Tholons study counts worker supply in 20 'next-wave' cities
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:44:00 02/11/2008

MANILA, Philippines--An ongoing study by the government and outsourcing advisory firm Tholons measures BPO skills in 20 second-tier cities using a standard deployed in India.

The DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and Tholons began the study last year, which looks at these "next-wave cities" and is intended to provide insights on how each can improve as BPO (business process outsourcing) sites.

The initial phase of the project involves gathering basic quantitative and qualitative data on second-tier cities, such as business environment, quality of life and infrastructure.

Phase two, which begins this year, will quantify the number of potential BPO workers in these cities based on skills, according to the DTI.

"Aside from offering a comparison of sites in terms of infrastructure and business environment, our next phase looks further into the skills level of people who, at the end of the day, are the ones that drive the industry," said Paul Santos, Tholons president for Asia Pacific.

An earlier study by Tholons ranked Cebu, Pasig and Baguio among the top 50 emerging cities worldwide suited for BPO.

The said study is also intended to help formulate a national competitiveness standard for BPO similar to that of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

Tholons is working with Merittrac, the skills assessment company that helped NASSCOM come up with its own competency standard in India.

According to BPAP, the country's BPO industry currently employs around 300,000 workers, two-thirds of which are from the call center sector, followed by back-office (non-voice) and software development.

HERE (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080211-118166/Tholons-study-counts-worker-supply-in-20-next-wave-cities)

RLC putting up 6 more malls in 2008
By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:44:00 02/10/2008


ROBINSONS LAND CORP., the real-estate unit of the Gokongwei Group, is adding at least six more malls to its existing list this year, company president Frederick Go said.

Go said RLC's mall expansion formed part of the company's planned P10-capital expenditure program for 2008.

The amount was higher than the P7 billion to P8 billion spent by the company last year.

The new malls are being put up in Pulilan, Bulacan; Tacloban, Leyte; Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; Davao City; Cebu; and Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
RLC recently completed the foundation of its three-level shopping mall in Dumaguete City, which is scheduled for completion in mid-next year, the company said in a recent disclosure.

The Dumaguete mall , which will be RLC's fourth mall in the Visayas, will include an 80-room hotel and 3,000-square meter trade hall.

RLC's first three shopping malls in the Visayas are in Bacolod, Iloilo and Cebu.

Go also said RLC would also build this year a hotel in Tagaytay, across Josephine's restaurant. The hotel will be named Summit Ridge and is scheduled for completion next year.

In earlier documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, RLC said the proposed hotel in Tagaytay would have 54 hotel rooms, 36 serviced apartments, five luxury villas and conference facilities.

RLC is a major player in the property market and boasts of a growing portfolio now composed of 20 shopping centers, 23 residential condominiums, five office buildings, 27 housing and land developments, and three hotels.

"Aside from offering a comparison of sites in terms of infrastructure and business environment, our next phase looks further into the skills level of people who, at the end of the day, are the ones that drive the industry," said Paul Santos, Tholons president for Asia Pacific.

An earlier study by Tholons ranked Cebu, Pasig and Baguio among the top 50 emerging cities worldwide suited for BPO.

^^speaking of BPO, Mactan Island will have another BPO building care of Aboitizland. :okay:

Cebu Daily News
Feb. 11 2008
Enterprise Section, Trends and updates

P500-M Loan
ABOITIZLAND Inc. has secured a P500-million term loan from Security Bank to boost its funding portfolio for its planned urban village in Cebu, The Persimmons, and business processing venture in Mactan island, iMez.

Leorelei Ylaya, Aboitizland Inc. marketing manager, said that The Persimmons is designed to revolutionize the definition of living in the city. "It will be Cebu City's first real urban village hosting four residential towers of up to 15 stories each and an expansive commercial center along MJ Cuenco Avenue in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City," Ylaya said.
Site clearing activities for The Persimmons project have already begun. The development of the 1.4 hectare project will start within the first quarter of the year.

The P500-million loan will also help in the Aboitizland's iMez, a BPO building in Pueblo Verde commercial center in front of the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEZ) 2 in Mactan Island.

iMez will be a 5-storey home for the BPO operatores with an area of 4,000 square meters of prime office space.

any perspective designs of iMez????

^^speaking of BPO, Mactan Island will have another BPO building care of Aboitizland. :okay:

Cebu Daily News
Feb. 11 2008
Enterprise Section, Trends and updates

P500-M Loan
ABOITIZLAND Inc. has secured a P500-million term loan from Security Bank to boost its funding portfolio for its planned urban village in Cebu, The Persimmons, and business processing venture in Mactan island, iMez


...Security Bank? ...Cebu-based Aboitiz is one of the owners of UnionBank and City Savings Bank...

the central bank does not allow bank owners, directors and stockholders to borrow from their own corporations.

bitaw no. sounds weird na you own a bank then you cant borrow from it. hehehe...
btw, there's a coffee dream branch at A! City MAll. i think it's open already. cool ang place.

the central bank does not allow bank owners, directors and stockholders to borrow from their own corporations.

...i see, thanks for the info! ...i thought big companies have its own bank to finance their own businesses...the Sy's has BDO, Gokongwei's has Robinsons Bank, Tan's has Allied Bank, Gaisano's has Wealthbank and so on...

Garcias turn old stable into a commercial strip
The Freeman Online
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

With the advent of new and different concepts of commercial strips emerging within the confines of Metro Cebu, Cebuanos as well as our foreign and domestic tourists are provided with several better options on where to dine, shop or hang-out with their friends and families in the city.

And seeing to this evolving lifestyle, a new commercial establishment called The Gallery yet to bolster operation along Juan Luna Avenue is targeting to capture the overflow of crowds along the strips of IT Park and other business centers in the area such as the Ayala Business Park and perk up business activities along the area.

In an interview with JEG Development Corporation’s OIC and chief operating officer Shem Jose W. Garcia during their open house, he pointed out that The Gallery is conceptualized as an entertainment and lifestyle destination wherein consumers can dine, shop, and hang-out day and night.

The property used to be a horse stable owned by Garcia’s family members. “We thought that it’s about time we utilize our properties. So after we did property assessment we figured it will be best to use this lot to provide a beautiful place in the central that can give alternative development space for other businesses to start,” said Garcia.

The Gallery is a partnership venture with their company JDC and Mai-I Resources forming JEGVEG Realty Incorporated which spent roughly about P25 million for this investment. JEG Development Corporation was behind commercial development project One Acacia Place, another entertainment and lifestyle strip along Archbishop Reyes Avenue.

Garcia explained that since most business centers in the city are already congested and that Metro Cebu has limited prime lot spaces that can only accommodate pocket developments, they are optimistic that the area where they put up their investment will become another business hub in no time.

“Cebu is going to keep growing and growing and we believe that this area is going to accommodate high rise buildings for the next five years as this will be another hit destination within the city,” Garcia added.

He also said that The Gallery will be targeting markets with a demand for good aesthetic and is eyeing the huge captive market from the overflow of crowd within the nearby IT Park composed mostly of BPO employees such as call center agents.

“Despite of its sophisticated structure, it does not necessarily mean The Gallery will cater only for the upscale market because these days we are already seeing a growing middle class so it will be more about good taste,” he stressed.

The Gallery measures about 4, 600 square meters of lot spaces with an interior rentable space of about 1, 000 square meters that can initially contain about 15 tenants and a parking space that can accommodate 55 slots. Garcia said that the space was utilized to provide huge outdoor space to exude a European-like street feel wherein consumers can hang-out to socialize and do their transactions with their families, friends and colleagues.

“Our establishment’s design and ambiance will be our edge in this kind of business venture and because of our corner advantage and huge outdoor spaces we anticipate positive market traffic,” said Garcia.

At the moment, The Gallery still has about three confirmed tenants which include a Filipino owned Zumo Resto bar, a golf shop called Red Golf and massage parlor Cataleya. It is targeted to be in full operation on March or April of this year. – Rhia de Pablo

Local software developers amaze Japanese investors
The Freeman Online
By Ehda M. Dagooc
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The impressive software development skills of Cebuano software developers at Morph Labs Inc, has attracted Japanese investors to advance their software development works offered to the global market.

Morph Labs Inc., chairman Winston Damarillo said in an interview that the company is now clinching an investment deal with a group of Japanese impressed by the works of the Cebuano software developers.

“We are going to maximize the use of technology, and we are continuously inventing new solutions for the world market, eventually we will have their works licensed,” Damarillo said.

With this set-up, top-notch software solutions that will be known around the world, will be patented and promoted as “product of [Cebu] Philippines” boosting the name of the country as the home of international Information Technology (IT) experts.

Morph Labs Inc. www.morphexchange.com is a Philippine-based Web 2.0 technology company focused on providing innovative technologies and applications to support Software as a Service globally.

Based in Cebu but with operations in Manila and Los Angeles California, USA, Morph Labs is poised to become the leading provider of on-demand applications and delivery platforms.

In December of last year, the company announced to raise an initial capitalization fund of P65 million to finance its research and development venture here, that would provide software as a service in the international market.

Morph Labs, a Web 2.0 technology company, recently signed with AO Capital Partners Limited, to lead the venture financing round. As lead investors, AO Capital has agreed to fund a minimum of P24 million of the private equity round with the option of funding the entire offering.

The new Japanese partner, will also pour in sizeable amount to fast track the software solutions development for Morph, he said. However, both parties still have to agree on the exact amount of the investment.

The intellectual property of Morph Labs has recently been bolstered with the acquisition of a U.S. based data center and its software assets, the CoRE Network. The SaaS operational support software solution and physical data center provide key components, which are expected to accelerate the timetable for product availability.

According to Damarillo, all software solutions products developed in Morph Labs in Cebu, will be licensed as “Cebu-patent”.

Morph Labs, located at the Asia Town IT Park, targets to launch a series of product offerings starting this month. The company anticipates a comprehensive solution set for both the supply and the demand side of Software as a Service by year-end 2008.

Hello.

I do not know if you have read this article and I am not sure if it is appropriate to post it here because I am not sure if it uplifts us Cebuanos more than it builds walls from other provinces in the country. But it is something worth pondering coz it's quite a cry. I got this from email and the author is unknown.

================================================================

CEBUANO KO BAI!
Author Unknown

I am not a Filipino, never considered myself one a long time ago. I am a Cebuano and my late father once said: "There's a whale of a difference between the two". And that distinction between the Cebuano and Filipino is never more pronounced than the result of the 2001 Senatorial Elections. The election results nationwide from Manila to Mindanao showed an even trend, far below the expectations of the anti-Erap advocates. Can you believe that? After we've been screwed in the ass by a pea-brained Tagawg! But the Cebuanos voted differently. We Cebuanos voted with the same clear sightedness and maturity that scared the shit out of Marcos and his KBL lap dogs who despite massive cheating and terrorism in collusion with his Ilocano Generals were defeated by the Pusyon Bisaya during the Parliamentary Elections in the seventies. We Cebuanos have a better sense of truth and justice and we have always been the vanguards against tyranny and oppression since 1521 when Chief Lapu-lapu whacked Magellan.

Cebu City was the first established capital of the islands until the seat of the Spanish colonial government was moved to Manila in the early eighteenth century. Why? Can you imagine if Malacanang Palace were in Cebu City in September 21, 1972? Marcos would have been barbecued in Pasil in less than 24 hours. That's the same reason why Legaspi changed his mind and moved the capital to Manila and not because Cebu was no longer a commercially viable port during the galleon trade with Acapulco. Legaspi was simply traumatized by Magellan's defeat in Mactan and was clearly intimidated by the Cebuanos.

In Col. Manuel Segura's book "Tabunan: The Exploits of Cebu Guerillas", the dauntless yet under armed Cebuanos inflicted the highest number of enemy forces killed per guerilla fighter in the Philippines. The indomitable spirit and determination of the Cebuano fighters to arm themselves against the superior Japanese Forces became the progenitor of the now burgeoning gun (paltik) industry in the province. One of the most famous guerilla fighter that later became a successful arms manufacturer was Simeon Cortes who once fabricated mortars out of sewer pipes.

The imminent invasion of Australia was thwarted when Japanese General Koga who was carrying the classified blueprint of the of the military plan to invade Australia was captured by Cebuano guerillas off the coast of Minglanilla. Yet this brave tales remain a footnote in military history. Why, because history is written by the Tagawgs of the North. We once had a Cebuano President the late Don Sergio Osmena, Sr. who never got re-elected for being too honest to tell the Filipinos that he cannot promise them a better life in a country reeling from the destruction of war. He never licked the butt of the "Liberator kuno", the legendary mama's boy General Douglas MacArthur. He was a great President in the wrong country!

Do you know that the Cebuanos produced more world boxing champions than any other ethnic group in the Philippines? Let me refresh your memories. One of the all time great in the Junior Lightweight division was the legendary Gabriel "Flash" Elorde. The string of World Champions that followed were Bernabe Villacampo, Frank Cedeno, Dodie Boy Penalosa, Jerry Penalosa and Joma Gamboa. The Cebuanos also produced the best singers and musicians in this archipelago. We are all familiar with names like Pilita Corrales, Amapola Cabase, Dulce, Eva Santos, Vernie Varga, Manilyn Reynes, Vina Morales, Chad Borja, Ray-an Fuentes, Stax Hugete, Ingrid Sala Santamaria - the list is almost endless. This is a testament to the artistry and creativity and the passion to excel that is deeply ingrained in the genetic code of every Cebuano.

We are a unique people Blessed by the Sto. Nino. We have lesser typhoons, criminality, traffic jams and virtually no earthquakes. Our artisans are world-class- we have the best furniture makers, the best gun makers, the best guitar makers, and the best delicacies,etc.,etc.

We deserve nothing less than the best in governance and to be able to run the affairs of the state and economy by ourselves without relying or being exploited by the hopelessly corrupt Manila government. Our children don't have to suffer the torturous Tagawg lessons in school because our own language is more eloquent and superior. Is there a Tagawg word for husband? Or who can better pronounce the words Beatles, popsicle, tricycle, uncle? Cebuanos or Tagawgs? Baaah!! Yet they make a mockery out of our accent and they think all Cebuana girls are maids.

Since the choice of our national leaders will always be superseded by the choice of ignorant Filipinos, the time is ripe for the Cebuanos to rise and demand self-determination. Mga Moros ra diay maka-hibaw? No doubt we can do better than what Hong Kong and Singapore have accomplished as an independent State. Let the rest of the country be run like hell by the Ilocanos, the Pampangos, Pangasinense and Tagawgs. Give Mindanao to the Moros, they deserve it! Kamong nang botar ni Loi, Ping, Honasan, Angara inyo na ang Pilipinas. Leave Cebu to the Cebuanos. So, who's with me in this crusade? Sugdan na nato mga igsoon! Voice out your anger! Cebuano Pride is Burning! So please don't call me Filipino in the same manner that the Catalans, the Andalucians, the Malaguenas and the Basques don't want to be called Spaniards!

^^ feeler rna cya nga Cebuano... gara2x ra na iya! nabuang na na cya!

another wanabee, daghan gi.reasearch2x, bogo lng ghapon! :bash: asa man kha na cya bukira gkan?

Hehehe. Basin gisulat ni ug estudyante, para modako ang grado ni create sya ug issue para unique. Hehehe.

But anyway, I am not proud to be a Cebuano... I am proud to be a Cebuana! :lol:

^^ dodong charing. hehehehe!

Hoy dili no. Straight tawon ko. And pure Cebuana.

^^ Cool.

That just goes to show that more and more female forumers are becoming members and active posters of Skyscrapercity.Com's Cebu Sub-Forums. :banana:

Ngeh. So all this time you were all thinking I am a guy? Toinks. Hehehe.

Inday tawon ko. :)

^^ ubay2x man xad charng dri gud... hehehe. kuog nya sa mga meets pra ma.close ka namu. para mu.dghan ang muse sa SSC-CEBU :) psst... kuyog nyA ta ha.... ibilin imu number pra ma.contact dayun ka ug naay outing ang SSC. pirmi rba jud naa... apili xad ug friendster. hehehe!

^^bilib jud ko nimo bai.:laugh:

^^speaking dayon o! hahahaha.

bitaw, friendly man na sila amber. =)

Thanks sa invitation. :)

waaaa...kalayo naba diay ug naabtan ni nga thread sa taga cebu....

karon pa gyud ko nka post....waaa

^^ welcome bai @bisdakcrowd!

RLC putting up 6 more malls in 2008
By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:44:00 02/10/2008


ROBINSONS LAND CORP., the real-estate unit of the Gokongwei Group, is adding at least six more malls to its existing list this year, company president Frederick Go said.

Go said RLC's mall expansion formed part of the company's planned P10-capital expenditure program for 2008.

The amount was higher than the P7 billion to P8 billion spent by the company last year.

The new malls are being put up in Pulilan, Bulacan; Tacloban, Leyte; Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; Davao City; Cebu; and Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
RLC recently completed the foundation of its three-level shopping mall in Dumaguete City, which is scheduled for completion in mid-next year, the company said in a recent disclosure.

The Dumaguete mall , which will be RLC's fourth mall in the Visayas, will include an 80-room hotel and 3,000-square meter trade hall.

RLC's first three shopping malls in the Visayas are in Bacolod, Iloilo and Cebu.

Go also said RLC would also build this year a hotel in Tagaytay, across Josephine's restaurant. The hotel will be named Summit Ridge and is scheduled for completion next year.

In earlier documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, RLC said the proposed hotel in Tagaytay would have 54 hotel rooms, 36 serviced apartments, five luxury villas and conference facilities.

RLC is a major player in the property market and boasts of a growing portfolio now composed of 20 shopping centers, 23 residential condominiums, five office buildings, 27 housing and land developments, and three hotels.

Yes..I've seen the lot front CCCI office...may mga streamers ka Robinsons Sale....tapos wala na ang DEPW diha? nademolish na ang mga building sa suod ka compound... ang lot duol ka White Gold nga nasunog..

-edit-

share ko lang...

McDonald's in ML Quezon Hi-way, Lapu-lapu branch (along Airport road) will open 24 hours na on Fridays and Saturdays. this is good news sa akoa kay i used to eat at 2-3am sa mga 24-hour fastfood just to make me fall asleep. since i've moved here, i have to drive to Chowking Mactan Marina Mall. at least now, walking distance nalang pero on weekends ra pud.

@ragecebu

I second the motion of ic3man25! I salute you! Iba ka talaga! Lahi gyud ka bai! Certified! :lol:

Anyway!

CEBU IS ABOUT SHIPPING...GOTHONG & SULPICIO.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-013.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-040.jpg

CEBU IS ABOUT SHIP REPAIRS...KEPPEL
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-033.jpg

CEBU IS ABOUT EXPORT...CIP
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-043.jpg

^^ the great port city of Cebu!!! :)

^^ The Port of Cebu is the busiest seaport in terms of annual passenger throughoutput. But Manila's South Harbor still takes the cake in terms of cargo/(TEU) handling traffic. :yes:

Nindot unta kung dugangan pa'g lima ka gantry cranes ang C.I.P.

Yes..I've seen the lot front CCCI office...may mga streamers ka Robinsons Sale....tapos wala na ang DEPW diha? nademolish na ang mga building sa suod ka compound... ang lot duol ka White Gold nga nasunog..

...yeah, that is the Block 10 of Cebu City's North Reclamation Area...it was reported about 1 year ago or so, that lot was bought by Robinsons Land...


**************here's the article*************


Two months to clear block before Gokongweis enter (http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=40355)
Cebu Daily News
Posted date: December 27, 2006

At least nine city government offices including police units located in block 10 at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City were given two months to vacate the property to make way for the new Gokongwei owners.
The Gokongwei family bought the block for more than P500 million, according to City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera.

Pesquera, chairperson of the committee on budget and appropriations, said the Gokongweis have partially paid the city P100 million and is only waiting for the city government to complete all the necessary documents before they pay the balance.

As part of the sale agreement, the city is required to vacate the lots within two months.

Among the city offices that occupy the lots are the Mobile Patrol Group, the Office of Special Weapons and Tactics, Crime Suppression Units, the Department of Public Service, the Department of Engineering and Public Works, City Transport Service, City Agriculture, City Oil Depot, and the Squatters Prevention and Encroachment Elimination Division.

Councilor Augustus Pe Jr., who is tasked to clear the area, said the administrative sections of the three police units would be transferred to the Cebu City Police Office headquarters in Camp Sotero Cabahug in Gorordo Avenue.

The operations section and other city government offices would temporarily be transferred to the former Kawit Island in South Road Properties, he said.

"This is just a temporary transfer to comply with the agreement of the lot buyer. The city will then construct a building two years from now to have the offices under one roof," Councilor Pe said.

Pesquera said the offices of the City Commission on Election, the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP) and the Department of Interior and Local Government would be transferred in February to the new Ramos Public Market in Barangay Cogon-Ramos.

The old Ramos Public Market had been occupied before by the DMDP, the former Ramos Police Station, Cebu City Traffic Division, Subpoena and Records Section, Homicide Section, Theft and Robbery Section and the former Special Operations Division. /Correspondent Chris A. Ligan

^^ The North Reclamation Area is surely gonna kick serious ass once all shopping center/mall projects would be fully-operational.

It will also be congested as hell. :yes: What with four large malls just proximate to one another. I mean, SM City - Cebu alone--with its huge annex--is already a major congestion cause.

I can only imagine what will happen to the area once the new Robinson's Place - Cebu, The Parkmall @ 168, and/or Cebu Boardwalk Mall become partly/fully-operational.

@ragecebu

I second the motion of ic3man25! I salute you! Iba ka talaga! Lahi gyud ka bai! Certified! :lol:

Anyway!

CEBU IS ABOUT SHIPPING...GOTHONG & SULPICIO.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-013.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-040.jpg

CEBU IS ABOUT SHIP REPAIRS...KEPPEL
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-033.jpg

CEBU IS ABOUT EXPORT...CIP
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-043.jpg


progressive cebu indeed.:banana::banana:

^^ we are the busiest 80% sa passenger and cargo bai... containerized cargo ang manila. dili tanan cargo output sa philippines moved by container vessels. mostly RO-RO vessels. :)

containerized cargo ang manila. dili tanan cargo output sa philippines moved by container vessels. mostly RO-RO vessels.

^^ Ah...I see. Good to know.

I mean, Cebu should and is supposed to be the busiest in both annual passenger and cargo throughoutput since it is the most strategically located port city in the Visayas and Mindanao.

I can't say the same thing for the handling of foreign cargo, though. Subic or Manila does really take the bulk of the country's annual foreign cargo handling throughoutput.

:cheers:

^^ i think sa domestic cargo, the ports in Mindanao are busier than Cebu...talking about the food basket of the Philippines... we don't have that much produce or agricultural products being delivered throughout the archipelago from Mindanao....

^^ But regarding exports, especially coming from Mactan EPZA, does this contribute significantly in the cargo volume exported by Cebu?

^^ i think sa domestic cargo, the ports in Mindanao are busier than Cebu...talking about the food basket of the Philippines... we don't have that much produce or agricultural products being delivered throughout the archipelago from Mindanao....

dili xad bai. since most of these agricultural outputs are being exported overseas. although were just an island we import food from Vietnam, China, and other neighboring asian countries. its the same situation with Luzon. most of the produce end up being exported while we also import. :)

also bai these products are not containerized but are shipped by specialized vessels.

^^ But regarding exports, especially coming from Mactan EPZA, does this contribute significantly in the cargo volume exported by Cebu?

definitely! most of MEPZ exports, not only mepz but also includes some industries like furniture, fashion and other products are shipped through containerized cargo. it is the standard procedure of transporting goods anywhere in the world. :) kaya nga a ship is a vital component of trade and industry.

^^ The North Reclamation Area is surely gonna kick serious ass once all shopping center/mall projects would be fully-operational.

It will also be congested as hell. :yes: What with four large malls just proximate to one another. I mean, SM City - Cebu alone--with its huge annex--is already a major congestion cause.

I can only imagine what will happen to the area once the new Robinson's Place - Cebu, The Parkmall @ 168, and/or Cebu Boardwalk Mall become partly/fully-operational.

Yeah. I should start waking up early on working days. I live in Cebu City but I work in Lapulapu City. On peak hours I used to go through the north reclamation route to evade the heavy traffic in the north highway. When these establishments are opened, hmmmm, I am not sure I could still have the same mobility.

flickr! pics by @miguelitosy


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2052/2259952614_d171a93270.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2252/2259153137_54d2989d18.jpg


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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2259950528_3fa05735ff_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/2259154981_dabd9d018b_b.jpg

SOUTH ROAD PROPERTIES - flickr! pics by @miguelitosy


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2052/2259952614_d171a93270.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2252/2259153137_54d2989d18.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/2259156359_1ce44918c2.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/2259154353_03984bbcd7.jpg





http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2259950528_3fa05735ff_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/2259154981_dabd9d018b_b.jpg

Another midrise building(8 storey) is being constructed just beside gallery along Juan Luna Ave., there's already a rendering posted in the site..

SOUTH ROAD PROPERTIES - flickr! pics by @miguelitosy
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2259950528_3fa05735ff_b.jpg


Abi nako ginadilian ang tambay sa SRP? :D

^^ baka sya, Ang "ungo" sa SRP.... :lol: (a current radio program on DYHP)

SSC has really gone a long way.. My text description (a paragraph long) of the CICC was used in a book about Central Visayas which is now being sold in Powerbooks and other bookstores.. And so was my line description of Fuente Osmeña which is now etched in a commemorative plaque installed by ISUZU in Fuente park itself..


:bash:

^^ really? ...is the Philippine's version of the Intellectual Property Rights can do something? ...if so, do we have a case?... :lol:

^^

Oh no let's not talk about that. I'm just happy that someone considered some of my work seriously even if it has lots of grammatical errors, hehe..

Also I guess they got it from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebu_International_Convention_Center), hehe..


..

FYI, e-bloc will be added with 2 more storeys..:)

City speeds up landscaping of Rizal Park, Magellan’s Cross (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=52&type=2&sec=70&aid=20080212120)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The city is fast tracking the landscaping of the newly renovated legislative building and of the Magellan’s Cross in time for the celebration of the city’s 71st Charter Day on February 24.

The area, especially part of Magallanes Street, has been closed to vehicular traffic since few days ago when the contractor started the diggings for the drainage and beautification of the Rizal Park.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama said they are expecting that the park will be ready before February 24.

“Landscaping, ‘though it will not be finished in its totality by the 24th… but the contractor has agreed to work double time and that they would also be working 24 hours, so by the time we will be celebrating our Charter day, then we can raise the flag with a new landscape,” he said.

The vice mayor also said he would be having a meeting with the City Traffic Operations Management, which implements the rerouting of the vehicles in the area, and the project’s contractor to check on the progress of the works and on other things to be done.

Rama said that the closed part of the road might not be reopened by the time the city celebrates its Charter day, which is barely two weeks from now.

The vice mayor added that there is a plan to connect the City Hall’s park and the one at Magellan’s Cross, but this is still being discussed.

“We will arrive to that in due time,” he said.

The P10-million budget for the landscaping of the newly renovated City Hall legislative building and the Magellan’s Cross was sourced from the Office of the President through the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Rama said the city has invited President Arroyo to be the guest of honor during the Charter Day rites, but Malacañang has not confirmed her attendance yet. - Wenna A. Berondo/MEEV

FYI, e-bloc will be added with 2 more storeys..:)

so it's now a 14 storey massive building, getting taller. hope they add more :)

Updates for U/Cs here in ITPark:

eBloc - now on it's 3rd level
skyrise 2 - i think they're on the top floor na.
mall - they've started the multi-colored paint of the building.
near i2 - it's taller than i2 nah!
tg tower - hmmm...taas2x nasad..waaah...

i guess i just have to take pictures..my cam phone's not good man..:(

Good morning SSC! Good morning Jimbu! :)

@Amber - i knew that you're a girl.hehe..insensitive lang jud ni ang mga guys.:p peace!
@sinj - i really love your photos. keep it up! ^_^

just a request to everyone. we recently found out that some of our pictures were used outside SSC. Should you decide to use it elsewhere we are just an email away. it is upsetting to us. We are not asking for remuneration because this is for the love of CEBU, just what is rightful and fair.

we'll not name names, you know who you are.

^^ Oppps. I may be guilty to some pictures. Sorry. I think most of them are Sinulog pix and the Sto. Niño pix posted by southernbelle. It was actually by googling about Sinulog that I have come to discover this website. My bad! :bash:

By the way, the site seems to load too slow today.

just a request to everyone. we recently found out that some of our pictures were used outside SSC. Should you decide to use it elsewhere we are just an email away. it is upsetting to us. We are not asking for remuneration because this is for the love of CEBU, just what is rightful and fair.

we'll not name names, you know who you are.

I agree... :)

just a request to everyone. we recently found out that some of our pictures were used outside SSC. Should you decide to use it elsewhere we are just an email away. it is upsetting to us. We are not asking for remuneration because this is for the love of CEBU, just what is rightful and fair.

we'll not name names, you know who you are.


ako pud. ive used some of your photos in my blog. But I never ever say that they're mine. sorry for the trouble guys ha. dili na ko mag post usab.

We're bad. :bash: Really really sorry. Promise, I did not say they were mine. Peace. :nocrook:

Updates for U/Cs here in ITPark:

eBloc - now on it's 3rd level
skyrise 2 - i think they're on the top floor na.
mall - they've started the multi-colored paint of the building.
near i2 - it's taller than i2 nah!
tg tower - hmmm...taas2x nasad..waaah...

i guess i just have to take pictures..my cam phone's not good man..:(

Good morning SSC! Good morning Jimbu! :)

@Amber - i knew that you're a girl.hehe..insensitive lang jud ni ang mga guys.:p peace!
@sinj - i really love your photos. keep it up! ^_^


Will NCR move to Skyrise 2 building?

Cebu City vows to raise ‘genius babies’ (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/feb/13/yehey/prov/20080213pro2.html)

CEBU CITY: If public elementary school teachers cannot make Cebu City’s children smart, the Cebu City Hall will try to make the kids “bright” even before they start primary school, reported the Philippine News Agency.

City Hall consultant on education Joy Augustus Young will start implementing the “Genius Baby” program to make sure students can perform well in grade school.

“Genius Babies” will focus on the intensive training of preschoolers and first graders in the city’s public schools, as well as children in the daycare centers.

This year, additional 110 daycare centers will be set up in the different barangays, including the rural areas.

The program also targets to have preschool in all public elementary schools in the city within two years.

In Cebu City, it is not uncommon for children to be admitted to grade one without attending preschool, which Young said could be blamed for their poor performance in elementary.

“Genius Babies” is based on scientific studies that have proven that the first six years of a child, considered their formative years, is the most crucial stage of a child’s mental growth.

He came up with the plan after several test results showed most of the city’s public school students still have difficulty in reading and comprehension.

Young wants to use all the city’s extra funds intended for education to implement the program without sacrificing school building projects.

“Every year, we are training the teachers and conducting review classes but the children still don’t perform well. If we make the babies bright already before Grade One, it would be easier for them,” Young said.

The method puts emphasis on the role of physical activity in absorbing academic concepts and practical skills among the students.

Later this year, the city will also go down to the grassroots to teach parents how to hone their children’s speech and reading skills at the earliest time possible.

The depressed communities and the street children will be their priority to prove that the program and the theories it is based on works not only for the rich children who have access to early education but also for those who have to learn at home, Young added.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/379/cebce4.jpg

- ALI FY2007 Analysts' Briefing

Hoy dili no. Straight tawon ko. And pure Cebuana.



From the start, i know already that you are a girl. Go go go go girl.:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

:)Hoy dili no. Straight tawon ko. And pure Cebuana.

:):):):)JUST LIKE ME , IM PROUD TO BE A CEBUANA , :banana::banana: AMBER , DOES IT SOUND A MALE NAME? NO.. I KNOW YOU ARE A GIRL. BE COOL GIRL.:banana:

Hmm, islandergirl, tagacebuako and pnggirl, how are you related to each other? It says here that you are using the same PC. Please be reminded that multiple accounts are not allowed in SSC. Thanks

Updates for U/Cs here in ITPark:

eBloc - now on it's 3rd level
skyrise 2 - i think they're on the top floor na.
mall - they've started the multi-colored paint of the building.
near i2 - it's taller than i2 nah!
tg tower - hmmm...taas2x nasad..waaah...

i guess i just have to take pictures..my cam phone's not good man..:(

Good morning SSC! Good morning Jimbu! :)

@Amber - i knew that you're a girl.hehe..insensitive lang jud ni ang mga guys.:p peace!
@sinj - i really love your photos. keep it up! ^_^

MIA CHAM THANKS FOR THE UPDATES.:cheers::banana::)

Hmm, islandergirl, tagacebuako and pnggirl, how are you related to each other? It says here that you are using the same PC. Please be reminded that multiple accounts are not allowed in SSC. Thanks

^^ Maybe the three of them are sisters or boardmates. :dunno:

triplets. hehehe. joks :)

Robinsons Land FY2007 Investors Briefing (Dec 2007)

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/1882/robyl8.jpg

Updates for U/Cs here in ITPark:

eBloc - now on it's 3rd level
skyrise 2 - i think they're on the top floor na.
mall - they've started the multi-colored paint of the building.
near i2 - it's taller than i2 nah!
tg tower - hmmm...taas2x nasad..waaah...

i guess i just have to take pictures..my cam phone's not good man..:(

Good morning SSC! Good morning Jimbu! :)

@Amber - i knew that you're a girl.hehe..insensitive lang jud ni ang mga guys.:p peace!
@sinj - i really love your photos. keep it up! ^_^

Wow! great updates Miaka...oist...i saw u a day before I left Cebu...wa jud ka nanagad...I smiled baya...aw well naa nuon ko sulod sa jeepney and u were walking towards e-office's gate :D naka black or dark colored tops ka ato... :)

And yeah...Amber is obviously a girl's name....ehehehehehhe so d ko apil sa insensitive ha! ehehehehehhehe im so sensitives considering that im living both worlds...or lives... :D

And yeah....nice pix sinj! keep em coming!

We're bad. :bash: Really really sorry. Promise, I did not say they were mine. Peace. :nocrook:

eheheheheh...that's ok amber dear...I think most of us are guilty of that too...I had posted several photos online too without asking permission from the owners...But that was years ago and Ive learned my lesson already. Now, if i cant get hold with the owners then I'll just indicate the owner's name or from which site I took the pix from. I think that's what my bros slemarken meant....atleast, email them or placed some credits at the bottom part of the pix....weeeeeeeeee

Welcome to the thread Amber....I know it's been too late..ehehehe but hope to meet u soon...Im jech by the way, at your service :okay:

^^ The North Reclamation Area is surely gonna kick serious ass once all shopping center/mall projects would be fully-operational.

It will also be congested as hell. :yes: What with four large malls just proximate to one another. I mean, SM City - Cebu alone--with its huge annex--is already a major congestion cause.

I can only imagine what will happen to the area once the new Robinson's Place - Cebu, The Parkmall @ 168, and/or Cebu Boardwalk Mall become partly/fully-operational.


It will become a major shopping block! :okay:

ako pud. ive used some of your photos in my blog. But I never ever say that they're mine. sorry for the trouble guys ha. dili na ko mag post usab.

it's not you bai. it's alright that you use our pictures because we have the same purpose and mission to promote cebu. anyways you asked permission and we granted you.

there's just one person who's into selling properties in cebu. she uploaded it in her flicker account man gud. for profit na man iya purpose which defeats ours.

sorry bai wala naklaro kinsa. it's a she.

it's not you bai. it's alright that you use our pictures because we have the same purpose and mission to promote cebu. anyways you asked permission and we granted you.

there's just one person who's into selling properties in cebu. she uploaded it in her flicker account man gud. for profit na man iya purpose which defeats ours.

sorry bai wala naklaro kinsa. it's a she.

tsk tsk....if it's for profit making na, then that's bad. :bash: im sorry to use this word but it's "stealing" :ohno: There are only two registered brokers here (vatics and SixInch) and few real estate agents (I and Jarenz) who constantly post online. But if it's a she, I know someone though who constantly post in Ultima Residences thread (obviously for buyer scouting) and once brought a stir online. is she the one? If i were you, confront her. She may be unaware that what she is doing is unethical.

Slerz, Mark, and Ken, the following information may help you:


INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

[Republic Act No. 8293]



AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CODE
AND ESTABLISHING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE,

PROVIDING FOR ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES



PART IV

THE LAW ON COPYRIGHT



Chapter I

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS



Sec. 171. Definitions. - For the purpose of this Act, the following terms have the following meaning:

171.1. "Author" is the natural person who has created the work;



171.2. A "collective work" is a work which has been created by two (2) or more natural persons at the initiative and under the direction of another with the understanding that it will be disclosed by the latter under his own name and that contributing natural persons will not be identified;



171.3. "Communication to the public" or "communicate to the public" means the making of a work available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public may access these works from a place and time individually chosen by them;



171.4. A "computer" is an electronic or similar device having information-processing capabilities, and a "computer program" is a set of instructions expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any other form, which is capable when incorporated in a medium that the computer can read, or causing the computer to perform or achieve a particular task or result;



171.5. "Public lending" is the transfer of possession of the original or a copy of a work or sound recording for a limited period, for non-profit purposes, by an institution the services of which are available to the public, such as public library or archive;



171.6. "Public performance," in the case of a work other than an audiovisual work, is the recitation, playing, dancing, acting or otherwise performing the work, either directly or by means of any device or process; in the case of an audiovisual work, the showing of its images in sequence and the making of the sounds accompanying it audible; and, in the case of a sound recording, making the recorded sounds audible at a place or at places where persons outside the normal circle of a family and that family’s closest social acquaintances are or can be present, irrespective of whether they are or can be present at the same place and at the same time, or at different places and/or at different times, and where the performance can be perceived without the need for communication within the meaning of Subsection 171.3;



171.7. "Published works" means works, which, with the consent of the authors, are made available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public may access these works from a place and time individually chosen by them: Provided, That availability of such copies has been such, as to satisfy the reasonable requirements of the public, having regard to the nature of the work;



171.8. "Rental" is the transfer of the possession of the original or a copy of a work or a sound recording for a limited period of time, for profit-making purposes;



171.9. "Reproduction" is the making of one (1) or more copies of a work or a sound recording in any manner or form (Sec. 41 [E], P.D. No. 49a);



171.10. A "work of applied art" is an artistic creation with utilitarian functions or incorporated in a useful article, whether made by hand or produced on an industrial scale;



171.11. A "work of the Government of the Philippines" is a work created by an officer or employee of the Philippine Government or any of its subdivisions and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations as part of his regularly prescribed official duties.



CHAPTER II

ORIGINAL WORKS

Sec. 172. Literary and Artistic Works. -

172.1 Literary and artistic works, hereinafter referred to as "works", are original intellectual creations in the literary and artistic domain protected from the moment of their creation and shall include in particular:



(a) Books, pamphlets, articles and other writings;

(b) Periodicals and newspapers;

(c) Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertations prepared for oral delivery, whether or not reduced in writing or other material form;

(d) Letters;

(e) Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions; choreographic works or entertainment in dumb shows;

(f) Musical compositions, with or without words;

(g) Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or other works of art; models or designs for works of art;

(h) Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture, whether or not registrable as an industrial design, and other works of applied art;

(i) Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, charts and three-dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science;

(j) Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character;

(k) Photographic works including works produced by a process analogous to photography; lantern slides;

(l) Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process analogous to cinematography or any process for making audio-visual recordings;

(m) Pictorial illustrations and advertisements;

(n) Computer programs; and

(o) Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works.



172.2. Works are protected by the sole fact of their creation, irrespective of their mode or form of expression, as well as of their content, quality and purpose. (Sec. 2, P. D. No. 49a)



Chapter III

DERIVATIVE WORKS

Sec. 173. Derivative Works. -

173.1. The following derivative works shall also be protected by copyright:

(a) Dramatizations, translations, adaptations, abridgments, arrangements, and other alterations of literary or artistic works; and

(b) Collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works, and compilations of data and other materials which are original by reason of the selection or coordination or arrangement of their contents. (Sec. 2, [P] and [Q], P. D. No. 49)



173.2. The works referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of Subsection 173.1 shall be protected as a new works: Provided however, That such new work shall not affect the force of any subsisting copyright upon the original works employed or any part thereof, or be construed to imply any right to such use of the original works, or to secure or extend copyright in such original works. (Sec. 8, P. D. 49; Art. 10, TRIPS)



Sec. 174. Published Edition of Work. - In addition to the right to publish granted by the author, his heirs or assigns, the publisher shall have a copy right consisting merely of the right of reproduction of the typographical arrangement of the published edition of the work. (n)



Chapter IV

WORKS NOT PROTECTED

Sec. 175. Unprotected Subject Matter. - Notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 172 and 173, no protection shall extend, under this law, to any idea, procedure, system method or operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data as such, even if they are expressed, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; news of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere items of press information; or any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof. (n)

Sec. 176. Works of the Government. -

176.1. No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties. No prior approval or conditions shall be required for the use of any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in meetings of public character. (Sec. 9, First Par., P. D. No. 49)



176.2. The Author of speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations mentioned in the preceding paragraphs shall have the exclusive right of making a collection of his works. (n)



176.3. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest or otherwise; nor shall publication or republication by the government in a public document of any work in which copy right is subsisting be taken to cause any abridgment or annulment of the copyright or to authorize any use or appropriation of such work without the consent of the copyright owners. (Sec. 9, Third Par., P. D. No. 49)



CHAPTER V

COPYRIGHT OR ECONOMIC RIGHTS

Sec. 177. Copy or Economic Rights. - Subject to the provisions of Chapter VIII, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive right to carry out, authorize or prevent the following acts:

177.1. Reproduction of the work or substantial portion of the work;



177.2 Dramatization, translation, adaptation, abridgment, arrangement or other transformation of the work;



177.3. The first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale or other forms of transfer of ownership;



177.4. Rental of the original or a copy of an audiovisual or cinematographic work, a work embodied in a sound recording, a computer program, a compilation of data and other materials or a musical work in graphic form, irrespective of the ownership of the original or the copy which is the subject of the rental; (n)



177.5. Public display of the original or a copy of the work;



177.6. Public performance of the work; and



177.7. Other communication to the public of the work (Sec. 5, P. D. No. 49a)



CHAPTER VI

OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT

Sec. 178. Rules on Copyright Ownership. - Copyright ownership shall be governed by the following rules:



178.1. Subject to the provisions of this section, in the case of original literary and artistic works, copyright shall belong to the author of the work;



178.2. In the case of works of joint authorship, the co-authors shall be the original owners of the copyright and in the absence of agreement, their rights shall be governed by the rules on co-ownership. If, however, a work of joint authorship consists of parts that can be used separately and the author of each part can be identified, the author of each part shall be the original owner of the copyright in the part that he has created;



178.3. In the case of work created by an author during and in the course of his employment, the copyright shall belong to:



(a) The employee, if the creation of the object of copyright is not a part of his regular duties even if the employee uses the time, facilities and materials of the employer.



(b) The employer, if the work is the result of the performance of his regularly-assigned duties, unless there is an agreement, express or implied, to the contrary.



178.4. In the case of a work-commissioned by a person other than an employer of the author and who pays for it and the work is made in pursuance of the commission, the person who so commissioned the work shall have ownership of work, but the copyright thereto shall remain with the creator, unless there is a written stipulation to the contrary;



178.5. In the case of audiovisual work, the copyright shall belong to the producer, the author of the scenario, the composer of the music, the film director, and the author of the work so adapted. However, subject to contrary or other stipulations among the creators, the producers shall exercise the copyright to an extent required for the exhibition of the work in any manner, except for the right to collect performing license fees for the performance of musical compositions, with or without words, which are incorporated into the work; and



178.6. In respect of letters, the copyright shall belong to the writer subject to the provisions of Article 723 of the Civil Code. (Sec. 6, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 179. Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works. - For purposes of this Act, the publishers shall be deemed to represent the authors of articles and other writings published without the names of the authors or under pseudonyms, unless the contrary appears, or the pseudonyms or adopted name leaves no doubts as to the author’s identity, or if the author of the anonymous works discloses his identity. (Sec. 7, P. D. 49)



CHAPTER VII

TRANSFER OR ASSIGNMENT OF COPYRIGHT

Sec. 180. Rights of Assignee. -

180.1. The copyright may be assigned in whole or in part. Within the scope of the assignment, the assignee is entitled to all the rights and remedies which the assignor had with respect to the copyright.



180.2. The copyright is not deemed assigned inter vivos in whole or in part unless there is a written indication of such intention.



180.3. The submission of a literary, photographic or artistic work to a newspaper, magazine or periodical for publication shall constitute only a license to make a single publication unless a greater right is expressly granted. If two (2) or more persons jointly own a copyright or any part thereof, neither of the owners shall be entitled to grant licenses without the prior written consent of the other owner or owners. (Sec. 15, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 181. Copyright and Material Object. - The copyright is distinct from the property in the material object subject to it. Consequently, the transfer or assignment of the copyright shall not itself constitute a transfer of the material object. Nor shall a transfer or assignment of the sole copy or of one or several copies of the work imply transfer or assignment of the copyright. (Sec. 16, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 182. Filing of Assignment of License. - An assignment or exclusive license may be filed in duplicate with the National Library upon payment of the prescribed fee for registration in books and records kept for the purpose. Upon recording, a copy of the instrument shall be, returned to the sender with a notation of the fact of record. Notice of the record shall be published in the IPO Gazette. (Sec. 19, P. D. No. 49a)

Sec. 183. Designation of Society. - The copyright owners or their heirs may designate a society of artists, writers or composers to enforce their economic rights and moral rights on their behalf. (Sec. 32, P. D. No. 49a)





CHAPTER VIII

LIMITATIONS ON COPYRIGHT

Sec. 184. Limitations on Copyright. -

184.1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter V, the following acts shall not constitute infringement of copyright:



(a) the recitation or performance of a work, once it has been lawfully made accessible to the public, if done privately and free of charge or if made strictly for a charitable or religious institution or society; (Sec. 10(1), P. D. No. 49)



(b) The making of quotations from a published work if they are compatible with fair use and only to the extent justified for the purpose, including quotations from newspaper articles and periodicals in the form of press summaries: Provided, That the source and the name of the author, if appearing on the work, are mentioned; (Sec. 11, Third Par., P. D. No. 49)



(c) The reproduction or communication to the public by mass media of articles on current political, social, economic, scientific or religious topic, lectures, addresses and other works of the same nature, which are delivered in public if such use is for information purposes and has not been expressly reserved: Provided, That the source is clearly indicated; (Sec. 11, P. D. No. 49)



(d) The reproduction and communication to the public of literary, scientific or artistic works as part of reports of current events by means of photography, cinematography or broadcasting to the extent necessary for the purpose; (Sec. 12, P. D. No. 49)



(e) The inclusion of a work in a publication, broadcast, or other communication to the public, sound recording or film, if such inclusion is made by way of illustration for teaching purposes and is compatible with fair use: Provided, That the source and of the name of the author, if appearing in the work, are mentioned;



(f) The recording made in schools, universities, or educational institutions of a work included in a broadcast for the use of such schools, universities or educational institutions: Provided, That such recording must be deleted within a reasonable period after they were first broadcast: Provided, further, That such recording may not be made from audiovisual works which are part of the general cinema repertoire of feature films except for brief excerpts of the work;



(g) The making of ephemeral recordings by a broadcasting organization by means of its own facilities and for use in its own broadcast;



(h) The use made of a work by or under the direction or control of the Government, by the National Library or by educational, scientific or professional institutions where such use is in the public interest and is compatible with fair use;



(i) The public performance or the communication to the public of a work, in a place where no admission fee is charged in respect of such public performance or communication, by a club or institution for charitable or educational purpose only, whose aim is not profit making, subject to such other limitations as may be provided in the Regulations; (n)



(j) Public display of the original or a copy of the work not made by means of a film, slide, television image or otherwise on screen or by means of any other device or process: Provided, That either the work has been published, or, that original or the copy displayed has been sold, given away or otherwise transferred to another person by the author or his successor in title; and



(k) Any use made of a work for the purpose of any judicial proceedings or for the giving of professional advice by a legal practitioner.



184.2. The provisions of this section shall be interpreted in such a way as to allow the work to be used in a manner which does not conflict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the right holder's legitimate interest.



Sec. 185. Fair Use of a Copyrighted Work. -



185.1. The fair use of a copyrighted work for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, research, and similar purposes is not an infringement of copyright. Decompilation, which is understood here to be the reproduction of the code and translation of the forms of the computer program to achieve the inter-operability of an independently created computer program with other programs may also constitute fair use. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is fair use, the factors to be considered shall include:



(a) The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit education purposes;

(b) The nature of the copyrighted work;

(c) The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(d) The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.



185.2 The fact that a work is unpublished shall not by itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.



Sec. 186. Work of Architecture. - Copyright in a work of architecture shall include the right to control the erection of any building which reproduces the whole or a substantial part of the work either in its original form or in any form recognizably derived from the original; Provided, That the copyright in any such work shall not include the right to control the reconstruction or rehabilitation in the same style as the original of a building to which the copyright relates. (n)

Sec. 187. Reproduction of Published Work. -

187.1. Notwithstanding the provision of Section 177, and subject to the provisions of Subsection 187.2, the private reproduction of a published work in a single copy, where the reproduction is made by a natural person exclusively for research and private study, shall be permitted, without the authorization of the owner of copyright in the work.



187.2. The permission granted under Subsection 187.1 shall not extend to the reproduction of:



(a) A work of architecture in form of building or other construction;

(b) An entire book, or a substantial past thereof, or of a musical work in which graphics form by reprographic means;

(c) A compilation of data and other materials;

(d) A computer program except as provided in Section 189; and

(e) Any work in cases where reproduction would unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of the work or would otherwise unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author. (n)



Sec. 188. Reprographic Reproduction by Libraries. -



188.1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection 177.6, any library or archive whose activities are not for profit may, without the authorization of the author of copyright owner, make a single copy of the work by reprographic reproduction:



(a) Where the work by reason of its fragile character or rarity cannot be lent to user in its original form;



(b) Where the works are isolated articles contained in composite works or brief portions of other published works and the reproduction is necessary to supply them; when this is considered expedient, to person requesting their loan for purposes of research or study instead of lending the volumes or booklets which contain them; and



(c) Where the making of such a copy is in order to preserve and, if necessary in the event that it is lost, destroyed or rendered unusable, replace a copy, or to replace, in the permanent collection of another similar library or archive, a copy which has been lost, destroyed or rendered unusable and copies are not available with the publisher.



188.2. Notwithstanding the above provisions, it shall not be permissible to produce a volume of a work published in several volumes or to produce missing tomes or pages of magazines or similar works, unless the volume, tome or part is out of stock; Provided, That every library which, by law, is entitled to receive copies of a printed work, shall be entitled, when special reasons so require, to reproduce a copy of a published work which is considered necessary for the collection of the library but which is out of stock. (Sec. 13, P. D. 49a)



Sec. 189. Reproduction of Computer Program. -



189.1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 177, the reproduction in one (1) back-up copy or adaptation of a computer program shall be permitted, without the authorization of the author of, or other owner of copyright in, a computer program, by the lawful owner of that computer program: Provided, That the copy or adaptation is necessary for:



(a) The use of the computer program in conjunction with a computer for the purpose, and to the extent, for which the computer program has been obtained; and



(b) Archival purposes, and, for the replacement of the lawfully owned copy of the computer program in the event that the lawfully obtained copy of the computer program is lost, destroyed or rendered unusable.



189.2. No copy or adaptation mentioned in this Section shall be used for any purpose other than the ones determined in this Section, and any such copy or adaptation shall be destroyed in the event that continued possession of the copy of the computer program ceases to be lawful.



189.3. This provision shall be without prejudice to the application of Section 185 whenever appropriate. (n)



Sec. 190. Importation for Personal Purposes. -



190.1. Notwithstanding the provision of Subsection 177.6, but subject to the limitation under the Subsection 185.2, the importation of a copy of a work by an individual for his personal purposes shall be permitted without the authorization of the author of, or other owner of copyright in, the work under the following circumstances:



(a) When copies of the work are not available in the Philippines and:

(i) Not more than one (1) copy at one time is imported for strictly individual use only; or (ii) The importation is by authority of and for the use of the Philippine Government; or
(iii) The importation, consisting of not more than three (3) such copies or likenesses in any one invoice, is not for sale but for the use only of any religious, charitable, or educational society or institution duly incorporated or registered, or is for the encouragement of the fine arts, or for any state school, college, university, or free public library in the Philippines.



(b) When such copies form parts of libraries and personal baggage belonging to persons or families arriving from foreign countries and are not intended for sale: Provided, That such copies do not exceed three (3).



190.2. Copies imported as allowed by this Section may not lawfully be used in any way to violate the rights of owner the copyright or annul or limit the protection secured by this Act, and such unlawful use shall be deemed an infringement and shall be punishable as such without prejudice to the proprietor’s right of action.



190.3. Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Finance, the Commissioner of Customs is hereby empowered to make rules and regulations for preventing the importation of articles the importation of which is prohibited under this Section and under treaties and conventions to which the Philippines may be a party and for seizing and condemning and disposing of the same in case they are discovered after they have been imported. (Sec. 30, P. D. No. 49)



CHAPTER IX

DEPOSIT AND NOTICE

Sec. 191. Registration and Deposit with National Library and the Supreme Court Library.- After the first public dissemination of performance by authority of the copyright owner of a work falling under Subsections 172.1, 172.2 and 172.3 of this Act, there shall, for the purpose of completing the records of the National Library and the Supreme Court Library, within three (3) weeks, be registered and deposited with it, by personal delivery or by registered mail, two (2) complete copies or reproductions of the work in such form as the directors of said libraries may prescribe. A certificate of deposit shall be issued for which the prescribed fee shall be collected and the copyright owner shall be exempt from making additional deposit of the works with the National Library and the Supreme Court Library under other laws. If, within three (3) weeks after receipt by the copyright owner of a written demand from the directors for such deposit, the required copies or reproductions are not delivered and the fee is not paid, the copyright owner shall be liable to pay a fine equivalent to the required fee per month of delay and to pay to the National Library and the Supreme Court Library the amount of the retail price of the best edition of the work. Only the above mentioned classes of work shall be accepted for deposit by the National Library and the Supreme Court Library. (Sec. 26, P. D. No. 49a)

Sec. 192. Notice of Copyright. - Each copy of a work published or offered for sale may contain a notice bearing the name of the copyright owner, and the year of its first publication, and, in copies produced after the creator’s death, the year of such death. (Sec. 27, P. D. No. 49a)

Chapter X

MORAL RIGHTS

Sec. 193. Scope of Moral Rights. - The author of a work shall, independently of the economic rights in Section 177 or the grant of an assignment or license with respect to such right, have the right:

193.1. To require that the authorship of the works be attributed to him, in particular, the right that his name, as far as practicable, be indicated in a prominent way on the copies, and in connection with the public use of his work;



193.2. To make any alterations of his work prior to, or to withhold it from publication;



193.3. To object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, his work which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation; and



193.4. To restrain the use of his name with respect to any work not of his own creation or in a distorted version of his work. (Sec. 34, P. D. No. 49)



Sec. 194. Breach of Contract. - An author cannot be compelled to perform his contract to create a work or for the publication of his work already in existence. However, he may be held liable for damages for breach of such contract. (Sec. 35, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 195. Waiver of Moral Rights. - An author may waive his rights mentioned in Section 193 by a written instrument, but no such waiver shall be valid where its effects is to permit another:

195.1. To use the name of the author, or the title of his work, or otherwise to make use of his reputation with respect to any version or adaptation of his work which, because of alterations therein, would substantially tend to injure the literary or artistic reputation of another author; or



195.2. To use the name of the author with respect to a work he did not create. (Sec. 36, P. D. No. 49)



Sec. 196. Contribution to Collective Work. - When an author contributes to a collective work, his right to have his contribution attributed to him is deemed waived unless he expressly reserves it. (Sec. 37. P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 197. Editing, Arranging and Adaptation of Work. - In the absence of a contrary stipulation at the time an author licenses or permits another to use his work, the necessary editing, arranging or adaptation of such work, for publication, broadcast, use in a motion picture, dramatization, or mechanical or electrical reproduction in accordance with the reasonable and customary standards or requirements of the medium in which the work is to be used, shall not be deemed to contravene the author's rights secured by this chapter. Nor shall complete destruction of a work unconditionally transferred by the author be deemed to violate such rights. (Sec. 38, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 198. Term of Moral Rights. -

198.1. The rights of an author under this chapter shall last during the lifetime of the author and for fifty (50) years after his death and shall not be assignable or subject to license. The person or persons to be charged with the posthumous enforcement of these rights shall be named in writing to be filed with the National Library. In default of such person or persons, such enforcement shall devolve upon either the author's heirs, and in default of the heirs, the Director of the National Library.



198.2. For purposes of this Section, "Person" shall mean any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or society. The Director of the National Library may prescribe reasonable fees to be charged for his services in the application of provisions of this Section. (Sec. 39, P. D. No. 49)



Sec. 199. Enforcement Remedies. - Violation of any of the rights conferred by this Chapter shall entitle those charged with their enforcement to the same rights and remedies available to a copyright owner. In addition, damages which may be availed of under the Civil Code may also be recovered. Any damage recovered after the creator's death shall be held in trust for and remitted to his heirs, and in default of the heirs, shall belong to the government. (Sec. 40, P. D. No. 49)



Chapter XI

RIGHTS TO PROCEEDS IN SUBSEQUENT TRANSFERS

Sec. 200. Sale or Lease of Work. - In every sale or lease of an original work of painting or sculpture or of the original manuscript of a writer or composer, subsequent to the first disposition thereof by the author, the author or his heirs shall have an inalienable right to participate in the gross proceeds of the sale or lease to the extent of five percent (5%). This right shall exist during the lifetime of the author and for fifty (50) years after his death. (Sec. 31, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 201. Works Not Covered. - The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to prints, etchings, engravings, works of applied art, or works of similar kind wherein the author primarily derives gain from the proceeds of reproductions. (Sec. 33, P. D. No. 49)



Chapter XII

RIGHTS OF PERFORMERS, PRODUCERS OF SOUNDS

RECORDINGS AND BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

Sec. 202. Definitions. - For the purpose of this Act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

202.1. "Performers" are actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and other persons who act, sing, declaim, play in, interpret, or otherwise perform literary and artistic work;



202.2. "Sound recording" means the fixation of the sounds of a performance or of other sounds, or representation of sound, other than in the form of a fixation incorporated in a cinematographic or other audiovisual work;



202.3. An "audiovisual work or fixation" is a work that consists of a series of related images which impart the impression of motion, with or without accompanying sounds, susceptible of being made visible and, where accompanied by sounds, susceptible of being made audible;



202.4. "Fixation" means the embodiment of sounds, or of the representations thereof, from which they can be perceived, reproduced or communicated through a device;



202.5. "Producer of a sound recording" means the person, or the legal entity, who or which takes the initiative and has the responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds of a performance or other sounds, or the representation of sounds;

202.6. "Publication of a fixed performance or a sound recording" means the offering of copies of the fixed performance or the sound recording to the public, with the consent of the right holder: Provided, That copies are offered to the public in reasonable quality;



202.7. "Broadcasting" means the transmission by wireless means for the public reception of sounds or of images or of representations thereof; such transmission by satellite is also "broadcasting" where the means for decrypting are provided to the public by the broadcasting organization or with its consent;

202.8. "Broadcasting organization" shall include a natural person or a juridical entity duly authorized to engage in broadcasting; and



202.9. "Communication to the public of a performance or a sound recording" means the transmission to the public, by any medium, otherwise than by broadcasting, of sounds of a performance or the representations of sounds fixed in a sound recording. For purposes of Section 209, "communication to the public" includes making the sounds or representations of sounds fixed in a sound recording audible to the public.



Sec. 203. Scope of Performers' Rights. - Subject to the provisions of Section 212, performers shall enjoy the following exclusive rights:



203.1. As regards their performances, the right of authorizing:



(a) The broadcasting and other communication to the public of their performance; and

(b) The fixation of their unfixed performance.



203.2. The right of authorizing the direct or indirect reproduction of their performances fixed in sound recordings, in any manner or form;



203.3. Subject to the provisions of Section 206, the right of authorizing the first public distribution of the original and copies of their performance fixed in the sound recording through sale or rental or other forms of transfer of ownership;



203.4. The right of authorizing the commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their performances fixed in sound recordings, even after distribution of them by, or pursuant to the authorization by the performer; and



203.5. The right of authorizing the making available to the public of their performances fixed in sound recordings, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and time individually chosen by them. (Sec. 42, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 204. Moral Rights of Performers. -



204.1. Independently of a performer's economic rights, the performer, shall, as regards his live aural performances or performances fixed in sound recordings, have the right to claim to be identified as the performer of his performances, except where the omission is dictated by the manner of the use of the performance, and to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performances that would be prejudicial to his reputation.



204.2. The rights granted to a performer in accordance with Subsection 203.1 shall be maintained and exercised fifty (50) years after his death, by his heirs, and in default of heirs, the government, where protection is claimed. (Sec. 43, P. D. no. 49)



Sec. 205. Limitation on Right. -



205.1. Subject to the provisions of Section 206, once the performer has authorized the broadcasting or fixation of his performance, the provisions of Sections 203 shall have no further application.



205.2. The provisions of Section 184 and Section 185 shall apply mutatis mutandis to performers. (n)



Sec. 206. Additional Remuneration for Subsequent Communications or Broadcasts. - Unless otherwise provided in the contract, in every communication to the public or broadcast of a performance subsequent to the first communication or broadcast thereof by the broadcasting organization, the performer shall be entitled to an additional remuneration equivalent to at least five percent (5%) of the original compensation he or she received for the first communication or broadcast. (n)

Sec. 207. Contract Terms. - Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to deprive performers of the right to agree by contracts on terms and conditions more favorable for them in respect of any use of their performance. (n)



Chapter XIII

PRODUCERS OF SOUND RECORDINGS

Sec. 208. Scope of Right. - Subject to the provisions of Section 212, producers of sound recordings shall enjoy the following exclusive rights:



208.1. The right to authorize the direct or indirect reproduction of their sound recordings, in any manner or form; the placing of these reproductions in the market and the right of rental or lending;



208.2. The right to authorize the first public distribution of the original and copies of their sound recordings through sale or rental or other forms of transferring ownership; and



208.3. The right to authorize the commercial rental to the public of the original and copies of their sound recordings, even after distribution by them by or pursuant to authorization by the producer. (Sec. 46, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 209. Communication to the Public. - If a sound recording published for commercial purposes, or a reproduction of such sound recording, is used directly for broadcasting or for other communication to the public, or is publicly performed with the intention of making and enhancing profit, a single equitable remuneration for the performer or performers, and the producer of the sound recording shall be paid by the user to both the performers and the producer, who, in the absence of any agreement shall share equally. (Sec. 47, P. D. No. 49a)

Sec. 210. Limitation of Right. - Sections 184 and 185 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the producer of sound recordings. (Sec. 48, P. D. No. 49a)



Chapter XIV

BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS

Sec. 211. Scope of Right. - Subject to the provisions of Section 212, broadcasting organizations shall enjoy the exclusive right to carry out, authorize or prevent any of the following acts:

211.1. The rebroadcasting of their broadcasts;



211.2. The recording in any manner, including the making of films or the use of video tape, of their broadcasts for the purpose of communication to the public of television broadcasts of the same; and



211.3. The use of such records for fresh transmissions or for fresh recording. (Sec. 52, P. D. No. 49)



Chapter XV

LIMITATIONS ON PROTECTION

Sec. 212. Limitations on Rights. - Sections 203, 208 and 209 shall not apply where the acts referred to in those Sections are related to:

212.1. The use by a natural person exclusively for his own personal purposes;



212.2. Using short excerpts for reporting current events;



212.3. Use solely for the purpose of teaching or for scientific research; and



212.4. Fair use of the broadcast subject to the conditions under section 185. (Sec. 44, P. D. No. 49a)





Chapter XVI

TERM OF PROTECTION

Sec. 213. Term of Protection. - 213.1. Subject to the provisions of Subsections 213.2 to 213.5, the copyright in works under Sections 172 and 173 shall be protected during the life of the author and for fifty (50 years after his death. This rule also applies to posthumous works. (Sec. 21, First Sentence, P. D. No. 49a)

213.2. In case of works of joint authorship, the economic rights shall be protected during the life of the last surviving author and for fifty (50) years after his death. (Sec. 21, Second Sentence, P.D. No. 49)



213.3. In case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the copyright shall be protected for fifty (50) years from the date on which the work was first lawfully published: Provided, That where, before the expiration of the said period, the author's identity is revealed or is no longer in doubt, the provisions of Subsections 213.1 and 213.2 shall apply, as the case may be: Provided, further, That such works if not published before shall be protected for fifty (50) years counted from the making of the work. (Sec. 23, P. D. No. 49)



213.4. In case of works of applied art the protection shall be for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of making. (Sec. 24(B), P. D. No. 49a)



213.5. In case of photographic works, the protection shall be for fifty (50) years from publication of the work and, if unpublished, fifty (50) years from the making. (Sec. 24(C), P. D. 49a)



213.6. In case of audio-visual works including those produced by process analogous to photography or any process for making audio-visual recordings, the term shall be fifty (50) years from date of publication and, if unpublished, from the date of making. (Sec. 24(C), P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 214. Calculation of Term. - The term of protection subsequent to the death of the author provided in the preceding Section shall run from the date of his death or of publication, but such terms shall always be deemed to begin on the first day of January of the year following the event which gave rise to them. (Sec. 25, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 215. Term of Protection for Performers, Producers and Broadcasting Organizations. -

215.1. The rights granted to performers and producers of sound recordings under this law shall expire:



(a) For performances not incorporated in recordings, fifty (50) years from the end of the year in which the performance took place; and



(b) For sound or image and sound recordings and for performances incorporated therein, fifty (50) years from the end of the year in which the recording took place.



215.2. In case of broadcasts, the term shall be twenty (20) years from the date the broadcast took place. The extended term shall be applied only to old works with subsisting protection under the prior law. (Sec. 55, P. D. No. 49a)





Chapter XVII

INFRINGEMENT

Sec. 216. Remedies for Infringement. -

216.1. Any person infringing a right protected under this law shall be liable:

(a) To an injunction restraining such infringement. The court may also order the defendant to desist from an infringement, among others, to prevent the entry into the channels of commerce of imported goods that involve an infringement, immediately after customs clearance of such goods.



(b) Pay to the copyright proprietor or his assigns or heirs such actual damages, including legal costs and other expenses, as he may have incurred due to the infringement as well as the profits the infringer may have made due to such infringement, and in proving profits the plaintiff shall be required to prove sales only and the defendant shall be required to prove every element of cost which he claims, or, in lieu of actual damages and profits, such damages which to the court shall appear to be just and shall not be regarded as penalty.



(c) Deliver under oath, for impounding during the pendency of the action, upon such terms and conditions as the court may prescribe, sales invoices and other documents evidencing sales, all articles and their packaging alleged to infringe a copyright and implements for making them.



(d) Deliver under oath for destruction without any compensation all infringing copies or devices, as well as all plates, molds, or other means for making such infringing copies as the court may order.



(e) Such other terms and conditions, including the payment of moral and exemplary damages, which the court may deem proper, wise and equitable and the destruction of infringing copies of the work even in the event of acquittal in a criminal case.



216. 2. In an infringement action, the court shall also have the power to order the seizure and impounding of any article which may serve as evidence in the court proceedings. (Sec. 28, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 217. Criminal Penalties. -



217.1. Any person infringing any right secured by provisions of Part IV of this Act or aiding or abetting such infringement shall be guilty of a crime punishable by:



(a) Imprisonment of one (1) year to three (3) years plus a fine ranging from Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) to One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) for the first offense.



(b) Imprisonment of three (3) years and one (1) day to six (6) years plus a fine ranging from One hundred fifty thousand pesos (P150,000) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) for the second offense.



(c) Imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to nine (9) years plus a fine ranging from Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) to One million five hundred thousand pesos (P1,500,000) for the third and subsequent offenses.



(d) In all cases, subsidiary imprisonment in cases of insolvency.



217.2. In determining the number of years of imprisonment and the amount of fine, the court shall consider the value of the infringing materials that the defendant has produced or manufactured and the damage that the copyright owner has suffered by reason of the infringement.



217.3. Any person who at the time when copyright subsists in a work has in his possession an article which he knows, or ought to know, to be an infringing copy of the work for the purpose of:



(a) Selling, letting for hire, or by way of trade offering or exposing for sale, or hire, the article;



(b) Distributing the article for purpose of trade, or for any other purpose to an extent that will prejudice the rights of the copyright owner in the work; or



(c) Trade exhibit of the article in public, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment and fine as above mentioned. (Sec. 29, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 218. Affidavit Evidence. -



218.1. In an action under this Chapter, an affidavit made before a notary public by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright in any work or other subject matter and stating that:



(a) At the time specified therein, copyright subsisted in the work or other subject matter;



(b) He or the person named therein is the owner of the copyright; and



(c) The copy of the work or other subject matter annexed thereto is a true copy thereof, shall be admitted in evidence in any proceedings for an offense under this Chapter and shall be prima facie proof of the matters therein stated until the contrary is proved, and the court before which such affidavit is produced shall assume that the affidavit was made by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright.



218.2. In an action under this Chapter.



(a) Copyright shall be presumed to subsist in the work or other subject matter to which the action relates if the defendant does not put in issue the question whether copyright subsists in the work or other subject matter; and



(b) Where the subsistence of the copyright is established, the plaintiff shall be presumed to be the owner of the copyright if he claims to be the owner of the copyright and the defendant does not put in issue the question of his ownership.



(c) Where the defendant, without good faith, puts in issue the questions of whether copyright subsists in a work or other subject matter to which the action relates, or the ownership of copyright in such work or subject matter, thereby occasioning unnecessary costs or delay in the proceedings, the court may direct that any costs to the defendant in respect of the action shall not be allowed by him and that any costs occasioned by the defendant to other parties shall be paid by him to such other parties. (n)



Sec. 219. Presumption of Authorship. -



219.1. The natural person whose name is indicated on a work in the usual manner as the author shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be the author of the work. This provision shall be applicable even if the name is a pseudonym, where the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the identity of the author.



219.2. The person or body, corporate whose name appears on an audio-visual work in the usual manner shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be the maker of said work. (n)



Sec. 220. International Registration of Works. - A statement concerning a work, recorded in an international register in accordance with an international treaty to which the Philippines is or may become a party, shall be construed as true until the contrary is proved except:



220.1. Where the statement cannot be valid under this Act or any other law concerning intellectual property.



220.2. Where the statement is contradicted by another statement recorded in the international register. (n)



Chapter XVIII

SCOPE OF APPLICATION

Sec. 221. Points of Attachment for Works under Sections 172 and 173. -

221.1. The protection afforded by this Act to copyrightable works under Sections 172 and 173 shall apply to:



(a) Works of authors who are nationals of, or have their habitual residence in the Philippines;



(b) Audio-visual works the producer of which has his headquarters or habitual residence in the Philippines;



(c) Works of architecture erected in the Philippines or other artistic works incorporated in a building or other structure located in the Philippines;



(d) Works first published in the Philippines; and



(e) Works first published in another country but also published in the Philippines within thirty days, irrespective of the nationality or residence of the authors.



221.2. The provisions of this Act shall also apply to works that are to be protected by virtue of and in accordance with any international convention or other international agreement to which the Philippines is a party. (n)



Sec. 222. Points of Attachment for Performers. - The provisions of this Act on the protection of performers shall apply to:



222.1. Performers who are nationals of the Philippines;



222.2. Performers who are not nationals of the Philippines but whose performances:



(a) Take place in the Philippines; or



(b) Are incorporated in sound recordings that are protected under this Act; or



(c) Which has not been fixed in sound recording but are carried by broadcast qualifying for protection under this Act. (n)



Sec. 223. Points of Attachment for Sound Recordings. - The provisions of this Act on the protection of sound recordings shall apply to:



223.1. sound recordings the producers of which are nationals of the Philippines; and



223.2. Sound recordings that were first published in the Philippines. (n)



Sec. 224. Points of Attachment for Broadcasts. -



224.1. The provisions of this Act on the protection of broadcasts shall apply to:

(a) Broadcasts of broadcasting organizations the headquarters of which are situated in the Philippines; and



(b) Broadcasts transmitted from transmitters situated in the Philippines.



224.2. The provisions of this Act shall also apply to performers who, and to producers of sound recordings and broadcasting organizations which, are to be protected by virtue of and in accordance with any international convention or other international agreement to which the Philippines is a party. (n)



Chapter XIX

INSTITUTION OF ACTIONS

Sec. 225. Jurisdiction. - Without prejudice to the provisions of Subsection 7.1(c), actions under this Act shall be cognizable by the courts with appropriate jurisdiction under existing law. (Sec. 57, P. D. No. 49a)



Sec. 226. Damages. - No damages may be recovered under this Act after four (4) years from the time the cause of action arose. (Sec. 58, P. D. No. 49)



Chapter XX

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 227. Ownership of Deposit and Instruments. - All copies deposited and instruments in writing filed with the National Library and the Supreme Court Library in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall become the property of the Government. (Sec. 60, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 228. Public Records. - The section or division of the National Library and the Supreme Court Library charged with receiving copies and instruments deposited and with keeping records required under this Act and everything in it shall be opened to public inspection. The Director of the National Library is empowered to issue such safeguards and regulations as may be necessary to implement this Section and other provisions of this Act. (Sec. 61, P. D. No. 49)

Sec. 229. Copyright Division Fees. - The Copyright Section of the National Library shall be classified as a Division upon the effectivity of this Act. The National Library shall have the power to collect, for the discharge of its services under this Act, such fees as may be promulgated by it from time to time subject to the approval of the Department Head. (Sec. 62, P. D. 49a)

I'm also guilty of using SMK's photos in my Cebu blog although my main intent is to promote Cebu to the world and below each photo, SMK is always credited. I'm just so sorry guys if I haven't asked permission from you first before posting your photos. :)

so long as it's not for profit it's fine. as what i said we are together in promoting cebu. anyway we have our watermark there and you acknowledged us.

thanks tej, i emailed her this morning.

so long as it's not for profit it's fine. as what i said we are together in promoting cebu. anyway we have our watermark there and you acknowledged us.

thanks tej, i emailed her this morning.

You're welcome! :okay: To avoid such dilema in the future, I suggest that you coordinate with IPO Philippines:

Telefax No. (632) 897-1724
Email: dittb@ipophil.gov.ph or mail@ipophil.gov.ph.

Or you can coordiate with LINUS L. MODEQUILLO, a Cebu based IPO rep, through phone number (032) 231-4257.

OR

you can also coordinate with IPR PHOTO PHILIPPINES.

IPR-Photo Philippines is a brainchild of photographer-participants in the 'Seminar on Collective Administration of Visual Arts in the philippines' which was organized by Intellectual Property Office - Philippines (IPO) and International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CSAC)last July 12, 2007.

The group aims to help and promote Intellectual Property Rights for Photographers through discussions/ fora, sponsored talks, establishing networks and linkages with other like-minded organizations, and advocacy programs specifically aimed towards promoting viable photography industry in the Philippines.

IPR-Photo Philippines is working hand-in-hand with Intllectual Property Office (Philippines) for the possibility of creating a Collecting Society for Filipino Photographers. The Collecting Society will provide efficient and effective way for photographers and rights owners to administer their copyrights on a national and international capacity. Collecting Society can license specific works, for specific uses and pays the copyright owner a royalty for the reproduction.

The benefit of Visual Arts/ Photography Collecting Society in the rights market is one convenience for the creator, but also provides:

* Collective muscle in the negotiation of licenses and royalties, and their appropriate distribution;
* Infringement services to members when their works are improperly used or attributed; and
* Necessary advocacy for Photographers when Intellectual Property and copyright legislation requires reform.


IPR-Photo
http://ipr-photophilippines.blogspot.com/
http://iprphotophilippines.multiply.com/

You can send them an email at: ipr.photo@gmail.com

Friends and fellow digital photographers.....protect your right! :okay:

Hehehe. Enough fuss of my gender. At least it's cleared now.

Thanks TJ for the warm welcome. :) Actually, I was honest to indicate that they were not mine. But I have not posted it in my own blog (well, I do not have my own blog, hehehe). I posted it in the other forum. Just to let others who are outside Cebu get the feel of how we celebrate Sinulog Festival here. But it's good of Slemarken to admonish about it.

The best is yet to come. This is my dear friend's favorite quote. Reminds me of her. :)

Thanks TJ for the warm welcome. :)

You're welcome amber :hug:


The best is yet to come. This is my dear friend's favorite quote. Reminds me of her. :)

It's my philosophy in life too! It's my reminder to myself to constantly strive for the best...for excellence...and that today would be better than yesterday...and that tomorrow would be better than today...With Christ in our lives...the best is yet to come! :okay:

Well actually besides the song Tomorrow this quote she said gives her hope when she has a bad day. :)

IPI float (first price winner in float category)
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5820/img4416xi4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9609/img4269kl2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2564/img4272am1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^ Yeah, that float deserves the prize. It's so beautiful and entertaining.

^^ Yes, it is beautiful. But the theme of the float ain't so Sto. Nino-y.

Seriously. :yes:

it's not you bai. it's alright that you use our pictures because we have the same purpose and mission to promote cebu. anyways you asked permission and we granted you.

there's just one person who's into selling properties in cebu. she uploaded it in her flicker account man gud. for profit na man iya purpose which defeats ours.

sorry bai wala naklaro kinsa. it's a she.



I think, i have an idea of who she is...heheheheheh....pero, opssss, my mouth is taped.. :)

^^ nice pics! ..the facade of ACT IT Tower looks nice!

The best is yet to come. This is my dear friend's favorite quote. Reminds me of her. :)

That is why, INVEST IN CEBU NOW...When the best of Cebu has come, at least, naka position na... :)

I think, i have an idea of who she is...heheheheheh....pero, opssss, my mouth is taped.. :)

hay salamat. i thought i was in serious trouble. thanks for the PM mga bai.

but i guess it's too late. narattle man gud ko. hahaha. i deleted all entries in my blog which has picture which are not mine (pero gicredit nako tanan ha). dili na lang gyud ko mangborrow para walay piti. hehehe. :(


pero i think i know her pud. if it was indeed her who caused sort of a ripple in SSC-Cebu's active but smooth exchanges.

^^ What's the fuzz about? Has someone filed a lawsuite case against any SSC Cebu forumer?

I1
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8422/picture045hw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ I really like i1's design. It's definitely more aesthetic than i2. :yes:

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/news/guard.shoots.wounds.boy.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Guard shoots, wounds boy

A SECURITY guard shot at two teens who teased him about his belly but hit a high school student instead.

Ericson Licaros Opingo, 35, fired his service firearm to scare away his tormentors when he accidentally shot Jenjen Cañete Alipuyo, 15, past 9 p.m. in Toledo City last Monday.

The victim was inside the Luray II National High School.

Alipuyo was taken to a hospital in Cebu City to undergo operation as the bullet is reportedly embedded in her skull.

According to an investigation conducted by the Toledo City Police Station, Opingo lost his temper after two teenagers teased him about his bulging belly.

“Big tummy security guard” was what they reportedly called him, before they entered the campus.

PO2 Alfredo Barquin said it was not the first time youngsters made fun of Opingo.

Alipuyo was just sitting when Opingo fired the gun.

Opingo only wanted to scare the teens with a single gunshot, but the bullet ricocheted and hit Alipuyo.

Alipuyo was rushed to the Toledo City District Hospital before she was transferred to a private hospital in Cebu City.

Opingo surrendered to police and handed over his issued .38 revolver.

Yesterday, Opingo was taken to the Regional Crime Laboratory in Cebu City for a paraffin test while his gun was submitted for a ballistics examination.

Opingo, who works for the Milagros Security Agency, will face a case of reckless imprudence resulting in frustrated homicide. (MEA)

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/news/lampposts.on.a..c..cortes.ave..not.part.of.contract.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Lampposts on A. C. Cortes Ave. not part of contract

REPRESENTATIVES of Fabmik Construction and Equipment Corp. uprooted the 44 lampposts along A. C. Cortes Ave. in Mandaue City, as these were not covered by the contract with the government, a Mandaue City official said yesterday.

City Administrator Briccio Boholst said the supplier confirmed last year in a meeting with Mayor Jonas Cortes that the 44 items were not covered in the contract. In that meeting, Fabmik officials sought Cortes’ intercession for the release of the balance of the payment for the contract.

This was after the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas ordered that payment for the lampposts be suspended until the investigation on the alleged overpricing is resolved.

But Boholst said the City Government did not deal with the company and let the ombudsman investigate the complaint.

The anti-graft office, in a separate interview, confirmed the loss of the lampposts.

Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol said that Associate Investigator Rod Blazo has completed his assessment and brought back photographs of the site where the lampposts used to stand.

Comment

Apostol said he has asked the Mandaue City Government to comment on the disappearance and is waiting for their reply.

The government bought the lampposts from Fabmik and the Gampik Construction and Development Corp. at P85,000 each. They are among the evidence in an anti-graft case Apostol’s office is investigating.

The investigation is centered on the alleged bidding rules violations committed by certain officials in order to facilitate the supposedly overpriced purchase of the lampposts.

At P85,000 each, the loss incurred with the disappearance of the lampposts is P3.74 million.

Apostol said the incident won’t stump their investigation. In fact, the panel of prosecutors handling the formal investigation has already wrapped up their case and submitted their findings to him for review, he said.

He said he is evaluating it. If he sees no need for revisions, he will send it to Manila for consideration, he said.

“It will be up to the Tanodbayan whether to approve my recommendations,” he said.

No speculations

He declined to speculate if the disappearance of the lampposts was aimed to sabotage their probe.

“Until we find out who took them, we will not be able to determine what the motives were in removing them,” he said.

Boholst said they were forced to take up the “lamppost uprooting” incident with the suppliers last year after they received reports that a group of workers detached the items and loaded these into a waiting truck.

City officials that time did not know that they were Fabmik workers until the City took up the matter in the meeting with the firm and chief legal officer Augustinito Hermoso of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at the mayor’s office.

Boholst said a Fabmik representative admitted that it was their men who did it, explaining that the 44 lampposts were not covered by the contract.

But Boholst said he was wondering why the lampposts were installed there in the first place, and why these were installed all the way across the bridge to Lapu-Lapu City if these were not for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

He said that Fabmik, in that meeting, proposed to rehabilitate and light all the non-functioning lampposts.

But in exchange, the firm wanted the City to mediate for the release of the uncollected amount in the contract, which was ordered suspended by the ombudsman.

No deal

But the mayor turned down the offer and no deal was made, said Boholst.

He said the mayor is now planning to put up another lamppost, beside the controversial ones, and have it all lighted at the City’s expense.

The anti-graft office found out that 44 lampposts were worth P9.8 million or P224,000 each.

Several officials, including former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano, incumbent Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza, former DPWH 7 director Roberto Lala and Assistant Directors Marlina Alvizo and Gloria Dindin, as well as Hermoso, are impleaded in the lamppost case.

Also included in the charge are City Engineer Julito Cuizon, Assistant Engineers Fernando Tagaan Jr. and Rogelio Veloso, all of Lapu-Lapu City; and City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio, Assistant Engineers Gregorio Omo, Alfredo Sanchez Sr., Mario Gerolaga and Rosalina Denque, all of Mandaue City.

The money DPWH used to defray the costs incurred in its summit-related procurements came from the Motor Vehicle Users Charge.

For the summit

A Commission on Audit (COA) report said the lamppost case was one of 136 projects, costing a total of P1.525 billion, that that was implemented without public bidding, all in the name of hosting the summit.

Of the projects, 63 were implemented without contracts. These cost P766.749 million.

On the issue of streetlamps, the COA confirmed that the cost, which totaled P54.936 million for 660 units, “were bloated” by as much P35.557 million.

Other findings include how 16 regular road maintenance projects costing P168.320 million were implemented in areas which weren’t even part of the summit and how P30.333 million in road repair work was implemented on private properties.

Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez suspended payment of any amount to the Fabmik and Gampik because of the case.

The order covered the P18-million balance, of a P120-million contract of which P3.1 million retention fee is owed to Fabmik. (OCP/KNR)

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/bus/osme.a.master.plan.for.metro.cebu.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Osmeña: Master plan for Metro Cebu
By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements

THE different cultural behaviors of political leaders in Cebu make it difficult, or even impossible, to implement a master plan program.

To illustrate, Cebu City Mayor Tom Osmeña and Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia cannot seem to agree on how to dispose of provincial lots located in Cebu City that are occupied by relocated squatters.

In the past, these settlers were not made to follow a master plan that would have brought about an arrangement of residential areas into a homogeneous pattern of neighborhood units.

Consideration should have been given to the redevelopment of blighted areas into higher and better uses, and to prevent blight in other places.

A prime consideration of Metro Cebu planners is to reduce per capita urban costs and to facilitate the flow of commerce. The success of such efforts is important, because property values depend on the efficient and economical flow of goods and persons, as well as ready and convenient access to modes of transportation.

To achieve the objective of traffic economy, a study must be made of traffic requirements and steps must be taken to provide adequate avenues of transport. Rapid and economical transportation offers significant opportunities to direct population flow in and about the city or within Metro Cebu.

It is no longer deemed good practice to follow population in congested areas with more means of transportation, generally increasing congestion problems. Rather, it has been shown that people can be made to follow avenues of transport into areas that are planned and designed for better and more healthful living.

To facilitate the movement of goods in and about Metro Cebu, streets should be designed and interconnected to meet normal, as well as “rush hour” traffic requirements. Care should be taken to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of the several types of street patterns, and to choose those which will facilitate travel and increase pedestrian and highway traffic safety.

The proper design and layout of streets are important, because the very rapid development and use of private automobiles have created for city planners a real problem of easing traffic congestion in downtown areas or urban centers.

The construction of belt highways, free ways, turnpikes that skirt (bypass) the city proper have greatly contributed, in recent years, to a reduction of traffic hazards and a lessening in community costs, whose control is necessitated by through- and inter-city traffic.

In residential areas, it is, of course, best to discourage all except local traffic. This can be done effectively with the use of winding streets.

A legislation needs to be enacted by Congress, authorizing a commission to engage in comprehensive planning within Metro Cebu and granting such body the power to employ experts and staff to existing planning boards under its jurisdiction. The members of the commission should include mayors or city/town administrators (with the consent or confirmation of the City/Municipal Council) in Metro Cebu.

Grouping the mayors together in the planning commission will undoubtedly insure that residents in Metro Cebu will enjoy the advantages from a well-organized metropolis. The cooperation of Metro Cebu mayors will tends to have its effect on the whole body of citizens whose interests, comforts and conveniences are held to be paramount.

Metro Cebu mayors have a distinct responsibility to develop the metropolis, and to protect the general public from blighting influences and willful acts that adversely affect living amenities and future investments in real property.

There is also a need for Metro Cebu to impose coordinated zoning since the impact of zoning laws upon income and value of real property is significant.

It can readily be seen that without comprehensive zoning control the competition for diverse land uses would be disorganized and individual preferences, land income concepts, speculation and possibly greed might cause “quilt work” land uses that would ultimately destroy not only land values but the usefulness of the city or town as a social, economic and political unit.

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/bus/western.cebu.towns.ready.for.tourism.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Western Cebu towns ready for tourism

APART from its growing industries, western Cebu is positioning itself to become the next favorite tourist destination in the province.

Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said the towns of Barili and Aloguinsan have strong potentials to lure tourists because of the presence of several natural wonders in the towns.

Garcia said the Provincial Government and the Municipal Government in Barili are in talks to develop Bolok-Bolok Mineral Spring into a spa facility.

“The master plan of the province is to develop it into a spa. Architects have already prepared a concept, (which will be implemented) as soon as possible,” he said in an interview. “Right now, they are looking at who will manage it- the LGU or private sector,” he added.

He said Mantayupan Falls in Barili is also attractive to nature-loving tourists.

Mountain resort

Garcia also said the municipality of Aloguinsan’s uplands has the potential to become a mountain resort or future site of a retirement facility.

He said that Aloguinsan, which was once a “sleepy town,” now has several mid-size pension houses, catering mostly to backpackers.

Also found in Aloguinsan are beach resorts and world-class dive spots, he added.

Garcia said the third district is known more as an agricultural and industrial zone with the presence of companies like Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. and Cebu Power Corp. (CPC) (the consortium of Global Power Corp., Aboitiz Power, Vivant and Formosa that plans to build three new power plants in Sangi) in Toledo City, as well as shipbuilding firm Tsuneishi Heavy Industries in Balamban.

He said the rich and untapped natural resources, like springs, waterfalls and white sandy beaches in the area are relatively unknown.

The third congressional district covers Toledo City and the towns of Barili, Aloguinsan, Pinamungajan, Balamban and Tuburan.

Garcia also said there are plans to develop agricultural tourism in the third district by establishing in Barili a plant and livestock facility that tourists can visit.

“There is a lot of demand from people who want to buy agricultural products there,” he said.

Garcia believes it is high time for investors to now begin looking for business opportunities in the third district, especially since LGUs — together with the Provincial and National Governments — have started to fast-track infrastructure projects to lure economic activities related to tourism, industrial, education and agriculture.

He said the government has allotted some P120 million for road cementing and asphalting, and about P21 million to develop water systems, among others.

“If we complete the Barili-Aloguinsan stretch, it will improve access to western Cebu and many industries will benefit.” (MMM)

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/bus/hotel.to.undergo.renovation.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Hotel to undergo renovation

THE Cebu City Marriott Hotel (CCMH) will close part of its facilities starting April as it embarks on a renovation aimed at enabling the hotel to keep pace with its clients’ changing needs.

“We will renovate the entire hotel,” said Roy Abraham, general manager of CCMH, last Monday during a dinner at the CCMH ballroom to celebrate the hotel’s 10th anniversary. “We hope to start by the end of April and finish by the end of November.”

Everything from the 300 guestrooms to the public areas like the lobby, the restaurants, the ballroom and all the meeting rooms will get a facelift to the tune of “a few million dollars.”

Asked to describe how the facilities would be upgraded, the general manager said the focus would be on customer preferences and technology.

Phases

He declined to give further details, saying he was still meeting with the architects and interior designers for the specifics.

Business will go on as usual throughout the renovation period, as the work will be done in phases, starting with 150 rooms first.

Ann Olalo, CCMH director of sales and marketing, said that from a present average occupancy rate of 77 percent, occupancy would be expected to drop to about 42 to 45 percent during the period.

Most of the hotel’s clients are business people. But on weekends, there are also families that check in. The hotel’s new look will cater to both markets.

Abraham said Marriott aims to be known as “the lifestyle business hotel in Cebu” with help from the nearby Ayala Center Cebu, which describes itself as the lifestyle mall in Cebu.

The renovation will be funded by the owners of CCMH, namely Cebu Holdings Inc. and Ayala Hotels Inc., as well as by funds generated from CCMH operations.

Olalo said the hotel’s renovation ties in neatly with the expansion plans of Ayala Center Cebu.

Shops

She expects that by the end of June, the hotel’s clients will be able to walk from the Marriott car park to the mall through a covered walk that will be lined with shops.

During the renovation period, the reduced scale of hotel operations will allow employees to take advantage of their vacation leave and opportunities for cross-training within the hotel.

During its 10th anniversary celebration at the CCMH ballroom, Marriott awarded 79 of its 150 regular employees for having worked at the hotel for 10 years. Another 17 employees were awarded for having worked at least five years at the hotel.

Abraham attributes the hotel’s success to three things: its location, the Marriott brand and its employees.

On plans for more Marriott properties in the country, Olalo said Marriott Manila is currently being constructed by Megaworld in front of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 3 in Manila. (CTL)

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/bus/cipc.eyes.p12m.budget.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
CIPC eyes P12M budget
By Malou M. Mozo
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

TO lure big investors to Cebu, the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) needs to increase its marketing budget to at least P12 million or as much P15 million a year.

CIPC managing director Joel Mari Yu said that, at present, the organization is thriving on an annual P5-million to P6-million budget, which is sourced from the Cebu City Government and Cebu Province. The amount is used for various promotional efforts.

“P5 million to P6 million, is clearly not enough,” Yu lamented.

Yu said an additional P6 million to P9 million will fund marketing support and pay for collaterals and honoraria of consultants in overseas target markets.

Limited

“We are only limited to areas we can go because we are out of budget,” he said, adding that Europe and China would have been potential markets because of their strong economic background.

He said that with Cebu fast becoming an emerging business and leisure destination in Asia, it would be easier to capture big investors from Europe and China if the budget for promoting the province is increased.

CIPC receives P3 million every year as fixed appropriation from the Cebu City Government. The City Government gives the CIPC P2 million to P3 million more every year for marketing the South Road Properties, Yu said.

The Provincial Government, on the other hand, extends P500,000 every year to CIPC to fund the latter’s province-wide marketing programs among potential foreign investors.

Yu said Lapu-Lapu City used to give P500,000 every year during the term of then mayor Ernest Weigel Jr.

He said CIPC also receives international grants from foreign governments.

Whole Cebu

In an interview, Yu said for CIPC to implement marketing strategies for Metro Cebu and the entire province year-round, P6 million is “clearly too small,” considering that other organizations spend P10 million for promotion and branding campaigns.

“If during the Sinulog, we spend P50 million, including promotions, what more when we want to promote the whole of Cebu?” he said.

Yu cited Singapore, which ranked first in development and promotion in the Top 10 Asian Cities of the Future, as listed by the Finance Direct Investment magazine of the Financial Times Group. He said Singapore spends “100 times” more than Cebu for marketing campaign, which explains the surge of foreign direct investments to the country.

“CIPC opens its doors to investors and works with them to exploit business returns in Cebu that are among the most attractive in Asia,” he said.

CIPC, a non-stock, non-profit organization, was established in 1994. It is tasked to provide economic information and statistics on Cebu, arrange site visits to possible reputable business locations and other facilities, and link possible business partners and service providers, among others.

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/news/bry..chief.faces.injury.charge.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Bry. chief faces injury charge
By Jovy S. Taghoy
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Nancy R. Cudis

A BARANGAY captain in Cebu City surrendered to the police shortly after shooting one of his constituents, who allegedly attempted to attack him yesterday morning.

Pasil Barangay Captain Romeo Ocarol underwent a paraffin test at the PNP Crime Laboratory 7 upon the request of the Homicide Section, the unit tasked to investigate the incident.

He also surrendered his 9mm Jericho pistol to the police.

The victim identified as Gregorio Abellana, 43, of Sitio Mahayahay II, Pasil was taken to the Cebu City Medical Center for two minor injuries in the lower part of his left leg.

Ocarol, in an interview with reporters at the Homicide Section, said Abellana’s injuries were caused by splinters from a concrete pavement that was hit by the bullets and not from the two warning shots he fired during the incident.

The incident occurred at the barangay sports complex past 10 a.m. yesterday.

Ocarol narrated that three days earlier, he summoned Abellana to answer a mauling complaint filed against the latter before the barangay. Abellana did not show up.

Last Sunday, when Ocarol and members of the Pasil Athletic Association were gathered in the sports complex for a meeting, Abellana allegedly showed up and took the microphone from the barangay captain.

Challenge

Abellana allegedly humiliated Ocarol in front of his constituents and even challenged the official to a fistfight.

Ocarol said he ignored Abellana’s challenge.

Last Monday, Ocarol said his friends warned him to be careful because Abellana has been looking for him.

At 10:40 a.m. yesterday, Ocarol said he spotted Abellana at the sports complex.

He said he left the barangay hall and proceeded to the sports complex where he told the other people, who were playing basketball, not to include Abellana in the game as the latter might only create trouble.

At this instance, Abellana allegedly attacked Ocarol, prompting the latter to pull out his gun and fire a warning shot.

Despite the first shot, Abellana reportedly continued to charge at Ocarol, forcing him to fire another shot.

The bullets hit the pavement where the splinters reportedly injured Abellana’s leg.

Circumstances

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), however, said it still has to look into the circumstances surrounding the incident before they could determine whether Ocarol violated the law.

“The reasons for the incident could vary. There are also justifying reasons, like the right to defend one’s self and his property. But we cannot determine yet if (Ocarol) committed any violations because we still have to look at the circumstances of the case,” said DILG 7 legal officer Danilo Almendras.

Citing a provision of the Local Government Code, Almendras admitted that a barangay captain is allowed to carry firearms.

According to Section 389 of the Code, the barangay captain is “entitled to possess and carry the necessary firearm within his territorial jurisdiction, subject to appropriate rules and regulations, in the performance of his peace and order functions.”

“While he is allowed, his possession of a firearm is still subject to the regulations of the Philippine National Police, like securing a license for his gun and other necessary permits,” said Almendras.

The same law also considered barangay captains, along with barangay councilors and barangay mediators, as persons in authority in their jurisdictions. Other barangay officials and members who may be designated by law or charged with the maintenance of public order are considered agents of persons in authority.

Toughie

Ocarol described Abellana to be a “toughie”, having been the subject of several complaints in the barangay.

Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar, however, said a complaint of physical injuries was still filed against Ocarol.

An investigation conducted by a team of homicide investigators Monilar sent to the area showed that Ocarol was forced to fire his pistol to prevent Abellana from attacking him.

The fiscal handling the case, however, lowered the complaint to slight physical injuries.

Yesterday afternoon, Ocarol was released from police custody after posting P2,000 as bail.

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/bus/hotel.to.undergo.renovation.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Hotel to undergo renovation

THE Cebu City Marriott Hotel (CCMH) will close part of its facilities starting April as it embarks on a renovation aimed at enabling the hotel to keep pace with its clients’ changing needs.

“We will renovate the entire hotel,” said Roy Abraham, general manager of CCMH, last Monday during a dinner at the CCMH ballroom to celebrate the hotel’s 10th anniversary. “We hope to start by the end of April and finish by the end of November.”

Everything from the 300 guestrooms to the public areas like the lobby, the restaurants, the ballroom and all the meeting rooms will get a facelift to the tune of “a few million dollars.”

Asked to describe how the facilities would be upgraded, the general manager said the focus would be on customer preferences and technology.

Phases

He declined to give further details, saying he was still meeting with the architects and interior designers for the specifics.

Business will go on as usual throughout the renovation period, as the work will be done in phases, starting with 150 rooms first.

Ann Olalo, CCMH director of sales and marketing, said that from a present average occupancy rate of 77 percent, occupancy would be expected to drop to about 42 to 45 percent during the period.

Most of the hotel’s clients are business people. But on weekends, there are also families that check in. The hotel’s new look will cater to both markets.

Abraham said Marriott aims to be known as “the lifestyle business hotel in Cebu” with help from the nearby Ayala Center Cebu, which describes itself as the lifestyle mall in Cebu.

The renovation will be funded by the owners of CCMH, namely Cebu Holdings Inc. and Ayala Hotels Inc., as well as by funds generated from CCMH operations.

Olalo said the hotel’s renovation ties in neatly with the expansion plans of Ayala Center Cebu.

Shops

She expects that by the end of June, the hotel’s clients will be able to walk from the Marriott car park to the mall through a covered walk that will be lined with shops.

During the renovation period, the reduced scale of hotel operations will allow employees to take advantage of their vacation leave and opportunities for cross-training within the hotel.

During its 10th anniversary celebration at the CCMH ballroom, Marriott awarded 79 of its 150 regular employees for having worked at the hotel for 10 years. Another 17 employees were awarded for having worked at least five years at the hotel.

Abraham attributes the hotel’s success to three things: its location, the Marriott brand and its employees.

On plans for more Marriott properties in the country, Olalo said Marriott Manila is currently being constructed by Megaworld in front of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 3 in Manila. (CTL)

This is what I was talking about last year. Marriott will be renovated to become a true business hotel. Good that it will complement the Ayala Leisure Oasis :yes:

^^ Cool. :cool:

May unta kung naa na pu'y JW Marriott nga hotel brand diri sa Cebu.

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/13/sports/prisaa.7.aims.for.better.finish.in.national.meet.html

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Prisaa 7 aims for better finish in national meet
By Rommel C. Manlosa
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa)-7 is aiming to improve on its third place finish last year in the 2008 National Prisaa meet in Zamboanga City on April 6 to 12.

University of Cebu Athletic Director Bernard Ricablanca told Sun.Star Cebu that since 90 percent of the delegation are from Cebu, the training of the athletes will start early.

“Well, as early as next week the athletes will start their training already. This time, it will be light because there are examinations to cope with but we already had a program for that and we will have enough time to train them better,” Ricablanca said.

Cebu Prisaa won 214 out of the 245 gold medals in the regional meet last weekend.

“In athletics only two will be added from Bohol. In swimming, we will have the most bemedaled athletes from Dumaguete, Zoe Menguito and Hywel Ramacho, as addition to the Cebu swimmers. In Taekwondo, we also have four from Bohol and one from Oriental Negros. That’s the composition of our Prisaa-7 team basically and they start their training individually before we will train as a group before we sail for Zambaoanga,” Ricablanca said.

However, Prisaa-7’s concern is the women’s softball team of Bohol which won the gold medal.

“That we have to put a special attention. We are considering to send Dionisio Bacarisas to Bohol to train the team. We have to spend extra money and effort to make them more competitive,” said Ricablanca.

Exhibition

Though they won the gold the Bohol’s women’s softball was beaten black and blue in an exhibition game against the Abellana National High team last Saturday.

Aside from its concern for the athletes, Prisaa-7 officials are also considering other matters, among them the date of departure from the delegation.

“We will have a meeting tomorrow (today) to discuss the day of departure. We are looking at April 1 for our departure date. That would give us ample time to rest,” he said.

Prisaa-7 hoping to surpass its 43-63-50 gold-silver-bronze finish last year.

Is Starbucks Coffee -- SM City - Cebu Northwing branch already open?

If so then there already 7 Starbucks Coffee outlets in the metro. :banana:

^ Not yet, it will open next month

^ thanks Sinjin.. What about Figaro, The Coffee Bean and Gloria Jean's? Sorry if it's too much to ask.. :)

Mao lagi bai.. Pero mas maau if katong sa Manila ila himoun na JW Marriott. :)

^^ Cool. :cool:

May unta kung naa napu'y JW Marriott nga hotel brand diri sa Cebu.

^ thanks Sinjin.. What about Figaro, The Coffee Bean and Gloria Jean's? Sorry if it's too much to ask.. :)

I dunno about the other two but The Coffee Bean has been open for quite a while already

Figaro has been open for a while.
We bought some beans there, and the coffee was great.

thanks . . .

I dunno about the other two but The Coffee Bean has been open for quite a while already

wow. This is good news! :)

Figaro has been open for a while.
We bought some beans there, and the coffee was great.

FYI SSC CEBU PEEPS...

The billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia is now up at the site. They also formally fenced the site with the standard fence that is used by AITP and CBP.

I was all smiles when I got down from the jeepney stop across the Grand Cenia site because all the passengers from the jeepney looked up to the billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia and some of them said "WOW!" "GRABE!" "NINDOTA NA GYUD SA CEBU OI!"

^ thanks Sinjin.. What about Figaro, The Coffee Bean and Gloria Jean's? Sorry if it's too much to ask.. :)

Gloria Jean's already opened a kiosk or a stall at the lobby of the Northwing, just underneath the stairs.

FYI SSC CEBU PEEPS...

The billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia is now up at the site. They also formally fenced the site with the standard fence that is used by AITP and CBP.

I was all smiles when I got down from the jeepney stop across the Grand Cenia site because all the passengers from the jeepney looked up to the billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia and some of them said "WOW!" "GRABE!" "NINDOTA NA GYUD SA CEBU OI!"

hehehe... wa lang sila kaibaw na dugay na ta kaibaw ana nga project hehehe... how much more if HK plaza hotel will put up their rendering too which unfortunately, none of us has seen yet!
Indeed CEBU is CEBeaUtiful!

^^ and cebooming!

re: hotels, condo's and other u/c's

many would see these constructions as irrelevant and destructive (in some ways) but we in cebu are happy with these developments, they give jobs to people not just for the cebuanos but also for other people from other places where their local area cant provide them good paying jobs and financial security. :cheers:

wala lang, its just good to know that cebu provides jobs not just for the cebuanos, parang kumbaga, if you cant find a nice job in your place.. well baby, cebu is waiting to unleash your potential :lol:

and another thing, have you observed how these constructions of IT buildings seem to serve as catalyst of growth in some sections of the city? panagdait was a sleepy corner before... but now, with sykes, nagkaron ng paseo, fastfoods, coffee shops, other establishments are built w/in the area na din. yung payroll lang ng employees in these establishments is a big PLUS factor na. add to that yung taxes pa. yung value din ng lands tataas.

but then again, you wont understand its impact if its not happening in your place... so lucky you CEBU! :cheers:

Whew!!! as always 'twas nice browsing all the threads bout Cebu :) la lng paramdam lng ko hehe :)

FYI SSC CEBU PEEPS...

The billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia is now up at the site. They also formally fenced the site with the standard fence that is used by AITP and CBP.

I was all smiles when I got down from the jeepney stop across the Grand Cenia site because all the passengers from the jeepney looked up to the billboard size perspective of Grand Cenia and some of them said "WOW!" "GRABE!" "NINDOTA NA GYUD SA CEBU OI!"

^^i know how it feels like when you see/hear a cebuano reacting that way. such a nice feeling. people here in Cebu get to see themselves the progress, how far Cebu has gone, all because of the citizens' oneness. i ain't saying it's perfect though. there isn't just no reason not to be proud. :cheers:

therefore, so as not to disrupt progress, please support Federalism form of Government! :lol: YES to Federal State of Cebu.

our recent trip to brgy. SIMALA - Sibonga, CEBU

The Mother Mary shrine in Simala is being run by Marian monks. Many local pilgrims visit here every friday. They believe that the shrine has a miraculous healing power.

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enjoy! =)

it feels awesome to see the Miraculous Shrine of Simala in Sibonga..kahit sa pic lang:banana:

^^ I support the conversion of Cebu as a federal state and let the other provinces of the Philippines watch Cebu rise and observe "the Cebuano way" of building a strong and progressive federal state.

The Golden Age of Cebu has just begun.

I think, i have an idea of who she is...heheheheheh....pero, opssss, my mouth is taped.. :)

she deleted the pictures from her flickr. although there are still photos in her pool by the other forumers.

Barangay justice system helps city claim another Galing Pook award
By Wenna A. Berondo
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Cebu City once again gained national recognition as it bagged the “Galing Pook” award for its exemplary project—strengthening the barangay justice system in the grassroots.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced yesterday that the city has once again won the top award given by one of the country’s leading multi-sectoral award giving body — Galing Pook Foundation.

The mayor said that the “Barangay Lupon,” a project of councilor Edgardo Labella has won the 2007 Galing Pook Award.

“Congratulations to Councilor Labella, this is his project. This is not the first time of course, we have won so many (awards) already,” Osmeña told reporters.

The Galing Pook Award recognizes outstanding and unique local government unit or community-initiated projects geared toward development and self-reliance, which serve as role models for other communities.

Councilor Labella, who represented the city during the panel interview at the Ateneo School of Government last month, said that there were 149 local government units who participated in the search.

Of the number, 19 were chosen finalists and only 10 will receive the grand award.

He said that the judges may have recognized the effectiveness of the Lupong Tagapamayapa in the 80 barangays of the city in implementing justice and solving conflicts in the barangay level.

Labella said that from 2004 to 2006, there were 37,063 cases in the barangays; and of the number, 26,694 cases, or 72 percent, were settled, mediated and conciliated.

“We have declog the court dockets because the cases were already settled in the barangay level,” he said.

Labella, who is chairman of the City Council Committee on Laws, Ordinances, public accountability and Good Governance, said that the Department of Interior and Local Government even recognized that the city’s program has helped a lot because it saves the government a lot of money.

DILG said that for every case settled in the barangay level, it saves the government P10,000, or savings of about P266 million for 26,694 cases for the period of 2004 to 2006.

Labella said that the Lupon Tagapamayapa are like justices in the barangays—they are trained on how to settle, mediate and conciliate and conduct hearings on cases at the barangay level.

The top 10 leading livelihood programs chosen as winners, one of them Cebu City, in the Galing Pook 2007 awards will be honored at Malacañang on February 28, with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as guest.

Among the other finalist for this year’s GPA are projects located in Naga City, Camarines Sur; Infanta, Quezon; and also in San Mateo, Isabela. — Wenna A. Berondo/NLQ

HERE (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Local%20News&p=52&type=2&sec=70&aid=20080213147)

Cebu Marriott to unveil new look by yearend (http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business&p=52&type=2&sec=71&aid=20080213112)
The Freeman
Thursday, February 14, 2008

A brand-new Cebu City Marriott Hotel will be launched by December of this year, as the hotel’s developer Ayala Hotels Inc., and Cebu Holdings Inc., (CHI) will start its first major renovation by April of this year.

This “a-few-million-dollar” project will practically change the design, furnishings, and look of almost every area of the hotel, especially its functions, palm lounge, dining outlets, rooms, poolside, among others.

In an interview with Cebu City Marriott Hotel general manager Roy Abraham, he said that the hotel has to trail blaze with the preference of its customers. Being a business hotel it has to provide modern ambiance, focusing on hip and high-technology amenities.

This is the first major renovation to be done by the 10-year-old premier business hotel at the Cebu Business Park (CBP).

“We aim to be the best lifestyle business hotel in Cebu, in the lifestyle zone of the City, adjacent to the lifestyle mall of Cebu—Ayala Center,” Abraham said.

Although, major renovation is a standard process of worldwide Marriott management, Abraham said there is also a need for the Cebu Marriott to provide updated amenities to its guests, while newer hotels are also opening up in the CBP neighborhood, and around the City.

“Newer hotels are coming in, they have the latest,” Abraham said adding that Marriott will have to give the latest in terms of amenities, ambiance and technology.

If it’s possible, he said all the 301 rooms will be provided with WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), but as of this time, he do not have exact details yet on the entire renovation, saying they are still on negotiations with designers, architects, and other service providers.

By April 2008, half of the 301 rooms will be closed for renovation. The other half will be closed immediately after the 150 re-furbished rooms will be completed.

“We are improving our product to bring it to the style of today,” Abraham reiterated.

The guest rooms will be designed to fit the preference of its target clients, who are businessmen and women who travels all over the world, and is technology savvy.

He said all television sets in the rooms will be changed to flat screen, and Internet connectivity will be upgraded to higher speed, among others.

The entire theme of the upcoming new Cebu City Marriott Hotel is contemporary, trendy, hip and technology-savvy.

To date, the hotel is enjoying average occupancy rate of 75 percent. Abraham said the renovation project would also encourage vacation leave, to some of its employees.

The funds to be used by the major renovation is internally-generated, “every month we set aside funds for renovation.”

In 2006, Cebu City Marriott Hotel, of which CHI is a part-owner in partnership with Ayala Hotels Inc., contributed P27 million to CHI’s bottomline.

The hotel celebrated its 10th anniversary last February 11, honoring the employees who have worked for the hotel in the five to ten years.

There were a total of 17 employees or Cebu Marriott associates who were able to reach five years, and 79 associates made it to the 10-year service. – Ehda M. Dagooc

ODA projects in Cebu doing well: Osmeña (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/14/news/oda.projects.in.cebu.doing.well.osme.a.html)

Sun.Star Cebu
Thursday, February 14, 2008

PROJECTS funded by the Japanese Government in Cebu City are effective and delivering benefits to the people, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.

Osmeña issued the statement after getting apprehensive about reports that seven out 10 projects funded by official development assistance (ODA) packages failed to deliver benefits.

According to a report by Roel Landingin of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), at least seven in 10 projects funded by ODA loans failed to deliver their services.

The report was based on a six-month study by PCIJ of project documents. It covered 71 projects and sub-projects funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

ODA loans are “long-term money lent by foreign government or multilateral bodies at easy repayment terms to fund development projects.”

“I want to tell the people of Cebu that I brought so many ODA-funded projects and it is up to them to check if these projects are effective or not,” said Osmeña.

He cited projects such as the second Mactan Bridge, widening of V. Rama and B. Rodriguez Sts., the new P. del Rosario and Imus roads, A.S. Fortuna, circumferential road in Mactan, and the Ayala access road.

“Are these effective or not? I have to report to the people of Cebu. I want to be transparent about this. We have to clarify this point. Before they draw conclusions that we are one of those seven out of 10 ineffective ODA-funded projects, I would like to take very strong exceptions to that. I am not ashamed with what we have done. You can see the effects of these projects,” the mayor told reporters in his news conference yesterday.

He said many of the roads in Mandaue were his projects under the Metro Cebu Development Project. “

The only thing that is unproven is the South Road Properties (SRP). I will gamble on that. At least, we have that and that is ours,” the mayor said.

Osmeña said he plans to compile data as proof of the effectiveness of these infrastructure projects.

“I will place a full-page ad even in the national papers, showing that we are not part of that (seven out of 10 ineffective ODA projects). And we will show all the projects that we have done. We will thank the people of Japan and show them that we have not in any way embarrassed them nor wasted their taxpayers’ money,” Osmeña said. (NRC)

http://www.freewebs.com/darkiceman/ValentineCreddy_HappyValentinesDay_KMG-medium.jpg
Everyone!

wishing everyone a wonderful and mirthful valentines day.

may it be filled with warmth and fond thoughts of
all the people you love and care about in this life.

and may it bring forth peace and good will to
others and to our entire community ...

Happy Valentines Day!

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/14/news/talamban.tops.dengue.cases.html

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Talamban tops dengue cases
By Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

TALAMBAN and Guadalupe have replaced Labangon and Lahug as the Cebu City barangays with the highest number of dengue cases.

A lagoon, about half a hectare, is believed to be the breeding site of dengue-carrying mosquitoes in Talamban.

In his weekly update on the City’s campaign against dengue, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said that for this year, there are now 262 cases of dengue, with 10 deaths so far.

He identified Talamban as having the most number of persons who have suffered from dengue fever, followed by Guadalupe, Mabolo, Inayawan, Tisa, Ermita, Tejero, Basak Pardo, Sambag II, Basak San Nicolas, and Cogon Pardo.

With at least 80 cases and four deaths in 2007, Labangon recorded the highest number of dengue fever cases among the 80 barangays in the city. It was followed by Lahug.

Last year, the dengue virus killed 51 Cebu City residents and hit at least 2,107. The number is more than double the 2006 figures.

The number of dengue cases in 2007 was 120 percent higher than in 2006, when only 957 cases and 27 deaths were recorded.

The trend is rising.

From Jan. 1 to Feb. 2 this year, the City Health Department (CHD) recorded 143 dengue cases with eight deaths, which is four times higher than last year’s figures.

During the same period in 2007, there were only two deaths out of 85 cases recorded.

Carillo cited empty bottles, refrigerator reservoirs, drums, pails and used tires as the “top breeding areas of mosquitoes in households.”

This, he said, is the result of the recent entomological survey or study of insects and their habitat in the top 15 barangays by the City Health Department (CHD), together with the Department of Health 7 and the Negros Occidental Vector-Borne Disease Coordinators and Volunteers.

The City Council last week declared a “state of continuing calamity” after it learned that deaths due to dengue fever last month were four times higher than the number in the same period last year.

The declaration enabled the council to tap the City Government’s P87 million in calamity funds for emergency and disaster response.

In yesterday’s regular session, City Councilor Christopher Alix, council committee on health chairman, pointed to a lagoon at the boundary of Nasipit, Talamban, and Sitio Bangan, Barangay Cabangcalan, Mandaue City as a likely breeding place of mosquitoes.

He suggested that Cebu City fill it up but City Councilor Nestor Archival said it would be expensive.

He said that two months ago, Mayor Jonas Cortes, in a talk with Talamban officials and Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district), agreed that Mandaue City will set up a drainage system leading to the Butuanon River to empty the lagoon.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama gave Carillo’s executive officer Alvin Santillana one week to come up with a report on how best to approach the problem.

The report, Rama said, should incorporate the plan Archival cited.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña has declared battling dengue and malnutrition as his priorities this year. He has been conducting pulong-pulong (gatherings) in the barangays to inform residents of the dangers of dengue fever.

Carillo said that among other recommendations, the CHD advised residents to conduct “supplemental spraying” in their homes.

It also suggested that the barangays equip their tanods with a public address system to educate the people about dengue, reorient barangay health workers to make them more effective in fighting the virus, rid their territories of swamp areas, and drain idle swimming pools.

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/14/bus/new.investment.house.html

Thursday, February 14, 2008
New investment house

VICSAL Development Corp. (VDC), the holdings company of the Metro Gaisano Group, has embarked on a new business venture, which is to assist private and public corporations increase capitalization.

Vicsal Investment Inc. president Senen Matoto said the company was created to perform three functions of an investment house — underwriting securities for companies, brokering treasury notes and brokering equities.

“The company will also provide strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions and other types of financial transactions,” he said in an interview.

He added that the business strategy allows VDC to provide additional value-added services to the various clients it is dealing with as a conglomerate.

“It is much like Banco de Oro (BDO) and SM establishing BDO Capital and Investment Corp.,” Matoto said.

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted the application for registration of the Gaisano-led Vicsal Investment as an investment house with a P1 billion authorized capital stock, of which P500 million have been subscribed to and paid for.

Stock exchange

VDC owns 99.9 percent of Vicsal Investment.

Matoto said Vicsal Investment is about to fully comply with requirements for its future participation in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

He said the company has acquired the right to participate as an online stock trading company, and is presently in talks with potential clients.

Apart from Matoto, other incorporators of Vicsal Investment are Vicsal Securities and Stock Brokerage Inc. president Frank Gaisano, Vicsal Development president Jack Gaisano, Grand Holidays Inc. president Margaret Gaisano-Ang, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. Edward Go, and former energy secretary Delfin Lazaro.

Cebu-grown VDC is involved in real estate development, travel and tours, retail, stock brokering, banking and other financial services.

Its companies include the Metro Gaisano department store chain, Wealth Development Bank, Taft Property Development Corp., Grand Holidays Travel and Tour, and Prime Asia.

There are now six Metro Gaisano stores and supermarkets nationwide. In Cebu, the stores are located in Mandaue City and in Ayala Center Cebu and Colon St., in Cebu City. In Luzon, Metro Gaisano stores are found in Legaspi City (Albay), Lucena (Quezon) and in Taguig, Metro Manila. (MMM)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/14/bus/ccci.eyes.bigger.international.attention.for.business.month.html

Thursday, February 14, 2008
CCCI eyes bigger international attention for business month

PROPONENTS of the Cebu Business Month (CBM), an annual event of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), plan to capitalize on the Cebu brand as an emerging destination for international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

CCCI launched the CBM 2008 last Tuesday with the theme “Converge in Cebu.” CCCI wants to make CBM the premier business event in the province.

“We want to make it Cebu’s leading business festival,” said CBM 2008 chairperson Tess Chan.

She said the event is expected to gather around 8,000 delegates, including local and foreign entrepreneurs, and around 300 exhibitors.

Chan said the chamber envisions CBM to be the next Canton Trade Fair or the Hong Kong Trade Fair “that businessmen all over the world would look forward to visit.”

This is why, she said, CCCI will intensify its efforts to bring in more foreign participants this year.

Last year, CCCI conducted an Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Inter-Regional Roadshow in selected countries in Asia — including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia — to promote major activities of the CBM. Among these activities were the Cebu Asean Tourism Congress, and the Cebu information and communications technology (ICT) conference and exhibition.

Chan said the CBM will continue to focus on Cebu’s economic drivers — ICT, tourism and entrepreneurship. She added, though, that new activities will be conducted this year.

Highlights of the CBM 2008 include the introduction of the CBM website and the Grand Expo from June 19 to 21, which will showcase the country’s raw materials, products, services and manpower, as well as technical resources.

The CBM ICT conference will include the first Cebu International Open Source Summit with the objective of catapulting Cebu as an “Innovation Island.”

Mila Espina, chairperson for the CBM tourism committee, said the tourism conference will concentrate on the importance of human infrastructure as key players in the industry’s growth.

To maximize the entrepreneurial skills of Cebuanos, the CBM will also include the Go Negosyo, which will focus on an extensive mentor-ship program.

“We will establish a method or system that helps entrepreneurs take off their business,” said Jay Aldeguer, Go Negosyo chairman.

Also during the launch, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the Provincial Government is supporting the chamber’s efforts to boost economic growth in Cebu.

She said the Province will give P2 million for the CBM, and another P1 million “to enhance the culture of entrepreneurship in towns and cities (as well as) to improve their product marketability and sustainability.

“Teach them your secrets. Tell the cities and towns what CCCI has achieved. Let them follow your directions,” Garcia urged the chamber.

Garcia credited the members of CCCI in conceiving the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, which encourages tours in the countryside.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who also graced the launching, urged CCCI members to come up with projects that are of interest to the community.

Osmeña said the City Government also supports the CBM. He did not specify, however, what kind of support the City Government will give.

CCCI started holding the CBM in June, 1991. The chamber later extended the holding of the event to five months. (MMM)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/14/life/rediscovering.bogo.and.the.island.of.capitancillo.html

Thursday, February 14, 2008
Rediscovering Bogo and the Island of Capitancillo
By Albert Alvarez

WHO would have thought that there would be a magical island just 30 minutes away by boat off the shores of Bogo? A lone solar-powered lighthouse sitting amongst the ruins of an old concrete structure has become a new haven for those who seek something different. This is the tiny island of Capitancillo, which was named after the navy captain who beached his vessel on its shores during the days of the war.

Now, an ongoing restoration project of Capitancillo as a marine dive spot has become a goal of the tourism office of the city of Bogo. This was a recent project of the city and the rate of improvement can already be seen all throughout the marine sanctuary. Other sanctuaries in the area have protected a major portion of the Camotes Sea.

At the moment, the uninhabited island of Capitancillo has become a base and place of rest for fishermen, to fix their nets and to dry their daily catch of fish. But tourists have discovered the beauty of the island’s nearby waters and is now often used for snorkeling as well. The profile of the island has a shallow edge which drops down from 25 to 40 meters.

So, together with the officers of the Department of Tourism, a large group of Cebu travel agents, members of the press and a number of professional divers, took part in an invitational launch of Capitancillo. Promoted as a new diving destination, the launch also served as a call for tourists, local and foreign alike, to explore the beauty of Bogo.

Upon arrival, one can immediately see that Bogo not only offers beautiful beaches, but also panoramic landscapes and fresh clean air. A dream come true for many who seek peace and solace from the busy and hectic world we live in. Only a three-hour scenic drive along the north-bound road of Cebu, arriving in Bogo gives one a sense of tranquility and relaxation. A number of hotels such as Bogo Pension House, Nagano Pension House and the seaside resort of Nailon welcome the weary traveler to a restful oasis.

From either Marnangog Cove, Alegre Beach Resort or Nailon Beach Resort, as drop off points, the journey to Capitancillo normally lasts not more than half an hour by outrigger boat.

The nearby resort of Alegre in Sogod has now partnered with Bogo’s tourism office to improve Capitancillo by proposing new utilities such as public toilets, showers and even a restaurant for those who wish to visit the island. What would be a better island stop after a long, exciting boating trip around the islands of Cebu?

Of course, the appeal of the island is in the diving. With around three large diving areas, the marine sanctuary will become an attraction as the aquatic life continues to grow and flourish.

The accompanying group of divers had told us of the increase of fish size in the last six months due to the city of Bogo’s push to make the area a marine sanctuary. Because of this, divers are optimistic that the zone will be able to repair itself in the near future, thus making it more attractive for local and foreign divers.

We are definitely looking forward to the success of Capitancillo as a featured attraction for the city of Bogo and for Cebu in general, as one of the future tourist destinations for relaxation as well as diving.

thanks for the news articles ya'll!

Happy Hearts Day everyone!

Thanks bai.. ubay ubay na gyud di ay abli diha sa Northwing. hehe

Gloria Jean's already opened a kiosk or a stall at the lobby of the Northwing, just underneath the stairs.

^ Yup, but I think the grand opening which was previously slated for the month of February will be moved since the ramp for the parking area isn't completed yet.

if someone suspects a innocent, better keep
our mouth shut....

don't let them know that we're suspecting someone....
besides, maybe she is a visitor..... or something

^ Yup, but I think the grand opening which was previously slated for the month of February will be moved since the ramp for the parking area isn't completed yet.

by the way, when it is expected that the ramp
will be opened????

Cebu furniture exporters
see hope in new markets

By Wilfredo Rodolfo III
Reporter

CEBU CITY—Cebu furniture exporters are pinning their hopes on new markets, particularly in the Middle East and in Russia, to cushion the effects of a reported US recession and the strengthening peso.

Cebu Furniture Industry Foundation (CFIF) president Eric Casas said the $100-million annual industry is hoping to penetrate the Russian market, which he said is very “promising.”

“Design-wise, our products will really stand out in Russia. We are top-of-the- line there, comparable with products from Italy,” Casas told reporters.

CFIF is preparing for a “leaner but more significant” Cebu International Furniture and Furnishing Exhibition, or Cebu X, next month.

Expo chairman Laurie Boquiren said the event will have its biggest Russian delegation ever, underlining the vast interest of the new economic powerhouse nation on the Cebu’s high-end furniture creations.

So far, 75 Russian furniture buyers have registered online for the Cebu X event— a number which organizers are hoping to double on the event dates itself, from March 6 to 9. “We don’t hear of Russia before. Now they’re here and they are very interested. That is really something,” Boquiren said.

Although there will be less exhibitors in the event this year, Boquiren said the biggest players like Maitland-Smith and Dedon will be joining, signifying the two company’s support for the industry.

“The lean times are the best time to beef up your marketing,” Boquiren said.

Boquiren attributed the refusal of some firms from joining the expo to declining sales due to the strengthening peso and the declining demand in the US. Nationwide and local furniture export figures have been in the negative in 2007, she said.

“After the subprime woes, less people in the US bought homes. That means less demand for furniture,” Boquiren said.

Casas said the “triple whammy” on the industry is the increasing prices of raw materials, like wood and rattan.

Cebu furniture, which target mostly high-end US markets, comprise close to half of the Philippines’ annual production.

Boquiren said, however, that the US is still a huge market, considering most of the Cebu-made furniture are catered to the high-end market.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/02142008/economy02.html

@Sharkle: It's almost done but I don't know how long the curing period will take.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9600/dsc0047copycopysq9.jpg

^^ how about the other side (ramp)...almost done din ba?

i saw some people watching the view
in the mall. especially 3rd fl. is that for public???

i saw some people in the Northwing watching the view
by the mall. especially 3rd fl. is that open for public???

I don't know if it is accessible by the elevators. But I too noticed that there are some people in the parking area of the Northwing, probably construction workers

i saw people, the night after the Northwing opened.
and the construction of the ramp wasn't built yet.
but there are people watching the view by the mall

what happend to the fight against mayor soc and mayor tom?????

^ Well do you think anyone would climb to get there? :nuts:

"SOON TO RISE!"
MABOLO, CEBU CITY
"WATCH OUT!"

New Call Center Building beside The Gallery
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/mabolo06.jpg

New Hotel beside Sarrossa International Hotel
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New Mixed Use Building across Paseo
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New Commercial Office Building across Paseo
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^^ WOW... all in Mabolo! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:


...salamat sa update bai @hansboy!

Lovely updates Hans! Plus they're all midrises. :okay:

thanks sa mga pics bai hans.:master:

^^ all 4 projects in Mabolo! ...go go Mabolo!

^^ WOW... all in Mabolo! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:


...salamat sa update bai @hansboy!

Lovely updates Hans! Plus they're all midrises. :okay:

thanks sa mga pics bai hans.:master:

Very much welcome! You know how much we love Cebu!

I just can't believe it that we are still in the first quarter of 2008 and we already have a lot of upcoming under construction buildings in just one area like Mabolo. This includes the biggest project in the area which is The Persimmon of Aboitiz.

I hope that the second quarter will beat the first quarter of 2008 in terms of proposal and under construction projects in Cebu!

Way to go Cebu!

^^ yeah... go go Sugbo!

^^ WOW... all in Mabolo! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

...salamat sa update bai @hansboy!
^^ all 4 projects in Mabolo! ...go go Mabolo!
^^ yeah... go go Sugbo!

waaaaaa .... hu hu hu hu

i'm so happy for the fast development we have here .... but ...

hu hu hu hu patay na pud ta ani sa traffic!

this is the drawback of very fast growth ... our traffic infrastructure
can't keep up with it!

well ... that's what urban life is, we'll try our best to keep up with the
growth ... but it's really exciting seeing these edifices sprouting all over.

^^bitaw sir murag di kaapas atong infrastructure. pero a good sign of investors' confidence of cebu gihapon.

thanks sa updates bai @hans! so many in mabolo alone indeed particularly in panagdait.

Paul, does the City planning department have any drafted plans showing proposals of future roadways in Cebu? Any masterplan for Cebu?? If there are any, have there been any action from the city or provincial sectors in acquiring the properties within the proposed right of way of these future roadways?? When we talk about future roadway widths, is our standard roadway widths similar or close to international standards whether it be a major highway, secondary highway, collector streets, etc..?? If there is a masterplan, is it made available to the public for viewing??

^^

maybe there's a rematch? not sure.. :dunno:

.... Cebu studes are clever!



********************


Squid-based ink industry has bright potential – study
The Freeman Online
By Rudy A. Fernandez
Friday, February 15, 2008

An ink industry with the black liquid sourced from squid as raw material has a bright potential, particularly in the Central Philippines.

This is attested by the results of a study done by researchers of the Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST) in Cebu City.

For one, squid is one of the most abundant fishery species in the country, according to Dr. Cecilio Baga (project leader), Dr. Corazon Macachor, Prof. Anjou Tosiorna (researchers), and Dr. Rodolfo Burgos (coordinator).

Moreover, the producers of frozen marine products, such as squid, are found in Mandaue City and these industries are handy sources of supply for squid ink.

The study, titled “Development of Squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus Ink,” was funded by the CSCST-College of Industrial Technology and Engineering, CSCST-College of Advanced Studies, and Tabok National High School.

It was among the researchers whose results were presented at the 2008 Aquatic Technology Commercialization and Marketplace (ATCOM) organized by the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (DOST-PCAMRD).

ATCOM and a workshop on the impact of climate change on the country’s aquatic and marine resources were among the main highlights of the observance of PCAMRD’s 20th anniversary.

The CSCST study was a follow-up research of another done earlier by the school’s students in drafting technology which tested different concentrations of squid ink used.

The Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology (BSIT) students used three squid ink concentrations — five percent, 10 percent and 15 percent blended with chemicals used in making ink. Results showed that the highest concentration (15 percent) turned out a “very light color with very thin consistency ink.”

The follow-up study was conducted because of the high cost of commercial ink product, which was felt by CSCST students.

The faculty-researchers’ study used concentrations of 20 percent, 25 percent and 30 percent squid ink blended with glycerine, emulsified with synthetic solvent, and mixed with varnish. Other diluents (diluting agents) such as water and calamansi juice were also used.

Used as control treatment was a commercial ink.

The researchers noted that the 25 percent squid ink concentration was comparable with the commercial ink. “However,” they suggested, “closer concentration of 25 percent squid ink should be further investigated with an ordor enhancement.”

They noted that “the newly developed product with 25 percent squid ink and 50 percent acid concentrations has a moderately black color, slightly desirable solvent-like odor, ink dryness with a sharp irregular line, thick and dry ink consistency which is comparable with the control or commercial ink as to its color, dryness, and consistency.”

skyline asiatownitpark updates... enjoy :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210760.jpg

itmall, tgu tower and i3...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210761.jpg

skyrise2...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210762.jpg

eblock...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210763.jpg

a closer look @asiatown itpark...

skyrise2...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210766.jpg

eblock...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210768.jpg

i3...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210770.jpg

tgutower...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210771.jpg

itmall, tgutower and i3...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210774.jpg

mga bai... pasakyon nya tamo ani ha... hehehehe!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210784.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210786.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210785.jpg

i was there on the 13th of February (gdala man ko wifey gud)! ang dami Devotees... kaya lng no fotos to share ksi camfon lng dala ko. its nice although theres alot of construction activity going on... :)

Link:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/news/3.cops.sacked.for.extortion.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
3 cops sacked for extortion

THREE policemen earlier accused of extortion were ordered dismissed.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos signed the dismissal order against SPO1 Jaime Otadoy, PO3 Rey Albotra and PO1 Raniel Capangpangan last Feb. 11.

Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador, when sought for comment, said the dismissal only indicated that the organization does not condone misdemeanor.

He hopes this will serve as reminder to other policemen not to engage in illegal activities.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 set up an entrapment for Otadoy, Capangpangan and Albotra right inside the Vice Control Section (VCS) office last Aug. 22.

Only Otadoy was arrested because Capangpangan slipped past operatives, while Albotra was not around.

Businessman Reuel Lerio sought police assistance when the three policemen allegedly threatened to slap him with a non-bailable drug case if he did not cough up P2 million.

Lerio said they reportedly brought it down to P1.2 million when he told them he didn’t have that amount.

He made an initial payment of P200,000.

But because the policemen asked for the balance, his family decided to bring the matter to authorities.

The case led to the disbandment of the Vice Control Section of the CCPO.

It also led to the relief of its chief, Insp. Wilbert Parilla, from the CCPO. Parilla was investigated separately.

No less than the chief of the regional directorial staff, Senior Supt. Arnulfo Perez, heard the conversation between one of the policemen and the civilian complainant.

Heard

Perez said he heard PO1 Capangpangan talking to a female relative of Lerio.

However, Otadoy found two witnesses who claimed no entrapment took place and that the operatives from the NBI and Regional Investigation Division picked up Otadoy at the VCS office.

Otadoy said that Lerio offered to pay him when they pressed him for information. He said Lerio was in their surveillance list.

The dismissal orders were sent to the Regional Personnel and Human Resource Development Division (RPHRDD). The RPHRDD issued the implementing orders last Tuesday.

Otadoy was quoted by radio dyLA as saying that he plans to appeal the case.

The three officers have also sought the services of lawyer Pedro Leslie Salva to help them.

Otadoy said he received the implementing orders last Wednesday, but Capangpangan and Albotra said they have yet to see the orders.

All three were relieved from the CCPO and reassigned to the Regional Headquarters Security Group of the PRO 7 pending investigation.

The three officers have 10 days from receipt of the orders to file an appeal. (MEA/With JST)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/news/comelec.stops.winner.from.sitting.as.mayor.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
Comelec stops 'winner' from sitting as mayor

DEMETRIO Granada’s assumption of the Office of the Mayor in Tudela, one of the towns in the island of Camotes, Cebu, will have to wait.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in a two-page order yesterday, restrained, for the next 60 days, the enforcement of a court order granting Granada the authority to assume office.

Judge Edito Enemecio, presiding over the 25th branch of the Regional Trial Court based in Danao City, earlier declared Granada the winner in the recount made of the town’s May 2007 election returns.

Enemecio, in an order dated Jan. 9, also allowed Granada to assume the post and to hold on to it unless Rogelio Baquerfo wins in the appeal he lodged.

But Baquerfo, through lawyer Noel Archival, filed for a special proceeding before the Comelec following the Jan. 9 ruling.

“Finding the motion to be well taken, in the interest of justice and so as not to render the issues raised moot and academic, and the proceeding before this honorable commission a useless exercise, hereby grants the same,” read the ruling signed by Commissioners Romeo Brawner and Moslemen Macarambon.

“Accordingly, a temporary restraining order is hereby issued, effective immediately and for a period of 60 days,” it added.

With a margin of only eight votes, Baquerfo was declared the mayor of Tudela during the May 2007 elections.

Granada, who held the post previously, filed an election protest that was resolved via recount. Enemecio said Granada actually won by a margin of 13.

Assuming beforehand that Baquerfo would be appealing the ruling before the Comelec, Granada filed a motion for execution pending appeal.

Appeal

Baquerfo, on the other hand, filed a motion for inhibition against Enemecio as well as his appeal.

Enemecio denied the motion for inhibition and granted the motion for execution pending appeal.

“If the protestant (Granada) will have to wait for the finality of the election protest, it will not be remote that he may not be able to exercise at all the functions of the office for which he was elected by the people of Tudela, Camotes, Cebu,” Enemecio said in his order.

In his ruling, Enemecio, among other things, said it was what was best for public interest.

“It is well established that all election cases, especially protest cases, are imbued with public interest and, it is neither fair nor just to keep in office for an uncertain period, one whose rights is under suspicion,” the ruling read.

“If the protestant will have to wait for the finality of the election protest, it will not be remote that he may not be able to exercise at all the functions of the office for which he was elected by the people,” it added. (KNR)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/news/cebu.city.bracing.for.dengue.epidemic.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
Cebu City bracing for dengue epidemic

WORRIED that Cebu City might suffer from a engue fever epidemic, the City Government ill work closely with the Department of Health (DOH) to get the public to cooperate in fighting a “serial killer.”

DOH Assistant Secretary David Lozada and DOH 7 Regional Director Susanna Madarieta visited Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to discuss other ways to fight the dengue virus.

Osmeña said the officials wanted to make Cebu City one of the models in the campaign for its innovative anti-dengue measures.

The DOH specifically wanted other local government units (LGUs) to learn how the City Government was able to reduce the number of dengue cases in Barangay Labangon.

In 2007, Labangon topped the list of barangays with the highest number of dengue cases, with 80 cases and four deaths. It is no longer in the top 10 list as of this week.

“Labangon is out of the top 10. But I’m not convinced. Still, it’s a sign of hope. I told (DOH) that we’re trying out new things but it’s still too early to show results. We really have nothing to showcase this time,” the mayor said.

Osmeña also said he is worried that the increase in the number of dengue cases this year would be drastic, as shown by the number of cases so far.

From Jan. 1 to the second week of February alone, 262 dengue cases have already been recorded with 10 deaths so far.

Last year, the dengue virus hit 2,107 Cebu City residents, 51 of which resulted in death.

“We were discussing other strategies. They tried to let us know that we are now in a dangerous situation. For Cebu, the traditional peak season for dengue is June but it’s only February and we already have 260 cases. We are heading towards an epidemic,” Osmeña warned.

The mayor considered it a sign of hope that Labangon is no longer in the top 10 list of barangays with a high number of dengue cases.

City Councilor Gerardo Carillo earlier identified Talamban as having the highest number of dengue cases since January.

It is followed by Guadalupe, Mabolo, Inayawan, Tisa, Ermita, Tejero, Basak Pardo, Sambag II, Basak San Nicolas and Cogon Pardo.

“The basic lesson here is that the mosquitoes reach our houses so we must change the water in our flower vases, clean our dish racks and check water dispensers. We will be coming up with a series of reminders for the people to prepare their minds that there is a serial killer out there,” said Osmeña, referring to the aedes egypti mosquito.

To raise awareness on dengue prevention, the DOH will launch on Feb. 21 an intensive regional anti-dengue campaign with the theme “ToDOH Laban sa Dengue” in Barangay Punta Princesa.

DOH will introduce the mosquito mascot, which will go around the barangays to remind the residents of the steps in fighting dengue.

Among the dengue prevention measures is the searching and destroying of mosquito breeding sites, self-protection measures, seeking early treatment and saying “no” to indiscriminate fogging.

The DOH will also coordinate with the Association of Barangay Councils in immersing health workers and residents and giving lectures on the danger of the dengue virus, said Dr. Lakshmi Legaspi of DOH 7. NRC

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/news/pablo.bats.for.scrapping.of.prohibition.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
Pablo bats for scrapping of prohibition

A CEBUANO congressman has suggested that Malacañang revoke Executive Order (EO) 156 to allow the importation of all kinds of used vehicles to help the middle-class and small and medium entrepreneurs.

Speaking before the hearing of the House committee on good government, Rep. Pablo Garcia (Cebu Province, 2nd district) said that based on the admission of Bureau of Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, buying a new vehicle nowadays is costly because of high taxes.

Morales said that aside from duties and taxes, customs also collects a 12-percent expanded value-added tax and the 10 percent ad valorem tax for the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Under this situation where importers of new vehicles are required to pay about 60 percent more in taxes, an ordinary citizen cannot afford it. If he is need of one, he often has no choice but to buy a second-hand vehicle.

Also, a sedan worth P700,000 abroad will cost a middle-class family here in the Philippines more than P1 million.

Rep. Jessie A. Lapus (Tarlac) said that because EO 156 was supported by a recent Supreme Court ruling on a case filed by a Subic-based businessman, importation of used vehicles is banned in the country.

However, Lapus said that in order to bring used vehicles in the country, businessmen declare these as truck replacement parts, which also result to undervaluation.

Aside from used vehicles, some businessmen reportedly smuggled new Toyota and Honda cars in 2006 and 2007, prompting the Cebu Auto Dealers Association to complain to Rep. Antonio V. Cuenco (Cebu City, south district).

Cuenco is the principal author of Resolution 320 that called for the investigation on smuggling, now being handled by the House committee on good government chaired by Rep. Pedro Romualdo (Camiguin).

Commissioner Morales said the misdeclaration resulted to technical smuggling, hence, all those who own tax-deficient vehicles should pay the tax deficiency even if they bought the vehicles in good faith.

But Rep. Rodolfo Bichara said it is unfair to punish buyers in good faith who are second, third and even fourth owners of tax-deficient vehicles.

Bichara said that if this system continues, smugglers and the people they are in cahoots with inside the BOC and Land Transportation Office will continue to evade prosecution. (EOB)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/bus/work.starts.on.naga.plants.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
Work starts on Naga plants

NEARLY two years after the project broke ground, the construction of two 100-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plants in Naga City, Cebu commenced yesterday.

The coal power generations plants are being proposed by the consortium of Salcon Power Corp. (SPC) and Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco). The consortium, known as Kepco-SPC (KSPC), proposed the project in 2003 yet with the original target completion in 2008.

SPC senior vice president and chief operating officer Antonio Corpuz said the delay in the construction of the plants was caused by government bureaucratic requirements, not financial difficulties.

The first 100 MW plant is expected to become fully operational in February 2011 while the second one will be in May of the same year.

Although Corpuz could not give the project cost at present prices, he admitted that the delay raised the estimated expenses of the two plants. In 2005, SPC officials said the consortium will invest $270 million.

Costs

KSPC executive vice president Alfredo Henares said aside from higher fuel costs, growth in global demand for power also caused contractors to increase rates.

Corpuz said, though, the present cost of building the two plants would have been higher had it not been tempered by the strong peso and the lowering of interest rates by banks.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the power plants will “fuel” further economic growth in the province.

In her speech during the excavation ceremony of the project in Naga yesterday, Garcia said she is glad that the consortium pursued the project despite “stumbling block after stumbling block” that came in the proponents’ way.

Kepco president and chief executive officer Lee Won-Gul said the company had promised President Arroyo, who visited Korea in June 2003, that it will “by all means, pursue the Cebu project, despite any obstacles.”

“Upon completion of the power plants (in the next) three years, enough amount of high quality electricity will be provided to Cebu and the other regions in the Visayas.

Cebu Power Core Group chief Carlos Co said by 2011, power supply in the province will stabilize but “not necessarily at lower rates.”

He said in an interview that power from the new plants will probably be around P4 to P4.20 per kilowatthour (kph), compared to the National Power Corp.’s current P3.40 per kph.

Jobs

KSPC president Lee Kang Won, in his speech, said about 440 to 980 people will be employed during the construction of the plants. Local residents will be given priority in the hiring, he added.

Aside from taxes to the local government, KSPC also promised to conduct community development programs.

Yesterday, the consortium launched the barangay electrification program, a joint project of KSPC, Capitol and Cebu Electric Cooperative. The barangay electrification program covers 81 sitios in 20 towns and one city in Cebu Province.

Corpuz, in a separate interview, said aside from the time needed to comply with government requirements the consortium could not bid out the project to contractors as KSPC must secure power purchase agreements with distribution utilities.

“We need to have 70 percent of the capacity covered by purchase agreements otherwise no contractor will accept it,” he said.

KSPC has initial agreements with seven distribution utilities in Cebu and Negros. The agreements still need to be evaluated and approved by the Energy Regulator Commission (ERC).

Aside from having to conduct separate negotiations with different distribution utilities, Kepco also had to hold separate public hearings. “Each of those distribution utilities has different markets. We have to have a public hearing in each area,” Henares said.

The Visayan Electric Company (Veco), however, has not signed up.

“Veco will be the one that will benefit most if they sign up,” Henares said. “We are in talks with them from time to time.”

Officials of Aboitiz Equity Venture (AEV), the holding company of Veco and other Aboitiz-controlled firms, had said they wanted more plants with smaller generation capacity to avoid huge shortage when one source bogs down.

Recently, Aboitiz Power Corp. joined a consortium that is building three coal power plants with a total capacity of 246 MW in Sangi, Toledo City.

“These plants (KSPC project) will not compete with the one in Toledo. They would complement each other,” Corpuz said.

He said that when the new plants in Toledo and the KSPC project become operational in 2010 and 2011, the old power plants of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) will probably undergo rehabilitation or will be phased out as they are already inefficient.

“When that happens, about 200 MW would be taken out (from the Napocor’s Naga Power Complex),” he added.
Corpuz said that this early, only 40 percent of KSPC plant’s total capacity is already covered by power purchase agreements.

The rest, he said, will probably be bought by large individual consumers under an open access market system.

SPC also plans to participate in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in the Visayas. (LAP)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/bus/cebux.08.to.get.less.exhibitors.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
CebuX '08 to get less exhibitors

DUE to the dismal state of the Philippine export sector, the organizer of the Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition (Cebu X) 2008 expect participation among exhibitors to drop by 17 percent.

The Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF), the organizer of the event made this announcement last Wednesday in a press conference at the CFIF office in North Road Jagobiao, Mandaue City.

Laurie Boquiren, member of the board of trustees of CFIF, said the organization anticipates a decrease in the number of furniture exhibitors to 83 this year, compared to the nearly 100 participants in 2007 as the export sector is suffering a setback due to the strengthening of the peso against the dollar.

“With the lean times, exporters are stretching their peso. We understand that they don’t have enough cash for marketing and promotions,” she said.

But lean times, Boquiren stressed, are deemed as best opportunities for industry players to beef up marketing strategies and become pro-active in promoting their products because of the presence of potential international clients.

Recognizing the need to support the local industry, CFIF will introduce in this year’s Cebu X different financing schemes for exporters who cannot afford to join the exhibition, Boquiren said.

She also noted the participation in this year’s event of two of the biggest furniture players in Cebu — Dedon and Maitland Smith.

CFIF executive director Ruby Salutan said the organization has been aggressively promoting Cebu X in their website to entice more participants and buyers abroad.

Cebu X vice chairperson Allan Murillo said because of CFIF’s “user-friendly” website, pre-registered buyers have reached 579, which is more than double the figure last year.

“We now have a pro-active online market,” he said.

Citing official records, Boquiren said actual sales generated during last year’s Cebu X reached $15 million for the entire four-day show.

Revenues

This year, she said CFIF is targeting total sales revenues from the show to grow since Cebu X 2008, scheduled on March 6 to 9 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, is positioned to be part of the Asian circuit of international furniture shows.

Boquiren said 15 furniture shows all over Asia are happening in the span of one and a half months.

Prior to the Cebu X 2008, furniture shows are also scheduled in Malaysia, Indonesia and in Metro Manila. Following the event here are more shows in Singapore.

“Our advantage is that, other than the show, Cebu offers them the leisure part, like the beaches,” Boquiren said.

Meanwhile, CFIF president Eric Casas said with the softening of the US market, which caused demand for Philippine furniture exports to decline, CFIF members are now shifting to other markets like Russia, Spain, Italy and Dubai, which are constantly on the look out for high-end furniture items. The Cebu furniture industry is eyeing to make these markets as its niche.

With the presence of alternative markets, Casas remains optimistic that the Cebu furniture industry will remain upbeat vis a vis other problems that cripple the sector, like the peso’s appreciation, which had resulted in the closure of several companies.

“Once furniture players (are able to) fully penetrate high-end markets other than the US, then everyone will be back in the game,” he said. (MMM)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/15/bus/ccci.stresses.stand.against.corruption.html

Friday, February 15, 2008
CCCI stresses stand against corruption

A LOCAL business group declared that it is a strong advocate against corruption, which is not only present in government but in the private sector as well.

“We urge the private sector to be guided by the principles of good governance at all times in carrying on their trade,” read a statement from the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

The statement was made in reaction to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s earlier call for members of CCCI to not only pursue investment promotions in Cebu, but also to actively advocate against corruption.

“You have to develop a reputation to stand up for what is right and what is good for the community,” Osmeña said in his speech during the launching of the CCCI-led Cebu Business Month (CBM) last Tuesday.

Osmeña challenged the chamber to develop an active stand on different business-related issues concerning the entire business community in Cebu.

Role

The mayor asked the CCCI if it has helped looked into the grievances of investors, particularly in relation to alleged corruption in Lapu-Lapu City.

“CCCI can play an important role in advocating against corrupt practices. I can’t always be the eyes and ears everywhere,” he said.

CCCI said the chamber is not mum on corruption issues in Lapu-Lapu City. The group pointed out that it even caused the publication of an advertisement expressing “serious concern over prevailing issues of corruption in government” last Sept. 29, 2007.

“We supported the filing of charges before the Ombudsman by the Coralpoint Educational Foundation of Lapu-Lapu City and exhorted agencies of the government tasked to investigate and adjudicate these cases to unearth the truth, penalize the guilty and absolve the innocent with utmost expediency,” CCCI said.

“To date, we are still vigilant over the developments of cases such as this and shall support all moves that affirm transparency, accountability and honesty in conducting the affairs of the state,” the chamber added.

Apart from the chamber’s need to be vigilant on the issues raised by the local business community, Osmeña also expressed dismay at what he perceived as CCCI activities “that benefitted only its members.” He said this was the reason he created the Cebu Investments and Promotions Center in 1994.

Osmeña, however, credited CCCI’s efforts to make this year’s CBM into a global business event to attract more foreign investors and create more jobs in Cebu.

CCCI, in its statement, also mentioned the importance of empowering entrepreneurs in the countryside that they may be able to participate in the overall socio-economic development of their localities.

This year, the CCCI plans to organize local business councils in different municipalities and component cities in Cebu Province. (MMM)

mga bai... pasakyon nya tamo ani ha... hehehehe!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210784.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210786.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210785.jpg

^^ Wow! What a huge tanker/cargo ship! :eek2: Is this thing being built by Tsuneishi at its shipyard and dry-dock at Balamban? :?

]Tomas blames ombud for delay in Asean lampposts turnover

CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants to convert the decorative lampposts into more efficient street lighting system, but he admits he can’t do anything yet until the lampposts are turned over to the City Government.

Once the legal concerns are resolved, the mayor said he will convert the decorative lampposts into regular street lighting facilities by extending its length and replacing its bulbs.

Once the lamps are improved and the streets are better lit, particularly in San Jose de la Montaña Ave., Osmeña said he will remove the center islands and the lampposts there so the road can be widened.

“But I will have to discuss this with Citom and maybe we can just put new lane dividers instead of the center island. Then we can widen the road without spending for right of way. The electricity consumption will also be diminished because we will take out the lamps in the center island,” he said


Does this mean that he will have to cut the beautiful trees and remove the landscaped center island?

I have a question..What if the main entrance of Ciudad Mall will be facing Asiatown IT Park instead of the BanTal road? Roads in Asiatown are wide, hehe..

There are two "dead-end" roads there (the one beside GLOBE and the other one between I1 and I2).. What if these "dead-end" roads will be connected to the BanTal road?

And then punch another road that will go straight to the former Camp Lapulapu?

I hope the province is thinking of developing it into a business park or better yet they might want to sell it to the developers of Asiatown so that it will be integrated into it and become an expansion of the IT Park, hehe..



..

Our ever beautiful governor

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3336/2008212115943governorscfs5.jpg

It is a shame that Cebu is now the smuggling capital of the philippines for cars and vehicles and yet no action or people are persecuted in court. How come the people there in cebu are keeping quiet on this notorious tag?

^^ Do you have a source to this allegation?

Hi all.

Unsay lami kan-an ron sa SM? Lami nang Tea House? Ang Chikaan kay native man pud sya no? Then Gerry's Grill okay man pud and medyo expensive pud. I browsed through Sir Sinjin's Dining thread, wala may SM didto but Gerry's Grill.

^^ Do you have a source to this allegation?

Hi all.

Unsay lami kan-an ron sa SM? Lami nang Tea House? Ang Chikaan kay native man pud sya no? Then Gerry's Grill okay man pud and medyo expensive pud. I browsed through Sir Sinjin's Dining thread, wala may SM didto but Gerry's Grill.

First, don't call me sir. :D Second, go to Golden Cowrie, mabusog na ka, dili pa gyud mahal ug ang pinakaimportante, lami gyud kaayo. :yes: I've eaten at Chikaan sa SM, wala'y lami, their Salinas branch is better. Also, for casual dining, ofcourse di pwede kalimtan ang Harbour City Dimsum.

It is a shame that Cebu is now the smuggling capital of the philippines for cars and vehicles and yet no action or people are persecuted in court. How come the people there in cebu are keeping quiet on this notorious tag?

Well we've had enough of it in the media and remember that this is SkyscraperCity and our priority is to showcase the developments, and not the dirty politics, in our respective cities. Why, do you have any intentions of dragging Cebu, or any other city down? :?

^^ Ah ok. Thanks sir, errrrrr Sinjin. :) Golden Cowrie it is! Have you eaten at Lee Garden Tea House in SM? I have tried it in Baguio pero dili ko satisfied. So I am hesitant to eat there. Anyway, siguro I'll take your advice. Thanks.

I think it's Lai Garden Tea House. hehehe

The place is good. Just beware of the Lemon Chicken. LOL. Di gyud nako makaya. hehe.

Order their fruit mix. Lami. hehe

Ah lai diay! lai la lai! hehehe. Ngano diay na nga chicken, manglabay ug lemonchito? (ugh, corny). :)

Thank you all.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/edison_lee/waterfront1.jpg\

night view after the sinulog grand parade. just look at the spotlights, many party places that night.

Construction of coal-fired
plant in Cebu starts


By Wilfredo Rodolfo III
Reporter
The Business Mirror


CEBU CITY—The Korean Electric Co. (Kepco)-SPC Power Corp. (KSPC) consortium on Thursday held a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of its 200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Naga City, south of Cebu City, while announcing that most of its expected output had already been contracted to distributors.

Alfredo Henares, executive vice president of Kepco-KSPC, said the company has already sealed power-purchase agreements with seven electric cooperatives in Cebu and Negros, which could cover for 160 MW.

The biggest buyer, he said, would be Central Negros Electric Cooperative Inc. (Ceneco), which signed to buy 90 MW from the power plant that is set to be completed in 2011.

Other power cooperatives which signed agreements with Kepco-KSPC are the Cebu Electric Cooperative Inc. (Cebeco) 1, 2 and 3.

The contracts with the cooperatives are already pending approval with the Energy Regulatory Commission.

Carlos Co, the chairman of the Cebu business sector’s Cebu Power Core Group, expressed hope the $272-million power plant would be enough to secure Cebu and the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid’s power requirements in the long term.

He said the 200 MW of KSPC and the additional 246 MW from Cebu Power Corp. in Toledo City, which is set to be online in 2010, should be enough to avert any projected power shortage in the fast-growing Metro Cebu.

Co, however, warned that the additional capacities may not be enough to put up a comfortable power reserve in the grid if the National Power Corp. goes on with its plan to retire its old and inefficient power plants in the CNP grid.

Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas, Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong, Lee Won-gul, Kepco president and chief executive officer and Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Hong Jong Ki.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0215&162008/economy06.html

It is a shame that Cebu is now the smuggling capital of the philippines for cars and vehicles and yet no action or people are persecuted in court. How come the people there in cebu are keeping quiet on this notorious tag?

^^ Its only him who said that...
Its because of somebody from "manila" doing business here in cebu. :lol:

I read this article in the Publication of Megaworld entitled HORIZONS and just had to take a picture. Hands Down. :)

Megaworld Eyes Cebu as BPO Hub

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/IMG_1817.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/1.jpg

Following its recent purchase of the old Iloilo airport, Megaworld has announced plans to build another BPO hub in the Central Visayas region.

The BPO park will rise on a 25-hectare complex near Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu City. It is a few minutes away from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the second largest airport in the Philippines.

The airport enjoys direct international service from foreign cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Koror in Palau, Kaohsiung, Taipei and Taoyuan in Taiwan, Shanhai-Pudong in China, Busan, Incheon and Seoul in South Korea, Tokyo and Narita in Japan and Doha in Qatar.

Megaworld’s Cebu project will be home to high-tech offices and leisure facilities. Initial development cost is estimated at P2.5 billion.

“Megaworld already owns a part of the Cebu property, and we have plans to acquire the rest of it,” said Megaworld Executive Director Kingson Sian.

Further details of the project have yet to be finalized, he said.

I read this article in the Publication of Megaworld entitled HORIZONS and just had to take a picture. Hands Down. :)

Megaworld Eyes Cebu as BPO Hub

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/IMG_1817.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/1.jpg

Following its recent purchase of the old Iloilo airport, Megaworld has announced plans to build another BPO hub in the Central Visayas region.

The BPO park will rise on a 25-hectare complex near Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu City. It is a few minutes away from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the second largest airport in the Philippines.

The airport enjoys direct international service from foreign cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Koror in Palau, Kaohsiung, Taipei and Taoyuan in Taiwan, Shanhai-Pudong in China, Busan, Incheon and Seoul in South Korea, Tokyo and Narita in Japan and Doha in Qatar.

Megaworld’s Cebu project will be home to high-tech offices and leisure facilities. Initial development cost is estimated at P2.5 billion.

“Megaworld already owns a part of the Cebu property, and we have plans to acquire the rest of it,” said Megaworld Executive Director Kingson Sian.

Further details of the project have yet to be finalized, he said.

:dance:

Wow it will easily complement Shangrila Mactan :okay:

Megaworld Eyes Cebu as BPO Hub

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/IMG_1817.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/1.jpg


if finalized, Megaworld will build more than 10 high-rise structures in Mactan island alone! incredible! :cheers:

now i'm starting to think Megaworld is not one of the BIG 3 SRP INVESTORS. :dunno:

oh my this is insane! whew!
personally, i did not consider megaworld as one of the big three in srp anyway. hehehe...

lapu govt officials should widen the roads from pusok to engano by now..trapik! trapik! trapik! hehe

let me just share this...

Fluorescent Lamp Inventor (http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/inventions.php)
Many Filipinos acknowledge Agapito Flores as the inventor of the fluorescent lamp, which is the most widely used source of lighting in the world today. The fluorescent lamp reportedly got its name from Flores. Written articles about Flores said he was born in Bantayan Island in Cebu. The fluorescent lamp, however, was not invented in a particular year. It was the product of 79 years of the development of the lighting method that began with the invention of the electric light bulb by Thomas Edison.

Among the other inventors who claimed credit for developing the fluorescent lamp were French physicist A. E. Becquerel (1867), Nikola Tesla, Albert Hall (1927), Mark Winsor and Edmund Germer. French inventor Andre Claude was recognized for developing the fluorescent tubular lighting systems. Yet, he was not officially recognized as the inventor of fluorescent lamp. It was reported that the General Electric and Westinghouse obtained Claude's patent rights and developed the fluorescent lamp that we know today.

According to Filipino scientists, fluorescent lamp was not named after Flores. The term fluorescence first cropped up as early as 1852 when English mathematician-physicist George Gabriel Stokes discovered a luminous material called "fluorspar", which he coined with "escence". The National Academy of Science and Technology also dismissed Flores being the inventor of fluorescent lamp as a myth. "No scientific report, no valid statement, no rigorous documents can be used to credit Flores for the discovery of the fluorescent lamp. We have tried to correct this misconception, but the media (for one) and our textbooks (for another) keep using the Flores example," a Filipino scientist wrote in her column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The fluorescent lamps were introduced into the U.S. market in 1938. Still, Filipinos recognize Agapito Flores as the inventor of the product that illuminated the world.

For these kind of news, my day is complete...Inspired na pud ko motrabaho...Hehehehe


Thanks to all...I apologize that I can not contribute some good news about Cebu, but someday, somehow, i will... :)

^^Well, after tons of posts, that was my first contribution. I hope I can do more in the future.

Ngano diay na nga chicken, manglabay ug lemonchito? (ugh, corny).

:rofl:

I think it's Lai Garden Tea House. hehehe

The place is good. Just beware of the Lemon Chicken. LOL. Di gyud nako makaya.

I like their Lemon Chicken as compared to that of Big Mao (SM Branch). The former's lemon sauce is very sweet like honey mixed with lemon extract and butter. At Big Mao's, the Lemon Chicken's coating is very thick. You can taste the chicken no more, all flour coatings. Yuck!:drool:

Try Makan Asian Cuisine beside Tapa King at SM Old Bldg. It is a fusion of Malaysian, Thai, and Indian cuisine. I love their spicy kangkong. Hmmm... yumyum!:nuts:

1st mactan-mandaue bridge...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210810.jpg

hope the lapu2x city govt. beautifies the park, im sure alot of tourists will come here enjoy the sea breeze and marvel this beautiful bridge. :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210801.jpg

it may be unknown but it is the longest bridge in the world in its design class...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210811.jpg

^ Nice pics Rage. Halos magkapareho ang mga angle sa atong shots. :lol:

^^ almost everyday na bya ko dha sinj. before ko mu work ug after (sakto kyo in/out sa ako wifey sa waterfront), maglakaw2x and exercise. im renting a house naman sa lapu2x. hehehe :)

Aw that's nice! :okay: Btw, asa man na dapit ang Paseo Arcenas?

^^ maybe sa Banawa ghapon. dba naay may Arcenas Estates did2. ktong naay Convergys, Starbucks, Rustans, ug uban shops. wa pa diay ka nasaag dha. hehehe!

Mga Bay,

Just an observation...I never heard talks about Waterfront in MCIA...Am not sure if there are some discussion about it that i may not aware of...Am just curious if it is still operational... :)

^^ operational bai. mostly Japanese and Korean businessmen frequent the hotel. daghan xad pinoy. unique man gud kaayo ang concept sa airport hotel because most guests are those who have business meetings who immediately fly back to original destinations because they are very busy. :)

another plus why they have alot of guest is because there is a Casino operating in the hotel. there is also a 1stclass (CEBU PARADISE) Spa operating in the hotel (mahal lng jud kaayo). :cheers:

Rama plans to convert fish port into children’s playground (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20080216-119275/Rama-plans-to-convert-fish-port-into-childrens-playground)

Cebu Daily News
First Posted 07:54:00 02/16/2008

CEBU City Vice Mayor Michael Rama proposed the conversion of the Pasil fish port and the adjacent building used as cooling system for the market’s fish vendors into a children’s playground.

“The area should be converted into a functional playground. Kids there don’t have enough room to play in,” Rama said.
He said he noticed children playing on the roads instead.

Rama said he came up with the idea after seeing the dilapidated buildings during a clean-up drive conducted by the Cebu City Coastal Management Board, which he heads.

The building for the cooling system has no roof and the vandalized walls were partly destroyed, Rama said.

Bboth buildings, which are located in the boundary of barangays Sawang Calero and Suba, were no longer used for its original purpose.

The fish port is now occupied with food vendors and is partly used as a basketball court, Rama said.

He said he discussed the plan with Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

The fish port and cooling system building were constructed in the mid 1990 during Osmeña’s second term through a P60-million grant from the Belgian government. Correspondent Chris A. Ligan

^^ operational bai. mostly Japanese and Korean businessmen frequent the hotel. daghan xad pinoy. unique man gud kaayo ang concept sa airport hotel because most guests are those who have business meetings who immediately fly back to original destinations because they are very busy. :)

another plus why they have alot of guest is because there is a Casino operating in the hotel. there is also a 1stclass (CEBU PARADISE) Spa operating in the hotel (mahal lng jud kaayo). :cheers:

Thanks for the info, bay...It's good to know that it is still up and working... :)

One of my wish is to see a complete revival of the downtown area...Old buildings with new look (new paint or claddings)...Unya bricks nga pavement... :)

1st mactan-mandaue bridge...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210810.jpg

hope the lapu2x city govt. beautifies the park, im sure alot of tourists will come here enjoy the sea breeze and marvel this beautiful bridge. :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210801.jpg

it may be unknown but it is the longest bridge in the world in its design class...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/ragandacmichael/P1210811.jpg

nice! you guys might want to take a shot at the foot of the 1st Mactan bridge (Lapu-lapu side). you'd see a beautiful field of flowers and green grass so tall! parang nasa holland ang effect mostly because of the unusual cold weather ;)

it's nice when you view it from the bridge.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/126/387277278_ec5846dd1b.jpg?v=0
^^flowers like this. on the other side facing Gaisano Mactan
Flickr by Ronald Suello (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsuello/)

It's so cold, i'm so cold... :cheers:

.......waaaaaaaaaa..i can't see the pics!

I read this article in the Publication of Megaworld entitled HORIZONS and just had to take a picture. Hands Down. :)

Megaworld Eyes Cebu as BPO Hub

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/IMG_1817.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa80/touchmove/1.jpg

Following its recent purchase of the old Iloilo airport, Megaworld has announced plans to build another BPO hub in the Central Visayas region.

The BPO park will rise on a 25-hectare complex near Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Mactan, Cebu City. It is a few minutes away from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the second largest airport in the Philippines.

^^ ok, i can see the pics...i'm not using any proxy...it works... WOW!

^^ Cool. :cool:

May unta kung naa napu'y JW Marriott nga hotel brand diri sa Cebu.

I've stayed in Marriot before, it was just okay, but I guess I can't compare it with Shangrila hotel simply because the latter is more of a resort hotel while Marriott caters more for business people and events...

^^ correct... but i hope with the planned renovation which will cost a few million dollars (as per press release recently) will give more the feeling of having the real Marriott brand...

...imagine how this area would look like when projects like Discovery Bay, AMISA and Megaworld's completed...


Punta Engano, Lapulapu City, Mactan Is., Cebu
Shangri-la and Hilton - pic by @znth_lavilla07 of flickr!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2418/2252119848_2f7c164977_b.jpg

Don Henrico's at Ayala Entertainment & Food Center (Ayala Center Cebu)
pic by @ HarryCool of flickr!


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/2267179544_d4f33b5498.jpg

Flower Shop at Ayala Center Cebu and behind is one of the smaller anchor stores at ACC which is the international hardware shop brand TRUE VALUE - pic by @HarryCool of flickr!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/2267141648_3848190b64.jpg

...postcard perfect - The Marcelo Fernan Bridge


pic by @pangpong of flickr!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/2266323747_d85101c1cb.jpg

Low Rise? Think Again! Get to know her below!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/mabolo03.jpg

Her name is CITI PARK HOTEL... Isn't she pretty? She's a slim shady who deserve to be at CBP or AITP.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/Kodak-041.jpg

Hotels in 1 kilometer F. Cabahug Street, Mabolo, Cebu City

1. Castle Peak Hotel
2. Sarrossa International Hotel 1
3. Sarrossa International Hotel 2 U/C.
4. Citi Park Hotel U/C

^^ WOW! ...you did it again bai @hans!

I've stayed in Marriot before, it was just okay, but I guess I can't compare it with Shangrila hotel simply because the latter is more of a resort hotel while Marriott caters more for business people and events...

^^ Yeah, but note that: Marriott is Marriott International's middle-range hospitality brand while JW Marriott is Marriott International's high-end hospitality brand. Meanwhile, Shangri-La is Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts's high-end hospitality brand (and Trader's is its middle-range brand).


High-end Brand: Shangri-La (Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts); JW Marriott (Marriott International)
Middle-range Brand: Trader's (Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts); Marriott (Marriott International)

More hotels means more tourists means more money means more infrastructure for Metro Cebu! I hope so! I cross my fingers and toes!

^^is this some sort of a "construction diarrhea" happening here? haha kiddin'. a wave of projects comin' out! :rock: again, this is unstoppable! :banana:

thanks hans for the updates!

^^ sa mabolo pa lang yan! :lol: just one barangay in this fair queen city! :banana:

^^ Although I like all this construction/development stuff and all, I hope Cebu wouldn't tread the same path that Dubai is taking. What I mean by this is that Cebu shouldn't be as "uber-ambitious" as Dubai because, IMHO, Dubai is already too full of itself...announcing vanity projects at a dizzying rate that aesthetics is already, largely, compromised.

I'm sure you guys have heard about The Palm Jumeirah--Dubai's first 'palm'-island. Or, even, The Palm Jebel Ali--Dubai's second 'palm'-island. But, I assume, many still haven't heard about: The Palm Deira (still acceptable), The World (tacky and un-inspiring), Dubai Waterfront (meh), and The Universe (yuck). Now, in that order--from bad to worst, the aerial aesthectics of those projects get uglier and uglier.

I hope Cebu won't do that. Cebu should concentrate on quality, rather than quantity and vanity. :yes:

^^Cebu's progress i believe is propelled by factual demand and so far, I have yet to see a project/development that's either too ambitious or too huge for Cebu to have. no current and upcoming Cebu projects come close to any of those Dubai projects. and yup, same as you do, i hope Cebu remains to host quality projects. it is apparent that most of us here are hoping Cebu's infrastructure can keep up with these welcoming developments, which is starting to improve naman. :okay:

but hey, i've seen all the video presentation of those mentioned, and all i can say is... Wow, O.A. ra jud kaayo sila. :lol:

^^ 1st quarter pa lang ng 2008 ...projects are sprouting like mushrooms :cheers:

Btw, ACC's fountain is now being demolished and there are 4 new escalators parked at the basement. :yes:

i like these projects that doesn't have press releases and just surprise you. makaingon gyud ta nga daghan na kayg panghitabo dinhi!

^^ yeah, say goodbye to the fountain, it will be converted into a big play area for kids daw

^^the activity center will be redesigned similar to Glorietta, Alabang Town Center and TriNoMa right? children's playground and stuff.

^^ 1st quarter pa lang ng 2008 ...projects are sprouting like mushrooms :cheers:

Cebu's First Quarter Blast! :cool:

^^ Murag katong sa Glorietta na pud nga giwala na nila ang fountain?

Underconstruction building across south bus terminal.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1493/undcon1lg1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A! City Mall
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1117/act1xb4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Cofee Dream @ A!City Mall
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8623/act2oh0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Mandaue SRA’s underconstruction (Robinland)
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5633/rob1dr2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5736/rob2nv1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7753/rob3il1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Parkmall@168
http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/4420/pm1uy9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5391/pm2ty7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Nature Suite Hotel site
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9666/nsh1qq3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Underconstruction building in Pusok, LLC
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2702/llcbldg1sy5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/3491/llcbldg2sq0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ salamat sa pics bai @slimer..... open na ba ang Jollibee sa A! City Mall?

A landmark at Mango (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/life/a.landmark.at.mango.html)
Sunday, February 17, 2008
By Arch’t. Karl A.E.F. Cabilao, UAP

FROM being dominated by raw land with a few residences and three learning institutions in the early 70s, Mango Avenue has become a busy spot in the city with the injection of more developments.

Its development is similar to that of Makati’s in the 60s when it started to replace Escolta as a commercial hub in Metro Manila.

Now, another landmark, a “mini-mall” named One Mango Avenue (OMA), stands along this storied thoroughfare. The architect behind the building design, Arch’t. Jose Mari Cañizares, backed his conceptualizations and plans with careful study on the place’s history and current conditions.

Building Equals Parking. An old building that entailed P150,000 for its construction in 1971 had to be demolished at the current cost of P700,000 to make way for a greater necessity in the absence of a city mass transit system— parking. Knowing fully well that Mango Avenue is a constant congestion point, Cañizares says ample parking spaces that go with each establishment will truly help.

“If you have a big vacuum cleaner (mall), you should have a big vacuum bag (parking) or else it would not be able to keep everything (vehicles) inside,” Canizares shares.

Tropical Flavor. Reflective of the old downtown buildings, OMA has arcaded corridors that protect shoppers from harsh tropical weather.

A healthy dose of green architecture also runs through it with the full compliment of natural lighting and ventilation.

Thanks to its “strategically crisscrossed” public areas, railings, wide service setbacks and large overhangs that allow these environmental boons. It converts the commercial center into an “energy friendly unit” instead of being an “energy hungry” machine, devouring huge amounts of electricity for lights (even in daytime) and air-conditioning.

Mango Trees. Five mango trees that belonged to the original group of flora, which gave the avenue its name, are still preserved at the back portion of the property where the OMA stands. “The only mango tree left along the main road is the one in front of the University of San Carlos North Campus,” the architect says.

The design of the OMA takes into consideration its future expansion and development within the huge lot. “Our area will be integrated into one whole development adjacent to the right side Solara Realty and Jessa Management (Century 21) with a total of one hectare. We will connect to an exit rear road at the Sacred Heart Center, at the rear portion of the property. We will have a total ‘combine parking’ of 206 slots, aside from having wide access driveways with the property,” says Cañizares on their long-term plan. A distinguishable, visually-appealing landmark and healthy city living can be truly attained through good planning and architecture.

And the new One Mango Avenue building will surely be one of the concrete proofs.

^^ Yeah, but note that: Marriott is Marriott International's middle-range hospitality brand while JW Marriott is Marriott International's high-end hospitality brand. Meanwhile, Shangri-La is Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts's high-end hospitality brand (and Trader's is its middle-range brand).


High-end Brand: Shangri-La (Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts); JW Marriott (Marriott International)
Middle-range Brand: Trader's (Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts); Marriott (Marriott International)

I still consider the current Marriott as high end. It may not have the 5 star rating yet but for business people it is very competitive. Shang just happen to offer something different, it's a resort, more for relaxation that can be combined with business .... I enjoyed my stay in Marriott. I like the fact that it is very close to Ayala Center and that they also have a shuttle service to and from the airport.

^^

The hotel will undergo renovation in time for the completion of Ayala Mall's expansion...


..

^^ Although I like all this construction/development stuff and all, I hope Cebu wouldn't tread the same path that Dubai is taking. What I mean by this is that Cebu shouldn't be as "uber-ambitious" as Dubai because, IMHO, Dubai is already too full of itself...announcing vanity projects at a dizzying rate that aesthetics is already, largely, compromised.

I'm sure you guys have heard about The Palm Jumeirah--Dubai's first 'palm'-island. Or, even, The Palm Jebel Ali--Dubai's second 'palm'-island. But, I assume, many still haven't heard about: The Palm Deira (still acceptable), The World (tacky and un-inspiring), Dubai Waterfront (meh), and The Universe (yuck). Now, in that order--from bad to worst, the aerial aesthectics of those projects get uglier and uglier.

I hope Cebu won't do that. Cebu should concentrate on quality, rather than quantity and vanity. :yes:


Yea, kita ko last night sa Nationa Geographic and that map of the world island they're building now. Very ambitious indeed but they've done it. i dunno what will be the effect of those mega structures they're building off the shores of Dubai, there are already huge effects of those mega projects like the deformation of Dubai's straight coastline.
I hope they won't replicate it here in Cebu if they have plans, it will just ruin the natural wonders of the island... Tallest building nuon, pwede kaayo...Cable car sad diay. Sir Paul, asa na to inyong proposal sa cable car. Suya kaao ko sa ila cable car dri.


-slerz-

Low Rise? Think Again! Get to know her below!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f120/hgmb1978/mabolo03.jpg



i think this deserves to have a T-crane. :)

^ nahutdan na ug T-crane ang mga contractor sa Cebu bai tungod sa kadaghan sa u/c karon nga nagamit ug T-crane. hehe..

Cofee Dream @ A!City Mall
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8623/act2oh0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ Bai, di' lagi ko kakita ug Coffee Dream outlet sa imo picture.

I still consider the current Marriott as high end. It may not have the 5 star rating yet but for business people it is very competitive. Shang just happen to offer something different, it's a resort, more for relaxation that can be combined with business .... I enjoyed my stay in Marriott. I like the fact that it is very close to Ayala Center and that they also have a shuttle service to and from the airport.

^^ Pero, hopefully, ilang usbon ang exterior color-scheme niya kay, IMHO, its just too 'generic', if you know what I mean.

Yea, kita ko last night sa Nationa Geographic and that map of the world island they're building now. Very ambitious indeed but they've done it. i dunno what will be the effect of those mega structures they're building off the shores of Dubai, there are already huge effects of those mega projects like the deformation of Dubai's straight coastline.
I hope they won't replicate it here in Cebu if they have plans, it will just ruin the natural wonders of the island... Tallest building nuon, pwede kaayo...Cable car sad diay. Sir Paul, asa na to inyong proposal sa cable car. Suya kaao ko sa ila cable car dri.


-slerz-

^^ I couldn't agree with you more, bro. :okay:

Cebu looks well positioned to host the country's tallest structure/edifice. And, a cable-car system snaking Busay Hills would, definitely, be a major plus to our beloved metro's touristic-attractiveness/draw.

^ nahutdan na ug T-crane ang mga contractor sa Cebu bai tungod sa kadaghan sa u/c karon nga nagamit ug T-crane. hehe..

^^ Really? That's a shame. :(

BTW, where did you get this information? :?

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/news/lapu.lapu.prepares.case.vs..peza.html

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Lapu-Lapu prepares case vs. Peza

LAPU-LAPU City’s officials plan to sue the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to assert the City’s taxation and other powers over non-export companies located inside the economic zones.

The Pasay City Regional Trial Court recently refused to give Peza a temporary restraining order, in a lawsuit the authority filed last month questioning the City’s newly revised Tax Code.

Members of the City Council were named respondents in the petition along with Mayor Arturo Radaza and the department heads.

Peza has questioned City Hall’s requirement for non-export firms at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) to pay for building and mayor’s permits and other licenses. The City has also asked employers of these firms to collect P100 as caller’s fee from workers and to remit the collection to City Hall.

“Because of this action (lawsuit) by Peza, the City’s powers, authority and integrity are at stake, and if the same is allowed to continue, this abuse of power and authority will surely bring harm and disadvantage to the City,” said the council resolution that authorized Radaza to file a case against Peza.

According to the resolution, City Hall should charge Peza Director-General Lilia de Lima and engineer Nancy Jessica Zozobrado of MEZ I.

Radaza said he is giving City Attorney Vincent Joseph Lim all the time to prepare the complaint against Peza officials, because the case will not be easy. He acknowledged that Peza has contributed to the city’s growth by drawing in multinational firms.

At least 190 firms operate in MEZ I in Barangay Pusok and MEZ II in Barangay Basak. Their operations help bring down joblessness not only in the city, but in Cebu Province as a whole.

The council, however, also said in its resolution that the City has been trying to collect realty taxes from Peza and from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport since 2002, but the two agencies have resisted by suing the City.

The conflict between Lapu-Lapu City and Peza heated up last Oct. 19 when City Hall shut down the operation of Marina Mall, which is inside MEZ territory.

City Hall officials had said that the mall’s plumbing, electrical, mechanical and building permits were issued by Peza, instead of the local government.

After a standoff that lasted almost nine hours, Peza intervened by removing the cordon around the building. It asserted that Marina Mall is within its jurisdiction and not of City Hall.

City authorities decided to revise the Omnibus Tax Code because after it became a highly urbanized city last year, its 1993 tax rates were found unrealistic if it wanted to raise revenues.

Vice Mayor Mario Amores said they turned over the task of collecting the P100 caller’s fee from ordinary workers to their employers, because that rovision has not been strictly followed.

The City is also angered by the alleged refusal of MEZ officials to allow personnel from the City Treasurer’s Office to conduct tax-mapping operations on companies that provide support services to the economic zone.

City Treasurer Elenita Catagcatag has said that the Marina Mall incident showed one of the many problems that the City has with Peza. Unlike zone officials, the City believes that not all establishments inside the economic zone are exempted from the City’s tax powers.

Catagcatag estimated that City Hall has lost up to P600 million in income from the 90 canteens inside MEZ I that have not paid taxes for five years.

“Lapu-Lapu is perceived as progressive, but its income does not show that because of Peza,” she said.

MEZ, formerly the Mactan Export Processing Zone, was established in the late 1970’s through Presidential Decree 66. (AIV)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/news/7.of.8.escapees.surrender.html

Sunday, February 17, 2008
7 of 8 escapees surrender
By Mia E. Abellana
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

AFTER surrendering to the authorities, seven of eight inmates who escaped from the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) detention cell revealed how they were able to flee unnoticed.

Joseph Reville, 29; Anselmo Saz Jr.; Johnrel Aguanta, 35; Anecito Angtiampo, 38; Jestoni Cantal, 21; Irideo Carlo, 31; and a 17-year-old are now in the custody of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) under close guard.

They all pointed to Junie Cabosas as the mastermind.

Contrary to the claims of PIB personnel, the seven detainees yesterday told Sun.Star Cebu that they were inside the container van that served as a holding cell.

Earlier, PIB officers told reporters that RID operatives took the inmates out for supper and failed to return.

The escape happened the same day Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Carmelo Valmoria warned that the next time an escape happens, the police chief will be relieved automatically.

Valmoria had hoped to put a stop to the escape of inmates, seeing that there have been six incidents since he assumed the post as provincial director.

The inmates said Cabosas wanted to get out because, unlike them, he hailed from Mindanao and had no relatives who could visit him.

They said it took about an hour and a half for Cabosas to pry a piece of the wooden flooring of the detention cell, use it to get a piece of wood from the cell’s ceiling and grab it to destroy the door.

Reville told Sun.Star that he was surprised no one from the PIB or the gate guards came to check on them because Cabosas was making so much noise. (The piece of wood from the ceiling apparently fell with a loud thud.)

Reville said they cringed at the sound because they could see a policeman in complete uniform at the gate.

“But he was talking to a woman. I guess he didn’t hear,” Reville said in Cebuano.

Because the piece of wood from the ceiling was too far to reach, Cabosas allegedly grabbed a wire from the series lights attached to the cell and spent several minutes twirling and tossing it until it formed a loop around the piece of wood, making it possible for him to drag it toward him.

Once he got hold of the wooden piece, Cabosas allegedly used it to bend some parts of the cell door until it gave way.

Saz said they were hesitant to go with Cabosas because they were facing a minor case and some of them had already prepared bail money for the next day’s hearing.

However, Cabosas told them they could face another case because of the destroyed cell, prompting all of them to crawl outside the cell and slip through the barbed wires.

Cantal suffered scratches on his face and left foot after he got stuck in the barbed wires.

They added that they got lost and ended up at a dead end. They had to go back and pass the CPPO gate a second time to reach the main road to Gorordo Ave.

“We were very lucky that no one passed by while we were crawling under the barbed wire,” one of them said in Cebuano.

Personnel from the RID 7 and the PIB are under investigation after they gave conflicting versions of how the inmates escaped.

The version of the inmates matched the statement of the RID 7 operatives. It was the same version they told police in San Fernando, where three of them surrendered.

The RID 7 operatives recalled the eight inmates from detention at the San Fernando Police Station to take them to a scheduled hearing the next day.

Since the RID 7 has no holding cell, they requested the PIB if the inmates could be detained there.

PIB Chief Juanito Enguerra initially refused because the padlock they had was defective.

RID operatives claimed that they bought a new padlock and it was the same padlock that was still attached to the door of the detention cell.

They also took photos of the cell and showed Sun.Star that a part of the door was bent while there were scratches on the cell door’s handle, proving that the inmates escaped from the cell.

After the escape, Valmoria ordered the PIB not to use the cell and instead, to detain their inmates in nearby police stations.

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/news/scholars.funds.waylaid..html

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Scholars' funds 'waylaid'

A REPORT that teachers from the Mandaue City College (MCC) got the checks given to college scholars has irked Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu Province, 6th district).

The congresswoman said she is willing to provide funds for the teachers, many of whom have complained of long-delayed salaries, but that she found the episode improper.

“Nganong di ko masuko, kawat na man gud nang inyo? (Why shouldn’t I get angry, when this amounts to theft?),” Ruiz said.

Former Mandaue City College president Paulus Cañete, when sought for reaction, welcomed Ruiz’s move to discuss the incident, but said it should be with the teachers.

“Ang mga teachers man gud ang ginganlan niya og kawatan (They were the ones who got called thieves),” said Cañete.

Last Feb. 7, Ruiz distributed a total of P2 million in stipends from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to 1,404 scholars from her district at the MCWD auditorium.

The funds were coursed through the Commission on Higher Education (Ched). Each scholar got a check for P5,000 as one year’s stipend for their school needs. (The total amount is P7.02 million, but only P2 million was distributed earlier this month.)

But the parents of these scholars later complained to Ruiz that the checks were taken by some MCC teachers, allegedly to pay for their long-delayed salaries.

The congresswoman said she is willing to help if indeed the teachers’ salaries were not released, but she found it improper for any teacher to take the scholars’ checks.

The complaints surprised Ruiz, who earlier explained to City College officials that her PDAF will be coursed through Ched and will go directly to the students, not the school.

She said the schools already have ways to collect fees from students, like pre-examination clearances or as a condition for the release of the transcript of records.

The congresswoman heard of the complaint while being lambasted by an official of the MCC Parents-Teachers Association in a radio program.

She said she is willing to sit down with them or provide funds, but will wait for the college officials to make the first move.

Cañete, in a separate interview, denied that the teachers took the checks. He said they had prior agreements with the students and with Ruiz’s chief of staff, lawyer Gonzalo Malig-on.

Cañete said that most of the scholars had outstanding obligations, which started from the previous semester. Despite this, they were allowed to take the final exams since school officials were sure they would get paid when their annual allowances were released.

But out of 217 MCC scholars, only 17 came back to settle their dues. “Where are the 200?” Cañete asked.

He also explained that it was MCC’s finance officials—Gen. Reynaldo Berdin, vice president for planning and finance, and finance officer Katrina Cortes—who took the checks.

The City College’s financial woes started during the administration of then mayor Thadeo Ouano, who appointed Cañete as MCC president. Ouano’s term ended in June last year.

After taking over, Mayor Jonas Cortes and the board of trustees asked Cañete so submit the college’s financial report, but Cañete refused.

Instead, the school official repeatedly questioned Cortes’ authority and the resolution issued by the mayor’s new set of MCC trustees. The school official then sought the court’s intervention.

Last month, Regional Trial Court Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap dismissed Cañete’s application for injunction. The court also upheld the validity of the board’s resolution ordering Cañete to stop functioning as college president. (OCP)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/news/8.southern.cities.towns.land.in.top.11.for.dengue.case.rate.html

Sunday, February 17, 2008
8 southern cities, towns land in top 11 for dengue case rate

THE cities of Toledo and Talisay are recording the highest number of dengue fever cases so far this year, with 35 and 28 cases, respectively, as the fever continues to haunt Cebu Province.

Drs. Cristina Giango of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) and Catherine Marie Buscato of the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (Pesu) are not surprised by the increase.

Buscato said the cases are still a continuation from last year’s dengue eruption.

Since the start of the year until Feb. 8, the province has seen 304 dengue cases, seven of which resulted in deaths.

January alone recorded a total of 232 cases, with five deaths; last year’s figures for the same month were only 83 cases and two deaths.

There were only 75 reported cases with no fatality in February last year. But in the first eight days of February 2008, Cebu already recorded 72 cases and two deaths.

Talisay City also ranked number two last year in the cumulative record of dengue cases, after recording 373 cases and four deaths.

In 2007, Toledo City recorded 286 cases and one death, which put the city in fifth place.

Minglanilla was worst off in 2007, with 633 cases and 12 deaths, IPHO records show. For this year, it now ranks third with 22 cases.

Giango told Sun.Star Cebu that the cases have always been increasing. This can be credited to the incessant rains. Stagnant water is the breeding place for the aedis egypti mosquito.

Buscato also explained that December 2007 still saw an increase of dengue cases and it continued until January.

The top 10 areas with the most dengue cases last year are the focus of IPHO’s campaign this year.

Buscato said they have the same programs—the clean up drives, information-education campaign and others.

“But the most important thing is community participation,” she said.

The top 10 areas with the most dengue cases in 2007 were Minglanilla, Talisay City, San Fernando, City of Naga, Toledo City, Lapu-Lapu City, Barili, Danao City, Carcar City and Medellin.

There were a total of 4,583 dengue cases recorded last year, which is 368.11 percent higher than in 2006. The case fatality rate was 1.7 percent.

The top 10 areas with the most number of dengue cases so far this year are: Talisay and Toledo, Minglanilla, City of Naga, Danao City, Carcar, Oslob, Consolacion, Liloan, Moalboal and Barili.

The highly urbanized cities of Cebu and Mandaue are not included in the surveillance.

Talisay City has observed that for the past three years, dengue fever cases kept rising despite City Hall’s use of a mist-blower machine.

Councilor Serrie Restauro, City Hall’s anti-dengue task force head, could not say yet the exact number of cases when Sun.Star sought her for comment yesterday.

An eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, he promised to check their data tomorrow.

But he maintained that the number of dengue cases in Talisay is not alarming compared to those in the other local government units (LGUs) in Metro Cebu.

The councilor has been in the forefront of City Hall’ss anti-dengue campaign with the use of a German-made mist-blower machine.

Instead of fogging machines, Restauro chose the mist-blower because its chemical, lambda cyhylothrin, kills all crawling and flying insects without harming the environment.

The chemical is approved by the World Health Organization and the local Bureau of Food and Drugs, Restauro said.

He reiterated, though, that the best way for Talisaynons to combat dengue fever is to practice the “four o’clock habit” of cleaning their surroundings.

He also urged residents to empty the water from flower vases, used tires, tin cans and other possible breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. (JGA/GC)

Link: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2008/02/17/sports/pages.from.cebu.14.among.49.947.runners.in.hk.html

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Pages: From Cebu, 14 among 49,947 runners in HK
By John Pages
Match Point

HONG KONG—After six months of waking up each Sunday at 5 a.m. for “The Long Run,” after pairs of Nike shoes worn-out and replaced, after over 1,000 kilometers of mileage, dozens of Runner’s World magazines read, hours of ‘80’s music on the iPod Nano listened to while bouncing up and down, after booking this trip last December and registering to join my first-ever full marathon, only three words are left unsaid:

THIS IS IT!

At 7:45 this morning, a gun will fire and echo along Nathan Road here to signal that, yes, finally, the race has began.

Would you believe: A record 49,947 runners will trample on the cemented roads here to join the 2008 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Can you imagine that? Fifty thousand pairs of legs hopping, squeezed together, arms moving front and back, hearts pounding, and lungs huffing and puffing? In weather that’s super-cold at 12 degrees Celsius?

And how this race has grown. Eleven years ago when this event began in 1997, they only had 1,076 runners—about the same number that ran the Sinulog Half-Marathon we organized in Cebu last Jan. 19. But since then, the numbers have risen and climbed and, I should say, this event is probably the largest running race in Asia.

Of the 50,000 running, not everyone will run 42 kilometers. Most runners are joining the shortest distance: 10K. How many? That’s 32,154 participants. For the 21K, there are 11,504; and for the full marathon (that’s 42.195 kilometers—the distance from our Cebu Capitol to Carcar), there’ll be 6,289 pairs of foam-padded shoes that will attempt to run from Miramar Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui down the West Kowloon Highway, further down the Cheung Tsing Tunnel, up the Tsing Ma Bridge, hop on the Ting Kau Bridge, back to Kowloon, then down the Western Harbour Tunnel, until finally emerging in Hong Kong Island to finish at the wide open arena called the Victoria Park.

A total of 14 from Cebu are joining. Yesterday, our group visited the Finish Line at Victoria Park to collect our race packs. We met at 9:30 a.m. at the Kowloon Hotel lobby. Next, we boarded the MTR subway, emerged at the Causeway Bay area, trekked to the Victoria Park and, as our eyes enlarged at the huge inflatable sign which read “FINISH,” we smiled, snapped photos and wandered around like boys and girls in Disneyland.

With us were doctors Yong Larrazabal, Peter Mancao, and Vic Verallo; Meyrick and Perl Jacalan, Serge Amora, my wife Jasmin and Vic’s wife, Dr. Susan Verallo; and the two names who’ve dominated Cebu long-distance running and who’ve joined us here: Mendel Lopez and Leszl Gitaruelas. (Those who are here but couldn’t join us yesterday include Tony del Prado, Dr. Nicole Chua, Dr. Albert Santos, Ted Tecson, and Jesse Taborada.)

After collecting our race numbers, we lunched at a restaurant in Causeway Bay and ate—what else?—pasta and rice. Same for dinner at the Spaghetti House: pasta, pasta, pasta.

And finally, as you read this, we’d have awoken at 4:30 a.m. today to eat a light breakfast, shower, and don our gear. What are we wearing? Mizuno shirts, gloves, beanies, jackets, arm covers, thermal shorts, digital wristwatches, Nike Plus+ devices, iPods, sunglasses, waist straps with water bottles, GU energy gels—a full complement of gadgets as if we’re headed to war.

Well, who says the marathon isn’t war? It’s mental warfare. Sure, training and physical prowess and the strong condition of that muscle underneath one’s shirt counts—but so does, maybe more importantly, that tissue found in-between our ears.

Can we do it?

As Barack Obama would shout: YES WE CAN!

^^ Bai, di' lagi ko kakita ug Coffee Dream outlet sa imo picture.

Sorry wa na-clear. It's here...
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9223/act2en4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^ salamat sa pics bai @slimer..... open na ba ang Jollibee sa A! City Mall?

Yes bai. It has been opened since the last quarter of 2007. and it's operating 24hrs.
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9810/act3qk9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Ah...I see. It seems like coffee-chain outlets are popping-up across the metro like crazy! :nuts:

So, ika-pila naman ni nila [Coffee Dream] nga branch diri sa Metro Cebu?

a week after i last logged in, i had to do a lot of catching up in my reading! i am just so overwhelmed with all these developments in cebu. instead of pushing for the Federal Cebu, can we be a Special Administrative Region, just like HK and Macau? just a thought

^^ But wouldn't that slowdown/hinder the continued migration of people from other parts of the country to Cebu given that they need to secure passports to go to Cebu.

Just a thought, as well. :cheers:

^^ i don't think so... as to HK's experience, they had record-breaking number of mainland chinese going to HK right after the hand over. a systematic process will limit the problems, i believe

But I'm talking about the current situation. Mainland Chinese still need to present papers (and such) in order for them to pass-thru China's border with Hong Kong. IMHO, this is a hassle to any non-Hong Kong resident. Wouldn't it also be a hassle on non-Cebuano residents?

^^ yeah, i know... on 2nd thought, i think this will not have a very significant impact for cebu because looking at the SARs in the Philippines, i believe there are 2, it's pathetic... sori for the term used... more subtle term would be NOT ENCOURAGING... definitely, cebu is better off than these SARs

^^ wait wait, im getting confused here... do we have Administrative or Autonomous? what's the difference? sorry

but on the positive note it would be very advantageous to filter every people who would want to migrate here in cebu. that way we would be assured that people coming in would have money to support themselves and knowledge they could use to benefit themselves and the overall economy of cebu. so no more people from other places who would just turn out to be squatters people!!!

i really dont think the current setup with the 2 autonomous regions here in the philippines really works coz they really dont have that much control over themselves... i think they still need to remit their income to the central government. then the central government would then give them their allocations...

im really not sure bout this though!!! just my though!!!

it would be very good if we become a special administrative region. we dont have to remit our income to the central government but instead we would only give them their share since we are still part of the philippines. that way we really would have control over our selves... i think in most cases the only departments of government in a federal state is controlled by the central government are the defence, and foreign relations!!! or anything that would entail the recognition of the UN.

its really good if the government would start making our country federated coz though we are a small country but we are archipelagic(???spelling)... but we really cant be federated at the same time coz of the different level of prosperity in every region. it would be good that the top 5 provinces would be federated first... but one problem with this is that the central government will now have less income to support other provinces... so it really needs a good plan for this to work out... still thinking how... hope others will contribute!!!

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r216/bongskie09/DSCF2968.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r216/bongskie09/DSCF2969.jpg

^^ thanks for the pics.... you went to Cebu bai?

^^ thanks for the pics.... you went to Cebu bai?

^^ Yup. Via Cdo all the way from Davao.

but on the positive note it would be very advantageous to filter every people who would want to migrate here in cebu. that way we would be assured that people coming in would have money to support themselves and knowledge they could use to benefit themselves and the overall economy of cebu. so no more people from other places who would just turn out to be squatters people!!!

^^ You have a point. If Cebu ever gets to become a Special Administrative Region (SAR), it would, definitely, have fewer slum areas.

But this kind of political boundary demarkation might be to Cebu's disadvantage in the long-run.

How?

Well...first of all, Metro Cebu has plenty of "hungry" competitors in the Visayas and Mindanao. This will mean that migrants (qualified for entry to Cebu or not) would opt for/prefer a more hassle-free and more open city. They'd, perhaps, instead go to Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Ilo-ilo, Bacolod, General Santos, or, even, Zamboanga.

Second, Cebu is already beginning to age faster, relative to the rest of the country. Native Cebuanos are beginning to have smaller families. Now, we wouldn't want a shrinking and/or greying Cebuano society, do we? With that premise in mind, I believe that keeping a more open-border with the rest of the country serves Cebu's best interest in the long-term because it would encourage all people (educated/skilled or not) to continue migrating to Cebu. Having a more porous border is key to maintaining Cebu's economic dominance (and attractiveness--to migrants) in the Visayas and Mindanao. And, not protectionism through political boundary demarkations.