are explicitly included in the prohibited types, need not to spend much since there are at least 10 local manufacturers of biodegradable plastic in Davao City.


Meanwhile, Felizarta said as of Thursday, CENRO arrested 450 erring businesses violating the plastic ban. “We are already assessing if we can file appropriate cases against these violators. Most of them are in the food vendors in various public markets,” he said.(PNA)

Davao City to hold 2nd investment conference

Investment opportunities on Davao City’s tourism, food and agribusiness, realty and property development, energy and mining, and information communication technology (ICT) sectors will be

highlighted during the Second Davao Investment Conference slated on November, Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said recently.

In an interview, Cruz said that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was tapped by the city government of Davao and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce to participate in the conference geared at bolstering the entry of investments there.

“What we [DTI] can do to participate is featuring different investment opportunities, which will be based on 32 industry priorities we are pushing as of the moment together with other agencies and the private sector,” she said.

According to the official website of Davao Investment Conference 2012, experts from various sectors will give a talk during the two-day conference with the theme “Invest in Davao: Life is Here.” 

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. will give a forecast on the tourism industry in the Davao Region, which is among the nine priority clusters for investment and development under the National Tourism Development Plan. 

Philippine Airlines President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Ang, meanwhile, will discuss air connectivity and expansion in the region. With the partnership between the Clark International Airport and the F. Bangoy International Airport in Davao City, the Davao region is also eyed to be the next hub for air connectivity.

The conference is expected to open up opportunities to key investors and will be conducted from November 16 to 17 at the SMX Convention Center in SM Lanang, Davao City.

Magnolia’s Davao mangosteen ice cream to hit streets soon

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 25 August)—Ice cream maker Magnolia Inc. will introduce to the local market next month its mangosteen flavored ice cream with tubs that bear the city’s official tourism slogan “Life is Here.”


“It will definitely compliment our efforts to promote Davao,” said Jason C. Magnaye, city tourism officer.
He said the company and the city government will forge an agreement to allow the firm to feature not only the city’s official tourism slogan but also its other tourist attractions. It will showcase the images of the mangosteen plantations in Davao and other slogans of the city like “Our King Can Fly.”
Davao’s mangosteen is among the flavors featured on Magnolia’s limited edition 1.5-liter ice cream tubs dubbed “Best of the Philippines Collection.” The firm has chosen the city because of its thriving mangosteen industry.


The city council already approved on August 9 a resolution authorizing Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to sign the memorandum of agreement with Magnolia.


The draft MoA stated that it is part of the ice cream firm’s quest “to bring the best of the Philippines to the Filipino table.”
“Magnolia desires to support the mangosteen industry of Davao by showcasing the famous Davao mangosteen in new Magnolia ice cream flavors to be launched in the second semester of 2012,” the proposed agreement said.


The company shall conduct free ice cream sampling in any of the city’s festivals until next year, it added. 

Foreign buyers to join first nationwide cacao conference

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 25 August)—Foreign buyers will join the first nationwide conference and exhibition of the country’s cacao industry dubbed KakaoKonek on November 21-23 here, conference director Lizabel Holganza said.


The foreign buyers would come from the United States, Netherlands, China, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, Turkey and Belgium, she said.


At the conference, the biggest food manufacturers locally and abroad will connect and create a network with different organizations, as major chocolate companies are aiming the Philippines to be a major supplier of cacao beans, Holganza said.
Some 300 participants, including farmers, industry experts, nursery operators, plant breeders, traders, manufacturers, and service suppliers, are expected to attend the event.


The convenors of KakaoKonek are the Cocoa Industry Development Association in Mindanao, Inc. (Cidami), Agricultural Cooperative Development International, and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance under its Sustainable Food and Income from Cacao, Coconut and Palay (Cocopal) program.
Emmanuel Quisol, agriculture enterprise development coordinator of Cocopal, said this pioneering event is in line with the industry’s challenge to supply 100,000 metric tons of cacao beans to the world market by 2020.


He said the country’s annual cacao production reached only 6,000 MT, of which 60 percent are exported mainly to the USA and the Netherlands.


The country has an annual supply deficit of 29,000 MT and we are importing cacao beans from Africa and Indonesia, the world’s largest cacao producers at 600,000 MT yearly, to fill the gap, Quisol said.


Alfredo Corpuz, vice president of Cidami, an organization of cocoa value chain players, said Mindanao produces 90 percent of the total cocoa production in the country, with Davao City and Davao del Sur among the biggest producers.
Cocoa is the processed product of cacao beans.


He said about 7,000 hectares of coconut trees are now being utilized for the inter-planting of cacao, adding that it will not eventually replace subsistence farming such as rice, corn and vegetables.


Corpuz, one of the biggest cacao nursery operators here, said cacao is an ideal crop for small farm holders and multi-cropping because it grows under the shades of other trees.


“That is why we encourage farmers to practice inter-cropping of cacao because it can augment their income,” he said.
Corpuz stressed that a properly planted cacao tree can yield at least two kilos of dried beans, which cost P100 per kilo in the local market.  (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro/MindaNews)

DAVAO CITY—High-ranking Filipino and Chinese military officers shared seats on a bus here and sang together “Scarborough Fair” as they toured the city on Thursday afternoon.

DAVAO CITY—High-ranking Filipino and Chinese military officers shared seats on a bus here and sang together “Scarborough Fair” as they toured the city on Thursday afternoon.

“We call this military diplomacy,” said Maj. Gen. Francisco Cruz Jr., deputy chief of staff for intelligence (J2) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The tour of the city was part of bonding between Cruz, Senior Col. Wang Jinbo and Maj. Li Yan of China, and eight other high-ranking military officers from the United States and Japan who belonged to the Foreign Armed Forces Attaché Corps (Fafa).

Cruz said that although tensions between the Philippines and China over the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea remained, he and his Chinese counterparts did not let the territorial dispute get in the way of their fellowship.

“We’re even joking about it,” Cruz said.

Sing-along

Then he and the other officers, including Fafa dean Col. Yuki Masuzaki of Japan and Col. Richard Matton of the United States, asked the Chinese if they knew the Simon and Gargunkel song “Scarborough Fair.”

(Editor’s Note: The superduo Simon and Garfunkel popularized the song in the 1970s.)

“We asked the Chinese to sing along with ‘Scarborough Fair,’” Cruz said. “We taught them how to sing it.”

Turning serious, Cruz said the Panatag Shoal dispute was a “legal debate” and not “a military issue,” that’s why officers from both sides easily shook off the tension it caused between the Philippines and China.

Diplomats talking

Cruz said the tension in the West Philippine Sea was easing because “the diplomats are talking.”

“The Scarborough issue lies quiet right now. There are signs that the situation is improving,” Cruz said.

“If the generals of different countries have harmonious relationship, there will be no war,” he added.

The 11 Fafa members took in the tourist destinations here and on nearby Samal Island, where they visited the Pearl Farm.

They also visited the prayer mountain of televangelist Apolonio Quiboloy in Barangay Tamayong here.

At the prayer mountain, Cruz said, they were treated to choir music, good food, and a tour of the 12-hectare compound.

Military diplomacy

He said the tour was part of the “military diplomacy” that defense attachés from different countries do twice a year to increase friendship and camaraderie among the militaries of the world.

“Last year, we were in Cebu,” he said. “Scarborough or no Scarborough, the activity continues,” he added.

2 Minda execs eyed to replace Robredo

TWO local government officials in Mindanao are among those being eyed by the Aquino administration as next secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has always been at the radar of the past and present administrations for the post for his tough stance against criminalities. Duterte has declined offers for a national position though since the time of former President Fidel Ramos.

The second Mindanaoan eyed for the post is Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez who is a member of the Liberal Party. Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao also endorsed Dominguez for the post.

City Council rushes approval of P458.4-M supplemental budget Share On Facebook Share On Myspace Share On Stumbleupon Share On Digg Share On Email Share On Print | Share On Facebook_likeMore | By Jereco O. Paloma

THE Davao City Council approved on third and final reading on Friday the city's first supplemental budget (SB1) for 2012 amounting to P458.4 million.


THE Davao City Council approved on third and final reading on Friday the city's first supplemental budget (SB1) for 2012 amounting to P458.4 million.

Councilor Myrna L'Dalodo Ortiz, chair of the City Council committee on finance, ways and means, and appropriation, in an interview at the plenary hall on Friday, said the approval of SB1 was rushed because the city has to pay its loan with the Land Bank of The Philippines (LBP) to avoid incurring penalties.

The SB1, which totaled to P458,432,205.42, passed the council's second reading during its regular session on Thursday.

This year's SB1 is P87.1 million lower than last year's SB1 of P545,556,140.

"Kailangan nato ni mabayaran atong utang sa Land Bank para dili ta madak-an sa penalty (We have to pay our debts with the LBP to avoid incurring penalties on our part)," Ortiz said.

At least half of this year's SB1 was sourced from reversion of current and prior appropriations amounting to P231,540,675.98; 47 percent from unappropriated surplus from the previous years that totaled to P217,313,412.51; P6,879,116.93 from new revenues; and roughly P2.7 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

In terms of appropriation for this year's SB1, most of the fund was placed under general fund proper totaling to P236,668,436.70 representing 52 percent of the entire SB1; P213,162,139.13 under Development Fund or 46 percent; and P8,601,629.59 translating to 2 percent.

Under the general fund proper, a large chunk was appropriated to the City Mayor's Office (CMO) in the amount of P217,952,619.91 translating to P92.1 percent of the total amount of SB1.

Of the amount, 38 percent or P84,410,694.63 is allocated for peace and order program of the city or almost a million higher than the P82,410,694.63 budget appropriation for the city's Lingap program.

"Among the appropriations to be funded under the peace and order program is the procurement of vehicles for Task Force Davao and for various barangays in their peace and order campaign," Ortiz said.

Philippine Information Agency | Davao City's Black Taxis sport tourism logos

DAVAO CITY, Aug 24 -- Davao City’s unique Black Taxi fleet have began sporting tourism pictures showing the different attractions of the region. 

The picture stickers pasted in the front doors of the taxi sedans is patterned after London Black Taxis, which sported "It's More Fun in The Philippines" logos. However, according to Pierre Ryan Tan, manager of the Black Taxi fleet, they have taken a step further by adding pictures instead of just logos. 

Among the photos are the Philippine Eagle, Mt. Apo, durian, spelunking, Aliwagwag Falls, Kadayawan Festival, Monfort cave bats, Digos bibingka makers, among many other regional tourism spots and icons. 

Tan said that the photos pasted were in partnership with Department of Tourism (DOT)-11 under Regional Director Art Boncato. 

Aside from promoting tourism, the photos also puts an assurance to passengers with its government partnership. 

“The fact that we have a partnership means that our taxis are up to standards,” Tan said during the launch last August 18. 

The Black Taxi line, the newest addition under the Mabuhay Taxi Company started by Pierre Ryan Tan and his sister 19 years ago, is reputably one of the country’s most sophisticated taxi units. It boasts of point-of-sales remote terminals that allows debit and ATM card cashless transactions, and are equipped with global positioning system terminals for tracking and efficient dispatch. 

Tan said the taxis combine elegance, class and passenger comfort and convenience and has been a hit with the taxi riding public and an internet viral sensation at the same time. 

The Black Taxi tourism taxi launch was held at the Matina Town Square (MTS) and was graced by DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez. The Secretary took a short ride in a Black Taxi unit and was briefed with the taxicab's unique features. 

Aside from the Black Taxis, a homegrown coffee shop, the Blue Gre café, also launched its "It’s More Fun in the Philippine" cups. Budget airline Seair also had the tourism slogan emblazoned on its fuselage. 

“These people (owners of Black Taxi, Seair, Blugre) represents those which treats tourism as an industry and not just a hobby or activity,” Jimenez said during the launching’s press conference at Blue Gre café in MTS. 

The tourism secretary said that these are exciting times for Philippine tourism. He added that they are hopeful of meeting the 4.16 million tourism arrival target for 2012. (PIA/RG Alama)