All set for Davao City’s Kadayawan Festival .. Aug 16 to 22

Davao City is all set for this year’s “Kadayawan Festival” celebration again with the public and private sectors working together to come up with a grandiose event despite the limited resources.

 

The Davao City government, along with its private partners, has optimized the resources even as it anticipates a maximum value in return for Kadayawan Festival 2010 or K10.

 

 In K10 the high quality of celebration does not come at a high cost.

 

Rizal Giovanni Aportadera, head of festival secretariat, promotions and documentations, said city mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has appointed city administrator Zuleika Lopez as chair of the steering committee with councilor Al Ryan Alejandre as vice chair for government sector and Engr. Roberto Quinto, vice chair of the private sector.

 

Aportadera said the festival is a yearly activity that Dabawenyos and those of the neighboring cities and provinces and even foreign and domestic tourists look forward as it highlights the rich cultural resources of Davao and the bounty of flora and fauna as well as its food, water and livelihood.

 

Among the awaited events during Kadayawan is the Pamulak, or Floral Float Parade, which is a mobile display of the blooming of flowers and ripening of fruits in creatively decorated floats on parade, showcasing the abundance of vegetation in the region. The other is the Indak-indak sa Kadalanan or street dancing.

 

Committee chair James A. Zimmerman said each year the number of participants increases and new things are featured every time the floral float parade takes the streets of the city.

 

The list of regular participants continues to increase even as he said that there will be both competing and non-competing categories, he said.

 

He said mounting an entry entails big expense compared to the prize that one gets as winner but I think the prize is not their objective of joining but their involvement of making Davao City as a must visit destination of the country.

 

The floral float parade will be on Aug. 22 starting at 8 a.m. with route starting at Magsaysay Avenue to Claro M. Recto Street then to Legaspi and San Pedro streets.

 

The parade will proceed after the Pasasalamat: Thanksgiving Mass at 7:00 a.m. at the San Pedro Cathedral.

 

Mayette Abayon-Ibuyan, chair of the street dancing committee, is optimistic of the successful conduct of this event, saying that participants come from provinces and cities of Mindanao.

She said the regular contingents are among those who will perform this year plus other new entrants making this event exciting, where it showcases the different colors, cultures and traditional dances of the different tribes of Davao and Mindanao.

The street dancing will be held on Aug. 21 starting at 7 a.m. along the streets of C.M. Recto, San Pedro, Bonifacio, Ponciano, Roxas Avenue and showdown will be at 3 p.m. at San Pedro Street.

Other highlights of K10 are the Kadayawan Tabo: Mag-negosyo Ta Day Fair Trade from August 16-22 at the Sangguniang Panlungsod lobby which showcases crafts and crops utilizing principles of fair trade by women’s groups and grassroots small entrepeneurs.

Hulagway or Faces and Places: Davao from August 11 to September 11 at the Museo Dabawenyo where portraits and landscape paintings of Engr. Manuel Mendros will feature Davao City mayors.

The Panagtagbo or Multi-Cultural Performances will be held from Aug. 16 to 19 and 21 at the People’s Park and NCCC Mall. This will feature cultural and traditional dance, music, chants and indigenous crafts and costumes of the 10 distinguished tribes of Davao.

Agri-Trade Fair from Aug. 1 to 31 at SM City Davao Future Development Site which is an annual display and sale of flowers, fruits and livestock and other locally produced products.

Hudyakaan or Street Food and Entertainment is scheduled from Aug. 16-22 at Bolton Steet at 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. It is a street revelry of foods and drinks with nightly concerts by local and national bands.

Kadayawan Tiangge sa Chinatown will be from August 20-22, Unity Arc at Ramon Magsaysay Avenue where street bazaar will be featured of various local and imported merchandises sold at bargain prices.

Dayaw or Kadayawan Opening Rites will be on Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rizal Park the official launch of the Kadayawan Festival Celebration.

It will be followed by the Hiyas sa Kadayawan at 8 p.m. at the Davao City Recreational Gym. It is a search for the Festival Gem, the indigenous lass who is knowledgeable of her indigenous culture and wisdom, through a pageantry of Mindanaoan myths and legends.

The Kadayawan 2010 celebration among others will also focus on the 10 keys namely Harmony in Diversity, Strong Governance, Community Support, Peace and Security, Sustained Abundance, Gender Sensitive, Dynamic Geography, Health and Wellness, Emergency Ready and Optimized Resources Maximum Value. (PNA)
RMA/Prix Digna D. Banzon/lvp

SM to open two more malls in Mindanao next year

SM will open its second mall in Davao City and one in General Santos City next year, according to Glenn D. Ang, SM Supermalls vice president for operations.Ang said with the coming in of two malls in the island, Mindanao will have four SM malls by 2011.

He said by the third quarter of 2011 these malls will start to operate and will be bringing in to Davao City the first hypermarket in the island.

He said General Santos City mall will have the same concept with the rest of the malls.

SM has an existing mall at Ecoland, Matina in Davao City and in Cagayan de Oro City.

Meanwhile, Ang said their existing 37 malls will have an addition of five this year, making the total number 42 by end of 2010.

He said every year, five new ones are added and more areas are in the plan.

Ang also said they want to establish call centers in the near future. “It is management direction to have a business process outsource (BPO) in every mall,” he said.

Likewise, Ang said their succeeding malls will adopt the Green Building scheme and one will be up by July of 2012.

Although he did not give details, he said this will follow green architectural designs, green landscape and environment-friendly facilities.

But he said their malls system-wide are now environment friendly as they adopt the use of less energy types of lamps and waterless urinals and the re-use of water for their cooling facilities.

“SM has a strong advocacy for the protection of the environment,” he said.

Ang also said part of their expansion program is the opening of SaveMore Stores and by end of 2011, this type of store will number about 200 nationwide.

Ang was in Davao City for the formal opening of the 11th Global Pinoy Center (GPC) at SM City here. The center at SM City Iloilo was also launched on the same day.(PNA)
LAP/PDB/lvp

Davao homebuyer welcomes Pag-IBIG-SM partnership for bills payment

A Pag-IBIG Fund homebuyer and TV anchor of  National Broadcasting Network Ethel Constantino welcomes the move of the Fund to partner with SM for payment of housing loans saying this gives the member another facility where to pay their loan amortization.

The partnership just started and not many of the homeborrowers yet knew of new development even as Constantino said aside from shopping at SM, they can also pay their obligation like their housing loan at Pag-IBIG Fund promptly.

She said they do not want to miss payment because they also enjoy the privilege of being a “Good Payor” when they pay on time. Pag-IBIG Fund gives two percent discount when loans are paid before the due date.

The Fund has tapped other sectors and private establishments like SM to provide housing loan borrowers other options of wider coverage of the time and days accessing to bills payment facility. Transactions in all SM malls are at longer time from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm daily and even on holidays.

Pag-IBIG Fund however reminds the borrowers that inorder to avoid penalties, payments should be made on or before the due date that is indicated in the monthly billing statement.

Pay your housing loan bills at any SM business center and bring your billing statement/statement of account upon payment. The scheme is accessible and convenient while doing some shopping at SM.

Davao architects ….

are optimistic of boom in real property industry here

Amidst the present economic woes, architects in the region are optimistic that real property industry will bounce back by 2009.

Agatha Ellen Salanatin Valencia, president of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) during the Davao Business Forum held at SM City’s MediSpa on Tuesday bared that the prospects of the industry in the succeeding years is on the positive note..

“I am optimistic with how the industry will run by 2009 in Davao at the rate the construction works are going,” she said.

UAP vice president Francisco Hidalgo said there is really a boom in the construction industry with the coming in of big projects especially in the key cities of Mindanao.

He said there are several projects being done in Davao City that will go on for two to three years while expansion of private offices, schools and housing are also ongoing.

Hidalgo pointed out that the “meltdown” won’t affect really affect the industry because in the construction industry Filipino clients won’t deal with the suppliers unless the investment is secured.

Jay Mendoza, past president of UAP and chairman for marketing of the UAP national convention said that the experience of the Filipinos during the previous Financial Crisis has prepared them for the worst.

He said there are a lot of things to look for in the industry and they are still challenged by many other factors even as he said that they hope other sectors would help the architecture industry.

Hidalgo on the other hand said Davao City was not well planned citing the location of new and big businesses in areas that would in the future affect the flow of traffic.

He said their sector could assists the government of Davao City as they wanted to be accredited as member of the planning board of the city.

Mendoza on the other hand said that they are advocating sustainable architecture saying that they incorporate the “green environment” in their designs.

He said structures nowadays are built in such a way that it is cost effective and they play with concepts that lessen the presence of carbon footprints.

“Make use of the sun for solar energy and the rain for water needs in the toilets, laundry and others and use less wood in the construction of the building,” he added.

The UAP will play host to the National Convention of Architects in the Philippines from October 23 to 25, 2008 at the Grand Regal Hotel.

The convention will also showcase an exhibit that will feature products of suppliers that would promote environment friendly structures and others.