Earth Day walk and a hop

I walked my way to the office yesterday to fulfill one of the suggestions I made on what-to-do to mark Earth Day.

It took me almost an hour to cover about five kilometers from my home at Matina to the City Council. I left shortly before 8 and was at the session hall in time for its opening.

It was a worthy walk for a worthy cause in calling attention to help Mother Earth fight abuse.

Coming down from GSIS Heights, my walk was immediately noticed by curios onlookers. Many who recognized me must have asked themselves why was a City Councilor walking and not riding on his way downtown.

Along MacArthur Highway, it became obvious to me the stench of vehicle smoke that has polluted our city. Vehicles of all types whisked by me as I descended the Sabungan area down to the old Venees Hotel.

Something was terribly wrong with our vehicle emission tests. Many vehicles that were inching their way up to Matina opposite my way to the city were belching black smoke.

My disappointment was quickly forgotten when I reached Karasia. It has no vehicle on display. Not a single car or truck to sell?!! I thought to myself this was a victory in our efforts to lessen polluters in our streets.

After Tulip Drive, as I passed by the rows of establishments from the Baptist Church to the old Palayok Restaurant, I recalled efforts in the past by the Matina Barangay Council to develop the front of this area into a park. It is presently used as a park indeed, but as a parking lot, including one by a van terminal.

Our city needs more parks with trees to help fight global warming.

A new gas station just opened near the Albay Compound. I chuckled when I noticed the coconut juice vendor in front of it had four customers lining up; the gas station had only one.

At the Davao City Water District office, the old Coca-Cola bottling plant, a banner proclaimed April as “environment month.” It is one of the most active entities in the city advocating for the environment, particularly protecting our water resources.

As I was crossing the narrow street after the DCWD, an old truck sped my way to turn right. It forced me to hop for a safer distance. It was the only hop I made in this hour-long walk.

Traffic started to build up as I progressed in front of the NCCC Mall. On occasion, my pace was faster than some vehicles picking up passengers. I motioned to a number of them to walk.

I made my first stop in front of the Ateneo de Davao Grade School. Teachers near its gate recognized me. I told them I was walking my way to the office to mark Earth Day. They clapped and cheered me on!

I made my second stop at No. 77 MacArthur Highway, in front of the University of Mindanao.

I saw a taxi stopped in front of it and its passenger dropped off two sacks. I immediately know that they contained metal scraps. Three other fellows were lining up in this place to sell their metal scraps.

This junk yard does a very good job in collecting metal wastes, and recycling most of it. Our staff at the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and barangay officials should study why our Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) are a big failure when private scrap metal yards like this are making a killing.

I went on to pass the busiest of this long stretch of the highway – the Sandawa Junction just before the Bankerohan Bridge. Near it, a security-conscious policeman caused my third stop. He greeted me good morning and asked why I walking alone without a bodyguard in tow. I replied that I was walking for Earth Day and added that I do not have a bodyguard.

At the bridge, I was lucky to chance upon two sand barges at the Davao River with people cleaning up to commemorate this Earth Day. I waved at them, wondering whether anyone of them recognized me.

I made my fourth stop at the old Coop Bank along Magallanes when a group waiting for some jeepney greeted me with “Nganong nagbaktas man ka Konsehal?” I again explained to them my day’s mission.

In front of the Grand Men Seng Hotel, I made my fifth stop to buy fried sweet potato. As the world grapples with galloping prices of food, here I am holding three sticks of what could be one of the solutions to world hunger.

I gave my thumbs up to the vendor who placed the sweet potato on a paper bag. Little did he know that this was a big thing for me! One of the ideas I listed in my what-to-do list today was to avoid using plastic bags!

No one seemed to notice me as I approached the final leg of my walk. At the City Hall grounds, no one surprisingly greeted me. However, as I walked near the City Council building, a group of television crew and photojournalists were waiting for one of the “news” of the day.

Seeing them indeed made my day. I know that this walk, a single step in “a journey of a thousand miles,” was a “giant leap for mankind.”

PCL

Good news from our trip to Manila for the 7th Congress of the Philippine Councilors League. Our colleague Danny Dayanghirang won as National Treasurer. He was unopposed.

The two contesting slates carried him as a common candidate. To appease both camps, we campaigned for the National Chair of one group (Fernandez) and National President (Ferrer) of the other group. Both won.

Councilor Alan Zulueta of neighboring Tagum City also won as National Vice Chair and last minute entry movie star Alma Moreno as National Secretary-General.

Kudos!

(4;03 p.m.)

Sports Council

I formally took over the helm of the Davao City Sports Council during our meeting last night. As the 1st vice president, I took over by succession to the post vacated by the untimely death of our president Victorio “Vic” Sai.

With more than four decades of experience in sports journalism and organizing, it is truly hard to fill in the shoes of Vic.

On top our transition agenda is to continue on-going sports projects personally handled by Vic such as the forthcoming Primovit basketball and chess tournaments in April and May and the triathlon championship next month, and the preparations for the So Kim Cheng Sports Awards in July.

Also, numerous sports activities are lined up during the summer by the various sports association affiliated with the Sports Council including arnis, duckpin bowling, swimming, basketball, lawn tennis, table tennis, sepak takraw, baseball, cycling, track and field, and badminton. Local athletes are also busy preparing for the Palarong Pambansa slated in Palawan later next month.

I am happy to note the full backing of the members of the Sports Council to continue our work in bannering sports development in the city.

Davao musicians

Congratulations to the new officers of the Samahan ng mga Musikero sa Davao, Inc., the musicians’ association in Davao. I administered their oath of office last night at Kanto Bar at MTS. They are:

Chair - Popong Landero; Vice Chair - Titong Dalumpines; Board Secretary - Lynda Alba

President - Ben Madarang; VP - Percival Tan; Secretary - Sandra Carpio; Treasurer - Manny Pacaldo; Auditor - Marlyn Catindig

Board Members - Noli Bencio; Erning Alba; Randy Avila; Gingging Alonday; Francis Pitao and Jovy d’ Cowboy

There are over 100 active bands in Davao categorized into student bands, amateurs and professionals.

(6:32 a.m.)

Year of the Rat

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Happy New Year. It’s the Year of the Earth Rat.

Davao’s Chinatown will mark today’s start of the Lunar New Year with a street parade of dragon and lion dances and other activities highlighting the Earth Rat.

I will represent Mayor Rody Duterte in a brief ceremony at the Davao Filipino Chinese Fire Volunteers’ Brigade along Sta. Ana Ave..

(5:58 a.m.)

Bloggers Summit

I’m leaving 5 a.m. for Koronadal City, South Cotabato, about 3 and a half hours drive south of Davao City to keynote this bloggers’ meet up.

Organized by the CSIT Student Council of the Notre Dame of Marbel University led by Mark, the conference is an echo of the Mindanao Bloggers’ Summit which I sponsored last October.

This is a fitting prep for the 4th Philippine Bloggers Summit on April 26 at UP Diliman.

(3:51 a.m.)

New chamber officials

The new set of officers of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry were installed last night during its 40th induction ceremonies.

I represented acting mayor Sara Duterte and swore the new officers into office led by its president, Simeon Marfori II.

The chamber is set to focus on three key sectors - agribusiness, tourism and ICT. Marfori vowed to provide more services to the members of the chamber and help the city become more competitive for investments.

The oldest chamber in Mindanao, the DCCCII has earned previously such titles as the most outstanding chamber in the Philippines, in Asia-Pacific and once a finalist in the World.

Aside form local business leaders and top government officials present last night were representatives from the diplomatic corps led by the Canadian Ambassador and consuls from Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Palau.

Incidentally, the newest member of the chamber board of trustees is my wife Evelyn. She won along with four new board members in a hotly-contested election last November. She represents the floriculture and food processors in the chamber.

(7:20 a.m.)

From Davos to Davao

That is the title of the column of Babe Romualdez in Philippine Star today.

He wrote “This may sound corny, but we should have a similar Davos forum in Davao. Mindanao is one of the country’s wealthiest but most undeveloped areas. I am one of those who truly believe that the Philippines is a rich country pretending to be poor. We just can’t seem to get our act together in harnessing our resources and making them grow.

The Davos Forum has opened the eyes of many on what wealth means and what it can do to benefit everyone. Perhaps we can have a smaller forum starting with Forbes Magazine’s “40 Wealthiest Filipinos.” These are just a few individuals, but gifted with enormous wealth and resources. They can utilize their collective talents and resources to make a difference in the lives of Filipinos; ultimately it will redound to their own good when the country becomes wealthier, stronger and more stable. At the end of the day, one always looks for good karma — because all that wealth is useless when one dies — you can never take it with you.”

I emailed Babe in Switzerland to inform him that I share his views and that I attempted to organize one in Davao. Back in 1999 when I chaired the city’s Millennium Celebration committee, we held an eminent persons forum. I was hoping to make it a regular forum ala Davos.

Unfortunately I got little support.

Yup, Davao can host a smaller version of the WEF or for that matter its poor man’s counterpart, the World Social Forum of civil society groups, and contribute to solving the country’s and the world’s woes.

Davao and the World Ocean Conference

After its successful hosting of the international Climate Change Summit in Bali last year, Indonesia will again host one of the world’s biggest environmental conferences next year – the World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi on May 11-15, 2009.

Davao City should take advantage of this very important event and cash in on its ripple effects across the Celebes Sea.

One, Manado is a sister-city of Davao and we should extend our assistance to it in hosting this conference.

Second, Davao may be considered as the “northern gateway” to Manado. North Sulawesi’s Sam Ratulangi Airport can be reached through Jakarta and Bali to its south, via Singapore to its west and Davao to the north.

Thousands of participants to the conference - heads of states, top scientists and academicians, environmentalists, NGOs, media, etc. will be flying to Manado. Davao can offer itself as its northern passage. By then, Davao has direct flights from Hongkong and Taipei (Cebu Pacific) which could play as the hub for participants flying in from Europe, north Asia and North America.

Third, there would be plenty of opportunities for pre and post conference activities around the month of May. Davao can hold or host a number of these to take advantage of the presence of eminent personalities.

Davao can also offer special tours and exposure trips to the participants to the city showcasing its best practices in marine conservation like the turtle sanctuary, mangrove forest, and the Davao Gulf Development initiative.

Fourth, an ambitious event could be the holding of a sort of Davao-Manado Yacht Race or Davao-Manado fluvial parade in time of the opening of the conference. The Celebes Sea is the future Caribbean and a Davao-Manado cruise trip could be developed out of this idea.

I propose that the city take advantage of this big event. It would be a coming out party for Manado, and we should not miss this opportunity to play a supporting role.

(8:29 a.m.)

Flag-raising

The City Council is in charge of the flag-raising ceremony at City Hall tomorrow. Our neophyte councilors were given the task to prepare a brief program headed by Councilor Rachel Zozobrado (3rd District).

I was asked to be the main speaker. I will discuss promoting C2G-G2C or citizen-to-government and government-to-citizen communication via the web such as my advocacy in promoting blogging as tool for participatory governance.

I was also invited as guest tomorrow at the regular Monday media forum at SM hosted by the Davao Press Club. There, I will discuss, among others, my privilege speech last week on seeking higher IRA share for cities and my projects for 2008 including the Business Plan Challenge, Consumer Welfare, and promotion of Davao-made products such as those under our OTOP - One City Ten Products program.

(11:03 a.m.)

Back to post

Hello dear friends!

Sorry for the long absence. I could not log on to my blog since November 8. Everytime I opened this blog, a universal dashboard appears and I cannot open my own blog.

Good that it’s ok now. I would later tonight reply to those who posted comments during the past three weeks. Thank you so much for visiting in spite of my predicament.

I am now about to leave for the following activities today.

9 a.m. - 7th Araw ng Magtuod to represent City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte;

10 a.m. - Club 888 media forum at Marco Polo Hotel;

2 p.m. - TechnoKapihan with ICT advocates at SM Mall;

3 p.m. - Davao City High Alumni Association Meeting at Sunburst Resto;

6 p.m. - Opening night of Let The Good Times Roll, the city’s newest music restobar

(8:38 a.m.)

CNA

I hope this would be a lucky day for the city government and its employees.

Nego panels from both sides will sit down this afternoon to discuss its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CNA), last signed seven years ago.

Our city administrator lawyer Wendel Avisado will head the local government unit while Bing Alajar of the City Library will lead the Davao City Hall Employees Association (DACHEA), which has over 3,000 members.

I sit in the panel representing the local legislative body.

The renewal of the CNA should give the city government opportunity to provide security and better benefits to its employees, on one hand, and provide a more efficient and productive public service, on the other.

ICT Week

It’s a busy ICT Week in Davao City.

The 6th Mindanao ICT Conference opened yesterday at the NCCC Mall. I’m joining one track today as panelist on new media and information exchange.

The week started last Sunday with the e-lympic internet games at SM Mall hosted by the Internet Cafe Association of Davao. It would end on Saturday with the 1st Mindanao Bloggers Summit.

The week-long activities also include the 1st BIMP-EAGA ICT Conference which coincides with the Senior Ministers Conference of this ASEAN sub-region comprising Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Also in town are trade delegations from Darwin, Australia and Taiwan, who are likewise participating at the Davao Trade Expo (DATE 2007), the city’s biggest trade exhibit.

Kudos to the organizers led by ICT Davao Inc. and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Last year, I led the Davao City delegation at the 5th Mindanao ICT Conference at Cagayan de Oro to bid in hosting this year’s event.

No junket

Many councilors from all over the country are currently in the city to attend seminars on leadership and skills training organized by the Philippine Councilors League.

I am helping three groups arrange side events to maximize their stay in the city. They are from Olongapo City, Mindoro Occidental and Valencia City, Bukidnon.

I witnessed the latter group discuss their city government’s Supplemental Budget while waiting for the opening of the PCL seminar. Proof that their trip here is no junket. Kudos to the councilors from Valencia City.

(7:25 a.m.)

Peaceful Davao del Sur

I was in Davao del Sur yesterday for the birthday of my wife’s nephew in Digos City, 55 km south of Davao City.

After lunch, we proceeded to my in-laws farm in Sta. Maria, another 35 km south, where we witnessed the death of a young tarsier found by farm hands.

Other than that tragic loss, the province was a complete serene greenery of mango, coconut and sugar plantations. No troubles at all.

That is why I fully agree with its governor, Dodo Cagas, that the recent travel advisory of the Canadian Government was baseless.

I am certain that those bureaucrats in Ottawa have not been to this peaceful place. And yet they decide the fate of not just travelers but the whole province.

(5:42 a.m.)