Davao sends 60 emergency personnel, P8M to Leyte

photo courtesy of Pil Yong Gogo

Davao City is set to provide a total of P8 million cash assistance and send more than 60 disaster personnel to assist the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the province of Leyte.

Duterte officially sent off Team A consisting of 50 people to Leyte at 12 midnight Saturday. A convoy headed by Central 911 officer-in-charge Emmanuel Jaldon left Davao midnight and will travel by land to Leyte.

“Naghangyo lang ko sa mga rebelde na ayaw hilabti ang convoy kay para man ni sa mga nanginahanglan sa Leyte (I am begging the New People’s Army rebels not to harm the convoy since they were sent to assist the victims in Leyte),” Duterte said.

Team B which will be headed by Duterte will be leaving for Leyte today (Monday). Duterte said the city will give P2 million to Tacloban, P3 million to Southern Leyte and P3 million to the province of Leyte.

Jaldon said Central 911 has been on standby even before the landfall of Typhoon Yolanda to assist those who will suffer the brunt of the typhoon in the city,. However, he added, we are ready to provide assistance to other areas as per approval by the Mayor.

photo courtesy of GMA's Una Ka Bai!

“Ang Central 911 equipment dili lang kini para sa mga taga Davao; para pud kini sa laing manginahanglan (Central 911 equipment is not only for Davao but also for others who might need it),” Duterte said.

Team A consists of rescue and retrieval operations, medical, engineering, police and military personnel. Some people from The City Social Services Development Office (CSSDO) also joined the team.

Among the Central 911 equipment ready for dispatch anytime according to Jaldon are six rubber boats with a capacity of seven people, two rigid hulls made of fibreboard with a capacity of 10 to 12 people and one kayak with a capacity of two to three people which is being used for immediate rescue needs.

Peaceful Elections in Davao

“Peaceful.”

This was the description made by Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Chief Sr. Supt. Vicente Danao, Jr. said after the polls closed at 3 P.M. yesterday. The same description was echoed by Chief. Supt. Wency T. Pascual, Philippine National Police (PNP) XI Regional Director even as he made his rounds early this morning of the different polling places in the city as well as in Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.

“The election was fundamentally peaceful,” Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said after casting his vote at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School at 2 P.M. yesterday.

He said he is happy with the peace and order during the conduct of the election in the city and hopes it will continue even during and after the counting of the ballots.

While he could not say how many candidates he has supported during the barangay elections, he said he has a supporter in every barangay. “Mga 90% halos lahat sila personal choice ko,” he added.

“Si Angging (referring to former councilor Angela Librado Trinidad who was one of those seeking a barangay captain seat during yesterday’s election) personal choice ko yan,:” he said. I am a resident of this barangay so I have a right to my personal choice but I am not bringing the party into this, he added.

Pascual was concerned about the peace and order in some Areas of Concern (AoC) in the city specifically Barangay 23-C. However, Danao said even this barangay had a peaceful and normal election.

Dela Rosa a hard act to follow

Even fellow police officers are in agreement that the shoes that will be left behind by Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Chief Sr. Supt. Ronald dela Rosa are too big to fill.

Dela Rosa officially handed the baton over to Sr. Supt. Vicente Danao Jr., chief of the Regional Logistics and Research Development Division in Davao Region yesterday. The former DCPO chief was directed as early as last week to report to the Camp Crame where he takes on the position of Chief of Staff of the Intelligence Group. However, he had to come back to the city for the official turn over ceremony Friday as this is the only time when Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte is available this week.

“Mahirap mapantayan ang nasimulan ni dela Rosa (it is hard to live up to what dela Rosa has started) but I believe and I have faith in Sr. Supt. Danao that he will be up for the job,” PNP XI Regional Director Police Chief Supt. Wency T. Pascual said.

Dela Rosa was appointed DCPO Chief in February 2011 and was asked by Duterte to again extend his stay. However, dela Rosa said he is not getting younger and wants to accomplish more things before he comes back to Davao PNP hopefully as its Regional Director.

“My biggest accomplishment would be the reduction of drug activities in the city,” dela Rosaid. However, he is also frustrated that he was not able to accomplish a drug-free Davao before leaving the city. “Maybe I am too ambitous,” he added.

Dela Rosa challenged Danao to continue implementing “Oplan Tokhang” or Operation Tuktok where he personally visits the home of suspected drug dealers and convince them to stop their illegal activities. Otherwise, he said, “mugara na pud ni sila ug mubalik ang droga diri.”

His advice to Danao: “love your people, subordinates, your community and your work and everything will fall into place.”

877 police officers officially sent off for election duties in Davao Region

A total of 877 police officers from the Philippine National Police Regional Office were officially sent off last October 24 for their election duties in the different provinces of the region.  

“I am convinced you are mentally and physically fit to do your job and keep this barangay election safe, credible and peaceful,”PNP XI Regional Director Police Chief Supt. Wency T. Pascual said.

Out of the total, 102 will be deployed to Davao Oriental, 145 to Compostela Valley, 124 to Davao del Norte, 239 to Davao City, 75 to Davao del Sur and 166 to Regional headquarters.

“You are faced with a big challenge as you are expected to perform your task with utmost competence and dedication,” he said.

Pascual reminded the deployed police officers to “be apolitical, walang kinikilingan na kandidato” so that they can ensure an honest, peaceful and credible election on October 28, 2013

Davao Knights to send bulad to Bohol

The Knights of Columbus in Davao City is set to send an initial aid in the form of 1,500 packs of Bangsi bulad to those affected by the earthquake in Bohol.

“This is our respond to the call of Archbishop Romulo Valles to help the people of Bohol,” Knights of Columbus Davao Regional Deputy Jerry Mission said.

Mission said all the Knights in Davao contributed to immediately purchase an estimated 350 kilos of bulad worth P30 to P50 thousand since there is an immediate need to send aid to Bohol.

He said they were advised by Archbishop Valles that five military trucks will travel by land from Davao to Bohol to deliver the various donations and aid to the quake victims. “We will entrust our aid to the Archbishop so bahala na sila kung paano ang distribution doon,” he added.

This is only an initial aid, he said, since all councils of the Knights of Columbus in Mindanao have been requested to turn over their cash donation by October 28, 2013.

“We hope this will encourage other individuals and groups to join the move to help the earthquake victims,” he said.

Knights of Columbus Samal District Deputy Boy Sarmiento said they were informed that “sobra na ang canned goods, noodles and rice donations to Bohol so we decided to give bulad instead.”

When informed about the reputation of the Visayas provinces as some of the best sources of bulad, Sarmiento said “for sure hurot na ang bulad didto karon so this is ideal for them since pwede sya isubak, isugba ug dili basta madaot.”

4 "The Voice" Philippines Finalists rock shoppers during SM City Davao's 3-day SALE

Four very talented finalists from "The Voice of the Philippines" namely Thor, Eva, Radha and Kim rocked the SM City Annex during the first day of the Mall's 3-day sale scheduled from October 18 to 20, 2013.

Both Kim Mainit and Eva are from Bohol and they expressed their interest in performing for the benefit of the earthquake victims in Bohol and Cebu. Eva may be one of the oldest in the group but she is definitely one of the most charming and talented as shown by the reaction of the crowd when she started belting out her Whitney Houston songs.

"It feels so cool being with the team and then watching talents as young as Kim (who is 17 years old) and established ones like Radha and Thor and I am there just looking on," says Eva who admitted that her family comes first but since the demand for her talent is hot thanks to The Voice of the Philippines, then wants to strike while the iron is hot. She said it was her husband who convinced her to join the Blind Auditions.

Kim showed members of the media and the bloggers group during the press conference why she was chosen by Coach Leah. She admitted that as Radha has advised her, she is now going deeper into her music, knowing the origins of the songs that influenced her idols.




The audience went wild when Thor, who hails from Panabo City, wowed the crowd with "Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin" and Stevie Wonder's "Lately".  A former student of the Ateneo de Davao University, Thor said he has been staying in Manila for years and it is good to be back home.

Thor and Eva may not have made it to the Top 4 but with their obvious talent and charisma, they will definitely be on stage, television and the radios for a long time.

Dabawenyos who want to do their early Christmas shopping can still catch SM City Davao's 3-Day Sale today and tomorrow. If you stay a little longer, then you also get the chance to see Eric Santos at 6:30 PM tonight during his mini concert at the Annex.

RXI’s short docu wins 2nd prize in BFAR Nat’l competition

Lakbay Dagat, a short documentary created by Jay-Ar M. Aringo and his team from the University of Mindanao, got the second place in the Bureau of Fisheries and Natural Resources (BFAR)XI MuSEA, SEAnema, Likhang Kabataan Para sa Yamang-Pangisdaan MTV and Short Documentary Contest.

Two entries from the region made it to the national finals including Agos by Lanika Frances B. Villamor of the Holy Cross of Davao College. The top spot went to Region 6 for its entry “Lapus-Lapus” while third place went to Region 4-A for its entry “Tikin: Sa Akong Paglingap”.

“This only shows that the region’s youth sector is very talented; they are a very strong force when it comes to informing the people about our fish conservation efforts,’ BFAR XI Regional Director Fatma Idris said yesterday immediately after being informed of the result.

Three winners were chosen from the region, two of which made it to the national finals. The entries of the ten national finalists were uploaded to BFAR’s Facebook page(www.facebook.com/BFARFishCon) for Online Voting. The Facebook Likes constituted 20% of the total score while 80% came from the scores given by the panel of judges.

Aringo and his teacher received his P20,000 cash prize during the awarding ceremonies in Manila on Friday, October 18. All the expenses of the winner going to Manila was sponsored by BFAR XI.