Davao City High School Batch 1988

Davao most competitive city — study

First posted 05:32am (Mla time) May 01, 2006
Inquirer

Editor’s Note: Published on page A5 of the May 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DAVAO CITY — This city was adjudged anew the most competitive among the country’s largest cities based on the 2005 Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP) conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center.

It was the second time the city drew the highest ranking in the PCCRP study, the first time being in 2002.

Also rated as competitive cities in the recent AIM study were Makati, Las Piñas, Marikina and Muntinlupa.

AIM professor Mario Lopez presented the study during last week’s Mindanao Coalition for Transparent Governance (MCTAG) forum held at the Apo View Hotel here.

Lopez said the AIM study measured seven major “drivers” with corresponding indicators such as the cost of doing business, dynamism of local economy, linkages and accessibility, human resources and training, infrastructure, responsiveness of the city to business needs, and quality of life.

He said Davao City ranked first in the cost of doing business, second in both dynamism of local economy and linkages and accessibility. It was 3rd in infrastructure, 4th in quality of life, 6th in responsiveness to business needs, and 11th in human resources and training.

Lopez said the 2005 PCCRP study rated 65 cities in three categories — metropolitan, midsize and small.

He said the city’s poor performance in human resources and training might have been the result of the low ratio of its schools to the appropriateness of the courses offered.

Roberto Teo, chief of the Davao City Investment Promotion Center, said the 2005 rating meant the city was headed in the right direction.

“With an average economy of P100 billion and an improving economic performance, the city will surely continue to be on top of other Philippine cities in terms of competitiveness,” he said.

Lopez said the study showed that the most competitive mid-sized cities were Bacolod, Batangas, Iligan, Iloilo and San Fernando in Pampanga province, and the most competitive small cities were Dagupan; Legazpi; Koronadal; Naga; Olongapo; San Fernando in La Union province; Sta. Rosa; Surigao; Tagbilaran and Tagum.
Judy Quiros, PDI Mindanao Bureau

Education situation in public, private schools in Davao City
By Barbara Carla R. Quiero
Sunstar Davao
Friday, April 28, 2006

EDUCATION, especially of children, is a challenging and complex process. A good educational institution must provide good teachers, adequate number of facilities such as classrooms, chairs, desks or armchairs and textbooks before it can provide what we call today ‘quality education’ to students.

A good educational institution will facilitate the learning of the students and allow them to explore and exercise their potentials.

In a developing country like the Philippines, there are several impediments to maintaining good schools: there is the lack of budget, peace and order problems, and even lack of teachers.

In Davao City, the condition of educational institutions or schools is very well keeping with today’s challenges.

Department of Education (Deped) education program specialist II Severina Tagubaso said there are a total of 1,855 public schools in Region 11.

In Davao City alone, there are 349 public schools, 65 schools for the secondary level and 284 public elementary schools.

Among them is the Maa National High School (NHS), Sta. Ana NHS, Talomo NHS for highschool students and Magallanes elementary school, Kapitan Tomas elementary school and San Roque elementary school for those in elementary.

As of August 2005, Tagubaso said there are a total of 241,593 students enrolled in all these schools.

A total of 167,070 are in grade level while 74,523 are in secondary level.

For the coming school year 2006-2007, Tagubaso said, DepEd is expecting a 2 percent increase in enrollees.

Expected number of enrollees is 170,411 for elementary level while 76,013 for high school level.

To ensure that teaching meets government standards, those aspiring to be teachers have to pass rigid screening by the DepEd office before they are allowed to teach, said DepEd press information officer Jenelito Atillo.

In addition to the regular teachers in the DepEd plantilla, City Human Resource and Management Officer Marcelino P. Escalada said city-paid teachers assigned by the Local School Board are required to be degree holders of Bachelor in Education and have passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).

In Davao City, Tagubaso said there are a total of 4,247 teachers in the elementary level. The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) is 1:39.4 or one teacher in every 39.4 grade school students.

There are 1,968 high school teachers in the city. The PTR is 1:38 or one high school teacher for every 38 students.

In Davao City, Tagubase said there are a total of 3,856 classrooms. The pupil classroom ratio (PCR) is 1:43 students or 43 students in every classroom.

While classroom space is just enough, Tagubase said classroom seats are lacking in number.

For public elementary schools there are only 141,616 chairs, a ratio of one chair for every 1.18 pupil.

For public high schools, there are 54,533 chairs, which means 1,37 students to one chair.

“So if you noticed medyo kulang gyud kay dapat 1:1 unta (chair to student ratio should be 1:1),” Tagubase said in an interview Wednesday.

In terms of textbook, a graph from DepEd shows skewed ratios. Two students have to share one fourth year English textbook. The graph shows 10,000 of these textbooks are needed but there are only 5,000 available.

A Filipino subject textbook, however, has an actual need for just 2,000 but there are 13,000 in the inventory.

While seats and textbooks are sometimes the problems of public schools, this is not so in private schools.

This is so because students pay for these, said Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) high school principal Wenifreda Roderos, and students are required to acquire their own from their school bookstore.

Roderos said the HCDC high school campus has a total of 19 classrooms for all the 19 sections. There are more or less 50 students per class, she said.

Seats for students are also 1:1 or 1 seat per student. “We also have extra chairs in case there are a lot of enrollees,” Roderos said in an interview Friday.

Other than textbooks, Roderos said the school also has a library, speech lab, computer lab, audiovisual room, science laboratories and gym to facilitate the learning of their students.

According to Roderos, a school’s facility is very important in a school.

“Before a parent enrolls his or her child, nagtatanong talaga sila kung maganda ba ang mga facilities ng school,” Roderos said.

Roderos said having good teachers and adequate facilities are key to quality education.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos once said that collective passion in the implemetaion of quality education for young Filipinos is needed to wipe out poverty and other ills in the society. (BRQ)

Education situation in public, private schools in Davao City
By Barbara Carla R. Quiero
Sunstar Davao
Friday, April 28, 2006

EDUCATION, especially of children, is a challenging and complex process. A good educational institution must provide good teachers, adequate number of facilities such as classrooms, chairs, desks or armchairs and textbooks before it can provide what we call today ‘quality education’ to students.

A good educational institution will facilitate the learning of the students and allow them to explore and exercise their potentials.

In a developing country like the Philippines, there are several impediments to maintaining good schools: there is the lack of budget, peace and order problems, and even lack of teachers.

In Davao City, the condition of educational institutions or schools is very well keeping with today’s challenges.

Department of Education (Deped) education program specialist II Severina Tagubaso said there are a total of 1,855 public schools in Region 11.

In Davao City alone, there are 349 public schools, 65 schools for the secondary level and 284 public elementary schools.

Among them is the Maa National High School (NHS), Sta. Ana NHS, Talomo NHS for highschool students and Magallanes elementary school, Kapitan Tomas elementary school and San Roque elementary school for those in elementary.

As of August 2005, Tagubaso said there are a total of 241,593 students enrolled in all these schools.

A total of 167,070 are in grade level while 74,523 are in secondary level.

For the coming school year 2006-2007, Tagubaso said, DepEd is expecting a 2 percent increase in enrollees.

Expected number of enrollees is 170,411 for elementary level while 76,013 for high school level.

To ensure that teaching meets government standards, those aspiring to be teachers have to pass rigid screening by the DepEd office before they are allowed to teach, said DepEd press information officer Jenelito Atillo.

In addition to the regular teachers in the DepEd plantilla, City Human Resource and Management Officer Marcelino P. Escalada said city-paid teachers assigned by the Local School Board are required to be degree holders of Bachelor in Education and have passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).

In Davao City, Tagubaso said there are a total of 4,247 teachers in the elementary level. The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) is 1:39.4 or one teacher in every 39.4 grade school students.

There are 1,968 high school teachers in the city. The PTR is 1:38 or one high school teacher for every 38 students.

In Davao City, Tagubase said there are a total of 3,856 classrooms. The pupil classroom ratio (PCR) is 1:43 students or 43 students in every classroom.

While classroom space is just enough, Tagubase said classroom seats are lacking in number.

For public elementary schools there are only 141,616 chairs, a ratio of one chair for every 1.18 pupil.

For public high schools, there are 54,533 chairs, which means 1,37 students to one chair.

“So if you noticed medyo kulang gyud kay dapat 1:1 unta (chair to student ratio should be 1:1),” Tagubase said in an interview Wednesday.

In terms of textbook, a graph from DepEd shows skewed ratios. Two students have to share one fourth year English textbook. The graph shows 10,000 of these textbooks are needed but there are only 5,000 available.

A Filipino subject textbook, however, has an actual need for just 2,000 but there are 13,000 in the inventory.

While seats and textbooks are sometimes the problems of public schools, this is not so in private schools.

This is so because students pay for these, said Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) high school principal Wenifreda Roderos, and students are required to acquire their own from their school bookstore.

Roderos said the HCDC high school campus has a total of 19 classrooms for all the 19 sections. There are more or less 50 students per class, she said.

Seats for students are also 1:1 or 1 seat per student. “We also have extra chairs in case there are a lot of enrollees,” Roderos said in an interview Friday.

Other than textbooks, Roderos said the school also has a library, speech lab, computer lab, audiovisual room, science laboratories and gym to facilitate the learning of their students.

According to Roderos, a school’s facility is very important in a school.

“Before a parent enrolls his or her child, nagtatanong talaga sila kung maganda ba ang mga facilities ng school,” Roderos said.

Roderos said having good teachers and adequate facilities are key to quality education.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos once said that collective passion in the implemetaion of quality education for young Filipinos is needed to wipe out poverty and other ills in the society. (BRQ)

Davaoeña, Mindanaoan teens invade Big Brother’s house

Mindanao Times
April 25, 2006

A Davaoeña named Mikki entered Sunday night Big Brother’s House together with 11 other teeners aspiring for big bucks in the latest edition of Pinoy Big Brother.

Aside from the Davao aspirant, Mindanao is also represented by two other bets — a Filipino-American from General Santos and a beauty queen from Bukidnon — in Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition.

In their introduction during the series pilot last Sunday, the 18-year-old Mikki is tagged as “Ang Orig na Astig ng Davao.”

She claimed to have a devil-may-care attitude and wants to do things her way.

This toughie from Davao said she used to be bullied by her classmates so she decided to be different. “I’m not a loser and I will just be true to myself,” she said.

Gerard Anderson, the Am-Boy Hottie from GenSan, got the honor to be the first to be introduced in the latest batch in the so-called cross-over of Pinoy Big Brother and Star Circle Teen Quest. “I’m not just a handsome face,” said 17-year-old Gerard. One of his passions is sports, particularly playing basketball.

Bukidnon’s own, 18-year-old Clare, the Barrio Lass from Bukidnon and the Star Wannabee, believes that she cannot please everyone. This barrio lass who won many beauty contests in her province said she only wants to follow her heart. “Pangarap ko lang na mag-artista (It’s my wish to become an actress),” she said.

For six weeks the housemates will live inside the Big Brother house, co-existing despite their different backgrounds and varied preferences.

The other Pinoy Big Brother’s teenage housemates are: Lola’s favorite granddaughter Niña, 17, of Makati City; Whiz kid Mikee, 17, of Quezon City; Chinita Kim, 16, of Cebu City; Hunky Fred, 17, from Parañaque; Joker Bam, 16, of Parañaque; Teenybopper Olyn of Quezon City; High school valedictorian Aldred, 16, of Pasay City; Fil-Am musician Matt, 17; Puerto Rican-Filipino Teen Mama Jamilla, 17.

Davaoeña, Mindanaoan teens invade Big Brother’s house

Mindanao Times
April 25, 2006

A Davaoeña named Mikki entered Sunday night Big Brother’s House together with 11 other teeners aspiring for big bucks in the latest edition of Pinoy Big Brother.

Aside from the Davao aspirant, Mindanao is also represented by two other bets — a Filipino-American from General Santos and a beauty queen from Bukidnon — in Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition.

In their introduction during the series pilot last Sunday, the 18-year-old Mikki is tagged as “Ang Orig na Astig ng Davao.”

She claimed to have a devil-may-care attitude and wants to do things her way.

This toughie from Davao said she used to be bullied by her classmates so she decided to be different. “I’m not a loser and I will just be true to myself,” she said.

Gerard Anderson, the Am-Boy Hottie from GenSan, got the honor to be the first to be introduced in the latest batch in the so-called cross-over of Pinoy Big Brother and Star Circle Teen Quest. “I’m not just a handsome face,” said 17-year-old Gerard. One of his passions is sports, particularly playing basketball.

Bukidnon’s own, 18-year-old Clare, the Barrio Lass from Bukidnon and the Star Wannabee, believes that she cannot please everyone. This barrio lass who won many beauty contests in her province said she only wants to follow her heart. “Pangarap ko lang na mag-artista (It’s my wish to become an actress),” she said.

For six weeks the housemates will live inside the Big Brother house, co-existing despite their different backgrounds and varied preferences.

The other Pinoy Big Brother’s teenage housemates are: Lola’s favorite granddaughter Niña, 17, of Makati City; Whiz kid Mikee, 17, of Quezon City; Chinita Kim, 16, of Cebu City; Hunky Fred, 17, from Parañaque; Joker Bam, 16, of Parañaque; Teenybopper Olyn of Quezon City; High school valedictorian Aldred, 16, of Pasay City; Fil-Am musician Matt, 17; Puerto Rican-Filipino Teen Mama Jamilla, 17.

Davao City exec blogs to spark ‘participatory’ governance

First posted 00:35am (Mla time) April 22, 2006
By Erwin Lemuel Oliva
INQ7.net

DAVAO City Councilor Peter Lavina has started blogging to spark “participatory” governance in the city.
A former journalist and activist, Lavina said he discoverd blogging after attending a workshop on blogging by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

“I am now trying to promote blogs as a tool for participatory governance,” he said, adding that he hopes to promote more transparency in local governance through blogging.

He also stressed that blogs provide a tool for more government officials to talk directly to constituents and vice versa.

Lavina said that he recently posted Davao City’s income in his blog http://www.funchain.com/~peterlavina) to promote more transparency in local governance.

Convinced by the power of blogging, Lavina said that he plans to organize a blogging workshop for government employees in Davao City.

There should be more active participation of citizens in governance, and blogs will allow people to be part of local governance, the official added.

Davao, Mindanao, and the nation
By Gail Ilagan / MindaNews / 20 April 2006

DAVAO CITY — It was standing room only on the occasion of UP Professor Randy David doing a national situationer at the Grand Men Seng last night. The event was sponsored by the Initiatives for International Dialogue, a local advocacy group that has consistently sustained its emphasis on dialogue, that vital precondition to reaching a viable consensus on public issues.

Trust IID to put together a creditable representation of Davao’s public. By public I mean people who manifest interest in a particular issue. Judging from the SRO crowd who came to the forum, the national situation and what it means for Mindanao is obviously a topic of widespread interest. The forum was a timely shot in the arm, said former partylist congresswoman Pat Sarenas. Yes, of course, it’s about time that we should be talking about this.

My mother-in-law, Gabriela Women’s Party chairperson Luz Ilagan, headlined the forum along with Prof. David. Recently accorded the dubious honor to belong to the Davao 8, Mother Luz takes the inconvenience in stride and graciously pays homage to this character trait of the Davaoeno - our ability to sit down and dialogue peaceably among ourselves despite the ideological, intellectual, and cultural boundaries that divide us.

True to the spirit of the occasion, Prof. David abandoned his prepared paper to launch into an impromptu address more in keeping with the kind of reflective sharing that one has with friends over coffee. The unread paper should be up on IID’s website by the time this article comes out. Check out www.iidnet.org.

Anyway, it’s two in the morning and writing this article is my way of rewarding myself for getting through checking test papers. As an educator, I believe in immediate feedback on performance, and since the summer term means daily classes, it does require little sacrifices like burning the candle at both ends when one takes the time to take advantage of cultural benefits like listening to Randy David and Luz Ilagan when one should be checking papers. Oh well.

Okay. What was said in that forum? Well, it was articulated that more and more people are fed up with Philippine politics. This is important. When one is fed up, one can’t muster the moral outrage needed to spark that burning desire to take it upon one’s self to correct the situation, or at least be part of the effort for a resolution. People who are fed up retreat in repression or in apathy. But abdication does very little to change the situation. The problem does not go away just because we choose not to concern ourselves with it.

Gus Miclat, IID’s executive director, prays that people will get tired of being fed up and revisit the problem, this time with the intention to work for its resolution. David obviously agrees. By making the time to share his lucid analysis of the political crisis the nation is now facing, he helps identify for us the leaks in our sinking boat. What is particularly remarkable about his activism is his passion for what should be in the face of the ills there are. Fed up, he is not. By continuing to engage the nation’s citizens wherever they are and in whatever forum, David conveys this belief that the people can make a difference in the life of this nation.

What are we in Mindanao to do? What are we to do, especially those of us who reside in Davao where life is tolerable despite the political unrest in Manila? Are we indeed the comfortable that David seeks to afflict? Have we set virtual boundaries to our community that we can’t relate to what is being done to the nation? Can’t we relate to what is being done to Mindanao, exploited and used as a convenient tool to legitimize usurpation of powers that are national in scope?

David advocates that Mindanao should consolidate its community by reworking its institutions to be responsive to local needs. He envisions a dignified, self-contained Mindanao that would render superfluous any form of largesse from the national government. In so doing, Mindanao would similarly free itself from reliance on external resources that come with strings attached. Mindanao would be above the fray, even as the increasingly ugly political crisis plunges the rest of the nation into the impending civil war.

There. It’s something to think about. Don’t take too long, though. Thinking about something doesn’t get it done. This suggestion is actually workable. As citizens of Mindanao, we can actually draw in the details to these broad strokes in the way that we live our collective life. Dare we try?

(Wayward and Fanciful is Gail Ilagan’s column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. Ilagan teaches Social Justice, Family Sociology, Theories of Socialization and Psychology at the Ateneo de Davao University where she is also the associate editor of Tambara. You may send comments to gail@mindanews.com. “Send at the risk of a reply,” she says).

Davao City exec blogs to spark ‘participatory’ governance

First posted 00:35am (Mla time) April 22, 2006
By Erwin Lemuel Oliva
INQ7.net

DAVAO City Councilor Peter Lavina has started blogging to spark “participatory” governance in the city.
A former journalist and activist, Lavina said he discoverd blogging after attending a workshop on blogging by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

“I am now trying to promote blogs as a tool for participatory governance,” he said, adding that he hopes to promote more transparency in local governance through blogging.

He also stressed that blogs provide a tool for more government officials to talk directly to constituents and vice versa.

Lavina said that he recently posted Davao City’s income in his blog http://www.funchain.com/~peterlavina) to promote more transparency in local governance.

Convinced by the power of blogging, Lavina said that he plans to organize a blogging workshop for government employees in Davao City.

There should be more active participation of citizens in governance, and blogs will allow people to be part of local governance, the official added.

Davao, Mindanao, and the nation
By Gail Ilagan / MindaNews / 20 April 2006

DAVAO CITY — It was standing room only on the occasion of UP Professor Randy David doing a national situationer at the Grand Men Seng last night. The event was sponsored by the Initiatives for International Dialogue, a local advocacy group that has consistently sustained its emphasis on dialogue, that vital precondition to reaching a viable consensus on public issues.

Trust IID to put together a creditable representation of Davao’s public. By public I mean people who manifest interest in a particular issue. Judging from the SRO crowd who came to the forum, the national situation and what it means for Mindanao is obviously a topic of widespread interest. The forum was a timely shot in the arm, said former partylist congresswoman Pat Sarenas. Yes, of course, it’s about time that we should be talking about this.

My mother-in-law, Gabriela Women’s Party chairperson Luz Ilagan, headlined the forum along with Prof. David. Recently accorded the dubious honor to belong to the Davao 8, Mother Luz takes the inconvenience in stride and graciously pays homage to this character trait of the Davaoeno - our ability to sit down and dialogue peaceably among ourselves despite the ideological, intellectual, and cultural boundaries that divide us.

True to the spirit of the occasion, Prof. David abandoned his prepared paper to launch into an impromptu address more in keeping with the kind of reflective sharing that one has with friends over coffee. The unread paper should be up on IID’s website by the time this article comes out. Check out www.iidnet.org.

Anyway, it’s two in the morning and writing this article is my way of rewarding myself for getting through checking test papers. As an educator, I believe in immediate feedback on performance, and since the summer term means daily classes, it does require little sacrifices like burning the candle at both ends when one takes the time to take advantage of cultural benefits like listening to Randy David and Luz Ilagan when one should be checking papers. Oh well.

Okay. What was said in that forum? Well, it was articulated that more and more people are fed up with Philippine politics. This is important. When one is fed up, one can’t muster the moral outrage needed to spark that burning desire to take it upon one’s self to correct the situation, or at least be part of the effort for a resolution. People who are fed up retreat in repression or in apathy. But abdication does very little to change the situation. The problem does not go away just because we choose not to concern ourselves with it.

Gus Miclat, IID’s executive director, prays that people will get tired of being fed up and revisit the problem, this time with the intention to work for its resolution. David obviously agrees. By making the time to share his lucid analysis of the political crisis the nation is now facing, he helps identify for us the leaks in our sinking boat. What is particularly remarkable about his activism is his passion for what should be in the face of the ills there are. Fed up, he is not. By continuing to engage the nation’s citizens wherever they are and in whatever forum, David conveys this belief that the people can make a difference in the life of this nation.

What are we in Mindanao to do? What are we to do, especially those of us who reside in Davao where life is tolerable despite the political unrest in Manila? Are we indeed the comfortable that David seeks to afflict? Have we set virtual boundaries to our community that we can’t relate to what is being done to the nation? Can’t we relate to what is being done to Mindanao, exploited and used as a convenient tool to legitimize usurpation of powers that are national in scope?

David advocates that Mindanao should consolidate its community by reworking its institutions to be responsive to local needs. He envisions a dignified, self-contained Mindanao that would render superfluous any form of largesse from the national government. In so doing, Mindanao would similarly free itself from reliance on external resources that come with strings attached. Mindanao would be above the fray, even as the increasingly ugly political crisis plunges the rest of the nation into the impending civil war.

There. It’s something to think about. Don’t take too long, though. Thinking about something doesn’t get it done. This suggestion is actually workable. As citizens of Mindanao, we can actually draw in the details to these broad strokes in the way that we live our collective life. Dare we try?

(Wayward and Fanciful is Gail Ilagan’s column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. Ilagan teaches Social Justice, Family Sociology, Theories of Socialization and Psychology at the Ateneo de Davao University where she is also the associate editor of Tambara. You may send comments to gail@mindanews.com. “Send at the risk of a reply,” she says).

Davao diving sites seen as potential tourism industry

PIA Press Release
04/20/2006

Davao City (20 April) — Diving is a potential tourism industry, however there’s a need for the government to assess the sites in the Davao region and declare from among the more than a dozen sites in the Davao Gulf as the ideal sites for the activity.

Regional executive director Ricardo Calderon of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR XI) said a profiling of the sites must first be undertaken, however a sizeable amount is needed to do it

He admitted that his office do not have the money to complete the profiling and that they are collaborating with other sectors to finish the project.

He said they only started the first project this year at the “Big Ligid” which is the site of the 3rd Dive the Gulf 2006 which will be held this week.

“We do not have enough resources and this kind of activity falls under their protected area program of which we get only P10 million to maintain, sustain and protect the already declared protected areas of the region,” he said.

Department of Tourism (DOT XI) regional director Sonia Garcia explained that not one diving sites in Mindanao was included in the earlier published diving sites in the Philippines because the sites here still needs to be developed.

“What we claim to be dive sites are really real dive sites. We must be ready as we do not want to fool the tourists when they come,” she said.

“Hilaw pa ang mga dive sites natin meaning there must be a declaration from the DENR that these are fit for diving sites,” she said.

But even then she said there are already infrastructure introduced to some of the sites.

The Davao-Palau route, she said adds a plus to Davao because people who come and dive here has the opportunity to fly here and get more value of their money.

Garcia is also looking at getting more tourists to come to the city with their tie up with the Asian Spirit that regularly fly to Palau from Davao.

She said among those eager to come are the Overseas Filipino Workers numbering about 5,000 who are working or doing livelihood in Palau.

She is also looking for some potential diving enthusiasts from Palau who are interested in coming to Davao and get more value for their money.

She said divers spends about $500 for a diving trip for a Manila Palau package that only includes an overnight stay whereas the Davao-Palau package at the same amount includes hotel accommodation with breakfast for three days and two nights stay plus transportation.

“It will be a value added plus to Davao as a diving destination if this will be fully developed,” she said.

In fact the Blue Corner Dive Sites in Palau Garcia said generated $1 million in 2005 and they already established the island as one dive destination. (PIA/pdbanzon)