Davao City Mayor Urge Enactment of Drunk Driving Law

DUI (driving under the influence) or DWI (driving while intoxicated) may be a common crime in the United States and if you are updated with Hollywood news then you are aware that actor Mel Gibson is facing criminal charges for the offense. It is thus surprising to note that such laws does not exist in the Philippines considering the increasing number of traffic accidents involving drunk drivers.

In view of this, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has urged lawmakers both in the city council and in the House of Congress and Senate to hasten the enactment of a law that will penalize drunk driving.

Councilor Mabel Sunga Acosta said a resolution-ordinance that seeks to penalize drunk driving has already passed first reading in the Davao City Council. Acosta said she is pursuing the approval of this measure with the hope that it will discourage drivers from operating their vehicles while intoxicated.

Last year, Senate president Manny Villar has refiled Senate Bill 83 otherwise known as the Alcohol and Drug Testing Act. The bill seeks to criminalize driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The bill seeks to penalize violators by suspending their drivers' license for a year and by paying a P1,000 fine for the first offense. Second and subsequent offenses will mean a five-year driver's license revocation and a fine of P5,000. The Bill is still pending in the Senate committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Duterte said it is imperative that a DUI or DWI law is enacted because under the present law, drivers who cause an accident while intoxicated only face a criminal negligence case no matter how many people they victimize in one accident.

Movie Guide: Madagascar 2 Now In Davao Theaters

Kids will surely have a a happy weekend this week what with the the sequel to their favorite Madagascar movie finally showing in Davao Cinemas today. Madagascar Escape 2 Africa is a GP movie that features the voices of comedians Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Madagascar 1 tells the story of New York pampered zoo animals who followed their friend Marty to save him only to end up in the jungles of Madagascar. The place was so primitive that Alex the Lion discovered his innate character including his being a carnivorous animal who can even be tempted to eat his friends when he gets too hungry.

Madagascar 2 narrates the continuing adventures of these zoo creatures led by the wily penguins who tries to save themselves by repairing an old plane. Unfortunately they landed on Africa. And here is where the adventure starts...

NCCC Cinema 4
12:25/2:20/4:15/6:10/8:05/10:00

SM Cinema 2
12:15/2:00/3:45/5:30/7:15/9:00

1-Hour Power Interruption Hits Davao City

If you live within the periphery of the Davao Light franchise then you most probably experienced power interruption in your area yesterday afternoon. Nothing wrong with you power line though because the one-hour power interruption hit all of DLPC's franchise area including the whole of Davao City, Panabo City and the municipality of Sto. Tomas, Dujali and Carmen.

DLPC assistant vice president for corporate communication Ross Luga said the power interruption was due to a fault in the National Transmission Corporation's 138 kv Pulangi-Kibawe line. Luga said power supply from Transco was suddenly cut off at around 1:41 pm but power at 1:52 pm power was immediately activated for special lines serving key service providers in the government, hospitals and the downtown area,

Power was restored between 2:05 pm and 2:45 pm after DLPC received electricity supply from Transco.

Big 3 Oil Firms Reduce Gasoline Price By P1; LPG by P11 Per Tank

Filipinos will enjoy another round of rollback in the price of gasoline and kerosene. The Big 3 oil companies namely Pilipinas Shell, Chevron and Petron will reduce gasoline and kerosene prices by P1 per liter but no announcement was made on the rollback of diesel prices.

The other oil companies have also announced a rollback in the price of gasoline and kerosene effective this week.

On the other hand, Liquefied Petroleum Gas prices have also been rolled back by P1 per kilo or P11 per tank. This reduction is in addition to the P44 per tank rollback announced last week.

Uswag-Bubai's 2-Day X'mas Decor Demo Starts At SM City Davao Today

The two-day Christmas decoration demo to be conducted by Uswag-Bubai will start at SM City Davao Today. The demo, which is being held in coordination with the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry and SM City will be conducted in two sessions daily at SM City's Car Park C.

For those who want to join the free demo, here's the schedule:

November 7
10:00-12:00 AM Paper Mache
2:00-4:00 PM Gift Box making

November 8
10:00-12:00 AM Flower making
2:00-4:00 PM Crocheted Xmas Decors

P0.50 Fare Rollback in Davao Effective Today

Effective today, the minimum jeepney fare in Davao City will roll back to P7.50 after the P0.50 fare rollback announcement by the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board. Students, differently-abled and the elderly will pay a minimum fare of P6.

The rollback came after the National Consumer and Commuters Protection Inc. filed a petition with LTFRB for a fare rollback following the reduction of oil prices in the world market and the rollback in diesel and gasoline prices the latest of which was the P5 rollback by the Big Three.

LTFRB XI administrative office Edgar Violan said drivers should implement the fare rollback effective Friday, November 7. He said case number 2008-1654 reduces the provisional fare for the first four kilometers from P8 to P7.50. But since this is only a provisional rollback, he added, the reduction will not apply on the succeeding kilometers.

US Still Mindanao's Top Export Market

The United States is still the top export market of Mindanao.

Data from the Mindanao Economic Development Council shows that 25% of Mindanao's exported products go to the United States making it the island's top export market providing $378.65 million worth of export earnings to the island.

The top two export market of Mindanao is Japan which accounted for 20% of the island's export earnings. Mindanao registered a total of $309.19 million in export earnings from Japan for the first semester of the year.

Indonesia and Taiwan ranks as the 8th and 9th top destination of Mindanao's export products during the same period. The amount of products exported by Mindanao to Indonesia increased seven-fold from $4 million during the first six months of 2007 to $34 million during the said period this year. Mindanao's export to Taiwan on the other hand increased by almost 70% from $18 million during the first semester of 2007 to $31 million during the same period this year.

The other major export market of Mindanao are Netherlands, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Iran and Singapore.