How much do you earn now? For sure, what you are earning as a living and breathing ordinary employee, even as a manager in one of Davao City's establishments is peanuts compared to what the "famous deads" are earning.

Proof? According to Forbes Magazine there is a $105 million combined net income for 2007 alone among Elvis Presley, Charles Shultz (creator of Snoopy cartoon strip) and Heath Ledger (Joker in the last Batman movie)---all of whom are dead.

Elvis Presley died at the age of 42 but 30 years after his death he (his estate) was still able to amass $52 million in 2007. This is much bigger compared to the 2007 incomes of living stars like Madonna (with $40 million) or even Justin Timberlake (with $44 million). This is way, way bigger than the income of an ordinary Dabawenyos for that matter.

This was the second time that Elvis topped the list of top celebrity income earners both dead and alive. In 2006 Elvis had an income of $49 million. His high net income in 2007 was attributed to the extravaganza held at his home in Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee to celebrate his 30th death anniversary.

On the other hand, "Peanuts" creator Charles Shultz died at the age of 77 in the year 2000 but he was still able to amass $33 million in posthumous earnings thanks to a recent agreement inked between his heirs and the Warner Bros. Studios.

Ledger became even more famous posthumously when the previous Batman movie was shown thanks to a remarkable portrayal of Joker . He died in 2008 at the age of 28 but was able to amass $20 million posthumously.

On top 4 of the list of high income earners is Albert Einstein, who died in 1955 but left a legacy---not merely the theory of relativity---but the "Baby Einstein" concept which was developed into a full line of DVDs and toys for children. Thanks to Baby Einstein, Albert was able to amass $18 million posthumously.

Top 5 on the list is Dr. Seuss or Theodor Geisel, the man behind the movie "Horton Hears A Who" as well as several other childrens' books. Dr. Seuss amassed $12 million posthumously followed by John Lennon of Beatles fame with $9 million.

Petron, Shell Cuts LPG Prices By P4 Per Kilo

Shell and Petron has reduced the price of their Liquefied Petroleum gas products by P4 per kilo which brings the price of LPG in Davao City from P670 to P626 per tank. The price of LPG is expected to further go down as world prices continue to plunge.

LPG prices in the world market has gone down from $804 in October to only $450 per metric tons this month.

The government and the public are however not content with the P4 reduction per kilo and has demanded a P15 per kilo reduction in the price of LPG. The Liquefied Petroleum Gas marketers' Association however said they will continue to reduce LPG prices until it reaches the ideal P15 per kilo reduction.

One Network Bank Strengthens Its Presence In Mindanao With 5 More Branches

One Network Bank (ONB) is making its presence felt in Mindanao with the opening of five additional branches next year in Surigao City, Dipolog City, Ozamis City, Zamboanga del Norte (Sindangan) and Misamis Oriental (Gingoog). The operationalization of these branches will mean a total of 75 branches for Network Bank.

Network Bank is also set to activate 30 additional Automated Teller Machines or ATMs in selected areas in Mindanao . This is proof of the bank's intention to grow with Mindanao said ONB president Alex V. Buenaventura.

Buenaventura said they have identified 35 growth areas and they will continue to saturate these areas with ONB branches. The areas being eyed by Network Bank are either underbanked or unbanked.

Nograles Park In Mini-Forest Is Illegal-Duterte

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte reiterated the city government's contention that the Nograles Park along Mini-Forest Boulevard which was recently demolished by the City Engineer's Office is illegal.

The P7 million Park, which was completed in 2006, was built by the government using government money and was demolished by the government. Duterte said the demolition of the Park did not affect any private rights as it was owned by the government so the City Engineer's Office did not violate any right when it demolished the structure. He also questioned why government funds were used to finance a park named after a private person.

Duterte said the Nograles Park, which was named after Speaker Prospero Nograles' father, also violated the law because it was built without the authority of the City Council, a body which has the power to approve or disapprove the location where parks should be constructed. He added that public parks are usually named after government officials or persons who have contributed to the development of a certain area so the naming of the park should also be placed under scrutiny.

He said that all these aside, the Park was demolished because it was built on top of a canal which was impeding the flow of water in the area which was already prone to flooding.

PGMA Visits Davao City's After Dark For The 4th Time

For the record, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has visited Davao City's "After Dark Piano Bar", a videoke-restaurant-bar located in Ecoland, four times already.

This was confirmed by no less than Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte himself who said the President sang a Visayan song (Duterte was not sure but said PGMA sang "Usahay") at the videoke bar the last time she was there. This was previous to her visit to the city last Thursday to attend the 61st birthday of Speaker Prospero Nograles which was held at the Apo View Hotel.

Duterte met with the President but refused to reveal the details of their meeting saying it was hush-hush and was not at all about politics but about community matters.

Davao Mayor Pushes For Creation Of Crematorium For Dabawenyos

Dabawenyos who could not afford a decent place to bury their dead should start thinking about the benefits of cremation. City Councilor Nilo Abellera has already proposed the creation of a crematorium facility for the city,

"Mas magpabor ko anang sunugun ang patay nga lawas; bisag ako sugot ko sunugun akoang patay nga lawas 24 hours after I am dead (I am in favor of cremating the dead body; I am even in favor of being cremated 24 hours after I am dead," Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday when interview in ABS CBN's "Gikan Sa Masa, Para Sa Masa" television program.

Duterte said cremation may not be widely accepted by Dabawenyos today but it is time that everyone should consider this option for practicality sake. He said Davao City is experiencing a shortage in burial grounds and those who cannot afford the expensive private cemeteries should be given an option.

Duterte said he is advocating for the creation of a public crematorium so the poor people of Davao will have an option. He said if the plan pushes through, the city crematorium can even offer free services for Dabawenyos who could not afford it.

The construction of a crematorium can be expensive and as of 2004, the Davao Memorial park has not recouped even 50% of the $300,000 it has invested for the crematorium facilities. The management of the Park however confirmed that the number of people availing of their crematorium service is increasing every year.

Diesel and Gas Prices Down By P5, P2 Respectively

There was a time when a thousand pesos can only fill the gasoline tank with 15 liters of diesel. With the successive rollbacks in fuel prices the latest of which was the P5 and the P2 rollback in diesel and gas prices respectively, a thousand pesos can now fill the gas tank with around 26 liters of fuel.

Last Thursday's rollback was the biggest so far for big oil companies Petron, Shell and later on Caltex. This is nothing new for small oil companies like Unioil, Seaoil, Phoenix and the likes because the said companies have lowered their fuel prices in bigger chunks ever since world fuel prices have gone down.

Fuel prices in the world market was at its highest last July, 2008 but it went down by over 50% and is now pegged at $60 per barrel. Philippine fuel prices, especially those from the Big 3 (Caltex, Shell, Petron) have only been reduced by a small percentage to the detriment of the motorists who were expecting a bigger reduction.