Plant Trees and Get Land Tax Discount

 

Amazing. I thought, it's a joke. No, it wasn't!

The news came from Malaybalay City in Mindanao. Provincial board member Jay Albarece has proposed an ordinance granting real property tax discounts with lots with high density of trees to serve as incentive to residence who have been planting and protecting trees in their own lots.

I am doing this since many years. Most of my expatriates and Filipino friends and neighbors do it the same way. 

"One of the  encouraging private individuals and entities to actively participate in the reforestation of the province is to grant real property tax to those who have been growing and protecting the trees in their respective lots!" Albarece said in his proposed ordinance. 

Great idea Sir!

PLDT Campaigns Win PANAta Awards for Promoting Filipino Values

Two PLDT communication campaigns bagged the bronze in the PANAta Awards held recently in Makati City. Conducted annually by the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA), the PANAta Awards recognizes outstanding marketing communication materials or companies that promote positive Filipino values.

PLDT KaAsenso's omnibus campaign won in the Brand/Product Marketing category with its integrated approach, using four different typs of medium - print , radio, tv and social media. The theme of the campaign cewnters on the empowerment of the hard working Filipino micro-entrepeneurs or minigosyantes - highlighting that the true meaning of success is defined not by how big and successful one's business has become, but by how one is able to strike balance and find for the family as well.

With PLDT KaAsenso, micro business or minigosyantes are enable thru a holistic strategy that caters to the five areas critical for their growth: connectivity, financing, education, networking, and extra income.

Broadway's Best in Davao City

 

Broadway's Best in Davao City? Really? Yes. Many times Davao City seems to remain as cultural fallow field. But there are exemptions.

The Voiceworks Theater Company, Inc. invited all of us officially to watch its upcoming show 

BROADWAY'S BEST: VCTI 2ND ANNIVERSARY MUSICAL CONCERT

on April 14, 2012 at the CAP Auditorium 6 - 8 p.m.

The Voiceworks Theater will be giving away scholarships in Performing Arts. For ticket reservations and queries please call/text 0920-6119482 and look for Direk Richard or log on to

www.vtci.weebly.com 

SEE YOU THERE!

Side by Side - A Piano Duet Concert in Davao City

 (Daphne C. Jocson)

(Mary Anne Espina)

It was (again!) an enchanting evening. Hundreds of classical music lovers (including me!) experienced a wonderful concert with the two concert pianist ladies Daphne C. Jocson (member of the quintet "The Five Davao Lady Pianists and very good friend of mine!) and Mary Anne Espina.

Daphne Cabaguio Jocson is a dynamic collaborating artist in local and foreign classical music circles. She performs with professional artists in Manila, Davao City and the United States. She is indeed an advocate of honing promising young artists in the country thus, takes precedence in collaborating with young and upcoming musicians.

Daphne was a featured soloist of the Manila Symphony Orchestra then known as the Manila Youth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Professor Basilio Manalo and Professor Arturo Molina where she performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor and the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor - both my favourite piano concertos as well.

Recently Daphne was engaged as pianist/repititeur for several productions, among others, Dulaang U.P.'s "Noli Me Tangere" and Ryan Cayabyab's musical "Ageless Passion". 

A 2007 Aliw Awardee for the Best Instrumentalist category, Mary Anne Espina has been featured in the Filipino Artists Series at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In 2010, she was presented by the GSIS Museo ng Sining in cooperation woth the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany  in a solo concert in celebration of Robert Schumann's 200th birthyear. In 2011, Mary Anne collaborated with pianist Jonathan Coo in an all Liszt repertoire , as a tribute to Franz Liszt's 200th birthyear. 

Known for her excellence in chamber music, Mary Anne is one of the most sought after collaborating artists in the Philippines today.

The classical music evening in the Apo View Hotel brought us compositions from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gabriel Faure (one of the greatest french composers of the 19th century), Johannes Brahms (with one of my favourite Hungarian Dances, the No. 5), Johann Sebastian Bach, Fritz Kreisler  (an Austrian born violinist and composer), and Agot Espino (born 1957), Philippine pianist, pedagogue and christian songwriter.

Thank you so very much Daphne and Mary Anne for a wonderful evening with classical music.

Tree Planting: Comval Shines at 14 - Going Green

 

Compostela Valley marks the second day of the 5th Bulawan festival with a synchronized tree planting activity with more then or less 500,000 seedlings planted province wide on March 6, 2012.

KUDOS and daghan salamat po for taking care of our Mother Nature!

SOPA of Governor Uy

Governor Arturo Uy delivered his State of the Provincial Address (SOPA) on February 29, 2012 at the ComVal Capitol.

Topping his achievements for the past year is the TOP 10 Best performing provinces in the Philippines by the DILG. It was attended by local officials, national agencies and new private sector people.

SMART Continues to Support Sendong-affected Schools

After providing uninterrupted mobile service, post-disaster free calls, and over three million Pesos in donations to help survivors of Tropical Storm SENDONG rebuild their lives, SMART Communications, inc. (Smart) recently turned over additional equipment, school supplies and slippers to affcetd schools and partners in Cagayan de Oro City.

To benefit are some 6,300 students and 245 teachers from seven public high schools and two public elementary schools that are SMART partners in the Dynamic learning Program and communication Teach.

Smart also turned over life straws or portable water filters to three CDO schools, that are still suffering from shortage of potable drinking water after flood-triggered landslides damaged major water distributions lines. 

These are such some of many other helping projects of SMART. Thank you and God speed. 

Davao del Sur's Coco-Sugar Business Epitomizes Countryside Development

DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo commended the Lao Integrated Farms Inc. based in Barangay Eman, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, for bringing in improvements at the rural areas in the part of this province, using appropraite technology innovations - as one could learn in an article by carina L. Cayon of the PIA 11.

Montejo said that the inventor and producer of the Donnabelle coconut sugar and syrup products made from coconut sap. epitomizes DOST's countryside development program as an effective and equitable strategy in realizing President Benigno Aquino's goal for an inclusive economic growth.

he explained that the countryside development covers the program of developing appropriate technology, improving existing products to be world-class products and generating jobs around the area. 

He said that the enterprise "clearly exemplifies' this, citing particularly the present employment that the firm has provided for the rural folks in its surroundings.

"We hope that the company would permit to become a model of the program," the dost official said during his visit at the farm recently to see the impact of the DOST-assisted projects under the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Prpgram (SETUP). The DOST-SETUP provided the Lao Integrated Farms a financial assistance of 660,000 Pesos with no interest and payable for three years.

During the visit, Lao Integrated Farms owner and chei executive officer Benjamin Lao informed the DOST Secretary of how the business has improved a lot starting ten years ago from a barren land in Barangay Eman.

Lao recalled that he started developing about one-hectare coconut farm and introduced organic farming, until currently its Donnabelle coco sugar and syrup products are being exported to Australia, Germany and Japan. The business  has also expanded to other coco sugar-based products such as ginger tea, moringa, lemon grass and seasoning.

Lao (right) is a national awardee as Outstanding Farmer and Magsasakang Syentista.

First Cruise Ship to Dock in Davao

This city will welcome the first cruise ship to dock on March 30, 2012, carrying 371 French nationals to visit Davao City.

It is the NDS Voyages Princess Danae from France. It will dock after visiting Papua New Guinea. The French nationals as soon as they arrive on the 30th of March will be toured in selected tourist destinations in the city. The Department of Tourism also allotted a budget to show them around. 

Visitors then will be brought to Davao's newest and largest park, the "People's Park, and a personal encounter with the eagles at the Philippine Eagle.

Other areas where the visitors are set to visit are Davao's shopping havens like Aldevinco and the newest mall in the city, Abreeza. Princess Danae passengers are given an entire day to tour around the city. They will also set foot in Cebu and Manila as part of the regular stop overs.

Hopefully. Princess Danae will be the part of more cruise ships to include Davao in their destinations.

USEP Launches Campus Tree Planting Project

A tree planting activity inside the six-hectare campus of the University of Southeastern Philippines, Obrero, Davao City (where I am also teaching since 4 years), kicked off the launch of the university's sustainable campus project last February 14, 2012. The project is in partnership with the international environmental group Greenpeace.

The launch, highlighted by a forum on energy conservation and efficiency, was participated in by the USEP administrators and employees headed by USEP President Dr. Perfecto A. Alibin., and some students led by the Obrero Campus Student Council.

Alibin said that the program is really essential and timely nowadays. He mentioned the recent calamities that happened in different parts of the Philippines as well as the flodding in Davao City, that even didn't spare the USEP Obrero campus.

The administration led by Dr. Alibin signified their commitment to the program by affixing heir signature in the freedom tarp that bears the challenging questions and statement: "Do you love our Mother Earth? What can USEP do? Conserve energy?"

The project bears the Philippine slogan "Simple lang". "Simple lang - unplug!" "Simple lang - switch off!" "Simple lang - light up efficiently!"