Business

The Ritual at Tudaya Falls

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Click on the image to view Cheryll D. Fiel’s pictures of the ritual.

A giant power company plans to build a hydroelectric plant in Tudaya, a village in Davao del Sur. Proponents of the project said the plant would “not only offer solution to the power crisis in the offing, but at the same time provide livelihood opportunities and other benefits to the communities.” The Lumads in the area, however, are up in arms, claiming that the plant would desecrate Tudaya Falls, which is their worship ground, and destroy their way of life. They also accuse Hedcor, the power company, of misleading members of the tribe. They expressed their opposition to the project by holding a sacred ritual last week. Davao Today?s Cheryll D. Fiel was there.

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New Indon Airline Launches Davao-Manado Flight

DAVAO CITY– Close on the heels of the successful Trade Mission of Southern
Mindanao’s Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani (JAGS-CT) Cooperation Triangle to
Indonesia last September, a new Indonesian airline company has started serving the
Davao-Manado (Indonesia) route today boosting trade ties between the Philippines
and Indonesia, which are both under the development thrust of the East Asean Growth
Area (EAGA).
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Furor Over JPEPA: Will Davao’s Banana Workers Benefit From It?

A controversial bilateral trade agreement between the Philippines and Japan promises enormous economic opportunities for Filipinos, among them agricultural producers such as the banana workers and growers in the Davao regions. That, at least, is the Arroyo administration’s line. What they’re not telling the public is that, apart from the environmental hazards it poses, the agreement is a one-sided trade pact that benefits the Japanese more. The agreement, according to some economists, will also set a precedent that will further erode the Philippine economy. Davao Today’s Carlos H. Conde reports.


Davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan
Will these workers in a banana packing plant in Compostela Valley benefit from JPEPA? Some economists don’t think so. As it is, many of these workers are overworked and underpaid. Several of them, in fact, have been fired by the company. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
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Tarsila?s Park

Tarsila Villarente in Rizal Park, her home since she was 10. (Photo by Cheryll D. Fiel)
Tarsila Villarente knows Rizal Park perhaps like no other people in Davao City. It has been her home for decades now. And she?s not complaining. On beautiful, sunny days, she luxuriates in the shades, graciously offering cigarettes to customers. For her, it doesn?t get any better than this. Davao Today?s Cheryll D. Fiel takes a peek at Tarsila?s life.

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