How Many Calories In Your McDonald Burger?

The various McDonalds outlets in Davao are always filled with people that I am not sure how Dabawenyos will react if their favorite McDonald outlet will shutdown in a day or two. Calories-deprived perhaps?

This is what calorie-addicts from Venezuela will feel when they visit any McDonald outlet in the country and find that all branches of the calorie-food chain has been ordered closed by the Venezuelan government for 48 hours, not for being calorie-rich but for allegedly committing tax irregularities and inconsistencies as shown in their account. There are 115 McDonald branches in Venezuela all of which have been ordered closed from Thursday to Saturday.

The closing down of McDonald, albeit for only 2 days, is not surprising considering that it is the closest you can get to Uncle Sam wherever you are and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is a fierce critic of the United States.

There are at least five McDonalds outlet in the city---SM City, Matina, Ilustre, two in Victoria Plaza. Despite that, the joint is known for providing high amounts of calories to the Dabawenyos’ palate. Take this:

McDo Hamburger = 254.0kcal
Big Mac = 492.0kcal
Regular Fries = 207.0kcal
McDonald’s Quarterpounder with Cheese is however the runaway winner with 515kcal

Davao Call Centers Not Bothered With High Agent Turnover Rate

Call Centers worldwide particularly in economic centers like Metro Manila and Cebu City may be having problems with the fast turnover of call center agents but this is not a problem among Davao City call centers.

The normal turnover rate is placed at 30 to 40 percent but the Call Center Association of the Philippines reported a higher turnover rate of 60 to 80 percent. This was however debunked by Nannete Del Mundo of Cyber City and Arlene Ozoa of the 611 Call Center operated by the JIB Career Center. De Mundo said the survey may have been based on the experiences of call centers located in congested areas like Manila and Cebu.

The fast and high turnover of call center agents is blamed on stress, pressure, irregular work hours, boredom and health reasons.

Unlike Manila and Cebu based call centers which offer extraordinary incentives to encourage the employment of more call center agents and to limit the high and fast turnover rates, Davao City call centers offer only a salary rate of P8,000 to P14,000 without such incentives.

Water Or Power?

WATER or POWER? Dabawenyos, particularly its local leaders, are faced with a dilemma as to which one of the two important resources to opt for.

The problem started when the Aboitiz-owned Hedcor (Aboitiz being the owner of Davao Light and Power Company) proposed the construction of a hydropower plant along Tamugan River in Calinan this city which was then debunked by the Davao City Water District for being detrimental to the city's water resources.

The National Water Resources Board has already given a permit to DCWD for its surface water development. Hedcor, on the other hand still has to get one. Just like Hedcor, the City Council is looking for a win-win solution to the problem whereby both Hedcor and DCWD can use the area for their individual projects. DCWD's Imelda Magsuci however said the area would no longer be feasible for the tapping of surface water for its project once Hedcor is given the go signal to build the hydropower plant.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has already stepped in and has given Hedcor until yesterday to defend its position. Otherwise, Duterte said he is more favorable to providing clean and pure water to Dabawenyos.

Hedcor claims the whole of Mindanao is faced with a looming power crisis if the hydropower plant is not put into place. However, a recently released study claims that Davao's water sources already contains contaminants as a result of the banana plantations operating in the area.

So which would you choose? Water or Power?

Discovery Of Oil In Palawan Spells Good News For RP

The discovery of fresh oil just off the coast of Palawan in the Philippines specifically the Galoc Oil Field at 10:45 am today is good news for the Filipinos who are still battling high fuel prices despite the decrease in the price of fuel in the world market. The oil was brought straight to the oil refineries at 11:20 today.

The country imports $6 billion worth of oil per year so this discovery is expected to decrease albeit minimally the country's dependence on the oil producing and exporting countries. This discovery, which is expected to produce from 10 to 20 million oil barrels daily which is equivalent to almost 6% of the demand for oil in the country can also spell $1.4 billion worth of savings in foreign exchange for the Philippines.

This is not the first time that oil has been discovered in the Philippines as Shell's Malampaya project discovered oil in the country in January 1992.

Release Of Hultman's Killer Stirs RP Justice System

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has done it again! Arroyo granted executive clemency to Claudio Teehankee, Jr, barely seven years after he was convicted by the Supreme Court. Teehankee was sentenced to one count each of reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal for the 1991 murder of then 16-year old Maureen Hultman and Roland Chapman as well as for wounding Jussi Leino.

To add salt to the injury, a government official was interviewed by reporters saying the Hultmans' were informed of the plan to pardon Teehankee and the family agreed after an estimated P6 million was paid to the family. I was shocked when I heard that knowing that the

Maureen Hultman's photo
taken from monacome.com

Philippine law does not accept blood money in exchange for the release of a convicted prisoner. If my memories of my criminal law subject still holds true, criminal cases are not dismissed even if the complainants desist from the case since it is the government who will prosecute the case although of course there's the non-appearance of the witnesses to contend with. What more in this case when Teehankee was convicted?

Vivian Hultman, the victim's mother, denied they were given any notice by the government about the planned clemency that will be given to Teehankee. She said the money awarded to them was by virtue of the court's decision and order and not payment for the release of Teehankee. So there, another Arroyo man caught with his pants down or rather with his foot in his mouth!

The executive clemency has placed the justice system into question once again even if such was an executive decision and there is supposedly a separation of the three branches of government--the executive, judiciary and the legislative. There are lots of prisoners who have been suffering in jail and even after several years they still claim innocence. A lot of media people have been placed behind bars not for killing people but for merely reporting the truth.

Despite Press secretary Jesus Dureza's claims that 292 prisoners were granted pardon by the president this year, the fact that Teehankee is the son of a former Supreme Court justice and the brother of a Philippine Diplomat to the WTO in Geneva still makes people suspicious if justice in the Philippines can really be bought and manipulated either by money or by name.

Tide's "Isa Higit Sa Dalawa" commercial

I was disturbed the first time I saw and heard Tide's "1>2" or "Isa Higit sa Dalawa" advertisement not for anything else but for its tendency to mislead children into believing that what is being taught both at school and at home is not correct. How many mothers and pre-school teachers have spent days teaching children the intricacies of basic mathematics. It is as factual as night and day that 1 is less than 2. However, this Tide commercial insists that 1 is less than 2.

Several weeks after I was surprised and glad that Tide has made some amendments to their advertisement. If you notice Tide's advertisement nowadays, the phrase "isa hight sa dalawa" is still being used but with a caveat----sa mathematics hindi pwede yan!

I don't know if the Department of Education called the attention of Tide's advertisement agency but whoever made that call should be commended for checking it out and asking Tide to amend its advertisement.

I Am Going To Gensan For MBS2!

Gensan or Dustdiangas as I used to call it when I first set foot on this dusty land several decades ago has indeed come a long way. I have many memories of Gensan mostly good, some bad---but they all contributed to making me a better person ---well, hopefully. And while I have always returned home during holidays and vacations, it is only now that I am tracing back my roots hoping that I would be given more reasons to stay for good.

Thanks to the organizers of the MBS2 I now have one more reason to visit Gensan once again for reasons other than family. The holding of the bloggers summit in gensan is very timely considering that the city is experiencing a rebirth of its economic boom. Construction of the Robinsons Mall is underway and there are talks that SM will soon start constructing another mall also. So what's in store for bloggers who will join the MBS2 in Gensan? Lots of tuna and seafood for sure!

Thanks to these folks and companies, MBS2 is finally on!

CO-PRESENTERS:
NOKIA (Philippines), Inc.
Mayor Pedro B. Acharon, Jr.
Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
Bariles Republic

GOLD SPONSORS:
ACLC-Skeptron Ventures, Inc.
Gregoria Printing Press
International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
Grab A Crab Restaurant and Coffee Club 101

SILVER SPONSORS:
Asia United Bank
NoKiAHOST.COM - P5/day Philippines Webhosting
Family Country Hotel and Convention Center
East Asia Royale Hotel

BRONZE SPONSORS:
GensanSALE.COM - AnyThings for Sale in Gensan
Blogging from Home Book
Pacific Seas Seafood Market
Shalom-Crest Wizard Academy
Generals Logimark Exponent
Prints and You
Sta. Cruz Seafood, Inc.
Dellosa Design Builders, Inc.
Forest Lake San Carlos
Rolees Bakery & Cafe