The Summer is Back - and Blackouts in The Philippines!

One of my previous columns in Mindanao Daily Mirror was entitled "Summer is back". Yes, summer is back in the Philippines - and the daily blackouts - or "brownouts"... .

After being able to avoid the rotating power outages for the past two months, Davao Light and Power company may now be forced to implement rotating brownouts within its franchise as the national Grid Cooperation of the Philippines has announced an increase in the Mindanao-wide power curtailment at a level of 320 MW.

While other areas in Mindanao have reportedly been experiencing long durations of brownouts, Davao Light customers may only experience 30-minutes rotating outages due to reserve power supply that it has contracted from Independent Power producers as part of its contingency plans to address power shortages.

Allow me to quote Florencio A. Ranido, Mindanao Daily Mirror Editorial Consultant: 

"Dabawenyos from all walks of life should be thankful for the far sightedness of Davao Light and Power company in particular and the Aboitiz Power Corp., its mother firm, in general. For quite a while, some areas in Mindanao, especially General Santos City, Sarangani provinces and the adjacent municipalities of Polomok and Tupi in South Cotabato have been experiencing one and a half hours of rotation brownouts daily."

Very well said, Sir. And, it's true, I just experienced during my stays in this area last week... .

Strawberries in Davao City? Sure! Why not!

Growing strawberries in Davao City? Is it possible? I love strawberries since my childhood. I missed them many times during my expatriate life here in Davao City. 

Growing strawberries in Davao City, is it really possible? We all know that strawberries in the Philippines come from its summer capital Baguio City. But , since connected with the DOST I learned, that with the Department of Science and Technology's assistance, it is now possible to grow strawberries in Davao City.

The DOST XI brought two experts on strawberry production technologies from La Trinidad, Benguet to New Calinan, Baganihan, Marilog  District, Davao City. The experts, namely, Mr. Sergio Gayao and Mr. Peter Bulangen, conducted a short lecture on strawberry production technologies, which includes different varieties and different characterics of the crop. The experts and the farmer members of Baganihan Agri-Eco Ventures Cooperative had a three-day encounter discussing the major requirements for a successful production of strawberries. 

The farmer-members of the Baganihan Agri-Eco Ventures Cooperative were grateful of the knowledge and skill they have gained during the said training. The members vowed to start and ensure the success of the project.

Of course, very important, there were also inputs on pest and disease control, which is the number one problem of the farmers. With the said training, they already understood the seasonality of strawberry production, the peak and low season.

So, the next time, we'll be visiting our supermarket, we should be proud to see that strawberries on the shelves are actually home-grown from Marilog, Davao City.