DCPO XI Canine Dog Retires From Service

Spike has finally retired from the Davao City Police Office after 12 years of service.

Spike is a bomb sniffing canine and was brought into the folds of the Davao City Police Office in 1996 under the leadership of then City Director PSupt. Isidro Lapeña. Spike became a member of the DCPO's Canine Unit along with Snappy, a drug sniffing dog. Both dogs were handled by PD1 Roger Dy, a certified canine trainor from the Special Response Group.

Spike was a hardworking canine and he was responsible for the clearing operations during important events in the city including the Kadayawan and the Araw ng Dabaw celebrations. He was also utilized for clearing and paneling operations whenever the President of the Philippines and other high ranking official came to visit.

Spike is known for the following accomplishments:

• finding and recovery of an IED at the Gaisano Mall basement on March 5, 2001
• finding and recovery of an IED inside a plastic container which was left in a public utility vehicle on March 11, 2003

Pandesal For Davao Police

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has offered to provide "pandesal" for the city's police force if they are hungry to discourage them from mulcting and extorting money from motorists.

"Kung gusto ninyo ug painit, palitan ta mo ug pandesal. I-distribute nako na sa mga presinto. If you are in need, go to the City Hall kay basin ug makatabang ko ninyo (if you go hungry then I will buy pandesal for you or go to City Hall if you are in need as I might be able to help you)," Duterte said during last Sunday's Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa TV show.

He said he has become exasperated with the various complaints against traffic cops mulcting the city's drivers for their traffic violations. This is the very reason why I overhauled the traffic group, he added.

Duterte said the city, through Davao City Police Office director Ramon Apolinario, is set to hire new traffic personnel from the new police graduates. This will ensure the infusion of uncorrupted blood into the traffic group, he added.

All Systems Go For The DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event

Bloggers all over the country will have the chance to meet in the city of Durian tomorrow! The DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event will be held at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City on October 21, 2008

The networking event will be an opportunity for bloggers to network and update each other about the country's growing blogging industry. The event is sponsored by Pagcor.

As per Ms. Janette Toral, tomorrow's meet-up will run as follows:

6:00 - 7:00 Registration and Dinner
7:00 - 7:30 Guest introduction / plugs
Welcome Remarks - PAGCOR Branch Manager Arthur Malatag
7:30 - 8:00 Updates by Janette

* DigitalFilipino Web Awards 2008
* DigitalFilipino.com Club Updates (online workshop and other efforts)
* Ratified.org Philippines Top 100 Blogs 2008 (blogs that had big moves in 2008)

8:00 - 8:30 - PAGCOR Updates by President and COO Rafael "Butch" A. Francisco
8:30 - onwards - Raffle, Networking, Games

Davao Trade Expo Slated At DAVCON This October

The Davao Trade Expo is slated at the Davao Convention Center from October 23 to 25, 2008. The three-day expo will feature speakers from the business, academic and government sectors.

Among the speakers are Mr. Freddie Serapio who will talk on “The Influence of the
Macro-Cultural Environment to a Marketing Strategy”, Dr. Eufemio Rasco of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao who will make a "Presentation on Ethics and Biotechnology and Dr. Myrna Viado who will talk about the importance of Training on Human Resource Management: “Taking Care of People for Competitive Advantage".

A three-day job fair to coincide with the 10th Davao Trade Expo is also scheduled at the Davao Convention Center from October 23 to 24, 2008. If you are interested in overseas and local work opportunities then bring your resume, photo and other important work documents to the venue.

SC's Proposal To Use Filipino As Court Language A Travel Back To Time?

The people behind the Supreme Court's proposal to use the Filipino language in all court proceedings should know that shifting to any language won't make for a more judicial justice system.

What the country's justice system needs is a reform. More importantly, the components of the justice system specially the lawyers and the judges need a rebirth and maybe a "going back" to their legal ethics subjects. However, this is just like saying every Filipino should repent and go back to Christ.

The logic behind the SC's intention to use the Filipino language in court proceedings is to improve the understanding of the marginalized sector on the different court processes and also to improve their access to justice. The SC may be barking at the wrong tree. What the majority of the poor Filipinos need is access to lawyers. Even if the court proceedings are all in the Filipino language, people would still not have access to justice if they do not have lawyers who will brief them on their court options.

Case in point:

There was one young lawyer (now in the States) who advised her client (a reporter who was facing libel charges) to just prepare money for bail. The lawyer refused to appeal the case to the Department of Justice to exhaust all remedies prior to the filing of the case in court. It's funny because legal ethics provide that any lawyer should exhaust all actions to make sure the client gets justice.

What the SC should do is to establish more free legal centers like the one being run by the Ateneo de Davao University College of Law. Atty. Manuel Quibod has been doing a good job in maximizing the resources of the Ateneo Legal Aide, sometimes asking the help of law students to help those who do not have access to justice.

It seems the SC is hell-bent in changing the court's language from English to Filipino since it has already scheduled a seminar-workshop on October 21 and 22 at the Bulacan State University in Malolos. During the seminar, the Philippine Judicial Academy legal experts are expected to come up with a training program to be used by the judiciary when they start using the Filipino language in court litigation.

So what's next? Perhaps mandating that all law students and law professors should use Filipino in class? How about changing the law books and the SCRA as well as the decided cases to the Filipino language also?

Davao's Artica Dome Tops List Of White Elephant Projects By LBP

The Land Bank of the Philippines claimed to being very careful in approving loans applied for by local government units saying "mabibilang lang sa kamay" (that one can only count in his fingers)the local government projects financed by LBP that have turned into white elephants. This was the confirmation made by LBP senior vice president Delia Ladao during the press conference held at the Philippine Information Agency office last Saturday.

However, Ladao did not deny the fact that the P300 million Artica Sports Dome project in Maa this city is on top of the list of white elephant projects in the city with money coming from LBP. The project was initiated during the time of mayor Benjamin de Guzman but was halted by mayor Rodrigo Duterte for environmental and other reasons (including financial irregularities).

It can be recalled that the project's viability was questioned even before construction started considering that it was sitting on a site susceptible to landslides and earthquakes. However, de Guzman went on with the project, leaving the millions of Dabawenyos responsible for the payment of the loan.

The bank is very careful in the evaluation and approval of local government projects, Ladao said. The Artica Sports Dome has however become a white elephant project for reasons out of the control of the bank, she added.

Weddings For Rich People In Government Belies Econ. Crisis In RP

Is the Philippines really suffering from economic crisis? NO, judging from the lavish weddings that are being celebrated for the sons and daughters of people who hold very influential positions in the government. The recent wedding in Davao City of the daughter of Press Secretary Jesus Dureza is a case in fact.

Of course, you can always say that Dureza already had his millions made even before he became the government's press speaker whenever there is an important proclamation or comment that the government has to make like belying the fact that there is an economic crisis in the country. Imagine the 10 helicopters that brought the guests to Dureza's Seagull Mountain Resort last Saturday including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Just a year or more ago, Speaker of the House Prospero Norgrales' son Karlo got married not only in style but super en grande as the common folks would call it. That wedding was also attended by "people who matter" both in government and in the business sector. And know what? That was also attended by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Of course, you can always say that Nograles had made it big even before he became Speaker of the House.

In a country where more than half of the 95 million citizens are considered lucky if they have tuyo or salty fish as well as a bowl of rice in their table, this is a big insult. Imagine Dureza's guests all clad in black and gold apparel surrounded by an equally lavish catering service only fitting for the gods and goddesses of Philippine politics and business. On the one hand, imagine what thoughts filled the mind of Jenifer Bedoya before the beheading.. imagine the thoughts that are filling the minds of three Filipino Overseas Filipino Workers (Brothers) Edison and Rolando Gonzales and Eduardo Arcilla who are now in the Jeddah death row...imagine how Mang Pandoy could not even be laid to rest as the family was still waiting for burial money...

Even the authors of the Civil Code deemed the whole thing pukable when it stated in Article 25 that "Thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency may be stopped by order of the courts at the instance of any government or private charitable institution..."

Perhaps, they do no even consider the Filipinos to be already living in a period of acute want whereby thoughtless extravagance should be stopped. Those people in Congress should think twice about limiting the expenses for the celebration of public fiestas which are enjoyed by as many Filipinos as possible if such extravagance display of weddings of government officials and their families are tolerated,

Imagine the poor Filipinos working their butts off either in the Philippines or in another country just so they can put three square meals in their family's tables...And then imagine the laughter and the caviar that must have filled the tables of the guests during the Dureza wedding. Please don't puke.