Businessmirror february 21, 2016

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n Sunday, February 21, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 136

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DA: El Niño damages ₧4-billion crops to date Bruce Lee packing a punch

Govt cautious over Mindanao power ROW issue

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY— Malacañang is taking a cautious approach to the right-of-way (ROW) issues affecting electric-transmission lines across several Mindanao provinces.

The bombing of power pylons and the deliberate growing of trees under high-tension wires point at an ominous scenario if hard solutions are pushed head-on.

President Aquino has assured Mindanao leaders that his administration is taking the steps, as he disclosed for the first time that the problem with landowners seeking millions of pesos for rent or “disturbance” payment for the use of their lands may date back to the arrangement the martial-law administration in the 1970s forged with the landowners.

On the first week of February, Malacañang ordered an interagency task force created to study applicable and acceptable solution, as landowners took a serious threat to their demand, although government would not immediately link them to the armed men who bombed four power pylons in Lanao de Sur, Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato between October and December last year.

The task force was headed by the Department of Energy. It gathered all government agencies and private groups with important function on energy and economic development for Mindanao, including the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, Mindanao Power Monitoring Commission, Mindanao Electric Power Alliance and the Mindanao Business Council.

Even as President Aquino bared that the problem dated as far back as the 1970s, Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monzada belied, however, that there was any regular payment done at that time.

“None that I know of,” she told reporters immediately after the first meeting of the task force on February 4.

She also asked the other members of the task force, including former officers of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), the agency that once See “ROW,” A2

D

T

HE ongoing El Niño episode has damaged 304,104 metric tons (MT) of crops, valued at P4.002 billion as of February 18, the latest report from the Department of Agriculture (DA) showed.

DA Field Operation Service Officer in Charge Christopher Morales said P3.43 billion of the total damage came from 2015 records, while P576.16 million was recorded from January 1 to February 18 this year.

Data from the agency also revealed that 101,553 farmers tilling 194,056 hectares of land were affected by the drought. Morales said 126,789 hectares of the affected area still have a chance of recovery.

The country’s corn sector took the brunt of the damage with 195,694 MT of production lost, amounting to P2.36 billion. About 133,480 hectares of land planted See “El Niño,” A2

The current El Nino, nicknamed Bruce Lee, is already the second strongest on record for this time of year and could be one of the most potent weather changers of the past 65 years, federal meteorologists say.

What is an El Nino 1 Deep,

cold water flows west across Pacific

2 Unusually warm surface 3 Trade winds waters from the Pacific flow toward South America

that normally blow toward equator die

3 Trade winds

AUSTRALIA

Equato r

2 Pacific Ocean

SOUTH AMERICA

1 De ep c old w

ater

What could happen Every few years, the winds shift and the water in the Pacific Ocean gets warmer than usual. El Nino changes rain patterns and usually raises temperatures, changing weather worldwide Warmer than average

Powerful rainstorms

Increased rainfall

Heavy winter rain

Source: World Meteorological Organization, NOAA, AP Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

Drier than average

Abnormally dry More rain

Ayalas operated liquor distillery in Pampanga town in the 1860s

By Joey Pavia Correspondent

PESO exchange rates n US 47.5590

British Prime Minister David Cameron (center) speaks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (right) and European Council President Donald Tusk during a meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. AP/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

E

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AC A BEBE, Pampanga— Ancestors of the Zobel de Ayalas, owner of the country’s largest and oldest conglomerate, operated in the middle of the 19th century two alcohol and liquor plants here, Supreme Court (SC) documents and studies of Pampanga-based historians showed.

Margarita Roxas de Ayala was then 28 years old when she took over the management of the Destilería de Ayala, a subsidiary of the Ayala y Compañia. The Destilería established in 1860 alcohol and liquor plants in barangays San Esteban and Consuelo in this town, said historian and professor Charlene P. Manese, holder of a Master in Archaeology and Heritage at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain, and founding member of Pampanga’s Katipunan da ring Talasakiksik at Talaturung Kapampangan (Katatagan) Inc.

Ayala y Compañia acquired

Cameron wins E.U. deal to avert ‘Brexit’

AN advertisement of the defunct Destilería de Ayala provided by Pampanga-based historian Francis Musni.

4,000 hectares of nipa palm lands in Pampanga in the second half of the 19th century. The land eventually became the source of raw materials for liquor making to the Destilería de Ayala, Manese said in a lecture pushed by Macabebe Mayor Annette Flores-Balgan and

Municipal Tourism Officer Catherine Flores to highlight the celebration of the town’s 441st founding anniversary last month.

Francis Musni, historian, museum curator and university professor, said Margarita, who died at See “Ayalas,” A2

UROPEAN Union (EU) leaders reached a deal aimed at keeping the United Kingdom in the bloc, allowing Prime Minister David Cameron to call a referendum on EU membership as soon as June.

“Drama over,” Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Twitter, breaking the news of the deal, as the 28 heads of government met for dinner at the end of a second day of their summit in Brussels on Friday.

EU President Donald Tusk confirmed the accord a few minutes later, saying on Twitter that there was “unanimous support” for the agreement.

The pound rose on the news, gaining by as much as 0.3 percent to $1.4382 at 9:45 p.m. in London. That’s up from a decline of as much as 0.6 percent earlier in the day.

The UK won a seven-year

“emergency-brake” period in which it can impose welfare curbs on other EU citizens arriving to work in Britain, according to the final draft of an EU communiqué prepared for the dinner seen by Bloomberg. One of the most contentious of his demands, Cameron had surprised his counterparts by pressing for 13 years; the original proposal had been for five years. Each worker falling into this category would have their benefits phased in for over four years.

The draft text obliges the UK’s financial industry to abide by what the EU calls its “single rule book”—the common rules for banks and credit institutions in every country. However, it gives the UK some flexibility, stating that lenders outside the euro area may be able to have “specific provisions,” giving Cameron Continued on A2

n japan 0.4200 n UK 68.1663 n HK 6.1149 n CHINA 7.2977 n singapore 33.9029 n australia 33.9998 n EU 52.8048 n SAUDI arabia 12.6841

Source: BSP (19 February 2016 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, February 21, 2016

Cameron wins EU deal to avert ‘Brexit’ Continued from a1

the ability to claim a shield for the British financial industry.

Cameron will now present the deal to his cabinet in London at a meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday and recommend a vote to stay in the EU. “I have negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the EU,” he said on Twitter.

Gove opposition

WHILE cabinet members have been told they will be free to oppose the accord and campaign for a UK exit, the prime minister is aiming to keep as many senior Conservatives as possible, such as London Mayor Boris Johnson and Business Secretary Sajid Javid, on his side.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove has already decided to oppose the deal, the BBC and the Independent newspaper reported.

The announcement of the referendum means, though, another four months of the uncertainty that’s already rippling through markets and unsettling businesses over the prospect of the UK leaving the EU, a so-called Brexit. Pacific Investment Management Co. said this week that “uncertainty over the result is likely to weigh on UK markets for a good few months yet.” It assigned a probability of as much as 40 percent to a Brexit.

The latest opinion poll by TNS found 39 percent of respondents supporting leaving the bloc with 36 percent backing staying in, and 25 percent undecided once those who are unlikely to vote are stripped out.

TNS questioned 1,120 adults online from February 11 to 15 with a 3-percentage-point margin of error. Most other online polls recently have also shown the result too close to call, though less frequent telephone surveys have shown “remain” clearly ahead.

Cameron obtained “special status” for Britain by getting wording excluding the UK from the EU’s principle of striving for ever closer unity. The agreement states that, when the EU’s underlying treaties are next revised, they will “make it clear that the references to ever closer union to not apply to the United Kingdom,” according to the draft.

The agreement was the result of nine months of intense diplomacy by Cameron during which he visited 20 EU countries to try to sign up other heads of government to his agenda. That was topped by more than 24 hours of sleepdeprived negotiation in Brussels that saw a meal originally billed as “English breakfast” pushed back first to “lunch” and then finally “dinner,” as central and eastern European countries resisted welfare curbs that would hit those of their citizens living in the UK.

But agreement in Brussels was only the first hurdle: voters at home may prove a harder sell.

Cameron had warned his fellow leaders at the opening of the summit that the proposed deal was unpopular in Britain, and that any further watering down would damage his chances of winning the referendum. Bloomberg News

The announcement of the referendum means another four months of the uncertainty that’s already rippling through markets and unsettling businesses over the prospect of the UK leaving the EU, a so-called Brexit.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Ayalas…

El Niño…

age 54 in 1869, “was a direct ancestor of the founders of the vast Ayala estate.”

Manese showed a photo (sketch) of Margarita reportedly coming from the Ayala y Compañia, what is now known as Ayala Corp., which operates Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Land Inc., Globe Telecom, Manila Water Co. Inc. and AC Energy Holdings Inc., and other prominent companies.

Ayala’s original company was founded in 1834 with the formation of a distillery owned by Casa Róxas, a partnership between Domingo Róxas and Antonio de Ayala, Musni said. The distillery was the maker of Ginebra San Miguel, which was later acquired by La Tondeña Inc. in 1929, he said.

The BusinessMirror recently visited San Esteban and its barangay captain, Jefferson Suing, who showed the cemented area along the river where boats used to dock.

The boats were ferrying visitors, officials and workers of the old plant.

Suing said their village “is still fondly called ‘Alakan’ by Macabebe residents.” The Capampangan word alakan means a place where liquor is plenty or manufactured.

He and barangay security official Alexander Manansala also showed remains of “what looks like swimming pools where alcohol and liquor were stored before being shifted or treated.” There were cemented portions of pools still standing.

Suing said the former alcohol and liquor plant now holds fishponds operated by businessmen from Bulacan.

Councilor Taburung Yabut, a friend of Suing who frequents San Esteban, said in jest: “No wonder a favorite pastime of the people of Macabebe is drinking.

“I asked my lola and other old folk living far from San Esteban.

They all said they knew about the liquor making in Alakan,” he said.

“Macabebe hosts one of the biggest number of Spanish creoles and European residents in the province.

with corn were affected by El Niño, but 86,000 hectares still have a chance of recovery.

The rice sector, meanwhile, posted 94,934 MT of crops damaged worth P1.62 billion. The DA data showed that 40,221 hectares of the 59,463 hectares of rice lands affected have a chance of recovery.

Damage to high-value crops as of February 18 totaled 13,476 MT valued at P21.63 million.

The DA report said the most affected area in the country during the period was Region 2, or Cagayan Valley, with 89,074 MT, or P1.16 billion worth of farm damage. The bulk, or 88,724 MT, of this volume was corn. Corn damage in the region amounted to P1.15 billion.

Cagayan Valley was followed

by Region 12 and Region 10 in terms of production loss. Damage to crops and livestock totaled P1.09 billion in Region 12 and P762.07 million in Region 10.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said El Niño is expected to gradually weaken from March to May, while El NiñoSouthern Oscillation (Enso)-neutral is favored by May to July 2016.

Enso-neutral refers to a period when neither El Niño nor La Niña is present.

Morales said the effects of El Niño to rice production in the first half of 2016 would be “minimal” following the projections from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA data showed that the country’s palay output in the January-toJune period may decrease by 1.48 percent to 8.2 million metric tons (MMT), from 8.32 MMT recorded in the same period in 2015.

Meanwhile, El Niño was seen as one of the contributing factors to the decline in rice production in 2015. The PSA said the country’s palay production reached 18.15 MMT, 4.31 percent lower than the 2014 output of 18.97 MMT. Mary Grace Padin

Continued from a1

Continued from a1

JEFFERSON Suing, barangay captain of San Esteban, Macabebe, Pampanga, stands at the area of the defunct Destilería de Ayala where the boats used to dock. JOEY PAVIA

As a matter of fact, at the end of the Filipino-Spanish War in 1898, the governor general sent his family to Macabebe for refuge. In one account, the retreating forces of General Monet had in their possession copious amounts of wine and liquor stored in the convent in Macabebe and in some of the houses of the residents,” said Musni, whose roots are from San Esteban.

Balgan is reviving the historical area of San Esteban to promote the culture and heritage of the coastal town, Flores said.

The Ayalas reportedly sold a huge portion of the estate in Macabebe due to disputes and long court battles with local residents and businessmen.

“The San Esteban estate was becoming a headache for the Ayalas because of the cases and disputes they were facing,” said Musni, who gave a copy of a SC ruling penned on December 4, 1967 (GR L-15829) to firmly establish the early presence of the Ayala business empire in Pampanga.

“The Zobel family of Spain formerly owned vast tracts of marshland in the municipality of Macabebe, Pampanga province. Called Hacienda San Esteban, it was administered and managed by the Ayala y Cia. From the year 1860 to about the year 1924, Ayala y Cia. devoted the hacienda to the planting and cultivation of nipa palms from which it gathered nipa sap or tuba. It operated a distillery plant in barrio San Esteban to turn nipa tuba into potable alcohol, which was, in turn,

manufactured into liquor,” said the background in the case.

“Accessibility through the nipa palms deep into the hacienda posed a problem. Ayala y Cia. dug canals leading toward the hacienda’s interior where most of them interlinked with each other. The canals facilitated the gathering of tuba and the guarding and patrolling of the hacienda by security guards called arundines. By the gradual process of erosion, these canals acquired the characteristics and dimensions of rivers,” it said.

“In 1924 Ayala y Cia. shifted from the business of alcohol production to bangus culture. It converted Hacienda San Esteban from a forest of nipa groves to a web of fishponds. To do so, it cut down the nipa palms, constructed dikes and closed the canals crisscrossing the hacienda. Sometime in 1925 or 1926, Ayala y Cia. sold a portion of Hacienda San Esteban to Roman Santos, who also transformed the swampland into a fishpond. In so doing, he closed and built dikes across Sapang Malauling Maragul, Quiñorang Silab, Pepangebunan, Bulacus, Nigui and Nasi,” it said. “The closing of the man-made canals in Hacienda San Esteban drew complaints from residents of the surrounding communities. Claiming that the closing of the canals caused floods during the rainy season, and that it deprived them of their means of transportation and fishing grounds, said residents demanded reopening of those canals.”

ROW… Continued from a1

assumed all transactions and negotiations involving power generation and transmission. None of them also heard or have knowledge of any such arrangement.

The question arose after a leading Mindanao business leader expressed apprehension that such arrangement may have happened and was stopped by the succeeding agencies. This may have even angered the landowners, the business leader said.

It was not arguable anymore that the landowners must be compensated for the use of their lands, but the task force would not concede to the amount demanded.

“There’s the case of a landowner where actual valuation of the land was only P1.3 million, but the landowner has claimed P330 million,” said Cynthia Alabanza, a lawyer and spokesman of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

Generoso Senal, president and CEO of the government-ran National Transmission Corp., said the government has transmitted to the courts 216 cases of demand for money from the landowners.

“We have no recourse by now than to let the courts decide on the actual valuation of the properties,” he said. He told the BusinessMirror that the total amount demanded by landowners in the 216 cases might easily run to several billions of pesos.

However, the courts have also required the government to post the mandatory 10 percent of the likely total amount for renumeration or compensation. Senal said the government has deposited P195 million.

“The actual amount for compensation would be determined later by the courts,” he said.

He assured the landowners that the money would be available, but “we have to course the request through the Energy Regulatory Commission, which would ask the NGCP to proceed with the payment.”

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

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

SC junks Navy officers group’s claim over 47-hectare Fort Bonifacio property

T

HE Supreme Court (SC) has denied with finality a motion for reconsideration by the Navy Officers’ Village Association Inc. (Novai) of the Court’s previous decision allowing the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to take possession of the 47-hectare Novai property in Fort Bonifacio.

BCDA President Arnel Paciano D. Casanova lauded the Court for the favorable ruling that will benefit the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the national government. The Court’s Second Division denied with finality the Novai’s motion for reconsideration “with finality.”

A notice issued by the division reads: “Acting on petitioner’s motion for reconsideration of the decision dated 3 August 2015 which denied the petition for review on certiorari, the Court further resolves to deny the motion with finality, the basic issues raise therein having been duly considered and passed upon the Court in the aforesaid decision and no substantial argument having been adduced to warrant the reconsideration sought.”

“With the Supreme Court ruling, the BCDA can now proceed in disposing the 47-hectare property and generate billions of pesos to fund the Armed Forces Modernization Program and bankroll government programs and projects,” Casanova said.

He said the 475,009-square-meter Novai property is now estimated to be worth more than 47 billion, based on the current selling price of approximately P100,000 per sq m.

It would be recalled that Casanova had personally pursued the Novai case “with the help of honorable and professional officers of the Armed Forces and the Office

All systems go for Sunday’s presidential debate

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T’S all systems go for the first presidential debate by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be held on Sunday in Cagayan de Oro City.

Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista said the public could expect an informative and relevant discussion by the five candidates who are aspiring to be the next leader of the country.

“It will have a very interesting format patterned after international best practices.

Basically, we patterned it from the CNN Republican debate...,” he said.

Bautista added, “There are five candidates, and the candidate will be asked a question and then the second candidate will be asked to respond to the answer and so on.”

The debate will be held at the Capitol University and aired live. The program will run from 5 to 7 p.m.

Bautista said the holding of the debates will give the candidates a chance to give their opinions on issues and for the electorate to know their candidates based on their response.

“Ito ay ayon sa aming hangarin...kasi ang aming slogan sa darating na halalan ay ‘Tamang Pagboto, Tamang Pagbilang.’ Ang duty bilang botante ay bumoto ng tama. Ibig sabihin noon kailangan talagang pag-aralan nila…suriin, kumbaga, talagang tingnan kung ano ba ang mga plataporma, track record, karanasan ng ating mga kandidato. Hindi lang sa national pati sa local. Ang debate na ito ay isang magandang pagkakataon para makilala sila at masuri ang mga botante,” he said.

Meanwhile, the organizers issued the guidelines for the media covering the event on Sunday.

Although the debate is organized in cooperation with two media entities, the poll body is in charge of providing accreditation for members of the media, who will be given access to the media center on the sixth floor of the Mini-Theater Building.

Only 25 members from the local media will be allowed inside the debate hall, since the venue can only accommodate 500 people.

These include major publications and blogging groups from Northern Mindanao, major publications from Southern Mindanao, and members of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club who are welcome to act as observers at the debate venue.

Only the Comelec, GMA and Philippine Daily Inquirer personnel will be allowed to take photos and videos inside the Debate Hall.

Up to 300 members of the local and national media will be accommodated at the venue’s media center. PNA

Casanova: “Rampant land grabbing, where officers are involved, affects the morale of our soldiers, and eventually weakens our Armed Forces.”

of the Solicitor General.”

Novai is a group of retired military officers which claimed ownership of the disputed property located inside the former Fort Andres Bonifacio Military Reservation.

Casanova was general counsel for the BCDA when the latter filed a complaint in the court against military generals involved in illegal settlements inside military-reservation areas.

“Rampant land grabbing, where officers are involved, affects the morale of our soldiers, and eventually weakens our Armed Forces,” Casanova said.

“As early as 2004 and as general counsel then, I made a commitment to the Feliciano Commission that I will do my best to pursue the cases against Southside Homeowners Association [SHAI] and Novai, in spite of some generals who kept on dissuading us from doing so,” Casanova said, referring to the commission’s report that recommended legal action for the recovery of the Joint US Military Advisory Group area and Novai properties.

“My mission for the Feliciano Commission is now accomplished,” he added. PNA

Sunday, February 21, 2016 A3

‘Asean Maas to spark fierce competition in airline sector’

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

HE ratification of the Asean open-skies agreement will lead to a fiercer competition in the Philippine aviation market, and leading the pack of foreign airlines that are looking into expanding its operations in the country is Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines Executive Vice President Mak Swee Wah painted a rosy outlook for his company’s Philippine operations, given that the country has been enjoying rapid economic growth during the past few years.

“I think the outlook of the Philippine market is quite encouraging, I think the Philippine economy is one of those, which is relatively healthy. So, we are quite confident that the travel market will continue to grow,” he said in a chance interview during the airline’s 50th anniversary celebration on Thursday night.

The Philippine economy grew at an average rate of 6.3 percent over the past five years, one of the fastest in Southeast Asia.

“We already have a quite big operations here together with our subsidiary with 52 flights, and we hope to continue to be able to grow both in terms of frequency, as well as high-capacity aircraft and, in future, maybe other points to serve. I think that will be our main thrust to see how to continue our network,” he said.

Mak also described the Philippine travel market as healthy, with

its operations growing from its initial 1996 operations in Manila to its current expanded operations in regional destinations Cebu, Davao and Kalibo.

“The Philippine market clearly is important. The travel market is healthy, and the fact that we have been in the Philippines for 50 years and operating 52 flights a week that makes the Philippine important part of our network,” he added.

Singapore Airlines may further expand its operations in the Philippines after President Aquino signed Protocols 5 and 6 of the Asean Multilateral Agreement in Air Services (Maas) on February 3. The ratification of the agreement allows designated carriers of Asean countries to operate unlimited flights between capitals, leading to better connectivity and more competitive fares and services.

Under Protocols 5 and 6, Philippine air carriers will be allowed to fly unlimited frequencies to and beyond the capital cities of other Southeast Asian nations, which will lead to better and more efficient connectivity and translate to more competitive fares and services.

This will enhance regional trade and investment opportunities for Philippine businesses that are looking to expand their markets. It will also provide better access to Filipino individuals, such as professionals and students, who wish to explore job and educational opportunities in the region.

The Maas is part of the Asean’s Roadmap for Integration of Air Transportation Services, essentially laying down the foundation for the envisioned Asean Single Aviation Market, which would, in turn, foster seamless connectivity within the region.

“This brings Singapore closer to the Philippines, and the Philippines closer to Singapore,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said.

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, February 21, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

editorial

The Pacquiao remarks in perspective

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ANNY Pacquiao has brought upon his head a storm of brutal criticism, first, for saying that those who engage in samesex relations are like animals and then for expressing fidelity to his religious convictions.

We admire Manny for his apology to those he had hurt and his extension of love to all. But his apology was apparently not enough. Never mind Nike’s description of his position as abhorrent. Members and sympathizers of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in our country and in the United States continue to call for his repudiation at the election precincts, even his expulsion from the senatorial slates of political parties endorsing his candidacy.

We are not rooting for Pacquiao’s candidacy for the Senate. But there is a side to this issue that we must not lose sight of. On April 9, 2016, just a few weeks from today, Manny will be facing Timothy Bradley in a fight that he said will be his last, to be able to concentrate on his duties as Senator of the Republic, if he gets elected. In this fight against Bradley, Manny needs all the support that his countrymen and countrywomen can give him. We want Manny to win, not just for himself, but for us. The sport of boxing is as demanding as nothing else can be. It requires total concentration in mind and body.

Any doubt—as to the support of his family or his people, for instance—can undermine his self-confidence and spell his defeat.

Manny is the only boxer in history to have become champion in eight different weight classes, bringing untold honor and pride to our country. Yet, unprecedented global success has not ruined him. By all accounts, he remains generous and kind. He devotes not just the entirety of his congressional “pork barrel,” the so-called Priority Development Assistance Fund, but a substantial portion of his wealth to the establishment of medical and educational facilities in his congressional district. Not to mention his various other philanthropies—scholarships to poor students, medical and other kinds of assistance to low-income families, among others. It is said by some observers that his constituents adore Manny and are ready to reelect him any time he decides to return to his old position.

It is true that Pacquiao is the most notorious absentee from Congress, attending only four sessions out of 200 in each of the years he was a congressman. It is said that he never authored any bill during his tenure. We find this behavior wanton and careless. But, yes, we also find it less condemnable than the conduct of those who use perfect attendance to conceal their plunder of the people’s money.

This is not politicking. This is telling it like it is. People can vote for anyone they want for the Senate, but we are pleading for moral support for Manny Pacquiao in this fight against Bradley, so that he will win it and give honor to us and our country once again.

Breach of faith Part Four

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ISTORIANS Salvador Escalante and J. Augustus de la Paz said the late Corazon C. Aquino verbalized and defended her casual attitude in September 1986 based on an elitist misreading of gutter realities when she addressed the US Congress.

Database

By Cecilio T. Arillo

Gospel

Sunday, February 21, 2016

She said: “Today we face the aspirations of a people who had known so much poverty and massive unemployment for the past 14 years and, yet, offered their lives for the abstraction of democracy. Wherever I went in the campaign, slum area or impoverished village, they came to me with one cry: Democracy! Not food, although they clearly needed it, but democracy. Not money, for they gave what little they had to my campaign. They didn’t expect me to work a miracle that would instantly put food in their mouths, clothes on their backs, education for their children and work that will put dignity in their lives. But I feel the pressing obligation to respond quickly as the leader of a people so deserving of all these things.”

“Her earliest response was to free over 500 communists and subversives from military detention, thinking this to be a form of democracy that the people needed. This and the peace talks with the communists triggered coup attempts by rightist elements, disrupted economic recovery efforts. When the peace talks failed, she embarked on a war whose political timetable called for escalated counterinsurgency measures that further hampered normalization. She then blamed everybody else—the rightist rebels, the communist insurgents, typhoons, the great earthquake of 1990, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and difficulties carried over from

A

When Cory Aquino assumed power, her earliest response was to free over 500 communists and subversives from military detention, thinking this to be a form of democracy that the people needed. This and the peace talks with the communists triggered coup attempts by rightist elements, disrupted economic recovery efforts. the Marcos period—for her obvious failure to reduce poverty.

“It was far easier to make a few families rich and richer, than to make everyone less poor. And this was exactly what happened,” Escalante and de la Paz said.

They explained that propertied people in precolonial times were politically powerful, just as rank was an avenue to wealth.

“In colonial times, this pattern became even more institutionalized, and wealth and power became entrenched with each other.

To qualify as a voter, one had to be propertied and educated, according to the colonial power’s Western norms. To be a candidate for public office, one had to be above the average voter,” they said.

Furthermore, they added that “In the colonial equation, the Catholic Church played a key role, as the main provider of formal education, as the certifier of moral credentials, as protector of the encomienda and hacienda systems, as a broker of cargo space in the trade galleons and as itself a possessor of vast land.

The Church was also a prime beneficiary of mercantilism, through the obras pias. The Church, in all its glorious tax-exempt status, waxed rich and powerful.

“Its political influence was so per-

BOUT eight days after these sayings, Jesus took with Him Peter, John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as He was praying, the appearance of His Countenance was altered and His raiment became dazzling white.

And behold, two men talked with Him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His departure, which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Now Peter and those who were with Him were heavy with sleep and, when they wakened, they saw His Glory and the two men who stood with Him.

vasive that when the independence movement finally got rolling, its agenda came to include the separation of the church and the state. But the independence seekers were far from unanimous on this point. The framers of the Malolos Constitution had to go through a second balloting after a deadlock on the issue; the proponents of separation won the second time around, but only by a single vote.

“The Philippine Revolution of 1896 did nothing to exterminate the rich and to equalize wealth. It only changed the nationality of the oppressive power. The postcolonial [or neocolonial] setup retained in generous measure fragments from the past.

“The Edsa rebellion was even less thoroughgoing than the 1896 Revolution. Edsa changed certain elites, but retained most of the socioeconomic structures that had trapped the masses in misery for generations.

Indeed, the situation became more exploitative, with privileged families and groups better able to extract wealth from the peculiar ‘democracy’ instituted by the Aquino regime.”

To be continued To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com

And as the men were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for You and one for Moses and one for Eli’jah”—not knowing what he said.

As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And A Voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen; listen to Him!” And when The Voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.—Luke 9:28-36

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, February 21, 2016 A5

Hillary Clinton is a woman who doesn’t know her place

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By Gina Barreca | The Hartford Courant (TNS)

ILLARY Clinton is not leaning in: She’s standing up. Some people don’t like that in a woman and they become antsy and nervous.

It’s true that Clinton is daring to exhibit unfeminine behaviors, such as employing the personal pronoun “I.” This, as we know, makes a woman sound arrogant, self-centered and narcissistic, as well as making her sound like the kind of woman who wouldn’t immediately go make you a fresh pot of coffee just because, you know, she was busy running for president.

We all know that “I” is harder to hear when said by a woman than when it’s said by a man, don’t we?

For example, I wouldn’t dare say that I know it. What you would hear instead is, “We know that many women, as well as men, cringe when women make any sound that doesn’t include a smiley-faced coo-ey noise because someone might be uncomfortable, don’t we?”

But Clinton wasn’t asking questions last week. She was answering them. There she was, at the debate in Wisconsin, wearing a jacket so yellow she looked as if she were wrapped loosely in caution tape.

She didn’t look soothing and she didn’t speak reassuringly. She didn’t look soft or girlish. She looked and sounded like a piece of work; she took the stage and held it. Clinton spoke of dangers and rough landscapes ahead; she didn’t promise smooth sailing, or an easy ride. Instead of lulling followers into shallows, she offered a detailed map and dependable guidance created by hard-won experience.

It’s what a beacon does. It calls attention to itself. But women aren’t supposed to call attention to ourselves. We’re supposed to be nicer than that. We’re supposed to be scented votive candles, not powerful lighthouses. Were we ever scolded by our friends when Clinton spoke the unspeakable: “When I’m in the White House.... Our friends thought it wasn’t nice that Clinton talked about what she would do if she won because nobody likes an egotistical and smug woman. Our friends thought opponent Bernie Sanders was correct to remind her

of her place by interrupting her with something she clearly needed to know—“You’re not in the White House, yet.”

Clinton was being presumptuous, another thing nobody likes in a woman, even if she is running for the nation’s highest office. When men interrupt women, it’s seen as

a corrective. We’re supposed to say, “Thanks for sharing!” If women interrupt men, men think those women should be restrained by SWAT teams. It’s a disruption of the natural order. The fact that male candidates for power have, from the Neolithic period onward, begun every speech with “When I am the

winner...” never seemed to bother anybody, but naturally that’s different. We’re trying to remember why.

Oh, right! It’s because men don’t have to be nice. Men can demand attention. Men make themselves heard without apology, penance or pangs of conscience.

That’s why Sanders could attempt

to interrupt Clinton while she was speaking by waggling his hand to be called on as if he were once again running for class president at James Madison High (a public school attended by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, songwriter Carole King, “Cousin Brucie” Morrow, Nobel-Prize winning economist Gary Becker, “Judge Judy” Sheindlin and my dad, Brooklyn being Brooklyn).

Clinton’s detractors say that she’s not smiling enough, not encouraging her rivals or soothing her enemies, that she’s a “buzz kill” and a “wet blanket” (those charming descriptions were from a CNN pundit) and that Clinton isn’t being enough of a “cheerleader.” Perhaps that’s because she’s an actual leader; pompoms would only be a distraction at this point.

They accuse her of being aggressive, of being firm, of being unexciting and, most horribly, of suggesting that the 19th Amendment might exist for any reason apart from giving women the right to vote men into office. And no, it doesn’t mean we have to vote for every woman on the ballot any more than putting bread on the table means you have to eat every slice. It’s good to have it, though, right? Especially with a hot cup of coffee. I’d like mine caffeinated, please; I’m staying wide awake for this election.

Harper Lee created the greatest American hero

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OME years ago, I added To Kill a Mockingbird to the syllabus of my course on Ethics in Literature. I teach in a law school, and the students in the seminar were as hard-bitten and hypercritical as one would expect. Most of the works we read they trashed from one end to the other, often with the easygoing savage hauteur of the young intellectual. But not Mockingbird. They treated the classic with a respect bordering on awe. Prompting them to criticize it was as successful as prompting an Evangelical to criticize the Bible.

Bloomberg View

By Stephen L. Carter

Harper Lee, who died on Friday at 89, always professed herself astounded at the role of her masterpiece in the lives of so many millions of readers. The story’s images are seared into us. Those who don’t read it in middle school read it in high school.

The book is as firmly installed in the popular culture as a novel can be. It’s inspired satires galore—including on The Simpsons—and Aaron Sorkin is now adapting it for Broadway.

Mockingbird was published in 1960. After the book quickly sold 500,000 copies, Life magazine quoted an ecstatic neighbor who said to Lee: “The next thing you’ll be getting one of those awards from across the water.”

Maybe not—Lee had to settle for a Pulitzer Prize and, later on, a couple of presidential medals—but the book’s influence on generations of schoolchildren can hardly be overstated. The story of Scout Finch’s Alabama childhood and her father’s brave but doomed defense of a black man accused of raping a white woman is not only one of the bestselling novels of all time (estimates run above 40 million copies), but also one of the most loved. As the legal

scholar Thomas Shaffer has put it: “The millions of people who like To Kill a Mockingbird are not analytical about their liking it. The story of Atticus Finch appeals in an immediate way to people.... He is a hero.”

The novel was published at an auspicious moment. Lee, moved by such events as the killing of Emmett Till to reflect upon the racial attitudes of the town where she grew up, at first had trouble shaping the narrative.

But when she finally succeeded, she had written what Oprah Winfrey would call “our national novel” and the writer Jane Smiley would later call “the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the 20th century.”

The book was part autobiographical—Lee modeled Scout on herself, Atticus on her father, the neighbors in Maycomb on her neighbors in Monroeville—and even the scorching tale of the trial in the bigoted town was something of a cri de coeur.

Her experiences outside the South had redefined her, but she could never quite turn her back on the world that had spawned her.

On initial publication, Mockingbird received generally glowing reviews, although the New York Times

warned that “some of the scenes suggest that Miss Lee is cocking at least one eye toward Hollywood.” If she was, that was a good thing. The film version is one of the most beloved movies ever and in 2003 the character of Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck, who won the Academy Award) was selected by the American Film Institute as the greatest movie hero of all time.

After the film, however, Lee disappeared.

Not really. She wasn’t a Garboesque recluse. She simply preferred to spend time with friends and neighbors. One of her closest friends was Truman Capote, with whom she had traveled when he was researching In Cold Blood. A Capote biographer described their bond as “a common anguish” over childhoods where each felt rejected by parents and peers alike.

Meanwhile, fans waited for her next book. And waited, and waited, and waited. Lee was 34 years old when Mockingbird was published.

When Go Set a Watchman finally saw the light of day in 2015, she was 88.

The new novel, as it turned out, was mostly from an old manuscript, the

In frigid weather, let the dogs inside

By Lindsay Pollard-Post

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People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals /TNS Forum

T’S so cold in many parts of the country that car batteries are calling it quits, streets have been transformed into skating rinks because road salt isn’t working and exposed skin can become frostbitten in a matter of minutes.

Yet, countless dogs—domesticated animals who are suited to curling up in armchairs, not enduring Arctic temperatures—are left outside in this bone-chilling cold 24/7, on chains or in backyard pens. And not all of them will survive.

Every winter, dogs who are left outdoors freeze to death; suffer from

frostbitten ears, toes and tails; and die of dehydration or starvation— often while the people who left them out there are just a few steps away inside a cozy, warm house.

Rita was one of those dogs. A police officer reportedly found her dead on Valentine’s Day 2014 inside a pen in Madison, Illinois, that was partially covered with snow and strewn with feces. Her food and water were frozen, there was blood in the pen, her ribs were protruding and she was chained, preventing her from reaching her doghouse. A neighbor testified that she was so concerned about Rita that she had rigged up a system to lower buckets of food and water to the dog and tossed straw into the pen in an attempt to give her some warmth.

Last month a puppy was found frozen to death inside a plastic

igloo-shaped doghouse in Atlantic County, New Jersey, after being left outside in dangerously cold temperatures. Another dog, possibly the puppy’s mother, who was also left outside, was severely malnourished and died after being rushed to a veterinarian. Both dogs’ water bowls were frozen solid.

Dogs’ fur don’t provide them with adequate protection from freezing temperatures and biting wind, especially the short fur of dogs, like pit bulls, pointers, beagles, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers. Puppies and elderly dogs are especially vulnerable to extreme temperatures, and older dogs who have spent many winters outside endure the added misery of aching, arthritic joints.

Many dogs who are chained or penned “out of sight, out of mind” in backyards are deprived of ad-

equate and legally required shelter.

They spend the winter shivering in drafty, overturned plastic barrels or huddling under haphazard lean-tos constructed out of old mattresses, rusty car parts or whatever else is lying around the yard.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’s fieldworkers routinely deliver sturdy, straw-filled doghouses to dogs who are forced to live like this. A doghouse is no substitute for a warm, loving home, but for these neglected animals, proper shelter often means the difference between life and a painful death. But the coldest thing that chained and penned dogs have to endure isn’t the temperature—it’s their owners’ indifference.

Companionship means everything to dogs—they are social animals who want and need to be with

rough original from which Mockingbird derived. Watchman was a huge commercial success, but critics were largely unkind. In The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik called it “a failure as a novel,” but, nevertheless, “testimony to how appealing a writer Harper Lee can be.” Michiko Kakutani in the Times labeled it “a lumpy tale” and “a distressing narrative filled with characters spouting hate speech.”

Yet, I wonder whether behind much of the criticism of Watchman there might not lurk a bit of disappointment that the heroic Atticus Finch turned out to be just another bigoted yokel. The anger at the second novel, in other words, might be part of the love for the first.

The Atticus we all met on first reading To Kill a Mockingbird back in grade school supplied a hero for all seasons, and we prefer to keep him that way. As Shaffer points out, “An important thing about hero stories is that they appeal from life to life.” That’s what Lee gave us: A hero story we can’t forget. And so one modest young woman earned her place among the literary immortals.

their human “pack,” have their chins scratched, hear the words “Good dog!” and be loved unconditionally, as they love us. They need to exercise their bodies and minds with long walks, games of fetch and new sights, sounds and smells to explore. Stuck in the backyard like snow shovels, dogs get none of these things that make their lives worth living. If you have dogs living outside, warm their hearts—and yours—let them inside. If there are chained or penned dogs in your neighborhood, make sure they have proper food, water and shelter— and notify authorities immediately if they don’t or if their lives are in danger. And urge their owners to welcome them inside to be with the rest of the family. There is nothing colder than leaving man’s best friend out in the snow.

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A6 Sunday, February 21, 2016

Opapp seeks continuation of peace process with MILF beyond June ’16

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HE next administration must sustain the momentum of the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process, said Teresita Quintos Deles, secretary of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), on Saturday.

Deles, likewise, emphasized that the challenges encountered in the Aquino administration in pushing for the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) brought positive effects.

“The peace process is not a magic wand that there would be peace in an overnight timeline. It is a process. What we went through last year only showed the profound understanding of the sectors on the peace negotiations,” Deles said.

“There are unprecedented events that have not happened before and various statements of support. The worst crisis also brought out unexpected support from people of all sectors who stood up for the peace process. We got the peace process on the national agenda. We will continue to pursue peace,” she added.

For her part, the government Peace Panel Chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer added that the next

administration would be foolhardy if it decided to go to war rather than preserve the gains of the 17 years of peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“No government would like a full scale war on its hands. It is an advantage to the next administration to keep this peace on the ground stable so that [they] could focus all [their] attention to other security threats that this country is facing—both external and internal,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer assured the continued implementation of the signed 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace accord between the government and the MILF, despite the 16th Congress’ failure to pass the proposed BBL. She said the peace panels will continue the programs that do not require legislative action.

On the socioeconomic projects

for the transformation of MILF camps into productive communities, Ferrer said “solar power systems will be installed to provide communities their needs for electricity; hanging bridges will be constructed to connect villages; and water-supply systems will be built in some other areas.”

She added that in the next five months before President Aquino steps down, the panels would attempt to “identify more projects” for “the remote parts of Maguindanao and Lanao provinces, and the island provinces.”

During the two-day meeting of the peace panels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, early last week, the report of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was presented. The TJRC is the body tasked to work out a program to address the legitimate

grievances of the Bangsamoro people, correct historical injustices and address human-rights violations.

Steps are under way to operationalize the TJRC’s recommendations.

Ferrer also disclosed that two MILF ground commanders in Maguindanao, whom she met early this week, vowed to abide by the orders of their leadership to observe and protect the cease-fire.

In turn, she assured them of the President’s injunction to preserve the cease-fire with the MILF, even as military and law-enforcement operations continue against lawless elements in the region.

“No one is backing out of the peace process, not the MILF, not the government, not the international community that supported our efforts, and certainly, all the mechanisms are fully functional,” she added. PNA

The peace process is not a magic wand that there would be peace in an overnight timeline. It is a process. What we went through last year only showed the profound understanding of the sectors on the peace negotiations.”—Deles

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Meralco warns of higher power rates this summer

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By Lenie Lectura

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) warned government regulators of higher electricity prices in the summer months, if it is not allowed to implement the power-supply contracts it recently forged with power producers.

The utility firm, in applications filed with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), said a significant capacity deficit in its portfolio, especially in the summer months, is foreseen due to the expected high demand for electricity and the scheduled maintenance shutdown of its contracted generating units, as well as possible occurrences of forced plant outage.

“If the IPSAs [Interim Power Supply Agreements] are not implemented during the period, Meralco will be constrained to source from the WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market], where prices are volatile, especially during the summer months,” Meralco said. It added that the situation can be further aggravated and likely result in higher WESM prices in light of the very tight supply under thin reserve-margin conditions during the period.

WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity, where distributors are exposed to volatile prices as demand and supply drive power costs.

“There is a paramount necessity for the timely approval of this application, and for the issuance of a provisional authority so that Meralco can immediately implement these IPSAs in order to reduce Meralco’s WESM purchases and protect its customers from forecasted high WESM prices, to help ensure reasonable prices for such customer, especially during the summer months of

Younger generation takes mission of helping poor

2016,” Meralco said.

Meralco recently signed separate IPSAs with Toledo Power Corp. (TPC) and Panay Power Corp. (PPC).

Under the agreement, TPC will supply Meralco up to 28 megawatts (MW) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, while PPC will sell up to 45 MW from 10 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday to Saturday.

Meralco’s IPSAs with TPC and PPC will become effective upon provisional or final approval of the ERC, and expire on February 25, 2017, unless terminated earlier or extended.

Meralco also signed a similar agreement with 1590 Energy Corp. The IPSA states that Meralco will source 170 MW from the power plant on February 26 to July 26 this year every 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.

Besides this, Meralco may also opt to source up to 170 MW from July 26, 2016, to February 25, 2017, during the same schedule.

However, these IPSAs Meralco signed with the three power producers are still subject for approval by the ERC. “There is a paramount necessity for the timely approval of applications, and for the issuance of a provisional authority, therefore, so that Meralco can immediately implement these IPSAs in order to reduce Meralco’s WESM purchases and protect its customers from forecasted high WESM prices, to help ensure reasonable prices for such customers, especially during the summer months of 2016,” Meralco said in its applications.

Meralco said the term of the IPSA with PPC and TPC will result in an overall savings of P0.0074 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and P0.0003 per kWh, respectively.

Meanwhile, savings from the IPSA between Meralco and 1590 is expected at P0.0541 per kWh.

Cebu court to city govt: Allow cell site to operate

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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BENEFICIARIES (left photo) of the medical mission in Castuli, Macabebe, Pampanga, wait for their turn to be treated, while dentist Erlinda Trinidad Arcilla (right photo) examines the teeth of one of the patients who benefited from the medical mission of Datu, Angeles, David, Mallari Foundation. NONIE REYES

By Nonie Reyes | Chief Photographer

T

RAVELING to a place is always fun, especially when one is looking forward to help people with their medical needs. Medical missions may not deliver a lot, but giving medical assistance to the less fortunate to have an eye or a dental checkup means so much to them.

Eleuteria Cabrera, 85, of Barangay Castuli, Macabebe, Pampanga, is one of the beneficiaries of the medial mission.

She said it has been a routine for her to go to the Datu, Angeles, David, Mallari Memorial Foundation Inc. (DADMFI) medical mission since it started in 1998.

Cabrera has been a regular of the medical missions since she cannot afford to have her eye checkup, she is one of the many beneficiaries of free eye glasses. She said she is very happy that there are still people who are happy to help without asking anything in return.

“It’s not only me, it’s the whole barangay of Castuli who celebrate yearly because of this

medical mission. It’s like a fiesta, the only difference is it is a medical thing.”

The DADMFI was conceptualized by the late physician Jesus A. Datu, who served with the rank of commander in the United States Navy Medical Corps.

While assigned at the Subic Naval Base in Olongapo City, Datu saw the plight and living condition of the Aetas in Zambales and thought of helping them.

Datu brought solicited medicines and his physician friends from the US, during his vacation trips to the Philippines, his former classmate doctors in the country and his close relatives to the underprivileged countrymen for the medical-dental missions. This was his way of helping his countrymen who needed help owing to their financial and social conditions.

Datu saw the opportunity that this activity would also bring his relatives closer to each other and would start the annual bonding reunion of the clan members.

Thus, the foundation was formed and its

incorporators were elected.

Since then, the foundation has yearly been providing diagnostic and therapeutic medical services to Aeta tribesmen to help uplift their well-being and, thus, improve their ability to serve their families, as well as their community, thus, making them responsible citizens.

Yearly, an estimated 250 patients from the four barrios in Castuli, Macabebe, Pampanga, are smiling; children are happy in hope to avail themselves the services of the medical mission.

Retired Lt.Gen. Christie B. Datu is now serving as the corporate secretary of the foundation. Following the footstep of his ancestors, he managed to continue what his predecessors, have started and improved it in his own little way with the help of all the board members.

The soft-spoken retired Air Force fighter pilot told the BusinessMirror that it is a privilege for him to help others who cannot afford to have a medical checkup. “This

is somewhat giving back to less fortunate, and I hope this will continue and set as an example to others.”

He added: “This is the first time that we let the media cover our labor of love for others. You can see how we are warmly welcome in the area.”

“The queue [of patients] may be long when we arrive the place, but they are undoubtedly optimistic of the success of the medical mission.”

The happiness they bring to the people of Castuli, Macabebe, Pampanga, is unmatched, and to the physicians, dentists and other medical professions, who volunteered to render free service, a simple smile and thank you is the thousand word of love given back to them by the people.

As we were leaving, an old couple, Nicolasa and Vicente Bustos, approached me and thanked me for the medical mission. The couple said it is a relief to have a free supply of medicine they needed most, Datu added.

OBILE-services provider Globe Telecom Inc. has secured a temporary restraining order against a city resolution that calls for the deactivation of a cell site in Calvary Hills in Barangay Apas in Cebu.

In a statement, Globe said the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City ordered the Office of the City Mayor and the Sangguniang Panlungsod to stop enforcing a closure order dated January 4. Under that city council resolution, Globe Telecom was asked to deactivate its cell tower in Barangay Apas in Cebu City owing to “health hazards.”

The stay order noted that Globe has an existing lease contract on the property for a period of two years, from July 15, 2015 to July 14, 2017.

The court also noted that, following a clamor of residents of Barangay Apas to deactivate the cell site due to unsubstantiated claims that cell sites cause cancer, the Cebu City Council revoked the special use permit for Globe to utilize the area as a location of a cell site “even if health department representatives went to the cell site to check whether it was compliant to the standards and found nothing wrong.”

Following the issuance of the city resolution, the office of Acting City Mayor Edgardo Labella eventually issued a closure order, directing Globe Telecom to cease operation of the cell site.

Globe maintained, however, that the resolution issued by the city council was in “total disregard of Globe Telecom’s constitutional right to due process of law” and that city council’s exercise of police power under the General Welfare Clause of the Local Government Code was “patently erroneous.”

The company added that the resolution was based on “defective and unsubstantiated findings,” and that the revocation of the special use permit would “result in an injustice to Globe Telecom and its subscribers, particularly in Barangay Apas and neighboring areas, such as Maria Luisa Subdivision.”

Globe Telecom began operating a cell site in the area in April 2000.

Sports BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 21, 2016 A7

NAVYMEN DOMINATE STAGE 1 OF RONDA N

AVY-STANDARD Insurance took every award and prize possible with Jan Paul Morales seizing the overall lead and Ronald Oranza taking the Stage One victory in the Mindanao Leg of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2016 at the Butuan City Hall, Butuan City, on Saturday.

Oranza took the 158.32-kilometer stage in four hours, four minutes and 15.01 seconds, besting teammates Jan Paul Morales and Daniel Ven Carino, who finished second and third in 4:04:15.19 and 4:04:15.32, respectively.

It was a dominating performance for the Navymen as they also took the fourth to eighth spots courtesy of team captain Lloyd Lucien Reynante (4:04:16.02), Joel Calderon (4:04:16.66), Jhon Mark Camingao (4:04:24.81), Rudy Roque (4:04:25.16) and El Joshua Carino (4:04:29.91).

James Paolo Ferfas, who is representing Team LCC Lutayan, and unaffiliated Peter Gregorio prevented a sweep of the top 10 by checking in ninth and 10th with clockings of 4:17:49.82 and 4:20:38.32.

It was just one of the many victories

by Navy in Ronda’s sixth edition presented

by LBC and LBC Express, sanctioned by PhilCycling and sponsored by Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation, Petron and Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp., with Maynilad

and Nlex as minor sponsors. Morales took the sprint lap, while Reynate topped the King of the Mountain race in the stage, enough to catapult the two to the overall lead.

Since this year’s edition is employing a new scoring system that gives equivalent points to a certain finish, Morales amassed 20 points to take the leader’s red jersey, while Reynante is a point behind with 19.

Rounding up the top 10 in the overall standings were Daniel Ven Carino (eight points), Calderon (six), Camingao (five), El Joshua Carino (four), Ferfas (two) and Gregorio (one).

Camingao, who was born in Davao but grew up in Taytay, Rizal, for his part, also took the top best local award, which is given to cyclists who hail from Mindanao, ahead of Ferfas and Gregorio.

Because of the Navy’s impressive showing, it won a whopping P59,000 just in this stage.

“I was expecting it because we came prepared,” Reynante said.

For Oranza, he came through with his thirdlap victory after six editions of this annual race, considered the biggest in the country today.

“I’m just happy the whole team did well,” said Oranza, whose best finish was third overall in the third staging three years ago.

Expect another Navy juggernaut in Sunday’s 3.71-km Stage Two criterium.

ENFORCERS SHOCK BEERMEN

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AHINDRA kept its pose down the stretch and stunned Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer, 102-96, for its second win in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan City.

Aldrech Ramos set the tempo for the Enforcers, unloading 19 of his team-high 26 points in the first half, but Mahindra needed clutch baskets from Niño Canaleta and LA Revilla to preserve the victory.

Ramos was perfect from the three-point zone in the first half, hitting all of his five threepointers before finishing six-of-seven from the rainbow territory.

Revilla finished with 19 markers, while Enforcers import Augustus Gilchrist had a steady game with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Canaleta also had 15 including three straight crucial three-pointers that put the momentum back to Mahindra.

“It was a very tough game for us coming from a loss. We just need that mental

toughness,” Enforcers Assistant Coach Chito Victolero said.

“My players stepped up especially KG [Canaleta]. Again we need to be consistent and just reminded to do the little things like boxing out, rebound and extra pass,” he added.

Mahindra improved to 2-1 and denied the Beermen of a strong start in the tournament.

Last season, after winning the Philippine Cup, San Miguel was booted out in the mid-season conference. Tyler Wilkerson had a solid debut for the Beermen with 29 points and 12 rebounds but had a crucial turnover late in the game when the team was staging the comeback.

Arwind Santos chipped in 17, while Marcio Lassiter had 14. Reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo had eight markers in just 23 minutes of play.

Canaleta’s three straight triples gave Mahindra a 93-86, but the Beermen kept on coming back the last time at 90-93 on Wilkerson’s three-point play with 2:43 remaining. Joel Orellana

Cyclists pass by the majestic Mayon Volcano in Barangay Libod, Camalig, in Albay, during Stage Three of the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas. Australian Wesley Sulzberger of Japan Kinan Cycling Team won the 185.79-kilometer Stage Three that started in Daet and ended in Legazpi City. NONIE REYES

AUSSIE RULES STAGE 3 A

USTRALIAN Wesley Sulzberger of Japan-based Kinan Cycling Team displayed his endurance skills to the hilt as he ruled a taxing Stage Three challenge on Saturday afternoon, but his efforts were hardly felt by the pacesetters in the 2016 Le Tour de Filipinas.

Disappointed with his performance in Stage Two on Friday when he finished 25th overall with the main bunch, Sulzberger, 29, immediately broke away 8 kilometers into the stage at the Bicol National Park in Legazpi City, kept control of the lead pack and blew past Attaque Team Gusto’s Guy Kalma in the final 300 meters to secure his breakthrough lap victory in the annual race presented by Air21.

“Today was a very, very long breakaway.

My legs were good from the start for me to go straightaway and it was easy for me,” said Sulzberger, who negotiated the arduous 185.79-km journey from Daet, Camarines Norte, in four hours, 27 minutes and 55 seconds, two ticks ahead of Kalma.

7-Eleven/Sava RBP’s Baler Ravina, the 2012 Le Tour champion, came in at third, 20 seconds off the pace, in the company of Terengganu’s British rider Daniel Whitehouse, while

Christopher Williams of Novo Nordisk finished fifth overall with a stage clocking of 4:28:20.

Their efforts, however, failed to create any major impact on the top individual standings as yellow jersey holder Oleg Zemlyakov, the Lucena-Daet stage winner, and Vino 4ever Sko teammate Yevgeniy Gidich stuck with the peloton majority of the way and checked in three minutes and 10 seconds behind Sulzberger.

Vino 4ever Sko Team Manager Sergey Danniker later admitted Zemlyakov, 22, and his fellow Kazakh youngsters didn’t even try to make any attacks, apparently preserving their energy for the final push on Sunday, an outand-back 160.20-km challenge circling around the majestic Mayon Volcano.

“Control the race and control the time,” was how Danniker summed up the game plan of the Kazakhstan-based squad, which is being supported by 2012 London Olympics road race gold medalist Alexander Vinokourov.

“Tomorrow [Sunday] we will protect the yellow jersey.”

Zemlyakov, who will join Vinokourov’s Astana Pro Team next year, has accumulated a total clocking of 13 hours, 43 minutes and

LADY EAGLES DOWN LADY FALCONS TO STAY UNBEATEN

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TENEO de Manila remained unbeaten and kept the solo lead after soaring over Adamson University in straight sets, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16, in University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Eagles stretched their unbeaten start to five games and extended their winning streak to 23 dating back in Season 76.

But Ateneo Team Captain Alyssa Valdez said they have not achieved anything yet.

“It’s still a long way. Still one game at a time, even if two games [to go] for this round,” Valdez said. “[There’s still] next round, that’s the bad news and good news for everyone.”

“As much as possible we want to maintain our consistency, lessen our errors and perform as a team,” she added. “It’s hard [the season is] still long and the teams perform differently.

We could not say what would happen in our coming games.”

Valdez had another day in the office with 23 hits on 19 attacks and four service aces.

“Jia [Morado] distributed the ball well and gave us good plays. Our first ball and defense just clicked,” the two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player said. “But really Adamson did not give up. Until the very end they fought.”

Morado had 16 excellent sets. The Lady Eagles also had an impressive floor defense with 10 excellent digs compared to Adamson’s seven and had 11 excellent receptions compared to the six of their opponent.

“We’re really just gonna learn from the things that happened and for sure Adamson will also learn from it and will bring the experience in the coming round.”

After a convincing first-set win, the gritty

Adamson’s Fenela Emnas (8) denies Alyssa Valdez (2) of Ateneo from scoring. ROY DOMINGO

Lady Falcons gave them a neck-and-neck battle in the second set and tied the game at 23 apiece. But Adamson committed back-toback errors to surrender the set.

The defending champions waxed hot in the third set with a 16-5 start, but the Lady Falcons kept them within striking distance by cutting it down to 20-14. However, the Lady Eagles caught fire through the punishing blows of Valdez and never looked back to inch closer of sweeping the first round of the Season 78.

Adamson fell to 1-4 in the standings. Jema

Galanza led the Lady Falcons with 11 hits—all came from kills, while May roque added 10 in a losing effort.

In men’s action, National University notched the solo lead after dispatching University of the East in straight sets, 25-14, 25-23, 25-21.

Far Eastern University charged to the solo third spot after eluding University of Santo Tomas in tight four sets, 25-21, 2426, 31-29, 25-21.

The Tamaraws improved to 3-2, while the Growling Tigers slid to 1-4. Lance Agcaoili

22 seconds, still keeping a 19-second gap on Gidich in the individual general classification.

7-Eleven’s Australian rider Jesse James Ewart remained at third, 22 seconds behind Zemlyakov, while Terengganu’s Mongolian bet Batmunkh Maral-Erdene stayed at fourth (13:43:45) and Bridgestone Anchor’s Japanese rider Ryu Suzuki at fifth (13:44:47).

A pair of homegrown riders remains in contention for the coveted yellow jersey, with 7-Eleven’s Marcelo Felipe at seventh spot, one minute and 25 seconds behind Zemlyakov, and Philippine national team’s Rustom Lim moving up one spot to ninth, two minutes and four ticks adrift.

Vino 4ever Sko also remained in control of the team general classifications with a clocking of 41:13:59, at least five minutes and 16 seconds ahead of 7-Eleven/Sava RBP and Malayasia’s Terengganu Cycling Team.

Reigning individual champion Thomas Lebas continued to struggle as the French finished three minutes and 20 seconds off the pace, virtually putting him out of contention while assuring a new champion in the only International Cycling Union (UCI) race in the country organized by Ube Media Inc. headed

by President Donna Lina.

While the leaders opted to stay in cruise control, Sulzberger took advantage and ignited an early breakaway, allowing him to jump from 25th overall to 13th, while cutting an over 10-minute deficit to just 6:45 ahead of the final stage, highlighted by four King of the Mountain battles and as many sprint challenges.

“Today, I just tried and went for the stage victory to recover from some of my disappointments yesterday,” said Sulzberger, who has already earned 13 UCI points in the race which has Petron, MVP Sports Foundation and Smart as principal sponsors. “This is my first time here in the Philippines and my first win for 2016 so I am very happy.”

Although he has less than 24 hours left to recover, Sulzberger feels good about his chances in the final stage of the event also supported by Cargohaus, NMM, UFL, Philippine Airlines, Collab Printing Solutions, Autonation, Orangefix and Phenom as major sponsors.

“I prefer tomorrow’s stage. I like circuits with climbs. I just hope I’m not too tired after winning Stage Three,” said the Launceston, Tasmania Australia native.

Lady Troopers too much for Movers

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C Cola-Army dispatched new comer F2 Logistics in straight sets, 25-22, 25-12, 25-19, to grab the solo lead of the Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational 2016 on Saturday at Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan.

Buoyed by their straightsets win against Grand Prix champions Foton last time out, the Lady Troopers were once again unstoppable with their game to notch their second straight win.

Lady Trooper Rachel Anne Daquis scored 17 points on 15 kills and two blocks to lead the charge of her team. Honey Royse Tubino chipped in 13 hits, while team captain Jovelyn Gonzaga added 11.

“So far, we did our game plan, applied the things we practiced yesterday in the scrimmage on how to prepare against F2 because we know how strong they are in offense

and defense,” said Army Assistant Coach Rico de Guzman, who subbed for mentor Kungfu Reyes.

Reyes was with the University of Santo Tomas in University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

De Guzman leaned on the solid attacks of his troops, led by the duo of Daquis and Gonzaga, leading the 51 kills to out spike Cargo Movers’ 27. “So far I’m speechless and happy with the performance of the team.

The younger players have been stepping up for the veterans,” de Guzman added.

The Cargo Movers slid to 1-1.

They beat fellow newcomer San Jose Builders, 25-23, 25-10, 25-4, at the start of the tournament on Thursday. No F2 Logistics player hit double figures. Pau Soriano and Aby Marano had nine points apiece, while Danika Gendrauli and Therese Veronas finished with seven each. Lance Agcaoili

Fighting Maroons notch first win in UAAP football

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NIVERSITY of the Philippines subdued University of the East, 2-0, to claim its first win in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 men’s football tournament on Saturday at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

Raphael Resuma’s 18th minute strike from an assist by Roland Saavedra opened the scoring for the Fighting Maroons.

Vincent Aguilar then blasted a late goal, scoring it straight to the bottom right corner in

the 89th minute to clinch it for UP. The Maroons, who missed rookie JB Borlongan and Christian Lapas due to national U19 duties in China, now has four points in fifth place.

The Red Warriors, who have yet to score a goal this season, remained at one point.

Defending champion Far Eastern University and De La Salle clash in a rematch of last season’s finals at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Taguig venue.

National University and University of Santo Tomas face off in the day’s other match at 7 p.m. Still the remaining unbeaten teams in the league, the Bulldogs and the Green Archers, are on top of the table with seven points, with the Bustillos-based booters ahead in goals.

The Tamaraws and the Growling Tigers are tied with five points in joint third, drawing twice and winning once.

Last placed squads Adamson University and Ateneo were still playing as of presstime.

Sports THE BIG LEAP M BusinessMirror

A8 | S

unday, February 21, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

Kokrak takes lead; Spieth out

Receiver Goodwin out to grab long-jump gold in Rio

ARQUISE Goodwin’s mind really isn’t on touchdowns at the moment. A gold medal in Rio? Now, that would be quite a grab for a wide receiver who spends his free time doubling as a long jumper.

Instead of trying to outrun cornerbacks and avoid hard-hitting tacklers this summer, the Buffalo Bills wideout hopes to be sharing at least a sliver of the spotlight with Usain Bolt.

The 25-year-old from Texas fully intends to be a member of the US track-and-field team heading to the Olympics in August. He has already alerted the Bills that he might not be available when the hitting starts at training camp.

If necessary, his track coach, 2004 Olympic long-jump champion Dwight Phillips, is even willing to write a “please-let-Marquise-out-oftraining-camp-early” note. Goodwin doesn’t think his football coach, Rex Ryan, will have any qualms.

Goodwin wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan showed up in the stands to watch the receiver/ kick returner compete in what could be his second straight Olympics.

“That would be great,” Goodwin said in a phone interview. “Coach [Ryan] is all about making history.”

Four years ago, Goodwin finished 10th at the London Games.

This summer, he’s hoping to follow in a

long line of pro football players who’ve come home with a medal from the Olympics—Bob Hayes, Jim Thorpe, Milt Campbell, Michael Carter and Bo Roberson—to name a few.

Asked if he viewed himself as more of a receiver/kick returner than a long jumper—or perhaps the reverse—and Goodwin chuckled.

Not only was he a deep threat and an electric kickoff returner for the University of Texas, he also was a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion.

“I’m just an athlete,” said Goodwin, who was married last weekend to hurdler Morgan Snow. “I’m not labeled as one or the other.

I’m not limited to running or jumping or catching footballs.”

As a teenager, Goodwin placed a photo of a certain athlete inside his locker for motivation.

It wasn’t Jerry Rice or even Emmitt Smith, who was one of his favorites growing up.

No, this was a photo of Phillips, a fourtime world champion who now oversees his training program.

“I wanted to compete against him and be like him and beat him,” Goodwin said.

Phillips knew early on that Goodwin was someone to keep an eye on.

At the 2009 US championships, Phillips won the long jump with a leap of 28 feet, 1 1/2 inches (8.57 meters). But there was this teenager pushing him as Goodwin set the high-school mark by jumping 26-10 (8.18 meters).

“He beat a lot of professionals that day, so I

knew that he had great ability,” Phillips said. “I said I’m going to have him on my forecast over the next six to eight years, because I expect him to eventually win the Olympic gold.”

Imagine if Goodwin spent all his time training for the long jump. He can’t, though.

He enjoys football too much—even if it hasn’t been exactly kind to him in recent seasons.

Goodwin broke his ribs in a preseason game against Pittsburgh last year. When he returned, he hurt them again in a game against Cincinnati. Only he didn’t say anything at first. He tried to play through the pain.

“I have the track label on me. I’m the track guy,” said Goodwin, who ran a blazing 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the National Football League combine before being selected by Buffalo in the third round of the 2013 draft. “So I have to go above and beyond the expectations of what other people will limit their bodies to.”

Those ribs are healed now. It’s time to give the long jump his full attention.

See, during football season he’s “100-percent football.” Good thing his workouts actually do help out in track.

Typically, he will go through speed drills, do some sled work and then lift. That all carries over to the sand pit.

Still, there’s no substitute for actual competition. Last summer at nationals, Goodwin competed again for the first time in

nearly three years. Although rusty, he finished fourth and just missed out on making the world team for Beijing.

To get competition-sharp this winter, Goodwin is participating in a few indoor meets. He will take part in nationals next month in Portland, Oregon, hoping to qualify for world indoors.

Of course, his bigger goal is the Olympic Trials in July. To earn one of the three long-jump spots, Goodwin will probably need to leap about a yard short of a first down.

The Bills have been supportive of his longjump endeavors. When Goodwin won a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last July, his receivers coach was in the stands to cheer.

Ryan told the team’s web site last summer that he wouldn’t be bothered should Goodwin miss time for an international meet such as the Olympics.

“Hopefully he gets an opportunity to represent our country in the Olympics,” Ryan said at the time. “That would be terrific.”

Goodwin appreciates the support.

“Coach trusts I’ll be ready to come back to football when I come back to football,” Goodwin said. “I’ll be ready to go when it’s time to go.” AP

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Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquise Goodwin hopes to deliver gold for United States as a long jumper in Rio Olympics. AP

LILLARD STUNS CHAMPS P

ORTLAND, Oregon—Portland’s Damian Lillard scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Trail Blazers to a stunningly dominant 137-105 victory over the National Basketball Association (NBA)-leading Golden State Warriors on Friday.

The Warriors lost for only the fifth time this season, and looked well below their best in their first game back from the All-Star break.

Golden State was one of three divisional leaders to lose on the day; Oklahoma City was beaten at home

by Indiana, and Toronto was defeated by an undermanned Chicago.

In another key result, Miami

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard torches the league-leading Golden State Warriors with a career-high 51 points. AP

won at Atlanta to leave the teams in a virtual tie atop the Southeast Division.

Portland’s C.J. McCollum added 21 points for the in-form Blazers, who have won nine of 10 to improve to 28-27, the first time they’ve been over a .500 winning percentage since they were 3-2 last November 4.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points and five assists, but it was not nearly enough to prevent an end to the team’s 11-game winning streak.

The Blazers used a stifling defense throughout the game, but especially in the third quarter when they forced the defending champions into 13 turnovers.

Indiana’s Monta Ellis scored 27 points to help the Pacers win 101-98 at Oklahoma City.

Paul George had 22 points and 10 assists for the Pacers.

Kevin Durant had 31 points, while Russell Westbrook contributed a careerhigh 18 assists for the Thunder, who suffered a surprising home loss after coming into the game with 14 wins from their previous 16.

Chicago shook off the absence of three players, and a five-game losing skid, to beat Toronto 116-106.

Doug McDermott had a career-high 30 points and Derrick Rose scored 26 points for a Bulls team minus Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah because of injuries.

Kyle Lowry had 27 points for the Raptors.

Miami also won in the absence of key players, taking a 115-111 victory at Atlanta.

The Heat are without Chris Bosh due to a blood clot, and also lost Dwyane Wade just before the game due to knee soreness.

Luol Deng stepped up in their absence as he scored 30 points and Josh McRoberts had 19; season highs for each player.

Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 23 points.

Utah’s Derrick Favors had 23 points and 10 rebounds to help the Jazz beat Boston 111-93.

Gordon Hayward added 22 points for the Jazz which got back to an even 27-27 record.

Isaiah Thomas had 25 points for the Celtics, who missed a good chance to make

up ground on Toronto in the Atlantic.

San Antonio beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-113 in the final matchup between Kobe Bryant and longtime Western Conference adversary Tim Duncan.

Bryant and Duncan have each led their clubs to five NBA titles and have at least one league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award to their credit—in addition to MVP of the Finals and All-Star Game MVP. Bryant, who is retiring at season’s end, had 25 points in 29 minutes for the Lakers.

Duncan finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Tony Parker scored 25 points to help San Antonio complete a four-game season sweep. The Spurs moved within three games of defending champion Golden State in the race for the league’s best record.

Orlando’s Victor Oladipo had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and hit the three-pointer that put the Magic ahead for good in overtime against Dallas en route to a 110-104 win.

The Mavericks overcame an early 21-point deficit to lead by as many as 14 and broke a franchise record with 19 3-pointers, but lost for the fifth time in six games.

Deron Williams scored 25 points for Dallas and Chandler Parsons added 24, and the pair combined to make 11-of-16 three-pointers.

Nik Vucevic led the Magic with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington led throughout and eased up in beating Detroit 98-86, led by John Wall’s 22 points.

Charlotte’s Kemba Walker scored 25 points as the Hornets edged Milwaukee 9895 despite leaving out newly acquired guard Courtney Lee due to lack of training time with the team.

Memphis’s Mike Conley had 25 points as the Grizzlies defeated Minnesota 109-104.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins had 37 points and 20 rebounds in a strong performance that led the Kings past Denver 116-110.

Houston’s James Harden had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 116-100 win against free-falling Phoenix, which has lost 25 of 27.

Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez scored 33 points as the Nets beat New York 109-98 to hand the Knicks their seventh straight loss.

New Orleans’s Anthony Davis scored 18 of his 34 points in the first quarter to set up a 121-114 win against Philadelphia. AP

U.S. athletes Sam Dorman and Kristian Ipsen dive in the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard during the International Swimming Federation World Diving Cup. AP

U.S. DIVERS QUALIFY IN RIO

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IO DE JANEIRO—The United States has qualified for two synchronized diving events at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Amy Cozad and Jessica Parratto finished fourth in women’s synchronized 10-meter, while Sam Dorman and Kristian Ipsen rallied to place sixth and take the final spot in men’s synchronized 3-meter at the International Swimming Federation Diving World Cup on Friday. The meet was held at

the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, which will be the diving venue for the Summer Games.

The top 4 countries not yet qualified in those events earned Olympic berths in the final qualifying meet for diving. The US will select its synchro teams in June at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis.

The US men took bronze in 3-meter synchro at the 2012 London Olympics, where Ipsen teamed with Troy Dumais. AP

NO SWEAT: NADAL IN RIO SEMIS

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IO DE JANEIRO—Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rio Open on Friday without hitting a shot.

The top seed moved on after his quarterfinal opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine withdrew before the clay-court match with a shoulder injury.

Tournament organizers said Dolgopolov hurt his shoulder in a doubles match on Thursday.

Nadal’s semifinal opponent will be Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who defeated Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-4, 7-6 (4). The match was delayed for 2-1/2 hours with Delbonis leading 4-2 in the second set.

No. 5 Dominic Thiem upset No. 2 David

Ferrer 6-3, 6-2. The 22-year-old Austrian won the Buenos Aires title last week— beating Nadal in the semifinals—and is the youngest player in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) top 20 rankings.

Thiem will face Guido Pella of Argentina in the semis. He defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, but Thiem will be a strong favorite to reach the final.

On the women’s side of the ATP-Women’s Tennis Association event, Petra Martic of Croatia defeated No. 6 Lara Arruabarrena 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, to reach the semifinals. In another upset, Sorana Cirstea of Romania defeated No. 3 Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2, to eliminate the last seeded player from the tournament. AP

OS ANGELES—Jason Kokrak sensed something special was about to happen, and he could point to his name atop the leaderboard on Friday in the Northern Trust Open.

For so many others, Friday was something out of the ordinary.

Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 1 player, made eight birdies and missed the cut by five shots. Charl Schwartzel made a double bogey and a triple bogey—the latter when a shot hit him in the hand—and still shot 68 to remain in contention. Padraig Harrington realized during the round he was wearing someone else’s right shoe. Brendon de Jonge was penalized four shots because he left a wedge in his bag that had been damaged the day before.

Kokrak made birdie on all the par 5s at Riviera on his way to a seven-under 64 to build a one-shot lead over Chez Reavie (67) going into the weekend. Kokrak has never won on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour, though power can go a long way on this course under these conditions and he has plenty of it.

“It’s been a struggle to learn how to play this golf course,” said Kokrak, who has not finished in the top 30 in his four previous tries. “It’s old school. It’s very hard. But it’s right there in front of you. If I can hit the driver a little bit straighter and keep it in the fairway, it’s a huge advantage for me.”

He was at 10-under 132.

There was plenty of power around the top of the leaderboard.

Dustin Johnson (66) and Bubba Watson (68) were in the group at eight -under 134.

Johnson has been the runner-up at Riviera each of the last two years, while Watson won the Northern Trust Open two years ago with a 64-64 weekend. Rory McIlroy (69) and Adam Scott (68) were four shots behind.

Johnson was hitting the driver so well that after a high cut that went 332 yards on the 12th hole, he decided to try the same shot on the 13th. He took it over the eucalyptus trees on the 458-yard hole, leaving only a sand wedge from 116 yards.

He wound up making par, and making an impression on Adam Scott.

“Fourth hole of our day, he’s swinging like it’s 95 degrees and midday somewhere,” Scott said. “I was looking for another cup of coffee and he’s piping it over the trees on 13. The way he drives the golf ball is just unreal. He’s an incredible talent and fun to play with, fun to watch.”

Watson was far more boring. He opened with two birdies, added another on the par4 eighth and filled his flawless card with 15 pars. He doesn’t mind boring as long as he’s not making bogeys, and that was quite a feat in the afternoon when the poa greens are so bumpy that putts roll like they have mud on the ball.

Schwartzel was anything but boring.

He had seven birdies and an eagle, which helped soothe the aggravation of two holes.

He caught a plugged lie in a bunker on the treacherous 10th to start his round and made double bogey. He followed with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 first, only to make triple bogey on No. 2 when his tee shot hit a cart path and was next to the out-of-bounds fence. Trying to chip out a few yards, the ball bounced up and hit him in the hand.

“Those two holes were just out of the blue,” Schwartzel said. “I don’t feel like I did that much wrong with them. And if it wasn’t for them, I’d probably be top of the leaderboard again.”

He is coming off a victory last week in South Africa, and the 10-hour time change explains why he was a bit groggy for his afternoon tee time. Even so, he was in the large group at six-under 136 that included McIlroy, Scott, Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Justin Leonard (69).

McIlroy had a few careless three-putt bogeys, but he atoned for that with a majestic 3-wood up the hill from 285 yards to 20 feet for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 17th.

Spieth was a long shot to make the cut after opening with a 79, but he at least made it interesting with four straight birdies around the turn. That ended with a bogey, and he left California in good spirits. “We’ll be fine,” he said. AP