Businessmirror december 29, 2015

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Thursday 2014 Vol.29, 10 No. 40 Tuesday, 18, December 2015 Vol. 11 No. 82

P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 16 pages | 7 days a week

German firm unhappy OIL PRICESTO REMAIN LOW IN 2016 DUE TO SUPPLY GLUT over MRT 3 rehab deal N

P

ROPOSALS to rehabilitate and fix the chronically ill Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 have been left untouched and gathering dust for years at the transport chief’s office, according to investigations by the BusinessMirror.

INSIDE

ideas for a sublime new year’s celebration At Your Son’s coming

O

H God, who, through Your only begotten Son, have made us a new creation, look kindly, we pray, on the handwork of Your mercy, and at Your Son’s coming, cleanse us from every stain of the old way of life. At His birth, we humbly remember that we are always in Your holy presence. Keep us in the state of grace and love at Your Son’s coming. Amen!

GIVE US THIS DAY, COMMITTEE OF DIVINE WORSHIP, USA AND LOUIE M. LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Life

IF you are in the mood for a truly memorable New Year’s Eve, throw a party loaded with delicious drama.

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 B2-1

GREAT GIFTS COME IN BUNDLES

IT’S the more, the merrier, as Ace Hardware—the helpful place for DIYers and home aficionados—offers the first-ever special Christmas bundles of small appliances by top brands. Perfect as holiday corporate gifts and giveaways, these are compact, functional, and incredible in price. The bundles are available at selected branches of Ace Hardware, Ace Express and Ace Builders stores nationwide.

There are juicers for healthy blends, coffeemakers for easy brewing, and sandwich makers for tasty snacks at the home or office. There are also electric kettles, steam irons and tower fans that work wonders at home.

While shopping at Ace Hardware stores, also check out its ongoing Great Gifts, Great Savings promotion, wherein you can avail yourself of great savings and discounts on blenders, breakfast makers, juicers and steam irons, as well as electric kettles, rice cookers and tower fans until December 31.

You can also earn rewards points with your SM Advantage, Prestige, and BDO Rewards Cards when you shop.

B M C G Tribune News Service

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HAT’S your idea of a sublime celebration for New Year’s? An elegant dinner party, cocktail dresses and dancing long after the clock strikes midnight? Or, is this one of your favorite nights to cocoon with good friends, enjoying a simple dinner and good conversation? Dan and I have brought in the New Year all different ways, from attending or hosting formal soirees to donning our jeans and flannels and having a few neighbors over for a quiet evening. As you plan your New Year’s celebration, here are a few ideas to spark your creativity.

THE ULTIMATE DESSERT DRAMA IF you are in the mood for a truly memorable New Year’s Eve, throw a party loaded with delicious drama.

How about desserts and champagne on the patio? This gorgeous photo, from my book O Christmas Tree, is of a holiday party staged by my friend David Jimenez, a master at visual displays and entertaining with flair.

David’s luxurious portico was the magical setting for a late-night celebration.

■ Tip: Save time by adding a few powerful displays in key places. The portico of David’s historic home was already dressed in elegance. He had ingeniously upholstered formal wingback chairs in weatherproof materials and added outdoor furnishings that were attractive enough to be inside. With the stage set, he simply needed to add a few holiday touches to make the space festive, like wrapping the colonnades in pine garland and lights.

Instead of dressing every inch in holiday fare, David focused his energy on creating one killer display: the showy floral arrangement in a black iron garden urn. He then tucked in a few modest florals in strategic spots.

■ Tip: Select a menu that’s not stressful to execute.

Preparing all the food for a New Year’s party can be stressful and exhausting. So my advice is to pare down your menu to a few easy-to-make dishes. Or, better yet, serve delicious food made by someone else! That’s always been my strategy: focus my time and energy on creating a lovely space, then picking up food from a favorite restaurant or bakery. For the sake of simplicity and easy execution, David used laser focus when he created his menu. The entire affair included only white confections and red and white holiday candies.

He not only saved time, he created visual drama that was off the charts.

Other than a heavenly coconut layer cake, which

he made with a friend over drinks the night before the party, David purchased all the food for the party, ordering the meringue cakes and cookies from a favorite local bakery. Brilliant!

■ Tip: Display your food with drama.

I have learned many things from my friend Marsee.

Among my favorites is her entertaining mantra: presentation over preparation. You can have the simplest of food for a party, but when you display it with pomp, it looks award-winning. That’s what David did here for his New Year’s soiree. A single meringue cake or cookie looks like artwork when served on a raised pedestal covered in a glass cloche.

Whether it’s ribbon candy in holiday curls and wheels, peppermint sticks, Red Hots or white jelly beans, candy looks amazing displayed in a variety of lidded apothecary jars, like a candy shop of old.

Don’t just bring out your champagne at midnight— use it as yet another dramatic display. David covered a silver tray with a white cloth, then filled it with champagne flutes and a simple but stunning bouquet of red roses and berries. Use a punch bowl as an ice bucket to chill the bubbly.

Instead of placing sweets on trays, and having a service that is all flat to the table, go up. Tiered servers

THIS 3D Empire Tower Fan provides you an ultimate cooling experience in your home. It features a three-speed control, an approximate 60-degree oscillation angle, a quiet motor and 120-minute timer.

are a must-have for a food service that’s high on drama.

And, best yet, they are insanely easy to stage: All you do is stack each tier with treats. Because the server stands tall, it look stately and unexpected.

SEEING RED FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND BEYOND

CELEBRATE LIFE REMEMBER, the whole reason for coming together with friends on New Year’s is to celebrate all that passed in the previous year, and to look forward for all the great things to come. For my friend Marsee, that means a New Year’s Eve dinner with her family. Every year, she prepares a lovely feast for this intimate gathering.

For Dan and me, it means attending our friend Denise’s annual New Year’s Day dinner. Denise is like family to me, ever since I met her years ago. She and her siblings adopted us when my father was dying because they too had suffered the loss of their parents. They kept us sane during this difficult time, and we forged a lifetime bond. I look forward to this annual feast of crab legs and shrimp, grilled steaks and boiled potatoes. But most of all, I look forward to starting a fresh new year surrounded by people I love.

B C H Tribune News Service

■ This article was adapted from Mary Carol Garrity’s blog at www.nellhills.com.

AFTER the holidays have come and gone, besides simply boxing up those holiday decorations and storing them until next season, consider repurposing them. While it’s true that many holiday décorations are quite holiday-specific, there are a number of décorative items that can not only deck your halls during the holiday season, but year-round.

BUYING TIPS OF course this tip is rather late to apply for this holiday season, but it’s something to keep in mind for next year’s celebrations: When looking to buy decorations for the holidays, try to select items that are more solid as opposed to overly embellished with holiday themes or patterns. Also, metallic finishes such as gold and silver are great choices in addition to white, as these neutrals will blend with other colors and types of décor.

REPURPOSING GUIDE WHEN it comes to items used to décorate your home this holiday season—perhaps those used every year, those with sentimental value or new items brought into the home just for the

season—there are some creative ways in which these same décorative items can be repurposed within your home.

Here my top 10 ideas on ways to repurpose your holiday décor: 1. Frame it! From framing your leftover pieces of wrapping paper to décorative holiday cards, framing is an easy way to create instant art and repurpose these colorful items.

2. Glass tree ornaments placed into a large glass or wooden bowl.

Place colored glass ornaments of various colors into a single bowl or ornaments of

the same color. A bowl filled with glass ornaments will look gorgeous as a yearround coffee table centerpiece.

3. Wooden figurines. Instead of purchasing plastic holiday pieces, wellmade wooden figurines are a more solid investment. After the holidays, wooden figurines can be used to display in a children’s room.

4. Stocking stuffers. Stockings are traditionally placed along a mantle and used for small gift items. These same stockings can be used during the year for small everyday items, as well such as jewelry, ties, belts or socks.

5. Wreaths. Those fragrant door wreaths can easily be used to surround a large hurricane lantern or candle and placed on a console or dining table.

6. Wool blankets or heavy scarves instead of holiday table runners. Instead of a traditional holiday table runner, consider using a long scarf or small child’s size blanket as a runner. Afterward, you will have a décorative item for the home or your closet.

7. Let there be light. Looking for a use for all those strings of holiday lights? From summer dinners, dining al-fresco, at-home cocktail parties to highlighting architectural elements indoors and out, holiday lights can add a creative and festive touch.

neglect it has sustained over these many months.

Up to now, the transportation agency has neither officially rejected nor accepted the proposal.

This compelled the company to bring the matter to the attention of President Aquino himself, from whom it begged the Chief Executive

to consider the current state of the train line that ferries more or less 600,000 passengers a day.

Together with Heag Mobilo GmbH, Schunk seeks to place the entire train system under a massive transformation program, augment its capacity to serve the line while providing a safe and comfortable ride for commuters north and south of Metro Manila.

The P4.64-billion proposal, submitted in February with Filipino partner Comm Builders and Technology Philippines Corp., calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT; the replacement of the rails, the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system; the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems; the modernization of the conveyance system; and a three-year maintenance contract.

Had the government acted on Continued on A2

ASK any domestic diva and she—or he—will tell you that any appliance or gadget that is not only incredibly useful, but also beautifully designed, is always a welcome addition to any pocket or corner of the home.

Now, drinking instant coffee gets a most stylish upgrade with the Nescafé Red Mug Machine (www. nescafe.com/ph), which allows the host to create a wide range of delicious and pretty cups of coffee to be enjoyed by guests visiting for the holidays or by himself. Developed in Switzerland by Nestlé coffee machine experts, the newfangled coffeemaker features a chamber with a unique cyclone that brings out Nescafé Classic coffee aroma and flavor. It also has a foaming jet technology that creates foam with ease, inspired by the barista steam jets you see in local coffee shops.

In around two minutes, the Nescafé Red Mug Machine lets you have a foamy cappuccino, layered latte, fancy mocha, velvety Americano and other delicious creations using Nescafé Classic and Nestlé Coffee-Mate. With this new innovation, you can easily start creating so many exciting coffee recipes at home to suit any occasion.

Glossy in the brand’s signature red, the sleek Nescafé Red Mug Machine—available in select SM, Robinsons, Landmark, Puregold and Merkado Supermarket branches in Metro Manila at a special introductory price of P1,999 until this month—is sure to add an element of style to your buffet table or kitchen counter. Whether you live in a studio apartment, condo or house, this compact machine is suitable for any home.

How to reuse, repurpose holiday décor AN intricate wooden ornament that would look wonderful, paired with other wooden figurines in a children’s room.

The inaction naturally earned the ire of the private sector, particularly the German rail-technology firm Schunk Bahn- und Industrietechnik GmbH. In two more months the unsolicited proposal of the German railway company will mark its first anniversary and a testament to the utter

JENNYLYN MERCADO, JERICHO ROSALES, ‘WALANG FOREVER’ WIN BIG AT MMFF »B2-2

Ideas for a sublime New Year’s celebration

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

8. Think plaid. Plaid is a common pattern during the holiday season that is quite versatile. Plaid is one of those timeless patterns that can be used throughout your home year-round.

Looking for ways to use plaid? Why not use a plaid table runner or placemats during the holidays, then repurpose them all year?

9. Create your own tree skirt.

One of the easiest do-it-yourself holiday projects to make is a tree skirt.

Consider using old pieces of quilt or even large piece of burlap to make a simple, loose tree skirt. These same tree skirts can then be reused to surround indoor planters.

10. Think green! Green is one of those colors that can truly be used year-round. While during the holidays, deep greens can be rich and winter-like, in the spring and summer, lighter shades of green can be viewed as crisp and clean. Purchasing green colored pieces during the holiday will allow you the versatility to reuse these décorations beyond the holidays.

life

■ Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home-staging expert. Visit her web site at www.cathyhobbs.com.

The World BusinessMirror BusinessMirror

By David Cagahastian

M

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 b2-3 Tuesday, December 29, 2015 b2-3

11 11die diefrom fromtornadoes, tornadoes,13 13in inMidwest Midwestflooding flooding

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ARLAND, ARLAND,Texas—At Texas—Atleast least11 11 people peopledied diedand anddozens dozenswere were

injured injuredininstrong strongtornadoes tornadoes that thatswept sweptthrough throughthe theDallas Dallasarea area and andcaused causedsubstantial substantialdamage damagethis this weekend, weekend,while while13 13people peopledied diedinin flooding floodingininthe theMidwest.

Midwest.

It was the latest of a succession It was the latest events of a succession of powerful weather across of country, powerfulfrom weather events across the heavy snow in the Mexico, country,west fromTexas heavyand snow New thein New Mexico, west Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle to flooding flooding inOklahoma parts of thePanhandle Plains andto Midwest. in parts of the Plains and Midwest.

Days of tumultuous weather have of deaths tumultuous weather have ledDays to 43 overall—those in led toplus 43 deaths overall—those Texas, five in Illinois, eight inin Texas, plus Illinois, eight in Missouri and five 19 ininthe Southeast.

Missouri 19 of in damage the Southeast.

The full and extent from The fullstorms extentalong of damage from Saturday’s a nearly Saturday’s storms alongstretch a nearly 40-mile (64-kilometer) 40-mile stretch near Dallas(64-kilometer) came into clear focus. nearofficials Dallas came into clear focus.

Local estimated as many estimated as many asLocal 1,450officials homes were damaged or as 1,450 Vehicles homes were destroyed. weredamaged mangled,or destroyed.

Vehicles were mangled, power lines fell and trees were toppower linesrain, fell and trees toppled.

Heavy wind andwere falling pled.

Heavy rain, wind and falling temperatures hampered cleanup temperatures hampered cleanup efforts on Sunday afternoon. efforts afternoon.

“This on is aSunday huge impact on our “This isand a huge impact on our community we’re all suffercommunity and we’re all suffering,” Garland Police Lt. Pedro Bariing,”said Garland Police Lt. Pedro neau of the suburb aboutBari20 neau(32 said of the suburb aboutof20 miles kilometers) northeast miles where (32 kilometers) northeast Dallas, eight people died, 15of Dallas, where eight people were injured and about 600 died, struc-15 weremostly injuredsingle-family and about 600 structures, homes, tures, mostly single-family homes, were damaged. were The damaged. weather service said an weather service said EF-4The tornado, which is the sec-an EF-4 tornado, which is the second-most powerful with winds upond-most to more powerful than 200 with mileswinds per up to more than 200 hour (322 kilometers permiles hour per ), hour (322 kilometers per hour hit the community at about 6:45 ), hit Saturday. the community at about 6:45 p.m.

It was near the inp.m. Saturday.

It was near tersection of Interstate 30the andintersection of Interstate 30isand George Bush Turnpike, which a George Bush Turnpike, is a major route in the region.which At least major routewho in the region.

At least three people died were found people died were inthree vehicles, saidwho Barineau, whofound also in vehicles, said cars Barineau, who also noted that some appeared to thatfrom some the carsinterstate, appeared to benoted thrown be thrown from the interstate, though it wasn’t known whether though it wasn’t known whether that was how the people found in that was how the people found in the vehicles died. the vehicles died. 33, took phoNatalie Guzman, Natalie Guzman, 33, took photos of her family’s home in a Gartos of her family’s home a Garland neighborhood.

The in garage landhad neighborhood. wall collapsed andThe the garage roof wall had collapsed and the roof

fell in. The only part of the house fell appeared in. The only of the house that to part be spared was that appeared to be where sparedher was the master bathroom, the master bathroom, where her brother-in-law took shelter on Satbrother-in-law tookthe shelter Saturday night. He was onlyonone He her was he thehad only one aturday homenight. and told just at home and toldhimself her he and hadhis just enough time to get enough to get himself and his dogs into time the bathroom. dogs intoworse the bathroom.

“It was than I thought,” “It was thanthe I scene thought,” Guzman said,worse comparing to Guzman comparing the scene to the photossaid, he had sent on Saturday. the he had sentofonRowlett, Saturday.

In photos the nearby town the nearby town of Rowlett, City In Manager Brian Funderburk CityonManager Brian Funderburk said Sunday morning that 23 said on Sunday morning people were injured, but thatthat there23 people were injured, that there were no deaths and nobut reports of were nopeople. deathsThe andweather no reports missing ser-of missing people.indicated The weather service said damage it was vice an said damage indicated was likely EF-3 tornado, whichithas likelyupantoEF-3 tornado, which has winds 165 mph.

Jenkins said up to 165 mph. Jenkins said inwinds a statement on Sunday night that a statement Sunday night that asinmany as 600on homes were damas many as 600 homes were damaged in Rowlett. aged in Rowlett.

Homes in the neighborhood that Homes in the neighborhood that had been searched by emergency rehad beenwere searched by emergency sponders marked with a blackresponders marked with a like black “X.” In somewere instances, it looked “X.” Inhad some instances, it looked like homes been picked up and set homes had picked uptroopand set back down in been a big pile.

State downoff in aroads, big pile.

Statecrews troopersback blocked utility ers blocked offand roads, utility crews restored power people walked restored powerand and people walked around, hushed dazed. around, hushed and dazed.

Three other people died in ColThree other died Collin County, about people 45 miles (72inkm) lin County, 45according miles (72 km) northeast of about Dallas, to northeast of Dallas, sheriff’s deputy Chris according Havey, al-to sheriff’s Chris Havey, though the deputy circumstances were notalthough the clear. circumstances were not immediately immediately Texas Gov. clear.

Greg Abbott made Texas Gov. GregonAbbott disaster declarations Sundaymade for disaster declarationsCollin, on Sunday four counties—Dallas, Rock-for four counties—Dallas, Collin, wall and Ellis—and warned thatRockthe wall and warned number ofEllis—and victims could rise. that the number victims rise.

On theofother sidecould of the state, On the otherofside of the state, the Department Public Safety Department of discouraged Public Safety inthe Amarillo strongly in Amarillo strongly discouraged travel throughout the entire Texas travel throughout the entire Texas Panhandle — a 26-county area covPanhandle a 26-county covering nearly — 26,000 squarearea miles ering nearly square miles (67,340 square26,000 kilometers)—be(67,340 square cause blowing andkilometers)—bedrifting snow cause blowing and drifting snow

Damage to an apartment complex is seen after Saturday’s Damage to an apartment is seen after Saturday’s tornado in garland, Texas, oncomplex December 27. at least 11 people tornado in garland, Texas, on at least 11 people died and dozens were injured in December apparently27. strong tornadoes died and through dozens were injuredarea in apparently tornadoes that swept the Dallas and causedstrong substantial that swept through the Dallas areaDallas and MorninG causednews substantial damage this weekend.

G.J. Mccarthy/the via aP damage this weekend. G.J. Mccarthy/the Dallas MorninG news via aP

had made the roads impassable. had made Interstate 40,the theroads main impassable. east-west Interstate 40,the thePanhandle, main east-west highway across was highway across the Panhandle, was almost completely shut down. DPS almost shut DPS said only acompletely small section ofdown. the highsaid a smallremained section ofopen. the highway inonly Amarillo way in Amarillo remained Meanwhile, Oklahoma Gov.open.

Mary Gov. Mary FallinMeanwhile, declared a Oklahoma state of emergency a state of emergency asFallin theredeclared were blizzard conditions as an there were blizzard and ice storm warning conditions out west andflood an icewarnings storm warning west and in theout east, and one flood warningshad in received the east, where community hadofreceived 9 where inchesone (23community centimeters) rain.

9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain.

The state Department of Emergency The state Department Emergency Management said eightofstorm-reManagement saidreported. eight storm-related injuries were About lated injuries werebusinesses reported. were About 60,000 homes and 60,000power. homes and businesses were without without power. Arkansas, offiIn neighboring Arkansas, officials In saidneighboring it appeared that a tornado cials said it appeared that atearing tornado touched down in Bearden, touched down in Bearden, tearing roofs off buildings and uprooting roofsThere off buildings and uprooting trees. were no immediate retrees. were no immediate ports of There injuries.

Farther north, rainreportsdangerous of injuries.driving Fartherconditions north, rain caused caused dangerous driving conditions and flooding in Missouri, where Gov. and flooding in Missouri, where Gov.

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memberS of the army and rescue teams help evacuate people from flooded properties memberS of the trapped army andbyrescue help evacuate frombursts flooded after they became risingteams floodwater when thepeople river Ouse itsproperties banks in after became trapped by when the bursts itsand banks in York citythey center on December 27.rising Homesfloodwater were evacuated, carsriver wereOuse submerged boats Yorkbrought city center December 27. Homes wereonevacuated, cars were and boats were in toon help bring people to safety Saturday as parts of submerged england, Scotland were brought to help bring people on Saturday as parts of england, and Wales faced in severe flooding caused to bysafety repeated heavy rains.

John Giles/Pa via aP Scotland and Wales faced severe flooding caused by repeated heavy rains. John Giles/Pa via aP

Environment Secretar y Liz Secretar sysy Liz TrussEnvironment said flood protection Truss floodinprotection systems putsaid in place recent years temsunable put in place in recent were to cope with years the were unable tolevels. cope “In with the record-high river Lanrecord-high cashire every river singlelevels. river “In wasLanat cashire everyshe single was at a record-high,” said.river “In Yorka record-high,” she said.

Yorkshire we have seen some“In rivers havehigher seen some rivers a shire meterwe [yard] than they a meter higher than they have ever [yard] been before.

Clearly, everofbeen inhave the light that,before. we will Clearly, be rein the light of that, we willSevbe reviewing our flood defenses.” viewing our flood defenses.”

Several hundred people had been eral hundred people had been evacuated the day before in the evacuated the and day before in the West Yorkshire Lancashire West Yorkshire and Lancashire

regions and officials said thouregions saidnumthousands hadand lostofficials power. The sands had lost power.

The number of people affected continues of people affected continues tober grow as f looding spreads and to growcities, as f looding and impacts as well spreads as villages impacts cities, as well as villages and towns. and towns.

A picturesque 200-year-old picturesque pub, A The Waterside, in200-year-old the greater pub, The Waterside, in the greater Manchester area, collapsed and Manchester area, collapsed and part of the structure was swept part by of the was swept away the structure River Irwell.

Risaway the River Irwell. Rising riverbylevels also threatened ing river levels also threatened downtown Manchester and the downtown Manchester andgas the police dealt with a ruptured police dealt with gas main and small firea ruptured believed to main and small fire believed to

were riding in was swept away were riding in was swept away and sank in a rain-swollen creek. and intoll a rain-swollen creek.

Thesank death in the Southeast The in therose Southeast linked to death severetoll weather to 19 to severe weather authorirose to 19 onlinked Sunday, when Alabama onfound Sunday, authorities thewhen bodyAlabama of a 22-year-old tieswhose foundvehicle the body of swept a 22-year-old man was away manattempting whose vehicle was swept away while to cross a bridge; attempting cross a bridge; a while 5-year-old’s body to was recovered 5-year-old’s was recovered fora that incidentbody on Saturday.

Ten for that on Saturday.and Ten people haveincident died in Mississippi, have died in Mississippi, and sixpeople died in Tennessee.

One person sixkilled died in was in Tennessee.

Arkansas. APOne person was killed in Arkansas. AP

Presidential Presidentialfront-runner: front-runner: Can’t Can’t‘be ‘bebound’ bound’to toChina China

UK UKmilitary militaryhelps helpscombat combatflooding floodingas asititspreads spreadsto tocities cities ONDON—Br itish Pr ime ONDON—Br Pr ime Minister Daviditish Cameron Minister David sent hundreds moreCameron troops sent hundreds troops into northern England more on Sunday England on Sunday tointo helpnorthern exhausted residents and to help exhausted residents and emergency workers fight back risemergency workers rising river waters thatfight haveback inuning river thatafter have inundated townswaters and cities weeks ofdated heavytowns rain. and cities after weeks ofCameron heavy rain. said the flooding is Cameron saidand the vowed floodingto is “unprecedented” “unprecedented” and vowed do everything possible to protectto do everything protect people and theirpossible propertytoas the peoplespread and their property as the damage to the major cities damage spread the major cities York, Leeds and to Manchester.

He York, Leeds and Manchester. said protective systems and con-He said protective systems and contingency plans will be reviewed tingency will of be such reviewed because theplans frequency exbecause the frequency of such extreme weather events seems to be weather events seems to be ontreme the rise. on the rise.

Weeks of persistent rainfall has Weeksthe of persistent rainfall has saturated ground and swollen saturated ground andleaving swollen the rivers tothe record levels, the rivers to record levels, leaving entire swathes of northern Engentire northern England, andswathes smallerofparts of Wales land, and smaller parts of Wales and Scotland, vulnerable. and Scotland, vulnerable.

Several hundred flood warnhundred flood have warnings Several remain in effect. There ingsno remain in effect.

There have been fatalities or serious inbeenreported, no fatalities or seriousof injuries but hundreds jurieshave reported, but hundreds people been evacuated fromof peopleand have been evacuated from houses apartments in York, houses York, 200 milesand (320apartments kilometers)in north miles (320 kilometers) north of200 London, where 3,500 propof London, where properties are judged to 3,500 be at risk. erties are crews judgedworked to be at risk.

Emergency extra Emergency crews worked shifts to try to restore powerextra to shifts 7,500 to try blacked to restore roughly outpower homesto 7,500 Manchester blacked out homes inroughly the greater and in the greater Lancashire areas.Manchester and Lancashire areas.

Jay Nixon also declared a state of Jay Nixonand alsoIllinois. declared a state of emergency, emergency, Six people and diedIllinois. overnight when peoplevehicles died overnight when two Six separate drove into two separate vehicles drove into flooded roadways in south-central flooded roadways in south-central Missouri, Pulaski County Sheriff Missouri, CountyCounty Sheriff Ronald LongPulaski said. Greene Ronald Long Greene County authorities said said. two fatalities there authorities said twothe fatalities there were associated with flooding. were associatedIllinois, with theauthoriflooding.

In southern southern Illinois, authorities In said three adults and two ties saiddrowned three adults and two children on Saturday children drowned on Saturday evening when the vehicle they evening when the vehicle they

have been caused by the floodhave caused Agency by the urged flooding.

Thebeen Environment ing. ThetoEnvironment Agency urged residents remain vigilant because residents to remain vigilant because more “severe” flooding is expected more “severe” flooding is expected overnight and Monday. overnight and Monday.

The agency used its Twitter agency usedtoitsbeTwitter feedThe to beg people caufeed tweeting to beg people to be cautious, that driving or tious, tweeting driving walking in f lowingthat f lood watersor walking in f lowing f lood waters could be life-threatening.

Rescould behave life-threatening.

Rescue crews been using boats crews have been usingf rom boats tocue help remove people to help remove people f rom their homes and in some cases theirtheir homes and insubmerged some cases from nearly from their vehicles.

AP nearly submerged vehicles. AP

AIPEI, Taiwan—The frontAIPEI,in Taiwan—The frontrunner Taiwan’s presirunnerrace in Taiwan’s presidential said on Sunrace seek said on Sunday thatdential she would stable day thatwith she mainland would seek stable relations China, relations without mainland China, but did not rule revisiting the but didofficial not rulestance out revisiting the island’s on indeisland’s official stance on independence, leaving open questions pendence, leaving open respond questions about how China would how China wouldinrespond toabout her probable victory next to her elections. probable victory in next month’s month’s elections.

Tsai Ing-wen, the opposition Tsai theheld opposition leader whoIng-wen, has firmly onto a leaderlead whoinhas firmly onto a sizeble polls, usedheld her platsizeble lead infirst polls, usedto her platform during the debate warn form during the first debate to warn against the political rapprocheagainst the political rapprochement and deepening economic ties ment deepening economic ties with theand mainland brought by the with the mainland brought by the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), ruling Party (KMT), since the Nationalist 2008 elections. since 2008 elections.

“We the cannot simply be bound to “WeTsai cannot bound China,” said. simply “That’sbe what wor-to China,” Tsaiabout said. “That’s what worries us most the past eight ries us most about thethat’s past eight years—the sense that the years—the senseThat’s that not that’s the only choice we have. good we have.

That’s not good foronly ourchoice economy or our security.” for our economy or ourof security.”

Against the backdrop a sputAgainst the backdrop of aantisputtering economy and rising tering economy andthe rising antimainland sentiment, January January 16mainland electionssentiment, have been the framed by 16 elections been framed by both the KMT have and the opposition both the KMT and theParty opposition Democratic Progressive as a DemocraticonProgressive Party as a referendum President Ma Yingreferendum on President Ma Yingjeou’s China policy. jeou’s China policy.

Ma backed—with varying devarying degreesMa of backed—with success—several trade greeswith of success—several trade pacts the mainland during pacts with the mainland during

his two terms and held a historic his two and with held Chinese a historic summit interms November summit in Chinese President XiNovember Jinping. with It was the President Xi Jinping. was the first such meeting since Itthe ChifirstCommunist such meeting since the Chinese Party defeated nese Communist defeated the KMT in China’s Party civil war and the KMT in civil war and established theChina’s People’s Republic the People’s Republic ofestablished China in 1949. ofThe China in 1949.election is beupcoming The upcoming is being closely watched election

by Washingingand closely watched Washington Beijing, whichby considers ton and Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and Taiwan a breakaway and has threatened to takeprovince the island threatened to takeindepenthe island byhas force if it declares by force if delivered it declareshard-line independence.

Xi has dence. Xitohas delivered hard-line messages Taiwanese leaders in messages to Taiwanese private meetings, while leaders China’sin China’s miprivate l itar y meetings, conductedwhile e xercises mi l Taiwan itar y conducted xercises near earlier thise year in a near show Taiwan of force.earlier this year in aOn show of force.

Sunday, Tsai and her main On Sunday, and her Eric main opponent, KMT Tsai Xhairman opponent, Xhairman Eric Chu, offered KMT contrasting visions offered contrasting visions ofChu, how to revitalize Taiwan, which how to revitalize Taiwan, which is of becoming increasingly crowded is by becoming increasingly crowded out the world’s No. 2 economy the world’s No. 2 economy onout thebyworld stage. Still, both dison thethemselves world stage.

Still, distanced from theboth deeply tanced themselves from the deeply unpopular Ma. unpopular Ma. of New Taipei Chu, the mayor the to mayor of New capiTaipei City Chu, adjacent the island’s City adjacent for to the capital, apologized the island’s incumbent tal, apologized for the party’s performance, butincumbent attacked party’s performance,force but attacked Tsai as a destabilizing whose Tsai aswould a destabilizing force whose victory only undercut an victorythat would only undercut economy unexpectedly shrankan unexpectedly shrank ineconomy the thirdthat quarter.

AP in the third quarter. AP

world

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nothing personal

CIRCLE OF LIFE Crafted by Reynato Paz Contreras, The Trees is a canopy of three interlocking trees which stand as a testament to Mother Earth and her strong, unifying nature. The tree trunks signify stability, while the intertwining branches and leaves create a circular effect to symbolize the “Circle of Life.” The sculpture is just one of the many attractions at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. NONIE REYES

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 | T

uesdAy,

december 29, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

NOTHING PERSONAL More than three dozen Americans have played in the English Premier League (EPL), where five teams also have US owners.

Yet, the EPL has never had a USborn coach.

E

By Kevin Baxter Los Angeles Times

UROPE has embraced Disneyland and the iPhone.

Its people eat at McDonald’s, download Taylor Swift and were as eager as US audiences to see the new Star Wars movie.

However, there is one import the continent has so far proved unwilling to try: the American soccer coach.

More than three dozen Americans have played in the English Premier League (EPL), where five teams also have US owners. Yet, the EPL has never had a US-born coach.

Ditto the German Bundesliga, home to four players from the last US World Cup team but to no American coaches. Nor have there been any in Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, Portugal’s Primeira Liga or the Dutch Eredivise.

Only one American has ever coached in a top-flight European league. And former US National Team Coach Bob Bradley’s stay in Norway lasted only 22 months before his contract expired last month.

But don’t take any of that personally, says Christian Seifert, chief executive of the Bundesliga. “Everyone is looking for a good coach,” he said. “So if there is a good US coach, there would be absolutely no problem from a German perspective.”

Bruce Arena, who is a good US coach, isn’t buying that. He has won five Major League Soccer (MLS) titles and a record 71 games with the US national team, yet, the only offer he received to coach in Europe came from a team in the far-off Danish Superliga nearly 10 years ago.

“You do see reluctance,” said Arena, who coaches the Los Angeles Galaxy.

“There’s a lot of obstacles ahead before Americans are considered for those positions.”

Added Bradley: “There still are some stereotypes out there.”

But that’s starting to change.

The success of the national team under Bradley and Arena, the wide audiences that MLS games are attracting in Europe, and rave reviews from Europeans returning home after playing in MLS have led to a new appreciation of US coaches. And that may soon lead to jobs.

“The names will now start to become more household names in Europe,” said Ian Joy, who played in England and Germany before becoming an analyst on Fox’s coverage of the Bundesliga. “The talent that’s coming here [is] spreading the rumor back to Europe that these people are good enough to coach there. It’s only a matter of time, trust me, before we see an American coach in the Premiership getting his opportunity.”

Four years ago Bradley thought that opportunity would go to him.

After being fired by the national team despite Team USA’s winning its group at the 2010 World Cup and compiling the second-best record in US Soccer history, Bradley said his name was mentioned nearly a dozen times regarding coaching vacancies in England.

But only one team talked with him directly. And it didn’t offer a job.

“Oftentimes what you hear is... ‘We’re looking for someone with Premiership experience,’” Bradley said. “Or if it’s Germany, ‘We’re looking for German coaches.’ As much as the game has grown in the US, when you come to Europe, it’s that experience in Europe, whether it was experience as a player or experience as a coach. Those things still count.”

So Bradley set out to gain that experience, going first to Norway, where he guided tiny Stabaek through promotion from the second division to a Europa

League berth, then on to France, where he has Le Harve within reach of promotion to Ligue 1.

But his most impressive accomplishment came just before that, when he coached Egypt through revolution and a bloody coup to within a win of its second World Cup berth in 80 years.

“I’ve been willing to take chances,” he said. “Go places where, quite frankly, most people wouldn’t go, and in different circumstances, show people what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to train a team, what it takes to develop players. And now I’m confident that I’m going to move forward and once again show people how I do things.”

Yet, while Bradley was taking chances, the people making

By Butch Fernandez

PEYTON MANNING angrily denies Al Jazeera report he used performanceenhancing drugs.

‘TRASH, GARBAGE!’ E

NGLEWOOD, Colorado—Peyton Manning said a report by Al Jazeera set to air on Sunday that suggests he used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) was “completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage.”

Manning angrily denied allegations to ESPN on Sunday morning he used human growth hormone (HGH) in 2011 when he missed an entire season while recovering from neck fusion surgery.

He denied ever using PEDs and blasted the report for suggesting he got drugs that were shipped to his wife, Ashley.

“I can’t speak for any other athlete. I know what I’ve done, I know how hard I’ve worked in my 18 years of playing in the NFL [National Football League]. There are no shortcuts in the NFL. I’ve done it the long way, I’ve done it the hard way. And to insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and total joke, it’s defamation and it really ticks me off,” Manning told ESPN. The Broncos and Colts also issued statements on Sunday morning in support of Manning.

“Knowing Peyton Manning and everything he stands for, the Denver Broncos support him 100 percent,” the team said. “These are false claims made to Al Jazeera, and we don’t believe the report.”

The statement added that “Peyton is rightfully outraged by the allegations, which he emphatically denied to our organization and which have been publicly renounced by the source who initially provided them.”

The Colts, whom Manning played for from 1998 to 2011, issued a statement calling the report “utterly ridiculous.”

“We are thoroughly familiar with Peyton’s tireless work habits, his medical history, and, most important, his integrity,” the Colts said.

“Peyton played the game in Indianapolis for 14 years the right way. He never took any shortcuts and it would be absurd to suggest he would have taken prohibited performance-enhancing drugs.

“We also note that the ‘source’ of this allegation has

since recanted his story.

The entire Indianapolis Colts organization and the Irsay family hope this crude effort to besmirch Peyton’s reputation will not be permitted to tarnish the legacy of a great Colt.”

Manning joined the Broncos in 2012 and had a record-setting run, going 47-15 over what he called the second chapter of his career until he tore the plantar fascia in his left foot on November 15. That was the same day he broke Brett Favre’s NFL record for most career passing yards.

He’s been sidelined ever since and his longtime backup, Brock Osweiler, will make his sixth straight start on Monday night when the Broncos (10-2) host the Bengals (11-3).

“Throughout his NFL career, particularly during his four seasons with the Broncos, Peyton has shown nothing but respect for the game,” the Broncos said. “Our organization is confident Peyton does things the right way, and we do not find this story to be credible.”

Manning said he sought holistic treatments, such as hyperbaric oxygen and nutrient therapy, at the Guyer Institute, an antiaging clinic in Indianapolis, in 2011 with knowledge and consent of the Colts training and medical staff following his four neck surgeries.

Charles Sly, a former intern at the Guyer Institute, has recanted the claim that Manning used HGH. Sly was surreptitiously recorded by Liam Collins, a British hurdler that Al Jazeera said went undercover to expose PEDs use in sports.

Sly, who also named other high-profile athletes on the secret recordings made by Collins, told Al Jazeera the statements attributed to him “are absolutely false and incorrect.” Sly also told ESPN that he fabricated the allegations to test Collins’ legitimacy.

Al Jazeera’s report claims Manning received HGH from the Indianapolis antiaging clinic in 2011, while he was still with the Colts. It said, the drug, which was later banned

by the NFL in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, was delivered to his wife so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to the shipments.

Manning told ESPN he’s never taken anything that was ever sent to his wife nor has he ever used PEDs. “Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And what hurts me the most about this is whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when I more or less had a broken neck—four neck surgeries, I don’t know, I’m sure there’s a difference in there—but I had a broken neck and I busted my butt to get healthy,” Manning said.

“I went to the Guyer Clinic, they had an hyperbaric chamber that the Colts trainers and doctors thought might be good for me. They went with me and thought it might help. I don’t know if it helped. It didn’t hurt.

“Time ended up being probably my best medicine along with a lot of hard work. And that stings me whoever this guy is insinuating that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. That’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke,” Manning added.

The report names other high-profile athletes as having obtained PEDs. AP

SPORTS

See “Oil prices,” A2

oney set aside to pay down the obligations of the national government amounted to P479.35 billion, representing a 6-percent increase from debt service in 2014 amounting only to P452.70 billion.

Amortization on principal debt in the first 10 months was higher by 16 percent even as interest payments went down.

The policy for increasing amortization and reducing interest payments reflects the government’s increased ability to settle its obligations, even amid global uncertainties, like the United States Federal Reserve’s increase of .25 percent in policy interest rates announced earlier this month, and hints of more increases in 2016.

Finance officials said, since market players in the local capital markets already factored in the long-awaited increase in US interest rates since more than a year ago, the impact of the interestrate increase in the US should be minimal, allowing the Philippines to remain steadfast in its fiscal and debt-liability programs. Government planners look to increase the maturity profile of government debt, minimize annual interest payments and pay off more principal debt.

For January to October, a total of P207.45 billion was used to amortize government principal debt, an increase from amortization costing only P178.54 billion during the same period in 2014.

Of the total P207.45 billion used Continued on A2

Palace sees no need for added CCT fund safeguards

FC Barcelona’s Gerard Pique (right) and River Plate’s Gabriel Mercado battle for the ball during their final match at the Fifa Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan, early this month. AP

coaching decisions in Europe have chosen to play it safe, often hiring familiar names who were fired elsewhere rather than taking a chance on someone new. And the numbers show just what a closed group the European coaching fraternity has become In the English Premier League, there have been nine coaching changes since last season and each time the vacancy was filled by a manager who had previously coached in a top-flight European league. In the Bundesliga, seven of the eight coaches hired since last spring were not only experienced but German, as well. In La Liga, six of the eight new coaches were Spanish and in Serie A, where 12 of the 20 teams found new managers since last season, only two were not Italian.

If Bradley, 57, is frustrated by the apparent lack of respect, he won’t admit it. In a lengthy phone interview from Normandy, he spoke matter-of-factly about the circuitous route he has taken.

“What you do is you don’t worry about it,” he said. “If something comes your way that you’re excited about, you roll up your sleeves and you say, ‘Hey, let’s get started.’

“I’m confident the different situations I’ve been in continue to show people the way I do things. And when all is said and done, you see where it takes you.”

than two-thirds of stations across the US are selling gas under $2 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

AAA estimated that cheaper gas prices have saved Americans more than $115 billion on gasoline so far this year, or more than $550 per licensed driver.

More than 91 million Americans plan to take advantage of cheaper gas prices to drive 80 kilometers or more during this holiday period.

“Drivers across the country are celebrating the historic return of cheaper gas prices,” AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney said. “The lowest gas prices in nearly seven years are a holiday gift that few consumers could have imagined when gasoline was $4 a gallon.”

Brent oil price hit 11-year low on December 21, while US oil price hovered around the nearly seven-year low area.

10-month debt servicing up 6% to ₧479.35 billion

B2-1

THE Nescafé Red Mug Machine

11 die from tornadoes, 13 in midwest flooding news@businessmirror.com.ph news@businessmirror.com.ph

EW York—Crude prices have gone down nearly 30 percent this year, and analysts expect oil prices to remain low for even longer.

Lower oil prices are generally good for US consumers and the economy, said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy with Columbia University, in an article.

“Gasoline prices are currently at the lowest level for this time of year since 2006. Those gasoline savings of nearly $100 per month per household will act like a tax cut for consumers and could stimulate the US economy,” he wrote.

Oil is the primary cost for making gasoline, and every $10 decline in the cost of oil can reduce gas prices by nearly 25 cents per gallon.

US average gas prices dropped below $2 per gallon on December 21 for the first time since March 25, 2009. More

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alacañang on Monday said additional “safeguards” to prevent the use of the P64-billion Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) for the campaign of Aquino administration bets in 2016 are not needed.

PESO exchange rates n US 47.2750

“Adequate safeguards are already in place,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said.

Coloma added that CCT fund disbursements are “subject to existing Commission on Audit [COA] rules and regulations.”

He said the government has also been recognized by the World Bank

for transparency in administering the CCT Program and even gave an award to Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman for being “a model in public accountability.”

The World Bank said in September that the country’s CCT Program is “one of the best-targeted safety net programs in the world.”

The World Bank said 82 percent of the benefits of the Philippines’s CCT Program go to the bottom 40 percent of the population comprising the country’s poor households.

“Poverty in the Philippines is a dynamic phenomenon and many households move in and out of

poverty during the year due to factors like calamities, droughts, or the advent of the lean seasons,” said Ruslan Yemtsov, who led the preparation of the report titled, The State of Social Safety Nets 2015.

“The poor and vulnerable in the See “CCT funds,” A2

n japan 0.3927 n UK 70.6005 n HK 6.0991 n CHINA 7.2997 n singapore 33.6621 n australia 34.5906 n EU 51.9127 n SAUDI arabia 12.6040

Source: BSP (28 December 2015)

A2

News

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

German firm unhappy over MRT 3 rehab deal Continued from A1

the group’s proposal, such could have done much to alleviate the woes of the railway system by now.

Instead, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya sought public tenders for a P4.3-billion MRT rehabilitation and maintenance contract.

The failure to get a suitable provider— brought about by the sorry state of the train system—led the government to undergo an emergency procurement plan.

The German company was not invited to the negotiations although it was able to submit a proposal, which was not accepted by the transport agency for having been 45 minutes late.

“May we earnestly appeal that our proposal be opened and that the technical aspects be deliberated and be given the same chance and preference, as with the lowest offeror whom the time element of negotiation is still in effect even after official proceedings,” Rolf Bieri, the authorized representative of Schunk, said in a three-page open letter to President Aquino.

Last week the Department of Transportation and Communications announced it awarded the P3.8-billion maintenance contract to the joint venture of Busan Transportation Corp. l, Edison Development & Construction, Tramat Mercantile Inc., TMI Corp. Inc. and Castan Corp.

“May we take this opportunity to express our disappointment on the way the rehabilitation and maintenance negotiation team of the DOTC had treated our offer for the negotiated procurement for DOTC-MRT 3 systems maintenance service provider, 43 light rail vehicles general overhauling and total replacement of signaling system. At first, we were disregarded, being the incumbent short-term rolling stocks maintenance provider, by not inviting us in the negotiation thereof,” Bieri said.

The transportation department’s rehabilitation and maintenance negotiation team is headed by Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Rene K. Limcaoco.

“After representations have been made by us, we were eventually invited. However, the convenience of complying with the terms of reference were only provided to the few, and the element of time by not accepting our technical offer is up to now confusing,” Bieri said.

This pertained to the negotiating team’s failure to invite them to the prenegotiation conference in October. Limcaoco was quoted as saying that the group was 45 minutes late when it submitted its compliance documents.

These were those “inadvertently not included during the opening of eligibility and technical offers.”

“However, the entire proceedings during the opening of compliance documents was not in itself unblemished of tardiness.

Prior to the submission, the joint venture explained the need for a few minutes for the arrival of its authenticated documents,” Bieri said.

“It was denied that caused us surprise, expecting the DOTC to give equal opportunities for competitors and offerors this being an emergency procurement,” he added. “The time element for disqualification violates the DOTC’s own rules by continuously changing procedures and terms even after finality of the negotiation proceedings onward.”

Moreover, clarifications on whether technical compliance, such as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) preference, rail grinding equipment compliance, and post qualification of local partners and capabilities were overturned by the lowest bid rules of the law, he noted.

“In consideration of our familiarity with the train and OEM parts access—the trains beyond the eight-year overhaul and without upgrades, which are parts periodically modified for the train brand to improve to safety and convenience features—we see more logic to rely on the technical proposal than the price, considering this may lead to consequences of not just rescinding from the original functionality of the components and train model being considerably obsolete but more to the safety risk of the riding public,” Bieri pointed.

The groups of MRT Holdings Inc. Chair-

10-month debt servicing up 6% to P479.35 billion Continued from A1

for amortization, pay downs on domestic debts accounted for the largest chunk, as the government pushed forward with its policy of borrowing more from domestic sources than from foreign creditors that carries with it attendant risks, such as exchange rate risks, for instance.

A mor tization on domestic debt amounted to P149.8 billion, while amortization on foreign debt amounted only to P57.65 billion.

Even amortization on principal debt decreased, interest payments on government debt decreased, as well.

Interest payments from January to October amounted to P271.90 billion, or 0.8 percent lower than in the same 10-month period last year amounting to P274.16 billion.

Aside from the decline in interest payments, interest payments as percent of total government expenditures, likewise, fell.

Interest payments for January to October 2015 accounted for 15 percent of total expenditures, or an improvement from the 17 percent allocation recorded for the same period in 2014.

Interest payments to domestic creditors amounted to P183.84 billion, while interest payments to foreign creditors amounted to P88.06 billion.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima earlier affirmed the policy of borrowing more from domestic sources and minimizing interest payments, as percent of total government expenditures to free cash so that government is shielded from such shocks as the interest-rate adjustment by the US Federal Reserve (the Fed).

“Proactive debt management strategies lengthened our average debt maturities [mitigating refinancing risk] and increased the share of local currency debt [reducing foreign exchange risk].

Further, work in developing and

deepening the capital markets for the long term is expected to improve liquidity as we enlarge the share of domestic financing in our debt profile. I note further that the private sector has become more prudent in liability management decisions. Keeping the Philippines a safe harbor in uncertain times is a continuing partnership with our people,” Purisima said in his statement after the US Fed announced earlier this month its decision to increase US interest rates.

With the government’s assessment that players in the local capital markets have already factored in their quotes the recent increase in interest rates by the US Fed, the decision to speed up paying down the principal debt and decreasing interest payments is expected to be seen also in the yet to be released government figures on financing and debt payments for November and December.

Even for the next year, the government was also not expected to

double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

It was submitted in 2011, but the transportation agency’s chief back then rejected the proposal.

They were sought for comment on the issue of government inaction, but none replied as of press time.

Abaya was also sought to respond to the letter, but was not available for comment.

According to the amended build-andoperate transfer law, the government has to inform the proponent whether it accepts or rejects an unsolicited proposal within 120 days. This, according to American Chamber of Commerce Senior Advisor John D. Forbes, should have been considered by the government.

For his part, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) External Vice President Henry J. Schumacher said the inaction of the government over the unsolicited proposal only places the riding public at the losing end.

“The extreme delays in fixing the MRT issues are an insult to the tax-paying citizens who are suffering for hours every day to get the office and back home. And business suffers because it is so difficult for employees to get to the office,” he said.

Today the rail line’s average daily ridership already tops 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count totaled 620,000.

man John Robert L. Sobrepeña and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan also submitted separate proposals to fix the MRT. Sobrepeña’s group is proposing to do a “quick fix” solution to make the train system safe for the riding public.

Together with foreign firms Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Globalvia Infrastructuras of Spain, Metro Global Holdings Inc. is proposing to “fix” the ailing system through a $150-million investment that involves the procurement of a total of 96 new train cars, and the rehabilitation of the existing 73 coaches, increasing its capacity by fourfold to 1.2 million daily passengers.

Under the proposal, a single point of responsibility will be implemented: meaning the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the line will be handled by a single company.

Separately, Metro Pacific is proposing to shoulder the upgrade costs of the train system and release the government from the bondage of paying billions in equity rental payments.

The Pangilinan group, which earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, intends to spend $524 million to overhaul the line.

The venture would effectively expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals. The multimillion-dollar expansion plan would

adjust its borrowing program to fund the P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016.

National Treasurer Roberto Tan said, even if the US Fed were to gradually raise interest rates each quarter in 2016, the government’s borrowing costs should still be manageable.

The anticipated phased increase in US interest rates in 2016 likely mean as a 25-basis-point increase in interest rates for each quarter of 2016, or a total of 1-percent increase in US interest rates.

Another official under the Department of Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Ephyro Amatong explained that a 1-percent increase in US interest rates translates to low borrowing costs for the Philippines.

“So what does that mean for the Philippines? For the Philippine treasury, borrowing costs are still low, and if borrowing costs are low for the treasury, they also remain low for Philippine corporates,” Amatong said.

Oil prices. . .

Continued from A1

“The plunge of crude price is simply a prospect of big supply build up, strong production from both the Opec [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] side and non-Opec side,” said Raymond Carbone, crude trader of Paramount Options.

The Opec held a meeting on December 4 and decided to keep crude production at the current level in an already oversupplied market.

The Opec currently produces about 31.7 million barrels a day and has refused to cut its output, which made traders worry that the prolonged supply glut would continue to drag the oil market down.

Currently crude market is oversupplied by 2 million barrels daily, according to the estimates of Goldman Sachs. “Nothing they did in that meeting suggested production cut will come in the near future,” Raymond said. “I don’t think that [the result] is a big surprise of the meeting, but you see that market has gone down since that meeting.”

Impact on OFWs

The continuous decline in oil prices could hurt overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to OFW advocate and head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center & Training Institute Susan Ople. Ople said she received information from migrant workers in the Middle East that some companies were starting to lay off or delay payment of their salaries in the wake of declining oil revenues.

In a statement, Ople called on the government to assess and determine the kind of safety nets needed, should layoffs ensue.

She said the government “must act fast” following reports of salaries of OFWs in affected areas have been delayed or not paid at all, noting that the complaints received also involved skilled workers and professionals, along with service employees.

“The Saudi economy is heavily reliant on oil revenues, and it is now taking a hit because of the collapse of world oil prices. Uncertainty is in the air because of the unavoidable cutbacks and austerity measures that the Saudi government must put in place, while coping with a growing

CCT funds. . .

deficit and an economic downturn,” Ople said. Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government is now assessing the impact of declining oil prices on the employment of OFWs amid fears this could lead to retrenchments.

Lacierda also said the government is prepared to assist OFWs based in the Middle East if they need to find new employment or if they want to put up their own business.

Cheaper gas

Oil firms in the Philippines said on Monday they will implement the last price adjustment for 2015. They separately announced a price cut in gasoline, kerosene and diesel.

Pilipinas Shell and Phoenix Petroleum Corp. said they would roll back the price of gasoline by P0.60 per liter, kerosene by P0.40 per liter, and diesel by P0.20 per liter effective 6 a.m. of December 29.

Seaoil Philippines and Petron Corp. are implementing the same price adjustment at 12:01 a.m. of Tuesday. Meanwhile, Eastern Petroleum Corp. said the price cut would take effect on all of its service stations at 6 p.m. of December 28.

Fernando L. Martinez, Eastern Petroleum chairman and chief executive, said the latest price adjustment reflects the continuous downward of oil prices in the world market.

“At the rate world oil prices have been behaving, even analysts admit that no one could accurately and consistently forecast the price of oil more than a few months ahead let alone for years or decades in the future,” Martinez said. Other local oil firms are expected to follow suit.

Based on the Department of Energ y ’s week ly mon itor ing , Dubai crude decreased weekon-week by almost $3.60 per bbl. MOPS diesel also declined by $5.70, while gasoline rose by $0.06 per bbl. On December 22 oil companies slashed diesel price by P1.75/liter, kerosene by P1.20/liter and raised the price of gasoline

by P0.10/liter. The net decrease in diesel price reached P6.94 per liter and P0.20 per liter for gasoline as of December 22. Butch Fernandez, Lenie Lectura, PNA/Xinhua

Continued from A1

Philippines benefit from what is today one of the largest and besttargeted social safety net programs in the world,” Yemtsov added.

In the Philippines, almost 4.5 million households are enrolled in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino

Program from only 360,000 households in 2008. Malacanañg made the pronouncement amid concerns that the funds may be diverted to campaign of administration candidates in the May 2016 national and local elections.

News BusinessMirror

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Still an uphill climb for wider e-vehicle use in Philippines

T

he Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (Evap) reported a growth in the sale of e-jeepneys and etricycles this year, but the group is still aiming to reach a wider market in the transport sector by selling 5,000 e-trikes and 1,000 e-jeepneys in the next three years.

Evap President Rommel Juan said in an e-mail interview on Monday that e-jeepney and e-tricycle sales for 2015 saw a jump of 56 percent and 47 percent, respectively, with the rise credited to a low base effect the previous year.

“Evap members posted a 56 percent increased in e-jeepney sales in 2015 compared to 2014. Although the figures are unremarkable because sales are less than 100 units, while e-trike sales increased by 47 percent,” Juan said.

The increase in sales for 2015 can be attributed to wider recognition among private institutions.

Recently, Metro Express Connect Inc. the official transport operator of the Villars’ Vista Land, partnered with PhUV Inc., the pioneer local electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer in the country for two e-jeepneys to ply the roads leading into Vista City.

Other notable EV manufacturers that have launched EV projects nationwide are ETrike makers Kea Industrial, Phil Etro, Bemac and EV Wealth which have penetrated the local government units of Makati, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, Antipolo, Naga and Boracay.

While targets for 2016 has not been set yet, Juan has said that EVs need to gain headway in the public transport sector “to really create an impact.”

In line with this, for the incoming year, the EV sector is pinning its hopes on the Department of Transportation and Communications’s Jeepney Modernization Program to kickstart the wider use of e-jeepneys.

The program entails phasing out of diesel-fed jeepneys that are older than 15 years old, and Juan said he hopes e-jeepneys can be considered for the subsequent refleeting program.

For the e-tricycles, there’s the Department of Energy’s (DOE) “troublesome” Tricycle Replacement Program, which, nonetheless, could be a boon for the EV industry.

The program seeks to replace 100,000 of the estimated 3.5 million regular tricycles in the country with e-tricycles.

The bidding process of the said program has faced several delays since its launch in 2013, but is now moving forward as the DOE is negotiating for a lower price with Bemac Transport, the last remaining qualifying bidder and an Evap member.

The $504-million project is largely financed by the Asian Development Bank and the Clean Technology Fund.

The project is being implemented for five years and aims to reduce the transport sector’s annual petroleum consumption by 2.8 percent, equivalent to 89.2 million liters per year.

Juan said that in a recent consultation with the Department of Trade and Industry, the sector is aiming to sell 5,000 e-trikes and 1,000 e-jeepneys between 2016 and 2019, and will set down the strategies in a development plan.

Catherine N. Pillas

Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, December 29, 2015 A3

DAR to spend ₧4.5B for CARP, ₧2.94B for agri, fisheries ‘modernization’ in ’16

W

ith an approved budget of P4.5 billion for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) next year, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) intends to pursue the acquisition of private agricultural lands through compulsory acquisition to distribute the remaining “CARPable” lands.

Agrarian Reform Secretar y Virgilio R. de los Reyes said the DAR is aiming to achieve a recordhigh distribution of private lands through compulsory acquisition.

Next year’s target is to distribute 105,000 hectares.

“Next year we will continue to implement land acquisition and distribution [LAD] through compulsory acquisition,” he added.

Of the 694,784 hectares LAD balance under CARP extension with reforms (CARPer), 64,000 hectares were not issued with notice of coverage (NOC) before the June 30, 2014, deadline. This means that

these lands with no NOC may no longer be covered by CARP and deducted from the LAD balance, unless a law mandating the DAR to extend issuance of NOC is enacted.

“We are still hoping for the passage of the law extending the issuance of notice of coverage. With its passage, we can cover more lands for distribution,” he said.

Under the 2016 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the P4.5-billion DAR budget for CARP will be spent for land acquisition and agrarian justice delivery. The DAR’s budget for CARP will be augmented by additional P102,342 million from the budget

of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and P332,283 from the budget of the Department of Justice.

Also under the NEP, some P2.94 billion will be spent for the Program Beneficiaries Development (PBD) component of CARP in support of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program (AFMP).

T he budget for A FMP w ill be augmented by budgets from different agencies, namely, the DENR, P150 million; Department of Trade and Industry, P76.88 million; the Department of Agriculture-National Irrigation Administration, P463.67 million.

The implementation of the DAR’s PBD will be gradually transferred to the DA and other agencies in view of the finalization of LAD under Republic Act (RA) 9700.

Most of the LAD balance, he said, are privately owned agricultural lands, which are difficult to distribute because of the strong resistance of private land owners.

The DAR is the lead implementing agency of the CARP. CARP was twice extended, first in 1998 and second in 2008 through the passage of RA or the CARPer. Meanwhile, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Jose Z. Grageda said that, of the 198,000

hectares funded target this year, only around 106,000 hectares have been identified to be the net distributable portion.

Of the net distributable portion, around 50,000 hectares were actually distributed to qualified beneficiaries by the DAR this year, while an estimated 40,000 hectares, which include land for automatic retention by owner, while lands classified as timber land, roads, bridges, rivers remain as land of public domain.

Under CARP, the owner is entitled to retain a maximum of 5 hectares of land of his CARPcovered land. “Some of the lands were not distributed because of the automatic-retention law, or some of the portions of the lands are roads, rivers, or timberlands,” Grageda said.

This year more than 60 percent of the distributed lands are private agricultural lands acquired through compulsory acquisition.

In the past, Grageda said most of the private lands distributed by the government were those offered by land owners under the voluntary offer to sell scheme, which is much easier. Through compulsory acquisition, landowners usually exert all legal remedies to avoid CARP coverage.

ADBI paper affirms ‘quality’ infra role in economic growth New Year’s Eve party

in Subic features grand pyromusical display

By Cai U. Ordinario

C

ountries like the Philippines can expect a 5-percent growth if they could be able raise the number of paved roads by 10 percent, a recent study released by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) showed.

In a working paper, ADBI said various improvements in the quantity and quality of infrastructure across Asia will improve economic growth and facilitate trade in the region.

The study was authored by Normaz Wana Ismail, an associate professor of economics and management at Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Jamilah Mohd Mahyideen, a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi MARA. “The quality of infrastructure is as important as the quantity; any inadequate or poorly performing infrastructure may create obstacles for economies to meet their full growth potential,” the study stated.

“Results confirm that the quantity of infrastructure is important to enhance economic growth; however, having quality infrastructure benefits more in producing productive and efficient output, thus has greater impacts on sustainability in economic growth,” it added.

The results of the study also showed that the quality of transport infrastructure, such as paved roads, reduced vehicle maintenance and increases labor productivity.

The study also said that improving information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, through a 10-percent increase in the number of telephone lines and mobile phones, will increase economic growth by more than 1 percent.

Further an 10-percent increase in Internet facility investment will result in an additional 2-percent economic growth.

The ADBI study also showed that a 1-percent reduction in electric power transmission and distribution losses will increase economic growth by 1.1 percent.

“As markets are integrating more, the role of infrastructure should be important.

Economies that still score low in regard to physical infrastructure should invest more in road density, rail and port facilities to facilitate doing business,” the study stated.

“ICT infrastructure, especially basic

By Henry Empeño | Correspondent

S

On the safer side A boy tries one of the colorful plastic horns being sold at sidewalk stall in front of the

Baclaran Church in Parañaque City. The Department of Health has launched an information drive to convince Filipinos to avoid using firecrackers in welcoming the New Year to lessen, if not totally eliminate, firecracker-related injuries during the New Year’s Eve revelry. ALYSA SALEN

infrastructure such as telephone lines, broadband access and Internet security, should also be emphasized for communication benefits and to ease financial transactions between trading partners,” it added.

The study noted that infrastructure development in the Philippines has worsened. In 2000 the country ranked 88th in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI).

The country’s ranking worsened in succeeding years declining to 98th rank in 2010 and 2013.

In a scale of one to seven with one being the lowest and seven the highest, the quality of the country’s infrastructure ranked 3.73 in 2013.

Further, in terms of quality of roads, the country scored 3.56; quality of rail infrastructure, 2.06; quality of port infrastructure, 3.35; quality of air-transport facilities, 3.54; and transport infrastructure as a whole, 3.33.

In terms of ICT data in 2013, there were 4.1

fixed telephone lines per 100 population placing the country at 109th place in the GCI. In terms of mobile-phone subscriptions, the country ranked 81st overall with 106.8 mobilephone subscriptions per 100 population.

The percent of the population of the country using the Internet was only 36 percent, placing the Philippines in rank 87 in the GCI. There were only 2.2 fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 population, placing the country in rank 97 in the GCI in 2013.

In order to address these infrastructure gaps, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan earlier said the country needs to encourage technological innovations and pursue regulatory and structural reforms.

“Through these, the country can further attract investment flows, as investors in advanced economies affected by the global financial crisis search for markets with higher returns and better prospects,” Balisacan said.

Marcos urges govt to ramp up relief efforts for Nona victims

S

Also, Grageda said that 18 percent of the lands distributed this year are in Negros, the region which has the highest LAD balance.

But most of the beneficiaries have not received their certificate of land ownership awards (CLOAs) for the lands, or have not been installed to their CARP-awarded lots yet.

As of December 31, 2014, 44 percent of beneficiaries have received their individual CLOAs, while 56 percent of beneficiaries received their collective CLOAs. By 2016 the target is to increase the number of beneficiaries with individual CLOAs to 69 percent and beneficiaries with collective CLOAs to 72 percent.

Under the NEP, with its budget for next year, the agency is mandated to deliver outputs, such as increase in farm yields of certain agricultural products such as rice, corn and sugarcane, and household incomes.

For rice, the yield should be 15 percent above national average for irrigated lands, and 10 percent for those in rain-fed areas. For corn, by 2016, the yield should be up by 45 percent of national average.

Overall, the target is to increase by 10 percent the household incomes of beneficiaries compared to the previous year. Jonathan L. Mayuga

en. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. has appealed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other concerned government agencies to ramp up relief efforts in areas affected by Typhoon Nona (international code name Melor) and the floods it caused.

Marcos aired the call after visiting the province of Nueva Ecija where some areas were inundated by floods.

“While the weather has cleared and many of us are [celebrating the Christmas season], let us not forget that many people have lost their homes and what few belongings they have. Now, more than ever, they should feel

that the government cares for them,” Marcos appealed.

“Thankfully, as of the December 22 situation report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, a total of 63,184 families comprising of 286,552 individuals affected by the typhoon and flooding were provided assistance.”

Marcos, who is also vice presidential front-runner in the 2016 elections, however, cited news reports of flooding in several towns in Bulacan, Pampanga and the town of Baler in Aurora, as well as landslides in various areas that experienced heavy rains brought by the typhoon.

UBIC BAY FREEPORT—Visitors to this free port can expect a spectacular show here on New Year’s Eve, as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is pairing pyrotechnics with music to come up with a different kind of entertainment to mark the turn of the year.

SBMA Chairman Roberto V. Garcia said that an increasing number of local and foreign tourists spend the New Year’s Eve in Subic because of its hassle-free holiday atmosphere. The SBMA, over the years, has been putting up grander fireworks display and musical concerts as public entertainment.

“But this year we expect that spectators will be more delighted with our spectacular Grand Pyro-Musical Show, which is actually a fireworks display where each explosion rhymes with the beat of music,” Garcia said.

The pyrotechnics, he said, will be synchronized with the music to be played over the SBMA’s radio station Subic Bay 89.5 FM. The program starts at 7 in the evening.

Aside from the pyromusical show, visitors will also be getting the usual Christmas treat of free live-band concert featuring the Buganda Tribe, homegrown musicians and special guest performers from different parts of the region.

According to the SBMA Tourism Department, the public may enjoy Subic’s New Year spectacular at the Boardwalk Park, the Moonbay Marina Beachfront, or from any of the hotels and restaurants along Waterfront Drive.

The Lighthouse Beach area, meanwhile, will be open to paying patrons with tickets starting at P1,990 inclusive of dinner buffet.

“The SBMA New Year’s countdown is all about uniting the whole Subic Bay Freeport Zone in a hallmark event,” Garcia also said. “So we are inviting the public to spend time with their loved ones while sharing a backdrop of colorful lights and a colorfully lit sky that symbolizes a bright future ahead.”

Meanwhile, residents of Zambales will experience a similar celebration with the Kalighawan Festival on Tuesday evening at the Zambales Sports Complex.

Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the provincial government will put up a free musical concert utilizing local talents “to prove to others and to ourselves that Zambaleños have got the talent.”

“This is the second time that we’re having a year-end concert without any guest performers, only local singers and dancers from the various municipalities. And we’re very proud that we have what it gets to get a show going,” Ebdane added.

He said among the performers in the upcoming show are the winners in the recent hip-hop dance contest for Capitol employees.

A4 Tuesday, December 29, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Religion and happiness

R

eligion and politics are the two topics that should not be discussed at the dinner table, according to the old saying. We tend to take both subjects seriously and any disagreement with our views is taken personally.

Faith and religion are personal, yet, we band together with other like-minded individuals. Even those people who lack a belief in the existence of a God or gods join others who share their “faith.”

Since the earliest of recorded history, humans have searched for explanations for events and conditions that were beyond their understanding, often attributed to an outside and unseen force or intelligence. Even before any written records, rituals, such as treatment of the dead, showed a sense of spirituality. Other rituals and ceremonies dealing with harvests and other natural occurrences attempted to influence events that were outside human control.

While human knowledge can now adequately explain many things that were previously unknown, we still look to faith to help us cope with the human condition.

About 75 percent of the global population self-indentify with one of the four major religions: Christianity (32 percent), Islam (23 percent), Hinduism (15 percent) and Buddhism (7 percent). Another 15 percent classify themselves as “unaffiliated” or holding no religious belief.

However, it is one thing to identify with a particular religion and quite another to place importance on your beliefs.

A recent global survey by the Pew Research Center revealed interesting information on how religious different countries are in terms of their faith.

Respondents were asked: “How important is your religion in your daily life?”

The global median was 55 percent, with Americans answering 53 percent.

The highest percentage, at 98 percent, came from Ethiopia, where Christianity is the religion of choice for 63 percent of the population, followed by Islam at 35 percent. Muslim dominated Indonesia (87 percent) comes in at 95 percent of people who say that religion is very important in daily life.

The three countries where the people place little importance on their religion are China (3 percent), Japan (11 percent) and France (14 percent).

The one variable that does stand out is that the wealthier countries all rank in the bottom of the global median, except for the US. Further, Christian or Muslim, African countries—which are also poorer—see religion as very important.

The Philippines ranks No. 10 globally, with 87 percent of the population saying that religion is very important in their lives.

People in wealthier countries are less religious and tend generally to be “happier.” But individually, strong religious beliefs and habits make people happier. Another recent study found that a strong correlation exists between religious affiliation and personal happiness. Forty-five percent of those who attend a religious service on a weekly basis described themselves as “very happy,” while only 28 percent of those who said they “never” attend said the same.

Apparently, money brings happiness and religion brings happiness. Maybe wealthy people with strong religious beliefs are the happiest of them all.

We can hit 7% GDP growth again Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

T

he final report on the economy’s performance this year will not come out until early 2016, but the government has already conceded that growth in terms of GDP would not reach 7 percent, the low end of the growth target for 2015.

For 2016 I see an upside, as long as the government continues to ramp up spending. GDP grew by 6 percent in the third quarter, up from 5.8 percent in the second quarter, partly because of an increase in government consumption by 17.4 percent in the third quarter, compared to 3.9 percent in the second quarter and 4.8 percent in the first quarter.

The government, according to the Department of Budget and Management, spent P92.6 billion on infrastructure and other capital outlays in the third quarter, up 57.6 percent from P58.8 billion a year ago.

For 2016 the Department of Public Works and Highways will receive a total of P357 billion for infrastructure projects.

In addition to remittances and the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which have been the traditional growth drivers for our consumption-based economy, spending for the national and local elections in May is also expected to contribute significantly to GDP growth, particularly in the first

semester of 2016.

Based on these factors, I am confident that we could hit 7 percent in GDP growth in the first half of 2016.

The challenge will be to sustain the expected high growth in the first quarter. If the new president hits the ground running, the performance in the first half could continue in the second half.

I recall that in 2010, the last time we held national and local elections, the first-half GDP growth was high, but it slowed down in the second half. GDP grew by 7.3 percent in the first quarter and 7.9 percent in the second quarter, but slowed down to 6.5 percent in the third quarter before recovering to 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

Still, the 7.6-percent GDP growth for 2010 remains a record to this day.

In 2011 GDP growth dropped to 3.7 percent, mainly because of government under-spending, and recovered to 6.6 percent in 2012 and 7.2 percent in 2013, but slowed down again to 6.1 percent in 2014.

The Philippines has survived global crises because of a strong

domestic market, but economic performance in 2016 must also be taken in the context of what’s happening outside. It’s more like adjusting to external developments because China is slowing down and the United States is strengthening.

The World Bank does not see a significant impact of the slowdown in China on the Philippine economy. Philippine exports to China are likely to decline not because of the slowdown in the Chinese economy, but because “external demand contributes little to Philippine economic growth, a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy is unlikely to have a drastic effect on growth.”

On the other hand, the World Bank notes that faster growth in high-income countries, like the US, could increase Philippine electronic exports to China, which serves as the assembly hub for electronics.

Electronic products rank No. 1 among the country’s merchandise exports, with sales amounting to $2.39 billion in October, or 52 percent of total exports of $4.59 billion for the month.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. also believes the slowdown in China would have no significant direct impact on the Philippine economy. According to Tetangco, the Philippines is not among the countries listed in a study

by Euromonitor International that will be affected by a hard landing of the Chinese economy.

However, some of the countries at risk are also the major trading partners of the Philippines, like Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, so the

country may eventually absorb an indirect impact from the slowdown in China. Tetangco cites tourism and remittances as the two areas that may be affected by the weak Chinese economy.

China is also not among the major foreign investors in the Philippines.

Based on total approved foreign investments for the first semester of 2015, as compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Netherlands ranked first, with total approved investments of P18.09 billion, or 31.2 percent of total approved investments. Japan ranked second with total approved investments of P11.18 billion, or 19.3-percent share; followed by Singapore with P9.99 billion (17.2 percent); South Korea with P6.84 billion (11.8 percent); and the US with P3.58 billion (6.2 percent).

Total approved investments from China during the first half of 2015 amounted to P541.3 million, or 0.9 percent of total approved foreign investments during the period.

Overall, the odds are in favor of the Philippines with its robust domestic economy, adequate financial resources to support ramped-up public spending, tame inflation, steady remittances and continuing expansion of the BPO industry and, for this year, election spending.

We are poised to go back to the 7-percent GDP growth track, or higher.

Happy New Year!

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visit www. mannyvillar.com.ph.

Democrats see chance to reclaim Senate majority

I

By Albert R. Hunt | Bloomberg View

N 2014, Democrats, the majority party in the Senate, had to defend most of the seats up for election, more than a few in unfriendly territory. That year, Republicans took back control of the chamber, picking up nine seats.

Democrats are counting on a similar scenario unfolding to their advantage next year: Republicans currently have a 54-46 advantage, but of the 34 seats up in 2016, only 10 are held by Democrats.

Any outcome depends on unpredictable events over the next 10 months: the presidential race, whether the stronger candidate wins selective primaries; the effectiveness of some challengers; and changing economic or national security issues. With that critical caveat, Democrats say there’s at least an even chance they will score a net gain of four or five seats. Republicans acknowledge they may lose a couple seats, but believe they will maintain control. This is almost a mirror reflection of the analysis two years ago.

The stakes, while not as high as in the presidential race, are considerable. A new president’s task is made easier when his or

her party controls the Senate. (Because of redistricting and population patterns, the odds overwhelmingly favor Republicans retaining their majority in the House, even if Democrats should decisively win the presidency. David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, the most respected nonpartisan analyst of House elections, estimates that Democrats would have to win the overall House vote by about 7 percentage points to pick up the 30 seats necessary for a majority.)

And passage of significant legislation in the Senate usually requires the 60 votes to stop a filibuster by the opposition. But there are important exceptions.

Republicans protested bitterly in the previous Congress when Democrats unilaterally changed the rules to allow action on judicial nominations, except those to the Supreme Court, with a simple

majority vote. But given the opportunity, Republicans didn’t reverse that decision this year. Also, there are limited circumstances, under a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation, when carefully prescribed legislation can be enacted with a simple majority vote.

Moreover, the majority gets to set the schedule, and often the agenda, deciding what legislation to take up and which investigations and inquiries to open.

Last year Democrats had to defend seats in Republican states such as Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina and Alaska; they lost all of those races. This time, half of the seats are in states carried

by President Barack Obama, and some of the most competitive are in solidly blue states. At the moment, Democrats are favored to topple Republican incumbents in two of those states, Illinois and Wisconsin. The only Democratic-held seat that is competitive, as of today, is Nevada, where Minority Leader Harry Reid is retiring. Both sides suffered recruiting failures. The Democrats haven’t found a good candidate in North Carolina, while Republicans, so far, have struck out in Colorado and Washington.

The outcome of primaries could shape several contests. Democrats believe that, if their preferred candidates emerge in Pennsylvania and Florida, they have a good chance of taking Republicanheld seats. And if Senator John McCain gets roughed up by a right-wing challenger in Arizona, that general election could become competitive. The marquee race may be New Hampshire, where Kelly Ayotte, the incumbent Republican senator and former state attorney general, faces the two-term Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan. That means Granite Staters won’t be ignored by the rest of the country after the February 9 presidential primary.

In the fall, the presidential race, with so many independent-minded ticket splitters, may have only minimal impact. There is broad agreement that, if a Republican wins the presidency, there is almost no way the Democrats could take back the Senate. Conversely, if a Democratic candidate scores a double-digit win, there’s little chance Republicans could hold their majority.

There is no consensus, however, that either of those will occur.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

An end to ‘carmageddon’?

Stocks: The most dangerous game

Ernesto M. Hilario

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

A

merican author Richard Connell wrote a short story in 1924 that has become famous, the inspiration for movies such as Predator and The Hunger Games. A group of friends in 1981 invented the game of Paintball using the concept in Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.”

This story should be required reading for stock-market traders and investors.

Sanger Rainsford is an experienced big-game hunter who sails to Brazil.

One night he hears a commotion on a nearby island and climbs the ships’ railing to get a better view and falls overboard. Unable to return to the ship, he swims to the island and is picked up by its owner—another game hunter General Zaroff.

Zaroff has tired of the sport and now captures shipwrecked sailors to hunt. Given food, a knife, proper clothing and a three-hour head start, Zaroff chases them to the death.

Rainsford, with his expertise, will be Zaroff’s greatest hunt.

Stock-market investors, experienced or novice, are almost genetically programmed to seek expert advice.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage is interested in gaining knowledge to combine with investing experience and to gain stock-market wisdom.

Many are looking for one line strategies—as from investment “wizards” like Warren Buffett—without understating the full concept or context.

These people believe that 50 years of experience can easily be reduced to a few words and will make them rich.

However, most investors are simply looking for “hot tips”. Of course, no one calls this advice “tips” because that would take away the credibility. This advice is always “information” that then leads to an “analysis”. There is always an element of some sort of privileged information that the investor would obviously not have access to, otherwise—if it were public knowledge—why would you need an “expert”?

Stockbroker research is entirely different and is legitimate even if biased at times. A stockbroker issues research to help clients make profits so that they will encourage others to open accounts. Further, stockbroker research—while definitely biased to the “buy” side—is ready to turn negative if it is in the best interest of the client. Another important clue when assessing the legitimacy of an expert is if excuses are made when a “buy” issue fails to perform. You will never hear excuses from a credible stockbroker. An earnings estimate may be missed. But the reasons are clearly spelled out and a reassessment of the recommendation is given.

Experts will give investors reasons for why the bad news should be ignored. The expert has information that would cancel out any negative public news or developments. From

an analysis by Scott Arends at marketwatch.com: “Stocks that were recommended most highly at the start of 2015 by the highly trained, highly educated, highly paid experts on Wall Street did worse this year than a bunch of stocks picked at random.”

“The 10 stocks that Wall Street analysts rated most highly last January collectively lost 7 percent this year, even including dividends.” You will love this next sentence: “Meanwhile, the 10 stocks those analysts rated worst have actually gained 3 percent beating the S&P 500. Back in January, 12 analysts told you to buy the stock of power company NRG and one rated it a ‘hold.’ None, not one, told you to sell it while you could. The shares are down 57 percent for the year so far— including dividends.”

Doesn’t that contrad ict my thoughts that you can trust stockbrokers’ research? It does not because the overwhelmingly majority of the “Wall Street analysts” are from investment-management companies, not from stockbrokers. Further, the genuine stockbrokers cut losing positions while the “investment managers” were still pushing the stock to help their own portfolios. That may be cynical but it is true.

Rainsford fights with all his wisdom and defeats Zaroff. But the vast majority of investors and traders are not Rainsford and “The Most Dangerous Game” is a story, not real life.

In real life, there are two types of Zaroffs. The first owns the stock long before you are given the analysis. He or she will support the price and encourage you to buy until the bad news eventually overwhelms the price. While you are trying to figure out what to do, “Zaroff” has long ago liquidated positions. And price declines are always temporary.

The second type always speaks in riddles. “The price will go up unless it goes down.” And there is always a strategy to deal with falling prices.

Defeat—as in taking a loss—is not an option. Otherwise, book and seminar sales won’t be good the next time.

Any advice you hear must be questioned with, “What am I learning so that eventually I won’t need an expert’s advice?”

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

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

Resources for the Blind: A word to friends

W

e have become so accustomed to officials, public and private, pushing for their self interest that we are incredulous when faced with people or organizations working for the betterment of their fellow human beings, especially the disadvantaged ones. This is the case of the Resources for the Blind Inc. (RBI), a private sector nonprofit agency dedicated to the assistance of the visually impaired— more commonly called the blind—and their restoration to normal life.

Brought to the Philippines in 1988 by the American missionary Dr. Arthur Lown, managed by his successor Randy Weisser until recently when it was taken over by Nestor Custodio as executive director, the RBI provides a wide range of services to persons with visual impairment including preparing blind children for normal schooling, training teachers for the blind, preparation of textbooks

in Braille, teaching reading in Braille, preparation of the visually impaired for employment, and related services.

Supported with contributions from sympathizers in the United States, it welcomes assistance from kindred spirits in the Philippines. A friend of RBI recently sent the BusinessMirror the following message: “To all our friends who gave gladly to the Resources for the Blind Inc., thank you. 2016 will be a better year. God bless Boots Anson Rodrigo, Jullie Yap Daza, Gon Jurado, Bernie Ople, Johnny Gatbonton, Tessa Mauricio Arriola, Benny Leguesma and Fred de la Rosa. Salamuch.”

Friends of the BusinessMirror will want to extend a helping hand to this extraordinarily worthy cause. RBI is in Cubao, Quezon City. Its contact person is Baby Padasas. RBI’s telephones are 726-3021 to 24 and its e-mail address is info@blind.org.ph.

ABOUT TOWN

O

ne of the main reasons the Philippines has been getting far less foreign direct investments compared to our Asean neighbors is our poor infrastructure. It’s a welcome development, therefore, that the Aquino administration is ramping up investments in infrastructure, particularly road networks and transportation facilities, through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program. This will, no doubt, benefit motorists and commuters as more and better roads and mass transport will ease horrible traffic congestion, especially in Metro Manila.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, led by President Aquino, approved three PPP projects on transportation during its last meeting this month.

These are Lines 4 and 6 of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Swiss Challenge for the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway (Nlex-Slex) connector road.

The P42.89-billion LRT Line 4 is an 11-kilometer railway from the corner of Edsa and Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City to SM City in Taytay City, Rizal; while the P65.09-billion LRT 6 is a 19-km line from Dasmariñas City to Niyog in Bacoor, Cavite.

The P23.2-billion Nlex-Slex connector road will be an 8-km, fourlane toll road that would link Nlex in Balintawak, Quezon City, and Slex in Makati City, using the existing Philippine National Railway alignment as its elevated route. This connector road will run parallel to the 14.82-km Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project of San Miguel Corp. and Citra Metro Manila Tollway Corp. This connector road will undergo a Swiss Challenge, or competitive bidding.

The Toll Regulatory Board has also approved the construction of the first phase of the P9-billion Circumferential 5 (C-5) Link Expressway of the Cavite Expressway (Cavitex). A project of the Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC), the C-5 Link Expressway will initially connect C-5 Road in Taguig City to Moonwalk and Merville subdivisions in Sucat, Parañaque City, and later with Cavitex.

Another road-infrastructure project is the upgrading of the existing 24.61-km Plaridel Bypass Toll Road in Bulacan to expressway standards. Aside from this, the government is also putting up for bidding the Central Luzon Expressway (Clex). Its first phase involves the construction of a P14.9-billion, 30.7-km toll road connecting Tarlac

and Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, which will be funded by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The second phase, a P14.2-billion, 35.7-km thoroughfare, will connect the cities of Cabanatuan and San Jose in Nueva Ecija.

Two other road projects—CIC’s C-5 Link Expressway and Manila North Tollways Corp.’s Nlex-Slex connector road—are crucial as they would ease Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic and facilitate seamless travel across Mega Manila, which is expected to expand as far north as Angeles City, Pampanga, to Lucena City, Quezon, in the south and to Batangas City in the west.

The C-5 Link Expressway will cover the C-5 crossing Slex and will pass Merville beside Nino Aquino International Airport before connecting to Cavitex. Once completed, the expressway will decongest traffic in Parañaque City, especially for the residents of Merville, Moonwalk and Multinational villages.

C-5 Link will also serve motorists in the Cavite, Las Piñas, Taguig and Makati areas.

The Nlex-Slex connector road was originally scheduled for completion before the end of the Aquino administration on June 30 next year. But because of a revised timeline, the full opening of the connector road will take place only in 2019 or 2020.

The Nlex-Slex connector road is envisioned to reduce travel time from Nlex to Slex to only 15 to 20 minutes. It will also improve transport logistics due to more efficient movement of cargoes, roll-on, rolloff vessels, and passengers in and out of Manila ports, and encourage businesses to take their cargoes to the alternative ports in Batangas City and Subic Freeport in Zambales.

Moreover, this will facilitate connectivity between international airports and seaports, such as Subic

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Freeport via the Nlex-Subic–Clark– Tarlac Expressway route, the Batangas Port via Slex, and Clark International Airport to Naia.

In other words, this road project is crucial as it would improve linkages between the key growth areas of Metro Manila, Central Luzon, North Luzon and the Clark-Subic corridor.

Besides this, the Nlex-Slex connector road would decongest Edsa, C-5 and other thoroughfares in Metro Manila, as heavy vehicles traveling to and from Manila’s Port Area would no longer use them.

Who just landed in the “Magic 12”?

From the looks of it, the senatorial race is going to be a tight one, with reelectionists and former senators likely to make it to the “Magic 12” next year.

Based on recent surveys, voters prefer those they are familiar with. If name recall is what matters rather than qualifications and performance, then that speaks volumes about the level of political maturity of the Filipino voter.

The latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from December 4 to 11 shows 13 candidates likely to win a seat in the Senate, that is, if the polls were held during that period.

The polling firm said only 13 of the 89 candidates for senator have a statistical chance of winning if the May 2016 elections coincided with the conduct of their survey. All of the probable winners are either current or former members of the Upper Chamber, with former Justice Secretary Leila M. de Lima the only outsider.

Of the 12 possible winners, Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City posted the highest jump with a 36-percent conversion (voting for) from his previous showing of 22-percent conversion from the September Pulse Asia survey, or a significant increase of 14 percentage points.

Gatchalian’s awareness rating also jumped to 83 percent although analysts assert that for a senatorial candidate to make it, his awareness rating should be in the 90s while his conversion rate should be in the 40s.

Gatchalian’s 14-percentage-point increase is significant and shows that his core message of education as the key to a brighter future and betterpaying jobs resonates with voters.

The young lawmaker can boast of accomplishments in providing accessible education to public-school students in Valenzuela City. Television and radio ads aired since November also featured testimonials

from people from various walks of life extolling his character and competence as a public official.

Sen. Grace Poe has recognized Gatchalian’s track record in public office, particularly his feeding program for public elementary school students, which he began in his first term as mayor of Valenzuela City.

Both lawmakers have filed bills seeking to put in place feeding programs in all public elementary schools nationwide to address the problem of malnutrition that adversely affects the academic performance of students.

Gatchalian is one of the two senatorial candidates of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, which is among the major political parties in the country as its roster includes at least two senators, 40 congressmen, 14 governors and 22 city mayors.

Gatchalian’s legislative performance in the House of Representatives is noteworthy. He is the author of House Bill (HB) 5905, or the Free Higher Education Act, which was recently approved by the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education. This bill seeks to fully subsidize the tuition in all state universities and colleges (SUCs) for any undergraduate and certificate course. The proposed measure will benefit an estimated 2 million students who will go on to college in over 100 SUCs throughout the country.

The lawmaker also wants to raise the salaries of public-school teachers through HB 5731. This will augment the compensation of teaching and nonteaching staff in basic education from salary grade 11 to 18 and salary grade 1 to 9, respectively.

Recognizing the serious problem of traffic congestion in Metro Manila, Gatchalian has filed HB 5098, or the “Proof of Parking Space Act,” which would require buyers of brand-new cars, whether individuals or firms, to execute an affidavit indicating the availability of an existing parking space for the vehicle to be bought.

Gatchalian is also coauthor of HB 5231, or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act, which seeks to deter crimes committed through mobile phones, including text scams, by making it mandatory to register all prepaid SIM cards. The bill was approved by the House on third reading in May, while its Senate counterpart is still being deliberated upon at the committee level.

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.

Terrorists with assault weapons rewrite the script

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By Noah Feldman | Bloomberg View

ver the last 15 years, Americans have become accustomed to distinguishing domestic mass shootings from Islamic terrorism—the difference between Columbine and the September 11 attacks, if you will. In 2015 that conceptual division broke down with the massacre in San Bernardino, California. It wasn’t the first domestic act of terrorism inspired by Islam—Army Major Nidal Hasan’s attack on Fort Hood and the Boston Marathon bombing both featured American Muslim terrorists. But San Bernardino was the first time the two paradigms were literally indistinguishable. It’s as if the terrorists finally said, “Who needs airplanes when assault weapons are readily available?”

Why does the 2015 breakdown of the Columbine-9/11 distinction matter? The answer has everything to do with whether Americans ultimately decide to accept or reject the contemporary realities of terrorism. Until now, the responses to the two kinds of attacks have diverged radically.

The national reaction to Columbinestyle shooting attacks has become highly stylized and predictable: We cry, liberals call for tougher gun laws and nothing happens. The shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, is the perfect exemplar, as gun critics insisted that the death of so many young children would surely drive change, and gunrights supporters said that if anything, the tragedy showed the need for more guns. President Barack Obama has gone from showing genuine outrage about congressional inaction in the aftermath of Newtown to something that looks

much more like saddened resignation in the wake of San Bernardino.

In contrast, Americans’ typical response to Islamic terrorism is to call for action—and the government typically responds. The September 11 attacks brought a host of air-safety reforms, not to mention the Afghanistan war.

The US has doubled down on bombing Islamic State when attacks are traceable to that organization. Intelligence agencies scrutinize Muslim Americans, with a focus that may be misplaced but reflects an unwillingness to treat Islamic terrorism as a new normal.

The San Bernardino attack may mark the inflection point where the Columbine response and the 9/11 response go head to head. Terrorists are, it turns out, just as able to buy and use assault weapons as other shooters. If Americans were to follow the 9/11

paradigm, this would mean regulating gun sales to try to avoid repetition.

And that regulation would logically target all purchasers, not just those on the spotty and incomplete no-fly list. The involvement of Enrique Marquez, the friend and neighbor of Syed Rizwan Farook who, police say, helped plan and prepare the San Bernardino attack, shows that it wouldn’t be effective to scrutinize Muslims’ gun purchases, even if it were constitutional, which it isn’t. But the National Rifle Association shows no inclination to soften its stance on assault weapons, notwithstanding the 9/11 paradigm.

And given the political economy of the gun-rights movement, it seems unlikely that San Bernardino would give gun reformers leverage that they failed to achieve even after Newtown.

That leaves the other alternative: applying the Columbine paradigm to domestic Islamic terror. What, after all, can be done to discourage assault-weapon attacks by domestic Muslim terrorists if nothing can be done to prevent them from acquiring the weapons? The answer is the same as the Columbine answer: nothing can be done, so Americans accept the attacks as normal.

Until 2015 most Americans—and I include myself—didn’t realize that gun attacks occur on average once per day. That statistic is striking not because it means we’re in constant fear,

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but precisely because we aren’t. Columbine attacks are our new normal—why shouldn’t Islamic terror attacks be part of the same normality?

Before you say that this notion is intolerable, pause to consider that other Western countries have managed to normalize terrorism. Britain suffered IRA attacks for years, and the normalization robbed them to an extent of their leverage. Israel has institutionalized its own responses to terrorism, for better or worse. Israelis can’t tolerate huge attacks regularly, but they mostly accept some baseline level of terror as part of the price of remaining in the West Bank.

There’s nothing appealing about these examples—but they exist, and there’s no reason the US should be exempt from them. Perhaps we will simply begin to fear Islamic terrorism less, at the level at which we fear random mass shootings. If so, 2015 will have marked the turning point. We’ll be a little less safe, but also perhaps a little less likely to invade or bomb others in response to events at home.

According to some reports, the San Bernardino attackers were inspired by an al-Qaeda propagandist, the American Anwar al-Awlaki. But you know what? The US already killed Awlaki in a drone strike in 2011. What are we going to do, kill him again? Welcome to the new normal, where mass shootings and terrorist attacks aren’t so different after all.

News

BusinessMirror

A6 Tuesday, December 29, 2015 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Abu Sayyaf bandits kill 2 Marines, wound another

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By Rene Acosta

BU Sayyaf bandits on Monday attacked a Marines headquarters in Sulu, killing two and wounding another, a local military spokesman said.

The Abu Sayyaf attack on a major government outpost was the second in the province in less than two weeks.

Just before Christmas, bandits attacked a local Army headquarters, wounding four soldiers.

Military operations against bandits and other lawless groups in Mindanao are currently being conducted upon the orders of President Aquino, who wanted to end the reign of criminality by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Maj. Filemon Tan, spokesman for the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said Abu Sayyaf bandits attacked the headquarters of the 22nd Marine Company at sitio Palan, Barangay Mampallam, Talipao, Sulu, at around 2 a.m. on Monday.

As a result, two Marines were killed, while another was wounded.

Tan said the Marines returned fire and believed that the attackers incurred casualties.

The incident was the latest in Sulu, where composite military forces under the Joint Task Group

Sulu were conducting intensified operations against the ASG. Aquino had earlier ordered the Armed Forces to intensify its campaign against terrorists in Mindanao, following the bandits’ beheading of its Malaysian kidnap victim Bernard Then in Sulu.

Then’s beheading was carried out by the bandits, while the country was hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit last month, which was also attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

While government troops are running after the Abu Sayyaf bandits, they attacked the headquarters of the Army 32nd Infantry Battalion on December 16, triggering a firefight where four soldiers were wounded.

The attack was carried out by more than 150 followers of Radullan Sahiron, the Abu Sayyaf leader, who is holed out in the province in Sulu.

Sahiron’s men were backed by the group of ASG subcommander Tistah Hussien.

Poe turns to Supreme Court for relief

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EN. Grace Poe on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse the ruling of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) canceling her certificate of candidacy for president.

The petition for certiorari with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the poll body’s ruling was filed by Poe’s lawyer, George Garcia.

“The Supreme Court has the sole authority to decide on questions of qualification, and to uphold with finality the people’s right to choose the nation’s leader,” Poe said.

“I am optimistic that the High Court, or Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, herself, will not only act expeditiously, but positively on the case to grant the temporary restraining order we are seeking,” she added.

The SC is on recess until January 10, but its rules allow the Chief Justice to act on urgent cases without holding a session of the justices.

The issuance of any TRO or status quo ante or-

der must be upheld by the majority of the justice when the SC resumes sessions.

“I am putting my fate in the hands of the Supreme Court. I remain confident that the justices will protect the rights of foundlings like me to run for public office. I enjoin the public to keep a keen eye on the proceedings and the decision on the case,” Poe said.

“My lawyers have put forward strong evidence, relevant court discussions and principles, and jurisprudence that would show that I am a natural born Filipino with at least 10 years residency in the Philippines,” she added.

On December 23 the Comelec en banc granted the four petitions seeking to disqualify Poe from the presidential race. The poll body gave Poe’s camp five days to seek relief from the SC. Poe’s name will remain in the ballot, according to the Comelec, as the disqualification process has not run its full course. Recto Mercene

A vendor displays pyrotechnic materials in a makeshift stand at the Santiago City Central Terminal in Isabela. The last week of the year is the most lucrative time to sell pyrotechnics.

Health and local government authorities have issued warning against the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices during the holidays to prevent death and injuries during the New Year revelry. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Lawmaker seeks tougher law to regulate use of firecrackers

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LAWMAKER said on Monday that tougher laws against the use of firecrackers, and not incentive to local governments, will curb the number of firecracker-related injuries.

Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela, in a statement, scored the Department of Health (DOH) for transforming the campaign against firecrackers as a contest among local governments by giving incentives to the city that record no revelry-related injuries in welcoming the New Year.

“The DOH proposal is not the solution. The health department is just wasting its money. Strict regulation is the solution,” Gatchalian said.

Health Secretary Janet Garin

earlier said the DOH was looking at giving monetary rewards to local governments with zero casualties during the New Year’s merrymaking with the aim of pushing localities to scale up the campaign against the sale and use of firecrackers.

“That there are still reported injuries due to firecrackers only show that we need to strengthen the current law on the sale and use of firecrackers. We need to amend the law to protect the children who are most vulnerable as they do not fully understand the dangers of firecrackers,” Gatchalian added.

Gatchalian has filed House Bill 4434, or the proposed Firecracker Regulation Act, amid calls by the DOH to strictly en-

CDC policemen fatally shoot rookie cop at mall parking lot

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT—It was a scene out of an action movie, but this time it was real.

As people were rushing for lastminute Christmas shopping at a mall here at around 3:35 p.m. on Christmas Eve, several gunshots were heard coming from the mall parking lot just outside the main entrance to this free port.

The shots panicked shoppers who ran away from the commotion as the mall went into lockdown. Aaron Montenegro, the mall manager, said the tense situation lasted only for a few minutes before everything went back to normal.

However, at the mall parking lot which was cordoned off, a man lied mortally wounded on the pavement. An ambulance from the Clark Development Corp., rushed him to the Ospital Ning Angeles where he succumbed to his injuries some two hours later as declared by attending physician Juan Paolo C. Maturan.

The fatality was identified as Police Officer 1 Jomar Batul, 28, who is assigned to the National Police Public safety Battalion in Oriental Mindoro.

Batul sustained several gunshot wounds in different parts the body.

The autopsy report is yet to be released as of press time on Monday.

Chief Insp. Dederick Relativo, Angeles City Police Station 4 commander,

said the CDC police Special Reaction Unit was conducting a hot pursuit operation on a man who allegedly poked a gun at a motorcycle rider at the parking lot of of a restaurant at the Bertaphil area here.

The man, who turned out to be Batul, left the motorcycle after failing to start it and reportedly crossed the street where he commandeered a passing L-300 van of Murakeni Catering Services. He allegedly poked a gun at its driver identified only as Michael.

Jake Machinal, Area 1 commander of the CDC Public Safety Department, said he was at the main gate of this freeport when he heard over the radio a “Bolo” (be on the lookout) alert on a white L-300 van and the description of the driver.

A security guard assigned to the main gate, Wilson Laza, said he, too, was able to monitor the Bolo alert over his radio.

Machinal said he even wrote down the description of the L-300 van on the palm of his hand as he tried to coordinate a blocking force at the main gate. “Nakatayo lahat kami sa gate, nakaharang [We were all standing at the gate, blocking the road],” he said.

Senior Police Officer 4 Romeo Amarillo, chief investigator of the city police Station 4, asked Machinal what happened next.

“Bago mag-main gate iniwan niya ang sasakyan at naglakad siya…nakatayo lahat kami sa gate…tapos tinitingnan namin sa malayo direderetso mag-isa naglalakad [Before reaching the main

gate he left his vehicle then he walked we were all standing at the gate…then we observed at him from afar while he was walking all alone],” Machinal said.

Machinal added that when Batul passed him at the main gate, he tried to ran after him with his patrol motorcycle. “Hinabol ko ng patrol nilampasan ko siya kasi magpapatulong sana ako sa [police] Station 4 pero nakita ko sa side mirror wala na siya nag-short cut siya dito [pointing to the mall’s parking area].”

Did you go back? Amarillo asked.

“Hindi hinarang ko doon iyong patrol [motorcycle]…tumakbo ako dito [No I blocked the road with my patrol vehicle and ran over here],” Machinal said.

Amarillo asked him if he was alone. Hindi may kasama akong guwardya [No I was with a CDC guard,” he replied as he pointed to the person next to him (Laza).

“Dalawa kaming tumakbo pumunta ako dito baka pumasok siya sa mall. Tinawag ko ang mga guwardya nag usap-usap kami patulong kami baka ganito… [The two of us ran over here because he might enter the mall. I called the mall security guards and we talked and I asked for their help…],” Machinal said.

“The SM guard said ‘he is not here.’ But as I tried to go I saw him [Batul] walking at the parking lot,” Machinal said.

“I went back I told the guards that’s him…please help,” Machinal said. The guards he said blew their whistles, but Batul did ot stop, he said.

force the law against the sale of “piccolo,” the leading cause of injuries linked to firecrackers.

Of the 860 firecracker-related injuries recorded nationwide last year, 32 percent were caused by piccolo, which is already banned by the government but are still being sold in the market, with children among the buyers, the lawmaker said.

Zero casualty

NATIONALIST People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela urged the public to abide by the government’s “Iwas Paputok” campaign in welcoming 2016 by using safe merrymaking instruments and alternative noise-makers.

“Even if the use of firecrackers has been a traditional part of the

“I took a short cut to meet him… binira ako ng isang putok, gumanon ako [he fired a shot at me, I ducked],” he said.

“Binaril ko na siya pagputok niya gumanti ako [I fired back when he shot me],” he added.

CDC-PSD Manager and Vice President for Security Services Ricardo C. Banayat said he was able to catch up with the exchange of gunfire with Batul.

“Inabutan ko noong nag—puputukan pa sila…mabuti nalang praktisado ako [I arrived when they were firing… it’s a good thing I’m a good shot],” Banayat said.

But when asked if he hit the suspect, Banayat said: “Hindi e, hindi ako nakatama [No I did not hit him].”

When asked who hit Batul, no one claimed responsibility.

“Iyon ang hindi ko alam sir kung sino nakatama [That’s what I don’t know sir…who hit him],” Machinal answered.

“Kasi maraming putok sir may nakadapa dito na mall guards, tapos may kasama ako na isa ’di ko alam kung gumanti ng putok [Because there was a lot of gunfire sir the guards were lying on their stomach and I also have a companions that…I don’t know if he also fired back]” he clarified.

The mall’s regional security chief, Leroy Barion, denied that mall guards hit Batul, saying that the guards guarding the perimeter area of the mall are armed with shotguns and caliber .38 caliber revolvers only.

New Year’s Eve celebration, this is proven to be dangerous as it leads to injuries. Every year we see firecracker users being blinded, losing body parts, or suffering other injuries. It’s about time we go for alternative ways of welcoming the New Year by using other noisemakers, such as trumpets and street-dancing with loud music, or setting up fireworks displays,” Albano, member for the Minority Bloc of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety, said.

“Let us all do our share to help the government achieve its advocacy to minimize the morbidity and mortality from fireworks and firecrackers as well as injuries; and aim for zero casualty,” Albano said.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Manila mountaineers injured in Pinatubo trek

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ORAC, Pampanga—Three mountaineers from Manila, who are part of a group of 29 hikers, suffered minor injuries during the eight-hour trek down the slopes of Mount Pinatubo over the weekend.

As of press time, rescue operations that started at 4 a.m.

Monday are still ongoing on the Sapang Uwak Trail in this western Pampanga town.

The rescue operations are led by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the local police.

Porac Councilor Marc Valencia said a local mountaineering enthusiast, Jerry Guiao, was the guide of the group to Mount Pinatubo using the Pasig Potrero River bed said the jump off area.

Valencia said the group pf mountaineers secured their permits to climb Pinatubo from officials of barangays Sapang Uwak and Inararo and sitio Bitbit.

He said the group went up on Saturday morning from Delta 5 through the said riverbed and spent overnight on Mount Pinatubo.

The following morning the group was supposed to proceed to Barangay Sapang Uwak where they were to conduct an outreach project with a gift giving activity to Ayta communities.

But Valencia said portions of the route were eroded and the cold temperature and the rough terrain proved too much for three mountaineers, who suffered sprains.

The erosion blocked their path and they had to be rescued, he said.

Valencia added that the group never made it to Sapang Uwak and remained trapped on the riverbed where they are being rescued as of press time.

Valencia said no other injuries were reported by the group.

Valencia added that because of the danger, the Office of the Mayor has refused to issue permits to climb Mount Pinatubo.

Ashley Manabat

Sports BusinessMirror

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

KOBE: FOR THE FANS

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Westbrook lifts Oklahoma City

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KOBE BRYANT tries to shake off Memphis’s Tony Allen. AP

Bigger than another onesided box score, Bryant’s sore right knee almost kept him out of the game, he revealed afterward. It had bothered him the previous couple of days.

By Mike Bresnahan

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Los Angeles Times

EMPHIS, Tennessee—These are the unusual games in Kobe Bryant’s final season. The crowd is polite, not roaring. Both teams are underachievers. Bryant will play again in the city before retiring, decreasing the in-game buzz.

There’s always that one familiar part, though. The Los Angeles Lakers lose.

The Memphis Grizzlies got in touch with their long-lost offense and bolted past the Lakers, 112-96, on Sunday evening at FedEx Forum.

Bigger than another one-sided box score, Bryant’s sore right knee almost kept him out of the game, he revealed afterward. It had bothered him the previous couple of days.

He changed his mind about sitting out after walking through a boisterous lobby filled with pro-Bryant fans at the team hotel.

“Honestly, I wasn’t going to play but I got on the bus and all the fans...I felt really, really awful if I couldn’t muster up enough that I could play,” he said.

Bryant had 19 points and three assists. He then said he would play on Monday in Charlotte because it’s his last trip there.

The Hornets will happily welcome Bryant and, really, the Lakers, who proved to be yet another feast for an opponent’s weak appetite.

The Grizzlies (17-16) were having major trouble on offense, sitting 29th out of 30 NBA teams before tipoff. They had 32 points in the first quarter, 59 by halftime and easily blew by the 96 they were averaging.

There were more unsurprising stats. Revolting, for Lakers followers, but no longer unexpected.

This was the sixth straight game in which the Lakers (526) trailed by at least 20. It was the seventh time this season they never led.

The Grizzlies were shooting 60 percent halfway through the third quarter, building a large lead with team basketball—20 assists on their first 31 baskets. (The Lakers, lulled into isolations and poor shot selection, had assists on eight of their first 21 baskets.)

More repetitiveness: Power forward Julius Randle had 13 rebounds but missed more than half his shots for a fifth consecutive game. He had nine points.

The new development on the Lakers’ side was Larry Nance Jr.: 17 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes.

“I like the way he’s been developing,” Bryant said. “He’s working on his game and his shot quite a bit. You saw [Sunday], he trusts it.”

There was a lighter moment when Grizzlies swingman Vince Carter checked into the game in the first quarter.

Bryant approached him while they jogged downcourt, and they high-fived and started laughing after a brief talk, presumably about their age.

Bryant later reiterated past comments that Grizzlies forward Tony Allen was the best defender he ever faced.

“No question about it,” Bryant said. “He does his homework. He’s old school. He’ll watch film. He’ll know where you want to go before you go there.”

Mike Conley had 19 points and five assists for Memphis, which had underperformed so far after hitting the 50-victory mark the previous three seasons. Yet, the Grizzlies beat the Lakers a seventh consecutive time, their longest streak against them since joining the National Basketball Association in 1995-1996.

GALENDEZ WINS SM KEGFEST ANEW D

IANNE GALENDEZ flashed a familiar brilliant form to capture the SM Bowling Millionaires Cup for the second consecutive year at the SM Clark in Pampanga recently.

Galendez, 21, banked the P1-million champion’s purse of the grandest bowling tournament in the country. She won P2 million and a Chevrolet Sonic last year.

Galendez, however, had to stave off Glenn Geluz’s strong challenge in winning the title. Geluz settled for second place and went home with P500,000.

Hadji Baracal collected P500,000 for topping the classified round. Noel Abad finished second and earned P250,000.

The bowling tournament highlighted the anniversary celebration of the SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc., the managing arm of the SM Bowling and Leisure Center.

This year’s event staked a total of P4 million in cash prizes and gathered more than a thousand entries.

Gracing the event’s awards ceremonies were SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. President Edgar Tejerero, Business Unit Head of the Education and Leisure Centers Ronalin Tumbaga, SM Clark Assistant Mall Manager Aaron Jeffrey Montenegro and SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. Sports Development Head CJ Suarez.

Vincent Juico @VJuico, Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS

Sports 2015 THE year 2015 was a positive year for sports. In June, the Golden State Warriors, already overflowing with talent, further cemented their place in National Basketball Association (NBA) history by fielding a line-up that, to a man, is willing to make a sacrifice—unselfishly moving the “small ball” around breaking the glass ceiling of “height is might.”

The Warriors proved that you can win a championship with jump shots and three pointers, as a product of unselfishness complemented by the all too familiar recipe of defense and rebounding.

The National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl was embroiled in “deflategate,” where the eventual champion New England Patriots allegedly used underinflated balls (which

according to most players are easier to grip and control) in the opening half of their American Football Conference Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts in January.

Fingers pointed at Patriots superstar quarterback Tom Brady. According to investigators Brady was “aware” of the incident. The NFL suspended Brady for four games which he promptly challenged in court and won. The Patriots started 10-0 before losing their first game and once again are the favorites to win it all early next year.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed-martial arts superstar Ronda Rousey, Jose Aldo and Chris Weidman will be remembered for not losing their title belts, but how they lost it. Rousey relinquished her reign as UFC women’s

DIANNE GALENDEZ displays championship form.

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Racela, Ayo named Coaches of the Year

WO coaches responsible for ending the title drought of their respective teams will share the spotlight when the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP)National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Press Corps and Smart Sports host the Collegiate Basketball Awards on January 26 at the Saisaki-Kamayan in Greenhills.

Nash Racela and Aldin Ayo will receive the Coach of the Year award after steering Far Eastern University (FEU) and Letran, respectively, to their first championship since 2005.

Racela steered the talent-laden Tamaraws against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in a thrilling finals series, while Ayo won the NCAA crown in his rookie season against the San Beda Red Lions’ bid for the NCAA’s first “six-peat” with a dramatic Game Three victory.

The awards are the first for Racela and Ayo from the press corps ,composed of sports writers from national dailies and online portals covering the collegiate basketball beat.

Ayo, who will now handle La Salle starting next season in the UAAP, is the

bantamweight champion to then undefeated challenger Holly Holm to begin her own rule as women’s bantamweight titleholder. Rousey lost the title in 14 seconds in the opening round using a strategy that miserably backfired. You do not stand up with a striker like Holm and expect to win.

Aldo loses a fight after 10 years. Aldo to defend his UFC men’s featherweight title for the first time, losing to Conor McGregor in 13 seconds of the first round to claim the championship, becoming the new featherweight champion. With the victory, McGregor of Dublin, Ireland, established the record for fastest knockout in the history of UFC title fights. Expect a slew of challengers to knock on McGregor’s door begging for a championship shot against the self-proclaimed “Master of Movement”. .After all the word war and the verbal vitriol going back and forth, the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally happened in May. The fight was a disappointment to put it mildly, it was the “running and hugging fight of the century,” many sudden armchair boxing analysts (yours truly guilty as charged) dubbed the fight the “Dud of the Century.” Mayweather resorted to running and hugging, showing all of us that the sport of boxing is both a marathon and a sprint...literally.

Pacquiao later revealed after the fight that he suffered a shoulder injury during training, which many unfairly thought was a cop out or an excuse for losing the fight. I guess we’ll never know what could’ve, should’ve and would’ve happened if Pacquiao was 100 percent.

Last but not the least is the ongoing retirement tour of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. The third all-time leading scorer

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fourth rookie coach to win the award after Ato Agustin (San Sebastian) in 2009, and Juno Sauler (De La Salle) and Boyet Fernandez (San Beda) in 2013.

The other coaches who won the award in the annual event that honors the top achievers of the UAAP and NCAA were Norman Black, Frankie Lim, Eric

Altamirano and Louie Alas.

The UAAPNCAA Press Corps will also name its Smart Player of the Year and Collegiate Mythical Five.

in National Basketball Association history announced a few weeks ago that this season, his 20th in both the league and with the Lakers, the only franchise he’s ever known through an emotional poem “Dear Basketball” on The Players’Tribune web site. The Lakers, as of this writing, holds the league’s second worst record at 5-23. Opposing players and coaches have referred to Bryant as “their Michael Jordan,” in reference to arguably the greatest player ever to play basketball.

Over in the local sports scene, the Far Eastern University Tamarraws win their 20th University Athletic Association of the Philippines basketball title at the expense of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers who, in the championship game, seemed to lack the intensity they displayed in Game Two of the best-of-three series.

The Azkals continue to help develop the sport of football with their thrilling exploits, even if they fail to achieve loftier heights. Credit still goes to them.

Nonito Donaire Jr. captured the World Boxing Organization super bantamweight title to prove that he still has what it takes to reclaim his spot among the world’ s best pound-for-pound fighters.

In track and field, the International Association of Athletics Federations suspends the Russian track and field team for illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, thus, denying the Russians the chance to participate in the centerpiece athletics competitions in the 2016 Rio Olympics in August.

Well folks, this all for now, for 2015 as I wish everyone a sporty, safe, prosperous and happy New Year. May we all get a fresh start in 2016 filled with second chances.

KLAHOMA City—Russell Westbrook had 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, and Oklahoma City rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit as the Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets, 122-112, on Sunday in the National Basketball Association.

Kevin Durant recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 assists for the Thunder, who have won 10 of their last 12 games but were coming off a Christmas Day loss at home to the Chicago Bulls.

Oklahoma City shot a season-best 57.8 percent from the field. The Thunder trailed as late as the 8:13 mark of the fourth quarter, before taking control with an 11-2 run that included seven of Enes Kanter’s 21 points.

Kenneth Faried had 25 points and 11 points for the Nuggets, who have lost five of their last six games. Denver has lost six straight trips to Oklahoma City.

In Boston Isaiah Thomas had a pair of key baskets and finished with 21 points, Evan Turner scored 19 and Boston won its fourth straight, 100-91, at the expense of the New York Knicks.

Jae Crowder scored 18 points, and Kelly Olynyk added 11 points and nine rebounds for Boston. Thomas added eight rebounds and six assists.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 29 points despite shooting just 11 of 26. Kristaps Porzingis had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

New York, which shot just 37.1 percent, lost its fourth straight.

The Celtics opened an 88-78 lead on Turner’s driving basket with 6:11 to play, but the Knicks cut it to 90-85 before Thomas had consecutive driving baskets to push the lead back to nine.

CJ McCollum had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead Portland over Sacramento, 98-94.

The Blazers outscored Sacramento 18-14 in the fourth quarter to claim their second straight victory. They were coming off a convincing 105-76 win on Saturday over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kings Coach George Karl was denied his 1,155th victory, which would have tied him with Phil Jackson for fifth place on the career list. AP

Raymundo, Carlos force share of lead

I

ñigo Raymundo wavered at the finish and matched partner Jobim Carlos’s two-over 70, as they settled for a 140 and a share of the lead with Aidric Chan and Ira Alido in the second round of the National Golf Association of the Philippines’s fifth National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club (CAGC) in Quezon City on Monday.

Raymundo fumbled with a bogey on an errant drive on the par-five 18th for a closing 33 and a 70, while Carlos also stumbled with a horrendous quadruple bogey on the par-three 16th marred by an errant pitch near a wall that hit a slope, the ball bouncing back and hitting him in the chin for a two-stroke penalty. Stung, he overshot the green twice before chipping in for that 7.

The pro-bound Carlos, however, birdied the last hole to salvage a 70 for that 140 in the aggregate format in the centerpiece Group I. Counting their 64 in the four-ball on Sunday, Raymundo and Carlos pooled a 204 to tie Chan and Alido, who sizzled with a solid eight-under 62 in best-ball but could only churn out a 142 in aggregate as Chan faltered with a 40 and 36 for an eight-over 76.

That nearly put to naught Alido’s fiery 66 spiked by a backside two-under 31, enabling Raymundo and Carlos, who ruled the inaugural staging of the event in 2011 with Raymundo Gonzales, to force a standoff and virtually reducing the title race into a two-team affair with one round left in the three-day championship, held under the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour and sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT and Metro Pacific Investment Corp.

Ryan Monsalve and Lanz Uy dropped five shots behind at 209 after a 146, while Jama Reyes and Tom Kim also pooled a 146 for a 211, and Justin Quiban and Miguel Shah laying another stroke behind at 212 after a 143.

Eddie Bagtas and Jolo Magcalayo also groped for form with a 145 for a 213, while last year’s champion Rupert Zaragosa fired a one-under 67 but new partner Joey Magcalayo skied with a 79 for a 146 and 214 heading to the two-ball foursome or alternate shot format in today’s final round of the National Golf Association of the Philippines’ final event in the season hosted by CAGC.

Sports BusinessMirror

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uesday, December 29, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

NOTHING PERSONAL More than three dozen Americans have played in the English Premier League (EPL), where five teams also have US owners.

Yet, the EPL has never had a USborn coach.

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By Kevin Baxter Los Angeles Times

UROPE has embraced Disneyland and the iPhone.

Its people eat at McDonald’s, download Taylor Swift and were as eager as US audiences to see the new Star Wars movie.

However, there is one import the continent has so far proved unwilling to try: the American soccer coach.

More than three dozen Americans have played in the English Premier League (EPL), where five teams also have US owners. Yet, the EPL has never had a US-born coach.

Ditto the German Bundesliga, home to four players from the last US World Cup team but to no American coaches. Nor have there been any in Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, Portugal’s Primeira Liga or the Dutch Eredivise.

Only one American has ever coached in a top-flight European league. And former US National Team Coach Bob Bradley’s stay in Norway lasted only 22 months before his contract expired last month.

But don’t take any of that personally, says Christian Seifert, chief executive of the Bundesliga. “Everyone is looking for a good coach,” he said. “So if there is a good US coach, there would be absolutely no problem from a German perspective.”

Bruce Arena, who is a good US coach, isn’t buying that. He has won five Major League Soccer (MLS) titles and a record 71 games with the US national team, yet, the only offer he received to coach in Europe came from a team in the far-off Danish Superliga nearly 10 years ago.

“You do see reluctance,” said Arena, who coaches the Los Angeles Galaxy.

“There’s a lot of obstacles ahead before Americans are considered for those positions.”

Added Bradley: “There still are some stereotypes out there.”

But that’s starting to change.

The success of the national team under Bradley and Arena, the wide audiences that MLS games are attracting in Europe, and rave reviews from Europeans returning home after playing in MLS have led to a new appreciation of US coaches. And that may soon lead to jobs.

“The names will now start to become more household names in Europe,” said Ian Joy, who played in England and Germany before becoming an analyst on Fox’s coverage of the Bundesliga. “The talent that’s coming here [is] spreading the rumor back to Europe that these people are good enough to coach there. It’s only a matter of time, trust me, before we see an American coach in the Premiership getting his opportunity.”

Four years ago Bradley thought that opportunity would go to him.

After being fired by the national team despite Team USA’s winning its group at the 2010 World Cup and compiling the second-best record in US Soccer history, Bradley said his name was mentioned nearly a dozen times regarding coaching vacancies in England.

But only one team talked with him directly. And it didn’t offer a job.

“Oftentimes what you hear is... ‘We’re looking for someone with Premiership experience,’” Bradley said. “Or if it’s Germany, ‘We’re looking for German coaches.’ As much as the game has grown in the US, when you come to Europe, it’s that experience in Europe, whether it was experience as a player or experience as a coach. Those things still count.”

So Bradley set out to gain that experience, going first to Norway, where he guided tiny Stabaek through promotion from the second division to a Europa

League berth, then on to France, where he has Le Harve within reach of promotion to Ligue 1.

But his most impressive accomplishment came just before that, when he coached Egypt through revolution and a bloody coup to within a win of its second World Cup berth in 80 years.

“I’ve been willing to take chances,” he said. “Go places where, quite frankly, most people wouldn’t go, and in different circumstances, show people what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to train a team, what it takes to develop players. And now I’m confident that I’m going to move forward and once again show people how I do things.”

Yet, while Bradley was taking chances, the people making

FC Barcelona’s Gerard Pique (right) and River Plate’s Gabriel Mercado battle for the ball during their final match at the Fifa Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan, early this month. AP

coaching decisions in Europe have chosen to play it safe, often hiring familiar names who were fired elsewhere rather than taking a chance on someone new. And the numbers show just what a closed group the European coaching fraternity has become In the English Premier League, there have been nine coaching changes since last season and each time the vacancy was filled by a manager who had previously coached in a top-flight European league. In the Bundesliga, seven of the eight coaches hired since last spring were not only experienced but German, as well. In La Liga, six of the eight new coaches were Spanish and in Serie A, where 12 of the 20 teams found new managers since last season, only two were not Italian.

If Bradley, 57, is frustrated by the apparent lack of respect, he won’t admit it. In a lengthy phone interview from Normandy, he spoke matter-of-factly about the circuitous route he has taken.

“What you do is you don’t worry about it,” he said. “If something comes your way that you’re excited about, you roll up your sleeves and you say, ‘Hey, let’s get started.’

“I’m confident the different situations I’ve been in continue to show people the way I do things. And when all is said and done, you see where it takes you.”

PEYTON MANNING angrily denies Al Jazeera report he used performanceenhancing drugs.

‘TRASH, GARBAGE!’ E

NGLEWOOD, Colorado—Peyton Manning said a report by Al Jazeera set to air on Sunday that suggests he used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) was “completely fabricated, complete trash, garbage.”

Manning angrily denied allegations to ESPN on Sunday morning he used human growth hormone (HGH) in 2011 when he missed an entire season while recovering from neck fusion surgery.

He denied ever using PEDs and blasted the report for suggesting he got drugs that were shipped to his wife, Ashley.

“I can’t speak for any other athlete. I know what I’ve done, I know how hard I’ve worked in my 18 years of playing in the NFL [National Football League]. There are no shortcuts in the NFL. I’ve done it the long way, I’ve done it the hard way. And to insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and total joke, it’s defamation and it really ticks me off,” Manning told ESPN. The Broncos and Colts also issued statements on Sunday morning in support of Manning.

“Knowing Peyton Manning and everything he stands for, the Denver Broncos support him 100 percent,” the team said. “These are false claims made to Al Jazeera, and we don’t believe the report.”

The statement added that “Peyton is rightfully outraged by the allegations, which he emphatically denied to our organization and which have been publicly renounced by the source who initially provided them.”

The Colts, whom Manning played for from 1998 to 2011, issued a statement calling the report “utterly ridiculous.”

“We are thoroughly familiar with Peyton’s tireless work habits, his medical history, and, most important, his integrity,” the Colts said.

“Peyton played the game in Indianapolis for 14 years the right way. He never took any shortcuts and it would be absurd to suggest he would have taken prohibited performance-enhancing drugs.

“We also note that the ‘source’ of this allegation has

since recanted his story.

The entire Indianapolis Colts organization and the Irsay family hope this crude effort to besmirch Peyton’s reputation will not be permitted to tarnish the legacy of a great Colt.”

Manning joined the Broncos in 2012 and had a record-setting run, going 47-15 over what he called the second chapter of his career until he tore the plantar fascia in his left foot on November 15. That was the same day he broke Brett Favre’s NFL record for most career passing yards.

He’s been sidelined ever since and his longtime backup, Brock Osweiler, will make his sixth straight start on Monday night when the Broncos (10-2) host the Bengals (11-3).

“Throughout his NFL career, particularly during his four seasons with the Broncos, Peyton has shown nothing but respect for the game,” the Broncos said. “Our organization is confident Peyton does things the right way, and we do not find this story to be credible.”

Manning said he sought holistic treatments, such as hyperbaric oxygen and nutrient therapy, at the Guyer Institute, an antiaging clinic in Indianapolis, in 2011 with knowledge and consent of the Colts training and medical staff following his four neck surgeries.

Charles Sly, a former intern at the Guyer Institute, has recanted the claim that Manning used HGH. Sly was surreptitiously recorded by Liam Collins, a British hurdler that Al Jazeera said went undercover to expose PEDs use in sports.

Sly, who also named other high-profile athletes on the secret recordings made by Collins, told Al Jazeera the statements attributed to him “are absolutely false and incorrect.” Sly also told ESPN that he fabricated the allegations to test Collins’ legitimacy.

Al Jazeera’s report claims Manning received HGH from the Indianapolis antiaging clinic in 2011, while he was still with the Colts. It said, the drug, which was later banned

by the NFL in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, was delivered to his wife so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to the shipments.

Manning told ESPN he’s never taken anything that was ever sent to his wife nor has he ever used PEDs. “Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And what hurts me the most about this is whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when I more or less had a broken neck—four neck surgeries, I don’t know, I’m sure there’s a difference in there—but I had a broken neck and I busted my butt to get healthy,” Manning said.

“I went to the Guyer Clinic, they had an hyperbaric chamber that the Colts trainers and doctors thought might be good for me. They went with me and thought it might help. I don’t know if it helped. It didn’t hurt.

“Time ended up being probably my best medicine along with a lot of hard work. And that stings me whoever this guy is insinuating that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. That’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke,” Manning added.

The report names other high-profile athletes as having obtained PEDs. AP