De Venecia Cup to tee off at Villamor

The Speaker Jose de Venecia Cup golf tournament reels off Friday at the Villamor course with the House Speaker leading the ceremonial tee-off at 7:30 a.m.

The tournament is sponsored by the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development of Mindanao (CPPDM), a non-government organization engaged in activities aimed at helping in efforts to expedite the lasting peace and progress of Mindanao."

CPPDM director general Saeed Daof, who is spearheading the project, said, "The essence of this Speaker Jose de Venecia Cup is more than just playing golf and raising funds for CPPDM. It is aimed and designed to promote better relations among local and foreign diplomats, businessmen and government officials. It is supportive and complimentary to the series of national conferences, symposiums, seminars and workshops that CPPDM is sponsoring for the expeditious promotion of peace and development of Mindanao."

The Board of Directors of the CPPDM is composed of highly qualified and experienced technocrats. Dr. Fernando Bernardo is a former dean of the UPLB College of Agriculture, undersecretary of Education, deputy director general of IRRI, a TOYM awardee, and currently team leader of a World Bank research evaluation team to Indonesia. Dr. Basilio de los Reyes is a former economist at UNDP-FAO, Bangkok, former program implementation agency (presidential economic staff) deputy director, and former professor at UPLB. Dr. Ricardo Lantican, a former TOYM awardee and undersecretary of science and technology, is currently a professor emeritus at UPLB. The other directors are Philippine STAR columnist Domini Torrevillas and Francisco Alejandro, executive producer at ABS-CBN TV. Advisers are Dr. Napoleon Vergara, Dr. Verden Dangilan, Behn Cervantes, Elias Macarandas, Attys. Chet Tan and Gari Tiongco and Dr. Gil Saguiguit.