Businessmirror february 28, 2016

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Oldest PHL mosque gets ₧77.6-M devt help

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY— The country’s oldest mosque, located in Tawi-Tawi, has been allotted P77.6 million in tourism-support funding, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said last week.

The bulk of the funding would go to road construction leading to the Sheikh Karim-ul Makhdum Mosque, including “several other infrastructure projects within its periphery,” said Don Mustapha Loong, secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways-ARMM (DPWH-ARMM).

“We are investing on the roads leading to Sheikh Makhdum, as well as in its periphery, because we believe in the tourism potential of southern Mindanao,” Loong said.

The Sheikh Makhdum Mosque was erected in 1380, in the small fishing village of Tubig Bohe, Indangan, in Simunul town in TawiTawi province, the ARMM Bureau of Public Information said.

The mosque was declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission and a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum.

Loong said the infrastructure projects would be built by the local government unit of Simunul after it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with his agency on February 22.

The project is expected to be completed in six months.

Tourists often visit the mosque that Sheikh Karim-ul Makhdum, one of the best known among the 14th-century Arab traders.

See “Mosque,” A2

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, February 28, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 143

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

BSP expects ‘tame inflation’ in February T

By Bianca Cuaresma

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is still expecting inflation to be tame in February this year, as food prices continue to be benign, coupled with the effects of low oil prices on transportation fares for the country.

In a recent message sent to reporters, BSP Gov. Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said inflation for February could have settled within the 0.9 percent-to-1.7 percent range.

This means that inflation will still be below the government’s average target for the year, at 2 percent to 4 percent. It will also not deviate

TETANGCO: “Higher power rates and domestic prices of diesel and kerosene could exert upside pressure to inflation in February.”

much from the actual inflation print in January, at 1.3 percent.

“The fall in the prices of rice, gasoline and LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] and provisional rollback in jeepney fares in certain regions are seen to dampen inflation pressures for the month,” Tetangco said.

“However, higher power rates and domestic prices of diesel and kerosene could exert upside pressure to inflation in February,” he added.

Tetangco said that, while their February forecast on inflation is below the average inflation target for 2016, they still believe that inflation will go back to within target levels in future months of the year.

“The BSP will continue to monitor price trends and take necessary measures toward its commitment of price stability,” Tetangco said.

The BSP missed its inflation target in 2015 at 2 percent to 4 percent, only averaging at 1.4 percent during the year, due largely to the extraordinarily low prices of oil during the period.

See “Inflation,” A2

Brexit, refugees join G-20 worry list in draft communiquÉ

T

HE Group of 20 (G-20) added a potential Brexit and an escalating refugee crisis to its long worry list, even as it argued that recent market volatility didn’t reflect global-growth momentum.

In a draft of the communiqué obtained by Bloomberg News, the G-20 members agreed to use monetary, fiscal and structural tools to boost growth and “calibrate and clearly communicate” their policies. Underscoring concerns over the limitations

of central bank-led stimulus, “monetary policy alone cannot lead to balanced growth,” the document said.

See “Brexit,” A2

Syria aid conference seeks donations Britain’s prime minister says a major international donor conference in London has raised more than $10 billion to help millions of Syrians displaced by war. Doners from 70 countries pledged $6 billion for 2016, with another $5 billion committed by the year 2020.

Funding and targets for UN appeal (in billions) Received

66%

Target

56%

58%

funded

72%

$9

$7.21

$5.9

funded

70%

funded

funded

$4.3

funded

$0.83

THE END OF PANAGBENGA Grade-school students in the City of Pines dance their

Correspondent

B

AUANG, La Union—This town was the site of a burgeoning beach-resort industry in the 1970s, under the stewardship of then-Tourism Minister

PESO exchange rates n US 47.6770

$3.4

$4.02

$6

2013

2014

2015

2016

(in millions)

$315 $259.6

United States

La Union beach resorts dying Jose Aspiras, a former newsman from coastal Agoo town who engineered the country’s hosting of the Miss Universe pageant during the early years of that decade.

By the 1980s, during the last days of the Marcos regime, few visitors came to visit the famed

$3.1

2012

Largest sources of funding in 2015

hearts out during the street-dance competition held on Saturday on Baguio City’s main thoroughfare. The festivities this weekend mark the end of the monthlong celebration of Panagbenga, capped by the float parade and competition held today, Sunday. MAU VICTA

By Orly Guirao

$0.24

and commercialized beach resorts of Bauang. There were even fewer visitors to the other coastal villages lining the whole length of the province, the ones that retained their pristine beauty.

Now, the tourism industry in See “La Union,” A2

United Kingdom Donors not specified Kuwait European Commission Germany Norway Central Emergency Response Fund Canada Source: AP, FTS Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

Japan

$122.3 $103.6 $84.5 $35.7 $33.4 $29.9 $27.2 $24.3

n japan 0.4224 n UK 66.5809 n HK 6.1366 n CHINA 7.2963 n singapore 34.0380 n australia 34.3519 n EU 52.6020 n SAUDI arabia 12.7169

Source: BSP (26 February 2016 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, February 28, 2016

Brexit…

Continued from a1

Finance chiefs from the G-20 nations agreed to “consult closely” on foreign-exchange markets, warning that excessive volatility can hurt financial and economic stability. The group promised to improve their monitoring of capital flows in an effort to identify potential risks sooner and reiterated past pledges to refrain from competitive devaluations.

“It doesn’t seem the meeting offers concrete, deliverable or coherent solutions to boost growth,” said Raymond Yeung, senior economist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. “I doubt whether it will have a meaningful impact on the market in the near term.”

Steep losses on global stock markets and volatility in currencies this year fueled calls for G-20 members to do more to stoke economic growth and bolster stability.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month trimmed its global growth projections and said 2016 would be a “year of great challenges.”

La Union…

the province is virtually dead, save for the surf haven in San Juan, some 15 kilometers from here.

It’s only the fat waves in the small coastal village of Urbistondo in San Juan that continue to make tourism pulsate.

The only magnet that complements the surfing come-on is the

Central bankers and finance ministers from the G-20 advanced and emerging nations are gathered for talks in Shanghai, with a final communique expected at the conclusion of sessions on Saturday.

A person familiar with the drafting said the version obtained by Bloomberg News was likely to see only minor revisions.

Key economic risks also include escalated geopolitical tensions, a large drop in commodity prices and volatile capital flows, according to the document.

“While recognizing these challenges, we nevertheless judge that the magnitude of recent market volatility has not reflected the underlying fundamentals of the global economy,” the draft read. “We expect activity to continue to expand at a moderate pace in most advanced economies, and growth in key emerging market economies remains strong.”

“The global recovery continues, but it remains uneven and falls short of our ambition for strong, sustainable and balanced growth,” the draft

Continued from a1

casino at the Thunderbird Hotel in the capital city of San Fernando.

The beach resorts here, which used to roll the red carpet for tourism, are now gasping for air.

This was the assessment made by hotelier and former La Union Gov. Robert Dulay in an interview on Saturday at the Long Beach Resort his

said. The communiqué also stressed the importance of a safety net for the global financial system.

On its list of downside risks and vulnerabilities, the draft noted “the shock of a potential UK exit from the European Union” in the seventh line of its text.

Such prominent inclusion in the final document would mark a win for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who had sought to rally international finance chiefs behind the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union. The chances of the UK voting to leave the EU climbed after London Mayor Boris Johnson backed the exit, according to some analyst estimates.

The “large and increasing number of refugees in some regions” was also flagged high in the draft. European officials are struggling to solve the worst migration crisis since World War II, with Slovenia and Croatia this week cutting the number of refugees they’ll let across their borders, potentially bottling up migrants arriving in Greece in what that country’s government warned could create a humanitarian disaster.

Bloomberg News

family owns.

“The resort industry here is not comatose. It is dying,” said the hotelier, who is also a marine biologist.

Ninety-nine percent of all the beach resorts here are bleeding and have been up for sale, Dulay noted.

Some, including those owned by foreigners, have folded up.

There are over 100 resort hotels along a 4-km stretch of beach fronting the China Sea from the town

Mosque…

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Continued from a1

Inflation…

Continued from a1

The Department of TourismARMM annual report said the bulk of the increase in tourist arrivals came during the last quarter of the year, with the Agal-Agal Festival held to celebrate bountiful harvest of the seaweed carageenan, and the birth anniversary commemmorating Makhdum.

In 2015, 55,085 foreign and domestic tourists visited TawiTawi, with P965 million in tourism gross receipts. The figures showed a significant increase of 14.35 percent in tourist arrivals and 14.34 percent in gross receipts in the province, compared with the figures on the previous year.

Tawi-Tawi is the southernmost province in the country and covers small islands in the Sulu Sea and to the northwest, the Cagayan de TawiTawi Island and the Turtle Island.

For the entire ARMM in 2015, there were 192,307 tourist arrivals, which brought in more than P3 billion in tourism gross receipts spent mostly on cultural events; nature, sun and beach visits; and

diving, as well as marine sports and other relevant events.

The ARMM is composed of the mainland provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and the island-provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Loong said his office is providing more assistance to the tourism industry with the construction of access roads to tourism sites in the region. In September 2015 DPWHARMM started the construction of projects and development of Bud Bongao, Tawi-Tawi’s famous peak, worth P56 million. The projects include multipurpose hall, view deck, station point, concrete pathway, parking area and billboard.

Another P100 million was allotted for the improvement of the Lake Dapao Circumferential Road in Lanao del Sur. Five other MoAs for the construction of access roads and water systems, worth P66.93 million, were also inked between the ARMM government and three local government units in Lanao del Sur.

For this year, the BSP forecasts for inflation were revised downward, from the 2.4 percent forecast in the December meeting down to 2.2 percent for the February meeting.

The reduction in inflation rates has been attributed by Central Bank Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo to three reasons, including low oil prices, the recent reduction in transportation fares and the actual inflation turnout in recent months.

Guinigundo said crude-oil prices were “much lower” than their expectations, as such they revised the assumption they are using to $31.62 per barrel for 2016, from the earlier assumption of $44.90 per barrel. For 2017 their assumption was also downscaled to $37.53 per barrel, from $50.29 per barrel earlier.

The next meeting of the Monetary Board will be on March 23.

The Philippine Statistics Authority, meanwhile, is set to release February inflation numbers in the first week of March.

proper to the cove south of San Fernando City, and they are almost always empty, he added.

Not one of the resort owners has the means to solve the crisis, Dulay said. Tourists on their way to the surfing grounds in San Juan and farther north to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte now bypass the beaches of Bauang.

“We have nothing to offer other than the beaches. Even our beachfronts have disappeared, eaten up by incoming waves,” Dulay said, as he lamented that the government’s tourism agency has not lifted a finger to ease up the hoteliers’ sad plight.

“We’re paying the same real-

estate tax rate, in spite of vanishing income,” he said.

To reclaim Bauang’s lost glory, about P200 million is needed to build an artificial reef, 4 km in length from the end of a promontory at the edge of Poro Point, San Fernando, in the north to the waters west of the town proper of Bauang, he said. It will refill the eroded beaches, thus widening the beachcombing area.

The government is then expected to declare the whole area a “no-fishing” zone.

The artificial reef would serve several purposes. It will become a sanctuary for reef fishes that divers could catch by spear fishing when grown to harvestable sizes.

The reef, Dulay said, will transform the area into an exciting underwater sports hub. It is also seen creating big waves for surfing adventure.

With that facility, Bauang will be creating new attractions in addition to its present lure of simply frolicking or swimming in the beach.

The industry, however, does not have the resources to build a 4-km reef. It needs government support to realize the plan, Dulay said.

The other alternative is for a big investor to consolidate ownership of those resorts and then redevelop the place into a multipurpose rest, recreation, shopping and sports complex.

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, February 28, 2016 A3

MRT3 private owner: At least 9 months needed to rehabilitate, expand system

T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

HE private owner of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 proposed over the weekend to fix the train line for a period of at least nine months to bring service levels back to normal.

However, the government should agree to proposal first, before MRT Holdings Inc. (MRTH) could implement the multibillion-peso rehabilitation project that the owners said will be at no cost to the state.

“Let the private sector implement its proposal. We could basically bring back the ridership level in a period of nine months to a year,” Robert John L. Sobpreña, MRTH chairman, said in an interview.

Currently, the train system serves about 300,000 commuters daily, below its rated capacity of 350,000 passengers a day, since it is only running at a little more than half of its capacity, as its trains have either been cannibalized for parts or are simply not working.

Hence, the congestion being experienced by commuters on a daily

basis. “Within a period of 12 months, we will do rapid overhauling. We will also change the 19 kilometers of rail that are now dilapidated. Sumitomo Corp. and Mitsubishi will be tapped for this project precisely because they built the system, they know its intricacies more than anyone in the world,” Sobrepeña said.

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

Under the proposal, a single point of responsibility will be implemented: The rehabilitation and the

maintenance of the line will be handled by a single company.

Sobrepeña said the same proposal was sent to the Department of Transportation and Communications in 2012, but offers to develop the line were already in place even before President Aquino took office in 2010.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya has yet to reply to this proposal, but said the government is not bent on implementing unsolicited offers.

Two other proposals to fix the train line were sent to the transport department.

Under its proposal, the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, which earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, intends to spend $524 million to overhaul the line.

This amount, which will be shouldered by Metro Pacific Investments Corp., will be used to expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more people at faster intervals.

The multimillion-dollar expansion plan would double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day, from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

Also, when executed, the project

will effectively release the government from paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments.

It was submitted in 2011, but then Transportation Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II rejected the proposal. The infrastructure giant submitted a revised proposal to the Congress in 2014.

On the other hand, German companies Schunk Bahn-und Industrietechnik GmbH and HEAG Mobilo GmbH are seeking to place whole train system under a

massive transformation program to augment its capacity and to provide a safe and comfortable travel to commuters.

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

modernization of the conveyance system; and a three-year maintenance contract.

Under the amended build-operate- transfer law, the government has to inform the proponent whether it accepts or rejects an unsolicited proposal within 120 days.

The government has programmed a P9.7-billion multiyear program to enhance the service levels of the MRT. This includes the procurement of new train cars to expand the capacity of the rail facility.

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, February 28, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

editorial

The future we want

T

HERE has so far been one presidential debate, with two more scheduled in the next few weeks. But the first debate has painted in clear strokes what awaits us in the next six years: More of the same of the six years that are now sliding uncelebrated into the past—unemployment, poverty, economic stagnation, political paralysis.

It is not likely that the succeeding debates will outline a different picture— that of a Philippines surging forward to economic success—of a population reaching upward in living standards, and of political institutions functioning like clockwork.

Something is wrong with the candidates. Or something is wrong with the debate format. In either case, we didn’t find the free-for-all edifying. The commercials and the info-ads for the candidates added to our discomfiture.

Perhaps, there is also something wrong with us. If we had an expectation of high intellectual exchange among the candidates, we didn’t show it. We seemed to regard the debate with levity, as just another talk show. And yet, we are capable of scaling great heights, achieving high objectives, and thinking seriously about things that matter.

This being an election year for the next six years, it is as good a time as any to figure out what we can do to bring about the kind of future we want.

If we can make our economy grow at an average of 7 percent per year, net of population growth, our GNI per capita of $2,780 in 2014 will increase to $4,782 in 2022.

In the transition to that higher status, we will be able to begin solving many of the problems that now afflict us. We can reduce poverty in our country; bring down open unemployment to half its current rate of 6 percent; eliminate underemployment altogether; and build many of the social facilities our people need. If we can sustain this increase in production over a long period of time, we can raise the people’s standard of living, including the standards of those at the bottom of the income pyramid, saving them from grinding out their lives fighting off starvation and disease. Indeed, we can forever banish the poverty that now blights the lives of millions of our people.

Let’s concentrate on making this happen.

In the meanwhile, we are burdened with dysfunctional political institutions: An executive who cannot be removed from office, even if he is the most incompetent in the world; a legislative prone to dictation by the executive; subordinate offices that have no power to decide what is in the best interest of their constituents, even a constitution whose fundamental principles are being questioned as to their pertinence to current global concerns. Let’s deal with these problems as soon as we can.

The next six years will not give us the length of time we need to complete ambitious programs of development, but they will give us the opportunity to resume our broken journey. Let’s begin building the future we want.

For WCKF, the 51st IEC was a source of pride, an affair to remember

A

GATHERING of the people of God from all over the world to reflect and celebrate the Last Supper, the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), recently held in Cebu City, has become a source of pride and summit of Christian life for the Wong Chu King Foundation Inc. (WCKF) and 41 other organizations, firms, families and millions of devotees.

Database

By Cecilio T. Arillo

Gospel

Sunday, February 28, 2016

The last IEC was in Dublin, Ireland, in 2012. This important gathering is normally held every four years since the first congress in Lille, France, in 1881.

As decided by the Vatican Commission, Pope Benedict XVI, in a broadcasted message during the Statio Orbis Mass in Dublin on June 17, 2012, on the culmination of the 50th IEC, announced: “I would like to invite you to join me in praying for God’s blessing upon the next Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2016 in the City of Cebu.”

Most Rev. Jose S. Palma said in his message on May 29, 2015, the proclamation by then-Pope Benedict XVI got the Archdiocese of Cebu, together with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, moving to prepare for this historical event. The Committee on Finance took center stage and captured a singular focus of concerns and challenges, as it was then tasked to help raise funds to cover the expense in the whole international gathering.

To respond to the enormous call and task to raise funds, Msgr.

Roberto F. Alesna, the appointed chairman of the IEC 2016 Committee on Finance-Cebu, together with its officers and members, thought of a grandiose scheme—that is, to ask

T

Most Rev. Jose S. Palma said in his message on May 29, 2015, the proclamation by then-Pope Benedict XVI got the Archdiocese of Cebu, together with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, moving to prepare for this historical event. The Committee on Finance took center stage and captured a singular focus of concerns and challenges, as it was then tasked to help raise funds to cover the expense in the whole international gathering.

well-minded people to sponsor the features for a considerable amount inside the project called EukaristiyaGarden of Thanksgiving.

Thus, the WCKF came in and offered its support wholeheartedly. As mentioned by Fr. Jose Quilongquilong, WCKF officers and volunteers visited Cebu in September 2015 when they offered to make the event successful, in addition to their support of numerous charitable projects, including refurbishing and rebuilding old churches, and providing financial and material aids to needy people.

On January 23 the congress organizers listed the WCKF third in the roster of 42 foundations, firms, families and individuals who responded to the call to make the IEC successful.

In particular, the WCKF supported the event through the construction of the Garden of Thanksgiving by offering the symbolic Agony in the Garden monument.

HERE were some present at that very time who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

And He answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered, thus?

“I tell you, No; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless

The Agony in the Garden came from an event in the Bible wherein Jesus, before His execution, prayed and pleaded for His life in the garden of Gethsemane. This site was created to be a sanctuary for prayer and reflection for pilgrims who come to meditate and offer prayers. Located inside the Archbishop Residence’s Compound, the garden consists of different features, including the Agony in the Garden, as the best place for prayer and reflection in the midst of Cebu City’s bustling commercial area.

Meanwhile, the people of God in the Saint James Parish are grateful to the WCKF for its extraordinary support and substantial contribution to the construction and renovation of its parish church. The new steel trusses, roof and ceiling of the church are a testament to the commitment of the family, officers, staff and volunteers of the WCKF to serve the needs of the church and its flock.

you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

And He told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”— Luke 13:1-9

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, February 28, 2016 A5

A high, but necessary, price

H

ERE is a worst-case scenario of why we should never, never say never to martial law. Martial law is in the Constitution for a good reason. Sometimes, the country must be saved from its democracy. When democracy goes bad, we still need a government, even a dictatorship. A country does not exist if it has no government. All it is is real estate and happy-hunting grounds for foreign invaders.

(The book Black Earth shows that the citizens of a country without an effective government are easily exterminated and enslaved.)

Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

True, the failure of democracy cannot be faked. We had a failing democracy in 1972, but that was not enough to justify killing it. However, the severity of a democratic failure, sufficient to justify its extinction, can be staged, and that is what Marcos did when he used the noisy, media-overplayed student demonstrations as a credible excuse to destroy it, to save it from itself. The Americans used to say in Vietnam that sometimes it is necessary to burn a village to save it.

But there are times when democracy really fails—or at least that is what the upper classes believed in Argentina. Student riots, along with

workers’ strikes, had so escalated that the Central Intelligence Agency could convincingly describe the situation in Buenos Aires as a prelude to a communist takeover. The Americans insisted nothing could be worse than that, although the leading American rightwing thinker, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, argued that the one thing communism is the best at is establishing and maintaining political stability.

In November 1977, a year after a junta took power in Argentina—and tens of thousands of political activists were executed or disappeared—a strikingly beautiful girl called Laura Carlotto, then 22, was picked up by the military together with her boyfriend, a member of a rock band and the father of the child she was carrying. They were taken to a secret detention center and there her boyfriend was shot, or rather, ripped apart with a submachine.

Six months later, Laura’s water bag burst; she was giving birth. She was handcuffed as though she could escape. Soldiers think like that; why military intelligence is an oxymoron.

If you show me a military officer with a functioning brain, I will kill myself, unless, of course, his name is Gen. Petraeus. Laura was given five hours to cuddle her baby, which was then taken away. Two months later,

Laura was dragged out of the camp to a mock military encounter, but without any rebels around. Her body was returned to her mother, Estela.

It was shot through the stomach and the face was smashed in with a rifle butt. Survivors of the camp told Estela that Laura gave birth in captivity to a baby boy, whom she named after her father, Guido.

For the next 36 years Estela searched for her grandson. First, by begging officers and doctors for information and then demanding it after the junta fell. No dice. The military and the medical profession there as here—Ninoy Aquino testified from a prison cell that the Veterans Memorial Hospital kept female detainees alive, while they were being raped with broken Coke bottles—would not cooperate even after the junta fell.

When Estela realized that many other grandmothers were also looking for the babies of their disappeared daughters, they formed the group, Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. In 1989 Estela became their head.

Luckily, Argentine officers were devout Catholics, so they spared the babies of the girls they murdered to be raised as good Catholics. Over 30 years, 113 children have been found each time to national rejoicing. But Estela’s Guido stayed missing.

US abandons wartime allies

By Trudy Rubin | The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Forum

W

HY would anyone in the Middle East want to ally with the United States? There are many reasons to ask this question, but here’s one I find especially disturbing: How the US lets down thousands of Afghans and Iraqis, whose lives are at risk because they have worked with Americans. For this “sin,” they and their relatives are now being threatened with death.

I have written of the long delays in issuing special visas for Iraqi and Afghan translators who worked with US military and civilian officials. But there are thousands of other Iraqis who were promised refuge because they or close relatives worked for US contractors, non-governmental organizations and the media, and they are living in fear as their applications are delayed endlessly—even before the years-long process of security vetting. The whole process can drag on for as much as five years, said staffers at the International Refugee Assistance Project, a part

of the Urban Justice Project.

One prime reason: There aren’t enough personnel at the US Embassy in Baghdad to handle the thousands of applicants. The story of Ali—whose family I have known for years—illustrates the brutal retaliation that can befall these Iraqis while their applications are in limbo. It makes one wonder why anyone would be foolish enough to assist Americans again. Ali’s life is in danger because his brother Salam helped the US military and worked with US journalists.

Salam was my fixer, translator and driver during many trips to Baghdad between 2003 and 2008.

During the brutal civil war years of 2005 to 2007, radical Shiite militiamen, known as the Mahdi Army, began murdering many of Salam’s Sunni neighbors and driving the rest from the neighborhood. The same militia was also killing US soldiers.

Salam was infuriated by the sectarian slaughter and tipped off officers at a US forward-operating base in his neighborhood about who was doing the killing, leading to the arrest of local militia members. He also brought me to the neighborhood to write about the

militia murders. When US troops withdrew from Baghdad and the base in Salam’s neighborhood shut down, Salam and his family paid a terrible price.

The Shiite militia he had fingered—which had contacts inside the Iraqi army—ensured that Salam was arrested by the military and tortured. While he was in jail, the militiamen gunned down one of his brothers and a cousin. After his release, he received multiple death threats and had to flee Iraq, crossing by leaky boat from Turkey to Cyprus.

In Baghdad Shiite militiamen were emboldened by the chaos and sought further revenge. Last June Mahdi Army goons scrawled graffiti on Salam’s Baghdad house, calling him an “American spy,” and threatened to kill more family members. Ali had to go into hiding, changing location frequently, while his wife and children moved in with relatives. In desperation, he applied last August for entry into the US under the direct-access program (DAP); he and his family were eligible because Salam had worked for a US newspaper. (Salam’s help to the US military, verified by three Army officers, didn’t help because

One day, a poor farm couple looked at Estela’s face on television, pleading for her grandson to be returned. Is it possible, they wondered? Years before, their rich landlord had given them a baby boy to raise as a good Catholic. The couple accepted the baby and called him Ignacio. They raised him with their own children. He grew into a fine young man and became an accomplished musician, like his natural dad. (If Ignacio ran for president of this friggin’ country, some malignant idiot would challenge his status as natural born, because he couldn’t prove otherwise.)

Ignacio married a nice girl. One day, the old couple told her that their son was adopted to explain why he looked different from his siblings.

With this revelation, the pieces started falling into place, though it would take years to complete the puzzle.

The father’s body was found years earlier, shot to pieces, but enough remained to collect DNA. His mother, too, could begin her search for the grandson; rumors had it her son had left her. By last year, it was clear that their grandson was found and the two grandmothers embraced.

I tell this story because dictatorship is always a rough proposition.

But it is sometimes necessary to take extreme measures to save a

country from itself, as when it keeps electing bad people or the elections are anyway rigged. Or the country cannot defend itself and the government that should be in charge of the national defense, instead, keeps offering to give parts of it away to, say, Malaysia—a country we can beat with both our hands tied because it has never fought a war in its short existence. Or the Japanese invade and a government of traitors is found to administer it for Japan while pretending to be an independent nation. Stuff like that. And that is when you need the tough guys to take over. But sometimes, the tough guys take over, anyway, even if there is no need for them to do it.

A dictatorship is not a party even if it feels like one for the people in power. There is dancing to be sure, but on the grave of our liberty— and on the bones of our children, as well. So before it comes to that, think very well before casting your vote this May. Do we want more of the same of what we’ve had for most of our political existence—if not something worse, like a brazenly plundering government? Or do we want a real change for the better to save our country, before we are forced to accept real change that we will regret, but which is a necessity of state.

he did it for free.)

Here is where the story really gets maddening. Ali knew he might have to wait up to two years for security checks in a Kafkaesque process. But he never imagined that he might wait indefinitely just to enter the queue.

The DAP process requires verification of employment and two interviews at the US Embassy, before security checks even begin.

But in June 2014, after the Islamic State seized Mosul and threatened Baghdad, nonessential embassy personnel were evacuated, slashing the number working on refugee processing and halting the process for 10 months.

There is now a backlog of 60,000 applicants and family members. It took six months for the DAP process just to verify Ali’s employment, and he has yet to be called for his first interview. His parents’ house has been attacked with a grenade. He is fearful that he will be killed before the first interview is held.

Salam, worried sick in Cyprus that his brother will be murdered, has had a heart attack. I spoke to Ali by phone from his hiding place in Baghdad.

“I’m afraid that the future will

be even worse for me and my family,” he told me. “I can’t go out on the street in daylight because someone from the militia might be waiting to kill me. My kids can’t go to school because they are in danger, too.”

State Department officials tell me the number of personnel available to interview DAP applicants has now risen to 20 (from 10 a year ago) and they hope it will be increased to 30. But far more will be needed to process 60,000 applicants.

Ali and Salam find it nearly impossible to understand bureaucratic explanations. In language I’ve heard repeatedly from stranded Iraqi and Afghan translators, the brothers wonder why US officials have abandoned the people who helped them.

Salam, whose uncle was murdered

by Saddam Hussein and who was thrilled when the US ousted the despot, has come to a sad conclusion: “Saddam made Iraq sick,” he says, “but he didn’t kill Iraq. Now Iraq is dead.”

The question is whether Ali can survive long enough to be interviewed for the DAP program. How can we expect loyalty from our allies in the future if we treat our current ones so shabbily or even leave them to die?

A trade pact with a major trade-off

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By Dean Baker | Los Angeles Times/TNS Forum

RESIDENT Barack Obama is trying to round up votes in Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) before the end of his term.

The White House has made approval of the 12-nation free-trade deal, which took seven years to negotiate, a top priority. But many in Congress and around the country have serious concerns about how it will affect everything, from environmental regulations and drug prices to jobs and wages.

Supporters of the trade deal were, therefore, pleased when a study from the venerable Peterson

Institute for International Economics projected that the TPP would boost exports and economic growth.

If ratified, by 2030, the US economy would be 0.5 percentage point larger with the TPP than without it, according to the study. Annual exports would be $387 billion higher as a result of the deal.

Unfortunately, a closer look at the study gives considerably less cause for celebration. The Peterson Institute didn’t really investigate the central question of concern to US politicians and voters: Will the TPP incite a wave of cheap imports that cost workers their jobs? The model of the global economy Peterson used, the study explains, “assumes that the TPP will affect neither total employment nor the national savings [or equivalently

trade balances] of countries.”

So on the face of it, this paper doesn’t appear to have much to say about the jobs situation. But if we dig further into its second assumption—that trade surpluses or deficits also are unchanged—something important gets revealed. For instance, the Peterson Institute promoted its finding that annual exports will increase by $387 billion.

If the trade balance stays the same, that means imports will increase by $387 billion, too.

Consider, then, that one of the major aspects of the trade deal is stronger and longer patent protections for pharmaceutical companies. Obama and other politicians have touted this as a major accomplishment, saying it will ensure that other countries pay us for the

research done by our pharmaceutical industry. But it is important to understand who is truly getting paid in this story—and who is not. Working from the assumption that the TPP doesn’t change the trade balance, if the pharmaceutical industry starts getting more money for its drugs, then other American industries will start getting less money for whatever they try to sell overseas.

Manufacturing is quite likely to be a big loser. In effect, the money foreigners might have spent on our cars and other manufactured goods will instead be used to pay Pfizer higher prices for its drugs.

The Peterson Institute’s model helps to make clear this trade-off, the discussion of which has almost been completely missing from the public debate over the TPP. Obama

and other proponents speak of the bolstered patent and copyright rules in the deal, as though the whole country will benefit.

The reality is 180 degrees in the other direction. Such provisions will benefit the executives and shareholders of pharmaceutical companies—and to some lesser extent other intellectual property-oriented corporations. But those same provisions also are likely to result in fewer jobs and lower incomes in other sectors of our national economy. There are certainly other positive aspects to the TPP that will make it attractive to substantial numbers of voters and members of Congress.

But for most people, the stronger rules on patents and copyrights are not good news.

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A6 Sunday, February 28, 2016

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Local govts told to consider tax holiday for businesses affected by calamities

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NTERIOR Secretary Mel Senen S. Sarmiento is urging local governments to provide tax relief to business establishments that have been severely affected by natural calamities.

In a statement, Sar miento said under the Local Government Code, localities may enact ordinances granting tax exemptions, incentives or reliefs to businesses, to help them bounce back from economic losses brought about by calamaties.

Sarmiento noted that usually, the focus of post-disaster response is usually on relief and rehabilitation of affected communities. “ W hi le much of t he focus after a disaster is on the provision

of response and rehabilitation measures, we cannot set aside the secondary, and potentially more severe, impact of disasters to the flow of local businesses, which hinders the sustainability of local economic development in affected areas,” he said.

Sarmiento urged local governments to revisit their revenue ordinances and investment incentive rules, and consider the provision of tax reliefs or incentives to business establishments whose

areas of operation have been devastated by disaster, or declared under state of calamity either by national or local authorities.

He said that such tax relief or incentives may include, but are not limited to, extension of taxcompliance deadlines, waived penalties and associated interest as long as the new post-disaster deadline is met, or outright tax holidays.

However, Sarmiento said that only tax incentives may be given to business establishments that are adversely affected not by the actual calamity but owing to disaster-preparedness measures undertaken by the local government.

The provision of tax relief or incentives, he added, should be subject to the guidelines prescribed under Article 282 of the Implementing Rules of the Local Government Code.

INCinema entry gets best director award

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ALANG Take Two, a Philippine independent film produced by the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s INCinema productions, bagged the award for Best Director in a Foreign Language Film at the recent 2016 International Filmmaker Festival (IFF) of World Cinema in London.

Director Carlo Jay Ortega Cuevas of INCinema’s Walang Take Two (No Second Take), the first fulllength film of INCinema productions, received the award himself in London on Friday.

“To be given this award is such a great blessing from God. The recognition the film received does not only apply to the production team and cast members of the film, but also to the Church Of Christ in its entirety,” Cuevas said in an interview after the red carpet awards ceremonies at the Crowne Plaza in London.

With this win, Cuevas was one of only two Filipinos who won in the prestigious filmmaker festival this year.

The award of INCinema’s entry Walang Take Two, thus, brought pride to the Philippines.

The other Filipino who made it to the winners’ circle was Carlo Enciso Catu for the movie Ari: My Life with a King. He won as talented new director.

Aside from Cuevas, there were two other Filipinos who were nominated for Best Director of a Foreign Language Film at the IFF in London. They are Butch Maddul for the film Kaleidoscope World and Lusisito

Ignacio for the film Laut.

INCinema received two nominations from the prestigious film festival: One for best director of a foreign language feature film, and the second nomination is for best comedy feature film.

Walang Take Two was written and directed by Cuevas, who has previously directed television documentaries. This was his first time, however, to direct a full-length film.

“Being my first full-length film project as a director, I have never expected this to go so far. I was blessed with the opportunity to be part of this noble endeavor through the Executive Minister of the Church Of Christ Brother Eduardo V. Manalo. And because of his guidance and support, although most of the members of the production team and cast are either first timers in the field or amateurs, we were able to come up with an art piece that is filled with values anchored on the Christian teachings written in the Holy Scripture,” Cuevas said in his speech at the awarding ceremony.

“This is in line with one of the tenets that the Church Of Christ upholds—to share the message of God’s work of salvation, and, in this case, through the instrumentality of film,” he added.

The INCinema film, Walang Take Two, was released in Philippine cinemas on September 7, 2015.

The film revolves around the ambitious but poor young Filipino

Manila traffic rerouted for Shell Eco-marathon

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OTORISTS and the general public are advised of a traffic-rerouting scheme affecting certain portions of Roxas Boulevard in Manila during the Shell Eco-marathon Asia to be held at the Rizal Park.

The Shell Eco-marathon is an annual racetrack competition that brings together student teams from all over the world to design, build and run their very own fuel-efficient vehicle creations using the least amount of fuel.

The event is also held in Europe and in the Americas.

The Philippines has played host to the Shell Ecomarathon Asia since 2014.

This is the final year the regional event is being held in Manila.

From March 1 to 7, the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard will be closed to traffic from Katigbak Drive to T.M. Kalaw Street.

Heavy vehicles coming from the Manila port area shall turn left to P. Burgos, right to Ma. Orosa, and right to T.M. Kalaw to reach Roxas Boulevard.

Light vehicles, meanwhile, can use one lane on the northbound side of Roxas Boulevard, which will be designated for counterflow traffic. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

filmmaker “Hapi,” who wants to make it big as a first-time “indie” director and filmmaker. The twists in his life and those around him, punctuated with hilarious comedic situations and dramatic turn of events, are something that all audiences would appreciate.

The movie cast consists of firsttime actors and actresses whose acting skills were honed only through their participation in previous INCinema short-film productions.

The INCinema films are among the projects of the INC to hone the cinematic talents of INC members who are interested in filmmaking, not only in the Philippines but in other countries, as well.

The cast and those who worked behind the scenes, from its director, scriptwriter to the actors and actresses featured in the film, were in fact all winners in the previous Excellence in Visual Media awards of various INCinema productions, which were held under the guidance of Manalo.

“The Church Of Christ, through the leadership of its administration, will continue to uphold this noble endeavor, so as to reach as more people as we can, and we pray that may films like this be able to bring to them inspiration and hopefully lead them to making the right decision in life. In behalf of the people who have worked hard for this piece of art, we thank you very much for the appreciation and recognition that you have given to this project. To God be the glory,” Cuevas added.

Albay gets third water filtration machine from Spain

While much of the focus after a disaster is on the provision of response and rehabilitation measures, we cannot set aside the secondary, and potentially more severe, impact of disasters to the flow of local businesses, which hinders the sustainability of local economic development in affected areas.”—Sarmiento

He explained that this initiative is guided by the premise that a sound local economic development may provide an impetus for the local government to recover from the financial impact of a di-

saster and immediately regain its pre-event state and a strategy to assist business establishments to bounce back and somewhat lessen the losses obtained from disasters. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Meralco’s prepaid metering service project on track

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HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) installed more than 17,000 prepaid meters in 2015 out of the 40,000 units that were approved for roll out by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“We’ve closed the year with 17,700. We are about to install more and probably end this month with about 22,000 prepaid meters,” Meralco Senior Vice President Alfredo Panlilio said in a news briefing.

The prepaid meters are part of the utility company’s Prepaid Retail Electricity Service or PRES which enables customers to monitor their electricity consumption, balance, credit-purchase history and account information.

Panlilio said those who subscribed to Meralco PRES have experienced savings in their power consumption compared to postpaid service. “They are able to save about 18 percent,” the Meralco official said.

Pilot tests for the PRES were conducted starting February 2014.

PRES is now available in Manila, and parts of Angono, Taytay and Cainta in Rizal provinces. Manila is fully covered.

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

Customers may purchase credits—in denominations of P100,

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P200, P300, P500 or P1,000—at Meralco business centers, Bayad Center outlets and participating retail outlets like sari-sari stores, convenience stores, drugstores and department stores.

Aside from individual customers, the power distributor is offering its retail electricity service to housing projects in Metro Manila and in the towns of Taytay, Cainta and Angono in Rizal.

Meralco continues to persuade property developers to utilize prepaid electricity meters in their housing projects. “We are talking to a lot of developers like SMDC [SM Development Corp.] and Megaworld.

There are still others. They are exploring it,” Panlilio said.

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

Meralco and 8990 Holding signed a memorandum of agreement for the implementation of PRES in the developer’s projects starting with Bella Vista, which is under its Deca Homes brand.

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

The utility provider is awaiting further approval from the ERC for an additional 100,000 reloadable power meters. Lenie Lectura

EGAZPI CITY—Spain recently gave Albay another new water-filtration machine for use in calamity-stricken areas where potable water is scarce, through its aid agency, the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (Aecid).

The water-filtration machine is the third to be given by the Spanish government to Albay since a partnership in disaster risk reduction (DRR) was formally forged between them about nine years ago. The machines were on top of various other grants such as permanent evacuation centers that also serve as classrooms.

Albay Gov. Joey S. Salceda, elated over the news of the new grant, said their viable partnership with Spain has gone a long way, and has greatly benefited Albay and helped pursue excellence in governance, particularly in the field of DRR and climate change adaptation.

Of the 11 evacuation centers cum classrooms built in Albay, five were funded by Spain. These facilities have remained impressive, well-maintained and useful, and were personally inspected by Spanish Queen Sofia herself during her visit to Albay in 2013, Salceda said.

The water-filtration machines, on the other hand, have proven to be indispensable equipment of the Water and Sanitation (Watsan) Unit of Team Albay, during its emergency response operations in many calamity-stricken areas in the country, where potable-water supply disrupted and urgently vital.

“Team Albay would not be where it is now, a multiawarded emergency response group, without the waterfiltration machines which provided many disaster victims safe water,” Salceda stressed.

Albay received its third Galing Pook Award in 2015 through Team Albay. In all of its 13 humanitarian missions from 2008 to 2014 alone, the team had served some 103,642 families involving 518,208 persons, and the water-filtration machines have produced 4,863,612 liters of potable water for them.

Salceda said the Albay-Aecid partnership goes beyond mere benefactor-beneficiary relationship. Following the devastation by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2014, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Aecid have teamed up to replicate Albay’s successful DRR strategy in at least 10 othere provinces in the country. PNA

Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur get new chief prosecutors

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RESIDENT Aquino has appointed Rohaira “Kookai” Lao as Maguindanao’s chief prosecutor.

Lao has a track record in seeing justice meted out on behalf of the people.

She has been involved in the monitoring of anti-human trafficking and illegal recruiting cases, as well as antismuggling campaigns.

Lao was also among the members of a panel that investigated a multilevel

networking scam. Aside from involvement with task forces that deal with criminality, Lao is active in promoting culture and women’s rights.

She is a member of the board of directors and legal counsel of the Philippine Muslim Women Council and a member of the Young Moro Professionals network.

Lao, a native of Lanao del Sur, is a full-blooded Maranao. She was once

a lawyer at the Department of Justice and was later appointed chief counsel of the Department of Trade and Industry’s National Capital Region Office.

When she was a state prosecutor assigned at her home province, Lao was mindful of the power that the position wielded, yet, she was always fair in the cases she handled.

The President also appointed Loren Hallilah Lao as chief prosecutor of

Lanao del Sur. To celebrate their appointment, the Lao family recently hosted a kanduri, a thanksgiving party, at the Mindanao State University Summit Inn in Marawi City.

Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Lanao del Sur Gov. Bombit Adiong, as well as local officials from Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, as well as relative and friends of the appointees attended. Ayunan Gunting

Natl Police partners with logistics firm in road safety, anticriminality education

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HE National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and a logistics company recently forged a partnership to address the alarming rise of traffic, crime and accidents in Metro Manila—creating a strategic and integrated approach to road safety and efficiency.

Under the agreement, the HPG will provide continuous education to LBC’s ground fleet personnel to highlight the importance of road safety and courtesy when driving. The police will also provide anticarjacking and anti-highway

robbery seminars for LBC employees.

“With our fleet of 900 motorcycles and 600 vans, it would really help us if all our drivers are informed about the rules of the road and their rights as motorists,” says Gerard Payaoan, LBC vice president for Global Systems Distribution and Delivery.

“That’s why we are so glad with this partnership with the Highway Patrol Group.”

For its part, LBC agreed to provide the HPG with real-time information on all forms of criminal

activity that their drivers may encounter while on the road. Drivers are also asked to be part of the HPG Rider Intelligence Network so they can be partners in stopping crime on the road, like carjacking and highway robbery.

“This assistance that LBC is giving us is truly instrumental not only for us in the Highway Patrol Group but also for our stakeholders: the members of the community,” said Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, HPG commander.

LBC has also agreed to adopt one of the HPG’s training rooms in the agency’s Center for Road Safety and Security, and supply it with equipment that will be used in conducting programmed and unprogrammed courses.

“Our part is to support the HPG in its effort to educate the public about the importance of road safety, and this is our contribution. With this, we hope that we can see better and safer roads for everyone,” Payaoan added.

Sports BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 28, 2016 A7

NO SWEAT, No SWEEP

By Lance Agcaoili

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E LA SALLE displayed its might against archrival Ateneo de Manila with a surprising 25-22, 25-14, 25-18 victory on Saturday in Season 78 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament in front of the 16,536 crowd at Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

After years of heartbreaks, the Lady Spikers finally ended the mastery of the Lady Eagles, winning the match in just one hour and 16 minutes, and denied the latter of sweeping the first round.

“That was our game plan. We all know Ateneo’s confidence is high so I told them that we can’t afford to go inside the court without confidence so we have to match the level of their intensity,” La Salle Head Coach Ramil de Jesus said.

The Lady Spikers did not only deal Ateneo’s first loss of the season, but they also halted the 24-game winning streak of the defending champions dating back Season 74.

“My main plan is to bring back the confidence of the team, which we lost for a long time, and we all know that some of my players suffered injuries so I want to bring back the respect of our opponents to us,” de Jesus added.

Setter Kim Fajardo was sensational with 13 points on seven aces and five attacks, and paced her team with 16 excellent sets. Ara Galang and Majoy Baron both had 10 points apiece, while libero Dawn Macandili showed tremendous floor defense with 16 digs and 13

excellent receptions.

The Taft-based squad moved second place with 5-1 win-loss record, half a game behind Ateneo, which remained on top with 6-1.

Alyssa Valdez was limited to just 11 points in the game.

In the first women’s match, Adamson University dominated University of the East (UE) in straight sets, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19, for its second straight win.

Jema Galanza flaunted her strong attacking form against the Lady Warriors, as she led all scorers with 15 points, all came from attacks including 10 excellent receptions to lead the Lady Falcons. Skipper Mylene Paat delivered 13 markers on nine attacks, two blocks and two service aces, while May Roque added 10 for Adamson.

“I hope we could bring this in the second round, but we will still have to work it because we will take a long break,” the Lady Falcons Head Coach Sherwin Meneses said.

“We started slow in the first round, but we could capitalize from this two-game winning streak,” Meneses added. “We will try our best to rise in the second round.”

Adamson finished its first round stint with 3-4 win-loss record, while UE remained winless in the first round and suffered its 52nd straight loss dating back Season 74.

In men’s action, Ateneo and Adamson University ended their first round stints on a high note to share the top spot.

Marck Espejo’s 15 points led the Blue Eagles past National University in straight sets, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15, in a rematch of last year’s finalists.

Bulldogs extend tennis supremacy, bag double titles

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La Salle’s Ara Galang (8) tries to score against Julia Melissa Morado (12) and Madeleine Yrenea Madayag (17) of Ateneo. NONOY LACZA

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outside the championship division.

Mimosa drew 46 from Romeo Celestino, 44 from Noel Yamzon and 43 from Danny Abad to improve to 422, eight points ahead of CCC. The Orchard was in third place with 406 points.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club (NOGCC) seized the lead in the Aviator division after scoring 131 points at the Acacia and Lakeview.

Kokoy Locsin turned in 47 points to lead NOGCC, which now has 396, three points ahead of Eagle Ridge, which struggled with 115 points.

Manila Southwoods took third spot with 378 after submitting 378 points.

In the sportswriters division, the top 3 leaders were Forest Hills (351), Club 1872 Los Angeles (343) and Del Monte (341). The Interclub is sponsored by , Travelife, Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Manila Broadcasting Corp., Airbus, the BusinessMirror and Philippine National Bank.

Other supporters are Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer.net, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Tanduay Distillers, Asia Brewery, Splash Corp., RFM Corp., Goldilocks, Eastgate Publishing Corp., Robinsons Land and Rolls-Royce.

AN Paul Morales of Navy-Standard Insurance used the fifth and final stage as his ceremonial coronation ride to top the Mindanao leg of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2016 at the City Plaza on Saturday in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Already ensured of the title after reigning supreme in the Stage Four Individual Time Trial (ITT) at the Dahilayan Forest Park in Manolo Fortich last Thursday, Morales took it easy and finished fifth with a clocking of one hour, nine minutes and 20.54 seconds.

After crossing the finish line, Morales just smiled, knowing he had clinched the first multistage victory of his life.

“The feeling is different because this is my first multistage win,” the 30-year-old Morales said in Filipino.

Morales thanked his Navy squad and his wife Lennie and kids Janelle and Jan Paul Jr. “I wouldn’t have done it without my family and my Navy team,” he said.

Navyman El Joshua Carino took the stage honor with a time of

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last year, but nothing beats his performance this year, as Arellano ended Jose Rizal University’s five-year reign.

Christopher Gonzales snatched the pole vault gold to help Arellano pull off the improbably feat.

It was particularly sweet for Arellano Coach Giovanni Andaya, the former assistant who took over the coaching job when Coach Rosito Andaya, his father, passed away in July last year.

“I don’t know how I’ll feel,” said an emotional 27-year-old Andaya, whose father took over as coach three years ago.

“My father would have been happy right

1:08:26.01, while fellow Navy bets Lloyd Lucien Reynante and Rudy Roque ended up second and third in the stage in 1:08:37.08 and 1:08:37.22, respectively.

After the five-stage leg, Morales had accumulated 55 points, a clear 13 points ahead of closest pursuer and teammates Ronald Oranza and Reynante, who each ended up 42 points. Oranza beat Reynante, the Navy skipper, in the tiebreak to clinch second, thanks to a faster time of 8:30:32.19 as against the latter’s 8:36:12.99. It was an emphatic ride for Morales, who won Stage Three in Pueblo de Oro down in Cagayan de Oro City and the Manolo Fortich ITT and wound up No. 2 to Oranza in the first two stages in Butuan City.

Morales seized the red LBC leader’s jersey right after the opening stage and was in cruise control the rest of the way to claim victory.

There were anxious moments in Stage Two a week ago when Morales collided with Oranza and suffered a crash, leaving him with bruises on his right shoulder and thigh.

He recovered from the fall and even finished second in the stage on his way to

a dominating win. All in all, Morales pocketed P116,000 cash in total purse, including P50,000 for emerging the leg champion.

It was also total domination for Navy as eight of its riders wound up in the top 10 overall and won every single individual awards and prizes.

Aside from Morales, Oranza and Reynante, other Navymen in the top 10 were Daniel Ven Carino, Navy’s youngest rider at 19 years old with 35 points; Roque (34), the elder Carino (26); Joel Calderon (26); and John Mark Camingao (15). Only Team LBC-Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation’s Ronnilon Quita and Team LCC Lutayan’s James Paolo Ferfas made it to the top 10 outside Navy after winding up ninth and 10th with 13 and 12 points.

Camingao, who was born in Davao but lives in Manila, bucked tonsillitis to edge Ferfas, who is from Marbel, South Cotabato, to win the Petron Local Hero plum.

The event, sanctioned by PhilCycling, is sponsored by MVP Sports Foundation, Petron and Versa Radio-Tech 1 Corp., with Maynilad and North Luzon Expressway as minor sponsors.

TEXTERS SNAP 3-GAME SLIDE

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Richie Garcia of Luisita watches his shot during the Philippine Airlines Interclub seniors tournament. ALYSA SALEN

Camino propels Arellano U to first-ever track jewel IMMUEL Camino captured the 1500-meter run and 3000-m steeplechase gold medals on Saturday to help propel Arellano University to its first-ever track-and-field championship at the conclusion of the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletics competition at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.

The pair of golden feats completed a triple-gold haul by Camino, a fourth-year education student who also snared the 5000m mint two days ago and sealed the Chiefs the track-and-field title.

Camino matched his three-gold harvest

MORALES TOPS RONDA’S MINDANAO LEG RACE

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BARONS TAKE LEAD

EFENDING champion Canlubang bounced back into contention and grabbed a two-point lead over Luisita on Saturday in the 30th Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub golf team championships at the Mimosa Golf & Country Clubin Clark, Pampanga.

The Sugar Barons sizzled with 150 to erase a 12-point deficit and surge on top of the field with 426 points going into the final round of the annual competition.

Mari Hechanova starred for Canlubang with 51 points and got solid support from Abe Avena (50) and Dave Hernandez (49).

“We were only expecting to reduce the margin. We did not expect to lead. But then again, two points is nothing,” Canlubang owner Luigi Yulo said.

Luisita struggled at the Acacia and Lakeview course, returning with 136 points after averaging 144 points in the first two rounds.

Benjie Sumulong, playing for the second straight day, carded 48 points, while Bong Sison added 46. Chito Laureta or Richie Garcia counted with 42 points apiece.

Luisita nonplaying captain Jeric Hechanova remained defiant despite squandering a double-digit lead.

“We’re confident we will still win, but it will go down to the final hole of the final flight,” said Hechanova, who decided to sit out Jingy Tuason, the team’s best scorer in the first round.

Tuason will team up with last year’s individual champion Eddie Bagtas and veterans Herminio Maravilla and Pepot Inigo.

They will face Canlubang’s Tommy Manotoc, Rolly Viray, Rene Unson and rookie Zaldy Villa.

Mimosa, which played alongside Luisita, Canlubang and Cebu Country Club (CCC), retained the lead in the Founders division, just four points behind Canlubang.

The host club still has a chance of becoming the first team to win the Interclub while competing

OR the third-straight season, powerhouse National University (NU) grabbed the double championship on Saturday in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 78 lawn tennis tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

The Bulldogs went undefeated for the fourth-straight season, capping another dominating campaign in the men’s division with a 3-0 thumping of University of the Philippines.

The Lady Bulldogs were equally impressive, as they completed a three-peat with a 3-0 blanking of University of Santo Tomas.

Winning 44 straight men’s ties, NU’s streak is currently the second longest in the league behind Adamson University softball’s remarkable 72-game winning run.

The Lady Bulldogs, meanwhile, went undefeated in nine ties this season.

In his swan song for NU, Leander Lazaro was named the season Most Valuable Player (MVP), his second since winning the league’s highest individual award in 2013.

His teammate Fritz Verdad won consecutive MVPs in 2014 and 2015.

Also winning the MVP is Christine Patrimonio, who also took the honors two years ago. Her sister Clarice Patrimonio was the last season’s MVP. Mark Clarence Cabahug of the Growling Tigers was named the men’s Rookie of the Year. Jana Pages of Ateneo was the top rookie in the distaff side.

now if he’s here, he would have been proud of this. That’s why I’m dedicating this victory to him,” he added.

The athletics victory was Arellano’s second this season, after accomplishing a back-to-back feat in seniors chess in the first semester a year back.

“The whole Arellano community is proud of the team,” said Peter Cayco, Arellano’s representative to the NCAA Management Committee.

It was also one of the closest races in recent league history in the sport, as Arellano edged Mapua for the crown. Jose Rizal ended up at third, while Perpetual Help fourth.

ROPANG TNT snapped its three-game slide with a 108-96 win over newcomer Phoenix on Saturday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Texters rode on the long-game brilliance of David Simon and the clutch baskets of Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo in the fourth period to thwart the last-ditch stand of the Fuel Masters to get back on the winning track.

Simon had game-highs 33 points and 22 rebounds, while de Ocampo and Castro contributed 20 and 19 markers, respectively, for Tropang TNT, which improved its win-loss mark to 2-3.

“Everybody contributed. Everybody played well today. I did not have to coach much today,” Tropang Texters Head Coach Jong Uichico said.

“Alam nila ang importance ng game na ito after losing three straight. Hopefully, we keep on improving. We should build something from this,” he added.

Phoenix’s new import Kevin Pinkney had a solid debut for the Fuel Masters with 26 points and 19 rebounds, but was slowed by foul trouble in the second half.

Even without Pinkney, Phoenix managed to stay within striking distance but Simon and de Ocampo drilled jumper after jumper to give the defending champion a 95-84 spread with 3:24 remaining.

The Fuel Masters tried to stage a comeback, slicing the lead to 85-95, but de Ocampo and Castro hit back-to-back NBA RESULTS three-pointers to put the Charlotte 96, Indiana 95 game in bed, 101-90, 1:44 Washington 103, Philadelphia 94 left in the game.

Toronto 99, Cleveland 97 JC Intal had 16 points, New York 108, Orlando 95 while RR Garcia added 14 markers for the wards of Atlanta 103, Chicago 88 Head Coach Koy Banal, who Dallas 122, Denver 116, OT absorbed his second straight L.A. Clippers 117, Sacramento 107 loss in three games.

Phoenix’s Willy Wilson (center) is trapped by David Simon (left) and Ranidel de Memphis 112, L.A. Lakers 95 Ocampo (33) of Tropang TNT. ROY DOMINGO

Joel Orellana

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 | S

unday, February 28, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

Soccer’s world body elects Infantino as president

FIFA’S NEW HOPE Rickie Fowler watches his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Honda Classic. AP

FOWLER’S 4-UNDER GIVES HIM THE LEAD P

ALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida—Rickie Fowler isn’t setting any course records at the Honda Classic. He’ll gladly settle for more great golf and the 36-hole lead.

Fowler got back to work last week in Florida after his big disappointment in the Phoenix Open and shot the course record at The Medalist (66). The next day, he went an hour north to The Floridian and shot 60 to break the course record held by Justin Thomas.

He set a more obscure record on Friday, with his four-under 66 to build a one-shot lead over Jimmy Walker. Fowler became the first player to go bogey-free over the opening 36 holes in the Honda Classic since it moved to Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) National in 2007.

“That’s a big accomplishment around this golf course—not just one day, but back-toback,” Fowler said. “So pleased with how I’ve managed my game.”

In his first start since Fowler lost a two-shot lead with two holes in Phoenix, he put himself right back in position to win.

Fowler was at eight-under 132, one shot ahead of Jimmy Walker, who finished his round of 66 with a 25-foot (ft) birdie on the 17th and a 40-ft eagle putt on No. 18. Sergio Garcia, playing with Fowler, stayed with him until the final four holes. Garcia had a 69 and was two shots behind. Adam Scott also played bogey-free in wind that was slightly calmer and in warmer weather. He holed a 10-ft eagle putt on the third hole and two-putted for birdie on his final hole for a 65 that left him three shots behind.

Scott has yet to shoot over par in 10 rounds this year, with nine of those rounds in the 60s.

“It’s starting to get really solid, and I’ve got to just keep doing that and let the confidence build,” Scott said.

Rory McIlroy left without speaking and won’t be coming back this week. He missed the cut for the second straight year at the Honda Classic.

McIlroy tried to play off a muddy patch in the hazard left of the par-3 fifth green, hit off the rocks into the water, took a penalty drop and made triple bogey. A birdie on the final hole gave him a 72, though he missed the cut by one shot.

The cut was at three-over 143, and Phil Mickelson made it on the number. Mickelson, coming off a runner-up finish at Pebble Beach after losing a two-shot lead going into the final

round, failed to make a birdie in his round of 74.

“I hit 15 greens today and I didn’t make a single birdie. That’s a frustrating deal,” Mickelson said. “I hit a lot of good shots. I’m really not complaining. I just had a hard time getting it in the hole. I don’t know what to say. The score certainly wasn’t very good, but felt like I played all right.”

Fowler had a similar round to Thursday— no bogeys, a 66 and tough-par save on his 10th hole to keep his round going. He chipped in for par on No. 10 in the opening round. On Friday on his 10th hole (No. 1), he was in the trees well right of the fairway and managed to get out near the front of the green for a simple up-and-down.

His longest par putt was 12 feet on No. 4 after driving into a bunker, and he ended the day with a 25-foot birdie putt.

“Got a nice break on one to kind of continue that,” Fowler said. “But yeah, I kept myself in it with some up-and-downs, made some good putts, and then continued to move forward.

Made a couple birdies coming in, so it was a little bit of a bonus there at the last.”

Only 19 players remained under par going into the weekend.

Fowler spent a week in California with family and friends after his Phoenix playoff loss to Hideki Matsuyama, then got back to work at home in Florida. He already had the course record at Medalist (which opened after changes last November), then really lit it up at The Floridian.

“Pretty good accomplishment,” he said of his 60. The first two days of the Honda Classic haven’t been too shabby, either. Even though he lost the late lead in Phoenix and missed the cut at Torrey Pines, Fowler has been quietly moving into the conversation of the elite players this year. He finished fifth at Kapalua to start 2016, won against a strong field in Abu Dhabi that included Jordan Spieth and McIlroy, and now is the player to catch at PGA National.

Garcia held his own for a big part of the round until he three-putted for bogey on his 10th hole (No. 1) and Fowler built his lead by making birdies.

“Tomorrow is going to be an important day,” Garcia said. “Rickie is playing really, really well, so I’m going to have to play extremely well to keep up with him. We’ll see. Hopefully we have a good chance on Sunday.... See what we can do.” AP

Z

URICH—Gianni Infantino is the new president of soccer’s corruptionscarred world governing body, winning election after promising national leaders of the sport that he would share the wealth from International Football Federation’s (Fifa) $5-billion World Cup revenues.

Infantino was chosen on the second ballot on Friday to fill the unexpired term of longtime Fifa leader Sepp Blatter, who was forced out by the pressure of the United States and Swiss investigations of bribery and corruption, which emerged two days before the previous vote in May 2015.

The stunning outcome seemed to catch the 45-year-old Infantino off guard. He had to compose himself before starting his acceptance speech and saluted voters by patting his heart with his right hand.

“We will restore the image of Fifa and the respect of Fifa. And everyone in the world will applaud us,” said Infantino, who only became a candidate when a case of financial wrongdoing removed his own boss, Michel Platini, at Europe’s soccer body Union of European Football Association (UEFA).

“I am convinced a new era is starting,” said the Swiss-born former lawyer. Blatter headed Fifa for more than 17 years.

Infantino pledged to meet quickly with World Cup broadcasters and sponsors, saying “they need to regain trust and confidence in football and in Fifa.”

There were only four candidates on the ballot after Tokyo Sexwale withdrew during his campaign speech to voters. The four were Infantino, UEFA’s general secretary; Sheikh Salman of Bahrain, the Asian confederation president; Prince Ali of Jordan; and Jerome Champagne of France.

Infantino, who had waged a globetrotting campaign in the four months leading up to the election, gave an impressive 15-minute speech only 20 minutes before the first-round vote. The Swiss-Italian spoke in several languages without notes and portrayed himself as a leader for the world, not just Europe’s wealthy confederation.

His campaign promised to spread the World Cup largesse to more federations, including additional guaranteed funds. He also pledged to expand the World Cup from a 32-team tournament to 40 teams and give more opportunities to countries to stage the World Cup, with multinational regional hosting.

“The money of Fifa is your money,” he said, jabbing his left index finger to the 207 members of soccer federations from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe before the election.

“It is not the money of the Fifa president. It’s your money,” added Infantino, sounding more like a CEO promising a dividend to shareholders.

A rare burst of spontaneous applause followed, signaling a shift in momentum toward Infantino, who, since his 30s, managed the billion-dollar Champions League revenues for UEFA. It resonated with members of the corruption ravaged soccer bodies of the Americas, known as Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football and South American Football Association. Fifa froze a combined $20 million of their funds last December in the aftermath of the US Justice Department’s sprawling investigation of bribetaking by top Fifa officials.

“Gianni’s speech was a president’s speech,” said Kohzo Tshima of Japan, a new member of Fifa’s long-tainted executive committee, adding that his words changed the

atmosphere in the election hall.

In the first round, Infantino took a surprising lead with 88 votes—just three more than Sheikh Salman, but key to making him look like a winner with valuable momentum. Prince Ali received 27 votes and Champagne, seven.

Then, in the second round, Infantino received 115 votes to earn a decisive majority over Sheikh Salman, who received 88 votes.

Prince Ali got four votes and Champagne, none.

“I talked to Gianni last night and we said we’d support Prince Ali,” US Delegation Head Sunil Gulati said, “but also he knew where we would be as it unfolded if it did, in the way it did.”

No second-round has been needed in a Fifa presidential election since 1974. That year, Joao Havelange of Brazil needed two rounds to defeat 13-year incumbent Stanley Rous of England.

Infantino, like the 78-year-old Blatter, is from the Valais region in the Swiss Alps. He will be president until May 2019, completing the remainder of Blatter’s term.

Blatter, won a fifth term last year but, amid the escalating corruption scandals, bowed to pressure four days after the election and said he

WAWRINKA EYES 2ND TITLE VS BAGHDATIS D

UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Stan Wawrinka will play for his second title of the year when he faces Marcos Baghdatis in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Wawrinka advanced when Nick Kyrgios retired with a back injury while trailing 6-4, 3-0, in the semifinals.

The Swiss player will meet the unseeded Baghdatis, who came from a set down to beat sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Baghdatis said of Wawrinka, who won his third straight

Chennai Open title last month. “I think he has a better percentage of winning tomorrow, that’s for sure. He’s having the best years of his life.

Winning two Grand Slams, that’s amazing.”

For the second day in a row, Kyrgios received treatment on his back during a match. On Friday the physiotherapist came to the court during the seventh game changeover.

Last week the 20-year-old Kyrgios became the youngest active player to win an Association of Tennis Professional Tour title in Marseille.

“It’s been bothering me the last couple of

days,” Kyrgios said. “I had a bit of a hip injury at the start of Marseille. That was still sort of bothering me a little bit. I have been feeling so bad every day, like I’ve got some viral infection, as well.”

Kyrgios is the second significant retirement in two days after Novak Djokovic retired from his quarterfinal match with an eye infection on Thursday.

Wawrinka took a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Kyrgios fought back to even the score at 4-4.

Wawrinka won the final five games before the Australian’s retirement.

“He wasn’t really there from the beginning, wasn’t serving his best,”Wawrinka said. “You never know what to expect, because again, as you see when he broke me back at 3-4, he was playing really well.”

The Swiss player was two points away from losing in the first round against Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.

“If you look from the beginning of the week I was not playing great at all,” Wawrinka said. “But I could still improve, and I’m happy I did.”AP

9 BRAZILIANS PARTICIPATE IN RIO OLYMPICS GOLF TEST EVENT

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AO PAULO—The Olympic golf course that welcomes the sport back to the Games in Rio de Janeiro will have a test event for nine Brazilians in an exhibition that will be closed to the public.

Rio 2016 organizers confirmed on Friday that the March 8 event will have no more than nine players—five men and four women—in a stroke-play format.

Brazil has little tradition in golf, a sport that has not been part of the Olympic program since 1904. The top-ranked player

among those invited is Alexandre Rocha, who is No. 588. Two other Brazilians ahead of him in the world rankings play on the European Tour (Adilson da Silva) and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour (Lucas Lee).

The best Brazilian female is Miriam Nagl at No. 482.

The PGA Tour had tried to arrange for some of the world’s best to play in the exhibition and could not find anyone to go to Rio because of the schedule. A World Golf Championship in Miami ends on March 6 and

the Ladies PGA Tour event concludes that day in Singapore.

Jordan Spieth, the No. 1 player in the world, is defending his title at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida, that week.

Rio’s Olympic golf course was handed to organizers last November after a series of delays involving environmental lawsuits and land ownership disputes.

The course, designed by American golf Arch. Gil Hanse, covers 970,000 square

meters and will have room for 15,000 fans.

A delegation from the International Golf Federation will be present to observe, Rio 2016 said in a statement.

There will be 104 volunteers in the test event and players will be in groups of three.

Claudia Guedes, the Rio 2016 sport manager for golf, said that the main tests are for the course itself and the results system.

“It’s a tough course, there is quite a lot of wind, so it will bring the best out of the players,” Guedes said. AP

would resign. He was subsequently banned for six years for financial mismanagement and was absent on Friday after 40 years as a fixture at Fifa meetings.

“I congratulate Gianni Infantino sincerely and warmly on his election as the new president,” Blatter said in a statement. “With his experience, expertise, strategic and diplomatic skills, he has all the qualities to continue my work and to stabilize Fifa again.”

Sheikh Salman was expected to lead the first round, with backing from Africa and the Asian Football Confederation, which he has led since 2013.

He also had behind him the Kuwait-based vote-gathering operation of Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, his Fifa executive committee colleague, who sustained a rare electoral loss.

Still, he had been the most criticized and scrutinized candidate throughout the campaign. The issue of Bahrain’s human-rights record was often cited by Gulf activists but had not seemed to seriously trouble voters outside Europe.

Sheikh Salman has

independent oversight for Fifa’s decisionmaking and spending. The executive committee will be renamed the Fifa Council, with more female members. Stricter integrity checks will also control top officials.

Fifa and its lawyers hope the reform will help show US prosecutors the soccer body is serious about changing its culture, and protect its status as a victim in the American investigation. A total of 41 people and marketing agencies have been indicted, or made guilty pleas, and Blatter is a target. AP Gianni Infantino waves to delegates after his election as president of International Football Federation.

Infantino got 115 of the 207 eligible votes to take a decisive majority ahead of Sheikh Salman of Bahrain. AP

strongly denied claims about his role in the Arab Spring protests of 2011, when he was Bahrain’s soccer federation president.

Infantino takes over a wealthy but vulnerable soccer body, whose image and confidence has been shattered by the escalating scandals.

Before electing Fifa’s first new president since 1998, 87 percent of the 207 voting federations passed wideranging reforms to guard against corruption and curb the powers of its leader.

Those include preventing presidents from serving more than three four-year terms, reducing their powers and guaranteeing more

Messi’s 5-yr-old Afghan fan eager to see football star

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ABUL, Afghanistan—The father of a 5-year-old Afghan boy, who received autographed shirts from Lionel Messi, says they are eager to travel to Spain to meet the soccer great.

Mohammad Arif Ahmadi, the father of the boy who was pictured wearing a homemade Argentina shirt with No. 10 on the back, said on Friday they want to thank Messi, a United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) goodwill ambassador, in person.

Afghan Soccer Federation Spokesman Ali Kazimi says they have prepared passports for the boy, his father and uncle to travel to Spain. He says they are waiting for a response about a meeting.

The boy, Murtaza Ahmadi, was photographed on Thursday wearing Messi’s signed Argentina shirt at Unicef’s office in Kabul. AP Murtaza Ahmadi, an Afghan Lionel Messi fan, shows a donated and signed shirt by Messi in Kabul, Afghanistan.

AP