Davao's Artica Dome Tops List Of White Elephant Projects By LBP

The Land Bank of the Philippines claimed to being very careful in approving loans applied for by local government units saying "mabibilang lang sa kamay" (that one can only count in his fingers)the local government projects financed by LBP that have turned into white elephants. This was the confirmation made by LBP senior vice president Delia Ladao during the press conference held at the Philippine Information Agency office last Saturday.

However, Ladao did not deny the fact that the P300 million Artica Sports Dome project in Maa this city is on top of the list of white elephant projects in the city with money coming from LBP. The project was initiated during the time of mayor Benjamin de Guzman but was halted by mayor Rodrigo Duterte for environmental and other reasons (including financial irregularities).

It can be recalled that the project's viability was questioned even before construction started considering that it was sitting on a site susceptible to landslides and earthquakes. However, de Guzman went on with the project, leaving the millions of Dabawenyos responsible for the payment of the loan.

The bank is very careful in the evaluation and approval of local government projects, Ladao said. The Artica Sports Dome has however become a white elephant project for reasons out of the control of the bank, she added.

Weddings For Rich People In Government Belies Econ. Crisis In RP

Is the Philippines really suffering from economic crisis? NO, judging from the lavish weddings that are being celebrated for the sons and daughters of people who hold very influential positions in the government. The recent wedding in Davao City of the daughter of Press Secretary Jesus Dureza is a case in fact.

Of course, you can always say that Dureza already had his millions made even before he became the government's press speaker whenever there is an important proclamation or comment that the government has to make like belying the fact that there is an economic crisis in the country. Imagine the 10 helicopters that brought the guests to Dureza's Seagull Mountain Resort last Saturday including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Just a year or more ago, Speaker of the House Prospero Norgrales' son Karlo got married not only in style but super en grande as the common folks would call it. That wedding was also attended by "people who matter" both in government and in the business sector. And know what? That was also attended by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Of course, you can always say that Nograles had made it big even before he became Speaker of the House.

In a country where more than half of the 95 million citizens are considered lucky if they have tuyo or salty fish as well as a bowl of rice in their table, this is a big insult. Imagine Dureza's guests all clad in black and gold apparel surrounded by an equally lavish catering service only fitting for the gods and goddesses of Philippine politics and business. On the one hand, imagine what thoughts filled the mind of Jenifer Bedoya before the beheading.. imagine the thoughts that are filling the minds of three Filipino Overseas Filipino Workers (Brothers) Edison and Rolando Gonzales and Eduardo Arcilla who are now in the Jeddah death row...imagine how Mang Pandoy could not even be laid to rest as the family was still waiting for burial money...

Even the authors of the Civil Code deemed the whole thing pukable when it stated in Article 25 that "Thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency may be stopped by order of the courts at the instance of any government or private charitable institution..."

Perhaps, they do no even consider the Filipinos to be already living in a period of acute want whereby thoughtless extravagance should be stopped. Those people in Congress should think twice about limiting the expenses for the celebration of public fiestas which are enjoyed by as many Filipinos as possible if such extravagance display of weddings of government officials and their families are tolerated,

Imagine the poor Filipinos working their butts off either in the Philippines or in another country just so they can put three square meals in their family's tables...And then imagine the laughter and the caviar that must have filled the tables of the guests during the Dureza wedding. Please don't puke.

Halloween Treats In Davao City-Part 1

Halloween may be a western tradition but the Dabawenyos are starting to celebrate this albeit more conservatively. The celebration was originally known as Samhain, a Celtic festival which is regarded as their own version of a New Year and coincides with the end of the Gaelic harvest season.

This is actually one of the many pagan festivals that even Christians celebrate in the modern world. While the ancient pagans took advantage of Halloween to to get their supplies for winter, the ancient Gaels believed that this is that time of the year when the living is faced with sickness and other problems caused by the dead. The costumes worn today reflected the same costumes worn in the early days to either mimic or placate the evil spirits.

Today, people consider Halloween to be a family affair with kids getting the most of out the celebration as they go from house to house shouting trick or treats! Here are some of the Halloween celebrations scheduled in Davao City.


Eden Nature Park

Children will get their treats alright with the Harry Potter-inspired Halloween Party at the Eden Nature Park on October 31 at 5:30pm. Wear your favorite Harry Potter character from Harry himself, Hermione, Hagrid or even Dumbledore! The organizers of the event said the kids will be dazzled not only with the games and surprises during the Party. There will also be a price for those who will win the Best in Costume contest. Eden's own magician staff will teach children the art of origami and hopefully they will be able to come up with their own Hedwig owls.

And since Halloween is a time to treat not only the kids but also their families, Eden is offering the following room discounts from October 30 to November 2.

• 20% on rooms
• 20% off on family cottages
• 40% off on the campsite areas

On October 30 to November 2 (Thursday to Sunday), get 40% off on rooms, 20% off on family cottages, and 40% off when you camp out at the resort's various campsite areas.

Day Tour is also available for those who would rather explore the Park during daytime at the following prices.
P420 buffet lunch (adult) inclusive of entrance P280 buffet lunch (child) inclusive of entrance P180 snack (adult) P150 snack (child) P230 Fun at the Park (adult) P200 Fun at the Park (child) includes entrance, plated snack, entry to the fishing village, swimming pool or horseback riding, P325 Skyrider with snack including entrance P250 Tinubdan (adult) P185 Tinubdan (child) includes entrance, packed snack and Tinubdan Tour.

For reservations you can call
Eden Nature Park and Resort
299.1020/296.0791/299.0313
send sms to 0918.930.7590
info@edennaturepark.com.ph

Davao Museum Features Amorsolo Retrospective This October

Kadayawan may be over for this year but you can still celebrate the bountiful harvest thanks to the Amorsolo Retrospective satellite exhibit which will open on October 23 at the Davao Museum's Carlos O. Dominguez Gallery located at the Zonta Building, 113 Agusan Circle, Insular Village Phase I, Lanang, Davao City.

The four month Amorsolo Retrospective exhibit. which opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila last September 26, aims to bring Philippine National Artist Fernando Amorsolo's life and work closer to the Filipino people. The Davao Museum exhibit is 13th of the 20 satellite exhibits all over the country.

The exhibit dubbed as "Celebrating Ginum: A Festival for a Bountiful Harvest" features the Bagobo's pre-planting festival which is being held annually. This should be pretty interesting and Davao's Bagobo community as well as the Dabawenyos as a whole can very well relate to it considering the city's bountiful harvests year in and year out.

You can call the Davao Museum Information Desk for more information on the exhibit at 233-1734 or email them at davaomuseum@yahoo.com. You still have up to January 13, 2009 to take a closer look at Amorsolo's works.

Goodbye E.O. Fuentes

I would have said move on Sir E.O. because I know he wanted his death to be poetic and not melancholy. He was known among the circle of Davao writers as simply E.O. He was my mentor and later on became my friend and confidante.

I had the chance to work with Sir E.O. when I was taken in by Publisher/Writer Willie Rola to edit his business magazine "Dimensions". I was still in college then but he believed in me and trusted me with running the editorial content of his magazine but of course, with the help of our editorial consultant E.O. Fuentes.

He was already an old man then but he was very vibrant and full of life. And he was very unselfish, taking it upon him to mentor me. He always considered me his protege and taught me a lot of things about feature writing. It was my first stint in professional writing (unless you count the once in a blue moon writing experiences I had with then Peryodiko Dabaw and another magazine owned by an advertising man).

I was placed in the company of "wolves", so to speak as they were all experienced writers around me--Sir E.O. and Willie Rola. Thus, I had no choice but to learn and to make the best of whatever writing talent I had.

One of the first criticisms, er---lessons Sir E.O taught me was to make sure that my features ended smoothly. "Do not let your article end abruptly," he would coach me. But no matter how I tried, he kept on pestering me for hours no end that I should make sure my ending was beautiful and that it will always be remembered by my readers.

My experience with Dimensions Magazine was all worth the pain of having to wake up early to cover the Geothermal Plant in Mt. Apo and to stay up late to make sure those articles were written following Sir E.O.'s guidelines. I cannot anymore remember the hundreds of feature stories I wrote for Dimensions, most of them passed the Eagle's eye of Sir. E.O. after several rewrites.

We parted ways since I was taken in by another mentor, Ms. Marietta Siongco of Mindanao Daily Mirror to take care of Mirror's business news. Business news was a never-heard genre then since what was popular in the Davao media was political news. But Sir. E.O. was never far behind and he would always beep me (ha!ha! no SMS messages then) or all me up at Mirror so we an have lunch or just a light snack.

I have always looked forward to those "dates" then since Sir. E.O. always treated me and still critiqued even my news articles. He encouraged me to do more business features at a time when a major reporter of a local tabloid laughed at my article about the business of making salt. She was ignorant about business writing then as she was only exposed to political news. Sir E.O. gave me the courage to move on and to ignore her remarks. And thanks to him, I moved on and left my own mark in the growth of Davao City's business reporting niche no matter how trivial that may be.

He went on to encourage me to write more business features when I was hired by BusinessWorld to be their correspondent for Mindanao. As usual, he did not stop critiquing my work but at the same time there were always words of wisdom behind his criticisms. He also asked me to be part of the FIDI book which he edited.

I haven't had a date with Sir E.O. for quite sometime after I became busy with law school and moved on to another career. However, we always talked on the phone and during those times he would always drop a word or two about maintaining the spontaneity of my stories.

Sir E.O. was a gifted man. He was very kind and his words of wisdom will always be with me.

Davao Doctors Hospital, College In The Midst Of Corporate Bickering

Could the operation of Davao City's premier hospital be disrupted by the ongoing rift between two groups of stockholders? The same question goes for the operation of Davao Doctors College, both of which are being managed by the same corporation?

A media war is going on between the former DDH President Dr. Herminio Villano of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) which is a group identified with new investor Manny Pangilinan and present DDH president Dr. Dominador Cabrera. You would think such corporate take over and controversy can only happen in the books of John Grisham but it is happening right here in Davao City, and will take place on November 8, 2008 during the board's annual stockholders meeting.

Cabrera said the DDH stockholders are not so keen to Villano's bid for the presidency of DDH because "he sold out!". Villano, along with three other shareholders of DDH, consolidated and sold their shares to Pangilinan's MPIC last June but reports indicate that Villano has retained at least 300 shares.

Villano however denied he is eyeing a comeback for the presidency of the DDH and said "It's true that I am running but only for a seat in the board" and only to ensure that no obstructions are faced by the MPIC in the implementation of the financial policies geared towards saving the hospital.

He said the company behind the hospital and the Davao Doctors College has not been managed accordingly. He clarified that it is the company and not the hospital that has been mismanaged. However, he admitted that the College was being run badly and has experienced a drop in the number of enrolleess from 6,500 during his time to the present 3,600.

MPIC is seeking a majority status in the board considering that it will invest P250 million in the hospital from 2008 to 2009.

Cabrera debunked the allegations saying the college may have a low enrollment rate this year but it is still contributing a sizable revenue to the company. He said the reason for the low enrollment is the raising of the entrance exam standards of the school unlike before when even a student with a score of 38 was allowed admission.

Mindanao Talk Show Kicks Off Nov. 19

A Mindanao talk show dubbed as "Talk Mindanao" will be launched on November 19, 2008 on Channels 15 and 28 of Sky Cable Network. The show, which will be aired from 1o p.m. to 11 p.m every Wednesday, will be seen in Davao City, General Santos City, Tagum and Zamboanga City.

The show is a good opportunity for Mindanaoans who want to know about the latest news and issues affecting the island including its economy, peace and order, business and other advocacy.

"We hope to highlight the different opportunities in Mindanao especially in investments," Mindanao Business Council chairman Vicente Lao said. On the other hand, Mindanao Economic Development Council Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana said that aside from providing vital information to businessmen "the show will also give various updates on peace and development to Mindanao's different stakeholders."

The newest talk show in and about Mindanao, which replaced the live interview program Mindanao Business Talk, will be managed jointly by Medco and MinBC.