BusinessMirror January 16, 2016

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Saturday, January 16, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 100

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TMPC SETS ¥1B EXPANSION TO PREPARE PLANT FOR C.A.R.S.

Toyota to participate in auto stimulus plan

INSIDE

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OYOTA Motor Philippines Corp.

(TMPC) announced that it has allocated at least ¥1 billion in initial investment for the expansion of its plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, a solid indication that it is serious in its bid to join the government’s Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.

32 IN A ROW FOR SPURS

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SPORTS

‘CHINESE ENTREPRENEURS TO END SILICON VALLEY’S REIGN AS INNOVATION HUB’ In the next five years, there will be more innovation...happening in Beijing than in Silicon Valley.”—Uber CEO

200,000 Minimum production volume of a specific vehicle model to qualify for CARS perks

UBER CEO Travis Kalanick

DAN TAYLOR/HEISENBERG MEDIA

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ATCH out, Silicon Valley. China’s out to eat your lunch.

So says Travis Kalanick, the Silicon Valley pioneer who steered Uber Technologies Inc. to a larger valuation than four-fifths of the companies on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. He’s now setting his sights on China: The ride-hailing company’s domestic unit is valued at more than $8 billion after taking more money after the closure of its latest funding round, Kalanick told reporters in Beijing on Friday.

The Uber chief executive, who’s personally overseeing Uber’s come-from-behind battle against Didi Kuaidi, argued the country’s growing cohort of entrepreneurs will eventually eclipse those that have made the Bay Area a cradle of global technology innovation.

“In the next five years, there will be more innovation, more invention, more entrepreneurship happening in China, happening in Beijing than in Silicon Valley,” Kalanick said at the Geek Park conference in Beijing on Friday. That will, in turn, spur Chinese corporations to begin to go global and open up to entrepreneurs from without. “We gotta play our A-game in order to compete with the best.”

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DJOKOVIC, WILLIAMS: FAVORITES, AGAIN

Jarring view SPORTS

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CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR SECURITIES AND INVESTMENT LAUNCHED IN PHL Ken McGowan,

regional director for Asia of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI); Ephyro Luis B. Amatong of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Anton D. Mauricio, CISI country president; Simon Culhane, CISI chief executive; and United Kingdom Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad toast the Philippine launch of CISI on Thursday in Makati City. With 40,000 members worldwide, CISI is the professional body which sets examinations and offers qualifications for those working, or looking to establish a career in the wealth-management and capital-markets industry. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS

KALANICK’S view may not sit well with those who deem the country a violator of intellectual property rights, home to copycat rip-offs and subject to rigorous content restrictions. Just last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, US federal marshals raided and confiscated the S “C ,” A

Failure to privatize LRT 1 to cost govt ₧1.8B more in rehab bill B L S. M

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HE failure of the government to turn over the oldest overhead train system in the Philippines to the private sector—as originally intended in the concession agreement—will cost the state roughly P1.8 billion more to rehabilitate the existing, yet dilapidated, facility.

This was the assumption made by a ranking official of Ayala Corp.,

a partner-investor in Light Rail Manila Corp., who said his group has sought for the disbursement of the amount to help in the modernization of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1’s existing train stations; improvement of the rails; repair of an old signaling system; and overhaul of the already cannibalized trains of the railway facility.

“We have identified that we need to work on the rolling stock, the rail tracks, rehabilitate the

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.6790

FRANCIA: “We are talking about a major overhaul already.

Improving the system will be very tough.”

stations; and upgrade the signaling system,” Ayala Corp. Managing Director John Eric T. Francia said in an interview. “We are talking about a major overhaul already, which is where we think the system needs today—not accounting for the growth in passenger traffic. Improving the system will be very tough.”

To put it in context, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the highest, the government should have delivered

at least a 5—according to the concession agreement—but the train operator received a facility that was ranked close to 4.

In total, investments for these undertakings would likely reach P10 billion, with the fraction of the said capital, pegged at P1.8 billion, to be shouldered by the government—no thanks to its failure to deliver what was indicated in the P65-billion contract.

“Because we inherited a system

that is below the baseline that was promised in the concession agreement, we need to be compensated for part of that,” he said. “We have determined that amount to be P1.8 billion. We need to make sure that we don’t lose our right. So to err on the side of prudence is to put a number.”

Francia noted that the best way to address this is to sit down with the government to thresh out the specifics of the project.

n JAPAN 0.4039 n UK 68.7054 n HK 6.1242 n CHINA 7.2361 n SINGAPORE 33.1795 n AUSTRALIA 33.2027 n EU 51.8366 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.7117

S “LRT ,” A

Source: BSP (15 January 2016 )

A2 Saturday, January 16, 2016

BMReports BusinessMirror

China’s Haier buying GE appliance unit for $5.4B

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EIJING—Haier Group, the world’s biggest home appliance maker, is buying General Electric Co.’s appliance business for $5.4 billion to expand its US and global presence.

The acquisition announced on Friday comes as Haier tries to transform itself into a premium brand.

GE is shifting emphasis from traditional businesses, such as appliances, in which it has been a prominent presence for more than a century, to higher technology areas, such as

medical equipment and clean energy.

The two companies also agreed to form a strategic partnership to cooperate in areas, such as the Internet, health care and advanced manufacturing. They said the sale is subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals in relevant countries.

The purchase is the third in a string of multibillion-dollar foreign acquisitions this week by Chinese buyers. On Tuesday conglomerate Wanda Group said it was buying Hollywood’s Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion. The previous day, a state-owned chemical company announced the purchase of a German manufacturer for $1 billion.

Chinese companies are on a buying spree abroad, looking for technology and brands to improve their competitive position at home and speed their global expansion.

Chinese buyers have announced 23 outbound acquisitions so far this year, totaling $12.3 billion, up from $2.9 billion in the same period last

Toyota to participate in auto stimulus plan C  A

Newly appointed TMPC President Satoru Suzuki said the company is “ready to join the program.” “ We, including Toyota Japan, have discussed that we will comply with the requirements of the CARS, and they’ve already finally concluded to join and gave authorization to TMPC to apply,” Suzuki told reporters during the Toyota Fortuner launch on Thursday.

The ¥ 1-billion investment will be used for plant expansion and capacity upgrade in phases over the next two years, said lawyer Rommel Gutierrez, TMPC first vice president.

The amount will be augmented via another round of investments when actual production starts in 2018, TMPC officials said.

The CARS Program entails the commitment of producing at least 200,000 units of a specific vehicle model to be considered a participant.

The car manufacturer can start enjoying the fiscal perks when it surpasses the 100,000-unit mark.

Toyota will only start producing units to be considered in the CARS Program in 2018, but will nonetheless increase its actual production this year by 10 percent, or from a production level of 49,000 units in 2015 to 53,900.

In its bid to pursue the requirements under the CARS Program, TMPC also committed to produce the “large plastic parts”—considered as mandatory in joining the program—including center consoles, instrument panels, bumpers and door trims.

The program also lists as mandatory the production of body shell, which the implementing rules and regulations of the program define as “the full set of metal components that goes from the body shop to the paint shop for one vehicle.”

The production of strategic parts and common parts, which are separate categories of auto parts in the CARS Program, are still being evaluated, Gutierrez said.

The Department of Trade and Industry, in crafting the CARS, came up with a “priority list” of common and strategic parts. Strategic parts refer to vehicle parts specific to an enrolled model and which are not currently produced in the Philippines at original equipment manufacturer standards.

The Bureau of Investments speci-

year, according to Dealogic, a financial information provider.

Haier, headquartered in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, makes a wide range of refrigerators, washing machines and other home appliances. It reported 2014 revenue of $32.6 billion. It operates a string of 21 industrial parks worldwide.

Its purchase of GE Appliances is the biggest global corporate acquisition so far this year and the thirdbiggest in the US by a Chinese buyer to date, according to Dealogic.

Haier said the GE acquisition would be carried out by its unit Qingdao Haier Co. Ltd., a publicly traded entity of which Haier owns 41 percent. AP

fied the production of strategic parts as struts and shock absorbers, plastic fuel tanks, head lamps, rear combination lamps, steering assembly and aluminum radiators, to name a few.

In complying with the requirements, TMPC will be increasing the local content of its enrolled model— widely believed to be the Toyota Vios, which is the best—selling model in the Philippines—from the current 40 percent to 60 percent.

The Japanese car brand, the market leader in the Philippine auto industry, is vying for a sales haul of 137,000 units to 150,000 units for 2016. The CARS provides P27 billion in support fund, or a budget of P9 billion for each enrolled vehicle model. It is a core program of the government’s Manufacturing Resurgence Program.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Chinese entrepreneurs. . . wares of a Chinese company making one-wheeled skateboards for alleged patent infringements.

Yet, the country has birthed some of Asia’s largest and most well-regarded technology corporations, from social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. to e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Along with searchengine operator Baidu Inc., it have invested in and helped foster a plethora of start-ups and online services—from mobile payments and messaging to online finance— whose scope and scale outstrip those available in the US. Investors are beginning to take note. Investments in China and India, where most of the biggest deals are taking place, more than tripled

LRT 1. . .

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to $16.9 billion in the third quarter, just under the $17.5 billion invested in North America as of October 1, according to Preqin Ltd., a Londonbased consultancy. Venture investors closed 1,016 deals in China up to the third quarter of 2015—more than in all of 2014.

Some of that money went to Uber.

The company raised a little under $2 billion from Chinese investors last year, much of which went to Uber China. Kalanick told reporters in a group interview Friday he needs to have a CEO there who’s Chinese.

“I’m really attached to the job now. It’s where all the action is,” he said. “I’m holding the bar at highest level,” he added. “Until we find that perfect person, I will be serving as Uber China CEO.” Bloomberg News

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“The best thing is to sit down and look at what the agreement and the consultants say in terms of the status of the system. We will look at the costs, and, I think, it will take time,” he said.

The government officials were not available for comment. The entire rehabilitation of the existing train line will be finished in a matter of two years. Light Rail Manila holds the concession for the operations, maintenance and the extension of the train line. It signed the agreement with the government in October 2014.

Under the contract, the consortium will operate and maintain the existing line and construct an 11-kilometer extension from the present end-point at Baclaran to the Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite. The company will operate and maintain the oldest train system in the Philippines for 32 years.

A total of eight new stations will be built along this route, which traverses the cities of Parañaque and Las Piñas up to Bacoor, Cavite.

The extension is expected to enhance com-

mercial development around the rail stations.

The government has invited Japanese firms to bid for the contract to supply 120 brand-new train cars for the railway line.

The capacity augmentation program will be funded through a loan extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, hence, the procurement will be exclusive to Japanese companies or consortia. These 120 light-rail vehicles will be configured in 30 four-car train sets, to allow the rail line to accommodate up to about 750,000 passengers daily.

“We are creating significant strides in the day-to-day operations.We have already increased capacity by almost 15 percent. We are expecting to increase it some more, to more than 30 percent within the next 12 months or so,”Francia said. He added that his group will have to be vigilant in the makeover of the whole train system before the new trains from Japan arrive. Otherwise, the new light-rail vehicles will likely be damaged by the old tracks and aging stations.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Subsidy to manufacturers down 91.3 percent in 2013 B C U. O

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ILIPINO taxpayers spent 91.3 percent less on subsidies for the manufacturing sector in 2013, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In the preliminary data of the 2013 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry of the Manufacturing sector, government subsidies for the sector declined to only P506 million from P5.8 billion in 2012.

“Subsidies are special grants in the form of financial assistance or tax exemption or tax privilege given by the government to aid and develop an industry,” the PSA said.

Data showed the top 3 industries which received subsidies in 2013 had a combined share of 87.5 percent of the total subsidies.

These three industries were led by printing and service activities, with P184 million, or 36.4 percent of the total.

This was followed by subsidies for the spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles industry with P169.8 million, or 33.6 percent and

other food products, P89.1 million, or 17.6 percent.

The smallest subsidy was received by the manufacture of products of wood, cork, straw and plaiting materials industry at P30,000.

The PSA also said that the top 3 industries which received subsidies were in Luzon and accounted for 95.5 percent of all subsidies in 2013.

Central Luzon received more than half, or 54 percent, of the total subsidies in 2013. This was followed by Metro Manila and Calabarzon with 38.6 percent and 2.9 percent of total subsidies received, respectively.

The smallest subsidy was received by Mimaropa at P30,000.

Industries in nine regions, including the country’s poorest region the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, did not receive any subsidies. The total number of manufacturing establishments with total employment of 20 and over reached 6,416 in 2013.

This number is 11.8 percent lower than the number of establishments estimated from the final results of the 2012 Census of Philippine Business and Industry.

briefs

DTI CALLS FOR SRP ROLLBACK OF BASIC, PRIME GOODS

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has appealed for the rollback of suggested retail prices (SRPs) of basic necessities and prime commodities, following the successive decrease in fuel prices.

Data from the Department of Energy reflect that retail prices of oil significantly declined in 2015 corresponding to a 25.81-percent price drop in diesel; 13.12 percent in fuel oil; and 4.27 percent in household liquefied petroleum-gas (LPG).

In 2015 the DTI observed that price rollbacks in select brands of basic goods, such as bread, coffee, flour and milk were due to lower cost of raw materials and not attributed to the decline in prices of petroleum products.

The DTI called on manufacturers, distributors and retailers to review their prices taking into account the dramatic price decrease in diesel, fuel oil and household LPG. “It is high time to pass on to the consumers the savings incurred by the manufacturers, distributors and retailers of basic and prime goods from lower transportation and distribution cost by reducing their prices,” newly appointed Trade Secretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. says. He noted that the public statement of Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on lowering prices of goods is well-taken by the agency.

Based on the assessment of the DTI, Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba explained that the drop in prices of petroleum products can translate to a reduction in SRPs of basic and prime goods by 0.05 percent to 3.04 percent, or P0.01 to P26.46. This means that canned sardines can go down by P0.14 per can; evaporated milk by P0.29 per can; condensed milk by P0.40 per can; powdered milk by P0.38 per pack; coffee refill by P0.31 per pack; instant noodles P0.08 per pack; corned beef by P0.26 per can, flour by P26.46 per bag and cement by P1.48 per bag. PNA

AQUINO APPOINTS NEW C.O.A. HEAD MALACAÑANG on Friday announced the ad interim appointment of lawyer Isabel B. Dasalla-Agito as new Commission on Audit (COA) chief, replacing Commissioner Heidi Mendoza. Palace Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said that a formal transmittal letter will be sent to the Commission on Appointments endorsing early confirmation of the new COA chairman “According to Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., President Aquino has appointed Atty. Isabel B. Dasalla-Agito as ad interim Commissioner, Commission on Audit, for a term expiring on February 2, 2018,” Coloma said in a text message to Palace reporters on Friday. Coloma added that Dasalla-Agito, aside from being is a lawyer and a certified public accountant, previously worked as senior external auditor for the United Nations Board of Auditors and was also resident auditor for various government agencies. Butch Fernandez

TAGUIG’S BOSS REMAINS OPEN THIS WEEKEND

THE Taguig city government on Friday announced that the “Business One-Stop Shop,” or BOSS, will be open on Saturday and Sunday.

The BOSS, a VIP treatment for business community in Taguig City, will operate at the City Hall Auditorium and a satellite office at SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City.

“Once again, we give the business community the VIP treatment they deserve. The taxes they pay help fund our social services, which is very important to our citizens,” Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano said, noting that “investor confidence is at a high” and that business tax collection hit an “all-time high” in 2015 because of Taguig’s low tax rates and business-friendly environment.

The taxes collected, she said, has enabled Taguig to put up a scholarship fund with free uniforms and school supplies, and deliver free medicines to residents’ homes.

Revenues from business permits and licensing fees were also at their highest levels in five years. Aside from streamlining the business registration and renewal process, owners may also enjoy free massages, films, drinks and snacks as their licenses are being processed. Claudeth Mocon- Ciriaco

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon • Saturday, January 16, 2016 A3

Govt mulling over other ways to raise SSS benefits–Aquino

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B B F

MID mounting criticisms against a “heartless” government, denounced for denying P2,000 additional pension to over 2 million retiree-members of the Social Security System (SSS), President Aquino on Friday said that his administration remains open to other options to increase benefits for SSS pensioners.

But he clarified that these options to placate protests triggered by his veto of a Congress-approved bill raising SSS pensions still need to undergo thorough study. “So, kailangan pag-aralan mabuti ’yan,” Aquino told reporters on Friday.

“Well, mayroong mga kino-consider pero baka dapat bigyan ko muna kayo ng idea ano ba talaga actually ang SSS para klaro dahil mukhang nawala sa pinag-uusapan e, okay,” Aquino said in an interview at the signing of a concession agreement of Bulacan Water Supply in Malolos.

He explained that every peso contributed by an SSS member is paid back in benefits ranging from P6 to P15. “So parang may obligasyon ang SSS na i-invest ’yong kanilang pondo para makuha ’yong pambayad sa pagdating no’ng may mga pension at iba pang mga benefits.”

Mr. Aquino said that based on the computation made by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, for instance, at 5-percent interest in the money market, “kakailanganin natin ng kulang-kulang—sa current, ano, wala pa itong in-increase—mga 120 years na i-invest nila at current interest-rate regime para mabayaran ’yong obligasyon ng SSS.” “Now, ’yong P2,000 na pension— napag-usapan na ito pero gusto ko lang ipagdiinan—ang maaapektuhan niyan 2.15 [million] na mga pensyonado, ang maaapektuhan positively; negatively na maaapektuhan ’yong others doon sa 30 million,” he said.

Mr. Aquino added: “Ngayon, tauntaon lumalaki ’yong contribution, dumarami ’yung benefit package. So sa unang taon, ang kinikita ng SSS nasa range ng 30 to 40 billion doon sa kanilang mga investment—investment reserve fund ang tawag. ’Pag kinompute [compute] natin ’yong P2.15 million x P2,000 x 13 months, lalabas ’yon na kulang-kulang P56 billion. Fifty-six [billion], kung 30 [billion] ang kinita, 26 [billion] ang deficit kada taon—doon sa unang taon pala—or 16 [billion] kung 40 [billion] ang kinita.”

Moreover, the President pointed out that the stock market, which already hit 8,000 is now within the range of 6,400. “’Yong valuation ng holdings ng SSS syempre bumaba na rin doon sa market niya. Nagtaas ng interest-rate regime sa America. Ibig sabihin no’n...bumabalik na ’yong pondo doon sa tinatawag na mga high-income

countries tulad ng America. Babawas ’yong umiikot dito sa ating stock market. So may negative pressure na naman doon sa ating holdings ng SSS.”: According to President Aquino, the bottom line is that “in the first year P16 to P26 billion, the following year over 150,000 pensioners will be added to the roster requiring a bigger amount.”

“So ang suma total po nito, if we agree with the pension increase na hinihirit nila, pinag-aralan na ’yong actuarial studies na sinasabi, ang mga matitirang buhay ng SSS bago siya mabangkarote 11 years. Eh, napalaki na natin ng dagdag na tatlong taon, umabot na tayo ng 2042. So babalik nga ako dito, ang tanong: matutuwa ’yong 2.15 million, mapapahamak ’yong 30 million, tama ba ‘yon? Tama ba ’yung pagbabantay natin ng pondong ito na maitupad ’yong ipinangako sa bawat miyembro na mayroon kayong mga benepisyo. So doon nagmula ang desisyon natin na kailangan i-veto itong measure na ito dahil hindi kayang isustena no’ng ating SSS.” Mr. Aquino disclosed they are studying other benefits.

“Inaaral. Kaya ba natin ng P500? ’Yong P500 tila baka babalik tayo… ’Yong dinatnan natin ng 2039, baka bumalik tayo sa 2039. So ’pag dinagdagan natin maski P500, babawasan na naman natin ’yong life no’ng ating

pondo. Ngayon pinapasigurado ko sa kanila ’yong computation, dapat magpro-project ka rin, ano. Ano ba ang halaga nitong mga ini-invest natin?”

Also cited other options where the scould source the P16 billion to P26 billion needed for the pension hike plan.

Fat bonuses

THE Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Friday questioned the “fat” bonuses being paid to SSS officials despite the state pension agency’s low collection efficiency rate.

Renato M. Reyes Jr., secretarygeneral of Bayan, said SSS officials are among the top paid government employees in the country.

In 2014 Reyes said SSS President and CEO Emilio de Quiros earned P6.84 million from the SSS, including a P2.25-million bonus.

In 2013, Reyes also said that de Quiros received a total of P7.1 million, which included a P1.9-million bonus and P3.4 million in allowances.

He said other officials got millions in bonuses also for that same year, adding that the SSS paid millions to two executive vice presidents, seven senior vice presidents, 16 vice presidents and eight members of the board of directors.

“If SSS is in such a bad shape, why does the Aquino administration continue to reward its officials with huge salaries, allowances and bonuses?

Why reward inefficiency then cite the same inefficiency to deny pensioners a raise?” Reyes asked.

“This is just an illustration with what is wrong with the daang matuwid [straight path]. It is patently antipeople. Tax relief and tax reform were shot down early on by Aquino. Efficient, reliable and affordable mass transportation have not been provided to commuters. The people’s indignation will definitely be felt, through mass protest actions and through the ballot in May,” Reyes added.

Compromise amount

MEANWHILE, Independent Bloc Leader and Lakas Rep. Ferdinand

Martin G. Romualdez of Leyte said the government should provide a compromise amount to SSS members.

“The bill is dead unless Congress overrides a presidential veto which is very unlikely to happen. While we all agree that keeping SSS financially viable is of paramount importance, there is no doubt about the necessity to raise the pensions. The leadership of the state-owned pension agency must provide alternative proposal to extend economic relief to the pensioners who are in their sunset years,” Romualdez said.

“A little amount of increase is better than ignore their plight totally,” he added.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. echoed Romualdez’s statement, saying President Aquino can still push the pension hike through executive action.

“The SSS board can increase the pensions with the President’s approval. They can give a smaller increase,” Belmonte said.

No conscience

PRESIDENT Aquino has no conscience, compassion and insensitive to the poor. This was how Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz described Mr. Aquino’s veto of House Bill 5842 that sought an across-the-board hike in monthly pension.

Cruz, former Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, said that Aquino “should not be greedy” especially to the senior citizens who worked hard most of their lives before retirement. In an interview on Radio Veritas, Cruz even uttered “Hay naku!,” the favorite signature phrases of child star “Onyok” in Ang Probinsiyano teleserye.

“Ang Pangulo ay walang konsensya, walang awa sa mga taong salat sa buhay.

Pero kapag mga simpleng tao na ang pinaguusapan, hay naku,” he said as he expressed doubt on the reason given

by Mr. Aquino in rejecting the bill.

With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz and Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

BOUNTY FROM THE SEA A group of fishermen in Tacloban takes a break after hoisting their catch of tamban (herring) fish. The day’s catch after a daylong trip to the sea may not be as bountiful as it used to, but the fishermen said this would suffice to bring a dish to the dinner table, and, perhaps, sell some to the local market. NONIE REYES

Lawmaker says ₧19.2-billion budget for El Niño impact mitigation ‘insufficient’

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ASIG City Rep. Roman T. Romulo on Thursday expressed concern that the P19.2-billion budget that the government has allocated might not be sufficient to help farmers and consumers weather the negative impact of El Niño.

“Zamboanga has now declared a state of calamity because of the Godzilla El Niño has began to dry up its water sources,” he said. “Until now, the government has not informed us on how it plans to spend the funds.”

“We expect the number of

provinces and cities to do so up to May, when the “meteorological drought” is forecast to peak by Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). The government should be prepared to increase the El Niño funds when necessary,” he added.

According to reports, nine out of the 25 irrigation dams in Zamboanga City have dried up, six are in critical state, while 10 have below normal water levels. Damage to crops and fisheries have reached P132.54 million.

Pagasa has warned that as much as 85 percent of the country, comprising of 68 provinces, will suffer a meteorological drought caused by El Niño in April. Twelve other provinces in Luzon and Mindanao are also expected to experience a dry spell.

El Niño has been predicted to peak between March and May this year, the state weather agency said.

El Niño is a weather phenomenon that develops in the Pacific Ocean that is a result of the warming of sea temperatures.

“A consensus of climate models shows that it will likely strengthen

further...and may last until the first half of 2016. This 2015 and 2016 El Niño event will potentially be four strongest events since 1950 [19721973, 1982-1983, 1997-1998],” Pagasa said.

Last year, at least eight provinces, including Cebu and Pangasinan, declared a state of calamity because of the damage wrought by El Niño.

“We have learned our lessons from [Supertyphoon] Yolanda and the Bohol quake. Let us act now to help the communities in the El Niñoaffected areas identified by Pagasa to combat the Godzilla-like threat

this El Niño is forecast to bring,” Romulo pointed out.

In Luzon provinces likely to experience drought are Abra, Kalinga, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Metro Manila, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Palawan, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.

In the Visayas provinces identified by Pagasa are Aklan, Antiques, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental,

Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar (Western Samar) and Southern Leyte.

In Mindanao those likely to experience drought are Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao Norte, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-tawi. PNA

A4 Saturday, January 16, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Good government on steroids

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ERHAPS an unintended legacy of the Aquino presidency— because it has been hitting close to home—is the work of the Commission on Audit (COA) during the last few years. The COA mandate is to “examine, audit and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenue and receipts of, and expenditures or uses of funds and property owned or held in trust by, or pertaining to, the government. To “promulgate accounting and auditing rules and regulations, including those for the prevention and disallowance of irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable expenditures, or uses of government funds and properties.”

The COA is the only independent body designed to keep tabs on other government agencies in regard to the people’s money. This is not an easy task, and also is not welcomed by those that would play fast and loose with budgeted government funds.

Further, in the last few years, the COA has enhanced its role by not only counting the money, but also—and important—looking at the value that the government received from its spending. This last function is where the sometimes foolishness of how government spends our money is evident.

The picture that the COA has painted of the Philippine government is not a pretty one. All we need to do is to look at the headlines any time the COA is mentioned. “COA blasts SEC for ‘illegal salary wage hike.’” The amount in question was P93 million. “P1.2-B fund for poor Philippine students unspent: Commission on Audit.” “LRT lines mismanaged while officials got millions (P400 million) in illegal incentives—COA.” “CHED execs face probe over P1.2-B scholarship fund.”

The list goes on and on, and these are only reports from the last month or so. The latest we can find is the report that “Consultancy fees paid by DOTC more than tripled to P354.49M in 2014—COA.” The COA has not been without its critics and those who would prefer that the COA turn its head and look the other way. Regarding the COA on the Supertyphoon Yolanda rehabilitation efforts, the Department of the Interior and Local Government disputed the COA findings.

After the report that funds for the P351-million “Kayo ang Boss Ko” toilet facilities-improvement project, originally earmarked for the improvement of airport facilities, but were then realigned to line agencies of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for “toilet improvement,” Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya ordered DOTC officials and employees to stop speaking to the press.

The COA is a constitutionally required agency that is not going to go away.

Fortunately for the people, it has taken its duties and obligations seriously.

However, with the COA leaders being political appointees of the President, there is always the risk that this agency will be corrupted.

The COA has shown that it can be the lead agency of good government, but it is up to the people to make sure that this continues.

Looking for sanity John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

A

FTER nearly eight years of government economic policies running around like headless chickens trying to fix global economies, we have come to the point that nothing makes sense anymore.

One of the most bizarre movements, perhaps, in the history of the financial markets took place two days ago in the US. Since the beginning of the year, daily price fluctuations in the markets have been extreme. Three-percent daily movements in the price of crude oil are now common. Even on the Philippine stock market, over 10 days of trading, we have experienced a movement of 1 percent or more on six of those days.

While granting that every day of this new year of 2016 has come with major news from terrorist attacks to extreme economic data, the financial markets of currencies, commodities, debt and equities should by definition be relatively stable. The economies that influence the price of all these vehicles are large and slow to change. Therefore, the prices of crude oil, the Japanese yen and the stock markets should, likewise, be relatively stable.

For example, the share price of Universal Robina Corp. on the

Philippine Stock Exchange has moved down 8 percent, and then up 9 percent in this short two-week period. This is a food company, hardly an exciting industry. Two days ago the company did report earnings growth for its fiscal year ending last September as being up 7.3 percent. This was in line with analysts expectations. There was no genuine reason, in light of corporate valuation, to see this large price movement in a two-week period. But this is the current nature of all the financial and asset markets.

Two days ago the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 3 percent and then down 1 percent all within 90 minutes of trading.

James Bullard is the chief executive officer and 12th president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis, positions he has held since 2008. In comments on a financial news network-television show, Bullard said “the inflation forecast is becoming worrisome” in that further increases of interest rates by the Federal

Reserve would be easier to justify if US inflation goes up. Bullard also said, “Oil prices are unduly impacting market-based inflation expectations.” Sure, we all know that low oil prices are keeping all other prices down.

But then Bullard said, “We have to hit a bottom on oil prices sometime.”

That is a simple statement that does not seem very profound. Oil prices will hit a bottom at some price point in the future.

However, the markets took this to mean that—because Bullard is an important member of the policymaking committee of the US Federal Reserve (the Fed)—maybe this was a hint that the Fed would now intervene in the crude-oil markets to raise prices. The Fed might, in the words of one analyst, push oil to the “appropriate level.”

Crude-oil prices in the international markets went up by 3 percent and the US stock market responded by the moves I mentioned above.

Simply put, this is absolute madness. This is not any sort of government economic policy. This is market-price manipulation to support an economic policy. In this case, the increase of interest rates.

Further, this is exactly what helped create the artificial increase in US housing prices from 2005 to 2007 as government policy of guaranteeing home mortgages at historically low rates for unqualified buyers to keep the illusion of wealth creation by making property prices going higher.

Oil’s plunge is great news for most of us

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B N S | Bloomberg View

HE collapse in the price of oil is a huge source of anxiety for many financial-market participants. I suppose that’s understandable.

Investors have been very excited for the past several years about the promise of tight oil, which is extracted by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of rock formations where oil is present. This was a powerful, simple story that asset managers and the financial media could understand, since oil is something that almost everyone uses. The fracking boom lured trillions of dollars in investment, and domestic oil output soared, pushing the US close to energy independence and lowering demand for imports from big crude producers.

With the recent dive in oil prices, that all seems like ancient history now: The price plunge will wipe out many small companies involved in fracking, as well as plenty of others in oil services. It will cause many high-yield bonds to go into default.

It will generate big losses at major energy companies, and will lead to job losses throughout the industry.

In the short term, a negative shock to the world economy and the financial markets will probably be the main effect of the oil collapse.

But only in the short term. Most US industries are consumers of oil and other fossil fuels, not producers.

The US is less of a net-energy importer than it used to be, but it still consumes more fossil fuel than it produces. The fall in oil prices means that trucking companies are going to be able to buy less-expensive gas for their fleets. Construction companies will be able to build office towers and houses more cheaply. Farmers will spend less to plant and harvest their crops. Intel won’t have to pay as much to run its microchip plants, nor Boeing to run its aircraft factories.

It will take time for investment

to shift to all the industries that will benefit from lower energy prices— but not too much time. The initial shock from the oil collapse might be negative, but it will be outweighed by the positive effects before too long. In other words, most Americans should be celebrating the oil drop, not lamenting it.

The real danger isn’t the decline in oil prices, but the thing that caused most of the decline in the first place: China. The dramatic slowing of China, which has become the workshop of the world, is behind much of oil’s latest fall. The slow unwinding of a property bubble, with its attendant debt crisis, will probably continue to exert a major drag on Chinese growth during the next few years.

That means a long slowdown in demand for oil. But more important, it also means a drop in global growth. China’s slump will ripple across much of the global economy—resource exporters in Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East will all feel the pain. Countries that export industrial machinery to China, such as Germany and Japan, will also be hit,

Governments have crossed a dangerous line that even Saint Paul talked about. “Everything is legal to me, but not everything is advantageous,” or “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial” Governments are now making decisions based on what they can do and not necessarily on what they should do. The current controversy over increasing the Social Security System benefit payments is a case in point. Yes, the government can do it, but the sort of increase finally passed may not make good sense. One legislator reportedly said the government should increase the benefits as a “gift to the people.” It would probably be more sensible for the government to be making financial decisions based on financial considerations rather than generosity.

Here in the Philippines, for example, a lower oil price helps our economic growth. Perhaps, the Fed can raise oil prices for Americans to support their economic needs and make sure oil prices remain low for the Philippines to serve our economic benefit.

When governments start manipulating the markets, we get an Asian financial crisis, and now a global financial disaster. Soon money will again seek a place of financial sanity.

Welcome to the Philippines.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by COL Financial Group Inc.

as will countries like South Korea and Taiwan, whose economies are closely linked with China’s.

Although the US and Europe export relatively little to China directly, the reduction in global growth will hurt their economies, too. The slowdown in global trade isn’t a huge threat to the US economy, but it’s a bigger threat than the oil-price collapse.

In the long run, we want oil prices to fall, but for the right reasons. We want oil prices to go down as new technologies—solar power, battery storage, biofuels, hydrogen or whatever—make the practice of digging up and burning dead dinosaurs obsolete. Eventually, we want oil to go the way of whale oil—once a critical energy source, now a historical curiosity.

Today the tumble in the oil price is partly a result of negative developments in the global economy.

But in the future, as electric cars and solar power advance, oil prices might fall for economically positive reasons. Let’s hope that someday new technologies will keep oil prices low forever.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The SC actually deals ‘Misericordiae Vultus’ with the country’s harsh national-security situation Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Cecilio T. Arillo

DATABASE

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HE Supreme Court’s (SC) decision upholding the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) between the United States and the Philippines last Tuesday may have saved the country from its harsh national-security situation, magnified by the serious threat posed by China.

Bearing in mind that national security has a correlation to the dismal political and social situation, this harsh reality is that the Philippines, an archipelagic country with marine area five times bigger than its land base, a shoreline twice longer than the US’s and 7,107 islands comprising more than 300,000 square kilometers, propitiously located at the center of the globe, 6° to 18° above the equator between the world’s two great oceans, the Pacific and the South China Sea, cannot defend itself militarily and economically against external threats.

Worse, the countr y is also politically and socially weak and impotent. Its leaders for the past 30 years cannot agree on one strategic direction and are always blaming one another every time a crisis situation breaks out, while its policies are proelite and thus cannot ameliorate the hungry and the dispossessed.

With the legal barrier removed, the Philippines through the Edca can now reaffirm US’s commitment to discuss with our leaders in government the country’s strategic security and economic direction through a strong bilateral relation.

In April last year US President Obama noted the Philippines and his country shared history and democratic values, strong peopleto-people ties, commitment to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and commitment to build prosperity for the Filipino people and the global economy.

In substance, the Edca is meant to facilitate the enhanced rotational presence of US forces; facilitate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the Philippines and the region; improve opportunities for bilateral training; and support the longterm modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to establish a credible defense objective.

The US has already provided the Philippines with P1.8 billion in technical expertise, training and equipment, through the Global Security Contingency Fund, to strengthen the country’s security operations and maritime domain awareness capabilities. The US also supported the AFP as it transitions from internal security to external defense based on the Philippine government’s current Internal Peace and Security Plan. This funding also assisted the Philippine National Police as it assumed a leading role in providing internal security and combating terrorism.

Through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Washington also helped to construct a Philippine National Coast Watch Center in Manila that will assist the Philippine Coast Guard in assuming increased responsibility for maritime security operations, enhancing information sharing and interagency coordination.

Through the Partnership for Growth (PFG), an enhanced engagement of 15 US government agencies aiming to address the most significant constraints to growth in the Philippines and to stimulate inclusive economic expansion, the US Agency for International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation account for the majority of PFG financial resources amounting to more than P35.250 billion.

The two countries have already made decisive steps in improving economic linkages between them,

according to a US official. These are: “Removal of the Philippines from the Special 301 watch list, based on significant advances in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights; “Considerable prog ress on worker rights issues in the Philippines, which will allow the US government to close a Generalized System of Preferences [GSP] review of worker rights in the Philippines without any change to the Philippines’ GSP trade benefits; “Actions to further strengthen and expand bilateral agricultural trade—including for US meat and vegetable exports to Philippines as well as Philippine fruit exports to the US—recognizing the sector’s increasing importance to the bilateral relationship; “Announcement on April 10 by the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration that the Republic of the Philippines complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization and has been granted a Category 1 rating; and “Agreement in principle on the general market access terms, including steps to facilitate trade by the Philippines, which would enable the US to support special WTO [World Trade Organization] treatment for the Philippines’s rice imports through 2017.”

With a strong $24 billion-a-year trade relationship, the two governments are committed to building on that for mutual benefit. Obama had discussed common interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the US sees as the vehicle to promote high-standard, ambitious and comprehensive Asia-Pacific economic integration and to encourage economic reform and development, increase regional and global competitiveness and create jobs.

As articulated in previous statements, Washington has also expressed its commitment to support the Philippine government’s medium- to long-term recovery efforts following Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), directed at infrastructure and livelihood development, by working hand in hand with local government units.

The US has provided $140 million for the typhoon recovery operation.

To improve governance and foster development in Mindanao, the US will also “continue to support efforts through ongoing programs aimed at strengthening local governments’ ability to deliver basic social and economic services, improving governments’ transparency and accountability, and supporting civic engagement in local communities.”

Among the countries in the Asean Region, it’s only in the Philippines where the US share extensive people-to-people ties, including around 350,000 Americans residing in the Philippines, and approximately 600,000 US citizens visiting the country each year. There are approximately four million people of Philippine descent in the US. Prospectively, the success of the Edca will depend on the ability of our leaders in government to draw up a cohesive plan. Otherwise, it will remain again a mendicant, dependent on the morsels of others.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com

Part Four Today we continue the reprint of Misericordiae Vultus—the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Year of Mercy by His Holiness, Pope Francis.

I

N this Holy Year, we look forward to the experience of opening our hearts to those living on the outermost fringes of society: fringes which modern society itself creates. How many uncertain and painful situations there are in the world today! How many are the wounds borne by the flesh of those who have no voice because their cry is muffled and drowned out by the indifference of the rich!

During this Jubilee, the Church will be called even more to heal these wounds, to assuage them with the oil of consolation, to bind them with mercy and cure them with solidarity and vigilant care. Let us not fall into humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine that prevents us from discovering what is new!

Let us ward off destructive cynicism! Let us open our eyes and see the misery of the world, the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity and let us recognize that we are compelled to heed their cry for help! May we reach out to them and support them so they can feel the warmth of our presence, our friendship, and our fraternity!

May their cries become our own and together may we break down the barriers of indifference that too often reign supreme and mask our hypocrisy and egoism!

It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy.

Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in His preaching so that we can know whether we are living as His disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: To counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill and pray for the living and the dead.

We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Matthew

25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer. In each of these “little ones,” Christ himself is present. His flesh becomes visible in the flesh of the tortured, the crushed, the scourged, the malnourished, and the exiled…to be acknowledged, touched and cared for by us. Let us not forget the words of Saint John of the Cross: “as we prepare to leave this life, we will be judged on the basis of love.”

In the Gospel of Luke, we find another important element that will help us live the Jubilee with faith. Luke writes that Jesus, on the Sabbath, went back to Nazareth and, as was his custom, entered the synagogue.

They called upon him to read the Scripture and to comment on it. The passage was from the Book of Isaiah where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to those in captivity; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2). A “year of the Lord’s favor” or “mercy”: this is what the Lord proclaimed and this is what we wish to live now. This Holy Year will bring to the fore the richness of Jesus’ mission echoed in the words of the prophet: to bring a word and gesture of consolation to the poor, to proclaim liberty to those bound by new forms of slavery in modern society, to restore sight to those who can see no more because they are

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in His preaching so that we can know whether we are living as His disciples.

Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: To counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill and pray for the living and the dead. caught up in themselves, to restore dignity to all those from whom it has been robbed.

The preaching of Jesus is made visible once more in the response of faith, which Christians are called to offer by their witness. May the words of the Apostle accompany us: he who does acts of mercy, let him do them with cheerfulness (cf.

Romans 12:8).

The season of Lent during this Jubilee Year should also be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy. How many pages of Sacred Scripture are appropriate for meditation during the weeks of Lent to help us rediscover the merciful face of the Father! We can repeat the words of the prophet Micah and make them our own: You, O Lord, are a God who takes away iniquity and pardons sin, who does not hold your anger forever, but are pleased to show mercy. You, Lord, will return to us and have pity on your people. You will trample down our sins and toss them into the depths of the sea (cf. 7:18-19).

The pages of the prophet Isaiah can also be meditated upon concretely during this season of prayer, fasting, and works of charity: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry and He will say, here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be

Market volatility makes us nervous Mohamed A. El-Erian

BLOOMBERG VIEW

S

TOCK market swings do not matter to most investors, precipitous drops in prices are acceptable if they are followed by sharp rises, and this remains true no matter how long the phase of heightened volatility.

If the above is your investing credo, you can ignore another rollercoaster week in markets, in which the major indices fluctuated wildly, including intraday. On Thursday, for example, the Dow closed 227 points higher after falling more than 360 points on Wednesday.

And the sessions were wild on both days.

But volatility does matter to investor positioning, risk appetite and the formation of price expectations.

And the longer it lasts, and espe-

cially if it is the “volatile volatility” of recent weeks, the more likely it is to be accompanied by a durable decline in markets overall.

Consider this thought exercise: You are driving on a road that has an increasing number of potholes, resulting in quite a bumpy ride.

Wouldn’t you start worrying about the increasing probability of damage to the car, and slow down?

A similar process is likely to unfold in markets. Some of the greater risk aversion occurs auto-

Consider this thought exercise: You are driving on a road that has an increasing number of potholes, resulting in quite a bumpy ride. Wouldn’t you start worrying about the increasing probability of damage to the car, and slow down?

matically, including among traders and investors who pursue approaches that condition portfolio construction on measures of overall market risk based on volatility (such as VAR, or value at risk).

Some of the slowdown will be due to unfavorable revisions in the “risk-adjusted returns” that are critical inputs for asset allocation models. In addition, investors, even though they enjoy the up days, are likely to increasingly worry that the downward phase increases the probability of a more damaging air pocket.

The recent volatility also has

A5

as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (58:6-11).

The initiative of “24 Hours for the Lord,” to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent, should be implemented in every diocese. So many people, including young people, are returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience they are rediscovering a path back to the Lord, living a moment of intense prayer and finding meaning in their lives. Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the center once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands.

For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace.

I will never tire of insisting that confessors be authentic signs of the Father’s mercy. We do not become good confessors automatically. We become good confessors when, above all, we allow ourselves to be penitents in search of His mercy. Let us never forget that to be confessors means to participate in the very mission of Jesus—to be a concrete sign of the constancy of divine love that pardons and saves.

We priests have received the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and we are responsible for this. None of us wields power over this Sacrament; rather, we are faithful servants of God’s mercy through it. Every confessor must accept the faithful as the father in the parable of the prodigal son: a father who runs out to meet his son despite the fact that he has squandered away his inheritance.

Confessors are called to embrace the repentant son who comes back home and to express the joy of having him back again. Let us never tire of also going out to the other son who stands outside, incapable of rejoicing, in order to explain to him that his judgement is severe and unjust and meaningless in light of the father’s boundless mercy.

May confessors not ask useless questions, but like the father in the parable, interrupt the speech prepared ahead of time by the prodigal son, so that confessors will learn to accept the plea for help and mercy pouring from the heart of every penitent. In short, confessors are called to be a sign of the primacy of mercy always, everywhere and in every situation, no matter what.

We will continue with Misericordiae Vultus next week.

To know more about Caritas Manila, visit www. caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, please call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 09997943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.

undermined the conventional wisdom that investors should “buy on dips” —this week, at least one brokerage house advised clients to “sell the rallies” in this period of heightened market volatility.

Partial indicators suggest that portfolio risk already has been reduced, notably among hedge funds and broker-dealers. There has been some reduction by longer-term institutional and retail investors as well, but it has been limited so far.

This period of heightened volatility is likely to persist given that investors can no longer rely as much on monetary measures to calm the markets, especially now that the systemically important central banks now are pursuing divergent policies.

That makes it more likely there will be more durable declines in asset prices as a whole. And, if a comprehensive policy response continues to be delayed, the declines could be quite large given the extent to which market prices have been decoupled from fundamentals.

The Nation BusinessMirror

A6 Saturday, January 16, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Security forces brace for terrorist attacks

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B R A

OVERNMENT security forces are stepping up the counterterrorism operations, as it works to prevent terrorist attacks that hit Indonesia on Thursday.

At least seven people were killed in the attacks in Indonesia.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the military has intensified its operations in areas where local terrorist groups operates in order to ensure that the attack in Indonesia will not gather sympathetic or supportive actions from local

counterparts. The attack, which Indonesian officials initially suggested was the handiwork of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or its affiliates, prompted the Armed Forces to go on heightened alert to ensure the troops’ readiness to respond to any emergency.

The same readiness was adopted

by the National Police, which is working with the military in the counterterrorism operations.

Gen. Hernando Iriberri, Armed Forces chief of staff, flew to Sulu on Friday in order to personally assess the ongoing campaig n against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), one of the groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. “He went there to reiterate the message of the President against the ASG and all lawless groups,” said Padilla of Iriberri’s presence in Sulu.

Last November Mr. Aquino ordered all forces in Mindanao to intensify the campaign against all lawless groups, with particular focus on the ASG, to end its atrocities in the region.

President Aquino issued the order, after the ASG beheaded

Malaysian Bernard Then in Sulu while the country was holding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which was attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Padilla said Iriberri also wanted to know the developments in the ongoing operation to free all the kidnap victims held by the ASG. “The order of the President is still there,” Padilla said.

Airport cops to maintain high visibility

THE airport police on Friday said they would maintain high visibility in all of the four passenger terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), and deter any attempt to try a Jakarta-like bombing here.

“There would be high police visibility, and bomb-sniffing dogs

Navy sets launch of Indonesia-made SSV

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HE Navy will launch on Sunday one of the two strategic sealift vessels (SSVs) that the government ordered from Indonesia’s stateowned shipbuilding company PT PAL. Formal turnover of the ship to the Philippines is scheduled in May. Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces spokesman, said on Friday the launch of the first SSV at PT PAL’s Subaraya shipyard will be attended by Indonesian officials and ranking Filipino naval officers.

The contract for the delivery of the SSVs was siged more than a year ago.

“The acquisition is a very important milestone for the Navy, and could hasten response during critical times,” Padilla said. “It can carry sizable relief and humanitarian assistance and disaster-response equipment in critical areas around the country.”

Padilla said top military officials expect the first SSV ordered from Indonesia would be turned over to the Navy in May this year or at least before President Aquino steps down.

The Department of National Defense has ordered two SSVs from PT PAL through a contract worth P3.8 billion that was signed on November 18, 2014.

The two SSVs would be the second, if not the most important, acquisition in the area of ships by the Navy under the Aquino administration

AN artist’s conception of the Makassar class strategic sealift vessel that will be delivered to the Navy by the Indonesian state company PT PAL.

following the acquisition of two former US Coast Guard cutters, which have been renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz.

BRP Gregorio del Pilar is currently the Navy’s flagship. The two ships are Hamilton class cutters that have been in the service of the US Coast Guard since the 1960s.

The contract with the Indonesian state shipyard provides that the second SSV would be delivered to the

Navy a year after the turnover of the first ship, or in May 2017.

During the military’s foundation anniversary held in Clark Field late last year, Mr. Aquino said the Navy would also get frigates under the ongoing modernization program of the Armed Forces.

PT PAL said the two SSVS will be armed with 76 mm and 25 mm guns, but added it would be the Navy that should select the weapons

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the procession route during the fluvial procession and the grand Sinulog parade.

“This is a time where all families gather together and take stock on how we can rebuild our lives, especially after the disasters that hit us. Some of us have new houses; some have new livelihood. It is also a time to keep our family safe. We have to learn how to predict disasters that may hit our communities so we can prepare. Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa. Please join the Red Cross 143, it is an organization where you will find self-worth. You will be able to keep your family and your communities safe,” Gordon said.

As of January 14, Red Cross Cebu chapter has already served 284 patients in its first-aid stations, of which 154 were seen for blood-pressure monitoring; 125 were given first-aid treatment for minor cases, like fainting and other injuries, while five patients were transported by ambulances to hospitals for advanced medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Ati-Atihan Festival in Aklan, also celebrated in honor of the Santo Niño, started on January 11 and will culminate on the 17th with a religious procession and dance in major streets in Kalibo, Aklan.

With thousands of devotees and tourists expected to attend the various activities and revelries, Red Cross Aklan deployed 50 first aiders who are manning the five first-aid stations situated in strategic locations. Aside from firstaid stations, there will also be a standby ambulance and roving teams that will monitor and render first-aid treatments wherever it is needed, especially during the festivities on the 17th.

As of January 13, PRC-Aklan Chapter already assisted 47 patients, mostly for bloodpressure monitoring and treatment of minor injuries, such as open wounds.

According to Red Cross Aklan, its staff and volunteers will continue to be on standby ready to provide service whenever needed until the end of the festivities on January 17.

During Gordon’s recent Aklan trip, where he inducted 430 new Red Cross 143 volunteers, he advised the volunteers to be visible during the Ati-Atihan Festival. “Dapat aktibo kayo ngayong darating na Ati-Atihan Festival, dapat nakikita kayo ng mga tao para malaman nila na ligtas sila dahil may Red Cross na nakaantabay sa paligid,” Gordon stressed. CM Ciriaco

systems contractor. “It’s already in the process,” said Padilla, without identifying the supplier or the possible contractors.

Padilla said the SSV is a very important acquisition for the Navy, as it is a “standalone command and control ship,” and it could also be used as a floating hospital if necessary.

It could even be used for resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea if necessary, Padilla added.

Castro said the heightened alert includes increased monitoring and surveillance.

“No threats at the moment,” the Miaa said, aldding that the APD would be working closely with the National Police Avsegroup [Aviation Security Group] in surveillance operations.

“Passengers are requested to cooperate with security measures implemented at the air port,” de Castro added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs said no Filipino casualty was reported in the Jakarta bombings. “‘Our Embassy in Jakarta has confirmed that there are no Filipino casualties in the explosions in Jakarta,” DFA Spokesman Charles Jose said. With Recto L. Mercene

NGCP transmission tower in North Cotabato bombed

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Red Cross chapters in Cebu, Boracay gird for Sinulog, Ati-Atihan festivals HILIPPINE Red Cross (PRC) chapters in Cebu and Aklan are all set for their operations during the Sinulog and Ati-Atihan festivals, respectively.

PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon said volunteers and staff members have been deployed to ensure the safety of devotees and tourists alike, who will witness and participate in the festivities.

For the Sinulog Festival, which is a celebration of the feast of the Santo Niño, PRC-Cebu Chapter deployed more than 150 personnel and volunteers to first-aid stations located in strategic areas around the city, where various activities are now being held.

The Cebu chapter started Sinulog operations on January 7 with four first-aid stations around the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, eight spotters in the Basilica aisle, five standby ambulances with emergency medical technicians and personnel on foot patrol outside the premises of the cathedral.

The Red Cross first-aid stations and deployment of staff and volunteers will continue until the culmination of the Sinulog festivities with the fluvial procession on January 16 and the Grand Sinulog Parade on January 17. Three additional first-aid stations will be added in

will be deployed because the sight of policemen in the immediate vicinity usually deters criminals, said the commander of the National Police’s Aviation Security Group, Chief Supt. Francisco Balagtas.

On the other hand, the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) assured the public that the Airport Police Department has also gone on high-security alert following the incident in Jakarta.

“The Miaa assures the riding public that it is always on heightened alert against any security threat. Most especially after the recent Jakarta attack,” Miaa Spokesman David de Castro said. He added that airport security forces have been ordered to be extra vigilant.

Although there are no perceived threats received by the Miaa, de

LEOSAN, North Cotabato—Still unidentified men bombed another transmission tower of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in Aleosan, North Cotabato, on Thursday night but the steel tower was not toppled, the police said.

The two homemade bombs that went off at 11:58 p.m. damaged two posts of NGCP Tower 63, said Senior Insp. Jun J. Napat, Aleosan police chief.

“The tower remained standing, the blasts only damaged two of its four posts,” Napat said.

“The incident also did not trigger a power outage,” he added.

No one has claimed responsibility in the bomb attack in Purok 4, Barangay Pagangan, Aleosan, North Cotabato, the first bomb attack in the province.

At least 16 NGCP towers were bombed in North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in 2015, according to Melfrance Bambi Capulong, NGCP spokesman for Southern Philippines.

“Repair will start as soon as the area is secured,” Capulong said.

Napat said the homemade bomb was fashioned from 60 or 80 mm mortar shells with a mobile phone as trigger mechanism.

Another homemade bomb was found near the damaged tower.

“We are conducting pursuit operations; we are following up a lead,” Napat said.

In a statement, NGCP said the bombings only serve to increase the burden of the public, which must suffer service interruptions when towers are bombed.

NGCP appealed to the public, the local and national governments, and the police and the military to help monitor the safety of the towers so that transmission services remain uninterrupted.

The company also appealed to local community leaders to help identify the perpetrators of the bombings, and to negotiate with uncooperative landowners, to prevent longer power interruptions.

Before Thursday night’s bombing, an improvised bomb also exploded in Purok Mirasol, Barangay Polomoguen, Midsayap, North Cotabato, said Supt. Gilbert Tuzon, Midsayap police chief.

Tuzon said the blast occurred at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night but nobody was hurt, since the area was isolated from civilian communities.

The blast came while Midsayap is in the thick of preparations for its patronal fiesta on Sunday. PNA

Some dentists sell mercury to miners–lawmaker

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CONGRESSMAN is asking the House Committee on Health to look into the practice of some dentists who sell mercury to miners for use in gold processing.

In a resolution, Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro said Filipino dentists, who are still allowed to use mercury as dental amalgam in their profession, are selling mercury to miners for P18,000 to P30,000 per kilo.

Rodriguez said that practice of unscrupulous dentists might lead to the proliferation of small-scale gold mining in the country, which is very

detrimental to the environment.

He said the illicit scheme was revealed by the International Association of Oral and Toxicology, which is also seeking to ban the dental amalgam in the Philippines.

“There is a need to look into this practice of some dentists who are still allowed to buy mercury in huge volumes as part of their dental supply,” Rodriguez said.

He said dentists use mercury as dental amalgam or tooth “silver filling.” The chemical substance contains liquid mercury and a powder containing silver, tin, copper and zinc.

Amalgam is one of the most commonly used tooth filling and is considered safe and effective treatment of tooth decay.

Rodriguez said several countries have already banned mercury in the dental profession.

The lawmaker asked the House Committee on Health to invite representatives of the Department of Health, International Association of Oral and Toxicology, Ban Toxic Groups, Philippine Dental Association and other concerned groups to shed light on the matter. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ROAD SAFETY ON THEIR MIND SkywayO&M Corp. (Somco), Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc. (MATES), Star Tollway Corp. (STC) and

Private Infra Dev Corp. (PIDC), together with the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP), recently launched the toll-road operators’ 2016 Road Safety Campaign. Pegged from PMAP’s “I AM PMAP” campaign, which promotes the value of being responsible members of society, the toll-road operators’ group developed road-safety materials, like billboards and travel guides. In photo (from left) are PMAP Special Projects Officer Jairus Ferrer, Disciplinary Officer Paulette Quinto, event guest Paolo Tantoco of Rustan’s Marketing Corp., event host Jacq Yu, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) President Mark A. Dumol, South Toll Road President Manuel M. Bonoan, GRSP Secretary-General Alberto Suansing, HDI Admix President Darmo Castillo, PMAP President Raphael Keifer and event host Aubrey Miles. Somco operates the 30-kilometer Skyway System from Buendia to Alabang and MATES operates the 36-km South Luzon Expressway from Alabang to Calamba, Laguna. STC, meanwhile, manages the 42-km Star Tollway in Batangas and PIDC the 62-km TPLEx in Central Luzon.

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | sports@businessmirror.com.ph

Sports BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 16, 2016 A7

32 IN A ROW

FOR SPURS S CLEVELAND Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving calls for a timeout, as San Antonio Spurs forward Kyle Anderson reaches for the ball. AP

AN ANTONIO—The Cleveland Cavaliers gave San Antonio another tense test at home before the Spurs rose up on defense for what they deemed their biggest win of the season.

Tony Parker had 24 points and San Antonio used a furious start to the fourth quarter to beat Cleveland, 99-95, on Thursday night, remaining undefeated at home and avenging their previous loss in their own arena.

“Coming into this building, they’re never going to make many mistakes,” said Cavaliers star LeBron James, who had 22 points. “[Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich] definitely puts those guys in the right position every single possession to be successful for their team.”

San Antonio (35-6) extended its home winning streak to 23 games to begin the season.

The Spurs have won 32 straight at home dating to 2015 and became the first team in National Basketball Association (NBA) history with a 10game winning streak in six consecutive seasons.

The team’s last loss in San Antonio came against the Cavaliers on March 12 last year when Kyrie Irving scored a NBA season-high

LeBron to produce TV show ‘Cleveland Hustles’

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ASADENA, California—LeBron James is getting into reality television. Think business, not catfights.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar is teaming with CNBC for Cleveland Hustles, scheduled to debut this summer. In the series, set in the city where he plays for the Cavaliers, James will give four aspiring local entrepreneurs a chance to realize their dreams while helping revitalize a neighborhood.

James and Maverick Carter, his friend and business partner, will work with four trusted business experts, who will, in turn, invest and mentor beginning entrepreneurs who need a jump-start. The

GENERALS-ALTAS FINALE E

MILIO Aguinaldo College (EAC) and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) both needed five sets to forge the finals clash in the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 91 men’s volleyball tournament on Friday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

The Generals and the Altas did not waste their twice-to-beat advantage, as they downed their respective semifinal foes and set their best-of-three titular showdown beginning on Tuesday.

The defending champion EAC earned its fourth straight finals appearance after surviving San Beda College in a five-set thriller, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-9, in the first Final Four match.

After winning the first two sets, the Generals were just a set away from their finals return but the Red Spikers caught fire and fought their way back, winning the next two sets to force a decider.

It was close in the fifth set as the scored was tied at 7-all but EAC flaunted its championship poise and scored six straight to take the game for good.

“My players were overconfident in the third set and some of them suffered from body pain so they were really pressured in the match,” EAC Head Coach Rod Palmero said.

“We used our experience [in the fifth set].

I told them that they should play more mature, because we will not be in that situation if they used their maturity,” he added.

Howard Mojica put up another 30-point game with 31 huge hits on 27 attacks, three blocks and an ace to lead the Generals. Israel Encina and Kerth Melliza chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Gerald Zabala had 12 points on 11 hits, while Alfie Mascarinas and Earl Kenneth Gonzales both added 11 in a losing effort for San Beda.

Pitpitunge, Lausa clash for PXC crown

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RISANTO PITPITUNGE clashes with Jinel Lausa for the vacant Pacific X-treme Combat (PXC) flyweight title in PXC 51 on Saturday at the Solaire Resorts and Casino.

Pitpitunge, an active police officer with a fearsome striking power, will slug it out against fan-favorite Lausa in the main event of the card, which also features other notable world-class fighters.

Coming from the reputable Team Lakay stable of Baguio City, Pitpitunge went down to 125 pounds after briefly holding of the 135-pound title. He knocked out Alvin Cacdac in the first round in a nontitle bout in PXC 48.

Lausa, on the other hand, has solid punching prowess that extended his winning streak to three fights. The Iloilo-based fighter dropped Ernest Montilla also in round one. Guam-based wrestler Kyle Aguon will stake his bantamweight crown against South Korea’s Kwan Ho-kwak in the comain event.

Aguon bagged the title from a close fight with Rolando Dy. He is an expert in jiu-jitsu and wrestling and has a lethal striking ability. Kwak, meanwhile, is undefeated in seven fights.

In the undercard, Laban MMA standout Jon Cris Corton battles Farmon Gafarov of Uzbekistan in the flyweight division; Brazilian Wesley Machado squaring off with Japanese fighter Sho Kogane in the featherweight class; Nao Yoneda of Japan takes on Korean knockout artist Han Seul Kim in the welterweight division; and female star Gina Iniong goes up against powerful Vanessa Fernandez of Spain in the straw weight category.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Meanwhile, Perpetual Help hung on to notch the other finals seat after edging College of Saint Benilde (CSB) in five sets, 33-31, 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9, in a match that lasted for two hours and 23 minutes.

The Altas also took a 2-0 advantage but the Blazers came back and won the next two to force a deciding fifth set.

Perpetual Help grabbed the upper hand early in the fifth set with a precarious 10-6 cushion. The Blazers trimmed it to within 10-8 deficit but the Altas prevailed down the stretch to return in the finals after missing it last season.

“It’s only the motivation that we have nothing to lose because we have the twiceto-beat advantage,” Altas Head Coach Sammy Acaylar said. “But I told them to push it hard, because whoever has the more desire to win this game will get the win.” Lance Agcaoili

RONDA’S INNOVATIONS T

HE Ronda Pilipinas will introduce new innovations when it hits the road starting with the five-stage Mindanao leg set in Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro, Malaybalay and Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon from February 20 to 27.

Ronda organizers decided to hold a combination of road, individual time trial and criterium races, instead of the road race format they adopted in the first five editions of the event.

Now on its sixth edition, Ronda, presented by LBC and backed by major sponsors Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp. and minor sponsors Maynilad and North Luzon Expressway, will also focus on not just scraping the countryside of young talents but also getting the fans more involved with a newly introduced community ride.

“We need to adapt to the way races are done in the world stage as this project is to groom champions for flag and country,” Ronda Sports Development Head Moe Chulani said.

“And also, we want all the cities,

towns and provinces we visit will have a chance to see our riders and our race the whole day and getting them involved because we will be a community ride for the first time ever,” he added.

Unlike before, Ronda, which is staking millions of prices as purses per stage and leg, will have three separate overall winners from MIndanao, the Visayas and Luzon.

This year’s Ronda is encouraging not just aspiring riders but also ordinary townsfolk to get the feel of its races.

“LBC Sports Development Corp. feels everyone should have the chance to join Ronda Pilipinas 2016, which is the fourth biggest race in the world in terms of distance covered, not just the elite riders,” Chulani said.

The Ronda will officially start on February 20 with a road race from Butuan City and back, and proceeds with a criterium in the same city the next day and in Cagayan de Oro on February 23, an ITT in Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, on February 25 before concluding with another criterium in Malaybalay on February 27.

four businesses will provide jobs and services for the neighborhood.

The show is coproduced by James and Carter’s company, SpringHill Entertainment.

James’s other TV series, Survivor’s Remorse, is in its second season on Starz. He and Carter serve as executive producers of the show about a young basketball star, his family and friends, and the pressure and excitement of a lucrative career. AP LEBRON JAMES will be starring the reality show Cleveland Hustles. AP

and career-high 57 points in a 128-125 overtime victory.

Irving was limited to 16 points on six-for-16 shooting this time, but the game was just as intense.

Instead of folding on defense in the fourth period as they did in their previous home loss to Cleveland, San Antonio rallied in the final quarter on Thursday.

“One of the best opponents we can play against. It gave us so many mismatches. They play different than most other teams,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “Of course, when you have a guy like LeBron, the whole team plays different. Kawhi [Leonard] did a very good job of making him play uncomfortable. As a team, we were pretty sharp after that first quarter.”

James shot nine-for-17 and attempted only four free throws.

Two games went to overtime, with the Bulls beat the 76ers, 115-111, and the Raptors hold off the Magic, 106-103.

Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 53 points and E’Twaun Moore had seven of his 14 in overtime to lead the Bulls over Philadelphia.

Butler also had 10 rebounds and six assists while making 15 of 30 field goals and 21 of 25 free throws to help the Bulls end a three-game losing streak. He became the first Chicago player to score 50 points since Jamal Crawford in 2004.

In London Kyle Lowry scored 24 points and Cory Joseph added 19 as Toronto edged Orlando at O2 Arena.

Nikola Vucevic’s last-second shot from near halfcourt bounced off the rim. Vucevic had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.

In other games, the Warriors beat the Lakers, 116-98, with Stephen Curry scored 26 points, the Grizzles beat the Pistons, 103-101, and the Kings beat the Jazz by the same scoreline, with Rudy Gay scoring 24 points and hitting the gamewinning shot with 0.9 seconds remaining. AP

Sports BusinessMirror

DEFENDING champions Serena Williams of the US and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic carry their trophies as they arrive for the official draw at the Australian Open. AP

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| SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

FAVORITES, AGAIN

SPORTS PLUS

TOUR DE FRANCE TO START WITH SHORT T.T.

DJOKOVIC, WILLIAMS READY FOR AUSTRALIAN OPEN DEFENSES B J P

The Associated Press

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ELBOURNE, Australia—Novak Djokovic is in the kind of form that has rivals no less than Rafael Nadal describing it as being close to perfection. Serena Williams has been injured, has hardly played since the US Open and had to withdraw from her only tune-up event ahead of the Australian Open.

The preparations of the reigning champions couldn’t be more contrasting in the week leading up to the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

They have one thing in common, though: they’re both favorites to win again, having each won three of the four majors in 2015.

Serena Williams has won six Australian titles, Djokovic has won five—neither player has lost a final at Melbourne Park.

At a ceremony preceding the tournament draw on Friday, Williams and Djokovic posed for photos with the Australian Open trophies in front of Rod Laver Arena.

It was only when told they had to hand back the trophies that Djokovic replied, halfjokingly, “What do you mean they’re not ours?”

His intentions are clear.

In some ways, Williams’s condition reflects the state of play in the upper ranks of the women’s game. Most players in the top 10 have withdrawn from a tournament or retired from a match in the first two weeks of the season.

Williams played one set at the Hopman Cup, where she was hampered by inflammation in

Fifa explains ban for bid inspector

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URICH—The 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid inspector was banned from soccer for seeking several favors for family members, the International Football Federation (Fifa) ethics committee has said six months after imposing a seven-year sanction.

Harold Mayne-Nicholls of Chile “repeatedly asked for personal favors related to the hosting and training of his relatives (a son, nephew and brother-in-law),” Fifa ethics judges said in a statement on Thursday.

The bidder and institution were not identified, though it was previously reported Mayne-Nicholls approached the Aspire center in Doha about unpaid work and intern positions.

The youth academy was linked to Qatar’s successful 2022 World Cup hosting bid.

“Mr. Mayne-Nicholls did not act in Fifa’s interests and ignored his responsibility as a high-ranking Fifa official, someone who was expected to act with utmost neutrality and integrity, in order to pursue his own personal interests,” the statement said.

The ethics judging chamber said Mayne-Nicholls broke several articles of Fifa’s ethics code, including offering or accepting gifts and conflicts of interest.

By giving Mayne-Nicholls written reasons for the verdict, he can now finally take his case to the Fifa appeals committee.

Mayne-Nicholls was considering standing in the Fifa presidential election when his ethics case was reported in 2014.

He was appointed by Fifa in 2010 to lead a sixmember team evaluating the 2018-2022 World Cup bidders. All nine candidates were visited between July and September 2010.

In the technical report, Mayne-Nicholls flagged eventual winners Russia and Qatar as presenting the most risk to FIFA as potential host nations.

The Fifa executive committee largely ignored his report, plus a Fifa-commissioned analysis of the commercial prospects for each bidder’s World Cup project, in a December 2010 vote.

Mayne-Nicholls was voted out of office as president of the Chile FA soon after completing his task for Fifa. AP

her left knee. No. 2 Simona Halep (Achilles tendon) and Maria Sharapova (left forearm) withdrew from the Brisbane International without playing a match, and No. 3 Garbine Muguruza retired during her first match with an injured foot.

Agnieszka Radwanska (leg) and Petra Kvitova (illness) withdrew from other warmup tournaments and No. 9 Lucie Safarova announced early she wasn’t competing in Australia because of a bacterial infection. Angelique Kerber reached the final in Brisbane, where she lost to resurgent twotime Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, before withdrawing from Sydney, where Halep returned to action.

Williams and Sharapova have been practicing at Melbourne Park, showing few signs of injury. Williams had a break after her shocking semifinal loss at the US Open cost her a calendar-year Grand Slam, but said she’d started hitting again in October “because I was really missing it.”

She said at the Hopman Cup her knee problem was a mere “bump” in the road.

“Everything is actually really well. Feeling really good.

Excited about it,” she added on Friday. “OK. I’m ready now.”

She’d better be, after the draw created a challenging path to another title.

Williams will open against Camila Giorgi of Italy, who finished 2015 at No. 34 and was the highest-ranked player who was not seeded at Melbourne Park, on Monday. She could also meet former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round and No. 5 Sharapova in the quarterfinals—a rematch of the 2015 final.

Sharapova, the 2008 champion, said her restricted preparation was purely precautionary.

“I think everyone sees the bigger picture,” she said.

“You want to do what you can to be healthy and be a part of the Grand Slam so sometimes that’s a decision you have to make.”

The absences left the door ajar for Azarenka to win her first title since 2013, and demonstrate a renewed confidence after two injury-interrupted seasons. The former No. 1-ranked Azarenka was seeded No. 14 and ended up on

PARIS—The 2017 Tour de France will start with a short time trial in the streets of Duesseldorf, offering German rider Tony Martin an opportunity to grab the yellow jersey in front of his home fans.

Tour organizers unveiled details of the opening stage on Thursday after announcing in December that the Grand Depart would take place in Germany for the fourth time in the race’s century-old history.

A three-time time trial world champion, Martin should thrive on the 13-kilometer urban course taking the riders down the banks of the Rhine river on July 1, 2017.

The last time the three-week race started in Germany was in 1987.

The second stage of the race will start from Duesseldorf, with the stage finish to be revealed at the route presentation in October. AP

the bottom half of the draw with No. 2 Halep, No. 3 Muguruza and No. 8 Venus Williams, avoiding Serena Williams and Sharapova.

While much was made of Serena Williams’s near miss of the Grand Slam, Djokovic was only one defeat from a perfect Grand Slam season, too. He lost French Open final to Stan Wawrinka and finished 27-1 in Grand Slam play and 82-6 overall in 2015—four of his six losses were in finals. He opened 2016 with a crushing 6-1, 6-2 over 14-time major winner Nadal in the Qatar Open final.

“I played against a player who did everything perfect,” Nadal said. “I know nobody playing tennis like this ever. Since I know this sport, I never saw somebody playing at this level.

“When I say perfect, it’s not one thing in particular. It’s everything.”

Djokovic opens against Chung Hyeon of South Korea, and could meet 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals and four-time Australian champion Roger Federer in the semis. No. 2 Andy Murray, who has lost four Australian Open finals including the 2015 edition, is on the bottom half of the draw with Nadal and Warwinka.

Federer, who lost five finals to Djokovic in 2015, said the Qatar Open final score emphasized the difference between the No. 1-ranked player and the rest.

“Yeah, it was a surprise. Between two top guys... you rarely see blowouts,” Federer said. “That Novak wins maybe not so much because he’s been on a roll for a while now.

“Of course, he’s the favorite for the Australian Open.”

74-YR-OLD JAP AIMS RIO SLOT

American Sock shocks Ferrer in ASB Classic S

YDNEY—Jack Sock ended David Ferrer’s hopes of a fifth singles title in Auckland when he beat the top-seeded Spaniard 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Friday’s semifinals of the ASB Classic.

Ferrer seemed on track for another title when he took the first set in 28 minutes. But the 26thranked Sock broke the eighth-ranked Ferrer’s serve in the second game of the second set and held serve for 3-0, and was never threatened the rest of the way.

Sock advanced to his third ATP Tour final after finishing runner-up indoors at Stockholm last year and winning on clay in Houston.

“Obviously I knew coming in I had to play some unbelievable tennis and fortunately I was able to do that,” Sock said. “It was a difficult day, started out I woke up with some flu-like symptoms and didn’t know if I was going to be able to play.

“I ended up coming out and playing some of the best tennis of my career so maybe I can stay sick to Melbourne if I play like this.”

At the Sydney International, Viktor Troicki won his rain-delayed quarterfinal and Australian Bernard Tomic retired from his match against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili while trailing 6-3, 3-0.

Tomic said he was feeling ill and may have had food poisoning. He plays his first-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.

Rain had postponed Tomic’s quarterfinal until

Friday morning, meaning he would have been forced to play a second match later in the day had he advanced to the semifinals.

“I was just feeling a little bit sick last night and was very difficult to play two matches today,” Tomic said.

Third-seeded Troicki beat Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and will play Gabashvili later on Friday for a spot in Saturday’s final.

Fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal win over Alexandr Dolgopolov and will next play Gilles Muller, who beat sixth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 7-6 (5), 6-3.

In the women’s semifinals at Sydney, twotime Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova beat top-seeded Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3.

Kuznetsova’s final opponent will be Monica Puig, who advanced when Belinda Bencic retired ill after losing the first set 6-0.

At the Hobart International, Eugenie Bouchard, playing her best stretch of tennis since sustaining a concussion in a dressing room fall at the US Open last September, advanced to the final with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. AP KUZNETSOVA of Russia returns a shotSVETLAMA to Simona Halep of Romania during their semifinal match of Sydney International. AP

TOKYO—Japan’s 74-year-old equestrian rider Hiroshi Hoketsu is aiming to compete at the 2016 Olympics.

Hoketsu, who represented Japan at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, has applied for a qualifying trial for the Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Japan Equestrian Federation said on Thursday.

Hoketsu was the oldest athlete to take part in the 2012 London Games at 71. If he secures a place on Japan’s equestrian team for Rio it will be his fourth Olympics.

He will be looking to win one of four spots available for Japan in trials in May and June, when 11 riders will compete, the federation said.

Hoketsu will have to achieve certain scores in two tournaments before heading into the qualifying to meet criteria set by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. AP

SCHIAVONE ENDS SLAM STREAK

MELBOURNE, Australia—Francesca Schiavone’s record of playing in 61 consecutive Grand Slam events over 15 years has ended after a loss in the in the qualifying tournament for the Australian Open.

Schiavone, whose 2010 French Open title has been her only career major, lost on Friday to Virginie Razzano 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 in the second round of qualifying at Melbourne Park.

The 35-year-old Schiavone, now ranked No. 115h, had played in every Grand Slam tournament since the 2000 US Open. She had played 15 consecutive Australian Opens, with her best result being the quarterfinals in 2011. She had lost in the first round here the past three years.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer will be seeded No. 3 at the Australian Open, his 65th consecutive Grand Slam tournament. AP

WILLIAMS, SHARAPOVA IN SAME QUARTER AT AUSSIE OPEN M ELBOURNE, Australia—Defending champion Serena Williams and No. 5-ranked Maria Sharapova were drawn into the same section for the Australian Open on Friday, setting up a potential quarterfinal match featuring the 2015 finalists.

Six-time champion Williams has a tough draw starting in the opening round against Camila Giorgi of Italy, who finished 2015 at No. 34 and was the highest-ranked player who was not seeded for the season’s first major which begins on Monday.

Williams, who just missed a calendar year Grand Slam last year when she lost in the US Open semifinals, could also meet former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

Williams and Sharapova entered the tournament with injury concerns—Williams had to pull out of

the Hopman Cup team event in Perth due to left knee soreness, and Sharapova withdrew as defending champion from the season-opening Brisbane International because of soreness in her left forearm.

Both have been practicing at Melbourne Park, and Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley on Friday said Williams and Sharapova were fit.

Second-seeded Simona Halep will open against a qualifier, while two-time champion and 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who won last week’s Brisbane International and appears free from injury for the first time in several years, will play Alison van Uytvanck of Belgium.

Halep and Azarenka are in the same half of the draw, along with No. 8 Venus Williams, who has drawn Johanna Konta of Britain to open.

“She’s got a bounce to her step,” Tiley said of Azarenka.

Novak Djokovic will open his title defense against

Chung Hyeon of South Korea and, if results go with rankings, could meet No. 7 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Roger Federer in the semis.

Federer, who has won four Australian titles among his 17 majors, opens against Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, and possibly Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second and No. 27 Grigor Dimitrov in the third.

Federer won his last Australian title in 2010 and made four semifinals in a row before losing in the third round last year to Andreas Seppi.

No 2-ranked Andy Murray will open again Alexander Zverev of Germany and in the same half of the draw, 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka takes on Dmitry Tursonov.

Fifth-seeded Rafael Nadal, who could meet fourthseeded Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, opens again fellow Spaniard and 2009 Australian Open semifinalist Fernando Verdasco.

The floater in that quarter of the draw is No. 13 Milos Raonic, who plays Lucas Pouille of France in the first round. Raonic beat Federer in the Brisbane International final last week.

Lleyton Hewitt, who will play his 20th and last Australian Open before retiring and has already been hired as the country’s Davis Cup captain, will play fellow Australian James Duckworth in the first round.

The closest Hewitt came to capturing his national title was when he lost the 2005 final to Marat Safin.

“It’s a dream first round for the event that Hewitt and Duckworth match-up,” Tiley said of the two players who needed wild cards to get into the main draw.

Another Australian, No. 16-seeded Bernard Tomic, will play Uzbekistan veteran Denis Istomin in the first round, and 29th-seeded Nick Kyrgios l plays Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain. AP