Growing strawberries for food and health

WHEN it comes to preventing cancer, can what you eat make a difference? Certain foods are high in antioxidants, which mop up the free radicals that contribute to cancer. But in studies it’s been a challenge to tease apart the effects of diet alone on cancer risk, since people who eat foods rich in antioxidants also tend to exercise more and avoid smoking, other factors that are known to lower the chances of developing cancer.

The other ‘family’ dinner

THERE is always a better cook among the siblings in any family household. In the case of my ‘other family’ (read: family formed through friendship), at least to me they are, Dina is the better cook, baker and the hostess with the mostest. She just loves to make us try what new dish she has learned. These episodes, everyone wants to take part in.

Moms' bucket list

2012 was a year of realizations for me. One of the many things I learned is that even if I want to prioritize being a wife and mom, I should also find time for other activities and people in my life on a regular basis. In addition, it is indeed true that “love and care for others starts with love and care for the self”.

Love the second time around

LOVE, so goes a line of a popular song, comes from the most unexpected places.

Armando Garces is from Luzon. Elvie Obregon came from Mindanao, particularly Davao City. But as fate would have intervened, the two met in Metro Manila.

Splash of the Titans

TILAPIA has become the mainstay of many small-scale aquaculture projects of poor fish farmers in the developing world. "The fish is cultured in more than 70 countries," says Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, a national scientist and former executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).

Fishery experts have dubbed tilapia as "aquatic chicken" because it possesses many positive attributes that suit the fish for a varied range of aquaculture systems. For one, tilapia tolerates a wide range of environmental conditions and is highly resistant to diseases and parasitic infections.

Saving lives

A TEAM of 19 trained emergency responders from the mining firm St. Augustine Gold and Copper Limited (SAGCL) braved the strong winds and rampaging floodwaters brought about by Typhoon Pablo last month and saved hundreds of Pantukan residents from harm.

The team was led by Michael Salaguinto with Abdul Basit Pinute, Robert Cabigas, Rhina Orejela, Edwin Seno, Jummary Junio, Arjay Nacilla, Robert Tubida, Leslie Suico, Roger Beduya, Altohami Camamara, Roderick Ba-o, Nor-akbar Amil, Rasven Demura, James Baylosis, Joseph Balderas, Merchie Apple Ba-o, Montesa Samonte, and Alejandro Gaid.

Greeting 2013 Mardi Gras style

WHO could resist greeting the New Year with the balmy mountain air, overlooking the glittering lights of Davao City among the splendor of nature?

The yearend tradition lives on at Eden Nature Park & Resort as they greeted 2013 Mardi Gras style in a party dubbed Beat and Vibes!

Christmas is giving

Christmas, in all kinds of ways, is a celebration of happiness and giving.

When yuletide season draws closer, it's the children who get much excited with the kind of manic delight as they are yet to receive gifts, new clothes, pair of shoes, toys, and presents from their "ninong" and "ninang."

Back to the basics

GOING back to the basics, and that is what the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC), a non-government organization based in Kinuskusan, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, is doing.

"We want people who come to the center that we are promoting organic farming," MBRLC Director Roy C. Alimoane said. "Once, they return back to their respective places, they have learned something which they could use in their own farms."

Huang-Teves: Vision in white

THE dashing Capt. Marvin Inocencio proposed marriage to the love of his life, Joy Frances, not only once but three times.

The first wedding proposal happened years ago when they were celebrating New Year’s Eve outside Joy’s family home. As they watched the motorcycles pass by raucously dragging tin cans (Davao City has an existing firecracker ban), Marvin suddenly asked, “Will you marry me?”.

It must have been fate

WHO would have thought that a poem that was unread for 13 years would end in "I DO"?

A mother, a heroine

HER family is among those who survived the wrath of Typhoon Pablo in Cateel, Davao Oriental on December 4, 2012. As heavy rains poured in the wake of the killer typhoon, she served as the parasol to her children.

She shielded her children as the wind blew them hard and anchored them to prevent them from drifting due to strong wind or current.

The modern manger

EVERY year for the past nine years, the SOS Children’s Village Davao Inc. in Bajada has been putting up its Village Christmas Lights, which has been drawing in the neighborhood who cannot help but gape at the colorful lights.

Last December 15, the SOS Village once more lit up its “Light a Tree, Light a Child’s Dream”, with no less than Archbishop Romulo G. Valles, the SOS Village Davao chairman, doing the ceremonial switching on.

Christmas with family

HAVING all family members gathered under one roof is the the best way to celebrate the yuletide season for various reasons.

Sledgers presents Dabawenyo ambassadors

SLEDGERS proudly presents the ambassadors from Durianburg -- Art Boncato, DOT-Davao director; Jasper Huang, president of Group 101; and Ruel Guanzon, general manager of Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

Beating stress by really trying

YOU have a very important interview to make so you jump off from your bed early, take a hasty shower, gulp your breakfast, climb into your car and drive away.

Children's party for the elders

THE past years, media practitioners in Davao have always chosen the House of Hope, a halfway house for children with cancer, as beneficiary of its annual gift-giving activity.

Dream high for all

HAVE you ever asked yourself what you want to truly live for or perhaps what drives and motivates you to do things that you keep on doing every single day?

Friday Block Lañas, director of nursing services at the Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH), has a handful of those advocacies to share.

Embrace the edgy-luxe look with Kikay's Pink Sapphire

IT'S long been known in the industry as purveyor of sleeky feminine accessories, but fans of Kikay Accessories Company also know it to carry its share of ultra-chic clothing as well.

Getting a bite of a sinful snack

JUST imagine a triple burger beef patties piled one after another and stuffed with cheese, egg, jalapeno, and sauteed onion. How enticing, isn't it? But it could also be very sinful, even risking your hard work for one or two weeks of diet.

Better way to skin care

THE young lady behind Stella's Beauty and Skin Care Center has a passion for healthy skin.

Stella Marie Cadotdot, who hails from Bansalan, Davao del Sur, was a regular client of high-end skin care centers in the city after she moved here a few years back.

Ring in the Holidays with Something Wonderful

YOUTHFUL, dedicated talent. Timeless, classic show tunes. Seasoned musicians and performers. This heady and potent mix all comes together starting today until tomorrow in a unique, theatrical concert entitled Something Wonderful, Something Musical.

Building for the future

MENTION the name Kenneth Dong and what comes to your mind?

Don't die of heart attack

THE family never thought it would happen. After all, the critically acclaimed film director Celso Ad. Castillo survived lung cancer years ago. In fact, he was able to go back to work and even worked on the indie horror film Bahay ng Lagim.

“He was tired,” wife Ophelia Lopez-Castillo recalled when the director came home. “He just came from the printing press to check on his book.”

Monteritz bazaar for Fab & Curious

THESE days, bazaaristas flock to Christmas tiangges left and right, to search for the perfect gift for family, friends and godchildren. After all, Christmas is about giving and more often than not, we find those personalized and unique finds in these fairs.

Monteritz Classic Estates promises this and more as it holds its first ever bazaar, dubbed as "The Fab and Curious 2012: The Monteritz Lifestyle Bazaar," from December 5-9, 2012 at the Monteritz Basketball Court.

Mom’s breast friend

WHEN it comes to breastfeeding, the help and expertise of a relative, friend or a health expert during the adjustment stage of an overwhelmed mother is invaluable and crucial.

Got to believe in magic

"THERE is no such thing as white magic. Because there is such thing as black magic, people assume that there is white magic."

Bombs in the food chain

"PESTICIDES are like bombs being dropped in the food web creating enormous destruction," said Dr. K. L. Heong, an entomologist who once worked with the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that up to 35 percent of the losses in annual crop production worldwide are due to pests -- insects, weeds, plant diseases, rodents, and birds. Of the estimated one million insects in the world, between 150 to 200 species frequently cause serious damage to crops.

Tagum lights up Giant Holiday Tree

TAGUM CITY -- This bustling city formally lighted up on a moon-lit Wednesday night its 110.50-feet Giant Holiday Tree, continuing its decades-long tradition of lighting the city's official Christmas icon that gathered more than 5,000 people who witnessed the much-awaited event.

People gathered in excitement at the Freedom Park on November 21 to witness the lighting ceremony of the city's holiday tree with local officials claiming it as the "tallest Christmas Tree" in the country this year.

Davao: A great holiday hideaway

SO YOU'VE heard all the talk about Davao and are raring to go there someday. Why not do it now? This provincial capital in Mindanao seems to offer every superlative an exhausted Asian urbanite could want in a holiday - without the hassles of mass tourism.