Duterte Teaches Firecracker Ban Violators A Lesson

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has given firecracker ban violators a good enough reason for them to follow the law next time around. After spending five days in jail, New Year was indeed a bombastic and unforgettable one for them.

Duterte said he had not been remiss in reminding Dabawenyos about the firecracker ban in Davao City. A total of 85 violators from different areas in the city were apprehended by the police for violating city ordinance 6002.

"Dugay na ko nag-ingon na this will be a long weekend for you if you go to jail for violating the firecracker ban but you did not believe my warnings so sorry na lang," Duterte said. Those who were arrested should have been released within 24 hours after their arrest but since it was a holiday and government offices were closed then the violators had to wait until this morning to be processed with the City Prosecutor's Office.

Aside from suffering the humiliation of being arrested and staying in jail for five days, those who are found guilty will have to pay a fine of P1,000 aside from the penalty of one month imprisonment.

Duterte said the firecracker ban was specifically imposed to protect the people's health. Hundreds of Filipinos welcome the new year in the hospitals every year due to firecracker-related injuries but Davao City has an almost zero-rate when it comes to firecracker incidents due to Duterte's political will.

Davao City has implemented the firecracker ban since the year 2000 but it was only in 2001 when the ordinance took effect.

A Stormy Week For Davao City

Weather advisories predict not just a rainy week but a stormy week for Davao City. Nice week to start the year huh?

Dabawenyos experienced a rainy day today, Saturday but weatherforecastmap predicts a stormy weather from Sunday to Tuesday this week.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration confirmed a Low Pressure Area formation which can possibly develop into a tropical cyclone. When this happens, it can mean bad weather not only for Mindanao but also for Visayas and Southern Luzon.

Pagasa said the weather disturbance will result to frequent rains all over Mindanao, Southern Luzon and the rest of the Visayas.

Let Pangandaman's Pay For What They Did To Dela Paz Family

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's silence in the wake of what the Pangandaman's did to the Dela Paz family shows how lacking in political will this government is especially when it concerns abusive government officials like the Pangandaman's.

The Pangandaman's, led by Mayor Pangandaman allegedly mauled the Dela Paz family including the father and his 14-year old son after they got into an altercation with Pangandaman's group while playing golf. The Pangandaman's were allegedly not following golf rules and were even the first ones to start the fight. With their burly bodyguards and guns, the Pangandaman's literally lorded it over the dela Paz and even the golf Marshall who failed to do his part in settling the problem.

In an interview with ABS CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda this morning, 14-year old Bino dela Paz (who has a 5 handicap) said Mayor Pangandaman himself boxed him after he pleaded for them to stop beating his 56-year old father. He said he even told them sorry (even if they did not do anything wrong) just so they would stop hurting his father but to no avail

Pangandaman even had the temerity to go out on television asking for the people's forgiveness for what happened without admittign their guilt. The fact that the Pangandaman's were armed with guns and with bodyguards against the dela Paz family with two children and an aging father shows how distended the equation is. Add to that the political clout of the Pangandaman's and the dela Paz will surely lose.

The dela Paz looked like a middle class family who invested heavily in training their children in golf. Every parent dreams of seeing his son or daughter excel in his chosen sports but in this case, the Pangandaman's should be made to pay not only for the physical damage they have caused but more importantly for the future they have destroyed. Dela Paz said his son Bino was so traumatized with the incident that he no longer wants to even see a golf course much more play golf.

DatelineDavao Is PR2

It will definitely be a good 2009 for DatelineDavao after receiving a gift from Google during the first day of the year. Datelinedavao is now PR 2 from PR N/A. It's funny really considering that I haven't been posting regularly for December as I prioritized paid writing works. I did work double time on my postings for November and changed my theme recently.

I don't understand Google's PR rating myself but I know that generally a site's PR rank signifies the significance level of your site. The higher your PR, the maximum being 10, the higher the rank of your pages in the Search Engine Results Pages or SERP although online marketers believe that there are other factors that determine this.

Some say your PR rating is also determined by the number of significant links between your site and other relevant pages. Google said the PageRank is a reflection of the web pages' importance with the more important web pages getting a higher page rank greater chance to top the search results.

Whatever the standards used by Google in ranking web pages, Datelinedavao is just so happy about finally getting a PageRank--at last!

25 Hurt In Gensan Blast

At least 25 people were injured when a grenade blasted the Oval Plaza of General Santos City at 9PM New year's Eve, December 31, 2008. What's new?

What makes this blast a lesson learned is that it was too near the city playground where kids abound. We were there with kids when we went home last September. We would have been there in the afternoon of December 24 had it not been closed down temporarily I hope for security reasons. We would have been in the Oval Plaza to look at the Christmas lights which supposedly gave Gensan a Disneyland feeling (some family members decided not to go though since they were not so impressed with the display they saw in the afternoon and after they got worried about safety issues).

One of the issues that we would often discuss in the family when going home to Gensan is Mall-avoidance and public-place-avoidance because this city has been infamous for the lack of security not only in the malls but also in other public places and in the whole city generally. It is difficulty to make a commentary on this considering that anything negative will surely affect how visitors will perceive the city in the future. However, turning a blind eye will not change things and will perhaps only worsen it.

When blasts like these become almost a regular thing then one would suspect that there must be something wrong with how the city officials of Gensan are treating the city's security or lack of it. Of course, other places get bomb threats and have their own bombing and grenade incidents too but not as regularly as Gensan.

I have always been vocal about the lack of political will on the part of Gensan's politicians and under command responsibility principles, it is always the head of the city who will be held accountable for anything that happens. City mayor Acharon has been mayor of Gensan for several years and people should consider the continuous threat to their lives as a sign that come 2010, they should already elect new leaders.

Security in General Santos is pretty lax. Security guards in Davao City malls would bother you just so they can check all your belongings and would even frisk you until you want to shout at them. Here in Gensan, the security guards at the KCC Mall looked even annoyed when I opened my bag to let them peek inside. Were they too heavily relying on those canines stationed on the front doors? So much for security.

The officials in charge of the overland terminal are also very lax with security procedures. Anyone can just go in and out of the terminal without being frisked or even their baggage checked. The city officials have been elected by the people to make sure that everything is spic and span not only economic and social -wise but also security-wise. This is too much of a responsibility that is why it is called public service. Anybody who could not respond to the demands of his job should step down.

Christmas In General Santos

General Santos City may be the new site of Robinsons Mall and the soon to be constructed SM City but a tour around the downtown area will show you that the city is still in dire need of improvement infrastructure and investments wise.

There was a time during the administration of former Mayor Rosalita Nunez when General Santos was really booming--meaning commercial buildings everywhere, big malls, infrastructure projects and a vibrant market. I know Robinsons and SM are big investments (I am not even sure if SM will push through) but a friend who also hails from General Santos City and who studied College and started a family here said "ay ewan" when I told her the good news about Robinsons. Seeing Gensan now, I seem to have understood her reaction.

I was tryign to pin down the tail on the donkey as to what was missing in Gensan despite the big investments coming in. Finally, I realized that the small and medium entrepreneurs were missing in the picture. Streets like Pioneer Avenue and Magsaysay Avenue were like ghost town in the afternoon of December 24. It should have been different considering that people are still hot on their Christmas shopping.

Go to the malls like KCC and Gaisano though and you will see lots of people there. But KCC and Gaisano are not just the only entrepreneurs in Gensan. I would favor the growth of the small and medium enterprises first rather than see them die in the hands of big investors like KCC, Robinsons and SM.

Christmas At NCCC Mall

The NCCC Mall in Matina has gone all out this Christmas, constructing two giant Christmas billboards along the entrance side. The billboards contain the mosaic-like images of kids which appropriately sends out NCCC Mall's message--that Christmas is truly for the kids and the kids at heart. It is only with a kid's heart that one is able to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas sans the expensive blinking Christmas lights, the sumptuous noche buena and even the expensive shopping list. On the sides of the billboards are giant parols customized for the design,

However, the Maa side of NCCC Mall is equally if not more attractive. Take a look at these photos.