If I had $25 for Christmas....

Dabawenyos, what would you do if you had an extra $25 or P1,000 for Christmas? PinoyMoneyTalk is giving away just that for Christmas and if you want that extra cash then just complete the sentence…

If I had an extra P1,000 ($25) this Christmas, I would…

There are two ways to win.

One is to complete the sentence and post the comment up to December 7, 2007. Winners will be announced the next day during the Christmas Party of PMT and will be posted on the site after the party.

Or, you can just write a post in your blog abut the contest, link to the PMT site and win $12 or P500.

Me, I would be selfish for once and spend it on myself! Maybe, go to the nearest salon and have my hair rebounded as I’ve been having bad hair days lately due to the antiques of Papa Trillanes, the oil price hike, bills to pay, etc. etc

City Gov't. Employees To Get Addt'l. Cash Gift

Christmas has come early for the employees of the Davao City government after city administrator confirmed last week that the cty is giving them an additional cash gift for the holidays.

Regular city government employees will get a P5,000 cash gift while contractual workers will get a P2,000 cash gift. Avisado said the cash gift will be released second week of December in time for the Christmas vacation.

So is this an addition to the P5,000 cash gift being given by PGMA to all government employees every year? Merry Christmas indeed!

Prices Of Vegetables In Davao Up

The prices of vegetables in Davao City have gone up since the third week of November and traders said they expect the price to continue to go up until the Christmas season is over. Traders also said the onslaught of typhoon Mina is also responsible for the rise in vegetables prices although the city is not affected by the typhoon. at all.

Lettuce, Brocolli and Cauliflower are among the highest priced vegetables with Lettuce being sold in Bankerohan market at P120 per kilo, Brocolli at P100 per kilo and Cauliflower at P90 per kilo. This is almost a P30 increase per kilo compared to the previous price of the three vegetable which played at P70-P80.


Ampalaya is now being sold at P35 per kilo, Luya or Ginger at P35 per kilo and Carrots at P30 per kilo. Onion is priced from P68 to P75 per kilo depending on the quality. The price of Tomato and Talong has remained quite low at P20 and P25 per kilo respetively. Kalabasa is more affordable at P10 per kilo.

These are the prevailing prices at the bagsakan area in Bankerohan so higher prices of vegetables sold in other markets (like in Mintal or Matina markets) can be expected.

Puentespina Now Selling Poinsettias At SM City Davao

SM City Davao has made its (indoor) surroundings more "Christmasey" by allowing Puentespina Garden to display differently-colored Poinsettia flowers along its escalator. Anyone taking the escalator just in front of Watsons can feast his eyes on the eye-popping Poinsettias on display.

The Poinsettias are available in different sizes and there is a size for everyone's budget. The 12-cm Poinsettia pot is priced at P75, 15-cm pot at P100 (fancy) or P150 (select), 18-cm pot at P180 (select) or P220 (super select) and the 24-cm pot both available for P300 and P400.

Poinsettias have become a permanent fixture during the Christmas season and it is widely available in Davao City despite the fact that it is a native plant of Mexico. It was introduced to the United States in 1825 by US Ambassador to Mexico Joel Roberts Poinsett (thus the name Poinsettia).

White it has always been called Poinsettia in the Philippines, it is also known as Noche Buena, Pascua and Christmas Star in other countries.

Fill The X'mas Tree Of Hope For Bantay bata 163

The Bantay Bata Foundation has launched a very timely fund-raising campaign and any Dabawenyo can contribute to this worthwhile undertaking.

For every Christmas Package you buy from the Bantay Bata 163 booth (located right at the main entrance of SM City Davao) whether it is worth P200, P300 or P500, you will be given a Christmas ornament and you can place it on the Christmas Tree Of Hope. The Christmas Tree of Hope is located right in front of Chowking (which is undergoing renovation).

You can choose from the various Christmas goodies, decors, childrens' books and Bantay Bata items. You can buy these items for yourself or as gifts for gamily and friends---don't forget to mention that such gift gave you a chance to hang a Christmas ornament at Bantay Bata's Christmas Tree Of Hope as this would give a better meaning to the season of giving.

You have until January 6, 2008 to hang your Christmas ornament and at the same time contribute to the Bantay Bata 163 Foundation.

Jollibee's "Buy1,Take 1" Promo Takes Davao By Storm

Jollibee's "Buy1, Take1" promo has taken Davao City by storm, both literally and not.

Hundreds of Dabawenyos flocked to the various outlets of Jollibee for the food retail giant's one-day promo. The promo includes the following product sets: Burger and softdrinks (54), French Fries and softdrinks (@P55) and Spaghetti and softdrinks (@54).

People were lining up in every Jollibee outlet yesterday even if Typhoon Mina made its presence felt in the city through strong winds and rains even before lunchtime.

While this promo is advantageous for consumers who want more value for their money, Jollibee should make sure they really give the consumers their money's worth. The Jollibee Matina outlet (outside Centerpoint) was selling the promo sets yesterday but anyone who took the time to check out the drink would feel bad since the soda was not cold. Softdrinks are bad for the health already and Jollibee should not encourage children from taking in too much softdrinks. What is worse though is a softdrink that's not even cold enough to quench the thirst when that is its primary purpose.

If there is something worst than this, then it's the attitude of the Jollibee staff (a girl who is partially hidden in the photo) at the take out counter. Take this dialogue:

Customer: Ms. pwede pakipalitan ang drinks kasi hindi talaga malamig

Jollibee staff: ganyan talaga ang drinks namin---malamig na man yan ba

Customer: Ms. kahit tikman mo yang Coke mo di talaga malamig

Jollibee staff:Wala kaming ice eh.

While Jollibee should be commended for its promo, it should make sure that they give their customers what they righfully deserve. And that's a cold coke with whatever it is the customer has ordered!

MV Doulos in Davao City?

It’s Christmas and guess who’s coming to town? Not Santa Claus but MV Doulos.

Most people are greatly familiar with the Titanic. MV Doulos, which was built two years after the Titanic, is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World as the oldest ocean going passenger ship. But more than that, Doulos is known for bringing “knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world.”

I was lucky enough to have been on board MV Doulos when it docked at Davao City in March, 1990. That was the first and last visit of Doulos to Davao. It has been to Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro at least twice and many times to Cebu, Batangas and Manila.

Doulos is in dry dock at Batangas from November 6 to 29 so no selling of books onboard. It creative staff however managed to set up an onshore book fair while the ship is undergoing repair and maintenance. It will be in Manila from November 29 to December 26 and Subic Bay from December 26 to January 15, 2008 and then off to Lae, Papua New Guinea on January 24, 2008.

MV Doulos

The name Doulos means servant in Greek and the volunteer service offered by its international crew is evident of this.

Doulos was built in 1914 and has sailed as a cruise ship, freight ship, and for the transport of immigrants. Its most recent mission of bringing books (more than 6,000 book titles on board) to the world has made it a byword among book lover the world over. Doulos also grabbed the headlines for having an all-volunteer crew of 350 people from all over the world. It used to be known as Medina, Franca C and Roma.

A Germany-based non-profit organization named Gute Bücher für Alle e.V.whih means “Good Books for All” bought the ship in 1977. Since then, Doulos has been visited by 20 million people and has called on 568 ports of call in over 103 countries. Over 13 million books have been purchased from the ship.

Have you been to MV Doulos and would like the chance to see it in Davao City again? Haven't been to the book ship and would like to get on board? Let your voice be heard! Blog it!