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n Sunday, December 13, 2015 Vol. 11 No. 66

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MVP group mulls over construction of underwater toll road in Manila

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

M

ETRO Manila has been plagued by chronic traffic gridlocks for the past decade, so much so that it has been losing more than P3 billion a day from the congestion.

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW Local currency

n Previous week: The peso largely traded on the lower band of the 47 territory in the previous week, as markets try to gauge future policy actions in the local and international scene. In particular, the peso hit 47.13 to a dollar on Monday to open the week’s trade. It then moved sideways to 47.12 to a dollar and 47.164 to a dollar on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The peso then hit 47.19 to a dollar on Thursday to follow through with a sizable depreciation on Friday at 47.235 to a dollar. The total traded volume of the peso was at $2.34 billion, and the average value of the peso is at 47.1678 to a dollar— weaker than the previous week’s average at 47.133 to a dollar.

n Week ahead: Markets are looking at the twin policy meeting in the coming week—both from the Bangko Sentral and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The BSP is seen to keep all policy rates unchanged, while the FOMC is speculated to possibly start its interest-rate normalization and to give further guidance during the week. Any significant movement from the two central banks is likely to guide the peso trade going forward.

BSP policy meeting

December 17, Thursday

n November 12: The central bank, as broadly expected, decided to keep its policy rates on hold for the ninth consecutive time at 4 percent for the overnight borrowing, or reverse repurchase (RRP) facility, and 6 percent for the overnight lending, or repurchase facility. The interest rate of the special deposit account was also kept steady at 2.5 percent, and the reserve requirement ratios were left unchanged.

This, despite their newest forecast to the country’s inflation, which was cut across the board for this year and the next two years. In particular, the country’s inflation is now expected to hit 1.4 percent for this year, down from the earlier forecast of 1.6 percent.

n December 17 meeting: The BSP is looking at keeping the policy rates unchanged until the last meeting

See “Outlook,” A2

Today traffic in the capital and the business districts is far worse than usual, no thanks to the holiday rush in the mostly Roman Catholic country.

The government is moving to address this by launching infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program. But it seems that its efforts are not enough.

Although the Aquino administration is not too keen on implementing unsolicited projects, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is mulling over the prospect of building an underwater toll road or a bridge to Manila to lessen the traffic congestion in the capital.

Metro Pacific Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said his company is reviewing the prospect of connecting the Manila North Harbor and Manila-Cavite Expressway

PANGILINAN: “I think we can build it, as a technical matter; but how much it will cost is another matter.”

(Cavitex) through a highway.

“It’s just a thought on my part; and I’ve been telling it to our people that we should study the way to connect the harbor—because that’s where our tollways will pass through—before they switch to the east toward the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, but See “MVP,” A2

BSP reports drastic drop in rediscount loans volume

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

HE volume of rediscount loans— or the loans that banks avail themselves from the Bangko Sentral—continued to decline in end-November this year as an effect of the ample liquidity in the local economy.

The central bank reported recently that the total availments of thrift and rural banks under the Peso Rediscount Facility (PRF) amounted to P424 million for the first 11 months of the year. This is about 65.4 percent lower than the P1.22-billion availments seen in the same January-to-November period in the previous year.

The peso-rediscounting window is facilitated by the BSP to assist banks in their liquidity needs.

This is done by allowing qualified banks to get loans or advances from the BSP using eligible papers of its borrowers as collateral.

The minimal use of local lenders to this facility indicates that banks have enough liquidity to finance their operations and do not need the liquidity assistance from the central bank.

PESO exchange rates n US 47.1820

Global climate accord in Paris expected soon

About 86.8 percent of the availments during the period went to commercial credit, while 5.2 percent went to production credits; 5.1 percent for housing; 1.6 percent for permanent working capital; and 1.3 percent for capital expenditures.

The lower dependence of banks on the PRF mirrored their decreased inclination to dollar liquidity.

The central bank reported that under the Exporters Dollar and Yen Rediscount Facility (EDYRF), the aggregate dollar availments as of end-October this year amounted to $700,000. This is 92.4-percent decrease compared to the $9.2-million availments in the same period last year. Meanwhile, there was no yendenominated availment during the 10-month period.

In the same statement, the central bank announced the rediscount availment rates for the month of December this year.

The peso-rediscount rates for loans with 30 days, 90 days, 180 days and 360 days remain unchanged.

For loans under the EDYRF, the rates are based on the respective 90day London Interbank Offered Rate as of end-November this year plus 200 basis points, plus term premia for longer maturities.

The slogan “For the Planet” is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, on December 11. AP/François Mori

Climate change Nations in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change are meeting in Paris. In 2009, the conference set the goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Average estimated global temperature increase By the year 2100, in degrees Celsius 5

+4.5 +3.6

4

+2.7

3

2 degree goal

2 1

If nothing is done

Current environmental policies

Paris conference pledges

Graphic: TNS Source: Climate Action Tracker, United Nations Conference on Climate Change

L

E BOURGET, France —Negotiators from around the world appear to be closing in on a landmark accord to slow global warming, with a possible final draft to be presented on Saturday for a last round of debate at talks outside Paris. Continued on A2

No change in policy rates seen

T

HE Bangko Sentral will not move the policy rates during its last meeting of the year, as the central bank keeps its focus on the upcoming interestrate corridor (IRC), which will be implemented in the second quarter of 2016.

In his most recent view on the Philippine central bank, Singapore-based DBS Bank economist Gundy Cahyadi said the BSP is not

likely to move policy rates in its December 17 meeting and up to the second half of 2016.

This assumption was made, despite speculations that the Federal Reserve will start increasing its interest rate also this December.

Cahyadi said the BSP will implement no policy-rate move before it shifts to the new IRC.

The IRC will be implemented

in the second quarter of this year, and is seen to make the framework of monetary operations more effective.

The corridor, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. earlier said, will be around the BSP’s policy rate and special deposits account (SDA) facility rate. The BSP’s lending or repurchase (RP) rate will be the ceiling of the corridor See “Policy Rates,” A2

n japan 0.3880 n UK 71.5468 n HK 6.0877 n CHINA 7.3289 n singapore 33.6222 n australia 34.4721 n EU 51.6218 n SAUDI arabia 12.5778

Source: BSP (11 December 2015)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, December 13, 2015

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Global climate accord in Paris expected soon Continued from a1

The draft, completed after late-night negotiations, is being translated from English into the UN’s five other official languages and will be presented at a special meeting of international delegates later on Saturday.

The officials, not authorized to be publicly named in discussing the negotiations, would not elaborate on the contents of the draft. The last draft of the accord, released on Thursday night, did not resolve several key issues, including how rich and developing countries would share the costs of fighting global warming.

If the 190 nations gathered in Paris agree to an accord, it would be a breakthrough after more than two decades of UN efforts to persuade governments to work together to reduce the man-made emissions that scientists say are warming the planet. Melting glaciers, rising seas and expanding deserts linked to such climate change are threatening populations around the world.

Negotiators emerged from meetings late Friday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the host of the talks, amid an air of optimism that had been lacking just hours earlier.

“We are pretty much there,” Egyptian Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy, the chairman of a bloc of African countries, told the Associated Press (AP) late Friday.

“There have been tremendous developments in the last hours. We are very close.”

A negotiator from a developed country was equally positive. “I think we got it,” said the negotiator, who was not authorized to speak publicly as the talks were not over yet.

In a bid to encourage agreement, French President François Hollande will join the special meeting on Saturday and give a speech alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to show “the importance of deciding and now adopting the draft text,” Hollande’s office said.

The talks were initially scheduled to end on Friday and then Fabius wanted a final draft accord by early Saturday. UN climate conferences often run over time, because of the high stakes and widely differing demands and economic concerns of countries as diverse as the US and tiny Pacific island nations.

This accord is the first time all countries are expected to pitch in—the previous emissions treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only included rich countries and the US never signed on.

After a final draft is presented, delegations are expected to spend a few hours studying it before it goes to a plenary meeting for eventual adoption.

Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu was upbeat.

“The signals that have come to me give me encouragement that we are going to have a very...comprehensive and strong agreement in Paris,” Sopoaga told the AP.

Liu Zhenmin, deputy chief

of the Chinese delegation, was more cautious. Asked by the AP whether the draft would be the final one, he said only if “it’s more or less acceptable.”

Earlier Friday, Liu stood firm on his nation’s demand that developed countries should assume most responsibility for the costs and argued against an agreement that sets too-tough goals for weaning the world off using oil, gas and coal—the biggest source of carbon emissions.

The US and European countries want to move away from so-called differentiation among economies and want big emerging countries like China and India to pitch in more in a final climate deal.

Liu told reporters that issue is “at the core of our concern for the Paris agreement.” He said he wants different rules for different countries “clearly stipulated” in the global warming pact.

China is among the more than 180 countries that have submitted emissions targets for the new pact but is resisting Western proposals for robust transparency rules that would require each country to show whether it’s on track to meet its target.

Liu also argued against sharply limiting the number of degrees the planet warms this century, because that would involve huge lifestyle and economic changes.

“We need heating. We need air conditioning. You need to drive your car,” he said. AP

French Foreign Affairs Minister and acting president of the COP21 Laurent Fabius gestures during the “Committee of Paris” plenary work session during the COP21, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, on December 9. AP/François Mori

MVP…

Continued from a1

we should connect it to Coastal Road so people can travel north to south without having to enter the city, unless they wanted to,” he said in an interview.

He noted, however, that this is still in the works and a formal feasibility study has yet to be done.

“We have two alternatives, we go underwater or we go above the water. There must be ordinances, in the US particularly, that if you want to build an offshore road, it should have some distance from the shoreline so it doesn’t spoil the scenery,” he said.

Nevertheless, Pangilinan’s group is keen on pursuing such a project to help decongest Manila and lessen the losses from traffic jams.

“I think we can build it, as a technical matter, but how much it will cost is another matter,” he said.

Pangilinan noted, however, that this project will only see some light after the Aquino administration ends in June 2016. But the group has already informed the current administration of the idea in a “very informal manner.”

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. operates the expressway along Coastal Road through Cavitex Infrastructure Corp.

Separately, it is aiming to pursue the construction of a multibil-

lion-peso road that will connect the north and south expressways.

The thoroughfare should be commercially operational by 2018 if all of the requirements of the competitive challenge for the deal were met this year, Manila North Tollways Corp. President Rodrigo E. Franco said.

“We hope to start construction by the first quarter of next year,” he said.

The deal that aims to link the two highways to the northern and southern corridors of Manila has been in limbo for quite some time now, as government officials were at odds as to how to implement the project.

It was originally submitted as an unsolicited proposal back in 2010.

The project costs P22.95 billion.

To fast-track the construction of the much-needed infrastructure, a Cabinet official decided to submit the project to the National Economic and Development Authority board with the hope of it being approved for implementation under a joint-venture agreement with state-run Philippine National Construction Corp.

This requires an amendment to the existing supplemental toll operations agreement of the North Luzon Expressway.

Policy rates… and the SDA interest rate will be the floor of the corridor.

In the last monetary policy meeting, Diwa C. Guinigundo, BSP deputy governor for the monetary stability sector, said the bank may also implement adjustments in rates at the same time of the implementation of the IRC.

Guinigundo said that this is still a work in progress but, as discussed in earlier consultative meetings, the markets will be less confused if all the adjustments were done all at once. He also said

Outlook…

Continued from a1

that the BSP will make clear that the potential adjustments are policy neutral and “purely procedural” in nature.

The DBS economist forecast this potential move to be on the tightening side.

“No policy rate move is likely to happen before the shift to the new rate corridor. Beyond that, given that consumer price index inflation is on course to meet target and gross domestic product growth remains strong, we think the BSP may tighten its policy stance once

again in the second half of 2016,” Cahyadi said.

“The BSP remains focused on long-term GDP growth sustainability. On this front, managing excess liquidity continues to be a policy priority. This is especially important considering the rapid investment growth that is likely to persist,” he added.

The Monetary Board meeting on Thursday is the last monetary policy meeting of the policymaking body for the year.

Bianca Cuaresma

Continued from a1

of this year, as the Monetary Board (MB) shifts its focus to the medium-term inflation, after the growth of consumer prices finally picked up in November this year. Central bank Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that, as widely expected by the MB and other economists, the inflation tickup in November proves that current monetary-policy settings are still appropriate and do not need adjusting. “As anticipated, inflation had bottomed out in October.

With credit- and domestic-liquidity growth rates also stabilizing, these signal that our stance of policy right now is appropriate,” Tetangco told reporters.

Agri updates

Another ranking government official said the project should undergo Swiss challenge, stalling the implementation once more. And yet another Cabinet official, whose agency is the main implementing body for the project, said it can work both ways.

Finally, the government decided to roll out the Swiss challenge, but a definitive date for the process has yet to be released.

A Swiss challenge essentially gives other parties the chance to submit a better offer than the original proponent of a project. The original proponent, meanwhile, has the right to match the offer.

In this case, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the proponent of the 8-kilometer road network which will run from C-3 Road in Caloocan to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila, offered to do the project under a P14-billion multiyear investment plan.

The expressway is expected to facilitate the seamless exchange of goods and services between the two ends of the country’s capital. This would aid truck operators and freight services firms to pick-up shipped goods from the ports in Manila and deliver them to their markets.

n Previous month. The farmgate price of palay for the month of November, specifically from November 18 to 24, decreased. The drop was at 0.02 percent from its previous week with palay prices averag-

ing from P17.39 per kilo.

As for the value of corn, the farmgate prices of yellow corn have decreased compared to its prices the past few weeks of November. Yellow corn price decreased by about 0.23 percent with prices hovering at 11.48 per kilo, while white corn prices that averaged about P12.44 per kilo in the previous week have also decreased by 2.64 percent.

Rice prices has remained steady for the month of November. As of November 11, National Food Authority (NFA) wellmilled rice prices were at P27 and NFA premium rice prices at P32, which still prevails for the week of December 7 to 11, while premium commercial rice prices increased a peso from P44 during the previous month and P45 as of December 11. The price of well milled commercial rice remains the same at P42.

n Week ahead. With the prices of agricultural commodities remain stable

with no drastic increase or decrease for last week, the sectors can expect another update with regard to the palay, rice and corn prices on December 14.

Besides the update on major commodities this week, the department of agriculture, through the Philippine statistics office, will also be disseminating information on whether the prices of some agricultural produce like fruits and vegetables and selected commodities will change drastically or not for this week.

The local farming industry can also monitor fertilizer prices as the local government agencies will be releasing an update regarding this on December 15.

The local farming communities can adjust accordingly by providing ample preparations should prices increase or remain at a steady pace should it decrease or remain the same.

Bianca Cuaresma and Rea Cu

NewsSunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

BusinessMirror

Sunday, December 13, 2015 A3

NGCP, Mindanao local govts move Meralco pushes use of prepaid meters T to solve right-of-way problems

T

By Lenie Lectura

HE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has teamed up with local governments in Mindanao to stop the escalating right-of-way (ROW) violations on the island by lobbying for the passage of a provincial ordinance to criminalize the planting of trees and other activities beneath transmission lines.

The NGCP recently gave a series of presentations to gover nment officials to show how the intentional planting of trees under transmission lines adversely affects power delivery to the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, Zamboanga City and the rest of the Mindanao grid.

Local officials were also briefed on the importance of safeguarding the NGCP’s transmission facilities and the effect of ROW violations on the already critical Mindanao power situation.

“ROW v iol at ions, a long w it h bombing attacks, have become the significant problems for the NGCP in Mindanao. It will be ver y diffi-

cult for us to deliver the available power supply to distribution utilities if we continue to encounter these problems,” the NGCP said.

“As it stands, the island is in the midst of a power-supply deficiency, and these disruptive acts only aggravate the suffering of the Mindanaoans,” the company added.

The NGCP hopes that its continuing information drive and coordination with local government officials will help resolve ROW issues in the region. The company has repeatedly appealed to the government and the Army for assistance in resolving the problem.

The NGCP is also appealing to the public to help monitor the safety of the

towers so that transmission services remain uninterrupted.

The NGCP reported last month that Balao Pundag, a landowner, demanded P478,650 as payment in exchange for access to his property so that the NGCP can clear the trees posing a threat to the transmission lines.

Some 1,500 trees planted along the NGCP’s ROW are within Pundag’s property. These trees continue to threaten the Agus 2 Kibawe 138-kiloVolt line.

However, the NGCP’s valuation of the trees, based on Lanao del Sur local government’s own Schedule of Market Value, amounts only to P77,750. The landowner’s asking price is six times the NGCP’s valuation.

The NGCP legally holds the ROW in the areas near and around the transmission towers and posts. The assets, however, are still government-owned.

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

T he consor tium, 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.

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) continues to persuade property developers to utilize prepaid electricity meters in their housing projects.

“We are talking to a lot of developers like SMDC [sm Development Corp.] and Megaworld. There are still others. They are exploring it,” Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said.

Panlilio said timing is crucial since there is no approval yet from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the distribution company to install an additional 100,000 prepaid electricity meters. “We are not pressing too hard at the moment because we don’t have enough meters to install. At the same time, these developers can’t wait for us. They have project timelines to follow also,” Panlilio said.

These property developers are Meralco’s target customers for the additional 100,000 meters that it plans to install.

Meralco cannot install these until they secure the green light from the ERC. A check with the ERC revealed that Meralco’s application is still being deliberated.

Lawyer Vanessa Reynoso of the ERC said the commission awaits the submission of the comments of several entities before Meralco’s application is deemed submitted for resolution.

“Once all required submissions are in, the commission can already start deliberating on the matter,” she added.

Meralco has, so far, installed between 18,000 and 19,000 prepaid meters out of the 40,000 units that had been approved for rollout by the ERC. The remaining 20,000 meters would be installed and activated within the first quarter of 2016, Panlilio said.

“We hope to finish the entire 40,000 by first quarter of next year. We are close to 20,000 now. Around 18,000 to 19,000 meters activated already. We’ve slowed down a bit

PANLILIO: “We are not pressing too hard at the moment because we don’t have enough meters to install. At the same time, these developers can’t wait for us. They have project timelines to follow also.”

because we wanted to make sure that the coverage was in place,” Panlilio added.

Pilot tests for Meralco’s prepaid retail electricity service (PRES) were conducted starting February 2014. PRES is now available in Manila and parts of Angono, Taytay and Cainta in Rizal. Manila is fully covered, Panlilio said.

Property developer 8990 Holdings Inc. earlier tapped Meralco’s PRES for its project sites.

Both companies entered into a memorandum of agreement for the implementation of PRES to 8990 Holdings’s property developments, starting with Bella Vista, which is under its Deca Homes brand.

Meralco President Oscar Reyes said Bella Vista is the first private subdivision enrolled in PRES, providing its homeowners a more flexible, convenient and budget-friendly option that fits a modern family lifestyle.

Meralco has tapped General Electric as the system integrator for the advanced metering structure of the service; Orga Systems for the billing aspect of the service; and Ecologic Analytics for the meter datamanagement system.

The system will enable customers to monitor their electricity consumption, balance, credit purchase history and account information . Lenie Lectura

NewsSunday A4 Sunday, December 13, 2015

BusinessMirror

82nd birthday of H.E. the Emperor Akihito Japan National Day

DIPLOMATIC FRIENDS BusinessMirror executives were honored guests at the 82nd birthday celebration of His Majesty the Emperor Akihito. From

left is BusinessMirror Publisher T. Anthony Cabangon, Mrs. Ishikawa, Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa and Isuzu Gencars President D. Edgard Cabangon.

Also at the event were such other luminaries as Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, Sen. Edgardo J. Angara and Sen. Loren Legarda, among others.

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Science

BusinessMirror

Biotech helped crop production–farmers

By Butch D. Enerio Correspondent

L

OS BAÑOS, Laguna—Farmers from several parts of the Philippines belonging to the Asian Farmers Network (Asfarnet) vowed they would mobilize their ranks for an all-out campaign to push for an unhindered sciencebased agricultural learning to address the country’s food security.

The stakeholders, during National Agri-Biotechnology Farmers’ Congress at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) auditorium held in this science town on Friday, were unanimous in declaring that modern biotechnology has helped crop production without jeopardizing human health and the environment.

Searca Director Gil Saguiguit said the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling to temporary stop the research, laboratory tests and field testing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), would result in a negative implication to the country’s ongoing studies related to agriculture, particularly in the development of biotechnology.

“But as it is, the ruling would have implications on what we are doing and the parallel research that other institutions are doing in line with food production. And if the SC says that products of biotechnology are not safe, they have to prove it, because when we say it’s safe, we can prove it,” Saguiguit said. Part of the SC ruling states that, “Consequently, any application for contained use, field testing, propagation

and commercialization, importation of genetically modified organisms is temporarily enjoined until a new administrative order is promulgated in accordance with law.”

One of the ongoing research that would be jeopardized is the Golden Rice project of the International Rice Research Institute, that would not see field testing as a result of the SC ruling.

Golden rice is a potential source of vitamin A. Reynaldo Cabanao, Asfarnet president, said the SC ruling would stall ongoing research and future testing of biotech crops. And the GMO crops, such as the Bt corn, that are already propagated by farmers would be jeopardized.

“The SC ruling would cause the collapse of the corn industry in the country affecting the economy and the lives of millions of farmers dependent on the industry,” Cabanao said.

He added that the Philippines has more than 700,000 hectares planted to Bt corn seeds. “If the use of GMO corn seeds is stopped, the corn industry would regress from its rosy development,” Cabanao said.

Asfarnet said the Philippines produces about 35 million metric tons (MT) of corn each cropping season, or 70 MMT a year. In 2014 12 MMT of corn silage were exported to South Korea and the volume is increasing since corn export to that country started in 2010.

Cabanao said that, as a result of the possible drop of corn production, the livestock industry and feed millers will also suffer as a consequence. “If importation of Bt corn seeds is banned, millions of farmers who are relying on the corn industry for subsistence would likely add up to the poverty incidence of the country,” Cabanao said.

Sunday

Sunday, December 13, 2015

A5

Billions in climate-aid pledges have ‘wild west’ accounting

L

E BOURGET, France—There’s a lot of money in climate financing.

Six years ago, rich nations pledged that by 2020 they would provide $100 billion a year in aid, loans and private money to help poorer nations cope with climate change and wean themselves off fossil fuels.

This week in Paris, they’re pledging even more, and discussing whether developing nations, like China, need to pony up, too.

But what exactly are they paying for? In the wild west of climate finance, the funding includes things like a “love movie festival,” research on elephant sounds and even new coal plants. When it comes to climate money, expert after expert says, don’t believe most figures.

No one is saying money is being misspent, but they are saying it is being misreported, making it sound bigger than it really is.

“Developed countries inflate the figure; they count everything they

can find,” said Romain Weikmans, a researcher at Brown University’s Climate and Development Lab. “It’s really a process of lying the more you can.”

At a 2009 climate summit, rich nations pledged to ramp up funding for poor ones to $100 billion a year by 2020 to fund a trillion-dollar transition to clean energy. In a highstakes game of poker in the weeks and months running up to this year’s summit in Paris, developed nations have upped the ante to help get closer to that 2020 goal.

In the past year alone, pledges rose by at least $10 billion, according to a review of United Nations data by

the Associated Press. US Secretary of State John Kerry made a big splash on Wednesday when he announced a doubling of US aid for poor countries to adapt to global warming, now at $860 million a year. But University of Zurich’s Axel Michaelowa, who studies climate-aid grants, found “there was a huge misrepresentation.

Governments were actually really not able to report properly” on aid that was supposed to help countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

His study, conducted on specific climate grants four years ago, showed a list of “projects without any conceivable climate-change connotation,” such as Belgium funding for a love movie festival in the early 2000s in Africa, a US-funded study on Savannah elephant sounds, and uniforms for park guardians in Central America with aid from Spain.

For their web site Adaptation Watch, Weikmans and Brown University environmental studies professor Timmons Roberts studied 5,201 projects mentioned by developed nations and found that 3,444 of them “did not explicitly link project activities to addressing climate vulnerability,” Weikmans said.

“Climate finance accounting is

the wild west,” Roberts said. Two other experts used the same “wild west” phrase, which some developed nations’ representatives object to. Weikmans used Belgium as an example. While praising efforts by the Belgian government to account for spending in a transparent way, Weikmans said a few years ago a €33-million pledge suddenly doubled on the books, “thanks only to methodological changes in accounting.”

Simon Buckle of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) wrote a report tallying how much of the $100-billion-a-year target has been pledged. It’s about $62 billion a year as of 2014, his report said.

India, however, looked at the same report said the real number was probably less than $1 billion a year.

It issued a report of its own calling the OECD document full of “inflated numbers.” In an interview with the AP, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar dismissed the OECD report as “a double-counting exercise.” He said actual climate finance flowing to developing countries was much smaller.

“It’s absolutely dismal,” he said.

“There is no finance on the table.” AP

A6 Sunday, December 13, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

‘Tanim-bala’: Reflections on our justice system

T

HE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) report on the tanim-bala scam has now been made public: That there was a tanim-bala scam, that a group of ground-level operatives perpetuated it, that these people must be dealt out punishments appropriate to their crimes. There was insufficient evidence to support a belief that a syndicate was behind the sordid scheme.

The report lived up in objectivity and thoroughness to the highest expectations of concerned citizens.

But what a wrenching journey of thought and emotion we had to go through before arriving at this point. First, we had to endure the pleadings of agents on the ground that they were only carrying out their duties. Then, there was the confession of the Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Angel Jose Honrado that he didn’t know what was going on. Then later the down-playing of the scam by the Transportation Secretary Emilio A. Abaya who said that the incidents were infinitesimal relative to the total number of departing passengers, and, of course, the dismissal by President Aquino himself of the extortion scheme as possibly the creation of the media. We had to muster tremendous moral courage to resist the seductions of high-level official propaganda.

The agents on the ground will receive their legal comeuppance (imprisonment of varying lengths) to be recommended by the Department of Justice when the time comes, we hope. But what about the high officials who used the authority of their offices to, first, deny the existence of the crime, then denigrate its importance and, later, insult the victims of injustice? In our view, they are unindicted coconspirators in this crime against the people.

This tanim-bala scam, to our mind, delivers an augury of a kind: That the justice system in our country can work if those responsible for its dynamics do their share of the work: First, victims to protest the abuse, then investigators to carry out a clear-minded unbiased investigation of the case, lawyers to prosecute (and defend), and jurors (that is, judges and justices) to mete out appropriate decisions. Each step to be completed within its own time frame.

The problem with our justice system is that it is frustrated by all sorts of obstacles at every stage of the way: Silence of the victims because they have become used to the abuse; boldness of the abusers because they are seldom apprehended for their nefarious activities; graft and corruption at the level of prosecutors and judges because they are seldom made to account.

This tanim-bala scam tells us this much: If we can have an NBI in the coming days as efficient and dedicated as the present one, prosecutors and defenders dedicated to the interest not of themselves, but of the people they represent, and judges and justices that cannot be purchased at any price, we can have the justice system that we all are longing for. Let no one tell us that that system is so near and yet so far.

Industrialization Conclusion

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Database

By Cecilio T. Arillo

Gospel

Sunday, December 13, 2015

HE country’s GDP growth slowed to 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015, from 5.6 percent in the same period last year due to slowing household spending and exports. Growth in household spending slowed to 5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2015, from 6.1 percent in the same period last year. Export growth almost came to a halt to 1 percent in the first quarter of 2015, from 12.7 percent in the same period last year. What do these figures tell us?

According to IBON, the slowing of the domestic economy in the first quarter of 2015 continues the trend of generally slackening year-onyear quarterly growth rates since the end of 2012. The slower growth in household spending is due to persistent low incomes and poverty that has not been addressed. This slower growth also likely reflects the slowdown in compensation inflows and in remittances since 2014. Slower growth in exports, meanwhile, is due to a persistently sluggish global economy and unresolved economic issues in the advanced capitalist centers of the US, Europe and Japan.

It is true that job scarcity, resulting to unemployment and underemployment, is a dominant phenomenon contributing to massive poverty.

Various sectors and political groups have tried proposing several ideas to solve the crisis. In an article penned by lawyer Rene Espina and published in the Manila Bulletin, the former senator advocated that “Industrialization equals employment.” Exasperated, he cited the examples set forth by our neighboring countries: “Frankly, like what the old saying goes, I sound ‘like a broken record,’ repeating and repeating that industrialization is the key to drastically reduce the poverty level of our country. I have written over the years several articles about industrialization, hoping to convince those in government to establish five-year economic plans, to improve and amend the same, but to pursue such a plan in earnest. I have cited the Japanese Industrial Reconstruction during the Korean War. “The experience of Taiwan where

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Land Reform was instituted for a brief period of time. And the Taiwanese correctly shifted their attention to industrialization. Of course, the experience of Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea were also mentioned. And how about the People’s Republic of China [PROC]? Had its government continued the Maoist Economic Model of land distribution to the peasants and small-scale rural-based industrialization, where would China be today?

“It was fortunate that Deng Xiaoping came up with the idea of Socialism with Chinese characteristics. This policy was simplified by the statement that he [Deng] did not care what the ‘color of the cat was as long as it caught mice’ and that being rich was a good idea, or words to that effect. I need not go further.

The PROC today is a world economic power because of its industrialization. Need I say more?”

The failure of our country to advance and strengthen our industrial sector is the main culprit why our overly hyped economic growth is eluding the middle class and the poor. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the industrial sector, including manufacturing, should be the main economy driver to substantially reduce unemployment and poverty. In the past decade, however, the shallow call-center (business-process outsourcing [BPO]) and remittance-driven nature of growth bragged by the Aquino administration are unsustainable because they are not grounded in domestic demand.

While it is true that the BPO and other services sector have provided us with economic gains, these are not responsive to the need for inclusive growth. Further, the ADB asserts that the industrial sector, compared with the service sector, has the better ability to create job opportunities for the people and has a much-higher multiplier effect on the economy.

Therefore, industrialization must be prioritized if we want to address the looming unemployment debacle.

Inclusive growth

IN the book Why Nations Fail, Robinson and Acemoglu said

ND the multitudes asked John, “What then shall we do?”

And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

And John said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.”

Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

nations thrive when they develop “inclusive” political and economic institutions, and they fail when those institutions become “extractive” and concentrate power and opportunity in the hands of only a few. They explained that “inclusive economic institutions that enforce property rights, create a level playing field, and encourage investments in new technologies and skills are more conducive to economic growth than extractive economic institutions that are structured to extract resources from the many by the few.”

So how do we break this vicious cycle? How can we experience real inclusive growth? Only when we have a government with a strong spine, so strong it would resist to be tied down by foreign economic and political domination; a government that has the absolute resolve to guarantee that the benefits of economic growth trickles down from the few on top down to the majority at the bottom.

Economic democratization

PROTECTIONISM, another term for mercantilism, the economic model that made the US, Britain and France the world’s unrivaled economic miracles in the pre- and post-world war periods, was Salvador Araneta’s lifelong crusade.

Arguably, protectionism contributed significantly not only to the development, growth and economic advancement of the country, but also to the modernization of the educational publishing in the Philippines. Araneta was one of the founders of the National Economic Protectionism Association, and was acknowledged by the Chamber of Filipino Retailers as the Father of the Filipinization of the Retail Trade.

Retrospectively, for as long as the government continues to protect the traditional power structures of the elite; remain hostage to foreign political and economic intervention; impede the building of dynamic Filipino industries; and linger in passivity when it comes to instituting real economic reforms—none of the problems of persistent poverty, joblessness and hunger will be solved; and we will always be deadlocked as an economic laggard.

As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether, perhaps, he were the Christ, John answered them all, “I baptize you with water; but He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, to clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

So, with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people.—Luke 3:10-18

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Sunday, December 13, 2015 A7

Perambulatory voting

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Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

IVIL-society groups have asked the Ombudsman to compel members of Congress to submit to the Aquino administration’s coercive and corrupt manner of getting what it wants, in this case, the House approval of the treasonous Bangsamoro basiclaw (BBL). Civilsociety groups have videotaped House sessions showing a near-

empty floor and desolate galleries.

In the Senate, they videotaped the never-ending interpellations of the two smartest senators today—Juan Ponce Enrile and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—as they rake the territorial terrorist bill that is favored by the United States. I guess to compensate Muslims for the loss of Palestine by giving other Muslims a chunk

of Mindanao. Why don’t they give Texas instead? It is hot and sandy like Arabs like it.

Civil society protests the absence of a quorum in the House and the insistence of Enrile and Marcos to define exactly what we, the Filipno people, stand to lose by turning over our land and our Muslim brothers and sisters to the sort of Muslims

who sell women into slavery and fling homos off rooftops. In exchange, I suppose, for the $500 million still missing from the Malaysian prime minister’s stash.

And so, rather than face a vindictive government that will either buy or destroy them, most members of the House would rather vote with their feet against the BBL and vote in their

hearts for our country by staying away from Congress. The Ombudsman will ignore the civil-society plea or the office will get a P1 budget.

While it won’t be merry for our congressmen who won’t hang around to be bought or browbeaten, we wish them a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and thank them for their patriotism.

What the Paris climate deal must get right W

HATEVER agreement to lower greenhouse-gas emissions emerges from the Paris climate talks, it probably won’t be enough on its own to stop the Earth’s atmosphere from warming to dangerous levels. If the deal gets certain things right, however, it can at least put that goal within reach.

By Thursday night negotiators had reached agreement on one important detail: Committing to meet again in 2020 to submit new targets for 2025, and to revisit their plans at five-year intervals after that. That schedule is much faster than India and other developing countries had wanted. Of course, there’s no guarantee that future meetings will

bring significantly more aggressive emissions targets. But the easiest way for countries to avoid increasing the targets is to not even talk about them.

That leaves one essential provision to be worked out: a transparent mechanism for measuring and verifying each country’s emissions. Unless there is a standard by which countries demonstrate that they are reducing greenhouse gases, their pledges will be mostly meaningless. And unless all the countries know which ones are succeeding and which ones are falling short, peer pressure—the motivating principle at the core of climate negotiations—can’t work.

Countries that lack the resources to accurately measure and verify their emissions should be given help to do so from richer nations.

No country should consider stricter monitoring requirements an intrusion on sovereignty; transparency is a price the entire world will have to pay for progress.

Another point of contention in Paris that’s less important to the final outcome is the Green Climate Fund—that is, the $100 billion a year that richer countries have pledged to provide poorer countries to finance their efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. Negotiators should not let the agreement get bogged down over this. India and

other developing countries argue that money should come entirely from governments, while rich countries say private investments should count toward the total.

That debate misses the broader point: Private money is already funding a great deal of clean-energy technology in the developing world. In fact, more than half of all clean-energy investment now goes toward projects in emerging markets, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance; in 2014, the total reached $126 billion. Almost two-thirds of that came from other developing nations.

The beneficiary countries should focus first and foremost on making

the most of that money, by providing the legal and regulatory framework investors need. Getting more public money into the Green Climate Fund would help, but if governments don’t kick in the entire amount, that shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

That’s not to say developing countries’ concerns aren’t legitimate.

Industrialized nations have been largely responsible for the greenhouse gases already emitted. Even if fairness weren’t an issue, let’s face it: Richer countries are going to have to help poorer ones adapt. But all can benefit from an agreement that leads to the greatest possible amount of emissions cutting—in this round of talks and beyond. Bloomberg View

One way to discourage terror attacks: Sue

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Bloomberg View

By Stephen L. Carter

HE other day over lunch, a colleague asked what I, as a contracts professor, thought about going after terrorists with the law of fraudulent conveyance.

The idea hadn’t occurred to me, but it makes sense. At the margin, we might even be able to affect the incentives for carrying out terror attacks.

Consider: As we now know, the San Bernardino shooters took out a loan of $28,000 from the peer-topeer marketplace Prosper, evidently without any intention of paying it back. If, as news reports suggest, they transferred half of the money to a family member, and if at the time they did so they intended to die, then the case for fraudulent conveyance seems pretty straightforward.

The doctrine of fraudulent conveyance, which goes back to an English statute of the 16th century, is part of the law in every state. It’s designed to protect the integrity of the lending process, thereby keeping costs low. The basic model—what the legal scholar Grant Gilmore labeled the “vulgar type” of fraudulent conveyance—occurs when lender

makes a loan to borrower, who then transfers the money to buddy, with the intention of making the debt uncollectible by lender. Lender can then sue buddy for the money. The touchstone, says one leading treatise, “is the unjust diminution of the estate of the debtor that otherwise would be available to the creditor.” The test is one of intention. If the debtor makes the transfer in order to keep assets from the creditor, then the conveyance is fraudulent.

Not all fraudulent conveyance cases involve loans. For example, in Handy Boat v. Professional Services, decided by the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine in 1998, a business owner set up a separate corporation and transferred $60,000 in assets to it, receiving nothing of value in return. He then vacated premises on which his rental agreement had two years yet to run. When the landlord sued, the business that had originally rented the premises had no assets.

They were all in the new corporation.

The court found the conveyance to be fraudulent, and ordered the tenant to pay. Moreover, the amount

due was not merely the unpaid rent, but (potentially) the entire value of the assets fraudulently transferred.

How does this relate to the San Bernardino terrorists? If they indeed borrowed money from Prospero while already planning to die, then they obviously did not intend to pay it back. This would make the reported transfer of half the loan to a family member a fraudulent conveyance, made to keep the money from creditors. Under those circumstances, the lender could, if it so chooses, proceed against her for the funds.

There is even a California case in point. In Bryson v. Manhart (1936), a businessman facing financial trouble changed the beneficiary of his substantial insurance policy, meaning that upon his death, the proceeds would not become a part of his estate.

He then committed suicide. The court held that the creditors could sue the new beneficiary for the money, because the change had been made in order to avoid the need for the estate to repay the loans. The analogy to San Bernardino, I assume to be obvious.

To use the law of fraudulent

conveyance against the families of suicide attackers is not a matter of being petty or vengeful. It’s a matter of trying to restructure the incentives of potential terrorists. Again, according to news reports, terrorists in the past have frequently “drained their bank accounts and exhausted credit lines before embarking on what they believed would be a suicide mission.”

If this is part of the modus operandi, it suggests a rational concern for family members who will be left behind.

The potential terrorists are trying to provide for them.

Consequently, if lenders go after the families, there is a reduction in the incentive for the attack. They don’t get to keep the money after all. There is no unfairness toward the family members, because they are not entitled to the fraudulently conveyed funds to begin with.

Most terrorists, to be sure, are likely to be sufficiently determined that the prospect of being unable to transfer funds to their families would make no difference. And wealthy countries and other entities that fund terror can still promise

to take care of the families of those launching suicide attacks (as Islamic State reportedly does). But if the practice of borrowing to the hilt and distributing the money is indeed a widespread part of the modus operandi of the potential terrorist, then at least at the margin one would expect to see a shift, however small, in the decision calculus.

The law of fraudulent conveyance has been tried—true, without noticeable success—by families of terror victims to win judgments against Iran. (The Iran treaty will likely make these efforts even less likely to succeed, although plaintiffs are still trying.)

But this idea is different. We’re focusing here on domestic terrorists who intend to carry out suicide attacks but still want to provide for those they will leave behind. Even if the realization that it’s impossible to transfer funds this way deters only a handful of attackers, that handful would matte—especially when, as events continue to show, it’s the homegrown terrorists who are hardest to identify and stop.

Hidden hunger, hidden danger

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram InterPress Service

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OME—The latest estimates are that over 2 billion people in the world suffer some micronutrient deficiencies, often referred to as “hidden hunger.” The main sustainable solution is to ensure adequate public-health interventions, including clean water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as healthy, diverse diets for all.

In the short term, however, it will be necessary to provide supplements of vitamins, minerals and trace elements to those especially vulnerable, e.g., due to displacement and emergency situations.

There is a general consensus that such needs of pregnant and lactating mothers should be especially prioritized due to the intergenerational consequences of child stunting for such reasons.

Developing countries should be able to affordably access locally produced or imported generics of the vitamin and mineral supplements they require.

Many current options associated with

public-private partnership will instead strengthen the vested interests of the lucrative, large and fast-growing industry for nutrition supplements.

The need for supplementation to address urgent, short-term micronutrient deficiencies should qualify as part of the public health exception to the TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This has not been fully recognized ostensibly because people do not drop dead immediately due to hidden hunger.

Under the TRIPs agreement, intellectual property rights (IPRs)—for copyright, trademark, geographical indication, industrial designs and patents— are extended to all signatory countries.

Patents, most relevant to public health and access to medicines, give 20 years of protection to inventions.

In the current language, there are no explicit provisions for generic production of patented nutrition supplements.

However, there is supposed to be a great deal of flexibility on the basis of public health needs, which could be extended

to minerals and vitamins for supplementation. The TRIPs Agreement provides space for countries taking measures to protect public health. Under Article 31, countries can issue compulsory licenses allowing firms or individuals to produce generic copies of patented products or processes for the domestic market without the owner’s consent in “case of a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency or in cases of public noncommercial use.” The government can also determine adequate payment to the IPR holder.

At the Doha WTO conference in 2001 launching the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations, the Declaration on the TRIPs Agreement and Public Health affirmed the right of countries to protect public health, enable access to medicines and determine the criteria for issuing a compulsory license. It emphasized that each country “has the right to grant compulsory licenses” and “the right to determine what constitutes a national health emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency.”

This new text corrected the false

impression that some health emergency was needed to justify compulsory licensing. It also spelt out that “public health crises, including those relating to HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics, can represent a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency.”

Under Article 66.2 of TRIPs, developed country governments are obliged to actively promote technology transfer in establishing manufacturing capabilities for patented processes in developing countries. The 2001 declaration also reaffirmed the developed countries’ commitment to provide incentives to their corporations to enable technology transfer to the least developed countries.

This was part of the original bargain for developing countries to provide protection of IPRs. Developing countries also have the right to import generics if they lack manufacturing capabilities. A 2003 waiver allows countries unable to domestically produce pharmaceuticals to import them instead. Hence, under compulsory licensing, such countries can import externally

produced patented drugs. Thus, while compulsory licensing allows countries to import cheaper generics from countries already producing them, to take advantage of TRIPs Agreement flexibility, countries need to legislate accordingly.

However, exemptions to pharmaceutical patent protection to the least developed countries, enabling them to import without issuing a compulsory license, were only extended until 2016.

The upcoming Nairobi WTO ministerial should extend this exemption beyond next year.

While there appears to be legal space under TRIPs for developing countries to use compulsory licensing, they have effectively be prevented from doing this by complicated rules and procedural requirements. Consequently, use of compulsory licensing by developing countries has been largely limited to HIV/AIDS medicines, and almost exclusively used by middle-income countries.

LDCs have not issued any compulsory licenses while the total number of applications has declined significantly in the last decade.

Sports 24-0 AND COUNTING BusinessMirror

A8 | Sun

day, December 13, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Counting the wins in their final four games last season, the defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions Golden State Warriors have taken 28 in a row. They broke a tie with the 2012-2013 Miami Heat for the second-longest winning streak in league history, and now trail only the 33 straight by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-1972.

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OSTON—Stephen Curry scored 38 points as the Golden State Warriors improved to 24 wins with no loss so far this season by outlasting the Boston Celtics, 124-119, in double overtime on Friday night.

Counting the wins in their final four games last season, the defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions have taken 28 in a row. They broke a tie with the 2012-2013 Miami Heat for the second-longest winning streak in league history, and now trail only the 33 straight by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-1972.

Curry made only nine of 27 shots from the field. But he was 6-of-13 from three-point range and a perfect 14-of-14 from the free throw line, sinking a pair of foul shots with 13.4 seconds left to give the Warriors a three-point lead.

The Warriors next play on Saturday night at Milwaukee. In Orlando, Florida, LeBron James had 25 points and eight assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Orlando Magic, 111-76.

Timofey Mozgov added 17 points as the Cavaliers beat the Magic for the 12th straight time.

Indiana’s Monta Ellis had 24 points, six assists and six

NU Bullpups complete seven-game sweep

steals to help the Pacers down the Miami Heat, 96-83, to end a three-game losing streak. Paul George, the NBA’s third-leading scorer, had 23 for the Pacers.

Chris Bosh had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Dwyane Wade had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in Miami’s third straight loss.

The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 107-95, after Andre Drummond had 18 points and 16 rebounds, and Marcus Morris scored 21 points.

The Pistons opened the game on an 11-0 run and built a 24-point lead in the first half.

New Orleans’ Tyreke Evans scored 27 points as the Pelicans rallied to edge the Wizards, 107-105, and end a seven-game losing streak against Washington, while DeMar DeRozan had 27 points as the Toronto Raptors held off late-charging Milwaukee Bucks, 90-83.

In other games, Kemba Walker had 33 points and six assists as the Charlotte Hornets trounced the Memphis Grizzlies, 123-99; the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz, 94-90; the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-108 in overtime; the San Antonio Spurs overcame the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-87; and the Portland Trail Blazers were 106-96 winners over the Phoenix Suns.

STEPHEN CURRY battles for the loose ball. AP

PRIME TIME IN EUROPE

SUNDAYS aren’t just for touchdowns and tailgates anymore.

While the National Football League football rules the day in the US, European fans are tuning in to the NBA in big numbers for a rare chance to catch live action and still get a good night of sleep.

The league expanded its schedule of Sunday afternoon starts this season, with 20 of the 23 games

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Cheng replaced Chi Lewis-Parry over the Briton’s failure to complete preflight requirements, especially on medical tests results.

The 37-year-old striking fighter, considered the next in line prospect for the belt, received the offer on a 72-hour notice from One FC CEO Victor Cui. After the fight, Chengs posted on social media his plan of hanging up his gloves for good. He also thanked One FC for his shot of the title.

“Thanks to Victor Cui and Brandon Vera for a world title. Going to hang out a few days and officially retiring from MMA,” Cheng said.

The win saved a near-tragic ending for Filipino fighters in the ninematch card.

Mark “Mugen” Striegl lost by tap out to Reece McLaren, another replacement for Australian Jordan Lucas, in the 3:33 mark of the third round in a bantamweight clash.

Pro boxer turned MMA fighter Ana Julaton also yielded a unanimous decision loss to Russian Irina Masepa. The match was close in the early rounds, but Masepa unleashed combinations that wobbled Julaton in the final round. Maseru got the nod of judges with more strikes and take downs.

In the other undercard match, bright prospect and crowdpleaser Eugene Toquero fired up the crowd in beating Li Wei Bin via a corner stoppage in the second round.

SAN MATEO, RIZAL, MIRIAM SOFTBELLES WIN

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AN MATEO, Rizal, and Miriam College scored a pair of shutout wins to set their campaigns in motion in the 2015 National Inter-Secondary Girls Softball Championships at the Santo Niño Baseball Field in Marikina City on Saturday.

The San Mateo belles flashed top form and demolished their rivals from Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, 11-0, to kick off their title-retention drive, while the Miriam also posted a lopsided 10-0 romp over Pampanga province at the start of the weeklong tournament organized by the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil), headed by Cebuana Lhuillier President Jean HenriLhuillier. Lhuillier expressed confidence that the tournament will further help promote the sport in the country.

Rose Robrigado hit a three-run home run late in the first inning as San Mateo, Rizal, took control early then the defending champions added four more runs before Maica Mendoza and Ma. Teresa Blanco joined in the scoring binge to cap their romp.

Soltones lifts ‘Baste’

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AN SEBASTIAN relied on Gretchel Soltones in stunning defending champion Arellano University, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21, to grab the solo lead in the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s volleyball competition on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan City.

The power-hitting Soltones, the reigning Most Valuable Player, blasted away a season-best 33 hits, including 31 on spikes, as the Lady Stags jumped to the top with a pristine 5-0 (win-loss) record.

“We knew she’s feeling it, that’s why we made it a point to go to her a lot,” San Sebastian Coach Roger Gorayeb said of Soltones.

The Lady Stags also avenged their two-game sweep in the finals at the hands of the Lady Stags.

Shirley Salamagos, CJ Rosario and Danna Henson uncorked 14, 12 and 10 hits, respectively, but they just couldn’t find a way to stop Soltones.

The setback sent the Obet Javier-coached Lady Chiefs from a share of No. 1 to second place with a 4-1 (win-loss) card.

In men’s play, Arellano University trounced San Sebastian, 25-18, 25-22, 26-24, to improve to 3-2. The Stags fell to 1-4.

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

RANDON “THE TRUTH” VERA needed only 26 seconds in scoring a sensational victory over Paul “Typhoon” Cheng to snatch the inaugural One Fighting Championship (FC) heavyweight belt in front of a raucous hometown crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.

The Filipino-American mixed-martial arts (MMA) veteran Vera connected a fury of combinations from the opening bell before unleashing a lethal left hook he complemented with a left foot kick to the face that sent the Taiwanese veteran to the canvass.

The referee stopped the fight after Vera continuously pummeled Cheng, a last-minute replacement, with hammer punches, giving the 38-year-old star the championship belt he offered for his Filipino fans.

“In my whole life, I wanted to be here. I want to end up fighting in front of my kababayan for the world championship. And I got to put on a show the fans will never forget,” said the 6-foot-2 Vera, who won the title on his second match for his new promotions after an eight-year stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I hope I made my family proud, I thought I’m just dreaming.

This title is for all of you,” Vera added.

ATIONAL University used a strong second half to turn back defending champion Ateneo, 73-60, and complete a first-round sweep in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 juniors basketball tournament on Saturday at the Blue Eagle gym.

Justine Baltazar made 18 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks, while John Lloyd Clemente also had 18 points for the Bullpups, who swept all seven games of the first round. Jolo Mendoza was hardly a factor for the Blue Eaglets. The Finals Most Valuable Player last season was scoreless in only 15 minutes of action because of a knee injury.

Ateneo dropped to 5-2 to share second place with De La Salle-Zobel, which absorbed a 66-79 loss to Adamson University.

EJ Agbong played his best game of the season with 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Baby Falcons, who improved to a 4-3 card. Adamson University tied Far Eastern University-Diliman, a 61-40 winner over University of Santo Tomas, at fourth place. University of the Philippines Integrated School entered the win column with a 104-69 rout of University of the East in the other game.

The Tiger Cubs wound up with a 2-5 record, while the Junior Maroons are now 1-6 and the Junior Warriors remained winless in seven outings.

NBA, since with about 100 international players in the league, nearly every team has somebody the overseas audience wants to watch.

“Finding a team that’s compelling isn’t very hard,” Brabants said, “because you’ve got a team like, for example, the Timberwolves with a number of international players, including Ricky Rubio for example, who’s obviously Spanish and a big hit in Spain that fit easily into the schedule.”

‘THE TRUTH’ IN 26 SECONDS

GLOBALPORTS’S Stanley Pringle (3) and Mahindra’s Karl Dehesa go airborne in this bit of action on Saturday. NONOY LACZA

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tipping off at 3:30 p.m. ET. That’s 9:30 p.m. in Spain, home of the European champions and a devoted fan base. Matt Brabants, NBA senior vice president of global media distribution and business operations, said the games have become “appointment viewing” for fans in the 114 countries and territories in Europe, Africa and the Middle East who will see Minnesota visit Phoenix on Sunday.

And it barely requires any scheduling difficulty for the

CEBUANA Lhuillier Head of Operations Jose Miguel Jimenez (third from right) prepares to throw the ceremonial pitch kicking off the 2015 National Inter-Secondary Girls Softball Championships in Marikina City.

ROMEO, PRINGLE KEY BATANG PIER VICTORY VS MAHINDRA

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ERRENCE ROMEO was miserable from three-point zone—missing 14 attempts—until he finally found the mark when it mattered most to help GlobalPort beat Mahindra, 118-116, in overtime on Saturday in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Romeo buried his one and only successful trey with 30 seconds left in overtime that gave the Batang Pier the cushion it needed in notching its seventh win—their fourth straight—in 10 games,

enough for a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

“Mahindra played so well, their shooting was amazing,” GlobalPort Head Coach Pido Jarencio said. “But my players showed character, especially Terrence, Stanley [Pringle] and Joseph [Yeo].”

Romeo and Pringle each had 29 points, while Yeo added 11 markers.

“The team should be solid entering the playoffs. And it is looking obvious that the players are working as a team,” Jarencio added.

The Batang Pier looked headed to winning in regulation, but a miscue

by Billy Mamaril led to a three-point shot by Karl Dahesa that gave

Mahindra a 100-99 margin with 1:14 left.

Mamaril redeemed himself with a putback, but the Enforcers refused to buckle with Dehesa scoring two free throws and Bradwyn Guinto splitting his charities for a 103-100 Mahindra cushion with time running down. Pringle put matters into his own hands and patiently scored on a jumper to beat the clock and send the game to overtime, 103-103.

Aldrech Ramos finished with 24 markers and Dehesa added 23 for Mahindra, which dropped to 2-8 won-lost. Ramon Rafael Bonilla