Sara Duterte threatens to shut down Mindanao's tallest skyscraper

By Davao Start

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The developer behind Mindanao’s tallest skyscraper project is threatened of a denial of their right to operate in the city if they fail to follow the local government’s order to hoist down a crane that is said to have obstructed air traffic here.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio issued a 5-day ultimatum to Aeon Towers developer FTC Group of Companies on Tuesday, October 24, to lower down a crane mounted on top of their 33-storey project or else the city will carry out the dismantling at the expense of the firm.

“If they won’t lower the crane, I will never allow to open their building. They will never be allowed to do business in Davao City,” Duterte-Carpio said on Tuesday, October 24.

The boom crane is being used by the developer to complete construction works of Aeon Towers, a P3.1-billion condominium project estimated to be be finished by the end of this year. It is expected to become Mindanao’s tallest skyscraper.

However, since Feburary this year, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has sent notices to the developer to have their cranes lowered, if not removed, as pilots of commercial airlines point out it is obstructing air traffic. The project sits some 7 kilometers away from Francisco Bangoy International Airport, also known as the Davao International Airport.

Franklin Anota Sr., air traffic section chief of CAAP in Davao City, said a “misapproach” issue has been recorded in January, causing delays in some of the flights.

This was confirmed to Rappler by Cebu Pacific Air’s spokesperson, Charo Lagamon.

“For Cebu Pacific, the flights were not diverted, but (we) just changed the approach that increased risks (in flying),” she said.

According to CAAP Davao, aircraft coming outside Davao land at the airport’s Runway 05, and take off on Runway 33. But with the presence of the said crane, aircrafts landings have been transferred to Runway 23 to avoid the risks of hitting the said equipment.

This issue was tackled Tuesday at the City Council where officials grilled Aeon Tower’s project manager Engineer Buboy Espinosa.

During the session, it was learned that FTC did not take immediate actions despite’s CAAP’s previous notices earlier this year, earning the ire of Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

“We can instruct the City Engineers (Office) and ask the help of the DPWH to demolish your crane. Now which is cheaper, you remove your crane or let DPWH remove your crane and you’ll pay for the expenses?,” said Duterte.

To the company’s defense, Espinosa clarified that the developer is willing to dismantle the cranes but is asking “consideration” as the cranes weigh 1-2 tons.

“What we are asking to the LGU is to give us little time because dismantling of the tower crane is not easy since its parts are heavy and can’t be lifted by ordinary equipment,” he said.

But Duterte-Carpio did not mince words Tuesday, and said that if the developer fails to meet the city’s 5-day deadline, they would proceed with demolishing the crane. 

Jack Ma tests internet in the Philippines: Not good!

By Ian Nicolas Cigaral (philstar.com) 

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In this 2015 photo, Jack Ma participates at a United Nations climate change event. UN photo/CC

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese tech magnate Jack Ma tried to test the Philippines' internet speed upon his arrival here, and he was not happy about the result.

Ma made his assessment during his lecture at the De La Salle University on Wednesday, which was also attended by executives of the Philippines' telecoms duopoly—PLDT, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc.

"I arrived late last night and I tried to test the speed of Philippine [internet], it's not good," Ma said, drawing cheers from his audience.

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Last May, cloud service provider and content delivery network Akamai Intelligent Platform reported that the Philippines has the slowest and most intermittent internet connection speed in the world.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier threatened both PLDT and Globe with new competition from China if their services do not improve.

Last year, these two firms together agreed to buy conglomerate San Miguel Corp. out of the sector for $1.5 billion, pledging to invest heavily to boost internet service. The acquisition was the country's biggest corporate transaction in nearly three years.

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The Court of Appeals, in a decision dated October 18, ordered the Philippine Competition Commission to permanently stop its review of the deal and recognize its validity.

Opportunities

Despite the bad internet service in the country, Ma said he sees this as an opportunity for concerned parties to improve Manila's internet connectivity.

He also said it would be "unfair" to blame "anybody" for the country's poor internet connection as recalled starting his e-commerce business at a time when China's internet speed was "much worse" than the Philippines'.

"But this is the potential, this is the opportunity and I encourage your government, entrepreneurs, everybody that we work together to improve the speed and coverage of the internet," the Chinese billionaire said.

"Opportunities exist in the areas most people complain," he added.

"We have to make sure that everybody is connected."

Automation against corruption

Still on the topic of technology, Ma also urged the Philippines to promote cashless transactions to eradicate corruption.

"We should make the Philippines a cashless society. When you have cashless society, [there is] no corruption. A lot easier," he said.

"So Philippines, I think you have the opportunity to make the world's best fintech (financial technology) because you have so many mobile phones. You have more than 7,000 islands. It's impossible for banks to have offices in 7,000 [islands] covering everywhere. But mobile phones [can] cover everywhere," he added.

According to international magazine Forbes, Ma is back on top as Asia's richest businessman as he continued to grow the world's largest e-commerce businesses, Alibaba Group. His real-time net worth is at $38.3 billion.

He last visited the country in November 2015 to speak before the business leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit. Ma was among the speakers along with former US President Barack Obama.

The killer number one

THU, OCTOBER 26, 2017 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

The report is just on my desk. Maybe also on yours. I didn’t get surprised anymore. Maybe you too!

Pollution kills more people each year than wars, disasters and hunger, also causing huge economic damage, a study says. Almost half the total deaths occur in just two countries.

Environmental pollution is killing more people every year than smoking, hunger or natural disasters, according to a major study released in The Lancet medical journal last  Thursday. One in every six premature deaths worldwide in 2015, could be attributed to diseases caused by toxins in air or water, the study says.

Of the 9 million people killed prematurely by pollution, air pollution was the main cause of deaths, responsible for 6.5 million of the fatalities, followed by water pollution, which killed 1.8 million.

Meanwhile air pollution is also the ‘top health hazard in Europe’. The estimate of 9 million pre-mature deaths, considered conservative by the authors, is one and a half times higher than the number of people killed by smoking, and three times the death toll from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. It is also 15 times the number of people killed in war or other forms of violence.

Ninety-two percent of pollution-related deaths occurred in low- or middle-income developing countries, with India topping the list at 2.5 million, followed by China at 1.8 million.

Economic costs reach no limit in the polluted sky. The report also attributed massive costs to pollution-related death, sickness and welfare, estimating the costs at some $4.6 trillion (€3.89 trillion) in annual losses — or about 6.2 percent of the global economy.

“What people don’t realize is that pollution does damage to economies. People who are sick or dead cannot contribute to the economy. They need to be looked after,” said one of the study’s authors, Richard Fuller, who is head of the global pollution watchdog Pure Earth.

“There is this myth that finance ministers still live by: that you have to let industry pollute or else you won’t develop. It just isn’t true,” he said. And it’s so very true!

According to the study, the financial burden also hits poorer countries hardest, with low-income countries paying 8.3 percent of their GNP to tackle the harm caused by pollution, as compared with 4.5 percent in richer countries.

The Lancet editors Pamela Das and Richard Horton said the report came at a “worrisome time, when the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency, headed by Scott Pruitt, is undermining established environmental regulations.”

Pruitt announced this month that the US, a major producer of air pollution and greenhouse gases, would be pulling out of former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan. The plan, which aimed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production, was expected by the EPA to also reduce smog and soot in the air by 25 percent and thus avoid thousands of premature deaths through asthma and other lung conditions.

Das and Horton said the latest findings should serve as a “call to action.” “Pollution is a winnable battle … Current and future generations deserve a pollution-free world,” they said.

Sure, we all hear and read daily calls to action. But really happened? No deeds follow. Just empty words and statements… . Quo vadis Mother Earth?