Cool Weather In Davao City This Week

It's time to bring on those colorful umbrellas and raincoats!

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has forecasted a cool but rainy weather for Mindanao throughout the week thanks to the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone which is affecting all of Mindanao as well as portions of the Visayas and Palawan.

Dabawenyos can also expect scattered rain showers and thunderstorms especially during the latter part of the day. The Eastern parts of the island that are prone to flashfloods should however prepare for heavy rains. Southern Mindanao, including Davao City, should prepare for possible rain showers after

DM Consunji Project Faces Opposition From Maa Residents

Another real estate developer eyeing the development of Shrine Hills for a housing project is facing opposition from the Maa Federation of Homeowners.

The DM Consunji people headed by general manager Victoria Joy Adriano presented their project to the City Council last Tuesday pursuant to their application for a preliminary approval and location clearance (PALC). However, the PALC was not issued by the Council pending the clarification of important matters including the development of a proper drainage system.

Councilor Jose Louie Villafuerte said Maa already has an existing drainage problem and is already experiencing floods. He said Maa's flooding problems might become worse if the developer fails to institute a proper drainage plan for their project.

Committee on Housing, Rural and Urban Development Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling said the PALC is just a permit granted by the City Council to allow the developer to pursue their studies and development plan. However, he added, it is best to allow all parties to present their side on the drainage and other issues to ensure that the developer's efforts in developing the project will not go to waste.

Adriano said the only drainage option so far is the Datu Luho Creek en route to the Davao River. The said River is already up to its capacity since the existing subdivisions in the area are already using it for drainage purposes. She added they have not explored any other water pathway except the Creek.

Davao Bgy. Stirred By Fallen Plane Part

It seemed like a scene from "The God's Must be Crazy" all over again last Thursday morning (October 23)as the residents of barangay Bucana in Matina, Davao City scampered for cover to avoid an object falling from the sky at around 9:00 in the morning.

The fallen object was however not a bottle of Coke like in the movies but rather a metal object which, as confirmed by a press statement later on, was the hydraulic cover of Cebu Pacific flight 5J348.

Residents said they heard a plane prior to seeing the falling object which they described as "bakal na color yellow ug gold" (a yellow and gold-colored metal). They thought a plane had crashed so they ran for cover.

The management of Cebu Pacific said the plane's hydraulic cover accidentally fell off while on flight. However, it dismissed the incident saying the hydraulic cover was just a minor part of the aircraft which does not affect the plane's condition or stability.

Do you have any relative or friend on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J348 last Oct. 28? Then you may have a story to tell.

New Coffee Shop Opens In Davao

Spotted a newly opened coffee shop along Quirino just in front of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The coffee shop is adjacent to Honeybear Chicken House.

Davao City's Public Cemeteries In Urgent Need Of Rehab

Davao City's public cemeteries are so overcrowded the city needs to shell out a minimum of P10 million for every hectare of cemetery land that would be rehabilitated.

There are nine public cemeteries in the city but it is still not enough to accommodate the city's requirement. The city is eyeing the development of a 2.3 hectare lot in Tagakpan, Calinan District but the road opening alone cost P275,000 and the cemetery development costs P2 million.

Davao City Economic Enterprise chair Francisco Vales, Jr. said the city's cemeteries are already overloaded and he hopes that next year's annual development plan will already include the proposed budget for the rehabilitation.

The rehabilitation work still does not have a definite date, he said, but the Wireless public cemetery near the downtown area will undergo rehabilitation first. He also said the rehabilitation work should be simultaneous with the construction of the proposed crematorium as the latter would help maximize the cemetery spaces.

Davao City Gov't. Eyes Computerization Of Services

Davao City is eyeing the full computerization of most of its offices starting from the real property tax department of the City Treasurer's Office to the business department to make the city's services more efficient, manageable and investor-friendly.

When this pushes through, those applying for business permits and business licensing can process their transactions online. "We will push for it if budget allows," City Council committee on ICT chair Councilor Teresita Marañon said.

Marañon said the city needs to allocate from P20 to P22 million for the realization of this program based on estimated made by one company. The amount is less than the P40 million budget allotted for the Davao City Real Property Tax Computerization Project which the city implemented last year.

The said program, City Treasurer Rodrigo Riola said, is an "effective and efficient control measure" which will help the department detect erroneous entries as well as the encoder immediately. It will help the department determine if the previous taxes have already been paid and will also help eradicate the proliferation of fake receipts.

Davao City Gov't. Employees Assured Of Addt'l. Cash This Christmas

Employees of the city government of Davao have more reasons to smile these days after the City Council approved Tuesday the P262 million supplemental budget which includes the Christmas bonuses and wage increases of both plantilla and contractual employees.

The approved budget includes P42 million for the employees cash gift, P28.2 million for the 10% salary increase for plantilla employees and the P55 million salary augmentation fund for contractual employees.

City Treasurer Rodrigo Riola said the fund will be sourced from the local tax collection as well as the city's internal revenue allotment balance of P142 million from 2001 to 2004.