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Published by Bohol Sunday Post

Enough is enough

This is already a closed case. The Arroyo government and its attached agencies have already decided that the Panglao International Airport will be built in Panglao.

But a small minority who is trying to impose its supreme majority of Boholanos still want to have a meeting with Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado, for him to reconsider the building of the airport.

Unfortunately this is no longer legally possible, it is already a done deal and even Governor Aumentado could no longer stop the project. For Dr. Ernie Pernia and his supporters, they are much in a better position to talk to President Gloria Macapagal and the Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza. Pernia's efforts to have an audience with the governor are a pure waste of time, efforts and money.

We should stop this nonsense because the people are already sick and tired of it. Dr. Pernia can you come up with something else that is useful for Boholanos than your idea of stopping the airport project. Is this personal money that you are spending for your trips to Bohol and the ads or somebody else if footing the bill.     

When I was invited to join the Davao trip of my niece, Jane Gaynore Obenza-Fortich Baylosis, who is now a supervisor at the Peninsula Hospital, a suburban teaching facility in New York and is spending her vacation with her husband Romy and son Julian, I did not hesitate a bit.

For three days we stayed in the Queen City of Mindanao. We were graciously accommodated by Boyet Cervera and his beautiful wife, Dr. Gigi dela Cerna who is a psychiatrist by profession. They are part of a family-owned psychiatric facility in Davao.

We were also invited to stay in their plush house by Jessie Fortich, president and general manager of Asia Equip Corp. Fortich father claims direct lineage traceable to the Fortich clan in Inabanga. The businessman is well placed in Davao, with 34 refrigerated trailer trucks, transporting bananas from Del Monte to the wharf for exports. He also has a profitable trucking business besides selling trucks and multicabs.

WHY DAVAO IS PROGRESSIVE

We had the opportunity to talk with Jessie before we slept. For the night. Over a bottle of Cognac, we discussed very interesting facts and figures about Davao

Is Davao not affected by the recent economic changes like high prices of commodities especially rice?

Jessie answered back. Not a bit. He said. You know in Davao, we have a strong middle class. The farmers before who were beneficiaries of the land reform program are now tremendously earning from the harvests of their farms, mostly planted to bananas. Four companies are buying bananas and pineapples. We call these farm workers as entrepreneurial farmers

In addition, he added, other fruits are also reared here like durian, mangosten, lanzones,  watermelons, and coconuts. We are lucky to have loam soil here so that everything grows, even your finger will grow if you stick them to the soil, one person jokingly said.

One single fruit of durian at P90 per kilo would cost about P400. See how lucrative it is to grow durian. You also have the hito (catfish) farms, the produce are cooked in roadside restaurants. Farmers have a sense of pride, because by planting bananas they earn dollars. 

Jessie added: Most of the success stories in Davao are those of immigrants to the province. They are the people who come here to Davao in search of a better tomorrow. They have nothing to lose, because they own nothing, but they are very aggressive when they come to the land of opportunities..

Antonio Florendo, the banana king used only to be a scaler, one who determines by measurements, if a tree is ready for cutting. Look what he is now.The late  Don Pacu Dizon, forerunner of the so-called Dizon farms, which also owns an entertainment facility called Crocodile Farmers was only a driver when he immigrated to Davao. When he died he was called the Don.

There is a combination of many factors why Davao is progressive. Its rich loamy soil is certainly one of them, Davao is a land of opportunities, with so many industries contributing to its bustling and robust economy. It is such that kidnappers from other provinces spend their rest and recreation days in Davao. However, there is a rice shortage in Davao because of the farms were converted to banana plantations. The plantations have sprinklers which are turned on, once the water is lacking. Spray planes also spray the bananas for insects

Davao will soon overtake Cebu as a major exporter of mangoes. It has afforded the establishment of vapor steam plant which will enable its exports to qualify to enter foreign markets like New Zealand, Australia and Japan since the mangoes will be disinfected and therefore insect-free. 

By the way the talk in Davao is, the kidnappers of Ces Drilon and company received a total of P20 million, five million pesos came from the family of Ces Drilon and P15 million from ABS CBN.   

Published by the Bohol Standard - The brewing conflict between Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Lim and City Schools Division OIC Dr. Norma Varquez appears now cooling off as a mediator made its timely entry.

This came despite confirmation from Varquez that her office received from the office of the City Mayor last Tuesday an official Notice to Vacate within 60 days from its occupied second floor of the old city hall.

The City DepEd Division transferred there in 2004 when the city government moved to its new building in Dao.

A reliable source told the STANDARD Department of Education Regional Director Carolino Mordeno had discreetly come to Tagbilaran last week (with select media invited) and called to a conciliatory meeting OIC Varquez and the city mayor.

This was made possible through the initiative of Bohol Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Elpidio Jala. He was the former City Division superintendent when it was still in its interim status followed by Varquez after he was promoted as head of the DepEd Bohol Division Office upon retirement of Dr. Cerina Bolos.

Superintendent Jala was the most worried in the rift between the city mayor and the City Schools Division knowing how the city government supports the education program of the agency, even during his stint as the first interim city schools division superintendent.

Varquez, however, said in an interview, she will continue to abide to the DepEd Order No 4, Series of 2007 which provides the guidelines in appointment of teachers.

The OIC city schools division head also reiterated her respect to the mayor while denying she ever ignored or bypassed Lim being the city's chief executive.

"Honestly, I do not really know what I have been guilty of but just the same, I am rendering my apologies to the city mayor," Dr. Varquez said.

She also considered the incident as maybe a way for the City DepEd to finally find a place totally their own.

She said if the city mayor insists that the City Division transfer to somewhere else within 60 days, they will have to find a place. Eyed are vacant spaces inside the City Central School or in the City Science High School building.

City Mayor Lim was reportedly infuriated by the bypassing of his office in the appointment of teachers.

The mayor wanted that those serving as city-paid teachers funded by the City Special Education Fund (SEF) be given preference to appointment for vacant positions since they are the ones actually sacrificing on the job.

These teachers receives small salaries from the city and have been serving while waiting for DepEd positions, the mayor insisted.Visit www.iamafilipina.com

Written By Joe Espiritu
Columnist
Bohol Sunday Post

Most of the Greater Manila, electricity users are up in arms against Manila Electric Corporation better known as Meralco because of a percentage tacked in their electric bills. A certain amount is added to cover, what is called system loss. The Meralco even showed an ad in the television trying to explain why such amount has to be paid. Despite the popularity of the paid endorser, the ad only caused confusion. The explanation oozed with sophistry only a slick lawyer could produce.

Judy Ann Santos, the paid endorser, tried to explain the system loss using the analogy of melting ice water. She tried to explain the loss of ice by the time it reaches the house and tried to equate the melt to the system loss. The reasoning there is convoluted. At the time and point of purchase, a definite volume or weight of ice was given to her. If the ice melts before it could be used, she will have to shoulder the loss. The point there is; let us say for five pesos (P5), she is given a block of ice weighing one kilo or say measuring one cubic foot.

If the block of ice no longer weighs one kilo or measures the same at the time of purchase, she will have to assume the loss because it happened when she took the possession of the block of ice. But at the time of purchase it was exactly one kilogram or say one cubic foot that she bought. She did not buy the melted ice.

Then, in a deeper sense, the ice purchase analogy will not hold true. Power sales is a sort of monopoly, ice sales is not. While one can choose a store, which sells ice, which is thoroughly frozen not a melting one, One cannot choose a power distributor, which will not charge system loss on a power not purchased.

While the water used is measured in volume, electric energy is measured in watts.

For computation purposes, the watt is too small for large-scale measurement. Water consumed is measured in cubic meters that is one meter by one meter by one meter, power consumed is measured in kilowatts or one thousand watts.

Electric energy is generated or produced by power producers like the government owned and controlled National Power Corporation known as NPC and Independent Power Producers or IPP. They sell their power to distributors like Meralco or in our case the Bohecos. The power distributors in turn sell electricity to consumers.

Sometimes the NPC maintains a main power distribution line. Sometimes, like the IPP, their power is conveyed to the distributor through lines built and maintained by the Transco.

From the generating plants through the mains to the distributor receiving station, power is lost during transmission. From the distributor receiving station through distribution lines until it reaches the user, power is also lost. From the electric meter to the lights and appliances, power may also be lost. There may be other instances of system loss such as un-subscribed power purchased. Power lost at any point is system loss.

If the power is lost during the conduction from the generating plant to the distributor receiver meter, the loss should be absorbed by the power generator and the Transco if they use Transco lines. If the power is lost during the conduction from the distributor receiver meter to the user electric meter, the power loss must be absorbed by the distributor because the power had not been used yet by the user.

However, it is not as simple as that. If the power generator sells to the distributor at rates, which will include system loss, the loss is passed to the distributor. Then if the distributor sells to the user at rates, which will include system loss of the power producer and those lost by the distributor during transmission all losses will be paid by the user.

Business economics demand that profit must be realized if one is to survive. If absorbing power losses might cut into profit, the loss should be fobbed off to someone else. It is the user, who has to shoulder losses, not of their own making.- www.iamafilipina.com