Pre-registered delegates to 2013 MinBizCon highest in Congress history

The number of delegates who have pre-registered for the 22^nd Mindanao Business Conference slated in Davao City from August 8 to 10, 2013 is the highest so far compared to the past conferences.

“Filipinos do not really pre-register their attendance to conferences since they prefer to go directly to the event but I tell you that the pre-registered participants for this year’s MinBizCon is the highest ever,” 22^nd MinBizCon Conference Director John Gaisano, Jr. said during Monda's Kapihan at SM City Annex.

Gaisano said they aim to gather a thousand participants for the Conference, mostly coming from key industries all over the country and from the economic growth area of the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area).

The organizers have previously consulted around 250 businessmen and industry leaders in five Mindanao regions as to the economic concerns they want to be presented during the Conference. “What makes this year’s MinBizCon different is the expected participation of 11 cabinet secretaries who will address the specific cluster of concerns identified by Mindanao business players and leaders,” he said.

He said there is a need to prepare Mindanao’s business sector for bigger markets abroad considering that the Philippines is set to enter into the Asean Economic Community (AEC). The AEC aims to merge members of the ASEAN community into a single market economy. Among its members are the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Singapore, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

However, Mindanao Development Authority’s (MinDA)Romeo Montenegro said that recurring issues on power problems, rotating brownouts as well as the short and long-terms measures which will be undertaken by the government will also be discussed during the MinBizCon.

Gaisano said Mindanao produces 40% of the country’s food production requirement and generates 60% of the country’s exports amounting to P130 Billion. However, Mindanao also has the greatest number of population and the greatest number of poor people.

“If they really care for the island then they will actually come here and address these issues,” he said.

Innovators urged to join 2nd Startup Davao

  

Dabawenyos who have innovative ideas that can make life better are encouraged to join the 2^nd Startup Weekend slated at Ingenuity, Centron Building, Quirino Avenue in Davao City on August 9 to 11, 2013.

“If you have innovative projects no matter how crazy they are and even if you do not have technical knowledge then you should join the Startup Weekend,” event head organizer Dulce Rose Lada said. People from all walks of life should join the Startup because even if they do not know how to make the web or mobile applications, they can team up with other IT professionals to push for their projects, she added.

Startup Weekend is a movement of entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of discovering startups and launching them into successful ventures.

Lada said the last time they had the Startup, a nurse who was fed up with the system of getting numbers  and waiting in line for such number to be called became part of a Startup Project which created an App which sent a message to the person next in line in the queue. So instead of that person lining up to wait for his or her number to be called, we now have the practical App, she added.

She said that subject to the payment of a minimal registration fee, everyone can join the Startup weekend including businessmen, web designers, software developers, product managers and all those interested to make a pitch for their ideas.

“The entrepreneur mentors will share their time and expertise to aspiring entrepreneurs to help their Startups success,” Lada said. The mentors, she added, will act as coaches who will help the teams design and carry out effective experiments, analyze the data they collect and guide them to come up with a solid startup.

Among the mentors of the 2^nd Startup Weekend are Christopher John Cubos- founder and CEO of Philippine Global Outsourcing, June Millan- CTO of Ingenuity Technology Consulting,Eliza Magno-President of Illumedia, Tina Amper-World Startup Report Global Organizer, David Overton-Symm.ph founder, Pia Angeli Bernal-Social Enterprise Investment at Kickstart Ventures Manager and Ray Rubio-CubePixels CEO.

Mixed reactions in Davao for Pnoy’s SONA

The State of the Nation Address (SoNA) of President Benigno S. Aquino III got mixed reactions from the Dabawenyos but these reactions were generally favorable to the President.

“I like the SONA. Its straight forward and at least this time the President discussed the accomplishments of the administration,”  Al Qalam Institute of Ateneo de Davao University director Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan said.

Lidasan said the whole speech talks about social transformation. “How we must mature as a nation,” he added.

Glan municipal councilor Atty. Cyril John Gido Yap said Aquino’s SoNA was just like all the other SoNAs. “Fair lang its always been rhetorics sa SoNA,” he said.

On the other hand, Davao city councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, who is chair of the council committee on Finance, Ways and Means and Appropriation, said the President’s speech was so far okay.

“So far the President’s has specific example on his campaign against corruption such as the syjuco and pagcor case,” he said.

The President slammed former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Augusto "Boboy" Syjuco Jr. for the disbursement irregularities during his stint at TESDA. Aquino specifically mentioned several overpriced items as cited by the Commission on Audit including a P14-incubator jar which was priced at P15,375 and a P120-dough cutter which was priced at P48,507.

Dayanghirang however said “what is lacking was the policy direction on how to curb the increase of prices on commodities., fuel, water etc and the salary adjustment for the labor sector.”

Pnoy's 4th State of the Nation Address: SONA or SANA?

The country will be at a standstill for most of the day as the people wait for the 4th State of the Nation Address (SoNA) of President Benigno S. Aquino III at around 3:30 today.

Pnoy's past SONAs have been well-applauded primarily for his choice of the Filipino language. However, the past SoNAs have been much criticized because he always found a way to blame the past administration for how the government worked.

With Pnoy halfway towards his Presidency, it is time he stands up for all the faults and successes of his administration. No more finger-pointing this time Mr. President!

Malu Barry back in Davao concert scene after 19 years

Homegrown talent Malu Barry is set to perform at the Nobi Alfresco Bar at Quimpo Boulevard in Davao City tonight, July 20, 2013. This will be the first time in 19 years for Barry. The lounge act "A Song for You" will be directed by Norie Sayo, with special guests "The Don".

Barry became popular in Manila's entertainment world in the early 1990s because of her husky voice which is reminiscent of the world-famous singer Karen Carpenter. She has also appeared in several films including The Untold Story: Bizconde Massacre, Anabelle Huggins Story and Laro sa Baga among others.

Davao to install 130 more CCTV’s worth P100M in time for Kadayawan

Davao City is set to install additional 130 close circuit television (CCTVs) worth P100 million in its bid to reach its goal of up to 300 CCTVs all over the city in the future.

“The cameras which will be designed by IBM will be installed for protection and traffic management,” Public Safety and Security Command Center Chief, Retired P/Chief Superintendent Francisco Villaroman said during the iSpeak Media Forum held at the Davao City Hall Thursday.

He said there are at present around 130 CCTV cameras all over the city. These and the additional ones will ensure that the urban centers and the main intersections are properly covered, he said.

“We really need the CCTVs to be up especially in time for the Kadayawan,” he said. The Kadayawan Festival will kick off on August 9 and will culminate on August 17 and 18.

However, he said, the new cameras will be installed on installment basis. The executives from IBM Manila were in the city Wednesday and met with the Abratique Group to coordinate the installation of the CCTVs, he added.

Villaroman said these are no ordinary CCTVs because these are sophisticated and multifunction cameras that can be used as evidences in court later on for traffic violation or even criminality. “The CCTVs are so sophisticated that if we are looking for a certain vehicle color, it will be easy to monitor all vehicles with that specific color and we can check their plate numbers,” he said.

The new CCTVs will make Davao a model around the world when it comes to these types of cameras, he said. This is also the first time that IBM will design such a camera and not even Makati has this type of camera, he added.

Once the additional CCTVs are fully installed, he said, we will request more IT and engineering personnel to man the center which is now operating on a 24-hour shift with 12 hours each shift. Villaroman said there is a plan to still operate 24 hours but on three shifts, with 8 hours per shift to make the people more efficient in monitoring the cameras.

Davao CCTVs fail to monitor fleeing kidnap gang due to wrong info

The remaining 10 members of the “Bye-Bye” kidnap-for-ransom-gang which evaded the authorities after a shoot-out in C.M. Rector Avenue Thursday may have already left the city, although no one knows for sure.

Two of the gang members were kicked on the spot outside Allied Bank while another one died on the way to the Southern Philippines Medical Center. The fourth member is now in the custody of the authorities but ten more are on the run and the authorities have no idea where they were headed after the shootout.

“Unfortunately the witness gave the people on the ground wrong information as to the description of the vehicles so our cameras were not able to monitor them,” Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) Chief, Retired P/Chief Superintendent Francisco Villaroman said during a press conference Thursday.

Villaroman said a CCTV was installed right in front of the area where the shootout happened. However, he said, “hindi pa nakakabit ang monitor when the incident happened so we cannot really see.”

He said the witness, who was still in shock after the incident, gave the wrong color and type of vehicle so the cameras nearby and along the way were not able to zero in on the appropriate getaway vehicle.

The authorities earlier asked the public to watch out for Montero vehicles with plate number FBU 1238. However, he said, the kidnappers are not stupid enough to use real plate numbers which the authorities can easily flag down during their trip from Manila to Davao.

“But Dabawenyos should not be scared because the kidnappers are actually based in Central Luzon and in Manila, not in Davao,” he said.

Villaroman said they have received a phone call asking for assistance but he did not elaborate on this, saying that giving away more information may warn the kidnappers. He also reiterated that the authorities are not allowed to conduct an illegal search so what they follow is the Plain View Doctrine.

The kidnap-for-ransom-gang was in Davao with their victim Sally Chua, to withdraw the P15-million ransom money from the bank but the authorities were able to intercept them.