One Network Bank Strengthens Its Presence In Mindanao With 5 More Branches

One Network Bank (ONB) is making its presence felt in Mindanao with the opening of five additional branches next year in Surigao City, Dipolog City, Ozamis City, Zamboanga del Norte (Sindangan) and Misamis Oriental (Gingoog). The operationalization of these branches will mean a total of 75 branches for Network Bank.

Network Bank is also set to activate 30 additional Automated Teller Machines or ATMs in selected areas in Mindanao . This is proof of the bank's intention to grow with Mindanao said ONB president Alex V. Buenaventura.

Buenaventura said they have identified 35 growth areas and they will continue to saturate these areas with ONB branches. The areas being eyed by Network Bank are either underbanked or unbanked.

Nograles Park In Mini-Forest Is Illegal-Duterte

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte reiterated the city government's contention that the Nograles Park along Mini-Forest Boulevard which was recently demolished by the City Engineer's Office is illegal.

The P7 million Park, which was completed in 2006, was built by the government using government money and was demolished by the government. Duterte said the demolition of the Park did not affect any private rights as it was owned by the government so the City Engineer's Office did not violate any right when it demolished the structure. He also questioned why government funds were used to finance a park named after a private person.

Duterte said the Nograles Park, which was named after Speaker Prospero Nograles' father, also violated the law because it was built without the authority of the City Council, a body which has the power to approve or disapprove the location where parks should be constructed. He added that public parks are usually named after government officials or persons who have contributed to the development of a certain area so the naming of the park should also be placed under scrutiny.

He said that all these aside, the Park was demolished because it was built on top of a canal which was impeding the flow of water in the area which was already prone to flooding.

PGMA Visits Davao City's After Dark For The 4th Time

For the record, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has visited Davao City's "After Dark Piano Bar", a videoke-restaurant-bar located in Ecoland, four times already.

This was confirmed by no less than Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte himself who said the President sang a Visayan song (Duterte was not sure but said PGMA sang "Usahay") at the videoke bar the last time she was there. This was previous to her visit to the city last Thursday to attend the 61st birthday of Speaker Prospero Nograles which was held at the Apo View Hotel.

Duterte met with the President but refused to reveal the details of their meeting saying it was hush-hush and was not at all about politics but about community matters.

Davao Mayor Pushes For Creation Of Crematorium For Dabawenyos

Dabawenyos who could not afford a decent place to bury their dead should start thinking about the benefits of cremation. City Councilor Nilo Abellera has already proposed the creation of a crematorium facility for the city,

"Mas magpabor ko anang sunugun ang patay nga lawas; bisag ako sugot ko sunugun akoang patay nga lawas 24 hours after I am dead (I am in favor of cremating the dead body; I am even in favor of being cremated 24 hours after I am dead," Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday when interview in ABS CBN's "Gikan Sa Masa, Para Sa Masa" television program.

Duterte said cremation may not be widely accepted by Dabawenyos today but it is time that everyone should consider this option for practicality sake. He said Davao City is experiencing a shortage in burial grounds and those who cannot afford the expensive private cemeteries should be given an option.

Duterte said he is advocating for the creation of a public crematorium so the poor people of Davao will have an option. He said if the plan pushes through, the city crematorium can even offer free services for Dabawenyos who could not afford it.

The construction of a crematorium can be expensive and as of 2004, the Davao Memorial park has not recouped even 50% of the $300,000 it has invested for the crematorium facilities. The management of the Park however confirmed that the number of people availing of their crematorium service is increasing every year.

Diesel and Gas Prices Down By P5, P2 Respectively

There was a time when a thousand pesos can only fill the gasoline tank with 15 liters of diesel. With the successive rollbacks in fuel prices the latest of which was the P5 and the P2 rollback in diesel and gas prices respectively, a thousand pesos can now fill the gas tank with around 26 liters of fuel.

Last Thursday's rollback was the biggest so far for big oil companies Petron, Shell and later on Caltex. This is nothing new for small oil companies like Unioil, Seaoil, Phoenix and the likes because the said companies have lowered their fuel prices in bigger chunks ever since world fuel prices have gone down.

Fuel prices in the world market was at its highest last July, 2008 but it went down by over 50% and is now pegged at $60 per barrel. Philippine fuel prices, especially those from the Big 3 (Caltex, Shell, Petron) have only been reduced by a small percentage to the detriment of the motorists who were expecting a bigger reduction.

SM's 2008 Halloween A Blast But Organizers Should Learn From Their Bloopers

The Heroes and whatever Halloween Costume Party held at SM City Davao yesterday was a blast as it was attended by 294 (registered participants) kids who were all looking forward to getting their trick and treats! However, the ogranizers of the event should be careful next time because there are a lot of bloopers in their show and that's not just the funny ones!

The contract of participation for the Halloween Costume Party signified that registration is only up to 1:00PM of October 31. However, to the surprise and consternation of those who went to the entertainment center earlier (some as early as 10:00 AM), the organizers still accepted late registrants even up to 2PM.

The parade of costumes started too late because the organizers were keen on accepting as many registrants as possible. The organizers also said they were still waiting for something or someone (maybe the judges?) so they can't start yet. It is understandable that since this is a money-making event with each participant required to show a receipt worth P300, the organizers would want as many participants as possible. Perhaps, it would have been better if they had an early registration to accommodate as many kids as possible. An even better option is to stop indicating a deadline for the registration process since this is irritating especially for those who make an effort to come early.

One of the major flaws of the event was the theme itself! The theme was supposedly heroes, villains and their sidekicks. The organizers should have limited the participants to those wearing costumes from the three categories to avoid problems later on. By accommodating everyone even those not wearing costumes in accordance with the theme, the organizers were faced with another problem: how to present each contestant in an orderly manner whiel giving each one a chance to be seen and heard properly.

The organizers were disorganized that no one was briefing the participants on what to do. The original schedule as shown in the posters was for a trick or treat session for the kids from 1 to 2 PM and then again after the costume parade. As it turned out, some kids already made their rounds while the other kids were prevented from doing so as the organizers said the parade will come first. After about 30 minutes, they changed their minds again and said the participants should just wait because the parade may have to start first and then followed by the trick or treat from 4 to 5 PM. The kids were also disappointed when most of the stores they went into did not even had candies for them. Most of those who were generous enough to give something only gave one candy for each kid. I also noticed that the token given by SM, particularly the sweets and candies, were made from Indonesia (which can also be possibly sourced from China!) and at this time when there is a melamine scare, this can really be spooky!

While some kids were asked to properly display their costume and were properly interviewed on stage ( the lucky 15 who were called first), most of the kids crowded on the stage and were just asked their names in passing. It is also questionable if the judges were even aware of the "Super heroes", "Villains" and "Sidekicks"apart from their generation's heroes. Superman and Flash are not the only heroes, you know. Of course, the judges were popular in their own fields and I believe were very good in their own genres. But this is a different genre we are talking about here.

Events like this are supposed to be fun so I hate to be a spoiler. However, the organizers of the event should be responsible enough to organize the event properly because most of those who attend these events spend money for the costumes not to mention the registration. They should at least make sure each participant is given their rightful place in the sun. More importantly, they should try sticking to their theme because the very reason why a theme is chosen for every event is to limit the focus to that theme alone.

SM City Davao Holds Heroes And Villains Costume Party For Kids Today

Halloween is on October 31 and SM City Davao is observing it with a big bang!

Watch children 4 to 12 years old out-costume each other as they join the Heroes and Villains Costume Party at the SM City Entertainment Center at 1PM today. To join, just present a minimum purchase receipt of P300 bought between October 27 to 31, 2008.

Kids who want to join the costume party should dress up as their favorite movie or television hero, villain or sidekick. One winner will be chosen for three categories: Best Hero Costume, Best Villain Costume and Best Sidekick Costume. Winners will win P5,000 in SM Gift Certificates.

Those who have registered for the costume party can go around the mall for their Trick or Treats!