BusinessMirror February 20, 2015

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Saturday, February 20, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 135

P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

AFTER AQUINO SIGNED E.O. GRANTING GOV’T WORKERS PAY INCREASE

House, Senate need to pass pay-hike bill

INSIDE

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POPE OPENS DOOR TO CONTRACEPTION BusinessMirror

The

B2-1 | Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

LARA, who is less then 3 months old and was born with microcephaly, is examined by a neurologist at the Pedro I hospital in Campina Grande, Paraiba state, Brazil. AP/FELIPE DANA

IN A BID TO AVERT HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ZIKA VIRUS

Pope opens door to contraception Speaking to reporters aboard his flight from Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez to Rome, Francis was asked if a “lesser evil”—abortion or contraception—could be permitted to prevent the disease from harming a fetus.

Researchers believe Zika may be linked to serious birth defects, such as debilitating under-formation of the brain, and hundreds of cases have been reported in Latin America.

Under no circumstances, Francis said, should abortion be considered a “lesser evil,” and he said the procedure should be avoided at all cost.

“It is a crime, [killing] one person to save another,” he said. “That is something that the Mafia does…an absolute evil.”

However, preventing a pregnancy that was in danger of being exposed to Zika might be allowable, he said, but only if it would most certainly prevent a pregnancy at risk.

“Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil,” Francis said. He cited Pope Paul VI’s decision in the early 1960s to allow religious women facing rape during upheaval in the Belgian Congo to use contraception.

However, in the milestone 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Paul VI banned use of birth control under normal circumstances. The church teaches that procreation is one of the most important duties of married couples.

The Vatican has been criticized in the past for taking a hard line against the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS, especially in Africa and Asia.

In most of Latin America, where Zika is most common, abortion is illegal and birth control can be hard to come by.

In all of Mexico and Central America, it is only in Mexico City, where the pope just visited, that abortion can be obtained on demand.

Some countries, such as Nicaragua, ban it in all cases, including rape, incest and the health of the pregnant woman or girl.

Latin American bishops have become more conservative in recent times, and it was unclear what they would say about what appears to be a new opening voiced by the pope.

What Francis said he really wanted to happen is for “doctors to do everything possible to find a vaccination for this disease.”

43

College students kidnapped and possibly killed by corrupt authorities The pope answered a wide range of questions at a rambling news conference, touching on Donald Trump and his plans to build a wall on the US border with Mexico and on recent revelations that Pope John Paul II sustained a long, loving, but apparently platonic, relationship with a married woman.

On John Paul’s friendship with American-Polish philosopher AnnaTeresa Tymieniecka, the pope was a supporter.

“A man who does not know how to have a friendly rapport with a woman,” he said, “is missing something,” adding that he often consults women for their opinions.

Two Mexican reporters asked about what many in Mexico saw as

glaring omissions in the pontiff ’s dozen or so prepared speeches: The 43 college students kidnapped and presumably killed by corrupt authorities, and the clergy sexual-abuse scandal as represented by the late Mexican priest Marcial Maciel.

Maciel, a Mexican-born priest who founded the Legion of Christ, stepped down as head of the order after having been implicated in a broad array of sex-abuse allegations involving boys and young men. It was also revealed that he had fathered up to six children before his death in 2008.

Francis took exception to the criticism. He noted he had repeatedly cited the plights of murdered and missing Mexicans and the corruption of government officials and business entrepreneurs in terrorizing and repressing the most downtrodden of society.

The families of the 43 had said they wanted a private meeting with the pope, and when that was not granted, some said they would not attend his Masses. Francis said there had been internal disputes among the many organizations representing Mexico’s more than 25,000 missing people and that he thought the

WORLD

CAMERON, E.U. LEADERS STILL HAVE ‘A LOT TO DO’ TO REACH DEAL

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for the EU and decades of integration among once-enemy nations. Britain is questioning whether belonging to the bloc is still worth it, so Cameron is pushing for an EU reform deal that will let him urge Britons to approve continued membership in a referendum that could come as soon as June.

Cameron said he was “battling for Britain” and told his fellow leaders that he needed a substantial deal that would be “credible for the British people.” The British referendum is likely to be close and hard-fought.

He’s run into tougher-than-expected resistance for the changes he’s seeking, notably from France. French President François Hollande warned on Thursday that no individual leader should be allowed to stop closer European cooperation, and that ceding too much to Britain—especially on lightening financial regulation—could prompt other countries to demand special rules, too, undermining the whole idea of unity.

The draft deal offers guarantees to

RUSSELS—British Prime Minister David Cameron faces tough new talks with European partners on Friday after through-the-night meetings failed to make much progress on his demands for a less intrusive European Union (EU).

Britain’s future in the union—along with heightened tensions around Europe’s migrant crisis—are dominating an EU summit in Brussels scheduled to finish on Friday with what Cameron hopes is a breakthrough deal for EU reform.

Cameron wrapped up talks in Brussels with EU President Donald Tusk and others around 5:30 a.m. (0430GMT), and is expected to resume bilateral meetings late morning.

An EU-wide breakfast meeting set to address Cameron’s concerns was delayed until lunch. A British official speaking on customary condition of anonymity said on Friday morning there are “some signs of progress but nothing yet agreed and still a lot to do.”

It’s potentially a pivotal moment

countries, including Britain, that do not use the shared euro currency, and makes tweaks aimed at boosting competitiveness and giving national parliaments more power.

A key sticking point is Britain’s push to limit benefit payments to workers from other EU countries.

Immigration is an especially sensitive point for British voters, because Britain has attracted hundreds of thousands of workers from eastern European nations in the past decade, drawn by the prospect of higher-paying jobs.

The EU immigrants can also claim tax credits and other benefits in Britain, which Cameron’s government says is straining the budget.

Cameron has proposed limiting one payment—child benefit, given to all families with children—to migrants from other EU nations for at least 10 years, while eastern countries argued for three or four years, according to one European official involved in the talks.

Elmar Brok, a European Parliament

legislator from Germany who is working as a negotiator at the talks, said on Friday he believed the “major problems are solved.” But he told the BBC that the welfare brake remained contentious, with some countries finding Britain’s aim of a curb on benefits lasting a decade or more “very difficult to accept.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte argued on Friday for the importance of keeping Britain’s free-market voice in the EU. A British exit, he said, “would be bad news for the EU—but also for the United Kingdom. It would end up as a mid-sized economy somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

Britain has stayed out of both the euro currency and the passport-free Schengen travel zone, and many Britons resent what they see as Brussels increasingly meddling in sovereign issues.

Cameron said he would not stop other EU members striving for more unity, but insisted Britain should have ironclad guarantees that it could stay on the sidelines. AP

best solution was to invite all to the final Mass at the border on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez.

“Mexican society is victim of all of this, of crimes, of ‘cleansing’ people, of throwing them away,” he said. “It is a very large pain that I carry with me, because these people do not deserve a drama like this.”

On priest abuse, Francis had forceful words for bishops who simply transfer pederast priests from parish to parish, as has often been the case. “They should resign, clear?”

He said his predecessors, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, had condemned abuse and moved to make reforms. Activists, however, say the church acted woefully late and that abuse and cover-ups continue today.

As for Maciel, who fathered children and lived the high life, the powerful, conservative congregation he created, the Legion of Christ, has been overhauled, the pope said.

He was pointed, though, in his condemnation of child-sex abuse by clerics.

“It’s a monstrosity,” he said. “Because a priest is consecrated to bring a child to God. And if he consumes him in a diabolical sacrifice, it destroys him.” TNS

C  A

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REMEMBERING MY ‘LOLA’ LYDIA BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron gets into his car at the conclusion of an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. European Union leaders are holding a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to hammer out a deal designed to keep Britain in the 28-nation bloc. AP/GEERT VANDEN WIJNGAERT

OurTime BusinessMirror

B4 Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Remembering my ‘Lola’ Lydia B D M

Special to the BM

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she remembered fondly.

World War II officially started when the Japanese bombarded Pearl Harbor in 1941. Lydia was in school at that time. Her father hurriedly went to her school to bring her home as chaos was about to happen. Life during the war was difficult, but like all hardships, it ended. The Americans came, and in Lydia’s eyes, they were heroes.

Lydia took some premedicine courses at the University of the Philippines. She used to say that her college days were among the happiest days of her life.

She enjoyed what every person her age enjoyed at t h at time. There were no selfies, no “ice-bucket” challenges and no makeup transformations. It was a time of enjoyment brought about by the charm of nature and a simple life.

She graduated Dentistry from Centro Escolar University in 1952.

She took her board exams and was a board topnotcher.

And then she met “the man.”

LYDIA JIMENEZ-MILAN with the love of her life, Alejandro Milan

Alejandro Milan was a stunner, Lydia said. He, however, still had to woo her hard. He had to woo her parents and siblings, and even the whole neighborhood.

They got married on November 30, 1955, and had five children and 10 grandchildren. She called them all “gorgeous.”

Lydia was my paternal grandmother. She worked as a dentist in a private capacity. She also worked as a dentist at the Liway way

Marketing Corp., which manufactures Oishi brand snacks.

She passed away on February 14, 2016, reunited with Lolo on a Valentine’s Day. I will miss hanging out with her for I loved listening to her stories. Her soup will be missed on Christmas Day. Her kids and grandkids will miss traveling with her. We didn’t think that the Hong Kong trip would be the last. I will miss playing computer

games with her, “4 Pics 1 Word,” “Jeopardy,” “Tetris,” “Mario.”

And alas, she defeated the last enemy—Death—that eventuality that stood between her and being reunited with Christ. And she defeated Death just as easily as she defeated Bowser with “Mario.”

Lola’s stor y is the stor y of someone special to me because it is her story.

Good-bye, Lola Lydia. Till we meet again.

Still in love, after 65 years of devotion Palawan Provincial prison B A C C Los Angeles Times (TNS)

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HEN Philip and Catherine Cantwell moved into the Victoria Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Costa Mesa, California, about 10 months ago, their children made sure their room had two reclining chairs next to each other so the couple could continue doing something they have done for years: Hold hands.

Philip, 89, and Catherine, 87, who celebrated their 65th anniversary on February 3, have been holding hands and supporting each other throughout the years.

On the Tuesday after their anniversary, the couple spent time with their two oldest sons, Philip Jr. and

John, reminiscing about Philip Sr.’s coaching career and relating old family stories. Throughout the entirety of their conversation, Philip was either holding Catherine’s hand, caressing her arm or softly touching her cheek or forehead and she sat in her chair quietly agreeing with his statements.

“We still tell each other that we love each other,” Philip Sr. said. “I’m not afraid to say it.”

The Cantwells met in Indiana.

Philip was a football player at Notre Dame and Catherine was a nurse.

Philip went on to have a storied coaching career in high-school football at various schools in Indiana and California, including Joliet Catholic High School in Joliet, Indiana, Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, Bishop Amat High School in La Puente,

and Inglewood High School and Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach. He was also the first athletic director at Ocean View and was honored a few years ago for his career. The couple’s two eldest sons coached at the school during the time their father ran the athletic department and have been similarly recognized.

Catherine ran a swimming school in San Pedro for 23 years and was involved in nursing administration for years after that. Even after having nine children, moving to various cities and facing hardships along the way, Philip said he and his wife seldom argued and “never kept score” if they did.

“If you argue, there’s always a loser,” he said. “You don’t want to be married to a loser or be one, so we decided not to argue about money or about anything.”

reaches ‘sardine-like’ capacity with 1,191 inmates

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HE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on February 15 it will soon adopt on a nationwide scale the door-to-door delivery of the monthly pensions of indigent senior citizens.

The new system is in recognition of the health and physical limitations of pensioners under the Social Pension Program for Ind igent Senior Cit i zens of the agency.

“The DSWD is adopting this scheme to make it more convenient for our older persons who have difficulty in traveling. Likewise, by delivering their pensions right to their doorsteps, they can save on transportation expenses in going to payout venues,” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon J. Soliman said.

Soliman added that the DSWD Field Offices (FOs) in Region 3 and the National Capital Region (NCR) already started the implementation of the scheme in October 2015, in partnership with the Philippine Veterans Bank and the Philippine Postal Corp. as conduits.

Under the door-to-door delivery scheme, the DSWD provides the master list of beneficiaries to the conduits which, in turn, deliver the pension to the respective addresses of the beneficiaries.

The door-to-door payout must be completed within 30 calendar days from the receipt of the check and master list of pensioners by the conduit.

DSWD-FO Region 3 is implementing the scheme in 67 municipalities with a total of 29,985 beneficiaries.

A s of December 23, 2015, at least 26,757 senior pensioners have received their pension through the scheme.

DSWD-FO NCR covers 10 cities with a total of 23,820 target beneficiaries. As of December 23, 2015, a total of 17,758 seniors have received their pension via door-todoor delivery.

For this year the DSWD targets to provide social pension to some 1,368,941 indigent persons 60 years old and above nationwide.

A P500 monthly stipend is provided to indigent senior citizens by the agency under its Social Pension Program.

The DSWD is pursuing the program in compliance with Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, which mandates that indigent senior citizens should be issued a monthly stipend of P500 to augment their daily subsistence and medical needs. PNA

OUR TIME

UERTO PRINCESA CITY— T he administration and management of the Palawan Provincial Jail (PPJ) admitted on Thursday that the current number of detainees they have has breached the full capacity of their facility.

PPJ Warden Ramon Espina said on Thursday that the detention facility in Barangay BancaoBancao in this city, designed to only accommodate 900 inmates, is now filled to the brim with 1,191 people awaiting the decision of the cases filed against them in the local courts.

Due to the congestion, he said elderly inmates are instead temporarily kept in custody inside vacant office rooms to prevent their

BIG WIN

BY CLIPS

health from being affected by the “sardine-like” situation inside the PPJ detention cells.

Based on current records, 411 of the 1,191 detainees are facing murder charges; 284 face rape cases; and 136 were charged for violating the law on the trafficking of illicit drugs.

The fourth group of 82 occupants are facing frustrated murder, 47 child-abuse cases, 43 attempted murder, 42 robbery, 23 carnapping, 22 homicide and 20 illegal fishing.

Despite t he sit u at ion, Es pina said they are on top of the situation, particularly on concerns for safety and security of the inmates, as well as the employees. PNA

B4

Wrongful-death lawsuit filed vs California nursing facility for alleged abuse, neglect

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HE family of a man who died in a Costa Mesa, California, skilled nursing facility has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging elder abuse, negligence and neglectful hiring and supervision.

The suit, filed on February 9 in Orange County Superior Court, asserted that the Mesa Verde Post Acute Care Center, 661 Center Street, failed in its care of Sebastian Lopez, 78, who died at the facility last July after being discharged there from Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 According to the lawsuit, when mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Lopez arrived at the center in midsports@businessmirror.com.ph June last year, he was suffering from Editor: Jun Lomibao diabetes, pneumonia, congenital Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana heart failure and hypertension. As such, his attorneys contend, he was at high risk of falling and required RESTING ON THE STREET An elderly couple rests on the sidewalk in front of a store near the Baguio City public market. The couple went to the market on an errand, buying their supplies for the week. MAU VICTA specialized 24-hour care.

On July 5, 2015, about two weeks

A8

BIG WIN

BY CLIPS L

B B B Los Angeles Times

OS ANGELES—There was still nearly a full quarter to play when Chris Paul bent over and planted his hands on his legs, lingering for several seconds during the early portion of a time-out, taking every moment he could to relax.

He spent the game’s final 11 minutes, leaving everyone else breathless.

The Los Angeles Clippers point guard flung passes and drove for layups and rose for jumpers, becoming the foil once again for the San Antonio Spurs on the same court where he had ended their season nine months ago.

Paul carried the severely short-handed Clippers to a 105-86 victory over the Spurs on Thursday night at Staples Center while scoring 26 of his 28 points in the second half, including 15 in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been talking about by any means necessary,” Paul said after an emotionally wrought day in which he had traveled to Oklahoma City to attend the funeral of Ingrid Williams, the wife of Thunder Assistant Coach Monty Williams who died in a car accident on February 10.

Paul was cheered wildly after checking out with two minutes and seven seconds left, the Clippers having needed each of his 12 assists and five rebounds in 37 minutes. Paul played all but 3:54 of the second half.

“This is too much,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said of Paul’s minutes. “I mean, we can’t keep doing this.”

The Clippers (36-18) had piled up wins in the absence of injured star forward Blake Griffin, but they had not beaten one of the top 3 teams in the Western Conference until Thursday in their first game after the All-Star break.

J.J. Redick scored 12 of his 17 points in the third quarter for the Clippers, whose 20-point lead was shaved to five early in the fourth quarter, before Paul threw a crosscourt pass to Jamal Crawford for a three-pointer, drove for a layup and made a jumper over former teammate David West. He added three free throws, a three-pointer and a driving layup.

Griffin and Assistant Equipment Manager Matias Testi were

into his stay, Lopez’s daughter visited him and, in addition to learning he had fallen, saw that his bed was “so low to the ground that she almost fell to the floor herself when she went to sit down on the bed,” the lawsuit stated.

Lopez, the suit alleges, had told his wife that day that a nurse “got mad at him, told him that he could not get up on his own without help and then threw him back into bed, without performing any meaningful assessments, without notifying the family, responsible party or physician...and simply left him in bed to suffer the painful consequences of his fall.”

In addition, Mesa Verde staffers “attempted to conjure up a story to fraudulently conceal their misconduct” and did not document the incident on Lopez’s medical chart,

Sports BusinessMirror

LAC gets J Green; Morris to Wizards

back with the team for the first time since Griffin punched Testi last month at a Toronto restaurant, leaving Testi with a swollen face and Griffin with a broken right hand. Griffin sat next to his teammates on the bench, with Testi seated behind him several seats over.

The Clippers’ official Twitter feed sent out a picture of Griffin slapping hands with Testi in the first quarter with the hashtag #Family.

Tony Parker had 14 points for San Antonio, which looked out of sorts without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard (calf tightness). The Spurs (45-9) made only four of 17 three-pointers.

The Clippers were woefully thin at point guard with Pablo Prigioni sidelined by a viral illness, joining Austin Rivers (broken hand) on the bench.

“I tried to sign Sam today,” joked Clippers Assistant Coach Mike Woodson, referring to fellow Assistant Sam Cassell.

Woodson addressed the media before the game because Doc Rivers was among a contingent of players and coaches from the Clippers and Spurs was still en route back from the funeral.

Spurs Coach Greg Popovich returned in time for his pregame media availability but did not want to discuss the difficult circumstances.

“This isn’t TMZ or the Crazy Channel,” Popovich said. “Just basketball.”

Doc Rivers said he went into the funeral not knowing whether his team had completed a trade, having turned off his phone after giving General Manager Dave Wohl the go-ahead to try and complete a deal. When the service ended, Rivers turned on his phone and learned the Clippers had traded Lance Stephenson for Memphis’ Jeff Green.

Rivers said he envisioned using Green in both forward spots and being able to play alongside Griffin when Griffin plays center in a small lineup.

EFF GREEN joined the Los Angeles Clippers, and Markieff Morris moved to Washington in a largely tepid end to the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) trade deadline day.

There were no deals involving Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, Al Horford, or any other All-Star caliber player whose named was floated in recent days.

Major moves will wait for the summer, when a soaring salary cap and a strong free-agent class could provide the fireworks that never materialized on Thursday.

Washington and most of the other teams battling for a spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference race may have improved, though the New York Knicks couldn’t come up with anything.

Houston, Cleveland, Chicago and Atlanta all made trades, though mostly minor ones. Teams interested in their top players not only had to weigh giving up assets versus signing them in the summer, but also whether they wanted to acquire a player who could be a free agent and command a huge salary when the cap increases to around $90 million in July.

LOS Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul goes up for a shot against San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green. AP

Veteran players can earn 25 percent or more of the cap as their first-year salary.

Green went from Memphis to the Clippers, giving them another versatile forward while Blake Griffin is sidelined. Morris, unhappy this season in Phoenix, joins a disappointing Washington team that is 10th in the East.

A look at some of the key deals: CLIPPERS GO GREEN: Coach Doc Rivers brings in another of his former Boston Celtics and ships out Lance Stephenson, who disappointed in Los Angeles just as he did in Charlotte. The Grizzlies also acquired a future first-round pick.

MORRIS MOVES ON: The Wizards gave up a first-round draft pick and forwards Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair for Morris. Despite his outbursts in Phoenix this season after the Suns traded his twin brother, Marcus, to Detroit, Morris was the Suns’ third-best scorer and should benefit from playing with the backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

FRYE’S THEIR GUY: Cleveland dealt seldomused Anderson Varejao to Portland and brought in Channing Frye from Orlando, giving them another perimeter-shooting big forward like Kevin Love to help spread the floor for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

HAWKS ON POINT: Instead of trading point guard Jeff Teague, who was involved in a number of potential trade talks, Atlanta brought in a new potential backup in a three-time trade. They sent Shelvin Mack to Utah and Justin Holliday to Chicago, which also got a second-round pick from the Jazz.

D-MO IN MOTOWN: Detroit made its second deal of the week, acquiring forward/ center Donatas Motiejunas and guard Marcus Thornton from Houston for center Joel Anthony and a protected 2016 first-round draft pick.

Motiejunas, a Lithuanian nicknamed D-Mo, joins Tobias Harris, acquired earlier from Orlando, in bolstering the Pistons’ frontcourt.

THUNDER STRIKE: With D.J. Augustin’s playing time as backup point guard reduced following the emergence of rookie Cameron Payne, Oklahoma City sent him and Steve Novak to Denver for Foye, a veteran who can play both guard positions. AP

R

US Olympic team expects Coach K in Rio

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NITED States of America (USA) Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo expects Mike Krzyzewski to lead the Americans this summer, and the coach says he has “every intention” of being in Brazil.

Krzyzewski plans to have left kneereplacement surgery following the completion of Duke’s season, and Colangelo told National Basketball Association TV during All-Star weekend in Toronto that he was “thinking about what ifs” if Coach K’s health prevented him from returning.

But Colangelo said on Thursday in a statement that “at no time” have he and Krzyzewski discussed him not coaching this summer.

“I was aware that coach planned to have kneereplacement surgery immediately after Duke’s season was completed, but at no time have coach and I ever discussed him not coaching the USA National Team this summer,” Colangelo said.

“I remain 100-percent convinced that there is no better coach to lead the US as it looks to successfully defend its Olympic gold medal in Rio and represent the United States in a manner all Americans will be proud of.”

Krzyzewski, 69, has been the US coach since 2005, leading the Americans to consecutive Olympic gold medals and two straight world championships.

He missed a game earlier this month after feeling ill and was briefly hospitalized at Duke University Hospital, but rejoined the 20thranked Blue Devils the next day and has been with them since, including for their victory over No. 5 North Carolina on Wednesday.

“Our medical team here at Duke and I expect a full recovery following the rehabilitation process, and I have every intention of coaching the United States National Team in Rio at the 2016 Olympics,” Krzyzewski said.

Duke, depending on its success in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, will have its season end anywhere from March 17 to April 4. The Olympics are scheduled to start August 5. AP

according to the allegations.

The next day, as a result of the fall and subsequent negligent care, Lopez, his family contended, did not receive proper medication and died, despite resuscitation attempts at Mesa Verde and at Hoag.

“The facility was well aware that Sebastian required a very particular and required level of care than they would or could provide,” Stephen Garcia, Lopez’s attorney from Long Beach-based Garcia, Artigliere and Medby, said in a statement. “Disregarding this obligation, the facility took the money, accepted the known responsibility for him and then failed miserably to provide Sebastian his required care that needlessly resulted in his death.”

Mesa Verde Post Acute Care Center could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

Nadal, Ferrer reach q’finals of Rio Open

A.P.’S BEST

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (left) accepts the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year award from Associated Press sportswriter Josh Dubow in Oakland, California. AP

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SPORTS

JORDAN SPIETH’S 79 at the Northern Trust Open is his worst start since turning pro. AP

WORST START BY SPIETH B D F

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The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Camilo Villegas hasn’t make a cut all year and has only broken 70 one time in four previous trips to Riviera, so it was mildly surprising to see him with an eight-under 63 to build a three-shot lead on Thursday in the Northern Trust Open.

That wasn’t the biggest surprise.

One spot from the bottom of the leaderboard was Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 1 player who shot an eight-over 79 on one of his favorite courses. It was his worst start ever as a pro, and his highest score since an 80 in the third round of the 2014 Tour Championship.

“In the course of a career, I imagine it’s going to happen,” Spieth said. “Just unfortunate when it actually does.”

And there was one more surprise for everyone.

Riviera, which played so fearsome during the practice rounds under a hot sun, was softer than usual after a steady overnight rain that never cleared until moments before the first round began.

Spieth said he couldn’t trust how the course was playing. Villegas also was stunned when he heard players from the morning round talk about four-irons stopping on the green, instead of taking a hard bounce.

“You don’t really shoot eight-under around this place not playing good,” Villegas said. “Obviously, the rain yesterday made the golf course a lot more accessible.”

Bubba Watson, who won at Riviera two years ago with a 64-64 weekend, opened with a 66 along with Chez Reavie and Luke List.

Rory McIlroy, making his first Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour start this year and his debut at Riviera, opened with two quick birdies and added two

more on the front nine for a 67. He was in a large group that included 22-year-old Charlie Danielson, the Illinois senior who earned a spot in his first PGA Tour event by winning a collegiate qualifier on Monday.

“I just went out and tried to enjoy the day,” Danielson said. “I had no idea if I would shoot 80 or 66, so I just went out with no expectations and it worked out.”

Spieth didn’t have any expectations of a 79—or worse. Still to be determined is whether his ball moved before hitting a chip on the ninth green.

Spieth asked rules officials to review the video. He said he was fairly certain it didn’t move, but wanted to be sure. A decision was not expected until Friday morning. It would be a one-shot penalty under Rule 18-2 if the ball did move.

That was the least of his worries. The round got away from him on the back nine when he kept missing greens and leaving himself short par putts that are difficult on poa greens in the afternoon. Spieth dropped six shots over the last seven holes, including a threeputt double bogey from 8 feet on the 18th.

“I’m not throwing this tournament away,” Spieth said. “I’m not packing it in by any means.”

Only one other player in the 144-man field shot worse than Spieth. The Masters and US Open champion was the last man on the practice range on Thursday night when the first round was suspended by darkness. Fourteen players did not finish the round.

Villegas didn’t want it to end.

He opened with a pitch to tap-in range for birdie on No. 10, far less fearsome with slightly softer conditions. But his round really took off on the front nine when he ran off four straight birdies starting at No. 5 when he holed a 25-foot birdie putt. He hit his tee shot to 3 feet on the par-3 sixth, and holed a pair of 15-foot putts on the next two holes. Villegas

IO DE JANEIRO—Even the King of Clay Rafael Nadal needs victories to boost his confidence, which has waned recently as his dominance has slipped on the slippery red surface.

“Winning is the important thing, which gives you confidence and lets you relax,” Nadal said after joining fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the Rio Open, the third clay-court tournament in the monthlong swing around Latin America.

Nadal and Ferrer— the top 2 seeded players—both beat countrymen on Thursday to reach

needed one more birdie at No. 9 to match the course record of 61 that Ted Tryba set in 1999.

He missed the green to the right and chipped to 4 feet, missing the par putt and settling for a 63.

“I got on fire there for a little stretch,” he said. “And obviously, a little mishap on the last hole.

But man, I thought I made the chip, too. It was a good day out there. Fun.” McIlroy started birdiebirdie, and his lone mistake was a tee shot into a deep bunker on No. 15, leaving him no chance at reaching the green. Even so, he was happy to take advantage of the conditions.

“Put myself out of position a couple of times, but with the way the conditions of the golf course were, it didn’t punish you as bad as if it would have been as firm as it was the last couple of days,” McIlroy said.

Villegas figured it out quickly and played more aggressively, going at pins instead of planning for a big bounce.

“I would say I was a little surprised with my eightunder to be honest. This is a golf course where it’s not easy to shoot eight-under,” Villegas said. “I didn’t know Jordan shot eight [over], but obviously he must have had a bad day. But again, everybody has bad days in this sport, man.”

₧57.9B

Budget for the first tranche of the salary increase for government workers under the 2016 General Appropriations Act.

Q&A: As Zika rages in the Americas, should countries in Asia be worried? B

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the last eight. Nadal beat Nicolas Almagro, 6-3, 7-5, and Ferrer defeated Albert RamosVinolas, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Nadal has won 14 of 15 matches against Almagro.

Nadal was knocked out in the semifinals last week in Buenos Aires, which he linked partly to stomach problems and the stifling heat in the Argentine summer.

“I’m feeling better physically,” Nadal said.

“Last week I had a little problem with my stomach during the whole week, and with the humidity—it was unbelievable. I felt so bad physically. Here, I’m feeling much better because the stomach is much better. That’s the key on the improvement of my game, and victory helps.”

Nadal will face Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, while Ferrer meets young Austrian Dominic Thiem in the last eight, a matchup of one of the most consistent players on clay against a 22-year-old viewed as a star of the next generation.

Thiem defeated Nadal last week in the semifinals in Buenos Aires en route to winning there. Ferrer has won 26 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles titles—five last season.

“He’s a very great player,” Ferrer said of Thiem.

“He’s young. He’s playing with confidence. He’s going to be a top player, for sure. I like his game, and tomorrow is going to be tough I know. I’ll have to play my best tennis for a win.”

Constant downpours the first three days forced schedulers to compress the schedule on Thursday and put Ferrer in action during the afternoon with suffocating humidity and temperatures around 35 oC (95 oF). AP

IKA virus continues to rage in the Americas, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a global health emergency. Taiwan has recently issued a travel advisory for Thailand, warning expectant mothers or women trying to get pregnant to postpone their trips there. But how big of a concern is Zika virus for Asia? Here’s what you need to know:

Has Zika virus been a problem in the AsiaPacific region in the past?

The disease was first identified in 1947 in a monkey in the Zika forest of Uganda. The virus has been found in Asia as far back as the 1960s. It has appeared in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan, but no widespread cases have been S “Z,” A

B J R. S J

OXING icon and senatorial aspirant Manny Pacquiao will not be violating election laws when he fights American boxer Timonthy Bradley on April 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said.

In a statement, Macalintal said Pacquiao does not need to cancel the fight, as suggested by some camps, as he could be facing criminal cases for violation of campaign rules.

Earlier, fellow senatorial candidate Walden F. Bello said pushing through with the fight would unduly give Pacquiao “tremendous advantage” against his election rivals, given the usual mass-media coverage the fight will be getting.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres D. Bautista even disclosed earlier that the poll body will be looking into the possible violations of existing rules on campaigning that may be committed during the Pacquiao-Bradley match.

Under Comelec Resolution 10049, it is considered a prohibited form of election propaganda “to show, display, or exhibit publicly in a theater, through a television station, or any public forum, any movie, cinematography or documentary, including concert or any type of performance portraying the life or

Z

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HAVE always been fascinated by the personal stories of ordinary people. It is their “nugget” contribution to history.

Lyd i a Ji me ne z - M i l a n w a s born on August 14, 1931. She often recalled her blissful life as a small girl in her, hometown in Pangasinan. People in the community were fond of her as she was the first grandchild of a popular man loved by many in their town.

She used to happily remember the almost magical times when she rode on the back of a pawikan (sea turtle) and helped pull fishermen’s net when they got to shore in the wee hours of the morning.

Helping pull the net guaranteed a portion of the catch, and that meant fresh fish for lunch.

Lydia was not like any other “girly” girls. She enjoyed playing in the streets, matching physical prowess with the boys in her neighborhood. However, despite her physicality, she was every boy’s puppy love. Her loveliness was especially highlighted when she wore a beautiful white dress for her first Holy Communion during the Eucharistic Congress in 1937 held in Luneta.

This great event was something

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DSWD guarantees home delivery of senior-citizen monthly pensions

No election-offense case could be filed against Pacquiao, because he is not violating any provision of election laws.”

—Macalintal

AP PHOTO

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FTER President Aquino signed on Friday an executive order (EO) granting government workers pay increase, the 16th Congress should pass the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 4 in May to make the salary adjustment permanent, a leader of the House of Representatives said.

World

FTER ending a dramatic tour of Mexico, Pope Francis on Thursday seemed to open the door for limited use of artificial contraception, long prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church, to prevent pregnancies at risk from the disastrous, fast-spreading Zika virus.

BRADLEY FIGHT ON APR. 9 WILL NOT IMPERIL SENATE BID OF PACQUIAOEXPERT

IN this February 15 photo, thermographic measurement against Zika virus is conducted at Narita International Airport in Narita, near Tokyo. KYODO NEWS VIA AP

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World economy will grow slower than expected—OECD chief economist

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HE US and global economies will grow at a slower pace this year than initially estimated, requiring an “urgent” response from policy-makers, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday.

The group, composed of the world’s 34 most advanced economies, said recent financial-market volatility and debt in emerging markets increased the risks to global growth.

That called for “greater use of fiscal and progrowth” efforts, as well as continued low interest rates from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) and other central banks.

“Global growth prospects have practically flatlined, recent data have disappointed and indicators point to slower growth in major economies, despite the boost from low oil prices and low interest rates,” said Catherine L. Mann, OECD chief economist.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.5590

MANN: “Indicators point to slower growth in major economies, despite the boost from low oil prices and low interest rates.”

The world economy is expected to expand 3 percent this year, the same as in 2015 and 0.3 percentage point less than forecast last November, the group said.

US economic growth will slow this year to 2 percent, down from 2.4 percent last year. Last November the OECD forecast called for the US economy to expand 2.5 percent this year.

The US recovery still has momentum from an improving job

market. But that boost will “inevitably fade,” as the nation approaches full employment, unless there are stronger wage gains to keep consumers spending, the OECD said.

Economic growth in the US slowed at the end of last year because the strong dollar hurt exports and low oil prices hit the nation’s energy sector, the report said.

Those headwinds should ease this year, but “with export mar-

k et s on cou rse for s lu g g i sh g row th, business investment remaining med iocre and few signs of upward pressure on real wages, there is little sign that other sources of demand will reinforce” US economic growth, the OECD said.

The group’s downgrade came after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecast last month. The IMF said

n JAPAN 0.4200 n UK 68.1663 n HK 6.1149 n CHINA 7.2977 n SINGAPORE 33.9029 n AUSTRALIA 33.9998 n EU 52.8048 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.6841

S “E,” A

Source: BSP (19 February 2016 )

A2 Saturday, February 20, 2016

Economy. . .

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the world economy would expand by 3.4 percent this year.

The OECD is less optimistic about the prospects for 2016. The euro zone continues to struggle, with growth this year expected to be 1.4 percent, the group said.

That is lower than last year’s weak 1.5 percent and 0.4 percentage point lower than the November estimate.

China’s economy also will slow to 6.5 percent this year, from 6.9 percent last year. The 2016 forecast is the same as last November, with the OECD anticipating China’s efforts to shift its economic engine to domestic consumption would slow growth.

Many emerging-market economies are struggling amid reduced demand for oil and other commodities from China.

The OECD said Brazil ’s recession would deepen this year, with its economy contracting 4 percent after shrinking 3.8 percent last year.

Despite the Fed’s move last December to nudge up its benchmark interest rate from an unprecedented near-zero level, monetary policy in the US and worldwide remained stimulative, the OECD said.

The Fed Chairman Janet Yellen said last week that anticipated small rate hikes this year could be delayed because of the global uncertainty. But “reliance on monetary policy alone has been insufficient to deliver satisfactory growth” to the world economy, the OECD said.

The group called for more spending by governments to help stimulate growth. MCT

BMReports BusinessMirror

House, Senate need to pass pay-hike bill…

C  

“We need to resolve the differences between the Senate and House versions of the SSL 4 in the bicameral conference committee to make it [salary adjustment] permanent. Otherwise, the next Congress has to approve a new bill,” House Majority Leader and Liberal Party Rep. Neptali M. Gonzales II of Mandaluyong said on Friday.

The EO provides for the implementation of the first of four tranches provided for in the proposed SSL 4. The presidential authority to implement the first tranche is provided in Republic Act (RA) 10717, or the 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which allocates a budget of P57.9 billion. RA 6758, or the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989, and Presidential Decree 1597 grant the chief executive the power to adjust public-sector compensation.

The bicameral conference between the two chambers of Congress was deadlocked after the Senate panel, led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, insisted on a provision that would index the pension of military retirees to the salary increases provided in SSL 4.

The House panel objected because of lack of funding. The Senate proposal would cost taxpayers an additional P18 billion for the first year of implementation.

Gonzales said the 16th Congress can still approve the SSL 4 when session resumes on May 23 to June 10 or after the presidential and local elections.

Meanwhile, House Independent Bloc leader and Lakas Rep. Martin G. Romualdez of Leyte vowed to prioritize the passage of the

proposed SSL 4 in the 17th Congress should it fail to pass in the 16th Congress.

“We laud this act of the President although it was long overdue. But since this [EO] will only cover this year’s salary hike, we should continue to remain steadfast to pass a law that would ensure a permanent pay increase for government workers in the next three years,” Romualdez added.

“The big challenge is to guarantee that the increase will happen again in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to complete the four-year objective of this proposal,” he said.

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading last December 9 House Bill 6268 principally authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., which modifies the compensation and position classification system of civilian government personnel and the base-pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel in government to be implemented in four tranches, starting January 1. The Senate approved its own version, Senate Bill 2671, on third and final reading on January 18.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the SSL will take effect through a combination of a salary increases, a 14th-month pay and an enhanced performance-based bonus to be implemented over a four-year period, from January 2016 to January 2019.

Abad explained the SSL 4 is based on Joint Resolution 4 enacted by Congress in 2009, mandating the review of the compensation and position classification system after three years from the last year of the adjustment to

determine the competitiveness of government pay in relation to the private sector and the compensation strategy to bring government pay closer to market rate.

Abad said the last tranche of the previous salary increase was completed in July 2012. He added that despite the substantial duties and responsibilities of public servants, their salaries stood at 55 percent, or around half, of current market rates. President Aquino on Friday signed an EO granting the first of the four phases of the SSL 4 that Congress failed to pass.

“The EO provides for the implementation of the first of the four tranches provided for in the proposed SSL 4 that has not been enacted by Congress,” Presidential Spokesman Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said in a statement.

Coloma added that the authority to implement the first tranche is provided in RA 10717.

The 2016 GAA provides P57.9-billion budget for the first tranche of the SSL 4, which will also include the granting of 14th-month pay for all public servants.

As this developed, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon vowed to work for the passage of remedial legislation to fund subsequent salary increases for 1.3 million government employees, if he is reelected senator in the next Congress.

“I will personally see to it that our public workers will get their full pay hike by pushing for the SSL 4 in the 17th Congress,” Drilon said on Friday. “It will be the first bill that I will file, if the people will once more trust me

Bradley fight on Apr. 9 will not imperil Senate bid of Pacquiao–Expert C  A

biography of candidate, or in which a character is portrayed by an actor or media personality, who is himself or herself a candidate.”

It is also prohibited “for any radio, television, cable television station, announcer or broadcaster to allow the scheduling of any program or permit any sponsor to manifestly favor or oppose any candidate or party by unduly

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or repeatedly referring to, or unnecessarily mentioning his name, including said candidate or party.”

“The scheduled April 9 bout of Manny Pacquiao with Timothy Bradley cannot be a ground to disqualify Pacquiao as candidate for senator in the May 2016 elections,” Macalintal said. “No election-offense case could be filed against Pacquiao, because he is not violating any provision of elec-

tion laws that would justify the filing of a criminal case against him.”

Macalintal noted that even if there is any offense defined under other Philippine laws, the lawyer said it could not be imposed against Pacquiao because the fight will be held in the US. As for the media entities that will cover the fight, Macalintal said they also cannot be held liable for doing their job.

“Surely, the said boxing event is a

newsworthy event and a historical one, as it will feature the last or final fight of Pacquiao, who is considered a pride of the Filipino people as a world-class fighter,” Macalintal pointed out.

Section 86 of the Omnibus Election Code assures the protection of “the right of media entities to broadcast accounts of significant or newsworthy events and views on matters of public interest.”

to be part of the Senate.”

Drilon made the vow a day after President Aquino signed EO 201 modifying the salary schedule for all state workers. Malacañang said EO 201 also authorized the grant of additional benefits for both “civilian, military and uniformed personnel” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

In a statement, the Senate president clarified that the task of formulating and legislating a four-year salary hike for government employees rests with the incoming 17th Congress, even as he hailed President Aquino’s decision to sign the Palace order increasing the salary and benefits of government employees.

“I am glad that President has signed [EO 201] which will start the long-awaited pay hike for our dedicated and hard-working government employees,”Drilon said.

He, however, pointed out that “given that the president’s EO will only cover the salary hike for this year alone, the challenge to implement the full four-year salary hike as envisioned remains with lawmakers,” noting a new version of the SSL still needs to be enacted into law by Congress.

Drilon authored the SSL 4 in the 16th Congress, but the bill was stalled in the bicameral conference committee of both houses of Congress, prompting the issuance of EO 201 that puts into effect the monthly salary increases of state workers for the year 2016, as proposed under the SSL 4 that the current Congress failed to pass. With PNA

Zika. . .

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reported and symptoms have typically been mild and similar to dengue and chikungunya, which may have helped mask its presence. Up until the first outbreak in 2007, only 14 cases were reported globally. The outbreak occurred on the Pacific island of Yap in Micronesia, where an estimated three-quarters of the population had been infected. No hospitalizations or lasting health issues were reported. In 2013 and 2014 outbreaks again hit the Pacific, including Easter Island, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. In French Polynesia an increase in a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome coincided with the outbreak. In 2015 the virus was reported in Vanuatu, Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Samoa.

Are there any cases in Asia and the Pacific now?

Are precautions being taken?

Thailand has reported one case, and active transmission is occurring on the Pacific islands of American Samoa and Samoa. Tonga has declared a Zika epidemic after five cases were confirmed and more than 260 suspected infections were identified. Other imported cases have popped up in the region, mostly from tourists returning from Zika-endemic areas. However, many more cases have likely gone undetected or been misdiagnosed as dengue or chikungunya, which are also spread by the same type of mosquito—the Aedes aegypti—and have similar symptoms of headache, fever, rashes and joint pain. An estimated eight out of 10 people infected with Zika experience no symptoms at all. After a Thai migrant worker was diagnosed with the disease in Taiwan, health officials there issued a February 14 travel advisory, warning expectant mothers or women trying to get pregnant to put off traveling to Thailand, and for men to wear condoms after returning to avoid potentially spreading the virus via sex. But Dr. Nick White, a tropical-disease expert who has researched mosquito-borne diseases for decades at Thailand’s Mahidol University, called Taiwan’s travel guidance “excessive.” He said Thailand is being singled out for having good surveillance and fast case reporting compared to other countries in the region, “but to say that it would be worse to come here than say, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia or Malaysia, there’s absolutely no evidence of that at all,” he said.

What is microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome? How are they linked to Zika?

Babies with microcephaly are born with small heads, and their brains may not have developed properly. The condition can lead to seizures, learning disabilities, developmental problems, cerebral palsy, vision problems and other issues.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks the nervous system. People of all ages can be affected. The condition causes weakness and loss of sensation or tingling in the arms and legs and, sometimes, elsewhere on the body. Most people recover from it, but it can cause paralysis or death. Scientists are researching the potential link between microcephaly, Guillain-Barre and Zika virus to try to understand it better. “We don’t know enough about it,” White said, adding that it’s unclear whether the exact same virus circulating in the Americas is also prevalent in Asia. “No one has identified rampant microcephaly anywhere else, so I think we need to know a lot more about it before panicking.” AP, Bloomberg News

Economy BusinessMirror

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Real-estate sector got ₧970.9 million worth of subsidies in 2013–PSA B C U. O

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ILIPINO taxpayers paid close to a billion pesos in subsidies to the real-estate sector in 2013, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This was based on the preliminary results of the 2013 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) for Real Estate Activities, with employment of 20 and over.

Data showed that government subsidies extended for real-estate activities reached P970.9 million in 2013.

“Subsidies are all 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.

Most of the subsidies, data also showed, were extended to realestate activities with their own or leased property received subsidy from the government amounting to P970.9 million.

Region-wise, the PSA said, only the National Capital Region, or Metro Manila, and the Visayas area received subsidies from the government.

Subsidies extended to the realestate activities in Metro Manila

reached P924.66 million, while subsidies extended to the Visayas region reached P42.25 million.

The PSA, meanwhile, said there were a total of 496 establishments, with total employment of 20 and over in the formal sector of the economy, which were engaged in real-estate activities.

Data showed 9 out of 10 establishments were engaged in real-estate activities with own or leased property.

Around 339, or 86.3 percent, of these firms were based in Metro Manila, while 50, or 10.1 percent, were in the Visayas. Firms based in Mindanao reached 32, or 6.5 percent, of the total.

The total value added of the sector reached P174.7 billion in 2013.

Real-estate activities with own or leased property contributed higher value added at P171.6 billion, or 98.2percent share to the total.

Data showed that real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis accounted for 1.8 percent of the total, amounting to P3 billion in 2013.

The 2013 ASPBI aims to collect and generate information on the levels, structure, performance and trends of economic activities of the formal sector of the economy for the reference period.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon • Saturday, February 20, 2016 A3

NEA released ₧2.019-billion loans to power co-ops in 2015

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B L L

HE National Electrification Administration (NEA) has extended some P2.019 billion worth of loans to 51 electric cooperatives (ECs) last year.

Among others, the money was used by the ECs to finance rehabilitation of damaged power-distribution systems mainly caused by typhoons.

Fourteen ECs filed for calamity loan worth P308 million, saying that typhoons Mario, Lando, Glenda, Nona, Ruby and Seniang severely damaged their distribution systems. Calamity loan has a term of 10 years of repayment period, with one-year grace period, with interest

rates ranging from 3.25 percent to 4 percent.

A total of P82 million was extended to six ECs to finance their monthly shortfall on the settlement of their power accounts with the generation companies (gencos) and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Electric Cooperative Inc. (Casureco I) availed itself of the standby

credit-loan facility for power accounts amounting to P5 million to strengthen its creditworthiness with gencos.

Four co-ops in Mindanao, namely, Zamboanga City Electric Electric Cooperative Inc. (Zamcelco); Misamis Oriental Rural Electric Service Cooperative (Moresco I); Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative Inc. (Daneco); and Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Surneco) secured loans amounting to P404 million for the procurement of modular-generator set in anticipation of the shortfall of power supply on the island, especially during the summer months.

Surneco alone availed itself of P187 million to pay for modulargenerator sets and short-term credit facility.

“As part of the NEA’s mandate, the agency has developed a credit-

National Museum to build ₧50-M branch in Cagsawa

Baldoz blasts ‘exaggerated’ report of massive OFW retrenchment in Saudi

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ABOR Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Friday said reports of “massive” overseas Filipino workers (OFW) retrenchments in Saudi Arabia that find their way into the local media are not helpful at all to the country, especially to OFW families.

She said such exaggerated statements are causing “anxiety and confusion,” particularly in terms of ensuring an effective and unified national response to the plight of OFWs who might be affected, not just by the global decline in the price of oil, but by any crisis or emergency.

“One such statement—that of Migrante, with which we strongly disagree—was not based on hard facts. It exaggerates the situation and unnecessarily fuels the anxiety [to] the public.

This kind of statement does not help at all,” Baldoz said.

She issued the remarks, after Philippine Overseas and Employment Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac reported that present realities on the ground in Saudi Arabia have not reached a point as described by the migrant workers’ organization.

“There is no massive, oil-related OFW retrenchment as of today,” Baldoz said, after reading Cacdac’s report.

In his report to Baldoz, Cacdac said he had met with concerned recruitment agencies, and will do so again in the next few days to keep an updated score of the real situation in Saudi Arabia.

Baldoz added that labor attachés Rustico de la Fuente and Jainal Rasul Jr. reported that Saudi companies are not dismissing wholesale from their jobs

OFWs, as some reports have indicated.

Baldoz admitted, however, that two construction giants, Saudi Oger Ltd. and Saudi Binladin Group, which employ a large number of OFWs, are having problems that affect their workers.

“Saudi Oger Ltd. has cases that have been recurring since last year, even before the global oil-price downturn,” Baldoz said. She said that based on Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) records, Saudi Oger has only 8,757 OFWs. In Jeddah and Western Saudi Arabia it has 1,407 OFWs working in its construction division; and 1,667 in its maintenance division.

“The 20,000 figure cited by Migrante is padded. It could include workers of other nationalities,” she said.

“We have already said last week that since last year, some Saudi Oger workers have been experiencing delays in salary that are not oil-related, although the company has had lesser difficulty paying workers with salaries of 5,000 Saudi riyals and below,” she explained.

Rasul reported that only workers in Saudi Oger’s construction division are experiencing delays in payment of salaries, which have led some workers not to renew their contracts. But management, according to the Polo official, has already announced through a letter to all its employees that starting March, all salaries will be paid before the end of the month and all outstanding unpaid salaries will be paid progressively in the coming months.

Saudi Oger Ltd. has construction projects in Jeddah, Taif, Makkah, Madina and Kaust in Tuwal. PNA

THE Cagsawa Church ruins in Albay with Mayon Volcano on the background.

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ARAGA, Albay—The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) will shortly build a P50-million modern museum branch inside the Cagsawa Ruins Park here to replace a former structure demolished by Typhoon Reming in 2006.

The project is deemed essential, after NMP declared Cagsawa Ruins a National Cultural Treasure (NCT) last December.

NMP said its Cagsawa branch was its most visited facility outside Metro Manila before Reming wiped it out.

NMP officials announced the construction of the new NMP branch here during the opening of the Cagsawa Festival early this month, led by Albay Gov. Joey S. Salceda and other government officials. An NMP official read the formal declaration of Cagsawa Ruins as an NTC. Salceda has welcomed NMP’s project, and said he is proposing for a wing in the spacious building

to house two new museums Albay is presently working on. First, is the the Museum of the Natural History of Albay, to display native artifacts and important archaeological and historical finds; and, second, the Museum of Albay Resiliency, to house the province’s records on zero-casualty experiences and its pioneering and multiawarded rehabilitation programs and disaster riskreduction strategy.

Salceda said Cagsawa Ruins is the appropriate site for such museums, since the place also symbolizes Albay’s “indomitable spirit and resilience, surviving this far, after more than two centuries ago, when Mayon Volcano erupted violently, burying a huge Baroque church and an entire settlement around it in a lahar avalanche and the flashfloods that followed.”

The 1.5-hectare ruins area is just 11 kilometers away from Mayon Volcano, 2 km from Daraga town proper and 8 km from

Legazpi City. It is what remains of a Franciscan church built in 1724, buried underground by lahar, after Mayon Volcano’s cataclysmic eruption of 1814. Some 1,200 people were reported killed when volcanic materials inundated the areas.

NMP Director Jeremy R. Barns said the declaration highlights Cagsawa Ruins’s importance “to the entire world that the ruins are officially recognized as intrinsic part of the patrimony of the Filipino people and…central to the legacy that the present generations should take special care of.” It also qualifies the ruins for more government assistance and protection.

Following its declaration as an NTC, the 202-year-old Cagsawa Ruins itself will get a P42million budget for refurbishing, promotion, protection and the long-needed preservation of its fragile façade. Of the budget, P35 million comes from the Tourism

Aquino orders abolition of PVAC and Phividec

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RESIDENT Aquino has issued an order abolishing the Philippine Veterans Assistance Commission (PVAC) and the Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp. (Phividec), transferring their functions to other agencies.

Mr. Aquino issued Memorandum Order 87 on February 11 for the abolition of the PVAC and the Phividec, which will be undertaken by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and -Controlled Corp., in coordination with the Department of National Defense (DND).

The PVAC ’s function of providing services to veterans will be absorbed by the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office

guarantee program and facility for the ECs. This is to establish a power-supply guarantee to secure the power purchase of qualified ECs in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, Interim Mindanao Electricity Market, or under a bilateral contract with the gencos or NGCP,” NEA Administrator Edita Bueno said.

“The NEA also continues to find ways to make funds readily available for the ECs, particularly in times of natural and man-made calamities, for them to serve better their member-consumers,” she added.

The average number of days to release a loan is eight working days for regular loans and five days for calamity loans for 2015.

The 46-year old state-run agency has so far extended P33.318billion loans to the 119 ECs nationwide to finance their rural electrification projects.

(PVAO), while its commercial function will be given to the Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA).

The DND, PVAO and the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) will undertake the disposition of Phividec assets.

The Department of Finance (DOF), on the other hand, will pay for the outstanding financial obligations of the PVAC and the Phividec from the proceeds of the assets sale based on government budgeting and auditing regulations.

Mr. Aquino’s memorandum also mandates the creation of the technical working group for the implementation of the order.

This group will be composed of the DND,

PVAO, PIA, DOF, Bureau of the Treasury and the PMO. The PVAC, created by Presidential Decree 244, was mandated to draw, invest and manage private financial contributions for the employment, medical care and education of veterans and their dependents.

The Phividec, meanwhile, was established through Presidential Decree 243 for the purpose of formulating and executing policies for the full and continued employment of the productive capabilities and investment of military veterans and retirees.

However, the “unabated losses” sustained by the PVAC and the Phividec made

them no longer financially viable.

Mr. Aquino said in the order that, in line with Sections 6 and 8 of Executive Order 43 and the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, the abolition of the two government-owned entities will serve the best interest of the state to improve national productivity and reduce ineffective spending of government money. PNA

Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority; P5 million from Albay; and P2 million from the Daraga local government.

Salceda said Cagsawa Ruins is vital to the strong tourism industry of Albay, now considered as the country’s fastest-growing tourist destination. It deserves to be preserved and protected, especially now that it has been declared as a cultural treasure. The Pacific Asia Tourism Association has recently declared Albay as a top global destination.

The postcard-perfect Cagsawa Ruins features the top of a belfry of the buried church framed

by Albay’s crown jewel, Mayon Volcano, in photographs and social-media posts. Records show it has been visited yearly by some 350,000 foreign and local tourists. The number is expected to further balloon in the coming years.

The Albay Historico and Culture Unit, which manages Cagsawa’s conservation vision, said preservation and fencing of the area “is the most important component of the project, as it would assure that the bell tower would not be easily toppled in the event of an earthquake, and would arrest the continued deterioration of the walls inside the ruins.” PNA

A4 Saturday, February 20, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Loss of trust in government

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E want to believe. We want to have trust.

We want to have confidence that the government can do its job. But the truth of the matter is that people have lost faith.

The two greatest influences on our lives come from the private business sector and from the public government sector. We expect the private sector to provide certain goods and services, and the government to provide certain necessary goods and services. It must be a partnership.

Neither side can fulfill its responsibility without the other. Both are supposed to act as check and balance. The government should write laws and regulations to prevent abuses and excesses from the private sector, and business must sometimes reduce or sacrifice profits to supply the citizens with what they need.

Sometimes—and, perhaps, too often—there seems to be an open conflict between public and private, where goals and objectives are not the same. But we expect both sides will have to, at times, sacrifice their own self-interests for the general good and welfare of the people.

The great forces and institutions of both private and public are necessary, and even critical, for society to function and to prosper. However, we know that business and government have both failed the people various times.

There is always a human face of these two sectors, like the head of a nation, like President Aquino, or the founder of a great company, like Steve Jobs of Apple. But it is the perceptions of the institutions that are vitally important.

We want to believe that the cashier at the department store will not try deliberately to cheat us with our change any more than the cashier who takes our money for a driver’s license will not overcharge us.

Ideally, there should be an equally high trust by the people of both the public and private sector. That kind of trust does not exist any more.

The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer paints a dismal picture. In Mexico 76 percent of the people trust “Business” versus 32 percent who trust “Government.” The Mexican government has failed to provide the people with the necessary peace and security for decades. The numbers for Brazil are 64 percent for business and only 21 percent having trust in government due to the economy under near collapse.

In both India and Germany, both sectors are nearly equally trusted, with a slight advantage to the business side.

Interestingly, in China (70/79), Russia (38/53) and, most surprising of all, South Korea (33/35), it is government that gets the vote of confidence of the public. People in those countries trust the government to properly look after their needs more than business.

In the United States and the United Kingdom—both with strong government institutions and the rule of law—business is much more strongly trusted than the government, 51 percent to 39 percent, and 46 percent to 36 percent, respectively.

When a government loses the trust of the people, the environment can change quickly to a place where social unrest becomes nasty.

Run! The robots are coming John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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OR the last few months, many news stories have been written that sound like they could have come from the movie The Terminator, where robots take over the world.

Last November the Bank of England issued a report that machines might take over 80 million American and 15 million British jobs over the next 10 to 20 years, or 50 percent of the work force in each of the two countries. Of course, the operative word—not found in the attentiongrabbing headlines—is “might.”

No mention was made by the Bank of England whether robots would be running the American and British central banks, or whether the robots could have avoided plunging the world into a financial crisis like the

human central bankers did.

The fact is that we have “robots” all around us from the automatic washing machine, the coffee maker and even your automatic transmission automobile. And robots are great.

But interestingly, a study in the US comparing the amount of time spent doing household chores is almost exactly the same today as before washing machines, dishwashers and robot vacuum cleaners.

Certainly, some jobs have been, or could be, eliminated by robots. Moving merchandise around a warehouse

by automated forklifts is much more efficient and cost-effective than by some human that had too much to drink the night before. No industry has seen more robotic automation than the automobile industry. However, one of the leading nations in automation—Germany—saw the number of human jobs rise in proportion to the amount of robots employed in the manufacturing process.

The addition of robots made manufacturing cheaper, thereby increasing the number of cars sold and expanding available human jobs as the industry grew.

Two weeks ago The Economist magazine published an article— “The end of the line”—about how robots will help eliminate call-center jobs. What followed was “panic in the streets” or “I told you so” from local commentators. It is good to note every prediction of call-center agents being replaced by voice-recognition software comes from either the developers of that software or studies based on data from those companies.

Further, the February 25, 2008, issue of the Christian Science Monitor ran an article titled “Robots set to overhaul service industry, jobs” with the same forecast. The Cincinnati Business Courier newspaper ran a similar article on May 3, 2004.

There will always be technological changes that affect the call-center business as in all industries. There are higher value-added levels in both the Philippine outsourcing business in general and call centers in particular that need to, and will, be exploited. The voice and online customer-service business today is far more advanced than what it was even 10 years ago and today will seem as far away 10 years in the near future.

However, as American author Mark Twain wrote, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

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 the COL Financial Group Inc.

US Congress is wary of Chinese deal for Chicago Stock Exchange

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B J R | Bloomberg View

OZENS of members of Congress plan to ask the Obama administration to review the planned acquisition of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a Chinese firm, to assess whether it poses a national security risk or a risk to the companies traded on the exchange.

The Chicago Stock Exchange announced this month that it would be sold to a consortium led by the Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group (CCEG) of China, a move that would inject needed resources into the exchange and give the Chinese firm a foothold in the $22-trillion US equities marketplace. Chinese state media reported that the deal was meant to eventually bring more Chinese firms into the US market, and that US technology could be used to open new exchanges in China, a potential win-win for both sides. But the exchange’s CEO, John Kerin, has said that he cannot publicly identify who owns Chongqing Casin and that the Chinese government may be a minority stakeholder, as it is in most large Chinese businesses.

On Wednesday a group of several dozen US lawmakers plan to formally request that the Obama administration conduct a national security review of the deal through a process known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

“The American market has little information about CCEG, and it shares many of the traditional opaque qualities of a Chinese company,” said a letter from 45 Republicans and one Democrat to the members of the CFIUS board, which is led by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. “While

it is unclear the level of influence the state holds over CCEG, the firm is involved in a number of important Chinese sectors that would likely require close ties to the state.”

The company was created by the Chinese government in 1997 to absorb state-controlled assets, the lawmakers wrote, and the firm’s chairman Shengju Lu still has ties to the government of Chongqing, a city in southwestern China. The letter asks the administration to rigorously investigate the company’s ties to the Chinese government.

“Should you determine CCEG maintains a close relationship with the Chinese government—and therefore the Chinese military— we would urge CFIUS to deny this acquisition,” the lawmakers wrote.

Rep. Robert Pittenger, the Republican who initiated the letter, told me in an interview that if the Chinese government had influence over US markets, it could manipulate them to the advantage of Chinese companies or to artificially benefit the Chinese economy.

“It’s clearly of a concern they could play upon our own stock exchange,” he said. “The financial markets, the stock exchanges, they have a critical impact on our nation’s economy.”

He also sees risk in giving a Chinese firm access to the exchange, because it could also have access to

proprietary information that US companies share with the exchange in order to do business, and he said such access would constitute a “major cybersecurity concern.”

Several legal experts who have experience dealing with CFIUS cases told me that the Chinese acquisition of the Chicago Stock Exchange is an obvious choice for a review on national security grounds. Anne Salladin, an attorney who worked on CFIUS cases in the Treasury Department until 2013, told me that any case involving a Chinese acquisition is a likely candidate.

“Chinese companies routinely receive heightened scrutiny. It’s also in an area of financial infrastructure that could be viewed as particularly sensitive,” she said. “I’d be very surprised if CFIUS didn’t have an interest in taking a look at this deal.”

Often, parties to a deal that might warrant CFIUS review file papers with the government on their own, preemptively. The committee then typically conducts a 30-day review to determine whether an investigation is warranted. That investigation then takes an additional 45 days, after which the committee either approves the deal or recommends the president unwind it. A Treasury Department spokesman said the government does not comment on whether a deal is being reviewed in the CFIUS process.

Dozens of deals involving China have undergone CFIUS investigation, and most were approved. The US government approved a Chinese firm’s acquisition of Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer, in 2013 despite Congressional objections. That same year, CFIUS approved the Chinese state-owned oil

giant CNOOC’s $15-billion purchase of Canadian energy behemoth Nexen Inc., which had assets in the US. In 2005, IBM was allowed to sell its PC business to Lenovo.

But the committee has rejected several Chinese purchases of US firms when national security risks are front and center. The US government has blocked multiple deals involving Huawei, the Chinese telecom company that has links to the Chinese military, according to the US intelligence community. President Barack Obama also forced the dissolution of the Chinese Sany Group’s purchase of a wind farm company in 2012, because the wind farms were near a Navy training facility in Oregon.

CFIUS has approved foreign acquisitions of US stock exchanges in the past, including the 2007 purchase of a stake in the Nasdaq by a group including investors from the United Arab Emirates and the 2011 Deutsche Boerse acquisition of the New York Stock Exchange, although that deal later fell through for other reasons.

There’s also the possibility that CFIUS and Chongqing Casin could negotiate a middle ground whereby the Chinese firm agrees to limited access and involvement.

The US has a strategic interest in attracting foreign direct investment, and the political imperative in building economic ties with China is high. The CFIUS process is meant to be apolitical and based solely on national security considerations.

If the US government does look into this case, it will likely find that Chongqing Casin’s lack of transparency, combined with the systemic importance of the exchange, make this deal a tough sell.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

China hunts for aliens… and scientists

‘Misericordiae Vultus’ Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Adam Minter

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

HINA has announced that it’s relocating 9,110 villagers to make way for a giant telescope that—among other tasks—will search for extraterrestrial life. Once the unlucky residents are gone, the government will get down to the real business of the world’s largest radio telescope: Attracting the scientific talent necessary to transform China’s economy.

That won’t be easy. China leads the world in sending students abroad, with the very best often remaining there. Chinese science and engineering students are more likely than those of any other nationality to stay in the United States after completing their PhDs. The reasons include China’s endemic cronyism in academic appointments and funding, a closed, censored Internet that cuts researchers off from the global scientific community; and a government-driven science culture.

In recent years, China has tried several different tacks to remedy this brain drain and advance a culture of innovation. In 2008 the government established the 1,000 Talents Program to entice gifted scientists with big salaries and budgets. But top researchers have been reluctant to give up academic appointments back home and the program has been wracked by allegations of fraud.

Another strategy is to throw money at the problem. Between 2004 and 2014 China increased its Research and Development (R&D) budget by an average of 23 percent annually, and in 2012 overtook Europe in the proportion of its GDP that goes to research. But this boost masked a significant problem. According to a 2014 analysis by Nature, China has historically spent very little of its R&D on basic research and, instead, focused on projects that can bring quick, tangible results (like consumer products). That’s not the kind of cutting-edge research that brings the best and the brightest to Shanghai.

China’s science bureaucrats are also eyeing foreign models. The US has provided one instructive example, especially following World War II, when generous immigration policies and ample funding for everything, from space exploration to the Human Genome Project, lured top European scientists. More recently, the multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland has attracted top particle physicists and engineers from around the world.

Thus, the massive radio telescope will soon displace thousands from the Chinese countryside. It will do much more than search for aliens. As the largest telescope of its kind, by far, it’s likely to provide fundamental insights into basic questions of

According to a 2014 analysis by Nature, China has historically spent very little of its R&D on basic research and, instead, focused on projects that can bring quick, tangible results (like consumer products). That’s not the kind of cuttingedge research that brings the best and the brightest to Shanghai. astronomy and cosmology. In short: If you’re a radio scientist, especially a Chinese one, that’s the place where you can do cutting-edge research.

Other ambitious projects are in the works, as well. Last fall China announced that it will begin work on the world’s largest particle accelerator—a successor to the Large Hadron Collider—in 2020. State media quoted Gerard’t Hooft, the 1999 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, saying the accelerator “will bring hundreds, probably thousands, of top class scientists” to China.

And the payoff isn’t just economic.

The prestige and status that accrue to countries that succeed in science is something China’s leaders covet.

Days after a US-based team announced it had confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, Chinese scientists proposed three separate, highly expensive projects to extend the country’s space research. The Communist Party’s official newspaper ran an editorial simply titled “Why did we miss the gravitational waves?” Clearly, the intent is not to miss the next big discovery.

There’s no guarantee that any of these projects will succeed, of course. President Xi Jinping’s ideological crackdown has hurt the spirit of free inquiry in China, while the scientific establishment remains highly politicized, slow to make decisions and without clear leadership. Even so, China now has the financial might and the experience to create scientific instruments and projects that will attract the best and brightest researchers. The rest of the world should brace for the competition.

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

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URING Lent of this Holy Year, I intend to send out Missionaries of Mercy. They will be a sign of the Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith.

There will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate as confessors will be even clearer. They will be, above all, living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of His pardon. They will be missionaries of mercy because they will be facilitators of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again. They will be led in their mission by the words of the Apostle: “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that He may have mercy upon all” (Roman 11:32).

Everyone, in fact, without exception, is called to embrace the call to mercy.

May these missionaries live this call with the assurance that they can fix their eyes on Jesus, “the merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” (Hebrews 2:17).

I ask my brother bishops to invite and welcome these missionaries so that they can be, above all, persuasive preachers of mercy. May individual dioceses organize “missions to the people” in such a way that

these missionaries may be heralds of joy and forgiveness. Bishops are asked to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with their people so that the time of grace made possible by the Jubilee year makes it possible for many of God’s sons and daughters to take up once again the journey to the Father’s house. May pastors, especially during the liturgical season of Lent, be diligent in calling back the faithful “to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace” (Hebrews 4:16).

May the message of mercy reach everyone, and may no one be indifferent to the call to experience mercy.

I direct this invitation to conversion even more fervently to those whose behavior distances them from the grace of God. I particularly have in mind men and women belonging to criminal organizations of any kind.

For their own good, I beg them to change their lives. I ask them this in the name of the Son of God who, though rejecting sin, never rejected the sinner. Do not fall into the terrible trap of thinking that life depends on money and that, in comparison with money, anything else

Saturday, February 20, 2016 A5

is devoid of value or dignity. This is nothing but an illusion! We cannot take money with us into the life beyond. Money does not bring us happiness. Violence inflicted for the sake of amassing riches soaked in blood makes one neither powerful nor immortal. Everyone, sooner or later, will be subject to God’s judgment, from which no one can escape.

The same invitation is extended to those who either perpetrate or participate in corruption. This festering wound is a grave sin that cries out to heaven for vengeance, because it threatens the very foundations of personal and social life.

Corruption prevents us from looking to the future with hope, because its tyrannical greed shatters the plans of the weak and tramples upon the poorest of the poor. It is an evil that embeds itself into the actions of everyday life and spreads, causing great public scandal. Corruption is a sinful hardening of the heart that replaces God with the illusion that money is a form of power. It is a work of darkness, fed by suspicion and intrigue. Corruptio optimi pessima, Saint Gregory the Great said with good reason, affirming that no one can think himself immune from this temptation. If we want to drive it out from personal and social life, we need prudence, vigilance, loyalty, transparency, together with the courage to denounce any wrongdoing. If it is not combated openly, sooner or later, everyone will become an accomplice to it, and it will end up destroying our very existence.

This is the opportune moment to change our lives! This is the time to allow our hearts to be touched!

When faced with evil deeds, even in the face of serious crimes, it is the time to listen to the cry of innocent people who are deprived of their property, their dignity, their feelings and even their very lives.

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BLOOMBERG

HAT does the US Constitution really have to say about whether the Senate must put a president’s Supreme Court nominee to a vote? President Barack Obama says the Constitution “is pretty clear on what happens next”: He nominates, and the Senate says yes or no in a timely fashion. Republicans think the Constitution gives the Senate the right, not just the power, to give the president’s nominee a hearing or to refuse to do so.

They’re both wrong. Here’s what the Constitution says about filling Supreme Court vacancies: nothing.

In fact, the Constitution says nothing about the size of the Supreme Court at all. Congress could pass a law leaving the number of justices permanently at eight. Or it could expand the number to 23. All the Constitution requires is that there

be a Supreme Court. Beyond that, we’re in the realm of politics.

Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution says that “judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish.”

That’s right, Congress doesn’t have to create any lower federal courts at

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The first-class relics of Saints Pio de Pietrelcina and Leopold Mandic may be visited at the Radio Veritas Chapel from February 15 to 20. His Holiness Pope Francis designated Saints Pio and Leopold as saint-confessors for Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy “to inspire people to become reconciled to the Church and to God, by the confession of their sins.” Devotees seeking healing and other petitions may visit the images and relics from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Radio Veritas Chapel at the second floor of Veritas Tower, 162 West Avenue corner Edsa in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, we are spreading charity in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. Caritas Manila opened its second outlet in Victory Town Center yesterday, February 19, through the generosity of Nelson Ching, president of Victory Mall. Segunda Mana is the donations-in-kind program of Caritas Manila, which accepts preloved items such as clothes, shoes, bags, toys, home and fashion accessories as gifts for charity. Caritas Manila’s Segunda Mana advocates the 3Rs: reuse, reduce and recycle.

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.

Latin American women especially defenseless against Zika

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OW that researchers have identified a tangible link between the Zika virus and fetal brain deformation, pregnant women and those of childbearing age in the Latin American countries hardest hit by the mosquito-borne virus will have to make tough decisions about their reproductive future. Use birth control? Abstain? Abort if there’s evidence of potentially lethal birth defects?

Or at least that’s how it ought to go.

In reality, women in many Latin American countries have almost as little control over their bodies as they do the weather. They are subject to rampant sexual violence, have received little or no sex education and may have limited access to birth control. When they do get pregnant, abortion is illegal in most countries, though some have exceptions in cases of rape, fetal impairment or danger to the life of the mother. In El Salvador the strictures are particularly harsh. There are no legal abortions, and women may go to jail for the “crime” of

suffering miscarriage.

These realities make the paltry governmental response in El Salvador and like-minded countries—warning women not to get pregnant until the Zika crisis is over—all the more ludicrous. Just how does it help to scare women while offering no tools or information? It’s unrealistic, and even irresponsible, to expect women to somehow stave off pregnancy when birth control isn’t an option and rape is widespread. Although condoms are easily accessible, they can be unaffordable to poor women. Emergency contraceptives are even pricier or, in the case of Honduras, banned outright.

The World Health Organization declared Zika an international publichealth threat on February 1 based on its “explosive” spread throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. At the time, medical experts strongly suspected that the virus was implicated in microcephaly in more than 4,000 newborns in Brazil and feared that might be related to an

uptick in another neurological condition, Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Since then, the evidence connecting Zika to microcephaly has mounted. Last week researchers in Slovenia confirmed microcephaly, brain injury and the Zika virus in the brain of a fetus whose mother had gotten pregnant while in Brazil. This week researchers in Brazil said they found the virus in the brains of two infants with microcephaly, who died just hours after birth. More studies will be needed before the Zika connection is certain, but it’s not looking good.

Complicating the unfolding crisis is the assertion by a group of Argentine physicians that the rash of microcephaly cases is due to a larvicide, pyriproxyfen, used to control mosquitoes. Though there’s not a shred of scientific evidence that this is the case, the Brazilian government has stopped spraying, which may only worsen the Zika epidemic in that country.

Even before this new evidence came to light, the United Nation’s Office of the

Obama and Republicans are both wrong about Constitution Noah Feldman

To stick to the way of evil will only leave one deluded and sad. True life is something entirely different. God never tires of reaching out to us. He is always ready to listen, as I am too, along with my brother bishops and priests. All one needs to do is to accept the invitation to conversion and submit oneself to justice during this special time of mercy offered by the Church.

all. It could rely on state courts to handle all federal law issues with a right of appeal to the Supreme Court.

From the fact that the lower courts are optional, you can deduce that the Supreme Court isn’t. But the size of that court is left undefined.

In theory, I think, it could consist of a single judge. The interpretation of the Constitution would rest his hands. You could even call him Anthony Kennedy.

When it comes to nominations, Article II, Section 2 says that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint,” among other officials, “judges of the Supreme Court.”

The word “shall” sounds like a directive. But remember that Article II, Section 3 says that the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” According to the Obama administration, as it’s expressed his views in the Supreme Court case involving executive

action on immigration, this provision doesn’t obligate the president to enforce every law all the time.

The word shall confers some discretion on the executive. Presumably, if Obama didn’t want to nominate a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia at all, it would be within his constitutional discretion not to do so.

As for the Senate’s “advice and consent,” it’s hard to argue that this requires the body to put a nominee to a vote. The Senate has essentially complete control over its own rules and practices. Most prominently, it has long used the filibuster, which is a rule of procedure that deviates from the principle of majority rule.

You might think the filibuster is undemocratic and unconstitutional, but you can’t do anything about it, because it’s up to the Senate to decide how to operate.

Given this self-control, the Senate certainly possesses the de facto authority to refuse to confirm or

even consider a nominee. This would amount to reducing the number of justices on the court—but that, too, is within Congress’s control.

Changing the number of justices isn’t unprecedented. Most famously, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt supported legislation in 1937 to pack the court by adding new justices for every justice older than 70. At the time, six of the nine justices were past that mark—a reminder that the current court isn’t that old in comparison. In essence, Roosevelt was proposing a court of 15.

At other times in US history, the number of justices has been as low as six and as high as 10—all as determined by statute. There’s obviously no requirement that the number be odd. If Congress wants a gridlocked court that affirms case by a divided vote, it can have it, according to the Constitution.

The Obama administration could argue that, so long as the statutory number of justices is nine, it’s

High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Latin American countries to repeal their policies restricting reproductive rights and give women the help they need to avoid pregnancy if they wish. It fell on deaf ears. With a stronger link established, other voices must join in the effort to persuade lawmakers to launch public-awareness campaigns that target both men and women (men in Latin American counties are often averse to using condoms) and provide free birth control to any woman who needs it.

Doctors and public-health authorities also have a duty to appeal to their countries’ leaders to give women access to birth control and abortion—at the very least until a Zika vaccine has been created or researchers rule out the virus as the cause of brain defects. That could be months or a year away. Their involvement is especially important, given that one pillar of culture in Latin America— the Roman Catholic Church—won’t be offering any help. TNS

obligated to nominate a replacement and the Senate is obligated to give or withhold its consent. On this view, only a statute passed by Congress and signed by the president can change the total number of justices.

But this would be highly formalistic argument, inconsistent with the functionalism that the administration has rightly espoused in the immigration case. The word “consent” implies a choice by the Senate to say yes or no. Add the word “advice,” which isn’t usually given a technical constitutional meaning in this context, implies a right to express a view.

The upshot is that the Constitution really doesn’t answer the question of what the president or the Senate must do after the death of Scalia.

It sets the ground rules for a political battle—and the politicians can fight it out. That’s OK. Our Constitution has its good points—and one of them is that it doesn’t solve every political question. Nor should it.

Sports

RONDA UNFURLS IN BUTUAN CITY

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HE LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2016 unfurls on Saturday with the staging of the Mindanao Leg starting with the 158.32-kilometer Stage One that will start and finish at the Butuan City Hall in Butuan City.

Reimon Lapaza, the pride of the host city who topped Ronda Pilipinas two years ago, and Navy-Standard Insurance riders headed by team captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante, Ronald Oranza, Joel Calderon and Jan Paul Morales will be the riders to watch in this annual race, considered the biggest in the country.

“We trained hard for Ronda Pilipinas alone,” said Reynante in Pilipino on the eve of Ronda’s sixth edition presented by LBC and LBC Express, sanctioned by PhilCycling and sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation, Petron and Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp., with Maynilad and NLEX as minor sponsors.

Lapaza and his Cycleline team confirmed months ago that they will join, but surprisingly declared they’ll skip the event on Thursday night.

They changed their minds again on Friday, when host Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand M. Amante Jr. interceded.

“We’re here to support not just our Butuan City riders like Lapaza, but also Ronda Pilipinas as a whole,” Amante said.

Sports Development head and Ronda Project Director Moe Chulani, for his part, was happy with the development.

“We’re expecting a very exciting race with Lapaza expected to make Butuan City proud,” said Chulani.

Lapaza made a name for himself for topping the 2014 edition of this annual race considered

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as the biggest in the country and pocketed a cool P1 million for his feat.

Also participating is Ranlean Maglantay, a native of Marbel, South Cotabato, who is the youngest entry at 18 years old.

Maglantay, whose father Randy is a motor mechanic, will vye not just for top purse worth P50,000 for the LBC-leg champion, but also the P25,000 prize given to the Petron Local Hero plum.

“I’m thankful to Ronda Pilipinas for giving me the opportunity to compete,” said the shy Maglantay in Pilipino.

Butuan will also host Stage Two, a criterium before the race proceeds to Cagayan de Oro for Stage Three, another criterium, on Tuesday.

Ronda will be at the scenic Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, next for the individual time trial Stage Four on Thursday before capping with the Stage Five criterium in nearby Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Ronda has also included a mountain bike race in each of every leg.

From Mindanao, action shifts to the Visayas for the Stage One criterium in Bago City, Negros Occidental, on March 11, with Iloilo hosting the next stage with another criterium on March 13. Stage Three will be a road race from lolilo to Roxas City Ilolilo on March 15 while Stage Four will be another criterium race for TT in Stage Five, both in the ITT Roxas on March 17.

A7 Saturday, February 20, 2016

CYCLISTS navigate the old zig-zag road in Atimonan, Quezon, during Stage Two of 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas won by Oleg Zemlyakov (below, left) of Kazakstan’s Vino 4-ever SKO team. NONIE REYES

KAZAKH TAKES LEAD

Manny respects Nike’s decision

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OXING star Manny Pacquiao said on Thursday that he respects Nike’s decision to sever ties with him over his comments about gay relationships but stood pat on his opposition to same-sex marriage and added he’s happy that “a lot of people were alarmed by the truth.”

The American apparel giant said on Wednesday that it will no longer have any business dealings with the Filipino boxing champion, adding that it found his comments “abhorrent.” Nike says it strongly opposes any kind of discrimination.

“Whatever decision Nike makes is its decision and I respect that and its sponsorship of me now only involves my clothes for my fight,” Pacquiao told reporters during a break in his training for an April 9 bout with Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas.

“Our contract has already ended aside from sponsoring the boxing,” he said.

The Bible-quoting Pacquiao, 37, has become an active Christian in recent years and has publicly declared his opposition to same-sex unions. When he was asked by a local TV network as a Senate candidate about his views on same-sex marriages, Pacquiao came under fire for his curt reply.

“It’s just common sense,” Pacquiao said in the remarks posted online by the TV5 network earlier this week. “Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?”

Animals, he said, were better because they recognize gender differences, and “if you have male-to-male or female-to-female [relationships], then people are worse than animals.”

Among those who reacted strongly were popular gay celebrities in the country, some of whom declared they have lost their adulation for him.

Even his American boxing promoter Bob Arum has criticized Pacquiao.

“What he’s saying is diametrically opposed to what I believe,” said Arum, who is promoting Pacquiao’s upcoming fight with Bradley. “I’m “ in favor of gay rights and same-sex ’m apologetic personally to marriage. I’m the gay movement in the United States.”

Pacquiao has found some allies. An opposition senator, Juan Ponce Enrile, told ABS-CBN TV network that Pacquiao was right, adding that if LLG BT groups would LGBT insist on same-sex marriage, “it’s better for them to go to planet Mars.”

Pacquiao, whose rag-to-riches life story and legend as an eight-division boxing champion have brought honor to his poor Southeast Asian nation and wealth to him, has apologized for hurting people’s feelings. He added he did not intend to condemn gays.

“I am not condemning the LGBT,” Pacquiao said. “What I am condemning is the act.”

“I’m happier because I’m telling the truth....

It’s worse if we will hide the truth,” he said. I’m happier that a lot of people were alarmed by the truth.” AP

Ceres, Kaya trounce rivals in UFL

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SIAN Football Confederation (AFC) Cup 2016-bounded clubs Ceres-La Salle and Kaya warmed up for their big gig next week, as they trounced their respective rivals in the United Football League (UFL) Cup on Thursday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Ceres routed Pasargad, 9-0, for its third straight win and kept the solo lead in Group B, while Kaya cruised past Agila, 5-1, to claim the top spot in Group A on goal difference.

Ceres flew to to Bacolod for its home match against Malaysian powerhouse Selangor at the Panaad Stadium, while Kaya will travel to Hong Kong to face Kitchee also for their AFC Cup debut.

Adrian Gallardo and Stephan Schrock put up a show for Ceres, as they combined for seven goals giving as Ceres has scored 24 goals in their last two outings. The squad also scored a 15-0 massacre of Nomads last Sunday.

Gallardo drew the first blood with a header in the 20th minute, then Schrock immediately

doubled the lead, 2-nil, as he struck home from 8 yards six minutes later. Kevin Ingreso made it 3-nil 10 minutes before the break.

In the first match, Kaya pounced on Agila in the second half, breaking away from a 2-1 lead at halftime after scoring three more goals to take the win.

Former Azkal Aly Borromeo opened the scoring for Kaya in the 12th, minute but Agila’s Jang Dong Hee equalized at 19th minute. OJ Porteria put the lead back to Kaya at 38th minute.

Meanwhile, the UFL Disciplinary Committee has reversed the outcome of Global’s 2-1 win over Green Archers United (GAU) on Saturday as Global violated the foreign player rule.

Global exceeded in the number of foreigners allowed in the match-day squad. The Archers filed a protest and UFL awarded a 3-0 win to GAU to climb to second in Group B behind Ceres-La Salle. Lance Agcaoili

U

PHILL specialist Oleg Zemlyakov showcased his sprinting prowess on Friday as the promising Vino 4-ever SKO rider ruled the grueling Stage Two in dominant fashion and claimed the coveted yellow jersey in the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas on Friday in Daet, Camarines Norte.

Zemlyakov, 22, made his presence felt early on in the Category Two King of the Mountain challenge at the fabled “Tatlong Eme” in Quezon National Park in Atimonan then unleashed a ferocious attack in the final 5 kilometers to complete his first-ever stage victory in the annual road race presented by Air21.

“This is my first international stage win, so I am happy,” beamed Zemlyakov, a proud native of Petropavl in North

Kazakhstan who negotiated the long and winding 204.82-km trek from Governor’s Office in Quezon Province in five hours, eight minutes and 48 seconds.

Zemlyakov’s fellow Kazakh youngster, Yevgeniy Gidich, came in second, 16 seconds off the pace together with Australian native Jesse James Ewart of 7-Eleven/SAVA BRP and Mongolian Batmunkh Maral-Erderne of Malaysian-based Terengganu Cycling Team.

7-Eleven’s Marcelo Felipe emerged as the best Filipino rider in Stage 2 as he finished sixth overall with a clocking of 5:10:03, the same time submitted by Team Ukyo’s Spanish cyclist Tora Sauador, in the only International Cycling Union race in the country organized by Ube Media Inc. headed by President Donna Lina.

After International Commissaire Peter Tomlinson decided to give the remaining 73 protagonists identical clockings of 4:03:39 following the stoppage of the opening stage on Thursday, Zemlyakov has accumulated a total time of 9:12:17, enjoying at least 19 ticks off his closest pursuers.

Zemlyakov, who emerged as the Best Young Rider and finished fifth overall in last

NU one win away from crown, routs La Salle-Zobel in Game 1

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ATIONAL University (NU) showed no mercy against De La Salle-Zobel and moved one closer to the crown with an emphatic 78-58 in Game One of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 juniors basketball finals on Friday at The Arena in San Juan City.

Holding a thrice-to-beat advantage after sweeping the elimination round, the Bullpups never missed a beat from the get-go and banked in the solid game from slotman Justine Baltazar and inched closer of bring the title back to Sampaloc.

The 6-foot-7 Baltazar finished with 15 points and 27 rebounds, while John Lloyd Clemente added 16 markers and eight boards.

“No matter what happen, Zobel will come out strong [in Game Two]. But I really commend my boys, because they followed the system. They played hard,” Bullpups Head Coach Jefferson Napa said.

NU relied on its defense, limiting the Junior Archers to nine points in the second quarter, en route to a 40-22 advantage at the halftime.

In the fourth period, the Bullpups unloaded an 8-0 run and never looked back to post a commanding 70-39 lead with eight minutes remaining in the game.

“The team played with their hearts, they

followed all the instructions of the coaches,” Napa added. “Determinado ’yung mga bata, may gusto talaga silang patunayan.”

Baltazar, who just turned 19, knew that the job is not done yet and they need to win one more.

“May isang game pa na dapat tapusin.

Sinusunod lang namin ang sinasabi ng coaches,” Baltazar said.

Soon-to-be-named Season 78 Most Valuable Player Aljun Melecio

registered 15 points but struggled beyond the arc with a 1-of-8 shooting from rainbow territory. Marco Sario and MR Romero each scored 10 points for the Junior Archers. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Lady Troopers test Cargo Movers’ mettle

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PENING-DAY winners RC Cola-Army and F2 Logistics square off for the solo lead, as Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational 2016 goes out of town on Saturday at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan.

The showdown is set at 1 p.m., to be followed by the tussle between Foton and New San Jose Builders at 3 p.m.

The Lady Troopers made a sensational return in the interclub league with a rousing 25-17, 25-9, 25-22 victory over the reigning Grand Prix champions Foton, while the Cargo Movers debuted in style as they blasted their fellow newcomer New San

Jose Builders also in straight sets, 25-23, 25-10, 25-4, on Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

After missing the interclub league for more than a year, the three-time PSL champion Army returned on a high note in the league they once dominated.

But Head Coach Emilio “Kungfu” Reyes observed that all the other teams gave improved a lot.

“Every game you have to prepare because this league is very unpredictable,” Reyes said.

Army, bannered by Rachel Anne Daquis, skipper Jovelyn Gonzaga, Royse Tubino, Tina Salak and Mary Jean Balse-Pabayo, braces for

a tough stance from F2 Logistics.

“They are strong opponents because [Cha Cruz, Aby Marano] those names are the stars of their own team, and they are mentored by former National Team coaches Mayie [MolitPronchina] and Zeani [Ybanez-Chavez],” Reyes said. “We will really prepare for them for the people who believe in us.”

Pronchina, on the other hand, believes that the Lady Troopers are the favorites this conference, and she will lean on Marano, Cruz, Lilet Mabbayad, Pau Soriano and Danika Gendrauli as they aim for a 2-0 start.

“We will study their game, and we really need blocking and receiving because they are

the team to beat,” she said.

However, all eyes will still be on Marano in the match, as she will be taking on her former team.

“I’m really excited because they were my [former] teammates whom I shared laughter with inside the court,” Marano said. “So it’s a different thing, it’s something new for me, given that I have a deep relationship Army, and now they are my opponents.”

Marano, who recently signed with F2 Logistics days before the Invitational conference started, was also a former member of Army last year in another league.

Lance Agcaoili

year’s edition, is expected to be the marked man going to the final two stages, starting with the 185.79-km challenge to Legazpi City on Saturday.

Vino 4-ever SKO Manager Sergey Danniker believes Zemlyakov can protect the yellow jersey until the final stage, an out-and-back 160.20-km battle in Albay’s capital city on Sunday, as long as he and his teammates can work their game plan to perfection.

“I’m confident he can keep the yellow jersey,” said Danniker of Zemlyakov, who took runnerup honors in the Tour of Bulgaria and Tour of Szeklerland in Romania last year.

However, Marcelo, 26, admitted the battle for the coveted crown in the annual race which has Petron, MVP Sports Foundation and Smart as principal sponsors remains tougher.

“I’m expecting the other contenders to make their moves tomorrow [Saturday],” said the Nueva Ecija native. “So I think we will be in for another tough outing in what could be the decisive stage.”

But Marcelo, a notable sprinter, knew how formidable the Kazakhstan-based team is.

“They are really strong even if most of them are still young. Even last year, we were already

NIEL TOLENTINO (10) of National University passes the ball to his teammate, as De La Salle-Zobel’s Sean Francisco (8) tries to block his attempt. NONOY LACZA

contending with them,” he said.

Zemlyakov and his four other fellow Kazakhs proved too hot to handle as they immediately dictated the pace and never let up, even controlling the 12-man led group in the zigzag roads of Labo town, some 10 km to the finish.

Sensing that Marcelo and his other rivals were running out of steam, Zemlyakov went on the decisive surge entering the town of Talisay and cruised to the finish, throwing his arms in jubilation before an appreciative crowd in front of Dolor Hotel.

Buoyed by the 1-2 finish of Zemlyakov and Gidich, Vino 4-ever SKO took control of the team general classifications with an accumulated clocking of 27:40:34, eight minutes and 16 seconds ahead of 7-Eleven/SAVA BRP. Terengganu is third with 27:49:32.

While Gidich secured the White Jersey as the best young rider, Zemlyakov accumulated 10 points in his KOM challenge win and tied Vino 4ever Sko teammate Zhandos Bizhigitov for the Polka Dot jersey with 10 points.

Serving as major sponsors of the event are Cargohaus, NMM, UFL, Philippine Airlines, Collab Printing Solutions, Autonation, Orangefix and Phenom.

Lady Eagles eye fifth straight win

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TENEO de Manila tries to preserve its perfect record against Adamson University as they clash in the opener of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 78 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Eagles and the Lady Falcons battle at 2 p.m., to be followed by the match between ( and the streaking National University (NU) University of Santo Tomas (UST) at 4 p.m.

Ateneo remains undefeated after four starts in the season and has an unbelievable winning streak of 22 games dating back in Season 76 finals.

Two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Alyssa Valdez and the rest of the Lady Eagles will continue to follow Coach Tai Bundit’s game plan to keep the solo top spot.

“Definitely, Coach Tai has been doing his role as a coach, so we will just listen to him and try to apply everything that he instructs and, hopefully, we can do it,” she said.

Valdez, who is playing her final season, has faced Adamson, and knows she needs the support of setter Jia Morado, Maddie Madayag, Amy Ahomiro and Bea de Leon to stretch their winning streak to five games.

“You know what Adamson can do, we all know that, so for sure we’re gonna prepare for Adamson and every team for our next games,” she said. “Every game in my four years in UAAP, Adamson has been always giving us a good fight.

Definitely, they know our game and, hopefully, we could perform well and give them a good fight on Saturday.”

The Lady Falcons have lost their last three games after winning their opening game against UST. Head Coach Sherwin Meneses will rely on Jessica Galanza and team captain Mylene Paat.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs try to notch their fourth straight win against the Tigresses.

NU is currently sharing the second spot with De La Salle with identical 3-1 records. Lady Bulldogs mentor Roger Gorayeb is wary of UST as it can put up a solid showing anytime.

“UST’s school pride is a huge factor to their players. It can bring them everywhere and it can boost the level of their confidence,” Gorayeb said.

“And we have to break that by playing well.”

Lance Agcaoili

A8 | S

Sports

ATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

BIG WIN

BY CLIPS L

B B B Los Angeles Times

OS ANGELES—There was still nearly a full quarter to play when Chris Paul bent over and planted his hands on his legs, lingering for several seconds during the early portion of a time-out, taking every moment he could to relax.

He spent the game’s final 11 minutes, leaving everyone else breathless.

The Los Angeles Clippers point guard flung passes and drove for layups and rose for jumpers, becoming the foil once again for the San Antonio Spurs on the same court where he had ended their season nine months ago.

Paul carried the severely short-handed Clippers to a 105-86 victory over the Spurs on Thursday night at Staples Center while scoring 26 of his 28 points in the second half, including 15 in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been talking about by any means necessary,” Paul said after an emotionally wrought day in which he had traveled to Oklahoma City to attend the funeral of Ingrid Williams, the wife of Thunder Assistant Coach Monty Williams who died in a car accident on February 10.

Paul was cheered wildly after checking out with two minutes and seven seconds left, the Clippers having needed each of his 12 assists and five rebounds in 37 minutes. Paul played all but 3:54 of the second half.

“This is too much,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said of Paul’s minutes. “I mean, we can’t keep doing this.”

The Clippers (36-18) had piled up wins in the absence of injured star forward Blake Griffin, but they had not beaten one of the top 3 teams in the Western Conference until Thursday in their first game after the All-Star break.

J.J. Redick scored 12 of his 17 points in the third quarter for the Clippers, whose 20-point lead was shaved to five early in the fourth quarter, before Paul threw a crosscourt pass to Jamal Crawford for a three-pointer, drove for a layup and made a jumper over former teammate David West. He added three free throws, a three-pointer and a driving layup.

Griffin and Assistant Equipment Manager Matias Testi were

BusinessMirror

LAC gets J Green; Morris to Wizards

back with the team for the first time since Griffin punched Testi last month at a Toronto restaurant, leaving Testi with a swollen face and Griffin with a broken right hand. Griffin sat next to his teammates on the bench, with Testi seated behind him several seats over.

The Clippers’ official Twitter feed sent out a picture of Griffin slapping hands with Testi in the first quarter with the hashtag #Family.

Tony Parker had 14 points for San Antonio, which looked out of sorts without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard (calf tightness). The Spurs (45-9) made only four of 17 three-pointers.

The Clippers were woefully thin at point guard with Pablo Prigioni sidelined by a viral illness, joining Austin Rivers (broken hand) on the bench.

“I tried to sign Sam today,” joked Clippers Assistant Coach Mike Woodson, referring to fellow Assistant Sam Cassell.

Woodson addressed the media before the game because Doc Rivers was among a contingent of players and coaches from the Clippers and Spurs was still en route back from the funeral.

Spurs Coach Greg Popovich returned in time for his pregame media availability but did not want to discuss the difficult circumstances.

“This isn’t TMZ or the Crazy Channel,” Popovich said. “Just basketball.”

Doc Rivers said he went into the funeral not knowing whether his team had completed a trade, having turned off his phone after giving General Manager Dave Wohl the go-ahead to try and complete a deal. When the service ended, Rivers turned on his phone and learned the Clippers had traded Lance Stephenson for Memphis’ Jeff Green.

Rivers said he envisioned using Green in both forward spots and being able to play alongside Griffin when Griffin plays center in a small lineup.

EFF GREEN joined the Los Angeles Clippers, and Markieff Morris moved to Washington in a largely tepid end to the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) trade deadline day.

There were no deals involving Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, Al Horford, or any other All-Star caliber player whose named was floated in recent days.

Major moves will wait for the summer, when a soaring salary cap and a strong free-agent class could provide the fireworks that never materialized on Thursday.

Washington and most of the other teams battling for a spot at the bottom of the Eastern Conference race may have improved, though the New York Knicks couldn’t come up with anything.

Houston, Cleveland, Chicago and Atlanta all made trades, though mostly minor ones. Teams interested in their top players not only had to weigh giving up assets versus signing them in the summer, but also whether they wanted to acquire a player who could be a free agent and command a huge salary when the cap increases to around $90 million in July.

LOS Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul goes up for a shot against San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green. AP

Nadal, Ferrer reach q’finals of Rio Open

A.P.’S BEST Golden State

Warriors’ Stephen Curry (left) accepts the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year award from Associated Press sportswriter Josh Dubow in Oakland, California. AP

R

US Olympic team expects Coach K in Rio

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NITED States of America (USA) Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo expects Mike Krzyzewski to lead the Americans this summer, and the coach says he has “every intention” of being in Brazil.

Krzyzewski plans to have left kneereplacement surgery following the completion of Duke’s season, and Colangelo told National Basketball Association TV during All-Star weekend in Toronto that he was “thinking about what ifs” if Coach K’s health prevented him from returning.

But Colangelo said on Thursday in a statement that “at no time” have he and Krzyzewski discussed him not coaching this summer.

“I was aware that coach planned to have kneereplacement surgery immediately after Duke’s season was completed, but at no time have coach and I ever discussed him not coaching the USA National Team this summer,” Colangelo said.

“I remain 100-percent convinced that there is no better coach to lead the US as it looks to successfully defend its Olympic gold medal in Rio and represent the United States in a manner all Americans will be proud of.”

Krzyzewski, 69, has been the US coach since 2005, leading the Americans to consecutive Olympic gold medals and two straight world championships.

He missed a game earlier this month after feeling ill and was briefly hospitalized at Duke University Hospital, but rejoined the 20thranked Blue Devils the next day and has been with them since, including for their victory over No. 5 North Carolina on Wednesday.

“Our medical team here at Duke and I expect a full recovery following the rehabilitation process, and I have every intention of coaching the United States National Team in Rio at the 2016 Olympics,” Krzyzewski said.

Duke, depending on its success in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, will have its season end anywhere from March 17 to April 4. The Olympics are scheduled to start August 5. AP

Veteran players can earn 25 percent or more of the cap as their first-year salary.

Green went from Memphis to the Clippers, giving them another versatile forward while Blake Griffin is sidelined. Morris, unhappy this season in Phoenix, joins a disappointing Washington team that is 10th in the East.

A look at some of the key deals: CLIPPERS GO GREEN: Coach Doc Rivers brings in another of his former Boston Celtics and ships out Lance Stephenson, who disappointed in Los Angeles just as he did in Charlotte. The Grizzlies also acquired a future first-round pick.

MORRIS MOVES ON: The Wizards gave up a first-round draft pick and forwards Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair for Morris. Despite his outbursts in Phoenix this season after the Suns traded his twin brother, Marcus, to Detroit, Morris was the Suns’ third-best scorer and should benefit from playing with the backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal.

FRYE’S THEIR GUY: Cleveland dealt seldomused Anderson Varejao to Portland and brought in Channing Frye from Orlando, giving them another perimeter-shooting big forward like Kevin Love to help spread the floor for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

HAWKS ON POINT: Instead of trading point guard Jeff Teague, who was involved in a number of potential trade talks, Atlanta brought in a new potential backup in a three-time trade. They sent Shelvin Mack to Utah and Justin Holliday to Chicago, which also got a second-round pick from the Jazz.

D-MO IN MOTOWN: Detroit made its second deal of the week, acquiring forward/ center Donatas Motiejunas and guard Marcus Thornton from Houston for center Joel Anthony and a protected 2016 first-round draft pick.

Motiejunas, a Lithuanian nicknamed D-Mo, joins Tobias Harris, acquired earlier from Orlando, in bolstering the Pistons’ frontcourt.

THUNDER STRIKE: With D.J. Augustin’s playing time as backup point guard reduced following the emergence of rookie Cameron Payne, Oklahoma City sent him and Steve Novak to Denver for Foye, a veteran who can play both guard positions. AP



JORDAN SPIETH’S 79 at the Northern Trust Open is his worst start since turning pro. AP

WORST START BY SPIETH B D F

L

The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Camilo Villegas hasn’t make a cut all year and has only broken 70 one time in four previous trips to Riviera, so it was mildly surprising to see him with an eight-under 63 to build a three-shot lead on Thursday in the Northern Trust Open.

That wasn’t the biggest surprise.

One spot from the bottom of the leaderboard was Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 1 player who shot an eight-over 79 on one of his favorite courses. It was his worst start ever as a pro, and his highest score since an 80 in the third round of the 2014 Tour Championship.

“In the course of a career, I imagine it’s going to happen,” Spieth said. “Just unfortunate when it actually does.”

And there was one more surprise for everyone.

Riviera, which played so fearsome during the practice rounds under a hot sun, was softer than usual after a steady overnight rain that never cleared until moments before the first round began.

Spieth said he couldn’t trust how the course was playing. Villegas also was stunned when he heard players from the morning round talk about four-irons stopping on the green, instead of taking a hard bounce.

“You don’t really shoot eight-under around this place not playing good,” Villegas said. “Obviously, the rain yesterday made the golf course a lot more accessible.”

Bubba Watson, who won at Riviera two years ago with a 64-64 weekend, opened with a 66 along with Chez Reavie and Luke List.

Rory McIlroy, making his first Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour start this year and his debut at Riviera, opened with two quick birdies and added two

more on the front nine for a 67. He was in a large group that included 22-year-old Charlie Danielson, the Illinois senior who earned a spot in his first PGA Tour event by winning a collegiate qualifier on Monday.

“I just went out and tried to enjoy the day,” Danielson said. “I had no idea if I would shoot 80 or 66, so I just went out with no expectations and it worked out.”

Spieth didn’t have any expectations of a 79—or worse. Still to be determined is whether his ball moved before hitting a chip on the ninth green.

Spieth asked rules officials to review the video. He said he was fairly certain it didn’t move, but wanted to be sure. A decision was not expected until Friday morning. It would be a one-shot penalty under Rule 18-2 if the ball did move.

That was the least of his worries. The round got away from him on the back nine when he kept missing greens and leaving himself short par putts that are difficult on poa greens in the afternoon. Spieth dropped six shots over the last seven holes, including a threeputt double bogey from 8 feet on the 18th.

“I’m not throwing this tournament away,” Spieth said. “I’m not packing it in by any means.”

Only one other player in the 144-man field shot worse than Spieth. The Masters and US Open champion was the last man on the practice range on Thursday night when the first round was suspended by darkness. Fourteen players did not finish the round.

Villegas didn’t want it to end.

He opened with a pitch to tap-in range for birdie on No. 10, far less fearsome with slightly softer conditions. But his round really took off on the front nine when he ran off four straight birdies starting at No. 5 when he holed a 25-foot birdie putt. He hit his tee shot to 3 feet on the par-3 sixth, and holed a pair of 15-foot putts on the next two holes. Villegas

needed one more birdie at No. 9 to match the course record of 61 that Ted Tryba set in 1999.

He missed the green to the right and chipped to 4 feet, missing the par putt and settling for a 63.

“I got on fire there for a little stretch,” he said. “And obviously, a little mishap on the last hole.

But man, I thought I made the chip, too. It was a good day out there. Fun.” McIlroy started birdiebirdie, and his lone mistake was a tee shot into a deep bunker on No. 15, leaving him no chance at reaching the green. Even so, he was happy to take advantage of the conditions.

“Put myself out of position a couple of times, but with the way the conditions of the golf course were, it didn’t punish you as bad as if it would have been as firm as it was the last couple of days,” McIlroy said.

Villegas figured it out quickly and played more aggressively, going at pins instead of planning for a big bounce.

“I would say I was a little surprised with my eightunder to be honest. This is a golf course where it’s not easy to shoot eight-under,” Villegas said. “I didn’t know Jordan shot eight [over], but obviously he must have had a bad day. But again, everybody has bad days in this sport, man.”

IO DE JANEIRO—Even the King of Clay Rafael Nadal needs victories to boost his confidence, which has waned recently as his dominance has slipped on the slippery red surface.

“Winning is the important thing, which gives you confidence and lets you relax,” Nadal said after joining fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the Rio Open, the third clay-court tournament in the monthlong swing around Latin America.

Nadal and Ferrer— the top 2 seeded players—both beat countrymen on Thursday to reach

the last eight. Nadal beat Nicolas Almagro, 6-3, 7-5, and Ferrer defeated Albert RamosVinolas, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Nadal has won 14 of 15 matches against Almagro.

Nadal was knocked out in the semifinals last week in Buenos Aires, which he linked partly to stomach problems and the stifling heat in the Argentine summer.

“I’m feeling better physically,” Nadal said.

“Last week I had a little problem with my stomach during the whole week, and with the humidity—it was unbelievable. I felt so bad physically. Here, I’m feeling much better because the stomach is much better. That’s the key on the improvement of my game, and victory helps.”

Nadal will face Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, while Ferrer meets young Austrian Dominic Thiem in the last eight, a matchup of one of the most consistent players on clay against a 22-year-old viewed as a star of the next generation.

Thiem defeated Nadal last week in the semifinals in Buenos Aires en route to winning there. Ferrer has won 26 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles titles—five last season.

“He’s a very great player,” Ferrer said of Thiem.

“He’s young. He’s playing with confidence. He’s going to be a top player, for sure. I like his game, and tomorrow is going to be tough I know. I’ll have to play my best tennis for a win.”

Constant downpours the first three days forced schedulers to compress the schedule on Thursday and put Ferrer in action during the afternoon with suffocating humidity and temperatures around 35 oC (95 oF). AP