Understanding a MOA

MASTER BLASTER, Mindanao Daily Mirror 7 June 2011

The weight of evidence whether or not a party is faithful to an agreement is in the provisions of a document and not on mere photographs showing the physical act of signing.

Let us put emphasis on that while some people attempt to be convincing and some people make a fool of themselves by accepting it as truth.

The Dabaw Tourism Operators Association (DabTOA) recently issued a disclaimer that the association is part of an event called Davao Youth Games by its private organizers. The reason is simple, DabTOA only wants to set things straight—they are simply not part of this event. Why? Because DabTOA said this event is not the event they agreed to co-venture with the private organizers.

That is as simple as ABC.

What is the proof of that? The document that they signed—the memorandum of agreement.

I have seen this document. I do not know with some people.

I have read the provisions too. I do not know with some people.

It was clear as ABC.

One: the document speaks of Children’s Games. Not Youth Games. Those two are not interchangeable. They are worlds apart. You are talking here of two classes of society. Two: the event dates in the document are different from this other event.

Now, an agreement is always sacred to the parties. That is why a party who amends, repeals, alters the provisions of the agreement without the knowledge and formal notice to the other party is in bad faith. Bad faith, in simple lingo, is violation of the terms of the contract. When there is bad faith, there is a presumption of a deliberate intent by one party to be unfaithful to the other party.

Parties to a contract are duty-bound to abide by its provisions faithfully and to notify the other in clear and unequivocal terms when there are changes to the pact.

In the case of DabTOA, they were not notified of the changes. It is not enough that one party if as busy as hell to be excused not to notify the other. In a corporate world, you exist with people around you like some wide-eyed, trusted liaison officers to do the notifications if you cannot do so. If you can send a spokesperson to a press conference to announce your event, it is incumbent upon you to use the same corporate mechanism to make communications. There is no excuse even if you do not know the law. That is as clear as day.

Now, to make it more absurd, DabTOA said they are now being asked to make a public apology. Reason of the organizers? There is a MOA signed by them as shown by photographs.

You know, no matter how beautiful the photographs if they are not the issue in question, it has no weight in the ocean of evidence. DabTOA said it does not question the existence of the MOA. They even made that as the premise in this case to build up their argument. The issue is the faithfulness to the provisions of the MOA.

If the MOA speaks of Juan dela Cruz and you are talking about Pedro Santos, that definitely is not the same animal you are talking about. DabTOA said they did not sign for a Youth Games. They signed for a Children’s Games. They agreed to do an event in May not in June. Those provisions of the agreement are vital in making one party decide to agree. That is essentially the ingredients to the meeting of minds.

DabTOA’s argument makes sense. DabTOA’s stand not to make a public apology also makes sense. Not to mention who must rightfully make public apologies here.

DabTOA, however, has said it will not dignify this issue. “Di na namin papatulan,” said Chato Aranda, DabTOA President.

That’s right.

It’s just too cheap.

Belief vs. Doubt

MASTER BLASTER, Mindanao Daily Mirror May 31, 2011

It’s going to be a rematch of the 2006 championship when best of the West Dallas Mavericks face off with the beast of the East Miami Heat in this year’s NBA Finals.

I won’t be as excited as some hoop fans are, however.

Reason? Neither team is my favourite.

If there is anything tugging within me, it is the fact that a half-Filipino gets a chance to win an NBA title as a coach and that is Miami’s man on the bench Eric Spoelstra. Spo will naturally have the Filipino fans praying he wins an NBA title.

This time, I’m a kibitzer and will be objectively weighing the chances of both teams.

Miami is the overwhelming favourite to win this year from the day they signed their Big Three. I have said in the NBA Trash Talk facebook page that it will be a disaster for Miami not to win the Larry O’Brien trophy. An even worse disaster if it loses to the Bulls. But that is history now as the Heat have disposed off the Bulls in five.

There is overwhelming belief that Miami will win its second title this year with the Big Three. This belief was strengthened after the Heat sent the Celtics to an early vacation and then slaughtered the Bulls with a four-game sweep after losing Game 1 in the Eastern Finals.

There is reason to believe the Heat should win the title. Lebron James, D Wade and C Bosh combined is the basketball equivalent of a trinitrotoluene bomb. That’s a three-headed monster. And then there’s the support crew, the white hot crowd and the inspiration of a master in at Pat Riley.

Is there reason to doubt Miami could win it?

This is the issue of this year’s Finals. Belief vs. Doubt.

Miami will have to prove this overriding belief while Dallas will have to convince everyone to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Let’s take a look back at what happened in 2006.

Five years ago, Dirk Nowitzki and his Dallas Mavericks won the first two games at home, 90-80 and 99-86. Jason Terry and Dirk, the remaining two remnants of that squad, led the Mavs in both games. Jason pumped in 32 in Game 1 and Dirk scattered 26 in Game 2.

When the series shifted to South Beach, the Heat escaped with a 98-96 win in Game 3 with D Wade pouring in 42 as the Heat came back to life after being down 13 points in the 4^th with a huge rally sparked by the now retired Gary Payton. They followed it up with a 98-76 thumping in Game 4 to tie the series as Wade punctured the hoop with 36 and Miami limited Dallas to just 7 in the 4th.

Game 5 is one hell of a game Dallas would rather forget. With 9.1 ticks in OT and Dallas ahead 100-99, the Heat went to D Wade and the Mavs committed a ridiculous foul on him with 1.9 seconds left. Wade hit the first and as if ridiculous things would not end there, Josh Howard called for Dallas’ last timeout. This means that if D Wade connects on his second freebie, they could no longer call timeout and inbound from the sidelines. Wade connected on his second to shove Miami ahead 101-100 and there was no time for Dallas to put up a decent shot. Dirk kicked the ball to the stands after the game ad was fined.

Game 6 back to Texas. Jason Terry had the chance to send the game to OT but he missed a three as Miami wrapped up the series 95-92.

This year, only two Mavs from the 2006 roster will be back and that is Terry and Dirk. Miami will have D Wade and Udonis Haslem. The men at the bench will also be different. Gone are Pat Riley and Avery Johnson for Spo and Rick Carlisle.

The series will also necessarily involve some personalities outside the floor particularly Dallas owner Mark Cuban. In 2006, Cuban criticized the officiating for giving D Wade what he calls as “phantom fouls.” Lakers coach Phil Jackson would later blame it as the referees’ retaliation on the brash Cuban who is very vocal of his dissatisfaction over the league’s officiating.

Dirk Nowitzki will be the strongest proposition of any reasonable doubt Dallas will beat Miami. The 7-foot giant of a shooting guard is the hardest to defend in the NBA today. This is no exaggeration but the Heat should prepare to defend against Dirk like Navy Seals. Dirk should be defended on ground and air.

The doubt will also have strong propositions from Dallas’ snipers like Shawn Marion, Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic. And then you will have to stop two of the brainiest quarterbacks in Jason Kidd and Juan Barea.

Bottomline is that it is going to be a good series. Better than the 2007 Finals when Lebron made his first trip to the big stage against San Antonio that ended in shattered dreams for the wonder kid from Akron. This is Lebron’s first real chance to win a title and for Dirk, his last real chance.

Belief vs. Doubt. That is how this series will go.

If you believe in prophecy, bet on Miami, but in case of doubt, bet on Dallas.

SMI’s masterpiece

Master Blaster, Mindanao Daily Mirror May 22, 2011

Growing up as a kid from the once sleeping town of Mati, I took my pencil and paper on several afternoons at the old wharf waiting to catch a glorious sunset. There were no DSLR cameras yet to capture the natural beauty of a setting sun. I had no formal art training either. No money to buy a canvas and paint. I only had my eyes and my hands for my simple work that would later become a masterpiece for my two adoring fans—my parents.

My works would end up pasted on our wall until the next artwork would dislodge the old one.

I had great times as a self-made artist. Later I would have some informal training with a town moviehouse artist and I would have my share of the movie billboards in exchange for a free movie pass on weekends.

Growing up, we are inspired by the beauty around us and would only hope our creativity would match the wonders of creation.

Last month, 24 kids from Malungon in Sarangani, Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, and Malalag and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur got the dreams of their young lives as artists.

Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), the Philippine Government’s contractor of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, held an art workshop for selected high school students last month at the Sarangani Highlands Resort.

Jamel Obniana from the University of the Philippine Diliman College of Fine Arts was commissioned by SMI to be the workshop facilitator to help the young artists build their confidence and polish their painting skills.

The 24 students aged 14-18 participated in the workshop which was themed “Highlighting the identity of Southern Mindanao together with SMI.” These artists emerged from a qualifying competition held earlier to pick the crème of the crop.

John Arnaldo, SMI Communications Manager said the Department of Tourism chaperoned participants to the workshop venue where they were taught how to paint and express their ideas through art.

It couldn’t get any better than this. The kids were given by SMI all the materials needed for the workshop. Makes me regret why I was born too soon.

Things like this one really inspire us. We don’t get a chance like this everyday and when we do, trhe opportunity is just too good to pass up.

Twelve finalists will be picked from the output of the workshop which will be displayed in an art exhibit on May 27 and the best three works will be declared winners and will be sent to compete in the first ever Southern Mindanao Regional Arts Competition which SMI is again sponsoring.

Sweet.

You get to have your work in the gallery. Get a chance to be the best work out of this program. Compete in a bigger stage. And who knows what’s next? These are what every artist dreams of.

These are among the many outreach programs SMI is implementing as part of its social commitment in the development areas. I once chatted with Andy Orobia of SMI Communications and he shared a number of CSR programs SMI is doing, something we do not normally hear in mining exploration projects.

As a child growing up, I love the sunset bidding goodbye to a lovely day. But I am always just as thrilled to wait for the sunrise in the morning as I wake up to join my father to the old tennis club for an early morning game.

To this day, I still look forward to painting a wonderful sunrise. I may just have to capture it someday. But for these young kids touched by SMI, all of the next day’s sunrise is brighter.

Brokenshire has new program for coaches

Master Blaster May 21, 2011

Things are looking up for coaches, sports administrators and former athletes looking for a permanent career. Brokenshire College is coming up with Bachelor of Physical Education major in Sports and Wellness Program.

I had the chance to talk to its proponent Dr. Arlene de Vera, who heads the BPE, and she is quite excited of the program. The course is now being offered at Brokenshire College.

The BPE course is ideal for school-based coaches and sports administrators because it is designed to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the many disciplines of sports management.

Three major reasons why we need to professional preparation in sports management:

First, to meet a real, recognizable need for professionally trained administrators in the broad area of sports.

Second, this is a natural outgrowth of the study of sports, combined with the view that Physical Education is a broad-based academic discipline.

And third, fewer students seeking to become Physical Education teachers, an overabundance of would-be Physical Education teachers already seeking jobs, the reduction in requirements for daily Physical Education in many school systems.

Doc Arlene hopes some of the LGUs and schools extend some sort of scholarship grants to their coaches for them to avail of this degree. This is a step towards professionalizing the ranks of sports managers and coaches.

The beauty of it all is that it does not cost a million pesos to earn the BPE degree. Tuition is very much affordable and the investment is worth every peso you pay.

The BPE program of Brokenshire comes in very timely as I ran across an article in another paper about a congressman from another Mindanao city asking for a 1-Million peso consultant’s fee for Davao City to host the Palarong Pambansa.

That’s plain BS.

I don’t think that would work. Davao has a lot of bright people to do that without the need of a consultant from elsewhere. In fact, there are supposedly some of them at the City Hall right now in the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms and swivel chairs.

So when I read about the offer of former Congressman Romeo Jalosjos offering his services for a fee of 1 million pesos, I naturally grimaced from my seat.

Why the heck do we need help for? Don’t we have the people to do that? Thanks, but no thanks.

But wait.

On second thoughts, I think the Congressman Jalosjos offer is not at all a big joke. It’s not ridiculous afterall.

It should be food for thought for the bright guys at the City Hall’s sports office. I remember some people harping at all the possible things that would happen to Davao sports once they are in the position. Sports complex, grassroots sports, sports tourism. Name it, they brag it.

Question is: where are those?

In the drawing board or in your dreams?

In fairness, I know a few good people who silently do about their work at the City Hall. They don’t play basketball against fellow executives, and they attend meetings and consultations. I do not know with some newbies out there who still need Sports Management 101.

Where are the programs?

I think some guys need the help of Congressman Jalosjos afterall. But not at the expense of the city.

Notes: A lot of great things are happening at Bluejaz Resort and Waterpark. On Saturday, there will be a kayak competition, DABTOA Officers Induction and a party at night...Resort owner Jazmin Middleton hosted a welcome party last Saturday. Expect another blast of a night this weekend...Resort Manager Ian Pescadero is having his hands full preparing the venue for the 2011 Kicksand Beach Football-Mindanao leg at Bluejaz on June 11-12. Registration is now ongoing for the men’s and women’s divisions (Open), please contact Mr. Alex Adolfo at 09092876880.