Businessmirror december 27, 2017

GOVT SPEEDS UP APPROVAL OF PUBLIC INFRA PROJECTS

By Cai U. Ordinario

Among the big-ticket programs and projects are the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana) program costing P8.61 billion, while P114.04 million will be allocated for the program on the Implementation of the Normalization Program in the Bangsamoro.

“Strong economic growth aside, the biggest highlight of the year is our launch of the Philippine Development Plan, or PDP 2017-2022, last June. The PDP will guide all of government’s policies, programs and projects for the entire duration of the Duterte administration,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

“As I keep stressing, the Duterte administration will be relentless and unflinching in directing its efforts toward infrastructure development, regional and rural development, and human capital development through 2022, to fight poverty and reduce inequality in our country,” Pernia added.

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Part One

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he Duterte administration spent 2017 preparing for battle. It dug trenches and carefully crafted plans on how best to move its infrastructure vision forward.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) was instrumental at this stage. The oversight agency completed the government’s 2017 to 2022 Philippine Development Plan (PDP)—the country’s socioeconomic blueprint that details the current administration’s plans in addressing issues surrounding specific sectors of the economy.

The plan is accompanied by the Public Investment Program (PIP), which identifies the projects and programs that will be implemented to achieve the plans and targets included in the PDP. Based on the draft PIP, the initial estimates showed that implementing the plans and meeting the PDP targets will cost the government nearly P11 trillion.

The construction of a building is mirrored in a swamp on Macapagal Boulevard in Parañaque City. More infrastructure projects are expected to be implemented in 2018, as the government has fast-tracked the approval of infrastructure projects. NONIE REYES

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Wednesday, December 27, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 77

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HE Senate’s conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation—a key plank of its work—will not be dampened by a Supreme Court order for the interim release of Aegis Juris fratman Arvin Balag from the Senate premises, where he was consigned in October following what senators deemed as behavior in contempt of the chamber.

Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III is confident the power to investigate will not be crimped by the SC, replying “no” to a query by the BusinessMirror on whether the Supreme Court resolution—received on December 21 by his office—would dampen the work of legislative investigation, given its impact on a key tool of such mandate: the power to cite persons in contempt and order their detention.

Meanwhile, senators queried by the BusinessMirror appeared to tread cautiously on the Balag case, given the sensitivity of an issue affecting its relations with the Judiciary. They, however, expressed firm conviction that such case would not limit their

Culture of peace Teddy Locsin Jr.

free fire Statement delivered by Ambassador Teddy L. Locsin Jr. at the United Nations General Assembly Debate—60th Plenary Meeting Agenda Item 15: Culture of peace, on December 8.

Mr. President, he Philippines highly commends the President of the General Assembly for convening the High Level Forum on a Culture of Peace. The Philippines, likewise, lauds the unflagging effort of the Secretary-General to sustain the peace agenda, declaring 2017 as the “year for peace,” and calling for a “surge in diplomacy for peace.” An ironic echo of the famed but failed surge in Afghanistan for the same peaceful purpose.

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Japan inflation accelerates in November

Fate of Supreme Court’s top magistrate hangs in the air

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE year 2017 may be considered as another challenging year for the Judiciary as the fate of its top magistrate, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno is the subject of impeachment proceedings before the House of the Representatives, remains hanging in the air.

Sereno’s impending impeachment trial is also giving stakeholders in the Judiciary a serious case of déjà vu. It can be recalled that the late Chief Justice Renato Corona’s term was cut short in 2012 after allies of then-President Benigno S. Aquino III successfully ousted him from his post following impeachment proceedings that found him guilty of betraying public trust and committing culpable violation of the Constitution.

But, unlike Corona who enjoyed the support of his fellow magistrates and

members of the Judiciary, Sereno’s impeachment has proven that her appointment as Chief Justice caused a major crack in the once impenetrable branch of the government.

It is unlikely that Sereno would try to seek refuge, like what her predecessor did then, from her fellow magistrates to stop the impeachment proceedings, considering that several of her colleagues have testified against her in the proceedings.

Four other SC associate justices— Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam and Arturo Brion (now retired)—have testified in the impeachment proceedings against Sereno.

Meanwhile, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Caprio, who is perceived to be Sereno’s ally in the SC based on their identical votes on high-profile issues, is said to be thinking of whether to testify as well on January 18.

PESO exchange rates n US 50.1940

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Senators probing hazing death unfazed by SC order

By Butch Fernandez

2016 ejap journalism awards

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HOLIDAY ADVENTURE Tourists cross a narrow hanging bridge going to the building where you can get a 360-degree view of Manila from Antipolo. Tourist destinations are jam-packed, as Filipinos take advantage of the holiday season to spend time with their loved ones.

ALYSA SALEN

apanese inflation unexpectedly picked up in November, but prices are still rising at less than half the rate targeted by the central bank.

The tightest job market in decades got even tighter.

Highlights of the Data Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, increased 0.9 percent in November from a year earlier (estimate 0.8 percent).

The unemployment rate fell to 2.7 percent (estimate 2.8 percent), the lowest since 1993. Household spending increased 1.7 percent from a year ago (estimate 0.5 percent).

The job-to-applicant ratio rose to 1.56 (estimate 1.56), the highest since the mid-1970s.

See “Japan inflation,” A2

n japan 0.4431 n UK 67.1947 n HK 6.4202 n CHINA 7.6219 n singapore 37.3690 n australia 38.6544 n EU 59.6255 n SAUDI arabia 13.3851

Source: BSP (22 December 2017 )

A2 Wednesday, December 27, 2017

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Senators probing hazing death unfazed by SC order Continued from A1

zeal to continue conducting inquiries in aid of legislation, given the many urgent controversies the Senate tackled this year, several of which will spill over into 2018.

Balag, leader of the Aegis Juris fraternity blamed for the hazing death of University of Santo Tomas law student Horatio “Atio” del Castillo IV, had petitioned the SC on October 25 after the senators at a joint inquiry on the del Castillo case ordered him detained in Senate premises for being uncooperative. He repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination even when plied with simple questions of established points of fact.

The SC merely ordered Balag’s “interim release,” indicating that the legal battle over his case is far from over. Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr., chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs—the lead panel—indicated as much, when he explained last Thursday that they simply wanted to avoid any constitutional crisis during the holidays, even though they viewed the SC order as an infringement on the powers of a coequal branch.

“While we reserve our right to invoke the inherent power of the Senate [and Congress] to compel witnesses and resource persons to testify in our inquires in aid of legislation as provided for under our rules and anchored on Section 21, Article VI of the Constitution, we opted in the meantime to respect and comply with the SC resolution ordering the interim release of Balag even before its final ruling on the main case,” Lacson said.

Govt. . .

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With an ambitious plan and sky-high targets, most notably the P8.4-billion spending on infrastructure projects, the government needed to improve its efforts in project evaluation and approval.

The President himself did not mince words. He specifically directed the Neda to speed up its project approval process. The President knew efforts to meet his vision of bridging the country’s infrastructure gap needed to be fast-tracked.

Suiting up

In response, the Neda instituted changes and introduced innovations that sought to speed up the project approval process. This became the focus of the oversight agency’s efforts this year.

“The year 2016 and 2017 were years of improving the pipeline of projects. The year 2018 will be a year of implementation,” Neda Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said in an interview with the BusinessM irror.

In his year-end briefing, Pernia said one of the major changes in the project approval process this year was the creation of the Project Facilitation and Monitoring and Innovation (PFMI) Task Force. The PFMI Task Force aimed to ensure that infrastructure flagship projects are implemented and completed on time.

“We did so, all in the spirit of Christmas, not to mention our desire to avoid a constitutional crisis during this holiday season,” Lacson stressed.

However, he quickly added: “Having said that, there is no saying that we are about ready to give up the rights of the legislature, being a coequal branch of government. We will tackle this issue at the proper time as a collegial body.”

For his part, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, when asked if he thought the SC order would dampen legislative inquiries because it seems to dilute the Senate’s contempt powers replied: “Not necessarily.” Recto added, however, that the “Senate should use its contempt powers sparingly,” in order to avoid discouraging people from heeding its invitations to hearings.

Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III weighed in favor of Lacson’s stand to release Balag in the interim—as the SC en banc resolution dictated—but to question the matter after the holidays.

“Okay, I’ll support Ping [Lacson],” Sotto told the BusinessMirror in a text message.

Minority Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan, a lawyer, declined to comment for the meantime but said he would study the matter over the holidays.

Similarly, Sen. Richard J. Gordon, whose committees (Blue Ribbon and Justice and Human Rights) account for most of the major legislative investigations, sought more time to weigh the implications of the en banc resolution freeing Balag in the interim.

While most members of the Blue Ribbon Tungpalan earlier said that setting up the PMFI required funding, such as the technical-assistance loan from $100 million worth Asian Development Bank (ADB) dedicated to project monitoring.

The PMFI had the Neda as its secretariat, while its members included the Neda secretary, finance secretary, budget secretary and heads of other agencies that are part of the “Build, Build, Build” program.

Tungpalan said the PMFI uses project monitoring techniques, such as S-curves, which plot the release of monetary resources with time, as well as the Project Evaluation Review Technique/Critical Path Method (PERT-CPM) that helps predict which projects will encounter delays.

He added the PERT-CPM can help the PMFI determine certain activities that can be done in parallel with the completion of a certain milestone in project implementation. It will help monitor the slack, as well as the critical path, of projects.

The flagship projects, which are the focus of the PMFI, is itself one of the infrastructure-related initiatives this year. The list of 75 projects has an initial cost estimate of P1.58 trillion.

Creating this exclusive list of “game changing” infrastructure projects, Tungpalan said, allows the Neda and the line agencies to have a focus on which projects must be prioritized. Without this focus, Tungpalan admitted, some important projects could fall into the cracks and not get implemented.

He added that while funding is not a concern given

and the Public Order committees attended the Atio del Castillo hazing-death inquiry, it was Lacson and Gordon who asked Aegis Juris fraternity members some of the most pointed questions. At one point, an exasperated Sen. Grace Poe noted how Balag was routinely invoking his right against self-incrimination to block the inquiry.

SC resolution

The SC resolution was in response to Balag’s urgent petition of October 25; and his comments of November 28 in the case of GR 234608 (Arvin R. Balag v. Senate of the Philippines, Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, and MGen. Jose V. Balajadia, the Senate sergeant at arms). The en banc resolution directed Balag’s “immediate release” but pending resolution of the petition he filed in court, questioning his detention.

‘Legislative probes indispensable’

Earlier, Gordon had stoutly defended the Senate’s power to investigate, saying it was an “indispensable” tool for democracy and good governance and provides senators the proper context with which to frame or amend legislation.

Gordon himself had tangled with some of his peers in some of the investigations he headed, at one point prompting a walkout by Sens. Antonio F. Trillanes IV and Leila M. de Lima—before she was ordered detained by a Muntinlupa court on drug-related charges—when Gordon’s Justice committee was the country’s fiscal health, speed is. Undertaking Feasibility Studies take anywhere from three to 12 months, depending on whether previous work on the project has been done.

The ICC project approval period adds another six weeks to this process, while post-approval time needed to undertake contracts and bidding will take time to complete. Only after projects are bidded out and contracts are awarded will the projects start contributing to the economy.

Getting loan funding approval from development partners will also take time. This will matter considering that the bulk of the 75 flagship projects will be funded through official development assistance.

Apart from the PMFI and the flagship projects, another initiative that sought to hasten project appraisal and approval process was the the $100-million Infrastruc ture Preparation and Innovation Facility (IPIF).

Neda Assistant Secretary Jonathan L. Uy recently told reporters the list of projects to be financed by the IPIF now cover 21 projects from the indicative list of 19 projects.

The list now includes eight road and bridge projects; six water projects; and six rail, public transport, port and airport projects.

“The IPIF is a facility we hope to use in the feasibility assessment. Essentially feasibility studies will be done by the departments but the IPIF is supposed to provide further technical validation and improvement, particularly in your rollout implementation.

handling the case of Davao Death Squad whistle-blower Edgar Matobato.

Last week his Blue Ribbon committee released a report recommending indictment of former immigration associate commissioners Michael Robles and Al Argosino over the P50-million bribery case involving the release of foreign workers at gaming tycoon Jack Lam’s Clark casino.

A few days before that, Gordon was at the receiving end of attacks from social media, criticizing his handling of the Dengvaxia mess inquiry involving the mass immunization of 830,000 schoolchildren with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine—a program Gordon had rightly pointed out as being marked with “undue haste” just a few months before the 2016 elections.

Stung by criticism of his alleged monopolizing of the hearing and his “double standard” in badgering certain witnesses but being soft on former President Benigno S. Aquino III when the latter testified, Gordon had shot back, “I did not ask for this position. If they think they can do a better job, they can have it.”

The wrangling between senators notwithstanding, they are expected to circle the wagons once the holidays end, and they are forced to meet head-on the legal challenge posed by the SC resolution on the Balag case. Meantime, Gordon and Lacson have separately served notice that ongoing inquiries will not in any way be hampered by the Balag case, as public interest—and the work of legislation—requires the satisfactory resolution of controversies taken cognizance of by Senate probers.

The past two years, for instance, Senate probers were kept busy with such spectacular cases as the Matobato-Lascañas back-to-back testimonies on “kill” teams in Davao during President Duterte’s term as mayor; the P6-billion smuggling of methamphetamine or shabu from China that passed through the Customs green lane; and the immigration bribery scandal, among others.

But in the view of Poe, the Senate’s task of conducting inquiries in aid of legislation is not simply a matter of haling people to the chamber so lawmakers can badger them.

Sometimes, she said—before calling the hearings on the PUV modernization that had triggered a transport strike and the threat of a second one—the Senate can act as venue for genuine dialogue between stakeholders, in order to ferret out what’s best for all concerned.

The Senate Blue Ribbon has had a long history of laying the groundwork for the formal filing of charges against parties in a long line of anomalies—from when it was chaired by Wigberto Tañada, Juan Ponce Enrile and Ernesto Maceda, among others.

A review of the proceedings of most major Senate inquiries would indicate that a key factor in ensuring appearance of persons and their rightful testimonies is, implicitly always, the notion that senators can hold one in contempt and order his/her detention. That important power, weighed against the rights of fraternity men hiding behind the Constitution, will be in focus in January when the full debate on the Balag case commences.

It includes institutional capacity assessment,” Uy earlier explained.

In August the ADB said the total cost of the facility is $164.06 million, with the Philippine government contributing $64.06 million. The project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021.

The new loan, along with the recently approved $5-million technical-assistance grant, serves as a catalyst for the government’s project-management and -monitoring system.

The list of projects that the facility can finance is about $3.8 billion. Initially, the loan for the facility is good for five years but the IPIF can receive additional loans from ADB depending on the implementation of the projects and the need for additional resources by the national government.

Also, while the facility is still limited to financing projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation, later on the use of the facility can be used for other projects, such as those for agriculture, health and education.

The government’s infrastructure invest-ments in national roads, railways, bridges, flood control, ports and airports will add as much as $10 billion to the country’s GDP between 2019 and 2024.

Also included in the list of initiatives is the “3-in-1” process introduced by the Department of Finance to streamline the Neda Board approval process.

This is where the Neda Board approval, together with the issuance of the special presidential authority to government officials to negotiate and sign the loan, guarantee or grant agreement for the project, as well as the Forward Obligational Authority by the Department of Budget and Management, would be issued simultaneously during a single Neda Board meeting.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said the 3-in-1 process is among the steps taken by the Duterte administration to significantly improve the absorptive capacity of government agencies, particularly those involved in the government’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.

“Our goal here is to speed up the approval and implementation of our flagship infra projects so that we can get shovels on the ground as soon as possible,” Dominguez earlier said. Apart from these initiatives, the national government also agreed to make the ICC the “clearing house” for all Chinese-funded projects.

Screening companies undertaking government projects is not part of the current functions of the ICCCabcom. It is only tasked to evaluate publicly funded projects that cost P5 billion and up. Pernia earlier said the Chinese government will also create or assign its own group to act as the first level of screening for Chinese companies wanting to participate in Philippine projects.

The Chinese firms will be assessed based on certain qualifications, including their track record in undertaking projects and financial capability to complete a project. The ICC-Cabcom will screen Chinese companies only. Pernia earlier said this is because the country does not have any “sour experience” with contractors of other nationalities.

There are also smaller initiatives created to speed up projects this year. This includes creating levels in Project Evaluation Reports (PER), where projects with a full PER will be directly evaluated by the ICC, as well as reducing the number of Neda Board members.

Pernia said rationalization of the composition of the Neda Board as stated in the President’s Administrative Order 8 only aimed to streamline the approval process. To be continued

Japan inflation. . .

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Key takeaways

Nearly five years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power promising to end Japan’s deflationary malaise, the economy is registering healthy growth but inflation remains well below the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) 2-percent target. Energy prices have driven most of the gains in inflation as the tightest labor market in decades hasn’t fueled a strong rise in wages, meaning households have limited their spending. Given these conditions, the BOJ left the settings on its unprecedented monetary stimulus program unchanged last week in its final meeting of 2017.

Economists views

“Conditions are better than they were in deflation, but inflation hasn’t even reached 1 percent,” said Masaki Kuwahara, senior economist at Nomura Securities Co., noting that prices excluding energy and fresh food rose only 0.3 percent. “The BOJ will maintain the status quo because inflation is still far away from 2 percent.”

“On household spending, there were comments saying that August and September had bad numbers due to the amount of rain over the weekends, and that analysis appears to

have been right,” said Yasutoshi Nagai, chief economist at Daiwa Securities Co. “We can expect a continuation of gradual improvement in spending. I don’t know how low unemployment numbers may go, but I believe there’s still room to go lower, and it’s possible that the labor market will become tighter,” Nagai added.

Bloomberg economics

The slew of data showed that Japan’s economy was running on the hot side heading into the year-end, Bloomberg Economics’s Yuki Masujima said.

Household spending rose more than expected, responding to a sixth straight month of rising disposal income. But looking ahead, higher prices of fresh food and oil spell headwinds for consumption. Inflation remained the weak spot. Even so, early signals suggest core inflation may tick up to 1 percent in December—halfway to the BOJ’s target.

Other details

Overall, nationwide prices rose 0.6 percent in November (estimate 0.5 percent). Excluding fresh food and energy, prices gained 0.3 percent (estimate 0.3 percent). Prices excluding fresh food in Tokyo rose 0.8 percent in December (estimate 0.7 percent). Bloomberg News

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UNWTO launches tourism road map to 2030

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) last week launched its road map for advancing the contribution of tourism toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Participants from around the world gathered at the Palace of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, for the official closing ceremony of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, to review the main achievements in the year, as well as to discuss the many facets of said road map.

In his speech to open the event, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said: “2017, the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, has been a unique opportunity for all of us to come together to promote the contribution of tourism to shape a better future for people and planet and to contribute to making this world a

better place.“ He urged participants to come together and support the effort “as we embark on this exciting new journey toward 2030. I trust that together, as a sector, as people with the same vision and commitment, we will go far.”

On the occasion, UNWTO also launched the Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals Program as a legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, according to an agency news statement. The program advocates the contribution of sustainable tourism to the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), and encourages the full integration of tourism and the SDGs in nation-

al, regional and global agendas. “It includes the future ‘Tourism and SDGs’ online platform—a cocreation space to inspire and empower the tourism sector to act—developed by UNWTO with the support of Seco [State Secretary for Economic Affairs] and an Ambassadors Initiative,” the news statement added.

The Department of Tourism has long been encouraging industry stakeholders to practice sustainable tourism methods, and requires establishments going through the agency’s accreditation process to implement measures that would minimize their impact on the environment.

The Philippines will also be among the countries that will pilot test specific ways to measure tourism’s impact on the environment. In June the country hosted the sixth UNWTO International Conference on Tourism Statistics, wherein delegates adopted a “Manila Call For Action” on measuring sustainable tourism.

The document is envisioned to mobilize countries to start the process of identifying indicators and methodology to assess the impact of tourism on the achievement of SDGs considering that tourism is responsible for SDG 8, 12 and 14.

SDGs refer to the targets of the

Fate of Supreme Court’s top magistrate hangs in the air Continued from A1

Carpio, together with two Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo and Samuel Martires have been invited to appear before the House Committee on Justice when it resumes the impeachment proceedings next year.

In his impeachment complaint, lawyer Larry Gadon accused Sereno of culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, other high crimes and betrayal of public trust.

Gadon claimed that Sereno did not declare in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) the “exorbitant lawyer’s fees” of $745,000 or P37 million that she received from the Philippine government.

The impeachment complainant said the issue of SALN declaration is the strongest case presented against Sereno.

The complaint also alleged that Sereno committed corruption when she, among others, used public funds to: finance an extravagant and lavish lifestyle by ordering the purchase of a brand-new luxurious Toyota Land Cruiser 2017 model as personal vehicle, amounting to more than P5 million; and stay in opulent hotels when attending conferences in the country and abroad.

As to the alleged acts constituting high crimes, Gadon accused Sereno, among others, of obstruction of justice by ordering the Muntinlupa judges not to issue warrants of arrest against Sen. Leila M. de Lima in connection with her drug cases; and failure to report her high attorney’s fees and pay the appropriate taxes therefore, among others.

On betrayal of public trust, the complaint alleged, among other things, that Sereno: hired an information-technology consultant with excessive compensation without public bidding; sent a strongly worded but misplaced reply to President Duterte on the judges linked to drugs, thereby inviting a head-on collision between the Presidency and the Judiciary; and prevented the CA justices to do a courtesy call on the President.

Whether Sereno would suffer the same fate as her predecessor or would come out triumphant, we would have to wait until 2018 to know the answer

Duterte winning in SC

WHILE it seems that Sereno is losing her grip of the bench she is on, Duterte is winning in the SC, as most of the cases filed against the government have been denied.

In October the Court gave the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Muntinlupa City the go-signal to hear and decide on the drug cases filed against Duterte’s no. 1 critic, former justice secretary and now detained senator de Lima.

In its ruling, the Court sided with the

government chief counsel, Solicitor General Jose Calida, that it is the trial court that has jurisdiction over cases of violations of RA 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act. The Court held the jurisdiction should not shift to the Sandiganbayan whenever the accused occupies a position classified as Grade 27 or higher, regardless of whether the violation was alleged to have been committed in relation to the office being occupied.

The Court ruled that the Sandiganbayan’s jurisdiction was limited to violations of the anti-graft laws and do not extend to violations of the drugs law, the SC held.

As a consequence, de Lima will remain in detention at the Camp Crame Custodial Center, while the drug cases are heard by separate branches of the RTC in Muntinlupa City.

Martial law affirmed

The Duterte administration also won big in the SC when it affirmed early this month a ruling issued in July declaring constitutional and legal the President’s declaration of martial law in the entire Mindanao region.

In the July 2017 ruling, the Court held there was sufficient factual basis for the declaration of martial law in Mindanao and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the region after the attacks of local terror group Maute in May in Marawi City.

It reiterated that the power to determine the scope of territorial application of martial law belongs to the President and that there is no constitutional provision that such emergency power should be implemented only in the place where actual rebellion exists.

SC allows Marcos burial at the LNMB

Despite protests from victims of humanrights violations during the Marcos era, Duterte pushed for the burial of the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) in Taguig.

Marcos was eventually buried at the LNMB with full military honors on November 18.

The President’s position on Marcos burial was backed by the SC in a ruling issued on November 8 where a majority of the 15man High Tribunal found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of Duterte in granting the plea of the Marcos family to bury the late dictator at the LNMB. The SC found that the President committed no grave abuse of discretion in ordering that the remains of former President Marcos be buried in the LNMB because this was done in the exercise of his mandate under Article VII, Section 17, of the 1987 Constitution.

Furthermore, the High Court explained that Duterte is not bound by the 1992 Agreement entered into between former President Fidel Ramos and the Marcos family to have the remains interred instead in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

The Court pointed out that, as incumbent President, Duterte has the right “to amend, revoke, or rescind political agreements entered into by his predecessor” and to come up with policies that he thinks will be effective in fulfilling his mandate.

The Court also held that the petitioners failed to back their claims that the President was motivated by a debt of gratitude and payback to the Marcoses for their support in the last elections in allowing the late strongman’s burial at the LNMB. It added that Marcos cannot be denied the right to be acknowledged as a legislator, a secretary of National Defense, a military personnel, a war veteran and recipient of a Medal of Valor citation.

The Court also did not give credence to arguments of the petitioners that Marcos was not qualified for burial at the LNMB because he had been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude.

In fact, the Court noted Marcos was not convicted by final judgment of any offense involving moral turpitude.

But will the coming year be another lucky year for the Duterte administration?

This question will be answered when the SC resolves other pending cases next year such as the petition seeking to stop the government war against illegal drugs.

It can be recalled that the SC had concluded oral arguments on the petitions filed by human-rights groups Free Legal Assistance Group and Center for International Law against the administration’s war on drugs.

Solicitor General Jose Calida has branded as “disingenuous moves to destabilize the Duterte administration and sow anarchy” the filing of the petitions.

He argued that the petitions seeking to stop the implementation of Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular 16-2016, or “Oplan Double Barrel,” and Department of the Interior and Local Government’s Memorandum Circular 2017112, or the “Masa Masid” project, if granted, is detrimental to the government and a grave threat to the nation.

Aside from this, other controversies expected to be brought before the SC include the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion seen to generate as much as P130 billion in fresh revenues through higher tax imposed on fuel, coal and sugarsweetened beverages, among others, and the controversial P3 billion anti-dengue vaccine of the Department of Health.

UN, which member-nations use to frame their government policies for a sustainable world by 2030.

These include ending poverty and hunger, gender equality and equal access to health and education, among others. Three of them are related to tourism: SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water.)

For her part, Gloria Guevara, president and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council stressed that “sustainability remains the bedrock of our activity. We will continue to drive the conversation on planning for and managing tourism growth, define a sector-wide response to climate change, work on how the sector can reduce illegal trade in wildlife and contribute to inclusive job creation.

She also lauded Rifai, for pushing the sustainable-tourism agenda, as well as forging partnerships with the private sector, calling these his legacy. As a I said before, there is a

time before Taleb, and after Taleb, and most have witnessed this.

Other speakers, likewise, underscored the importance of promoting sustainable tourism. “It is so important that we succeed in making tourism sustainable by making sustainable tourism economically viable, culturally accepted and universally practiced,” said Michael Møller, director general, United Nations Office in Geneva. “The UNWTO deserves great credit for tackling this head on throughout this past year.” he added.

“I personally believe that the future of tourism lies in enabling ICT [information and communications technology] capacities. Accordingly, we should harness those powers for smart tourism…I believe that the way forward in our journey to 2030 is smart tourism. I call on all of you to guide me and support me in this endeavor,” said Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization, a global financial and accounting services firm based in Amman, Jordan.

As for Marie-Gabrielle IneichenFleisch, Seco of Switzerland, she said: “In the future, a strong international cooperation of all relevant actors involved in the tourism sector should become the driving force to promote sustainable tourism and to implement tourism policies efficiently.

The event was also an opportunity for Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister, King Simeon II, also Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism 2017 to address the event, where he stressed the importance of public-private partnerships for sustainable tourism.

The tourism and SDGs ambassadors designated on the occasion include Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities; Luis Guillermo Solís, president of Costa Rica; Huayong Ge, president of UnionPay China; and Dr. Michael Frenzel, president of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry.

The World

A4 Wednesday, December 27, 2017 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

brings Northeast Oil’s bull run wavers as investors Christmas blizzard, bitter cold in Midwest wait to see what 2018 would bring C last week. American output is poised to reach 9.99 million barrels a day in May, according to the Energy Information Administration. That would surpass Saudi Arabia’s curtailed production of 9.97 million barrels a day in November.

Net positions

Bloomberg

O

il’s bull run is grinding to a halt.

Hedge funds lowered their bets on Brent crude after they rose to a record a week earlier. And the net-bullish position on West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which hit a nine-month high last month, dwindled for a third straight week. The message: After a months-long buildup, investors are wavering, concerned US

crude will continue to boom in 2018, undercutting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) push to drain a global glut.

“It seems like now most people have got their positions and are waiting to see what 2018 brings,” said Rob Thummel, managing director at Tortoise

Capital Advisors Llc. Oil futures in New York have jumped almost 40 percent since June, as Opec and its allies extended their productioncut deal and US inventories shrank to two-year lows. But the decline in American stockpiles is largely due to refinery maintenance and exports near an alltime high. Meanwhile, gushers in the country are producing at a record pace.

Global stockpiles won’t fall enough to reach the level targeted by Opec when the group meets in June, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said

The Brent net-long position—the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a drop—fell 1.1 percent to 538,045 contracts in the week ended December 19, according to data from ICE Futures Europe. That’s after reaching a record 544,051 contracts in the previous week. Longs fell 1.2 percent, while shorts decreased 1.8 percent.

Money managers cut their WTI net-long position by 1.8 percent to 383,828 futures and options during the week, according to data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission last Friday. Longs fell by 1.2 percent, while shorts rose 3.9 percent.

“It’s been a good year,” but there’s “some worry about what next month is going to bring,” said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital Llc. in New York. “There’s not as much enthusiasm about the Opec/non-Opec accord as there was even a few weeks ago.”

Pipeline outage

The North Sea’s Forties Pipeline System, which carries crude used to price the Dated Brent benchmark, is set to return to normal flows early in the new year, according to a statement from operator Ineos Group. The outage, which gave a boost to prices, was the first time a force majeure had been declared in the North Sea since 1988. Repairs are expected to be completed by “around Christmas.”

In the fuel market, money managers reduced their net-long position on benchmark US gasoline by 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the net-bullish position on diesel rose by 1.9 percent.

Heading into next year, investors will be watching how long it takes to get inventories back to the five-year average, Thummel said. The Opec deal extension brought some certainty to the market, which is now waiting to see how the cuts and US production play out. Bloomberg News

HICAGO—The good news for many in the Northeast and Midwest was that it has been a white Christmas. The bad news was that a blizzard swept into parts of New England and bitter cold enveloped much of the Midwest.

Even the usually rainy Pacific Northwest got the white st uf f. T he Nat iona l Weat her Ser vice says it’s only the sixth t ime since 188 4 t hat dow ntown Portland had measurable snow—only an inch or two—on a December 25.

A blizzard warning was issued Monday for portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with forecasters saying snow of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) and wind gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) could make travel “dangerous to impossible.”

Most businesses were already shuttered on Christmas Day in New England. One of the few open was The Tobacconist cigar shop in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, where area-resident Dwayne Doherty said he welcomed the fresh blanket of snow.

“I’m actually happy,” he said, chuckling as he made his way to his pick-up. “We haven’t had snow on Christmas at all in the last few years.

It’s actually perfect.”

States from Montana and the Dakotas to Wisconsin expected wind chill temperatures in places at 40 below zero (40 below Celsius), the National Weather Service said. The upper half of Iowa and northern Illinois also braced for subzero temperatures.

Minnesota was experiencing its most frigid Christmas Day since 1996, with wind chills as cold as 35 degrees below zero, KSTP-TV reported. The National Weather Service warned that those whose skin was exposed in such conditions could get frostbite in as little as 15 minutes.

Snow amounts in the Midwest were not large for this time of year.

A storm system that swept from Nebraska through Iowa dropped around 2 inches of snow on Chicago, the weather service said.

That was just enough to provide a picturesque backdrop for those gathering for Christmas dinners in the Chicago area. But it wasn’t enough to cause havoc either on roadway or airport runaways.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was reporting just six cancelations and average delays of only 15 minutes around noon on Monday. There were no cancellations at the city’s other major airport, Midway, and delays were less than 15 minutes on average.

T he n at ion’s t h i rd-l a rgest cit y had comparatively litt le snow for the season until the weekend—just over 2 inches (5 centimeters) in all, the National Weather Ser vice said.

The city of Milwaukee had 103 salt trucks treating slick spots on Monday, according to WITI-TV. The trucks were using treated salt that’s deployed when temperatures drop below 15 degrees.

In addition to slowing travel in New England, the storm was responsible for some power outages.

Eversource reported more than 20,000 customers in eastern Massachusetts without electricity, the bulk on Cape Cod which was feeling the brunt of strong winds.

Most of Indiana had been under winter weather advisory with officials urging motorists to stay put unless they absolutely had to travel. Northern Indiana had been expecting up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) with slightly less in the southern part of the state.

New England was expected to get up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow. Strong winds were predicted for Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island with gusts up to 65 mph (105 kph).

Mountain areas in parts of Colorado, Montana and Wyoming received more than 1 foot (30 centimeters) of snow, which started last Saturday. It was good news for holiday skiers and resorts, which have struggled with a slow start this season.

But it meant a heightened warning of avalanches in higher elevations outside of ski areas. AP

Venezuela’s opposition reinvents itself with soup kitchens

C

ARACAS, Venezuela—Miguel Castillo hurried up a narrow, dusty street in a poor neighborhood in Venezuela’s capital city carrying a boy who clung to him as if his life depended on it.

Castillo, a member of the country’s tattered opposition movement, brought the 6-year-old named Tomas to a dining hall filled with nearly a hundred skinny children sitting at tables and scooping spoonfuls of beef and rice soup into their mouths.

Tomas, who was running a fever and needed food, required help reaching the opposition-run soup kitchen because of a disability that left him unable to walk.

“I never imagined that my country would come to be like this,” Castillo said on a recent day. “This is my way of doing something.”

For Venezuela’s opposition, this is a new kind of politics—one that has it providing free meals and medical checkups in an attempt to connect with the poor. The outreach is aimed at helping change the negative perception many Venezuelans have of an opposition that has been unable to influence change as President Nicolas Maduro further consolidates power.

Members of the Justice First party launched a soup kitchen, which has, so far, provided 4,000 meals to poor youth in Caracas, while leaders of the Popular Will party say they’re pushing to provide 40,000 each week in neighborhoods across Venezuela. The food is provided with the help of local businesses and Venezuelans living abroad. The doctors among the opposition parties’ ranks are giving free medical care to children and the elderly.

IN this December 9 photo, volunteers cook free soup for residents during a free medical-care campaign for the poor people in La Guaira, Venezuela. AP/Fernando Llano

Inflation in Venezuela is projected to surpass 2,000 percent this year, and the economy is estimated to have shrunk by 12 percent. Shortages of food, medicine and basic goods have become dire amid moves by Maduro to crack down on dissent.

“Our politics are in crisis, and our politicians are in crisis,” said Henrique Capriles, a former presidential contender and governor who organized the soup kitchen visited by Castillo.

Many members of the opposition now see their quest for political relevance as closely tied to their efforts to help everyday Venezuelans in what opposition politician and physician Winston Flores calls “a policy of solutions.”

On a recent day, Flores provided free medical checkups at a makeshift neighborhood camp, using his cell phone as a flashlight to examine an elderly woman’s throat.

“There are some who walk around like zombies looking for food and

looking for medicines,” he said, adding that the opposition’s latest outreach is another way of doing politics.

The growing focus on the poor sounds familiar to many who have seen similar policies implemented by the socialist leaders that the opposition has been struggling for years to unseat from power.

During his 14 years in office, the late President Hugo Chavez launched numerous programs aimed at providing free medical care and social services to Venezuela’s neediest, while Maduro regularly touts initiatives to provide subsidized food and housing.

Capriles denies that outreach efforts resemble the same populism pushed by Maduro, and says that he is simply continuing the policies he implemented as governor of the central state of Miranda from 2008 to 2017.

“I am not the ‘disconnected politician,’” he said. “I never have been one, and I have never been isolated from the reality of the people I serve.” AP

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Wednesday, December 27, 2017 A5

US fishermen fear forests of power turbines

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EW BEDFORD, Massachusetts— East Coast fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry.

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, the onetime whaling capital made famous in Herman Melville’s MobyDick, fishermen dread the possibility of navigating a forest of turbines as they make their way to the fishing grounds that have made it the nation’s most lucrative fishing port for 17 years running.

The state envisions hundreds of wind turbines spinning off the city’s shores in about a decade, enough to power more than 1 million homes.

“You ever see a radar picture of a wind farm? It’s just one big blob, basically,” said Eric Hansen, 56, a New Bedford scallop boat owner whose family has been in the business for generations. “Transit through it will be next to impossible, especially in heavy wind and fog.”

Off New York’s Long Island, an organization representing East Coast scallopers has sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to try to halt a proposal for a nearly 200-turbine wind farm. Commercial fishermen in Maryland’s Ocean City and North Carolina’s Outer Banks have also sounded the alarm about losing access to fishing grounds.

Supporters of offshore wind say they have learned from Europe’s long experience with it. They also point to the more recent opening of

America’s lone offshore wind farm, off Rhode Island, as evidence the actual impact to US fishermen will be less than feared.

“We want to do this the right way, and I believe we have a path to do that,” said Matthew Morrissey, a vice president at Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that opened that five-turbine operation off Block Island last December and is proposing larger farms elsewhere along the East Coast.

In New Bedford, where the state has already built a $113-million heavy-duty terminal to take on turbine construction and shipment, city officials envision commercial fishing and offshore wind working hand in hand to revive a region that has long lagged behind nearby Boston.

“There’s a lot more in common between these industries than pulling them apart,” said Edward Anthes-Washburn, executive director of New Bedford’s port, citing the potential for wind farms to provide fishermen with extra work and to contribute to port investments, like a new shipyard.

For fishermen, the broader concern is that offshore wind farms will only lead to more stifling restrictions.

“Fishermen are losing ground one a nibble at a time,” said Joseph

IN this August 15, 2016, file photo, three wind turbines from the Deepwater Wind project stand in the Atlantic Ocean off Block Island, Rhode Island.

Fishermen are turning a wary eye toward an emerging upstart: the offshore wind industry. AP/Michael Dwyer

Gilbert, a Stonington, Connecticut, fisherman who owns boats that range from Virginia to Maine.

“Eventually, it adds up to a very large piece of the pie.”

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees wind-farm developments in federal waters, has taken steps to address fishermen’s concerns, among them excluding specific habitats off Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York from wind-farm development, said

spokesman Stephen Boutwell.

It has also invested in studies looking specifically at questions raised by fishermen, from the effects of piledriving during wind farm construction to the effect of electromagnetic fields on fish behavior, he said.

Deepwater Wind, meanwhile, said preliminary findings from environmental studies of its Block Island wind farm suggest fish and lobster populations are “just as strong” as before construction.

The company says it has compensated over a dozen fishermen who temporarily lost access to their fishing grounds during construction.

But while there haven’t been reports of fishing boats striking the turbines, about a dozen boats have reported trawls getting damaged by concrete structures covering undersea power cables, costing tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and lost fishing time, said Richard Fuka, president of the Rhode Island

Fishermen’s Alliance.

US fishermen also cast a worried glance at Europe, where a range of restrictions have been imposed on fishing around the more than 3,500 turbines spinning off the shores of 10 different countries. US officials and developers stress similar bans aren’t being considered stateside, except during construction.

Studies in the North Sea suggest the turbines act as reefs, supporting mussels that draw fish and other sea life. But where advocates see biodiversity, commercial fishermen point to other studies noting modest effects on native species in Europe.

In the United Kingdom navigation through wind farms remains challenging during bad weather, said Merlin Jackson, treasurer of the Thanet Fishermen’s Association.

There have been at least two minor cases of fishing boats hitting turbines, he said. Fishermen largely rely on turbine platform lights as guides, but they’re not always well maintained. The most persistent problem has been sea currents exposing buried power cables, prompting restrictions while they’re repaired, he said.

America’s slower, more complex licensing process has “forced more questions to be asked,” and East Coast fishermen seem more unified than many of those in Europe when wind farms were being developed, Jackson said.

“If fishermen can be organized and be allowed to have input into the earliest parts of the planning process, then there should be a way forward,” Jackson said. AP

Abe eroding Japan pacifism for own legacy, opposition chief says

T

he leader of Japan’s main opposition party said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is treating the nation’s 70-year-old pacifist constitution as a “toy” in an effort to define his own political legacy.

“He wants to change it in whatever way he can so that he can go down in history,” Yukio Edano, head of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), said in an interview at his Tokyo office on Monday. “In fact, everything depends on how you change it. You can change it for the worse or for the better. To make constitutional revision an end in itself is frivolous.”

Abe proposed in May to change

the wording of the pacifist Article 9 to clarify the legal status of the nation’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF), a move that could spark concern in neighboring countries that suffered under past Japanese aggression. A growing threat from North Korea has prompted calls for Japan, a US ally, to gain offensive capabilities.

While Abe’s party retained its two-thirds majority in parliament in an October election, the plan to change a document that has remained untouched since the postwar US occupation remains controversial. A poll by the Nikkei newspaper published in November found 44 percent of respondents

Russian officials bar Navalny from running for president

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OSCOW—Russian election officials on Monday formally barred Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running for president, prompting calls from him for a boycott of next year’s vote.

The Central Election Commission decided unanimously that the anticorruption crusader isn’t eligible to run.

Navalny is implicitly barred from running for office because of a conviction in a fraud case which has been viewed as political retribution. He could have run if he was given a special dispensation or if his conviction was canceled.

Incumbent Vladimir Putin is set to easily win a fourth term in office in the March 18 election, with his approval ratings topping 80 percent.

Over the past year, Navalny has mounted a grassroots campaign, which reached out to the most remote corners of Putin’s heartland.

Navalny, 41, is the most serious challenger that Putin has faced in all his years in power, and the court cases against him have been widely seen as a tool to keep him from running for office.

In a prerecorded video message that was released minutes after the Election Commission handed down the decision, Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the vote.

“The procedure that we’re invited to take part is not an election,” he said. “Only Putin and the candidates he has handpicked are taking part in it.”

“Going to the polls right now is to vote for lies and corruption.”

Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova told Navalny ahead of its vote to bar him that “maybe we would be interested if you were running,” but said the conviction doesn’t allow the commission to put him on the ballot.

Speaking before the vote, Navalny told the commission that their decision to bar him would be a vote “not against me, but against 16,000 people who have nominated me, against 200,000 volunteers who have been canvassing for me.” AP

agreed with Abe’s proposal, while 41 percent opposed it.

Abe backed down from an initial call to change the constitution before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, saying lately that there’s no fixed timeline.

Even so, his ruling coalition has a window of opportunity after the election win to use its two-thirds majority to pass an amendment in both houses. It must then be approved in a national referendum.

Missile announcement

Abe has sought the changes so that members of the Self-Defense Forces aren’t at risk of being called unconstitutional. His ruling Lib-

eral Democratic Party (LDP) last week published a summary of its constitutional discussions that featured Abe’s plan, as well as an alternative proposal to define the SDF more clearly and delete the part of Article 9 that renounces “ground, sea and air forces.”

Edano, a 53-year-old former lawyer, said there was nothing in the document he could agree with. He said there should be no discussion of Article 9 unless laws passed in 2015 to allow Japan to defend other countries were first repealed, saying they breached the constitution.

In the parliamentary session starting next month, Edano plans

to press the Abe government on its plan to buy long-range missiles that could in theory be used to strike North Korea. He said the announcement of the plan—months after the main budget request—was timed to avoid discussion during the election campaign of whether Japan should arm itself with such weapons.

Political strategy

Edano served as Chief Cabinet Secretary and trade minister during the then-Democratic Party of Japan’s time in office from 2009 to 2012. He formed the CDPJ as the opposition splintered ahead of the October election, and emerged

as leader of the largest opposition party—albeit with only 54 of the 465 seats in the lower house.

Nine percent of respondents to a poll conducted by the Asahi newspaper this month said they supported Edano’s party, which favors redistribution of income, fairer educational opportunities and stable employment. That compared with 36 percent for Abe’s LDP. Edano said he didn’t want to dilute his party’s identity by combining with other opposition groups, such as the Party of Hope, which finished third in the election. That strategy had failed over the past five years, he said. Bloomberg News

A6 Wednesday, December 27, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Rice self-sufficiency is still the way to go

T

he El Niño episode in 1997-1998 dried up farmlands all over the country and forced the government to import a record 2.17 million metric tons of rice. Officials were left with no other recourse but to buy the staple from neighboring Southeast Asian countries as paddy production fell by 24 percent. The ill effects of the weather phenomenon also prompted the government to rethink its development strategy and shoot for rice self-sufficiency.

It was in 1998 when former President Fidel V. Ramos launched the use of hybrid rice technology as a national development strategy, according to the Philippine Rice Research Institute. Four years later, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched the Hybrid Rice Commercialization Project as a cornerstone of the government’s rice self-sufficiency program.

But it was only in 2008 when the government saw the need to set aside more money to produce more paddy.

The Philippines was forced to buy imported rice at more than $1,000 per metric ton in 2008, after exporters like India and Cambodia banned rice shipments. The problems faced by the government that year forced them to seriously consider pouring more money into the rice selfsufficiency program.

The rice crisis of 2008 showed Philippine officials that it is no longer viable to rely on the production of other countries to fill the shortfall in its annual output.

Ten years later, the Philippines continues to import rice. Despite the billions of pesos poured into the self-sufficiency bid, local output remains unable to satisfy the rice demand of all Filipinos. This is a due to a number of factors, such as population growth and the lack of irrigated areas where rice can be planted. Growing rice requires huge amounts of water, so there really is a need to expand irrigated farmlands.

The recent announcement of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol that the Duterte administration is bent on achieving rice self-sufficiency is welcome news. This means that the government is ready to provide the agriculture sector the resources needed to do this.

According to data from the National Irrigation Administration, 2.4 million hectares of farmlands continue to lack irrigation. The agency attached to the Office of the President was given a budget of P40 billion for 2018.

This amount, however, needs to be increased annually so it could irrigate more areas and help the government hit its rice self-sufficiency goal.

Also, there should be no let up in government efforts to encourage people to reduce their consumption of white rice. The President himself promoted the consumption of the so-called rice-corn (Rico) blend. Convincing more people to cut their white-rice consumption would help prop up domestic rice supply.

Farmers should also be encouraged to continue using high-yielding varieties, such as hybrid rice.

As the Philippines would soon convert import caps into tariffs, the Department of Agriculture should now roll out the necessary measures to prepare farmers for the influx of cheap rice in the domestic market. The Executive branch must not wait for Congress to approve a substitute bill amending Republic Act 8178 before it provides the assistance needed by farmers to cope with the possible entry of more imported rice. Local production must be encouraged to prevent a repeat of the rice crisis of 2008.

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Free fire Cont inued from A1

A

S UN member-states, we share the aspiration and responsibility to achieve a world at peace through mutual respect, tolerance, acceptance, reconciliation and respect for the rule of law, whereby conflict is avoided and injustice corrected— by means conducive to peace rather than provocative of war.

For the Filipino people, this goal is a natural. We have been victims of atrocities in two wars: One of independence and the other of liberation, but we have never committed atrocities.

We are a nation that has never committed massive human-rights violations that provoke conflict—and has ever committed itself to avoiding conflict and promoting peace at home and abroad. The Philippines has never adopted war as a means of teaching a lesson or exacting revenge but always as a last resort because peace without freedom and justice is also unacceptable to Filipinos.

With Pakistan, we have cosponsored since 2004 the GA resolution on the “Promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace.”

Its objectives are two-fold: One, to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue to achieve peace and stability and as the most promising course for realizing the 2030 Agenda

for Sustainable Development; and two, to strengthen mechanisms and take appropriate action to promote sincere and constructive dialogue across cultural and religious divides. The first reduces the material causes of conflict arising from the frustration of basic human needs.

The second reduces the intellectual obstacles to mutual understanding, thereby fostering mutual respect and tolerance despite continuing disagreement.

In building a high-trust Philippine society, President Duterte is unequivocally committed to a “peace agenda that accompanies a long-term development agenda for areas threatened by armed conflict.” Where people have nothing to lose, there…there is where they are prepared to lose everything in conflict in the hope of taking something away from others.

We are now following a new peace and development road map for the Bangsamoro Peace Process. It is

characterized by the inclusion of all and not just select Muslim groups; continuing dialogue rather than hectoring monologue; confidencebuilding initiatives involving all stakeholders and not just the politically connected; the consolidation and convergence of prior peace agreements; and a readiness—so rare in other conflicts—to acknowledge the self-identity of our Muslim Filipino brothers and sisters as Bangsamoro.

We Filipinos are so confident of our singular national identity that we do not fear calling by their proper names the differences that make the Philippines a diverse and interesting nation.

In the spirit of inclusivity, in the desire for the widest participation and in the hope of the closest convergence, we want our fellow citizens—the Bangsamoro—along with the larger national community to take ownership of peace building.

To this end, the government has expanded the peace table to include “informal peace tables.” A Peace Caravan is going cross-country so officials may engage in peace conversations to gather insights on how to create more avenues for dialogue and better bridges of peace.

We are speeding up delivery of programs to rebuild the devastated places and restore the equanimity of war-torn communities. This will give them a stake in keeping the peace and avoiding quarrels leading to conflict.

The Philippines attaches great importance to religious and faith-based organizations in playing a bigger role to prevent the outbreak and escalation of violence and expand the constituency for peace.

In a conflict misidentified as religious, it is important for the religious of all faiths to clarify what is religion and what is just bloody ambition; what is prayer and what is rapine disguised as piety. The sexual use and trade of women and children can never qualify as a religious rite. It is pure evil deserving to be punished as such—relentlessly.

The Philippines recognizes the crucial role of women in promoting the peace agenda. They, who make homes and keep families provided and united, have the biggest stake and the deepest understanding of the requirements of peace. The Philippines is the first country in Asia to adopt a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. It incorporates much knowledge gained from the role of women in conflict situations, not least the imperative of gender equality between women who bind the wounds of war and men who inflict them.

The rehabilitation of Marawi City demonstrates the Philippine government’s commitment to attaining peace with security, prosperity, justice, law and order.

Mr. President, The Philippines stands in solidarity with nations committed to securing a just and enduring peace, a shared prosperity and partnerships productive of those aims. And if history will judge the United Nations on its role in the unfolding narratives of war and peace, it should be a compelling story of hope and healing, reconciliation and renewal and a peace that passes all expectations going by the tragic history of mankind.

Thank you.

Generosity in the age of anxiety and greed

Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Efleda P. Campos Dennis D. Estopace

Online Editor Social Media Editor

Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Group Circulation Manager

Culture of peace

Edgardo J. Angara

F

or Christians around the world, Christmas is a joyous occasion to celebrate the blessed nativity of Jesus Christ. Some say that gift-giving became integral to the holiday to commemorate the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh the Three Wise Men offered the Baby Jesus sleeping in the manger. Yet the greatest generosity to celebrate and emulate—and not just during the Christmas holiday—was that of God the Father, offering His only Son for all of mankind’s salvation.

Generosity is a central tenet of the Christian faith, built on the notion that, since all things come from God, people should share what they have, especially with those who have less. Giving to those in need therefore does not subtract from one’s wealth or blessings but, in fact, multiplies it. In Luke 6:38, Jesus Christ said: “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.”

Islam shares the same view. According to the Sahih Muslim, the Prophet said: “Charity does not decrease wealth.” In the Koran 30:39, the Prophet taught: “That which you give in usury for increase [or interest] through the property of [other] people, will have no increase with Allah: but that which you give for charity [or zakat], seeking the Countenance of Allah, [will increase]; it is those who will get a recompense multiplied.”

And those who give should not expect something in return. In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus Christ taught while at the home

of a leading Pharisee: “When you hold a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives, or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Hinduism emphasizes something similar. In the Bhagavad Gita 17:20, the Lord Krishna said: “Charity given to a worthy person simply because it is right to give, without consideration of anything in return, at the proper time and in the proper place, is stated to be in the mode of goodness.” It would actually be harmful to both the giver and the recipient, if charity is extended with some expectation of return.

In Buddhism (also in Hinduism), such lesson on selfless giving is called “dana” and is considered one of the religion’s paramitas or “perfections.” Under dana, a person’s generosity should arise from a recognition of the interdependence of every living thing. As one writer noted: “Practicing selflessness in this way…is also an antidote to greed or grasping to possessions or other resources.” This explains what Gautama Buddha meant when he said, “True charity occurs only when there are no notions of giving, giver or gift.”

In Judaism, charitable giving is often associated with Tzedakah, a classical Hebrew word that literally means “justice” or “righteousness.” While Tzedakah commonly refers to alms-giving, it actually points to every Jewish person’s religious obligation to uphold fairness and justice in the community. According to Maimonides’s Mishneh Torah, “the highest form of charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable loan, or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.”

Some of this can also be seen in Confucian thought, where charity and generosity are subsumed under the concept of “ren.” In the Analects, Confucius repeated this word hundreds of times.

Rich in meaning, ren is roughly translated to “benevolence,” “humaneness,” “goodness” or “altruism.” The translation of A.C. Muller quotes Confucius: “Now the ren man, wishing himself to be established sees that others are established and, wishing himself to be successful, sees that others are successful. To be able to take one’s own feelings as a guide may be called the art of ren.”

E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com, Facebook and Twitter: @edangara

Sports BusinessMirror

Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

A7

San Miguel Beer faces Meralco; Phoenix vs Kia

R

EIGNING champion San Miguel Beer grinds it out against fellow unbeaten Meralco in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.

The “three peat” Beermen jump-started their campaign with a 104-96 victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters in the season opener on December 17. Five days later, the Governors’ Cup runner-up Bolts did the same against the Blackwater Elite, 103-98.

Both hoping for the best results early in the conference, the two squads meet at 7 p.m., with the battle between Phoenix and Kia serving as appetizer at 4:15 p.m.

The Beermen, easily the top choice to defend their title with a heavily favored lineup, spoiled Fuel Master Head Coach Louie Alas’s debut with a one-sided game courtesy of big productions from starters June Mar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter.

Four-time Most Valuable Player Fajardo fired 23 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked four shots. Cabagnot and Lassiter added 22 and 20 points, respectively.

“With an intact lineup, we play like a welloiled machine,” San Miguel Head Coach Leo Austria said.

The Bolts’ new acquisition Niño Canaleta scored game-high 25 points when they took down the Elite. Baser Amer, Jared Dillinger and Chris Newsome all had significant contributions, but it was Canaleta who shone the brightest as he hit five triples in just 28 minutes of action.

Despite the good start, Meralco Coach Norman Black remained wary of the formidable San Miguel team.

“They’re a real tough test,” he said.

“Going up against San Miguel is always a tough challenge because of their talent and size.”

The Bolts signed Canaleta, Jason Ballesteros, Mac Baracael and Nico Salva to beef up the team in the absence of injured players Ranidel de Ocampo, Reynel Hugnatan and Cliff Hodge.

BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel’s Greg Slaughter tries to shake off Magnolia’s Rome de la Rosa during the Christmas Day game on Monday.

The Gin Kings won, 89-78.

200 bets vying in Angeles leg

C

LOSE to 200 entries gear up for a fierce battle in the Palawan PawnshopPalawan Express Pera Padala (PPSPEPP) Angeles City leg regional age-group tennis tournament, each raring to close out the season on a winning note today at the Angeles City Tennis Club in Villa Gloria Subdivision in Pampanga.

Mikaela Vicencio seeks for a “double” in the girls’ 16- and 18-under divisions, while Miguel Vicencio and Charles Torres brace for a showdown in the two featured classes in the boys’ side of the Group 1 event winding up a record 53-leg circuit held in various parts of the country.

“It has been another successful year for local tennis, particularly in the age-group level.

Through our nationwide, yearlong circuit, we believe we can help produce the next batch of tennis stars,” Palawan Pawnshop President Bobby Castro said.

Aside from the age grouper, which includes nine categories, the PPS-PEPP circuit also featured a number of Open tournaments, which drew the country’s leading players, including members of the national pool and team.

Jeremiah Labasano and Prince Lim, meanwhile, are tipped to slug it out for top honors in the 10-under unisex class, while Angelyn Atos and Tristern Kitong and Thomas Gabuat and JM Erpelo banner the tough cast in the girls’ and boys’ sides of the 12-under division of the event hosted by councilor Joseph Ponce and presented by Slazenger.

Atos also gains the top ranking the 14-under section with Adriana Cabahog, Kitong and Jomiya Ehipto taking the next three seedings, while Miguel Vicencio and Exequiel Jucutan leading the chase in the 14-under boys’ category that also includes Gaby Avila and Erpelo.

The PPS-PEPP has also lined up a 54-stage tour next year, according to PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development Director and Organizer Bobby Mangunay. For details, call 09154046464.

Al Mendoza alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL

A Christmas story

NFL PROTESTS TOPS IN 2017

San Francisco 49ers’s Eli Harold (57), Eric Reid (35) and Marquise Goodwin (11) kneel during the national anthem before their game against the Houston Texans in Houston early this month. AP

D

ENVER—President Donald J. Trump couldn’t stand National Football League (NFL) players kneeling in protest during “The Star-

Spangled Banner.”

His angry call to fire players who didn’t stand for the national anthem rekindled both the national debate over the issue and the movement itself.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick initiated the protests last year to bring attention to racial inequality and police brutality against minorities. Kaepernick is currently out of football, and relatively few players were demonstrating this season before the president stoked his feud with the NFL. During a speech at a political rally in Huntsville, Alabama, in late-September, Trump said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a b___h off the field right now, out, he’s fired, he’s fired.”

Criticism from players, owners and fans—and some praise—greeted Trump’s remarks, which sparked a massive show of defiance that weekend, with more than 200 players protesting by choosing not to stand for the national anthem.

The president’s feud with the NFL is the

runaway winner for the top sports story of 2017 in balloting by Associated Press members and editors, easily outdistancing the corruption scandal engulfing college basketball and the Houston Astros winning their first World Series and lifting the spirits of a city devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

The year was marked by sex scandals, Russian doping and the United States failing to qualify for soccer’s World Cup. Tom Brady engineered a record-breaking comeback as the New England Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the first Super Bowl to go into overtime and Clemson mounted a last-second comeback to beat Alabama for the national championship.

Kevin Durant led the Golden State Warriors to the National Basketball Assocaition title and mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor stepped into the boxing ring to face undefeated champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. All of that was overshadowed by the NFL protesters and the president’s dive into the debate.

Some allied groups were quick to call for an NFL boycott following Trump’s remarks about the protesters.

The president’s attack on athletes turned the anthems—usually sung during commercials—into must-watch television

MONSALVE LINKS UP R

WITH UY anew

yan Monsalve links it up again with Lanz Uy, seeking to nail the elusive crown this time in the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship, which gets going today at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in Quezon City.

Monsalve and Uy fell short of their bid for the overall crown last year, bowing to the Carl Corpus-Yuto Katsuragawa tandem and settling for the Group 1 honors in the season-ending tournament serving as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.

But the duo faces a formidable cast of rivals, all primed up in what promises to be a spirited battle for top honors in the three-day tournament sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Intense action is expected right in the opening day, a four-ball (best-ball) format with each pair out to come up with a strong start for the needed momentum. Play shifts to aggregate in the second day with the final round featuring the two-ball, foursome (alternate-shot) format.

Monsalve and Uy launch their title drive at 9 a.m. in the company of Ivan Monsalve and Gabby Macalaguim, after the 8:50 a.m. flight of Aniceto Mandanas-Carlo Quimson and Paolo Wong-Don Petil, a talented, tested pair also tipped to contend for the crown.

shown live by the networks and streamed on devices.

In addition to the protests, some players and coaches locked arms in a show of unity, which Trump said was a display of “solidarity” of which he approved. But he pushed back against the suggestion that his critique could inflame racial tensions, arguing: “This has nothing to do with race. This has to do with respect for our country.”

But critics of the president said Trump’s comments had a lot to do with race.

“It just amazes me with everything else going on in this world, especially involving the US, that’s what you’re concerned about, my man? You’re the leader of the free world and this is what you’re talking about?” Miami Dolphins safety Michael Thomas said. “ NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Trump’s comments were “divisive” and showed an “unfortunate lack of respect.”

A handful of white players didn’t stand, but the vast majority of those actively protesting were black.

Although the protests returned to pre-Trump criticism levels as the season wound down, the president’s feud with the NFL sparked a firestorm that reached across financial and cultural landscapes, further splitting a nation already divided over politics and social issues. AP

Others expected to figure in the title chase are the tandems of Gab ManotocLester Lagman, Eddie Bagtas-Leandro Bagtas, Kristoffer Arevalo-Sharon Park, Dan Cruz-Luis Guerrero and Rupert ZaragosaAdrian Romero.

Harmie Constantino, a national team mainstay, is also eager to flash her local knowledge of the flat but tight layout she calls home as she teams up with Joseph Orbito, while Laurea Duque and Sunshine Zhang also hope to spring a surprise in the event.

Other pairs in the fold are Santino Gatmaytan-Tomita Arejola, Rocky BrobioCarlo Gatmaytan, Sean Ramos-Jed Dy, Annika Guangko-David Guangko, Paolo UyJustine Magsino, Matthew Abalos-Kristine Torralba, Felicia Medalla-Clare Legaspi; Sofia Legaspi-Mariel Tee, Carlo QuimsonAniceto Mandanas, Aldo Barro-Paqo Barro and Mike Kim-GJ Katigbak.

Also on tap are competitions in the Group 2, featuring the tandems of Guilbert Purcia IV-Guilbert Purcia Sr., Lido de Guzman-Jose Wenceslao, Allan CrisostomoPierre Ticzon, Masaichi Otake-Rald Sarmiento and Santino Diokno-Miguel Roque; and Group 3, bannered by Boom Coscolluela-Joey Anciano, Jay Carrion-Jere Fregil, Jimmy Suelo-Allen Embuscado, Edwin Abesamis-Hermie Salibio, Vic SeByron San Pedro and Dennis Sta. Cruz-David Kagahastian pairs.

Ryan Monsalve (right) and Lanz Uy will again try to nail the elusive crown.

A FRIEND of mine sent this text message to me to give us a piece of his mind regarding Ben Mbala’s move to leave La Salle, turn professional and play in Mexico: “Al, Mbala exemplified the typical African players here. They come to play just to make money. La Salle said Mbala is an honor student. How come he left at the middle of a semester? He has 1.5 more years to finish college. But never mind the academics. He went to Mexico to try out. When he was taken, he said his good-byes. Never mind ECJ [Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Mbala’s chief patron]. Never mind La Salle. I want to see the day when the University Athletic Association of the Philippines will no longer allow these Africans to play here.

Thank you.” nnn

FOR change, a Christmas story.

I write as I also drive. And so, it was that I drove my wife again to Calauag, Quezon, in fulfillment of her Christmas vow to humbly spread cheer to kids 10 years old and below. It had been a yearly thing for her the last six years.

I am just too glad to be part of her Godly chore year in and year out.

There were 81 toddlers this year—a record—all Grades 1 to 4 pupils of the Calauag East Central School. They are part of a feeding program jointly undertaken by The Young Professionals and the National Association of Calaguenans of Calauag, Quezon. From donations are spent for lunch to these poorest, mostly emaciated, of souls—the food cooked right there at the school kitchen by kindred volunteers, five days a week, during the duration of every school year.

Before the advent of the feeding program, many of these kids absent themselves on a regular basis.

Reason? They are hungry. Absenteeism is almost at zero levels the last six years or so.

Their Christmas party was held at the school the past five years. For a change, it was held this year at the Jollibee of nearby Lopez, Quezon— thanks chiefly to Mr. and Mrs. Cesar Balilo and Tito Laurel.

Before the meal, teacher-emcee Grace Salvatus asked the kids: “Those who are first-timers here at Jollibee, raise your right hand!”

If my count was right, all but three of the 81 kids raised their right hands.

Before meal was served, there were the usual gifts for the kids, including the ubiquitous pair of slippers for each.

One got a pair big for her size.

“That’s a bit big for you, iha,” I told her.

“For my elder sister, sir,” she said.

Another one got a much-bigger size.

“For my mother, sir,” was the answer.

At meal time, one ate only a little of the spaghetti, leaving the drumstick chicken untouched.

“For my brother and sister waiting for me at home, sir,” the boy of 8 said.

Another, barely touching her meal, said: “I want to eat it with my family at home.”

If I say I didn’t shed a tear (I hid it from streaming down my cheek), I’d be lying through my teeth.

Red Smith said: “A sportswriter must be sensitive at all times.”

And I say, sportswriters must also wash the dishes at home.

Thus, aside from my being a driver for good causes, I’ve been a sportswriter and a dishwasher, as well, for the longest time.

And I’m not blowing my own horn.

Merry Christmas!

THAT’S IT Jacob Ang deserves praise as he recently swept the overall crowns in the Formula 125 Sr. Open and the X30 SR classes of the Asian Karting Open Championship at the Kartodrome de Coloane Circuit in Macau. It is a magnificent feat for one who amassed 142 points in the Formula races to defeat his closest pursuer by a whopping 73 points. Ang’s world-class performance saw him dominate in Macau (June 10 and 11), the Philippines (August 26 and 27), Thailand (November 2 to 4) and Macau (December 9 and 10). So outclassed, likewise, were Ang’s rivals in the X30 SR that his winning margin was a runaway 67 points over the second-placed Mikey Jordan. One of Ang’s victims was the highly regarded Haopeng Zhang of China in his smashing Macau campaign backed by by San Miguel Corp. and Eagle Cement. Cheers to you, Jacob!

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

DURANT ON FIRE ON CHRISTMAS DAY

By Janie McCauley

O

The Associated Press

AKLAND, California—LeBron James drove to the basket in the waning seconds, and Kevin Durant swatted away any chance Cleveland had at a Christmas Day comeback.

Durant pumped his fist again and again, emphatically shook his head and pounded his chest in delight. It looked a lot like the dominant Durant from the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals six months ago.

Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead threepointer with 1:33 left, Durant delivered on both ends of the floor, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Cavaliers, 99-92, on Monday in a festive holiday rematch of the past three Finals.

“There’s just so much joy in the arena today because it’s Christmas, and we all feed off of that,” Durant said.

Durant’s block against a driving James with 24.5 seconds left went out of bounds off James, who said he thought he was fouled on the play. Durant finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

“He’s one of the leaders in shot blocks a game and, obviously, he had five tonight, so he’s been doing a heck of a job of first of all taking the individual matchup and protecting the rim, too,” James said.

Kevin Love had 31 points and a seasonbest 18 rebounds, while James contributed 20 points, six rebounds and six assists in a rivalry missing one key piece: Warriors star Stephen Curry, who missed his eighth straight game with a sprained right ankle.

Thompson scored 24 points, and Draymond Green had a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. It was Golden State’s 12th win in 13 games after its 11-game winning streak was snapped by Denver last Saturday night.

Warriors rookie Jordan Bell traveled with 2:13 left, and James tied it. Bell made up for that mistake with a key offensive rebound and pass to Thompson for his fourth three.

James’s three-pointer with 10:39 left

pulled Cleveland within one, but Green answered with a three, and Andre Iguodala scored two of his nine points the next time down. In another key sequence, Durant blocked Tristan Thompson’s shot with 6:23 to go and dunked moments later.

No surprise, the up-tempo, running rivals provided high entertainment once again.

The Warriors in June captured a second championship in three years against James and the Cavaliers.

“I forgot all about it,” Cavs Coach Tyronn Lue said with a chuckle.

The teams will see each other again soon, playing January 15 in Cleveland.

KD requested James for his defensive assignment, to which he explained simply, “I just like guarding my position.”

The Cavs, having won six of seven and playing for the first time since last Thursday, had their run of scoring at least 100 points end at 26 games.

The Warriors were at nearly full strength again aside from Curry, who could return this week once he goes through some scrimmages at practice.

Center Zaza Pachulia was available but didn’t play after sitting out seven consecutive games, while Shaun Livingston came back after missing four games with a

KEVIN DURANT’S block against a driving LeBron James with 24.5 seconds left goes out of bounds off James, who says he thought he was fouled on the play. AP

sore right knee.

Bell—who addressed the sellout crowd at midcourt moments before tip-off—started at center and had eight points and six rebounds.

SHOOTING WOES

THE Cavs’ 31.8-percent shooting was the lowest by a Warriors opponent in nearly four years, since Charlotte shot 31.2 percent from the field on February 4, 2014.

“We just didn’t make shots,” Lue said.

NBA RESULTS Philadelphia 105, New York 98 Golden State 99, Cleveland 92 Washington 111, Boston 103

A REAL RIVALRY

Oklahoma City 112, Houston 107

SURE, this one felt a little strange without Curry or Kyrie Irving, now in Boston.

“Golden StateCavaliers, that’s a big game,

Minnesota 121, LA Lakers 104 uniforms are enough to get everybody going— and this marked the third straight Christmas matchup between the franchises, alternating home floors based on who won the title.

“It’s always great to play the Cavs, they’re an awesome team,” Kerr said. “LeBron is so amazing, and it’s so fun to feel the energy in the building when the two teams get together. Neither team will look the same as we will even a month from now because Steph and Isaiah Thomas both should be back, hopefully they’ll both be back. ... But it doesn’t even matter sometimes, just the two uniforms in the same building gets people going.”

no matter who’s playing, who’s out,” Lue said.

“It will be weird, without Steph, without Ky, especially the battles we’ve had over the last three years. So both teams look different.”

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr knows just the

LOOKING back, Mike Brown considers himself like a substitute teacher leading the Golden State Warriors. AP

O

Brown’s contributions to Warriors mean so much

AKLAND, California—Mike Brown had just finished spending some rare down time on Alameda’s Coast Guard Island stuffing care packages for overseas military and veterans when Camille Spaulding approached to introduce herself and tell the Warriors assistant coach about a college-student friend scraping by to attend an occasional Golden State game.

Upon hearing that, Brown found a piece of paper and wrote a note for Spaulding to hand off: He would leave Brian Trieu tickets to an upcoming game.

Four days later on November 11, Brown delivered on that commitment to an overjoyed and appreciative Trieu, who brought along a buddy to see a Warriors’ win against the 76ers.

Brown also supported military members by signing card after card with his autograph and “Thanks for all you do!” He gets it. His father, Bobby, served 26 years in the Air Force.

“I grew up on military bases,” Brown said. “Growing up in the military and especially playing high-school sports, you’re going from base to base to base. And then, sometimes, you make friends with kids on other bases so you go to that base for a day. For me, this is fantastic, and I do feel like I’m kind of back in time being on this base.”

S

YDNEY—A near collision between two of the race favorites marked a dramatic start to the 73rd edition of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Tuesday.

Supermaxis LDV Comanche and Wild Oats XI nearly collided after a tack from the eight-time line honors winner Wild Oats X1 15 minutes into the race start brought it within just a few meters of LDV Comanche, which appeared to fly a protest flag.

In an easterly breeze of around eight knots, another supermaxis, Black Jack, led LDV Comanche by one second around the first turning mark and was first out of the Sydney heads.

Wild Oats XI turned in third, a minute behind the first two, with Wild Oats X fourth ahead of InfoTrack.

The 630-nautical-mile race from Sydney Harbour will see 102 yachts, including 27 international entries, make their way down the New South Wales state south coast and across often treacherous Bass Strait on their way to the island state of Tasmania.

The fleet will be pushed along by favorable 15 to 25-knot north-to-north easterlies into Wednesday, putting the race record of one day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds set last year by InfoTrack (racing as Perpetual Loyal) at risk. AP

That giving approach is just part of Brown’s generous nature and, as the defending champions hosted LeBron James and Cleveland on Christmas Day, everyone will remember exactly what he did to help guide Golden State to a second title in three years in June filling in for ailing Coach Steve Kerr. Brown coached the Warriors for 11 postseason contests—all wins—including Game One of the Finals against the Cavaliers team he once led.

After the pressure-packed championship run, he had earned a little break. Brown and his brother took off along the Pacific Coast Highway on their motorcycles just before training camp and stopped at many of the most scenic spots before ending up in Seattle. They headed back on I-5 to see Brown’s son, Elijah, at Oregon, and caught a Ducks football game against Nebraska.

Brown needed some time to unwind after a whirlwind summer that followed a frenzy of a finish to Golden State’s championship season. He also sold his home in Cleveland, at last cutting ties to his former life.

Looking back, Brown considered himself like a substitute teacher leading the Warriors.

“Hopefully we were a class that obeyed and paid attention,

and he didn’t have to send us to the principal’s office,” cracked two-time Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, out for the Christmas game with a sprained right ankle.

And oh how thankful he is everybody involved cooperated and made his life fairly easy.

It didn’t hurt he had superstars like Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

“Mike, he’s so happy here,” Kerr said. “He tells me all the time how much he loves working here, how much he loves living in the bay. We’re obviously lucky to coach such a great roster.”

Brown insists key backup Andre Iguodala likely has no idea how much he helped by keeping a pulse on the team, serving as a sounding board for the interim coach and communicating anything he saw or ideas he had.

“I think he changed himself for us, too,” Iguodala said.

“He’s used to doing things a certain way based on his training. He adjusted some things he would normally, he would act a certain way to this or he would do this in his normal situations. I think it was both sides, ‘OK, Steve’s out, we’ve got to tighten up in this area where he’s lax on to help Mike out, and Mike will do the same for us.’” AP

Near collision between two boats marks start of Sydney to Hobart race

Wild Oats XI nearly collides with Supermaxis LDV Comanche minutes into the race start. AP