Businessmirror august 27, 2016

“He’s taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America’s two major political parties.”—Hillary Clinton, accusing Donald Trump of unleashing the “radical fringe” within the Republican Party, including anti-Semites and white supremacists, dubbing the billionaire businessman’s campaign as one that will “make America hate again.” AP

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“To Hillary Clinton, and to her donors and advisers, pushing her to spread her smears and her lies about decent people, I have three words. I want you to hear these words, and remember these words: Shame on you.”—Donald Trump, rejecting Clinton’s allegations, defending his hard-line approach to immigration while trying to make the case to minority voters that Democrats have abandoned them. AP

“I think there would be more than enough work for a council of applied historians.”—Graham Allison, a professor of government and director of Harvard’s Belfer Center, calling on the next US president to create a Council of Historical Advisers that would tackle present problems by looking to the past.

Along with Niall Ferguson, they contend that few leaders from any presidential administration have shown a deep understanding of history in the Middle East, for example, or of the US’s involvement in the region. AP

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A broader look at today’s business n

Saturday, August 27, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 322

D.A. TO TAP PRIVATE SECTOR, LGUs IN RICE SELF-SUFFICIENCY PROGRAM

Palace abandons rice program, but not Piñol

T

INSIDE

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@arteliterary

he Department of Agriculture (DA) will now have to look for other funding sources for its rice self-sufficiency dream, after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) deleted the P18-billion supposed allocation for the program.

‘Taking care of the elderly can be a joy’

Our time

₧18B

The budget sought by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol for the rice program that was scrapped by the DBM Continued on A2

b4

saudi exec sees oil-outPUT freeze as ‘positive’ The World BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Iran’s oil minister became the latest Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member to say he will attend a meeting of producers in Algiers next month to discuss market conditions, including the possibility of keeping crude production at current levels.

Saudi Arabia rejected an earlier attempt by some in the Opec to freeze output at an April meeting in Doha.

“We will be willing to listen to our colleagues, what they have to offer in that area,” Khalid Al-Falih, who became Saudi energy minister in May, said in an interview on Thursday in Los Angeles. “I don’t believe that an intervention of significance is required. I certainly don’t advocate a cut.”

Crude oil has gained about 13 percent since Opec said it would meet informally to discuss prices and supply, on speculation that the group could agree to freeze output levels. Benchmark Brent crude settled at $49.67 a barrel on Thursday in London.

There is an increasing agreement between Opec, non-Opec

effect of a freeze. “There is the freeze that is official, and there is the freeze that is practical,” Al-Falih said. “Today when you think about it practically, many countries today are at their capacity. Their room for an increase are limited, certainly for the short or medium term.”

13%

Iran output

The percentage crude oil has gained since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced it would meet to discuss prices and supply

producers to move to manage oil production as market forces are not enough to correct prices, Opec’s Secretar y-General Mohammed Barkindo told Al Hayat pan-Arab daily on Thursday.

Opec output

PrODuCEr S f rom O pec w i l l meet on the sidelines of an energy-policy group. The meeting of Opec and other producing countries in April ended without agreement in Doha, when Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran be

Saudi arabia’S Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih at the recent 169th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries conference BloomBerg News

part of any deal to limit output.

Iran had ruled out a ceiling on its production until it recovered the output levels it had before the uS and European union tightened international sanctions on its oil industry in 2012. “A freeze

signifies that everybody is content with where the market is today and they want it to be trending in that direction,” Al-Falih said. “It is trending toward soaking up and absorbing, removing, the inventor y overhang.”

Opec output increased to 33.2 million barrels a day in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The group’s capacity is 36.9 million, with most of that in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter. That may limit the

IrAn’S production has risen to 3.85 million barrels a day since sanctions were eased in January, Zanganeh said this month, still less than its target for the end of this year of 4 million barrels a day.

Opec as a whole has boosted output to record levels since adopting a Saudi-led decision in 2014 to protect the group’s global market share by forcing out higher-cost producers.

The International Energy Forum, comprising of 73 countries that account for about 90 percent of the global supply and demand for oil and natural gas, will meet in Algiers from September 26 to 28.

“I will participate in this meeting,” Iran’s Zanganeh was cited as saying by the oil ministry’s news service Shana. Zanganeh had not previously committed to attending the meeting, and he didn’t comment on the position Iran will take at the talks. Zanganeh also said he will meet with Opec SecretaryGeneral Mohammed Barkindo “in the near future.” Bloomberg News

China’s power play in Asia emboldened by US politics H

OnG KOnG — uS De fense Secretary Ash Carter warned a few months back that China risked a “great wall of self-isolation” for its actions in the disputed South China Sea. That hasn’t deterred Xi Jinping.

Beijing is boosting its military presence in the area unabated, in the face of stepped-up uS patrols and a recent arbitration court ruling that invalidated its claims to most of the waterway. After decades of uS dominance in the western Pacific, Xi’s behavior throws up an increasingly urgent dilemma for America in how to slow China’s military and economic expansionism.

The risk now is that troubles afflicting a signature Barack Obamabacked trade deal embolden China to see how much further it can push the world’s biggest economy. regardless of who wins the uS presidential election in november, the mood among a vocal number of American voters is one of isolationism after more than a decade fighting wars thousands of miles away and amid concern about preserving uS jobs.

That domestic climate is threatening the uS ratification process for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact that would cover 40 percent of world commerce and does not include China. republican Party nominee Donald Trump says the TPP will cost uS jobs and Democrat Hillary Clinton has reversed her earlier support for it. “right at the heart of China’s conduct in the East China Sea and the South China Sea over the last few years has been a conviction that the uS doesn’t have the resolve to push back hard against China’s prodding,” said Hugh White, a professor of strategic studies at the Australian national university in Canberra and author of The China Choice. If TPP fails, “it will encourage them to think that America is not willing to pay the costs and risks required to push back against it and that will encourage China to test it.”

Trump has raised the prospect of cutting military assistance to

allies, such as Japan and South Korea, and starting a trade war with China. Whether he would or could make good on that is unclear—the checks and balances of Congress might reign him in. But he has found a strong populist rump in the electorate for his views.

While Clinton would probably seek to preserve ties with the region, she would need to manage the political noise at home. under Obama, the uS embarked on a military and economic rebalance to Asia, with the policy articulated by then-Secretary of State Clinton in 2011. Aimed at assuring Asia of America’s commitment to the region, China has painted it as a bid to contain it. The policy has had two main pillars—a military buildup in the western Pacific, and uS advocacy for the TPP. While the arbitration court’s July ruling in favor of the Philippines’s challenge to China’s South China Sea claims was a diplomatic setback for Xi, it hasn’t stopped China from militarizing reclaimed reefs, according to Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative photographs that show reinforced hangars that seem designed to house jet fighters. It has also flown bombers over the disputed waters, announced joint naval exercises with russia and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan has called for preparation for a “people’s war at sea.”

“China’s expansionist claims in the South China Sea, reiterated in its angry rebuff of the recent arbitral decision, make it clear that the uS faces a crucial test of its reliability in Southeast Asia,” according to a recent article coauthored

by Patrick Cronin, director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a new American Security. “The president should offer assurances to allies and partners that coercive moves that undermine the historic legal ruling risk a confrontation with the uS.” China is also seeking to displace uS economic influence amid questions over whether the second plank of the rebalance, the TPP, will

get through the uS Congress. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke on his recent visit to Washington of the need for TPP to be ratified: “For America’s friends and partners, ratifying the TPP is a litmus test of your credibility and seriousness of purpose.”

“Failure to pass TPP will have an impact,” said Catherine A. novelli, undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment. “China is actively working in Asia and has strong relationships with its neighbors and we expect this will continue. TPP provides balance in the region and sets a very high bar for transparent rules and open and fair trade.”

China isn’t a member of the TPP, which is being sold as a kind of super trade deal that would not only slash tariffs on goods and services among its 12 members, but would establish shared standards in areas, such as labor and the environment. Participants include the uS, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Obama has vowed to keep pushing the TPP during the lame-duck session of Congress that follows the election. His efforts to get the deal ratified received recent support from a group of senior former republican officials who, exasperated by Trump, said they’d back Clinton’s presidential bid and that they hoped she’d reconsider her TPP position. “Failure to approve it would cede to China the role of defining regional trade rules,” they wrote in an open letter.

Beijing has established the $100-billion Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank to complement its “One Belt, One road” initiative of building ports and transport links across Asia to Europe. Xi has touted investment and trade in the region to offset concerns about China’s military ambitions, and pushed an alternate Asia trade pact to the TPP. Still, while China may be able to make short-term capital of any TPP collapse, strategists in Beijing fret any advantage may be frittered away. Bloomberg News/TNS

World

BLOOMberg

E

dgar Acebuche made around $32 a week driving a garbage truck and selling old bottles and papers in his Manila shantytown. It wasn’t enough to provide for his two children, help his younger sibling through school and pay for his mother’s hypertension medicine, so he sold drugs.

When Acebuche, who dreamed of opening a billiards hall, realized that President Duterte might win the Philippine presidency with his pledge to start a merciless war on drugs, relatives say he stopped dealing. “He left Manila” to lay low, said his cousin Alicia Danao, returning home occasionally to see his kids and wash their clothes.

On one visit on July 18, Danao said the police took Acebuche, 42, away. Two hours later they returned with his body. According to the police report, Acebuche “suddenly grabbed” an officer’s gun. Sensing “imminent danger,” the officer shot him. Danao said in an interview in the shantytown in early August that when the police returned Acebuche’s body, one of them told

Asia exports show little recovery sign amid global slump

Saudi exec sees oil-output freeze as ‘positive’

S

‘DUTERTE COURTING POLITICAL RISKS IN DEADLY DRUG WAR’

See “Duterte,” A2

Saturday, August 27, 2016 b2-1

audi arabia’S energy minister said an oil-output freeze would be “positive” if it happens, while ruling out a cut in production.

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TRUST IN THE LORD Dear Lord, happy are we who are giving our time in caregiving. “If you are wondering what God’s plan is in all this, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit in Him, and He will make your paths straight.”—Proverbs 3: 5-6. We need strength, warm and cheerful attitude to continue caring for clients under our care. Amen!

Caregivers, Lori Hogan, Shared by Luisa M. Lacson

history con manila A 1924 Packard Single Six Model 226 used by Emilio Aguinaldo, first Philippine president, is displayed at the ongoing History Con Manila. History Channel celebrities make their appearance at the first-of-its-kind fourday event. Visitors are treated to an epic event that covers a broad range of genres and interests, with dedicated areas for the paranormal/sci-fi, survival and adventure, motoring, history and culture. History Con will run until August 28 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. NONIE REYES

Manila insists talks with Beijing to be based on arbitration ruling

By David Cagahastian

M

@davecaga

alacañang on Friday brushed aside renewed calls in China for the Philippines to abandon the arbitration ruling in its favor, even as President Duterte reiterated that any bilateral negotiations will not go beyond “the four corners” of the ruling.

Palace Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella said the new statements, published in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, are mere

PESO exchange rates n US 46.4890

internal propaganda targeted at their own members and do not reflect the Chinese foreign policy.

“That’s their local paper. Perhaps, it’s better if we understand that they have statements meant for people outside and those meant for within. That statement, which you’re referring to, is meant for those within,” Abella said in a news conference in Malacañang.

The People’s Daily reiterated China’s earlier reported stand against any bilateral See “Manila,” A2

ABELLA: “That’s their local paper.

Perhaps, it’s better if we understand that they have statements meant for people outside and those meant for within.

That statement, which you’re referring to, is meant for those within.”

S

igns of life returning to Asian trade have stirred up some optimism of a recovery, but a closer look at the data coming out of the region indicates the malaise is far from over.

While export figures from Malaysia and Thailand showed surprising strength in June, trade continues to contract across most of Asia in the face of sluggish global growth, lower commodity prices and weaker demand from China.

“There is hardly any room for cheer,” Taimur Baig, a Singapore-based Deutsche Bank AG economist, said by email. “Substantial recoveries in price and demand, both for commodities and electronics/machinery, are necessary for regional exports to return to trend levels, an outcome that is very unlikely.”

Malaysian exports rose 3.4 percent in June from a year earlier, while merchandise shipments from Thailand gained 1.9 percent. That’s in contrast to elsewhere in the region, where exports are still posting declines of more than 10 percent.

Singapore’s nonoil exports—the most commonly used gauge for trade performance—dropped 10.6 percent in July from a year earlier. Japan said last week shipments fell 14 percent in the period, the biggest drop since 2009, while in the Philippines, exports declined 11.4 percent in June. Customs data for Thailand released on Friday showed a 4.4-percent contraction in exports in July.

See “Exports,” A2

n japan 0.4625 n UK 61.3329 n HK 5.9948 n CHINA 6.9794 n singapore 34.3625 n australia 35.4014 n EU 52.4721 n SAUDI arabia 12.4007

Source: BSP (26 August 2016 )

A2 Saturday, August 27, 2016

BMReports BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Palace abandons rice program, but not Piñol Continued from A1

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told the BusinessMirror on Thursday that he is eyeing to implement a “public-private partnership”schemeforfarmingasananswer to the DBM’s scrapping of the DA’s proposed budget and project.

“Yes, [the P18-billion budget] was not approved by the DBM, but we will not stop [to push for rice sufficiency]. Even without the approval of the Rice Productivity Enhancement [RIPE], it doesn’t mean we are going to stop [to achieve rice sufficiency],” Piñol said in a phone interview on Thursday.

The RIPE is a recovery program that would distribute seeds and fertilizers to rice farmers affected by El Niño, Piñol said. The budget allocation for the

Manila. . .

Continued from A1

negotiations until the Philippines abandons the favorable ruling issued by the United Nations’s Permanent Court of Arbitration, which invalidated China’s “nine-dash line” claim.

But Mr. Duterte himself had reiterated any bilateral negotiations with China will have to take into account the arbitration ruling in favor of the Philippines’s economic rights over the disputed territories.

President Duterte, however, said he would not raise yet the issue regarding the bilateral talks during the Asean Leaders’ Summit he would attend next month in Lao PDR. “There are critical issues, but it is not

Exports. . .

Continued from A1

According to Deutsche Bank’s calculations, Malaysian and Indonesian merchandise exports in the first half of this year were down more than 20 percent compared with two years ago. China and Thailand, with declines of more than 5 percent, were the best performers under this metric, while exports in Singapore and Japan were about 10 percent lower. China, like every other major economy in Asia aside from Japan and Vietnam, posted a double-digit export contraction last year, according to estimates from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.

“After what can only be characterized as a dreadful performance over 2015, the cumulative trade performance

program wasn’t approved by the finance committee during the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations hearing for the DA’s 2017 National Expenditure Program on August 25.

“In fact, I heard that some people said I looked stupid by proposing such a huge investment for rice sufficiency,” Piñol said on his Facebook page on Friday.

Piñol added that he is planning to establish “local government corporate farms,” (LGCF) that would make the country 100-percent rice self-sufficient and, at the same time, fulfilling the order of President Duterte to distribute 20 kilograms of rice to family-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

Under the LGCF, the local government units (LGUs) will adopt a publicly or privately owned farm, which they will fund the proper time to be ranting, raising hell or whatever. We are better off just biding our time. But I will wait for the bilateral talks. When that would be, I really do not know,” Mr. Duterte said in a press conference on Thursday evening.

“Then, I’ll put squarely the things that we have. We will be talking about the arbitral judgment, and maybe we cannot go out of discussion within the four corners of this paper. But that has to wait. Because if I act hostile now, then they might just decide not to sit in front of you and talk,” he added.

President Duterte said he would make a goodwill visit to China to express his willingness to negotiate issues regarding the West Philippine Sea, and that the Philippines adopts a “friendly” attitude toward China to avoid war, which is “not an option.”

for 2016, based on year-to-date exports, looks like it could be even worse,”Weiwen Ng, an economist at ANZ in Singapore, said in an e-mail. The UK’s decision to leave the European Union and a global rise in protectionism doesn’t bode well for the trade outlook, while in Japan, a stronger yen is wreaking havoc on the economy. Credit Suisse said in a report on Friday that global growth will remain lackluster next year at 2.6 percent, compared with an estimated 2.4 percent in 2016.

“Without a rebound in private capital expenditure across the world, of which there is little sign as of now, and with Brexit ripples yet to fully unfold, any bounce from trade will likely prove short-lived,” Frederic Neumann, a Hong Kong-based economist with HSBC Holdings Plc., said in a report. “That’s especially problematic for Asia: with local demand growing tired, stronger exports are urgently needed.” Bloomberg News

throughout the planting season, Piñol said. The LGUs will be the ones shouldering the costs of the farmers’ seeds and fertilizers in the duration of the plantation, he added.

The LGUs will also be in charge of buying back their farmers’ rice harvest and distributing the 20 kg of rice to 4Ps beneficiaries under their jurisdiction, Piñol said.

“In this scheme, we [the DA] don’t need a budget anymore. The only intervention that the DA will do is provide equipment and technical programs on farming to LGUs’ people, basically, everything is financed by the LGUs,” he said.

The DA chief also said the LGUs can avail themselves of loans from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) as additional funding, on top of their respective internal revenue allotment.

Duterte. . .

Continued from A1

her: “Sorry, the President ordered this.”

Manila police did not answer calls for further comment.

Acebuche is one of 756 people killed in police operations since the tough-talking President Duterte was sworn in on June 30 and launched his war on illegal drugs.

A further 1,100 have been killed outside police operations, in echoes of a crackdown in Thailand over a decade ago.

Despite criticism from the United Nations and human-rights groups, Mr. Duterte has vowed to continue with the campaign that has proven popular with a public sick of prior leaders failing to tackle crime.

As mayor of Davao City, President Duterte earned the nickname “The Punisher” for his shoot-to-kill crime crackdown that left hundreds dead. As President, Mr. Duterte is after bigger fish. He has already named and shamed over a hundred government officials as allegedly involved in the drug trade, among them five retired or active senior police officers.

That raises potential political risk for Duterte from powerful forces in the country. Already there is a Senate inquiry into extrajudicial killings and Duterte has picked a very public and messy fight with the senator heading that probe.

‘Honeymoon period’

“It is hard to see how this can continue and

“I still have to propose the LGCF concept to the LandBank board and get their approval so that they can allot loans for all the LGUs all over the country,” Piñol said, who is also a member of the LandBank Boads, adding that it depends on the LGUs how much they want to loan, depending on the size of the farming land that they will fund.

Piñol disclosed that he has made an agreement “in principle” with the Quezon City government to become the pilot LGU for the LGCF. “We already have an agreement with the Quezon City government to implement the scheme. Their corporate farm is in Mindoro,” Piñol said, adding that they will make the formal proposal to the Quezon City government in the first week of September.

Piñol also said the city governments of Manila and Kidapawan in North Cotabato

also showed interest in the LGCF program.

When asked if he would still push for a budget allocation for the RIPE Program by next year, Piñol said it depends on the outcome of the LGCFs. “I would have to let it [RIPE Program] go if the LGCF proves to be productive. I think this is really better than the RIPE Program,” Piñol said.

Piñol earlier said he envisions the Philippines to be totally rice sufficient by 2018 and even a rice exporter by that year, by increasing farm productivity, particularly the average yield per hectare, of rice farmers in the country. The DA’s proposed budget for 2017 is P50.55 billion, P3 billion lower than this year’s P53.97-billion budget. The agency’s 2017 budget is nearly 30 percent less than the P71-billion budget that Piñol submitted to Malacañang earlier.

be beneficial for the president,” said Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “Local political opponents, once Duterte’s honeymoon period is over though, could easily make use of this campaign to attack the President.”

Duterte has defended his efforts, calling illegal drugs a pandemic. “In life, there’s always a price to pay,” he said in a speech this week. “Is it the comfort or safety of the population or the lives of the criminals, you choose?” He questioned why he was being given grief over how many people were killed.

Still, “no state leader in history was ever successful in employing such methods,” said Senator Antonio Trillanes, a Duterte critic and member of billionaire Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party who was jailed for more than seven years for his involvement in several attempted coups against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “None of them ended up well. All of them ended up either ousted, imprisoned later on or killed.”

For now, overseas investors don’t appear overly concerned. Since the May election, foreign funds have pumped $1.2 billion into the nation’s shares amid optimism Duterte will accelerate infrastructure development and spur economic growth, though some of that money has recently been taken off the table.

“As long as corruption isn’t endemic and the economy grows at 7 percent per annum, I don’t see problems,” Alan Richardson, a Hong Kong-based fund manager at Samsung Asset Management Ltd., said by phone. “World history is full of atrocities and nature itself is a killing field. Yet, life moves forward.”

Neighboring Thailand may provide a cautionary tale for Mr. Duterte in his goal of wiping out drugs. Then-Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra embarked on his own drugs war in 2003 that included blacklists and ultimatums for officials to capture or kill those named. Figures at the time showed 2,200 people died violently, though the government said only a few dozen were killed by the police, and in self-defense.

The military ousted Thaksin in a 2006 coup, and his opponents said the drug war was one of the reasons he was unfit to return to politics.

Despite the campaign, illegal drugs continue to flourish in Thailand. Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya is considering decriminalizing methamphetamine, saying abuse should be treated as a health issue rather than a crime.

“It has been wrong all these years,” he told a forum this month, according to the Bangkok Post, referring to antidrug efforts. “If not, why do 70 percent of drug offenders remain in prison? Why does the problem persist despite thousands of deaths? And why do people still complain about drugs in their community?”

‘Culture of impunity’

Thaksin’s campaign emboldened police and government officials to use “heavyhanded” tactics, said Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher in Thailand, who investigated the deaths. One effect “is the culture of impunity that kind of lingers on.” Bloomberg News

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs Subic Freeport gears up for tourism month SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is enjoining the public to visit this Freeport in September to enjoy a monthlong celebration that features the unique sounds and colors of Subic Bay. SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said the Subic agency has lined up various activities showcasing the best of the region’s most visited tourism destination in line with this year’s theme, “Tourism for All, Promoting Universal Accessibility” of the National Tourism Month.

Garcia said next month’s celebration will highlight the sound of entertainment and excitement unique to Subic, as well as the colors that invigorate the sights and adventures that visitors and locals enjoy in the free port.

“This will not be another ordinary month in Subic. We have prepared various tourism-related competitions, which will give you a chance to win prizes, or you can simply enjoy your stay in the free port as spectators,” he said. PNA

Brexit may give PHL wider market access to U.K.–DTI

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sees more flexibility in gaining market access to the UK through a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) after Brexit, in addition to gaining more opportunities in the education sector.

At the joint luncheon of the British Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Makati Business Club and the Philippine British Business Council on Thursday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez outlined areas of deeper cooperation with the UK following its exit from the 27-member European Union (EU) in July.

“We see a lot of opportunities in terms of economic cooperation in the area of small- and medium-enterprise development, social-enterprise development, and especially working on a possible FTA bilaterally if the Brexit implementation kicks in,” Lopez said in the open forum following the event.

“That is one area we could work with the UK, and since it’s a bilateral [arrangement that] would allow us more flexibility in selecting more products and services to be included in that arrangement than with the entire European Union,” he added.

This is congruent with the view of Ambassador Asif Ahmad in an earlier interview that the UK, should a bilateral agreement could be crafted and given that the deal will only be between two parties, sensitivities will be much less.

Trade envoy to the Philippines, Richard Graham, the event’s keynote speaker, welcomed the DTI chief’s proposal, with education seen as a possible beneficial sector if liberalized.

“There’s no reason why we cant have informal talks as the Brexit process moves forward. If I could highlight one particular opportunity, it would be a wonderful thing to have here is a British university giving an international flavor in education in the Philippines,” Graham said. Catherine N. Pillas

Villar SIPAG opens 4-day training on aquaculture

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar on Friday welcomed 50 participants to the four-day training on aquaculture at the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Sipag) Farm School at the boundary of Las Piñas and Bacoor City. Villar Sipag partnered with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic ResourcesRegion 4A to conduct free training for participants coming from the National Capital Region and provinces in Region 4A. “With the dwindling catch from the wild, we are now turning to aquaculture as the main source of fish and marine species for food. We are training fisherfolk to improve present practices and to increase their productivity, and also farmers who want to venture into fish farming,” said Villar, director of Villar Sipag. The first day of the training will cover topics under freshwater aquaculture, such as red tilapia culture, fish health management, good aquaculture practices, record keeping and hands-on training. Day two will involve training on postharvest, such as smoking, drying, fishball-making and kikiam-making.

Day three will be a module on ornamental fish culture and breeding, and day four will cover aquaponics, or a system that combines aquaculture and hydroponics.

Economy BusinessMirror

Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon • Saturday, August 27, 2016 A3

Environmental groups turn wary of govt’s ongoing mining audit

D

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

espite the assurance of Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez that the ongoing audit of mining operations would be strict against erring mining companies, environmental groups under the Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) are now wary of the outcome.

On Thursday Kalikasan-PNE and its network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) launched what it calls “people’s audits” of mining operations, starting in Zambales, where all mining operations have been suspended by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) since last month.

Sought for reaction, Lopez said the ongoing mine audit is transparent and participatory, while assuring that the campaign will be a continuing endeavor to weed out irresponsible miners to protect the environment and people in host communities.

In fact, she said NGOs are now part of the audit teams that are visiting mines.

“Yes, there [are] CSOs [civil-society organizations] involved from their group,” she said.

Lopez said CSOs, particularly environmental and antimining groups, are very much involved in the process.

She had repeatedly assured that under her watch, erring mining companies would be penalized for causing environmental damage and suffering to people in the communities.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE, said they will be conducting people’s audits parallel to the initiative of DENR chief.

The audit teams are expected to complete the first wave of mine audits by the end of the month. Halfway through the process, the DENR chief ordered the involvement of CSOs as part of the teams that have been inspecting the mines. There are 40 operating large-scale metallic mines in the country.

So far, 10 erring mining companies have been ordered to stop their

operations for failing to meet the audit criteria, which now includes environmental, social and biodiversity considerations, on top of the usual technical or physical aspect of mining operations.

According to Bautista, their group was supposed to meet with Lopez last week to express their sentiment, but the meeting did not push through.

“We will request for a meeting again to appeal to her to review the audit format and processes,” Bautista told the BusinessMirror.

Kalikasan-PNE issued a statement, saying “entrenched oligarchs” puppets and corrupt officials in the agency are sabotaging the Duterte administration’s drive to shutter irresponsible largescale miners.

Bautista said the people’s audits aim to prevent the “greenwashing” attempts of these allegedly corrupt officials of DENR. He, however, declined to name these alleged corrupt DENR officials.

He added that the KalikasanPNE would expose the violations and criminal records of destructive and militarized mining projects in the country.

According to Bautista, in Santa Cruz, Zambales, members of the Move Now! Zambales and the Diocese of Iba Advocacy Desk are gathering past and present people’s testimonies, as well as technical findings, regarding the environmental pollution and destruction caused by companies under D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) that operate nickel mines in the province.

He said the people of Zambales are wary of the status of the government’s review of operating mines.

“This has already happened before. The charade of temporarily

Environment Undersecretary Art Valdez (left) of the Task Force Illegal Mining, backed by fatigue-clad soldiers and policemen, oversees the installation of a suspension signage at the entrance of Claver Mineral Development Corp., a mining firm reportedly owned by Rep. Prospero Pichay, in Claver, Surigao del Norte. Valdez implemented the shutdown of the mine after consulting with civil-society groups in the heat of the government’s crackdown against irresponsible miners. Manuel T. Cayon

This has already happened before.

The charade of temporarily suspending these mines and then subsequently reinstating their commercial operations has already happened twice in the past few years under the previous Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo L. Jasareno, who is now questionably leading the mineaudit process.”—Bautista suspending these mines and then subsequently reinstating their commercial operations has already happened twice in the past few years under the previous Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo L. Jasareno, who is now questionably leading the mine audit process,” Bautista lamented.

Previously, local networks of Kalikasan-PNE in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Masbate reported anomalies in the audit process.

In Nueva Vizcaya DENR’s audit team was reportedly blaming the massive riverine pollution on small-scale mining and farming activities of displaced grass-

China expert: Asean must pursue closer trade relations with Beijing

By Aerol B. Patena Phillippines News Agency

T

he Asean region should pursue trade relations with China as it contributes significantly to global economic development.

Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Economics Department Head Prof. Federico Macaranas said China is now emerging as the largest trading partner in the world, as it pursues closer economic ties with Asia and Europe with the implementation of the Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.

Macaranas sees China increasing its presence in the Western market through energy and transportation infrastructure. It has also been integrated to the global economy through the proliferation of its special economic zones and entering into free-trade agreements to attract foreign direct investments in the country.

Japan, Korea and Asean are some of the top destinations for Chinese exports. “Asean has seen [an] increase

in Chinese exports in recent years,” the economist stated in his address at an economic seminar, titled China’s Economy in Global Context at the AIM Conference Center in Makati City on Thursday afternoon.

The Silk Road Economic Belt focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Baltic states in the Europe; linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central and West Asia; and connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

The 21st-century Maritime Silk Road is designed to go from China’s coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from China’s coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other.

“The Belt and Road initiative brings tremendous opportunities for countries for the 21st century. It focuses on building mutual trust and respect, which are basic to peaceful foundation of shared prosperity,” according to Macaranas.

He said China must fast-track internal reforms in its economy through

financial-market liberalization, investment in renewable energy and green technologies, and efficiency of tax collection and management, among others.

Meanwhile, Prof. Zhang Yuyan of the China Academy of Social Sciences assured trading partners that there is no hidden agenda behind the Belt and Road initiative.

“The export of production and construction capacity is not only in the interest of China but also in the interest of those countries whose financial resources and infrastructure are far from sufficient by pushing forward their industrialization, as well as helping to stabilize the world economy,” according to Zhang.

Presently, more than a hundred countries and global organizations have participated in China’s Belt and Road with 30 of them signing agreements and memorandum of understanding with China on jointly implementing the initiative while more than 20 countries have worked with China in production capacity in such areas as railway construction and nuclear power.

roots communities, instead of the open-pit mining of the OceanaGold (Philippines) Corp.

“Independent scientific investigations and fact-finding missions show that OceanaGold mining operations has concretely caused massive environmental degradation and pollution to the ecosystems in their host community,” he said.

According to Bautista, government agencies and independent factfinding bodies have also recorded a string of human-rights violations linked to the mining project.

“We find it suspicious why the audit results on OceanaGold are still not publicized when the evidence

is already apparent,” Bautista said.

The audit process on the Filminera Resources company in Masbate, meanwhile, already failed once for not allowing let local people’s organizations and civil society to participate. A second audit is reportedly starting this week, Bautista said.

“Filminera has previously been found guilty by the Commission on Human Rights-Bicol of illegally detaining small-scale miners who protested the company’s destruction of their homes and properties. Various observer missions have also noted the extent of its pollution of waters and agricultural lands. It would be problematic if this would not reflect in the outcome of Filminera’s second audit,” Bautista said.

People in other provinces should replicate the Zambales people’s audit, he added.

“We know very well that the bigger mining companies and their partner bureaucrats are deftly hiding under the deceptive branding of ‘responsible mining’ to push through with business-as-usual mining plunder. We call on the people, DENR Secretary Gina Lopez and President Duterte to be vigilant over attempts of large-scale miners and its puppets in the government to sabotage attempts at environmental reforms in the mining industry,” Bautista said.

Taxpayers shelled out ₧3.8B in subsidies for railways and waterborne transport in 2013

F

ilipinos extended P3.8 billionworth of subsidies to railways and waterborne transport in 2013, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The bulk, or 95.6 percent, of the subsidies were extended to railways, while the remaining went to sea and coastal-water transport, warehousing and storage.

Subsidies that were extended to railways amounted to P3.6 billion, while those extended to sea and coastal-water transport, and warehousing and storage received subsidies worth P166.6 million and P2.2 million.

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

The sector earned a total of P411.2 billion. Passenger air transport was the top contributor, with total income of P144.5 billion, or 35.1 percent of the total.

In second place is support activities for transportation, with P139.3 billion, or 33.9 percent, followed by sea and coastalwater transport, with P45.6 billion, or 11.1 percent. However, operating expenses reached P394 billion in 2013. The passen-

ger air-transport industry also incurred the highest expense of P163 billion, or 41.4 percent.

This was followed by support activities for transportation, with P114.5 billion, or 29.1 percent, while sea and coastal-water transport industry came in third, with P37.5 billion, or 9.5 percent.

“Income per peso expense for the sector was computed at 1. Three industries posted the highest ratio of 1.2. These were the following: sea and coastalwater transport; support activities for transportation; and other land transport,” the PSA said. Based on the final results of the 2013 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry, there were 2,544 establishments engaged in transportation and storage activities nationwide.

More than half of the total were establishments with total employment of less than 20, with 1,429 establishments, or 56.2 percent, while the remaining 1,115 were establishments with total employment of 20 and over.

Among industry, support activities for transportation had the most number of establishments with 1,195 establishments, or 47 percent, to total number of establishments. Cai U. Ordinario

A4 Saturday, August 27, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

More than just peace, but lasting reforms

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o finally put an end to the longest-running communist insurgency in Asia, the Philippine government has agreed to open peace talks with the National Democratic Front (NDF). Negotiators from both the government and the NDF met in Oslo, Norway, where both parties will be discussing and negotiating the terms of the peace agreement.

Among those included in the talks were political prisoners recently released, and this development was reciprocated by the declaration of a cease-fire by the New People’s Army (NPA) and the release of policemen held under its custody.

Unlike previous attempts at forging peace with the Reds, optimism and expectations are higher with the current talks, as former agreements have been reaffirmed and the peace panel has agreed to complete crucial discussions within six months. The Duterte administration has shown its full commitment and determination with its bold steps and approaches in achieving lasting peace.

Founded by student leader Jose Maria Sison in 1969, the NDF and its armed wing, the NPA, were established in response to the widespread discontent to the Marcos leadership. Following the “people’s protracted war” strategy of Mao Zedong, the group spent the next few decades waging an armed rebellion against Philippine government forces with the goal of toppling the incumbent Philippine government and the establishment of a new revolutionary and socialist republic. But does the peace process mean an end to the insurgency and the end of the progressive movement? As Sison affirmed in an interview, participating in the peace talks was not “the equivalent to surrendering and giving up their demands.”

Perhaps, the biggest mistake that previous administrations have made was merely initiating peace talks in the hope of ending hostilities through an indefinite cease-fire and hopes of total surrender. If we closely look at the history of the Communist Party of the Philppines (CPP)-NPA’s armed struggle, extreme poverty and underdevelopment in the countryside, landlessness and the crony capitalism prevalent under former President Ferdinand E. Marcos are what fueled rebellion in the first place. Even after countless attempts at reforms and development, the same situation remains prevalent, hence, why the armed struggle continues 47 years later.

Among the goals of the CPP-NPA in moving the peace talks forward is the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms.

These reforms include genuine land reform, a national industrialization policy, an independent foreign policy and a reversal of neoliberal economic policies.

These are the important steps that the group believes will address the structural inequality and growing gap between the rich and the poor.

The ultimate goal of the peace talks for the Left is to eventually implement meaningful reforms and a lasting peace, which 47 years of armed struggle in the countryside has failed to achieve. And as the CPP-NPA leadership, many of whom are in their golden years, passes on the baton to the younger generation, hopes that what they have spent decades fighting for would come to fruition, with any luck, we will achieve more than just peace, but lasting reforms.

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John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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f you needed any more confirmation that stock prices may not actually be connected to company fundamentals, you need to look no farther than the trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on August 24th.

It was announced that as of September 12th, the composition of the PSE Composite Index (PSEi) would be changed, as Security Bank Corp.

(SECB) will be replacing Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

A stock-exchange index is supposed to reflect the overall movement and trading of the stock market. The guidelines for which issues will be included in the PSEi are specific. A company must maintain a “free float”—shares in public hands—of at least 12 percent of the total outstanding stock. Basically, it must be an actively traded stock with relatively large investor participation.

However, to say that PSEi issues reflect the overall stock-market value may be a reach.

Of the 30 issues included in the PSEi, three are “Ayala” companies: Ayala Corp., Ayala Land and BPI bank. Three others are “SM” companies: SM Investments Corp., SM Prime Holdings and BDO. Three others are under the Gokongwei group and three under Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global companies. Two are part of Metro Bank’s holdings, two are Aboitiz companies, and two are “Lopez” companies. San Miguel Corp. controls two others, as does the Consunji Group of Cos. Therefore, 21 of

If a stock fund or asset manager wants to invest to track the PSE performance, they must own a weighted amount of all the issues included in the PSEi. Therefore, when a substitution is made, money must be shifted from the former component issue to the new stock. the 30 PSEi companies are basically controlled by nine corporate groups.

What the PSEi actually reflects is the corporate and business structure of the Philippines, not necessarily the PSE. Even Bloomberry has a sister company included in the PSEi—International Container Terminals.

If a stock fund or asset manager wants to invest to track the PSE performance, they must own a weighted amount of all the issues included in the PSEi. Therefore, when a substitution is made, money must be shifted from the former component issue to the new stock. In this case, selling of Bloomberry dropped the price by 13 percent in one day. There was no fundamental change in the value of

How big can China’s cities get?

Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Dante S. Castro

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

HOM

The change to the composite index

Adam Minter

BLOOMBERG VIEW

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y any measure, Shanghai is one of the world’s biggest cities. It’s home to more than 24 million people. Its subway system is the longest ever built, extending to its rural limits. Crowds are so thick that burly “shovers” get paid to help pack the trains. Now the local government is saying enough is enough: Documents released this week reveal that Shanghai intends to admit a mere 800,000 new residents over the next 24 years, on its way to becoming an “excellent global city.”

A population cap on one of China’s most dynamic locales may seem impractical. But the government is actually thinking bigger: The plan envisions Shanghai as the high-end hub at the center of a massive “city cluster” comprising 30 urban areas— with a staggering total population of 50 million.

That might sound preposterous.

But the Yangtze Delta Cluster, as it’s known, is one of at least 19 such projects in the works. The idea is to use an extensive hub-and-spoke rail system, much of it high-speed, to better integrate China’s burgeoning urban areas. The big three clusters—located along the Pearl River,

the Yangtze River and the BeijingTianjin corridor—will each have 50 million people or more.

The effect could be transformative. For one thing, it will create the world’s biggest labor markets, and further urbanize a country that’s still more than 40-percent rural.

It should boost economic growth and efficiency. And it could help solve a growing dilemma: Many of China’s biggest cities have simply reached their geographic and demographic limits.

“Adding more density to the cities won’t work anymore,” says Alain Bertaud, a senior research scholar at New York University who has

consulted in China for decades. The problem, he says, is that those cities are increasingly fragmented.

Housing in Shanghai and Beijing has become so expensive that nonwealthy residents have been pushed to the furthest reaches of the suburbs, where commuters often face extended waits just to enter a subway station—let alone actually get on a train. The result is a large labor force that can’t be put to work by employers, largely defeating the purpose of urbanization.

Clusters may offer an antidote.

In theory, those 50 million people in the Yangtze Delta Cluster will all be within commuting distance of Shanghai, yet they won’t need to jam into its overcrowded neighborhoods or rely on its overloaded public services. They’ll get the benefits of density, in other words, while spreading out its burdens.

There’s some precedent for this approach. Long before anyone had heard the term city cluster, China’s relentless expansion had caused urban areas to start melding into one another. Most notable was the Pearl River Delta, where Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and several smaller cities merged into an informal cluster famous for its manufacturing.

The organic nature of that development, though, meant that

the company during that 24-hour period. It was just that the “rules” of the game changed.

One justification of the index composition change is that SECB’s market capitalization is more than double the size of Bloomberry’s. In 2014 Bloomberry stock price was worth 2.5 times as much as it is today, and SECB was valued 40 percent lower.

While market capitalization is important to the index composition, more important is trading volume.

PAL Holdings—parent company of Philippine Airlines—is big but does not trade much.

DoubleDragon Properties Corp. is big, trades a lot of shares, but has only been public for a short time.

Is the corporate value of Bloomberry worth 15 percent less than it was a week ago? Probably not. But stock price and company value are always two separate issues that may or may not be related at any given time.

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.

there was no regional authority to deal with the problems that resulted—the traffic, the pollution and the wasteful subsidized competition between neighbors—and an uneven distribution of social services. China’s planners are hoping that the new clusters can reap the advantages of the old ones, but with more order and efficiency.

That won’t be easy. Transportation poses a particular challenge: High-speed rail and subways can move commuters between cities, but the final journey—from station to workplace or home—is much harder. (Bertaud notes that China’s urban planners “are very interested in self-driving cars.”)

Another pressing task will be getting local governments to stop using land sales to finance infrastructure and services. Doing so induces further sprawl, raises the cost of public works and leads to the ghost cities—or, at least, ghost neighborhoods—that plague China’s urban areas. New regional authorities will also be needed to manage clusters that will span thousands of square miles and tens of millions of people.

All this will be arduous. But with the benefit of decades, China’s city clusters could become key economic engines—and, maybe, a model for how cities around the world can keep growing.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Nations can be start-ups, too

CBCP-ECSC holds 2nd National Media Convention facing the challenges of new evangelization Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

A

imed at fostering collaboration among the Catholic media in the Philippines toward new means of evangelization in today’s technological scene, the Second National Media Convention was recently organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Social Communication (CBCP-ECSC) from August 22 to 24 at the Angel’s Hills Retreat and Formation Center, Tagaytay City.

Singapore was a product launch.

By Tyler Cowen Bloomberg View

T

he virtues of business start-ups have led to many a success story.

These enterprises start with clean slates. They embody the focused and often idiosyncratic visions of their founders. The successful ones grow faster than their competitors. Even after they become larger and more bureaucratic, these companies often retain some of the creative spirit of their start-up origins.

It is less commonly recognized that some nations, including many of the post-World War II economic miracles, had features of start-ups. For instance, Singapore started as an independent country in 1965, after it was essentially kicked out of Malaysia and suddenly had to fend for itself. Lee Kuan Yew was the country’s first leader, and he embodied many features of the founder-chief executive: setting the vision and ethos, assuming responsibility for other personnel, influencing the early product lines in manufacturing and serving as a chairman-of-the-board figure in his later years.

United Arab Emirates has been another start-up nation, winning its independence from the United Kingdom in 1971 and becoming one of the most stable and prosperous Arab countries.

This building process included taking in remarkable numbers of immigrants, generating new financial centers and innovating in a political structure of seven semiautonomous Emirates.

Israel, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, Estonia and South Korea could also be thought of as start-up nations.

Most emerged from war, civil war, the evolution or dissolution of a prior imperial or colonial relationship, or some combination of those factors. In each case, there was a chance to start anew and to have founders impose a distinct vision on a new political unit. Just as we doubt that Bill Gates could have founded and grown Microsoft within the confines of the older IBM, so did the success of Estonia require freedom from the Soviet Union and Russia.

The world today seems to have lower potential for start-up nations. This is in part because international relations are more peaceful and also because most colonial relationships have receded into the more distant past. Those are both positive developments, but the corresponding downside is not always recognized,

namely, fewer chances for reshuffling the pieces.

In Latin America there haven’t been many recent border changes or significant wars, and we also don’t find many start-up nations.

The Caribbean is, perhaps, a better bet, as its economic decline may spur more experimentation. Imagine Cuba giving economic freedom to a province, successful nation-building in Haiti, or Trinidad deciding to do medical care or retirement homes really well.

Some version of Kurdistan, centered in what is currently part of Iraq, sometimes is tagged as a candidate for a start-up nation, or at least a start-up region without full political autonomy.

It has a lot of the pieces of the formula, including a citizenry deeply interested in economic success, but the surrounding region remains volatile and it is hard to guarantee secured property rights to foreign investors, at least for now.

A lot of borders changed in eastern Europe and central Asia in the 1990s, and it’s not obvious that these are the final, once-and-for-all territorial divisions. And so along with the risk of conflict, there is on all sides of Russia also potential for greater economic dynamism. Imagine Kazakhstan extending the special economic zone experiments it has set up to attract investment, Azerbaijan becoming a hub for dealing with Turkey and Iran, Russia deciding it will lose parts of its East to China if it doesn’t use radical economic experiments to settle them, or the Chinese economic colonization of the Silk Road carving out new semiautonomous regions.

Finally, Africa may be the most important site for future start-up nations.

There are plenty of countries, and often the borders don’t match linguistic and ethnic groups very closely. Many current nations that were stable at low levels of per-capita income may give rise to independence movements, as citizens are increasingly empowered. Africa is also the region with the greatest population growth and likely to see the biggest changes over the next few decades. It would be surprising if the continent were to avoid territorial and border changes altogether.

To paraphrase John Cleese from Monty Python, the start-up nation concept isn’t dead, it’s just resting.

Whether in business or in politics, the compelling logic of the start-up just isn’t going away.

The bishop of Pasig, Most Rev. Mylo Hubert C. Vergara, DD, who also chairs the CBCP-ECSC, welcomed the delegates from different dioceses in the country. He said the Catholic Church needs to have identity, consider all possibilities and employ creativity, as it seems to undergo a crisis of relevance in her mission of evangelization today.

He further explained these three points by saying that people need to recognize that our identity is born out of God’s mercy. Further, we need

to explore new possibilities that can make our work grow and flourish, and we need creativity to evangelize the young people immersed in an electronic, digital milieu.

Bishop Vergara said the threeday convention aimed to help the members of Catholic media to seriously recognize their identity as social communicators mercifully loved by God, to explore numerous possibilities that can develop their multimedia ministry, and animate them to creatively evangelize

BloombergView

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ockfighting, although practiced around the world, is banned in all 50 states. But, is someone who breaks the ban committing a crime of moral turpitude? A federal appeals court has said no, declining to deport an immigrant convicted of facilitating a cockfight. In a line that may outrage animal-rights activists, the court said a crime of moral turpitude must involve harm to third parties, not just directly to the chickens.

The outcome is correct for the immigrant, but not precisely for the reason the court gave. In a society that condones the factory-farm killing of billions of animals, it would be the height of hypocrisy to deport someone for killing just one rooster pursuant to an unfamiliar cultural practice. The immigration law at issue is vague to the point where it should arguably be unconstitutional.

It says in effect that undocumented

immigrants cannot have their deportation orders canceled if they’ve been convicted of a crime that, in the courts’ formulation, “categorically involves moral turpitude.” That puts immigration judges—and the federal appeals courts that review their judgments—in the awkward position of defining what counts as “moral turpitude.”

Agustin Ortega-Lopez came illegally into the US from Mexico in 1992, and now has three children who are citizens. In 2008, 16 years after his arrival, he pleaded guilty to one federal misdemeanor count of facilitating cockfighting, for which he was sentenced to a year of probation. The government said he was a minor participant in the enterprise.

As the appeals court put it, “He was hardly the Don Corleone [or even the Fredo] of this enterprise.”

But an immigration law judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals both ruled that Ortega-Lopez would have to be deported because cockfighting is categorically a crime

people in this E-generation.

The keynote speaker, Mr. Sean Patrick Lovett, Vatican Radio’s director of English programming, also reiterated the urgent need to evangelize, especially in this time where people are so immersed in technology. The different technologies, he said, especially the Internet, promised to unify and build bridges, but has also created walls and misunderstanding among the people.

He said communicators should be like a prophet who is not afraid to step out of his comfort zone and think out of the box. He emphasized the need to explore new possibilities and be creative in communicating and reaching out to the people.

He also challenged the attendees to communicate the culture of love amid all the negative things that are happening around.

On the part of Radio Veritas, we shared during the convention our initiatives to expand the Church in multimedia and establish a center for information and communication, such as Catholink. It is the Catholic Knowledge Management System of Veritas that provides up-to-date, accurate and relevant information

about the Catholic Church, its ministries and pastoral services in the Philippines.

Part of its information services is a referral system where people with pastoral concerns can turn to. It also makes a resource guides available online for the general public to access.

It also aims to make the information about the Church available to the faithful, and to link them with Church organizations to meet their pastoral needs.

The Second National Media Convention organized plenary sessions and three tracks—print, broadcast and social media—as well as workshops conducted per region. The event was organized by the CBCP-ECSC in partnership with TV Maria, EWTN, Jesuit Communications, Veritas 846 Radyo Totoo, Communication Foundation for Asia and Areopagus.

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.

Health-care information management and back-office services continue growth Jemain Tinio Diaz de Rivera

Forward Moving

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n the short and medium term, the information technology and business-process management (IT–BPM) industry is projected to generate 720,000 new jobs that will be reached by 2022. This represents a 10.6-percent increase in the number of full-time employees.

For university and college graduates, this is very good news. Detailed figures will provide a clearer picture and allow better navigation for the country and those looking for the best profession to be in.

For high-skilled tasks that deal with complicated issues that require specialized expertise, abstract thinking and autonomy, the Philippines can look forward to an 18-percent growth in career opportunities.

For middle-skilled tasks responsible for complicated duties that require experience, abstract thinking and situational response, there is a foreseen 10-percent growth in job creation.

For low-skilled tasks involving simple entry-level jobs that require little abstract thinking and autonomy, there is an expected 4-percent

growth in job opportunities.

These figures where shared during the general membership assembly meeting of the IT and BusinessProcess Association of the Philippines by Karthik Rajan of Frost & Sullivan. The numbers showed that the country will need to further upscale the skill of future professionals and job hunters to service the needs of a global community in the IT-BPM sphere.

To sustain growth, the industry will need an educated talent pool that must be globally competitive where the work needs to be done regardless of whom or where it is accomplished.

Present that evening was Penny Bongato, IT-BPM executive director for Talent Development. She is a known advocate for education and recommends that the country needs

Bringing a chicken to the immigration fight

By Noah Feldman

Saturday, August 27, 2016 A5

of moral turpitude. The Board of Immigration Appeals defines moral turpitude as “conduct which is inherently base, vile, or depraved, and contrary to the accepted rules of morality and the duties owed between persons or to society in general.” The board cited some court cases describing dogfighting as inhumane, and said that, because all 50 states and the federal government have banned cockfighting, Ortega-Lopez must be deported. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed that decision in an opinion by Barack Obama appointee John Owens, who’s acquiring a reputation for peppering his decisions with cultural references —like the one to The Godfather’s hapless Fredo.

In an attempt to give context to the vague category of moral turpitude, Owens tried to argue that there must be harm to a victim. He cited language from a Ninth Circuit precedent stating that “crimes of moral turpitude almost always involve an intent to harm someone, the actual

infliction of harm upon someone, or an action that affects a protected class of victim.” The harm principle, familiar to Philosophy 101 students, goes back to John Stuart Mill, who wrote that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” The harm principle is the cornerstone of libertarianism, and it’s pretty important to liberalism, too.

Of course, cockfighting does involve harm—to the roosters. With some archness, Owens dismissed that concern. “We think a remand… is appropriate here,” he wrote, “as the crime at issue involving harm to chickens is, at first blush, outside the normal realm” of crimes involving moral turpitude.

You can hardly blame Owens or the judiciary for trying to transform the moral turpitude category into a harm requirement. The problem, of course, is that the language of “moral turpitude” doesn’t particularly

to bring in the needed courses in college so students can increase their competency to prepare them for the IT-BPM industry and help the country remain a prime venue for IT-BPM investment.

Competencies needed by graduates include English language proficiency, critical thinking, learning agility, problem solving and decisionmaking. These skills will help job seekers and career builders not only survive but also grow and prosper.

As of the end of 2015, 1.1 million were employed in the industry, with two-thirds working in contact centers. Today we see impressive growth in health information management, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, IT services and software development, engineering services, animation and game development. Both global and domestic economic indicators point to a continuing upward trend in these knowledge-based professional subsectors of IT-BPM. Penny points out that the healthcare and back-office sectors are the two main areas that are showing signs of a very promising future. She further points out the significance of technology and its role in progress and modernization, highlighting the fields of automation and robotics.

She works to make the Philippines equipped and ready for change, and

recognizes that our only limitation to growth is to attract, hire, motivate and retain talents.

Penny will be the moderator during the Health-care Information Management Service (HIMS) 2016 conference on September 15 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. The track that she will focus on is about the Millennial Health-care Professionals: How the Philippine Educational System is keeping up with industry needs.

Panelists in her track include Kevin Ross Nera, researcher at the Commission on Higher Education; Dr. Liza Alcances, Health-care manager of Teledevelopment and president of AAPC Makati Chapter.

The other two tracks of the HIMS 2016 conference are Emerging Services and Business Models in HIMBPM with Keith Jones of Cognizant as the invited speaker, and How Telehealth is changing the Game in Patient Care with Ted Herbosa of PGH as moderator.

The theme of the conference is “Global Convergence Enabling Inclusive Care and Innovation.”

With an educated population and a skilled talent pool, knowledgebased IT-BPM industry will see higher value in the Philippines, and we can help “accelerate the Philippines.”

track the idea of harm. Plenty of actions are profoundly immoral without directly harming third parties—provided your conception of morality isn’t completely focused on consequences.

And as my own moral authority, my 9-year-old daughter, pointed out rather vociferously when we discussed the case, it’s plainly immoral to train and force roosters with metal spike affixed to their legs to fight each other, sometimes to the death.

That, after all, is why we’ve made cockfighting into a crime throughout the US. Yet, it seems to me that the outcome of the Ninth Circuit decision, preventing Ortega-Lopez’s deportation, is still correct. But why?

One option I considered but rejected is that, regardless of its illegality, cockfighting remains a common cultural practice throughout the world.

In what may be the most famous essay in modern anthropology, titled “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” the late Clifford Geertz argued that in Bali circa 1958, cock-

fighting functioned as a central metaphor for making sense of the whole culture—the way US culture could be revealed “in a ballpark, on a golf links, at a race track, or around a poker table.” On the surface, it’s appealing to think that something so culturally rich shouldn’t be deemed fundamentally immoral, even if it’s illegal. But on reflection, plenty of deeply ingrained and revealing cultural practices are immoral—whether they occur in the US or abroad. Racial or gender-based violence are good examples.

No, the reason the appeals court was right not to order Ortega-Lopez deported is that it would be hypocritical to condemn the morality of cockfighting when our society kills some 9 billion chickens a year. (You read the number right—it comes from the National Chicken Council.)

Most of these are necessarily raised on factory farms that operate on enormous scale. A credible argument can be made that many standard, legal techniques of chicken-raising involve serious mistreatment of the animals.

E-mail: jemain_diaz_de_rivera@yahoo.com.

The Nation BusinessMirror

A6 Saturday, August 27, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

Lacson seeks probe of ‘destructive, treacherous’ excavations in Zambales

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EN. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. on Friday sought a Senate inquiry into reported “destructive” mining operations and “treacherous” excavations in Zambales province, including the alleged smuggling of soil and rocks to build Chinese islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Lacson filed Senate Resolution 92 to investigate in aid of legislation the alleged exploitative activities that harm the environment and pose serious threats to national security to the prejudice of Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity. “[The investigation has] the end in view of adopting remedial measures to strengthen our environmental protection and conservation laws, and address the possible breach of our national security,” he said.

He cited reports of mining activities practically flattening the mountains and damaging a large area of forested highlands in Santa Cruz town.

Worse, he said some reports had quoted Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso as saying soil and rocks taken from these areas were “shipped,

dumped and used to reclaim almost 3,500 hectares of the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea, which caused massive, unspeakable damage to the marine environment therein.”

In addition, Lacson said an online article circulating on social media as early as November 2015 quoted a source from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency as saying the mining companies were smuggling soil and rocks “to build a chain of Chinese islands on the West Philippine Sea.” The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has formed a task force to look into the reported reclamation work.

“There is a need to account for the personalities behind [these] highly anomalous, illegal and treacherous acts that tend not only

Pinay best intl student in UK naval course

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Cayetano warns Taguig bar owners vs illegal drugs

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

T LACSON

EBDANE

to destroy our environment, but also make a mockery of our laws to the prejudice of the Filipino people and constitute a possible breach of our national security,” Lacson said.

He added an assessment should also be undertaken across the affected areas to determine the extent of the damage, and appropriate actions to rehabilitate them—as well as address the allegations of possible breach of national security.

On the other hand, Lacson noted, the mining activities had caused unprecedented damage in Zambales, with mud from the mountain where large-scale mining occurred “cascaded into the lowlands and left a trail of destruction” in the wake of Typhoon Lando in October 2015.

Before these, he said residents of Santa Cruz had reported the

nickel-ore mining had caused adverse effects and posed continuing threats to the environment and the nearby communities.

He also noted that in July 2014, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau suspended four firms for practicing unsystematic strip-mining methods in their nickel-mining operations, causing siltation in water and generating dust.

In 2011 he said former Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. issued small-scale mining permits to a mining company that allowed the illegal hauling of minerals from the province.

In 2015 the Ombudsman found probable cause to indict Ebdane for graft, usurpation of government f u nct ions a nd m inera l theft. Butch Fernandez

AGUIG City Mayor Maria Laar ni L . Cayetano has warned bar owners that the “one-strike policy” will be implemented if they allow drug use in their establishments.

Cayetano, who also chairs the League of Cities of the Philippines, made this statement during a recent dialogue among the owners of bars in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), attended by the National Police chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, and the acting Southern Police District commander, Senior Supt. Tomas C. Apolinario Jr. She reiterated the city’s onestrike policy, saying that the local government will immediately revoke the business permits of establishments found to be allowing drug use by their customers.

She said the rule applies even to first-time offenders.

“Any establishment used as venue for illegal drug activities will be automatically shut dow n. We cer tainly welcome investors; we need them because their taxes support the needs of our constituents. But their businesses must not introduce, encourage or tolerate drug use. This kind of business operation, even if it brings in substantial revenues for the city, is not

welcome,” she said.

C ay e t a no a l s o c o m me nd ed the police for initiating the dialogue and, at the same time, issued an appeal to implement the program in the whole of Metro Manila.

During the dialogue, Cayetano welcomed the suggestion to include mandatory drug testing as additional requirement for business registration.

“We will study the proposal. We will refer it to the City Legal Office para ma-review to make sure na in order ang lahat. I’m sure ang mga business owners will welcome it. Sino ba naman ang may gusto na ang mga empleyado nila ay mga drug users. We’re hoping for a positive feedback.”

Meanwhile, Apolinario welcomed the one-str ike polic y, saying other cities must follow the lead set by the Taguig City government.

For his part, dela Rosa urged all sectors to help the Duterte administration’s war against drugs. He said efforts to involve stakeholders in finding solutions to the nation’s drug problem is a welcome development.

“Ito po ay hindi lamang kampanya ng National Police, hindi lamang ito kampanya ng gobyerno. Ang lahat ng sektor ng komunidad, kabilang ang business sector, ay dapat na tumulong para mawakasan ang problema ng droga,” dela Rosa said.

Legislator who grew up in fear vows to work for peace

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NSIGN Maycee Angga was recently recognized as the Best International Student out of 131 naval officers at the Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) passing-out-parade in Dartmouth, United Kingdom, recently.

Angga was the only female international student in a batch composed of naval officers from Albania, the Bahamas, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the UK and Ukraine.

Out of 20 foreign cadets admitted to BRNC this year, only 10 made it to graduation.

Angga made history as the first Filipino to attend and complete the 30-week training course at BRNC under the support of the Navy and the UK government. The course began in January 4, 2016.

The intensive training course included a study visit to France and a three-week shipboard program, where Angga was assigned to HMS Bulwark, an amphibious assault ship operating in the UK waters.

Consul Rommel Romato represented the Philippine Embassy during the passing-out-parade.

Romato also conveyed the congratulatory message of Philippine Ambassador to the UK Evan Garcia to Angga. Vice Adm. Jonathan Woodcock, OBE, second sea lord and deputy chief of Naval Staff, was the guest of honor during the ceremony.

BRNC was established in 1863 in Dartmouth, England, as the initial officer training establishment of the British Royal Navy.

Majority of its cadets come from the Royal Navy, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and naval organizations from foreign and Commonwealth countries. Recto L. Mercene

INTERIOR Secretary Ismael D. Sueño announces that alleged Iloilo drug lord Melvin Odicta will provide confidential testimony before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) during a news conference at Camp Rafael Crame, Quezon City. PNA

P

DP-Laban Rep. Bai Sandra Sinsuat Sema of Maguindanao grew up in an atmosphere of fear.

As a little girl during the imposition of martial law in the 1970s, people sought shelter in the house of her grandfather, a Muslim royalty. One of her most horrific experiences was the Malisbong Massacre in Sultan Kudarat in 1974, where some 1,500 males were killed in a mosque by Army troops.

Women were raped and hundreds of houses were razed to the ground.

Sema shudders at the memory and envisions a future of peace.

As the first Muslim woman to be named deputy speaker, she vowed to

uphold the rights of her people.

Bai Sandra, who is on her third term as representative of the First District of Maguindanao, will refile the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) bill as her commitment for peace.

She explained that the BBL aims to create the Bangsamoro administration that reflects the culture and values of the Muslims in the Philippines.

It will take the place of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The law is based on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that was forged in 2014. It implies that the

proposed Bangsamoro will look after its resources, its people and the return to civilian life of the MILF and disband private armies.

She recalled that when then-President Fidel V. Ramos signed a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996, it resulted in the creation of the ARMM. However, violence between government forces and rebel groups continued as the MILF refused to respect the agreement.

Sema called for public information on the positive side of the BBL. Politics runs in the blood of Bai Sandra. Her great-grandfather, Datu Sinsuat

Balabaran, who was elected to the Senate in 1935, was the first senator from Maguindanao. His son, Datu Blah Sinsuat, was speaker protempore of the former Batasang Pambansa.

Her husband Muslimin Sema, who was secretary-general of the MNLF, was part of the team who signed the peace agreement with Ramos and became the executive secretary of ARMM in 1996.

During the Ramos administration, Bai Sandra was named secretary of the then-Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the ARMM and was later appointed education undersecretary under Raul Roco in 2001, by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Ayunan G. Gunting

NGCP alarmed by communities built beneath power-transmission lines

By Lenie Lectura

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@llectura

HE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reiterated on Friday its call to respect transmission-line safety clearances.

This, after a fire broke out late last month at a highly populated area 300 meters away from NGCP’s Quezon Substation at Baesa, Quezon City.

The fire started from an upholstery shop under the Quezon–

San Jose 230-kiloVolt backbone line, between Towers 58 and 59, and adjacent Quezon–San Rafael 230-kV backbone line, between Towers 508 and 509.

The proximity of the fire to the two transmission lines puts NGCP’s operations at risk, as the heavy smoke of the fire could have tripped the transmission lines serving Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces.

Both lines carry a combined capacity of 1,264 megawatts, with

Quezon–San Jose 230-kV lines 1 and 2 having 618-MW load each, and Quezon–San Rafael 230 kV with 28-MW load.

“Heavy smoke underneath highvoltage transmission lines can cause interruption of transmission services. Since these lines are critical to delivering power to Metro Manila, we could have suffered through a Metro-wide power interruption had the fire not been abated quickly,” NGCP stated. The fire was declared under control two-and-a-

half hours after it broke out.

The company also took the opportunity to reiterate the effect of right-of-way (ROW) violations, specifically squatting underneath transmission facilities, on the safety and security of the host communities, and the smooth delivery of electricity.

“Living underneath our lines is not only unsafe, but it poses a real threat to the security and reliability of the grid. Breaching our ROW clearances can cause line tripping

and possible grid collapse.

“These homes and structures should never have been built so close to, or directly underneath our lines, given the inherent danger of the area, and the critical nature of these facilities in the delivery of power to the different parts of the country,” NGCP said in a statement.

NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining and developing the country’s power grid. It transmits

high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations and related assets.

The consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract to operate the country’s power-transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp., led by Henry Sy Jr.; Calaca High Power Corp., led by Robert Coyiuto Jr.; and the State Grid Corp. of China as technical partner.

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

Sports BusinessMirror

MIGHTY STAGS

Lady Stags, Lady Tams collide for V-League semifinals berth

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AN Sebastian College and Far Eastern University clash for the second semifinals berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Collegiate Conference on Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Coming off different results from their previous quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, the Lady Stags and Lady Tamaraws, both sporting identical 2-1 win-loss records, battle for the second semis ticket at 4 p.m.

In the second game, Ateneo de Manila and University of the Philippines (UP) begin their quarterfinals campaign as they collide at 6 p.m.

San Sebastian opened its quarterfinals stint on a high note, eliminating University of Santo Tomas.

Reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Open Conference Most Valuable Player Grethcel Soltones has been leading the Lady Stags in the tournament and is glad her teammates are getting the exposure they needed for the coming NCAA wars.

“Mas tumaas na ang kumpiyansa ko sa teammates ko at sobrang nababawasan ‘yung pressure kasi mapapagod ako talaga kung ako lang talaga mag-isa,” said Soltones, currently the league’s top scorer with 99 points.

“Unlike now na talagang gusto nilang gumawa din. Nakikita ko ‘yun sa kanila, so hinahayaan ko muna sila at kapag kailangan na ako, dun na ako mag-step up.”

The Lady Tamaraws were denied to clinch the top 4 spot after suffering their first defeat at the hands of National University (NU) in five sets, 17-25, 26-24, 25-14, 18-25, 11-15.

FEU skipper Remy Palma admitted that the team lost steam against NU and added that the loss served as wake-up call for the team.

“Medyo nag-relax kami pero okay lang ‘yun kasi challenge ‘yan para at least magising kami na marami pa talagang kulang sa team namin,” Palma said. “Kailangan paghirapan pa rin namin each and every game lalo na quarterfinals.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles and the Lady

Maroons try to boost their respective semifinal bids as they carry a 1-1 slate.

This is the first time Ateneo and UP will meet since their Final Four encounter in last season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

The Lady Eagles, then bannered

by Alyssa Valdez, eliminated the young Lady Maroons. But with Valdez gone, expect UP to gain some advantage with its roster intact.

Leading the Lady Maroons are veterans Kathy Bersola and Nicole Tiamzon and sophomores Isa Molde, Diana Carlos, and Justine Dorog. Ateneo is still rebuilding after losing three key players—Valdez and Amy Ahomiro, due to graduation, and Jho Maraguinot due to a foot injury.

The Lady Eagles will bank on their key holdovers in new skipper Mich Morente, Bea de Leon, Jia Morado, Pauline Gaston and Ana Gopico.

In Spikers’ Turf, University of Perpetual Help and NU, both holding 3-1 cards, clash for the first semifinals berth at 12 noon, while San Beda and National College of Business and Arts, two squads already eliminated, meet in a no-bearing contest at 10 a.m.

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AN SEBASTIAN’S giant-killing ways continued on Friday after stunning Final Four contender Mapúa, 69-67, for its third straight win in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 92 seniors men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Trailing by as many as 18 in the first quarter, the Stags fought back strong in the second half, displaying their newfound never-say-die character and tireless defense to limit the Cardinals to eight points against the 23 of their own to turn the tide on their side.

Mapúa gave them a scare when they erupted for an onslaught to snatch the lead and take the game by five, 64-59, midway into the final frame.

The Stags came back to life and regained their lost form to recapture the lead, 66-64, with under a minute to play.

A brief exchange saw Mapúa’s Darell Menina hitting a triple to cut the lead to 67-68. San Sebastian’s Ryan Costelo was sent to the free-throw line, only to split his charities for a two-point lead.

But a costly turnover by reigning Most Valuable Player Allwell Oraeme spelled the doom for Mapúa, which slid to 7-5 in the team standings.

“We’re not starting to learn to win

Mapúa’s Chester Sarajosef (right) tries to get past Laurenz Victoria of San Sebastian.

NONOY LACZA

and I’m happy for the team,” San Sebastian Head Coach Egay Macaraya. “Nag-pay off ‘yung pinakitang hard work ng mga players.”

Costelo led all scorers with 20 points and seven assists, while Michael Calisaan had 15 markers and 13 rebounds for the Stags, who previously beat league heavyweights University of Perpetual Help (71-55) and San Beda College (72-71).

Regille Ilagan added 12 points for San Sebastian, which improved to 4-9.

Oraeme tallied 16 points and 21 boards for the Cardinals, while Menina had 12 markers. The Cardinals committed 27 turnovers against the Stags’ 16.

In the second seniors match, Tey Teodoro towed Jose Rizal University (JRU) to its fourth straight win with a vengeful 6858 victory over Lyceum to tie Mapúa at the third spot with 7-5 slate each.

Teodoro, who was instrumental in the Heavy Bombers’ 75-68 victory of defending champions Letran on Tuesday was clutch in the end for JRU as he scored 10 of his team-high 21 points to beat the Pirates, who fell to 5-7 record.

“Happy sa fourth straight win namin. Hindi naman ako nawalan ng tiwala sa players ko at sa kapasidad nila,” Heavy Bombers Head Coach Vergel Meneses said.

“Ang sinasabi ko lang sa kanila, dapat sa first round pa lang, ganito na. Kaso nandito na rin, okay na rin kami,” Meneses added.

Ervin Gorospe added 15 markers and five rebounds for JRU, while Abdoulad Poutuouchi contributed 14 points and seven boards for the Heavy Bombers. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Mahindra downs TNT Katropa, enters quarterfinals

Lance Agcaoili

Tornadoes earn 1st win in Thailand

CHAMPS AGAIN

Players and members of the coaching staff of Phoenix celebrate at midcourt after beating Tanduay in Game Three of the best-of-three finals to bag their second straight crown in the Philippine Basketball Association D-League. PBA IMAGE

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OTON Pilipinas finally discovered its rhythm as it crushed Rangsit University, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20, to barge into the win column of the 2016 Sealect Tuna Thailand Volleyball League on Friday at the Wi Sommai Gymnasium in Sisaket Province, Thailand.

American Lindsay Stalzer was brilliant offensively, while the rest of the Tornadoes took care of the defensive end to coast to an easy win in this prestigious tourney that serves as appetizer for the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship, from September 3 to 11, at the Alonte Sports Center in Biñan City.

Stalzer fired 27 hits while fellow import Ariel Usher had 14 markers, bulk of which coming in the first two sets, giving Italian Coach Fabio Menta the luxury of pulling her out in the third to give valuable exposure to Cherry Rondina and EJ Laure.

Two rising stars from University of Santo Tomas, Rondina and Laure finished the job together with an all-Filipino crew of Rhea Dimaculangan, Patty Orendain, Aby Maraño and Maika Ortiz, who carried the offensive chore in the deciding set with seven hits.

“I did give playing time to Laure and Rondina, our future stars, and I need to see them with the responsibility of winning a game with no ‘outside help,’” said Menta, following the match that they controlled from start to finish.

“The team feels strong and motivated. We are not talking anymore about the concept and philosophy of the game like in our first trainings, but we now analyze details and correlations.”

Menta added that he fielded Stalzer and Usher sparingly to give maximum exposure to the local players, who will banner the team in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix starting in October.

“I wanted Filipino players to gain maximum international exposure,” he said. “So for the first two sets, I played with one import at a time; Stalzer in the first and Usher in the second.”

“We knew that this is a game that the key was in forcing services; so our eight aces proved it. The girls had instruction to force all attacks and not to play dinks or easy overs,” said Menta, noting that they did well defensively after drawing 12 blocks from six players.

It was the Tornadoes’ first win after a three-set loss to home team PEA Sisaket, which is bannered by national team members Pleumjit Thinkaow and Nootsara Tomkom, followed by a four-set meltdown to Asian champion Bangkok Glass to finish Group A with a 1-2 card. The top 2 teams in Groups A and B will advance to the semifinals.

Foton Pilipinas will be facing Kasetsart University early Saturday morning for a victory that would send it to the battle for fifth to sixth places.

“Our enemy tomorrow is waking up at 5:45 a.m., breakfast at 6:15 a.m., warm-up at 7:15 a.m. and game at 8 a.m.,” Menta said. “But other than that, we will go for the kill.”

Saturday, August 27, 2016 A7

MONDILLA FIRES 65 TO WREST LEAD C LYDE Mondilla recalled the fierce form that netted him back-toback victories at Eastridge and Calatagan, putting in an eagle-spiked seven-under 65 and bouncing back from five down to one-up in the third round of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Classic in Lipa City, Batangas, on Friday.

A crisp, solid drive that sailed through the 331-yard No. 7 of Mount Lobo and rested just a club-length off the cup for eagle highlighted the 23-year-old Mondilla’s 32-33 card, giving him a 54-hole aggregate of 206 and a one-stroke lead over erstwhile leader Orlan Sumcad, who stayed on track for a breakthrough win

despite dropping to second at 207 after a 71.

But Marvin Dumandan also remained within striking distance at 208 after a 70, and Jay Bayron kept his bid for a third straight championship despite a second straight 71 as he stood at solo fourth at 209 heading to the last 18 holes of the P2-million event.

“I just felt I could go low today [Friday] so I attacked the greens. I was just too confident of my shots,” said Mondilla, the rising Del Monte star out to atone for his playoff setback to Bayron last week at Riviera Classic, putting the Davaoñeo shotmaker on course for a third straight win after ruling the Aboitiz Invitational at Wack Wack three weeks ago.

Sumcad, who took charge halfway through with a 66 on Thursday, birdied the drivable No. 7 then added two birdies linking both nines to stay in the lead but failed to hang on at the finish, bogeying Nos. 16 and 18 to drop off the pace.

“Despite falling off the lead, I’m still

confident of my chances. But I’ll just play and try to enjoy the game tomorrow [Saturday] and hope my putting clicks,” said Sumcad, a many-time contender but never a winner on the tour, backed by Custom Clubmakers, adidas, KZG, Summit Mineral Water, Srixon, Pacsports, TaylorMade, Sharp and Champion.

Like the top 2 players, Dumandan, out to break out of a long title spell, also expressed confidence of his chances for the crown as he joins Mondilla and Sumcad in a group of power-hitters in today’s championship flight.

“It will be a question of accuracy [on driving] and will boil down to who putts well,” said Dumandan, who actually turned in a bogey-free 35-35 card marred by four missed birdie putts inside 7 feet.

But if there’s one player the leading troika should watch out for in a flight behind them, it is Bayron, who blew a three-under card after 11 holes with a second straight double-bogey on the tough par-4 No. 12. He also muffed a couple

M

AHINDRA showed poise down the stretch to beat TNT Katropa, 107-104, to clinch its first playoff appearance in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Colisuem.

The Enforcer rode on the heroics of James White, LA Revilla and Paolo Taha in the closing minutes to hang on for the victory and hand Katropa their first loss after a 6-0 start.

White finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to lead Mahindra, which propelled to solo second spot with a 6-2 win-loss mark.

Taha led the Enforcer’s bench mob with 15 points, Niño Canaleta chipped in 13, Revilla had 12, while Michael Digregorio had 11 for acting Head Coach Chris Gavina.

Mahindra was in full control after Revilla, Canaleta and White conspired for an 11-5 exchange to erect a 101-92 lead with 2:10 remaining.

TNT Katropa threatened at 96-101, but turnovers by Mychal Ammons and Ryan Reyes allowed the Enforcer to get some distance at 104-96 with 30 seconds left.

Jayson Castro led Katropa with 33 points, while Ammons had 20 points and 15 boards. Asian import Michael Madanly had a disappointing game, finishing with just two points and was 0-of-seven from beyond the arc.

Madanly had 30 markers in TNT Katropa’s 124-117 win over Phoenix spiked by eight three-pointers.

Larry Fonacier and Troy Rosario contributed 13 and 11 markers respectively for Katropa, who remained on top of the standings with a 6-1 slate. Joel Orellana

of birdie opportunities coming home but remained upbeat of his bid for a third straight championship.

Guido van der Valk rattled off three birdies at Mount Malipunyo to fire a 69, but the regular Dutch campaigner lay five strokes behind Mondilla at 211 and would need a super final round to contend for the top P360,000 purse in the event, organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. Tony Lascuña, who strung up three straight wins at Forest Hills, Eagle Ridge and Bacolod to add to his earlier Luisita romp, also made an early charge of 33 but flubbed a couple of makeable birdie putts at the back and hit just one more birdie on No. 16 to turn in a bogey-free 68. But the former three-time Order of Merit winner stood six strokes off the pace.

Lochte’s legal troubles mount in Brazil Clyde Mondilla flashes awesome form off the mound.

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IO DE JANEIRO— Brazilian police charged American swimmer Ryan Lochte on Thursday with filing a false robbery report over an incident during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

A police statement said Lochte would be informed in the United States so he could decide whether to introduce a defense in Brazil. The indictment will also be sent to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) ethics commission, it said.

“The investigation was concluded on Thursday and

Olympic American swimmer Ryan Lochte was indicted for the crime of falsely reporting a crime,” the statement said.

It said the case was turned over to a special Brazilian court that has jurisdiction over crimes related to major sporting events. The court, which was established before Brazil hosted soccer’s 2014 World Cup, is authorized to receive cases straight from the police when lesser charges are involved, without a need for prosecutors.

The swimmer’s spokeswoman, Melissa Nathan, said Lochte had no comment. During the games, Lochte initially said that he and fellow swimmers Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by men with a police badge as they returned to the Olympic Village from a party on August 15.

Video surveillance emerged showing the athletes getting into a confrontation with security guards at the gas station when their taxi pulled over to let them use the restroom.

While there have been conflicting versions over whether the guards pulled their weapons on the swimmers, Lochte has since acknowledged he was highly intoxicated and that his behavior led to the confrontation.

Lochte left Brazil shortly after the incident.

Three days later, local authorities took Conger and Bentz off an airliner heading to the United States so they could be questioned about the robbery claim. They were later allowed to leave Brazil, as was Feigen, after he also gave testimony. Feigen, who initially stood by Lochte’s testimony, was not charged.

Under Brazilian law, the penalty for falsely filing a crime report carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison. Lochte could be tried in absentia if he didn’t return to face the charge.

The United States and Brazil have an extradition treaty dating back to the 1960s, but Brazil has a long history of not extraditing its own citizens to other nations and US authorities could take the same stance if Lochte is found guilty.

That is currently the case of the head of Brazil’s football confederation, Marco Polo del Nero, who faces charges in the wide-ranging scandal entangling international soccer’s ruling body, International Football Federation. He has not traveled outside Brazil for more than a year to avoid being arrested by US authorities somewhere else. AP

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Sports

aturday, August 27, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

BusinessMirror

Fiji rugby coach weighs offers

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UVA, Fiji—Fiji national rugby coach Ben Ryan says he is weighing almost 20 job offers that have poured in since he guided the country to its first-ever gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Ryan’s contract with the Fiji Rugby Union ends on September 3 and he has resisted all efforts to keep him in the job he has held since 2013.

Fiji sports organizations mounted a major effort to raise money to match rival

offers for Ryan, but the English coach says money is not the issue and that he is ready for new challenges.

One offer is believed to have come from the Japan national rugby sevens team and others from Super Rugby teams in Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Fiji was the heavy favorite for the gold in Rio and defeated Britain in the final. AP

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson (left) beats American Jenna Prandini in the women’s 100-meter race event in the Diamond League. AP

Olympic chamP Thompson stars as Bolt skips Diamond meet

NEW ATTRACTION

By Graham Dunbar

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The Associated Press

AUSANNE, Switzerland—Olympic 100-meter champion Elaine Thompson took center stage in the absence of her Jamaican teammate Usain Bolt in the first Diamond League meet after the Rio de Janeiro Games on Thursday.

Thompson timed 10.78 seconds with a slight tailwind at Athletissima—just .07 outside her time in the 100 final in Rio and .08 behind her world-leading time this season.

It was Thompson’s second time down the track after most runners initially ignored a false start gun.

“To be able to produce [10.78] on a second

attempt, it’s a great time,” said Thompson, a double gold medalist in 100 and 200 who almost matched Bolt’s title triple, but took home silver in the 4x100 relay.

With Bolt celebrating his 30th birthday in London, Churandy Martina of the Netherlands won the 200 in 19.81, just .03 slower than Bolt ran in the Olympic final and a national record.

In the 100, Bolt’s gold-medal winning relay teammate Asafa Powell clocked 9.96 to win on a track where he ran his personal record of 9.72 soon after the Beijing Olympics.

One contender to help the sport’s void when Bolt retires is Jamaican 110 hurdler Omar McLeod. However, the Olympic champion was edged by .01 on Thursday by the rival he beat for gold, Orlando Ortega.

The Spaniard’s winning run was 13.11.

American hurdlers dominated the women’s races, and Kendra Harrison again showed what she could have achieved in Rio had she earned selection at national trials.

Harrison, who set a world record of 12.20 in London last month, won here in 12.42—faster by .06 than the Olympic gold-winning time of teammate Brianna Rollins, who did not run on Thursday.

Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad timed 53.78 in a clear 400 hurdles win.

Two American bronze medalists in Rio won their events: LaShawn Merritt clocked 44.50 in the 400, and Sam Hendricks set a pole-vault meet record by clearing the bar at 5.92. Hendricks used the ideal conditions on a warm, still evening in Lausanne to go 7

centimeters above his Olympic height.

Two Olympic silver medalists dueled in the women’s 3,000: Genzebe Dibaba, the 1,500 runner-up from Ethiopia, won in 8:31.84 after kicking hard at the bell to leave Olympic 5,000 runner-up Hellen Obiri of Kenya trailing in second.

Rio silver medalists who also won in Lausanne were Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, clearing 2.35 at the third attempt in the high jump, and Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi in the women’s 800. Niyonsaba timed 1:57.71 as Olympic champion Caster Semenya of South Africa skipped the meet. Semenya plans to run at Zurich next Thursday.

In the shot put, 2012 Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand reversed Rio placings with gold medalist Michelle Carter of

the US, extending her lead with a final effort at 19.94 meters.

Olympic triple jump champion Caterine Ibarguen won with a leap of 14.76, though long jump gold medalist Tianna Bartoletta of the US placed only fifth.

Amid Russia’s doping scandal, its only eligible entry in Olympic track and field was its only competitor in Lausanne: with Darya Klishina finishing third in the long jump won

by Olympic bronze medalist Ivana Spanovic of Serbia at 6.83.

“Mentally this has been a very tough season,” Klishina said. “I hope the situation with Russia is sorted soon and we athletes just have to focus on performing.” The Diamond League series continues in Paris on Saturday.

6th stage to Yates; Atapuma keeps lead

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UINTRA, Spain—English rider Simon Yates won a hot and hilly sixth stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Thursday, while Darwin Atapuma of Colombia kept the overall lead for a third consecutive day.

Yates, the twin of fellow cyclist Adam Yates, completed the 163-kilometer (101mile) route from Monforte de Lemos to Luintra in just over four hours. It was the 24-year-old Yates’s first win at a grand tour.

The Orica BikeExchange rider attacked on a short ascent less than 4 kilometers from the finish and sped away for the victory by 20 seconds over runner-up LuisLeon Sanchez.

Atapuma and title favorites Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador came in a group half a minute after the winner.

“I managed to take my opportunity at the finish,”Yates said. “It wasn’t planned. We just wanted to make it a hard day.”

The stage only had one level-2 category climb, but the rolling route of constant ups and downs along narrow country roads wore down all but the hardiest riders and allowed attacks from distance.

Omar Fraile first threatened on a breakaway. He built a three-minute lead halfway through the stage, before he was caught and passed by Mathias Frank.

Yates set out after late chaser Dani Moreno, whose Movistar team had led the pursuit, and passed both Moreno and Frank to ride alone to the finish.

Yates called the stage “pretty crazy.”

“Lots of twists and turns, hard roads as well, but it came out perfectly in the finish,” Yates said. “I timed my attack to perfection.”

His win comes a month after brother Adam impressed at the Tour de France with a fourthplace finish.

Atapuma’s BMC team helped him protect the leader’s red jersey by staying with the hard pace set first by Orica BikeExchange early and Movistar late.

“We were attentive and got on their wheel,” Atapuma said. “We had good legs today and defended the lead.”

Atapuma kept his half-minute advantage over Valverde, Froome, Esteban Chaves and Quintana. Contador remained almost 2 minutes behind.

The seventh stage on Friday is a 158.5-km (98-mile) ride over three category-three climbs from Maceda to Puebla de Sanabria. AP