Goodbye E.O. Fuentes

I would have said move on Sir E.O. because I know he wanted his death to be poetic and not melancholy. He was known among the circle of Davao writers as simply E.O. He was my mentor and later on became my friend and confidante.

I had the chance to work with Sir E.O. when I was taken in by Publisher/Writer Willie Rola to edit his business magazine "Dimensions". I was still in college then but he believed in me and trusted me with running the editorial content of his magazine but of course, with the help of our editorial consultant E.O. Fuentes.

He was already an old man then but he was very vibrant and full of life. And he was very unselfish, taking it upon him to mentor me. He always considered me his protege and taught me a lot of things about feature writing. It was my first stint in professional writing (unless you count the once in a blue moon writing experiences I had with then Peryodiko Dabaw and another magazine owned by an advertising man).

I was placed in the company of "wolves", so to speak as they were all experienced writers around me--Sir E.O. and Willie Rola. Thus, I had no choice but to learn and to make the best of whatever writing talent I had.

One of the first criticisms, er---lessons Sir E.O taught me was to make sure that my features ended smoothly. "Do not let your article end abruptly," he would coach me. But no matter how I tried, he kept on pestering me for hours no end that I should make sure my ending was beautiful and that it will always be remembered by my readers.

My experience with Dimensions Magazine was all worth the pain of having to wake up early to cover the Geothermal Plant in Mt. Apo and to stay up late to make sure those articles were written following Sir E.O.'s guidelines. I cannot anymore remember the hundreds of feature stories I wrote for Dimensions, most of them passed the Eagle's eye of Sir. E.O. after several rewrites.

We parted ways since I was taken in by another mentor, Ms. Marietta Siongco of Mindanao Daily Mirror to take care of Mirror's business news. Business news was a never-heard genre then since what was popular in the Davao media was political news. But Sir. E.O. was never far behind and he would always beep me (ha!ha! no SMS messages then) or all me up at Mirror so we an have lunch or just a light snack.

I have always looked forward to those "dates" then since Sir. E.O. always treated me and still critiqued even my news articles. He encouraged me to do more business features at a time when a major reporter of a local tabloid laughed at my article about the business of making salt. She was ignorant about business writing then as she was only exposed to political news. Sir E.O. gave me the courage to move on and to ignore her remarks. And thanks to him, I moved on and left my own mark in the growth of Davao City's business reporting niche no matter how trivial that may be.

He went on to encourage me to write more business features when I was hired by BusinessWorld to be their correspondent for Mindanao. As usual, he did not stop critiquing my work but at the same time there were always words of wisdom behind his criticisms. He also asked me to be part of the FIDI book which he edited.

I haven't had a date with Sir E.O. for quite sometime after I became busy with law school and moved on to another career. However, we always talked on the phone and during those times he would always drop a word or two about maintaining the spontaneity of my stories.

Sir E.O. was a gifted man. He was very kind and his words of wisdom will always be with me.

Davao Doctors Hospital, College In The Midst Of Corporate Bickering

Could the operation of Davao City's premier hospital be disrupted by the ongoing rift between two groups of stockholders? The same question goes for the operation of Davao Doctors College, both of which are being managed by the same corporation?

A media war is going on between the former DDH President Dr. Herminio Villano of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) which is a group identified with new investor Manny Pangilinan and present DDH president Dr. Dominador Cabrera. You would think such corporate take over and controversy can only happen in the books of John Grisham but it is happening right here in Davao City, and will take place on November 8, 2008 during the board's annual stockholders meeting.

Cabrera said the DDH stockholders are not so keen to Villano's bid for the presidency of DDH because "he sold out!". Villano, along with three other shareholders of DDH, consolidated and sold their shares to Pangilinan's MPIC last June but reports indicate that Villano has retained at least 300 shares.

Villano however denied he is eyeing a comeback for the presidency of the DDH and said "It's true that I am running but only for a seat in the board" and only to ensure that no obstructions are faced by the MPIC in the implementation of the financial policies geared towards saving the hospital.

He said the company behind the hospital and the Davao Doctors College has not been managed accordingly. He clarified that it is the company and not the hospital that has been mismanaged. However, he admitted that the College was being run badly and has experienced a drop in the number of enrolleess from 6,500 during his time to the present 3,600.

MPIC is seeking a majority status in the board considering that it will invest P250 million in the hospital from 2008 to 2009.

Cabrera debunked the allegations saying the college may have a low enrollment rate this year but it is still contributing a sizable revenue to the company. He said the reason for the low enrollment is the raising of the entrance exam standards of the school unlike before when even a student with a score of 38 was allowed admission.

Mindanao Talk Show Kicks Off Nov. 19

A Mindanao talk show dubbed as "Talk Mindanao" will be launched on November 19, 2008 on Channels 15 and 28 of Sky Cable Network. The show, which will be aired from 1o p.m. to 11 p.m every Wednesday, will be seen in Davao City, General Santos City, Tagum and Zamboanga City.

The show is a good opportunity for Mindanaoans who want to know about the latest news and issues affecting the island including its economy, peace and order, business and other advocacy.

"We hope to highlight the different opportunities in Mindanao especially in investments," Mindanao Business Council chairman Vicente Lao said. On the other hand, Mindanao Economic Development Council Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana said that aside from providing vital information to businessmen "the show will also give various updates on peace and development to Mindanao's different stakeholders."

The newest talk show in and about Mindanao, which replaced the live interview program Mindanao Business Talk, will be managed jointly by Medco and MinBC.

Davao City's Economy Won't Suffer Even With Economic Crisis-Laviña

Davao City's economy would not suffer despite the global economic crisis being felt by the country today mainly for three reasons:

1.Davao City is an agriculture-based economy and therefore not as exposed to trading fluctuations
2.Davao City is more of an exporter than an importer so it is not highly vulnerable to the fluctuating currency rate
3.Davao City has reached critical mass with 1.4 million consumers

This was the contention of councilor Pete Laviña who chairs the City Council committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry. As evidence of this, he said, new banks have started construction in the city despite the crisis.

Despite this positive outlook the Davao City Council is preparing for the possible influx of Overseas Filipino Workers who might lose their employment abroad and decide to either reduce their remittances to their families in Davao City or return to the city for lack of better options. Councilor Danny Dayanghirang has thus passed a resolution to establish a linkage between the Davao City Cooperative Development Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration so that both offices can come up with a program that will benefit OFWs who would opt to return home.

Dabawenyo Wins Lotto Jackpot Worth P131M

If you are one among the hundreds of Dabawenyos betting their hard-earned P20 (or more!) daily to get a crack at the lotto pot then here's one more reason to continue or discontinue with your lotto addiction.

A lucky Dabawenyo won the P131,367,621.60 jackpot prize of the 6/49 lotto game using the combination number 42-12-46-26-49-19. The lucky Dabawenyo paid a measly P140 for his bet and got millions in return.

This can mean that every Dabawenyo's dream of being a millionaire through the lotto is indeed possible. However, luck never shines in you twice so in all probability the next lucky winner will no longer come from this area.

Davao City's Support For Senator Gordon’s Text Tax Bill On

Davao City councilor Pilar Braga is supporting Senate Bill 2402 mandating telecommunication companies to remit fifty percent of their text revenues to the government for the development of the country’s education system and health programs.

The bill, which was introduced by Senator Richard Gordon, provides for the creation and funding of HEAP or the Health Education Acceleration Program which seeks to rehabilitate the country’s education and health programs.

The Philippines is known as the texting capital of the world with an estimated 65% of its population having access to a cellphone capable of sending SMS or text messages. With an estimated 400 million text messages sent per day at P1 per message, Braga said, roughly P200 million a day can be contributed to HEAP, a substantial amount that can address the backlogs in the country’s health and education infrastructures.

Braga said the country is faced with a deteriorating educational system with 267 barangays suffering from lack of public elementary schools and four municipalities without public high schools. Majority of the Filipino school children are also undernourished as per World Bank data.

The telecommunication companies are earning multi-billions of pesos a year from text messaging alone with combined earnings of P77 billion in 2007. If half of this can be used to finance the country’s education and health programs then it can go a long way in improving the country’s literacy rate and health programs.

Most Filipino Doctors Speak English?

I was doing research for a client who owned a sophisticated cosmetic surgery center in the US and I came upon this website owned by a Filipino doctor who specializes in cosmetic surgery.

The site was promoting Asia particularly the Philippines as an aesthetic destination considering how affordable the country's cosmetic procedures are.

One of the selling points mentioned in the site is the fact that "MOST FILIPINO DOCTORS SPEAK ENGLISH". I find this line an affront not only to Filipino doctors, all of whom can presumably speak English after they have hurdled four years of College and another four years in Medical School where the medium of instruction is ENGLISH. How come the line says "Most Filipino doctors can speak English" when the presumption should be all Filipino doctors can speak English? Else, their understanding of their medical books can be pretty scary considering they are responsible for extending the lives of people based on their education.

The Philippines is known for being one of the best English-speaking countries in Asia and while education continues to be a challenge in the country I believe this competitive advantage still exists. Even the street sweepers can speak and understand English albeit not the one spoken by most academicians who are blatantly particular about every rule in the grammar books.

I remember that time when Filipinos particularly bloggers protested the slur committed by Teri Hatcher in the movie Desperate Housewives when she casually mentioned that she was just making sure that her doctor got his education anywhere but in the Philippine diploma mills or something to that effect.

Perhaps the owner of this website should edit his text. What do you think?