Earth Day

The celebration of Earth Day on April 22 falls on a Tuesday, our City Council session day.

So, I am forwarding this suggestion to my colleagues to help mark this worldwide event:

1) Walk or bike our way to the office;

2) Minimize the use of electricity on the SP Building;

3) Give priority to pending proposals on environment, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, among others during our deliberations;

4) Allow civil society groups to use the SP lobby for Earth Day activities;

5) Serve organic food during our lunch break; and

6) Avoid the use of any plastics or non-biodegradable materials;

Any more suggestion?

(5:35 a.m.)

Heroes

I delivered a privilege speech at the City Council yesterday which created quite a stir. I got mixed reactions. I would elaborate on Saturday when I appear as guest at ABS-CBN’s noontime radio show.

I described Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada as fake heroes and called on the nation to focus on more important issues other than the telenovela that is the NBN-ZTE scandal.

OFWs to me remain as our genuine heroes. Unfortunately, we neglect their fights and plights.

(6:26 a.m.)

3rd in the World

This is another slap on the face of Save Our Skies (SOS) coalition which is opposing the entry of foreign air carriers in the country via the “open skies” regime. SOS raises the bogey that this would kill the domestic airlines.

Well, here’s another proof that SOS is lying like the Palace occupant.

The Philippines ranked 3rd in the world in air travel growth after India and Mexico. Our No. 1 airline Cebu Pacific recorded a whooping 47 percent growth rate. And this happened in spite of four years already of the Clark experiment on “open skies.”

Proves once more that the fears of SOS are unfounded.

See related posts under “Open Skies“

(6:20 a.m.)

Robinsons

Robinsons is finally entering the Davao market. The building of its mall here was announced by Frederick Go, president of Robinsons Land Corp.

Long rumored after its landbanking in Davao, the Gokongwei group will be the third major mall developer to venture here after Henry Sy set up SM City Davao almost a decade ago. Ayala Land earlier entered into partnership with the Floriendo’s for the development of the latter’s 10 has. property infront of Redemptorist Church.

The R Mall would be located also at Bajada near the Water District. JP Laurel would thus become truly the mall street of the city with Gaisano Mall, Victoria Plaza, Ayala, Robinsons and Gateway dotting the stretch from the Chinese School to Lanang.

NCCC Mall has a monopoly on the other side of the city’s MacArthur Highway.

The mall project is preceded by three major Robinsons housing projects here. The first at Diversion Road Buhangin, the second infront of Lanang Golf & Country Club, and the third, recently approved by the City Council, is also along the Buhangin Diversion Road.

Property development remains as the top investment priority area in the city under the Investment Incentive Code. Its of no wonder, however, because property projects really make a killing.

Incidentally, the Gokongweis have good local partners in Davao in the Ed Bangayan group who are its Cebu Pacific General Agent and also part owners of Victoria Plaza and SM Davao Department Store.

(7:25 a.m.)

Outstanding Pinoys

Kudos to two of my friends, truly outstanding Pinoys:

Walden Bello who is this year’s Outstanding Public Scholar named by the International Studies Association for his achievements in combining his academic work and activism.

Walden teaches at UP and writes on his many advocacies as a global activist for social justice, peace, human rights and the environment. Described by a Belgian newspaper as the “most respected anti-globalization thinker in Asia,” he was earlier a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, known as the alternative Nobel Prize.

Walden and I sit at the National Council of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party.

And May-an Villalba who is a finalist in the Ernst & Young search for the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines.

A dedicated worker for the cause of the OFWs, May-an is the executive director of the Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation where I sit as a board member.

She pioneered in promoting savings mobilization for investments among our overseas workers and an outstanding social entrepreneur.

(5:50 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.

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.)

Bankerohan Bridge

It was during the early part of last year’s election when the five-decade old Bankerohan Bridge (aka Gov. Generoso Bridge) collapsed. And so for the remainder of the electoral campaign, Mayor Rody Duterte almost every night discussed problems associated with the bridge and how we needed to elect administration candidates to help rebuild it.

Since then and many promises thereafter particularly from the President, Rep. Boy Nograles and Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) functionaries, nothing has happened with the reconstruction of the fallen bridge.

It has been nine months now and the Mayor has “held his hands up signifying his frustration.”

Two reports carried this story today. Please visit this new blog.

Citizens Watch

For those in Davao City and the neighboring cities and provinces, this new blog might interest you.

Check it out and be one with us.

(5:57 a.m.)

Air agreements

It has been four years since the new Davao (Bangoy) International Airport opened. And yet during this whole period no new foreign airlines entered the Davao skies.

I wonder what the national government is doing to promote this new airport, which cost us more than P4 billion.

Our own proposal for a pocket open skies for Davao to lure foreign air carriers has been gathering dust at Malacanang Palace since 2003.

There had been plenty of air talks held during the same period but I can only recall one where Davao was discussed. This was the air talks with South Korea which was held in the city.

Other than that, Davao is not being promoted by our air negotiating panel. It has also been four years ago when I proposed that Davao be represented in these air talks but again, this fell on deaf ears in Malacanang.

Clark on the other hand has been under an open skies regime, and represented in various air talks. The most recent of these are the renegotiation of air agreements with Singapore and Macau, and the new air talks with New Zealand.

We are being left out in the cold. Mga Davaoeno, Hoy Gising!

Slap in the face

This is a clear slap in the face of the Malacanang occupant.

Three local government executives vowed to promote the conservation of Mt. Apo and protect its watershed and indigenous communities, clearly opposite the Palace’s idea of converting portions of the sacred mountain into a “special economic zone.”

Related posts:

Business Mirror

Ecozone at Mt. Apo?

(5:38 a.m.)

OTOP

During the 14th City Council, I authored Davao City’s version of the national government’s One Town One Product (OTOP) campaign. We called it One City Ten Products program.

Davao is such a huge city, one of the largest in the world in terms of land area, that we have 11 political districts that are equivalent to towns. Thus we adopted the following products for the following districts:

Poblacion, Talomo, Agdao - durian product processing, handicrafts, e-services, meat product processing;

Buhangin, Bunawan, Paquibato - wood products, banana chips;

Toril, Tugbok, Calinan, Baguio, Marilog - fresh and processed vegetables, fresh and processed fruits, virgin coconut oil, ornamental plants

I am happy that the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) is helping us in the implementation of this program. The problem with the local government is the absence of an office doing the task of the DTI.

Whereas almost all national agencies have their local counterparts, e.g. Department of Tourism, we have the City Tourism Operations Office, Department of Agriculture, we have the City Agriculturist Office, etc., we have no office that is the equivalent of DTI.

We have a Business Bureau that is purely regulatory, handling application for business permits. We have a one-stop investment promotion center that is just a mini-Board of Investments.

Thus, for the meantime, we have to depend a lot on DTI in helping us push for the OTOP in the city.

Last September 25-26, we conducted a stakeholders’ consultative meeting with the food industry. Next month, we will meet with the handicrafts and wood industry groups.

I am sure that with this initiative we shall be able to expand our Davao Branding System, which I likewise authored during the previous City Council, with more accredited producers and products among our MSMEs.

(4:20 a.m.)

Business Mirror

My stand on the special economic zone at Mt Apo is the subject of today’s editorial at the national broadsheet Business Mirror -Another haphazardly conceived “incentive.”

(11:31 a.m.)

Booking problems

This may sound as “news” to the uninitiated. But we have been telling this all along.

If the country wants to dramatically increase its tourist arrivals, it needs more flights and rooms to accommodate our visitors.

The so-called peace and order image problem in the country is the least concern abroad.

There are also violent incidents in France, Spain, US, Italy and UK, particularly “terrorist bombings” but how come they are the world’s top tourist draws?

They have the sites, the infra and the transport links.

Many areas in the country have plenty of sites, but unfortunately little infra and very limited transport links.

On the latter point, because our air carriers lack the plans and the planes to bring the tourists, we should adopt an “open skies” regime to lure in more foreign carriers.

In the case of Clark, we have seen how the “open skies” policy there raised its visitor arrivals from practically nil in 2003 to over 1 million in less than four years, truly a dramatic increase.

It is elementary. The success of Clark should be replicated in the whole country, if not in our key gateways like Davao.

(5:40 a.m.)

500% hike in airport fee

I just drafted a Resolution for consideration at the City Council session today regarding the increase in the airport terminal fee at the Davao (Bangoy) International Airport.

From Forty Pesos (P 40.00), the Department of Transportation & Communication has mandated the increase to Two Hundred Pesos (P 200.00) or 500 % hike starting today.

This is a clear added burden on passengers and a dis-incentive for travel, which is being promoted by the government.

Since the opening of the new airport in 2003, I have been saying all along that the blame for the failure of the government to attract more airlines to serve the airport would be passed on to consumers.

Well, here it is. Because no new airlines have come to Davao, therefore, no added revenue for the airport, they now bleed the passengers dry with this airport fee increase.

(6:28 a.m.)