Businessmirror june 25, 2016

“Are they more afraid than the children at Sandy Hook? What is so scary about having a vote?”—Rep. Mike Thompson, Democrat-California, as Democrats staged an extraordinary all-day sit-in on the House floor to demand votes on gun-control bills. AP

media partner of the year

“We are not shackled to a corpse. You can see the European economy’s recovery. It’s the largest single market in the world.”—British Prime Minister David Cameron to the BBC, as voters will determine whether the United Kingdom will retain its membership in the European Union. AP

“She gets rich making you poor.”—Donald Trump, who launched a blistering attack on Hillary Clinton’s record and character, while his presidential rival countered with: “He’s going after me personally because he has no answers on the substance.” AP

BusinessMirror

United nations

2015 environmental Media Award leadership award 2008

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business n

Saturday, June 25, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 259

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

LIMITED TRAFFIC EXCHANGE WILL NOT REALLY IMPROVE INTERNET EXPERIENCE

Telcos’ IP-peering deal needs tweaking–expert

T

INSIDE

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

3 Gbps

@lorenzmarasigan

he deal that provides for exchange of local traffic between the core networks of the two largest telcos in the Philippines is enmeshed in strings that may require to be unknotted, if they are really willing to improve the Internet experience in the country.

simmons: FROM DOWN UNDER AND ON TO THE TOP

The cap set by Globe and PLDT for free Internet-traffic exchange In her latest commentary on the telecommunications industry, Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos, an independent researcher on information and Continued on A2

JULY POWER RATES COULD SEE HIKE ON PLANT SHUTDOWNS

P

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

ower rates in July are likely to be adversely affected by the number of times a yellow alert was issued this month. According to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) officials, the Luzon grid experienced five yellow alerts due to a number of power plants that went on unscheduled shutdown. A yellow alert is issued when power reserves dwindle and fall below 647 megawatts (MW). A yellow alert does not necessarily mean power outages or blackouts, but it could turn to a red alert, which means power outages are very likely to occur. “Given the number of yellow alerts recently, it is likely that this will have an impact on prices in the spot market,” said Meralco Spokesman Joe Zadriaga in an interview. By spot market, he was referring to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), the country’s trading floor for electricity. “In the past, whenever there is tightness in supply, the usual impact is higher prices. Coming from two straight months of reductions at record-low levels, the trend of lower rates may be difficult to sustain due to the yellow alerts,” Zaldariaga added. See “Power rates,” A2

sports

Panama Canal expansion

A8

The $5.25 billion expansion is expected to double the canal’s capacity, tap new markets and cut global maritime costs by an estimated $8 billion a year.

LEBRON, TOO, SKIPS RIO games

Comparing old and new canal locks

Existing locks

Depth 42 ft. (12.8 m) Width 110 ft. (33.5 m) Vessel capacity about 5,000 containers

New locks Depth 60 ft. (18.3 m) Width 180 ft. (54.9 m) Vessel capacity: 13,200 containers

Sports

Colon

A8 Expansion includes rising of Gantun lake for maximum operation level

British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks outside 10 Downing Street, London, as his wife Samantha looks on. Cameron says he will resign by the time of party conference in the fall, after Britain voted to leave the European Union after a bitterly divisive referendum campaign, according to tallies of official results on Friday. Lauren Hurley/PA via AP

YOUR PASCHAL MYSTERY God in Christ, You have borne our sorrow and carried our uniquities. We pray: Teach us to be faithful, O God. Help us to pause and ponder Your paschal mystery and great love. Strengthen the catechumens and all who will receive the sacraments of the Easter Vigil. Inspire preachers, pastors and all who proclaim Your Word. May God bless us with mercy, kindness and compassion, and grant us salvation. May Your paschal mystery remind us of the salvation You offered to all mankind. Amen! Give Us This Day, Committee on Divine Worship, Shared by Luisa M. Lacson

Detailed

Panama Canal

New lock complex

New lock complex

Gatun Lake

PANAMA Pacific Ocean

PANAMA

UK votes for Brexit as Cameron resigns

T

he United Kingdom voted to quit the European Union (EU), after more than four decades in a stunning rejection of the continent’s postwar political and economic order, prompting Prime Minister David Cameron to resign and sending shock waves around global markets. The pound plunged to the lowest since 1985; Asian stocks tumbled and US Treasuries surged in one of the most dramatic 24 hours in modern British history. The final tally, announced just after 7 a.m., London time, showed voters had backed “Leave” by 52 percent to 48 percent. The government’s pro-EU campaign was defeated by more than 1 million ballots. “The British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and, as such, I think the country requires fresh leadership,” Cameron said in an emotional statement Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 46.5110

Alajuela Lake

5 km 5 miles

Panama City Balboa

Britons approval of EU leadership Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the European Union? (Among Britons) Approve

Disapprove

Comparing container ships

56%

44% 37%

36% ’08

’09

’10

’11

Source: Gallup Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

’12

’13

’14

’15

The size ship that can pass through the Panama Canal now compared to the new size in 2014 Current length 965 ft. (294 m)

New length 1,200 ft. (366 m)

Current width 106 ft. (32 m)

Current draft 39 ft. (12 m) deep

New width 160 ft. (49 m) New draft 50 ft. (15 m) deep

’16

Source: AP, Canal De Panama, Hofstra University, U.S. Army, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Los Angeles Times Graphic: Tribune News Service

n japan 0.4455 n UK 68.4270 n HK 5.9952 n CHINA 7.0739 n singapore 34.7642 n australia 34.8833 n EU 52.5528 n SAUDI arabia 12.4063

Source: BSP (23 June 2016 )

BMReports BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, June 25, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Telcos’ IP-peering deal needs tweaking–expert Continued from A1

communications technology and telecommunications policies, revealed that the Internet protocol (IP)-peering arrangement between PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. is “capped.” According to her, the two carriers will provide 3 Gbps per month of free-traffic threshold only. “If the model of the two telcos’ private Internet exchanges is to be followed, there will be charges per megabyte beyond the ceiling, effectively a data cap in IP peering,” Santos said. Hence, this would appear to discourage the growth in traffic

exchange between the two mobilephone operators. “While this would seem to discourage the growth of traffic to be exchanged between the two telcos, there is always room and hope for amendments to this initial agreement,” she said. The peering arrangement, she said, also begs the question: Will this arrangement have an impact on the Internet service providers (ISPs) peered through PLDT’s and Globe’s Internet exchange? “Maybe or maybe not. Since the agreement is bilateral, it is up to PLDT and Globe whether they would let the benefits of peering trickle down to the other ISPs con-

nected to their networks in terms of latency and cost,” she said. Essentially, the peering of IPs allows the exchange of Internet traffic among data-service providers, making it faster for the transfer of information from one point to another. To do this, ISPs have to be linked via an Internet exchange. Without IP peering, local incountry Internet traffic needs to travel out of Philippine borders and be exchanged abroad before reaching its local destination. Enterprises that are IP peered will have cost savings, as local in-country Internet traffic exchanged through an Internet

exchange will not count against the use of international network links or backhaul usage. As local in-country Internet traffic will not need to transit abroad, service providers will exchange with each other at lower latency—that is better response times—and deliver this lower latency for the enjoy ment of consumers. Lower latency for consumers means a faster, more reliable and more stable Internet connectivity experience, particularly for e-commerce transactions with businesses, financial institutions and government frontline services. Simply put, IP peering allows consumers to enjoy “more ro-

bust, fault- and attack-resistant network infrastructure, which is personally important to consumers in their transactions through the Internet, such as tax filing, banking, e-commerce, Skype conversations with family and friends overseas, among the many uses of fast, reliable and inexpensive Internet.” But will this be true for the arrangement? What is the magnitude of this deal to the consumers? “It still depends. IP peering is the exchange of local traffic between the core networks of ISPs. Thus, the user experience of Internet subscribers will still depend on other factors, such as the

UK votes for Brexit as Cameron resigns

to reporters outside his Downing Street residence in London on Friday. He said he’ll stay on for the next three months with a new leader to be installed by October. The result sets the UK up for years of bitter divorce talks with the first salvos likely to be fired at an EU leaders’ summit next week. The UK must now count the economic and financial cost of an exit that Cameron warned would spark a recession. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc. have said a so-called Brexit would lead them to move thousands of jobs out of London. The outcome is a victory for Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London who broke with former schoolmate Cameron to help lead the “Out” campaign and sets him up for a potential tilt at the premiership. “This is the biggest shock to European politics since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” said Rob Ford, professor of politics at Manchester University. The vote widens fissures in the UK by raising the prospect of another push for Scottish independence. Beyond Britain’s shores, it will fan speculation that more countries could withdraw from the EU and gives a fillip to populist insurgents, such as Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen. Above all, the outcome shows just how disillusioned Western voters have become with the political establishment for failing to deliver more inclusive economic growth in the era of globalization. “Hurrah for the British!” tweeted Geert Wilders, the anti-EU populist leader of the Dutch Freedom Party that leads in opinion polls ahead of elections in the Netherlands next spring. “Now it is our turn.” The White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the results as they came in and was expected to speak with Cameron during the course of Friday. In Europe governments from Ireland to

Malta convened emergency Cabinet meetings to discuss the way forward.

new sites in the UK, as the advertising market will “surely suffer.”

Firefighting

Rag-tag victory

The market rout had echoes of the 20082009 financial crisis. The pound fell to as low as $1.3229, before trading down 7.8 percent at $1.3703, and still on course for its worst day on record. Oil tumbled 4.8 percent, gold jumped 4.9 percent, and the FTSE 100 Index fell 6.7 percent. HSBC, which earlier this year opted to keep its headquarters in London, plunged 5 percent in London trading. The selloff was compounded by the fact that markets had rallied over the past week on optimism that the UK would vote to stay. Finance officials have already started firefighting. The Bank of England said it was “monitoring developments closely” and will take all necessary steps to ensure stability. Governor Mark Carney may end up having to cut interest rates or revive quantitative easing. The decline in the pound already far exceeds its previous record decline in 1992, when it fell 4.1 percent on Black Wednesday, the day the currency was forced out of Europe’s exchange-rate mechanism. The Swiss central bank intervened to stabilize the franc and pledged to stay active in the market. The result may also prompt the Federal Reserve to delay raising rates. Some Asian and European companies with operations in the UK said they would reassess their investments in the wake of the vote. Hankook Tire Worldwide Co. of South Korea said the company will respond by “diversifying global production capability,” while a board member of Japanese carparts maker Exedy Corp. said the company may have to consider moving its UK office to continental Europe. Maurice Levy, CEO of French advertising giant Publicis Groupe SA, said it was “out of the question” to open

The result marks a victory for a rag-tag band of politicians and executives who took on Britain’s establishment and won. Conservatives Johnson and Michael Gove broke with Cameron to form a loose alliance with the UK Independence Party, arguing that the island-nation can go it alone in an era of globalization. It was also a massive victory for UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who has campaigned for the UK to leave the EU for a quarter century. “Let June 23rd go down in our history as our Independence Day,” said Farage, a former commodities broker. “The euroskeptic genie is out of the bottle and it will now not be put back.” Tapping into voters’ worries about immigration, the pro-Brexit leaders said Britain can only exert full control over its borders and budget by leaving the EU. That promise overcame repeated warnings from Cameron and a cast of supporters that included the pope, the archbishop of Canterbury and the US president. The murder of pro-EU lawmaker Jo Cox last week slowed without stopping the momentum behind the Brexit message. The next steps are unclear, as politicians in Britain and the rest of Europe feel their way through the unprecedented situation.

Exit trigger

Cameron said the UK will wait until a new prime minister is in place before triggering exit talks and invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. That will set a two-year clock ticking on negotiations. For the EU and its most powerful leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the result presents yet another challenge after

availability of infrastructure and the quality of service at the last mile; but nothing that’s beyond the control of the two telcos,” she said. Hence, bilateral peering is just “a piece in the Philippine Internet puzzle.” “Ideally, and this is my main point, both PLDT and Globe would peer through an open and neutral Internet-exchange point, like the Philippine Open Internet Exchange, which allows for multilateral peering, i.e., ‘connect to one, connect to all,’” she said. Globe is already connected and peered in the said exchange. PLDT, on the other hand, has agreed only to peer with the government.

Continued from A1

years of crisis. EU unity has already been sorely tested by Greece’s seemingly endless debt woes, sanctions on Russia and the Syrian refugee crisis. Now Merkel and French President François Hollande need to rally confidence in a project increasingly questioned by populists like Le Pen in France and Italy’s Five Star movement. To Merkel and Hollande, the EU is a symbol of Europe’s resurgence from World War II. But to others it’s resonant of weak economic growth, high unemployment and overbearing regulation.

Tough talks

Among the first decisions for Merkel and Hollande will be how tough they want to be on the UK in the upcoming negotiations, especially as some countries will surely want to make an example of Britain to stop others from leaving. The first indications of their joint position may come on Monday, when Hollande travels to Berlin ahead of a June 28 and 29 meeting of EU leaders. Finance ministers could confer as soon as this weekend. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called in an e-mailed statement for a clean break between Britain and the EU, saying he’s in touch with his Group of Seven colleagues following the vote. The referendum decision “causes damage to both sides,” Manfred Weber, a member of Merkel’s party who heads the conservative EPP group in the European Parliament, said on Twitter. “Exit negotiations should be concluded within two years at max. There cannot be any special treatment. Leave means leave.” Cameron, 49, became leader of the Conservatives in 2005 and prime minister five years later at the helm of a coalition government. He won an outright parliamentary majority in May 2015. Having navigated the economy away from recession despite jobs might be cut. Morgan Stanley and HSBC have made similar noises. The vote could set in motion the breakup of the UK. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon may now use the decision to revive talk of independence for Scotland, where 62 percent voted to “Remain.” The vote also complicates things for the Irish, who will now face barriers to the free movement of goods and workers between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. “I don’t know the forces they have un-

Power rates. . . Continued from A1

Power rates this month went down by P0.13 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to P8.32 per kWh due to the downward movement in the generation charge, which is P0.16 per kWh lower than in May. In May power rates stood at P8.444 per kWh, lower by P0.41 per kWh. The reduction was due to the downward movement in generation, transmission, taxes and other charges Meralco Head for Utility Economics Lawrence Fernandez, in an interview, explained that yellow and red alerts indicate a tight supply situation, and that there is less or no reserve margin in the grid. “This will be typically be reflected as higher spot market prices. It could have an upward pressure on generation,” he said. No actual figures were available. “We have to see how the supply-demand situation unfolds,” Fernandez added. Meralco normally provides the calculated power

deploying the tightest fiscal squeeze since World War II, he departs Downing Street having failed to meet his onetime pledge of stopping the Tories from “banging on about Europe.” A key question now will be who leads Britain’s negotiations after one of the biggest foreign-policy failures by a British prime minister in the modern era.

Who’s in

Johnson is the bookmakers’ favorite to succeed Cameron. Other potential heirs include Justice Secretary Gove and Home Secretary Theresa May. Whoever takes over is likely to seek his or her own mandate with another general election, meaning British voters may have to go to the polls for a third time in two years. There’s also a question mark over the future of the Brexit lobby and its key figures such as Farage, who were excluded from the official “Leave” campaign. Having led the country to the EU door, it’s unclear whether they will be content to leave exit negotiations to the Conservative government. In a statement outside the Houses of Parliament, Farage called for a “Brexit government.”

The city

One industry particularly under threat is financial services, which employs more than 2 million people nationwide and paid £66 billion ($91 billion) in tax last year. The City of London’s status as a financial capital may now be eroded, especially if the UK loses “passporting” rights, which allow banks to reside in the UK and sell their products and services throughout the EU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon, who has 16,000 employees in London and other British cities, said this month a vote to leave could mean a quarter of those leashed in winning this,” Steve Fielding, a professor of political history at the University of Nottingham, said by phone. “I don’t know this is in the capacity of any one person to control.” For one American visiting Britain this week, the result will be of particular interest. An anti-establishment campaign, talking tough on immigration, accused of stretching the truth? Its victory will surely bring a smile to the lips of Donald Trump. Bloomberg News rates every first week of the month. The Luzon grid was placed on yellow alert on June 13, 14, 17, 21 and 22. On June 13 some 1,887 MW of power has been shaved off from the Luzon grid, after four power plants went on forced shutdown. These plants are the Sual 1, QPPL, Calaca 1 and GN Power. The following day, two plants were still on shutdown. On June 17 the third yellow alert for the month was issued when power plants GN Power 2, Angat 2, Pagbilao 2, Malaya 1 and SLPGC1 unexpectedly shut down. On June 21 Luzon was placed on yellow alert due to thin-power reserve brought about by insufficient power supply. On that day, GN Power 1, SLPGC 1 and Angat Main 2 were still not running, while the Pagbilao 2 and Kalayaan 3 were shutdown due to scheduled maintenance. Meanwhile, the Calaca 1 and Malaya 2 have limited outputs. On Wednesday the fifth yellow alert for the month was issued by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon • Saturday, June 25, 2016 A3

DOE approves GIS for 6 power projects

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) has approved applications for the conduct of a grid impact study (GIS) involving six power projects as of May this year.

Latest data from the agency’s web site showed that these projects in the pipeline could generate an estimated 258.9 megawatts (MW) of power. A clearance for the conduct of a grid impact study is necessary for a power firm before it can proceed with the construction of their power projects. Based on the DOE list of companies issued with clearance for GIS as of May

2016, five firms got the green light to put up three solar-power projects, one biomass, one energy-storage facility and one diesel plant. The biggest solar-power project on the list is the 90-MW Mabinay solar undertaking from Lohas and Soul Lighting Inc. in Negros Oriental. This is followed by a 60-MW Jasaan solar project also of Lohas and Soul Lighting Inc. in Misamis Oriental.

Lohas and Soul Lighting, Inc.’s GIS clearance was issued on May 11. Satrap Power Corp., meanwhile, plans to put up a 20-MW project in Ilocos Sur. The DOE issued a GIS for this project on May 4. Victoria’s Milling Co. Inc.’s 63-MW biomass cogeneration plant in Negros Occidental has been issued a GIS clearance on May 20. The DOE also gave its go-ahead for

the conduct of a GIS for Nickel Asia Corp.’s 10.9-MW diesel plant in Surigao del Norte on May 30. Likewise, EQ Energy Storage Inc.’s 15-MW Cadiz energy-storage project in Negros Occidental was issued a GIS clearance on May 24. In 2015 over 13,000 MW of power capacity from various power projects were approved by the DOE for the conduct of the said study.

A4 Saturday, June 25, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The British vote ‘Leave’

S

OMETIMES, the course of history is changed by accident, as when Alexander Fleming noticed a Petri dish containing Staphylococcus that had been mistakenly left open and was contaminated by blue-green mold that destroyed the dangerous bacteria. History can be changed through laborious hard work, as when

Thomas Alva Edison tried and failed with 1,000 different materials to invent a way to power a safe and reliable light blub from electricity. But there is usually that defining moment, when the path to historical change comes to a particular point, as was the case for the Philippines on June 12, 1898, in Cavite. The same was true on July 4, 1776, when the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted. The Chinese Qin dynasty was overthrown by a “Peasants’ Revolt” in 207 BC, as was the Japanese Togashi ruling clan in 1488. No one ever knows what is going to happen next in either the short or the longer term. However, these political turning points always seem to come as a result of pent-up frustration and anger with the status quo put on the people by the political elite and political establishment. That is not to say that the members of the political class are necessarily “evil,” or operate against the best interests and wishes of the people—although, often, they do. It is that political leaders put a nation and a people on a path they think is best and most beneficial. Sometimes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Nevertheless, the political establishment has a problem admitting they might be wrong and are not willing to change course. Often then, the people must intervene. That is what happened in Britain on Friday. Did the British make the wrong decision in leaving the European Union? Only time will answer that question. The global financial, commodity and stock markets immediately went in to a chaotic and massive sell-off at the news of the Brexit vote. The justification for that selling is the thought that Brexit will be bad for the British, as well as for the global, economy. Maybe, they will be proven correct. No one knows. However, the genuine “creative destruction” here is this is another case of the political establishment being defeated by the will of the people—as we have spoken of before—and the fear of the political and financial elite of change that they do not decide. Change—particularly, political change—is always dangerous and often frightening, but also often necessary. Otherwise, we would still be living in societies where the man—not the woman—with the biggest stick gets to make all the decisions. As we also said before, the next 12 months to 18 months are going to potentially see great political change. Get used to it. Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business ✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder

Publisher Editor in Chief Managing Editor Associate Editor News Editor City & Assignments Editor Senior Editors

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Jun B. Vallecera Max V. de Leon Jennifer A. Ng Dionisio L. Pelayo Vittorio V. Vitug

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

AKE a deep breath. Take another deep breath. You may want to write this down: The world is not going to end because the British voted to leave the European Union (EU).

Why did voters go against the wise advice of all the political establishment elites and vote for “Brexit”—the British exit? It is simple. The status quo that has been shoved down their throats is not working. Britain is the secondlargest economy in the EU next to Germany and has the least amount of power in the decision-making. This is payback because the United Kingdom did not join the euro currency system. The “power” countries, like Germany, want the EU in place to be able to dictate the economic policies

Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Angel R. Calso

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Dante S. Castro

of “lesser” nations, like Spain, Greece and Italy, to force them to buy German products with euros, which gives a trade advantage to the Germans. If there was no common currency, German goods would be too expensive. The EU started as an economictrade union and has become a political and social union. In return for the EU’s “handling” a country’s economic affairs, that country must obey EU laws, even if those laws are against national laws and are made by people not elected to office. Think of “Imperial Manila” on steroids, but

Noah Feldman

BLOOMBERG

I

N a major victory for affirmative action on Thursday, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of race by the University of Texas as part of its admissions policy aimed at educational diversity. The relatively compact decision by Justice Anthony Kennedy makes no mention of the eventual disappearance of affirmative action, as Justice Sandra Day O’Connor did in 2003, the last time the court issued an important decision on the topic.

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

HOM

Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines. Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025. (Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807. (Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

regional offices n DXQR -93dot5 HOME RADIO CAGAYAN DE ORO E-MAIL ADDRESS: homecdo@yahoo.com ADDRESS: Archbishop Hayes corner Velez Street, Cagayan de Oro City CONTACT NOs.: (088) 227-2104/ 857-9350/ 0922-811-3997 n DYQC -106dot7 HOME RADIO CEBU E-MAIL ADDRESS: homecebu@yahoo.com ADDRESS: Ground Floor, Fortune Life Building, Jones Avenue, Cebu City CONTACT NOs.: (032) 253-2973/ 234-4252/ 416-1067/ 0922-811-3994 n DWQT -89dot3 HOME RADIO DAGUPAN E-MAIL ADDRESS: homeradiodagupan@ yahoo.com ADDRESS: 4th Floor, Orchids Hotel Building,

Rizal Street, Dagupan City CONTACT NOs.: (075) 522-8209/ 515-4663/ 0922-811-4001 n DXQM – 98dot7 HOME RADIO DAVAO E-MAIL ADDRESS: home98dot7@gmail.com ADDRESS: 4D 3rd Floor, ATU Plaza, Duterte Street, Davao City CONTACT NOs.: (082) 222-2337/ 221-7537/ 0922-811-3996 n DXQS -98dot3 HOME RADIO GENERAL SANTOS E-MAIL ADDRESS: homegensan@yahoo.com ADDRESS: 2nd Floor, Penamante Clinic Tiongson Street, General Santos City CONTACT NO.: 0922-811-3998 n DYQN -89dot5 HOME RADIO ILOILO E-MAIL ADDRESS: homeiloilo@yahoo.com

ADDRESS: 3rd Floor, Eternal Plans Building, Ortiz Street, Iloilo City CONTACT NOs.: (033) 337-2698/ 508-8102/ 0922-811-3995 n DWQA -92dot3 HOME RADIO LEGAZPI E-MAIL ADDRESS: homeradiolegazpi@ yahoo.com ADDRESS: 4th Floor, Fortune Building, Rizal Street, Brgy. Pigcale, Legazpi City CONTACT NOs.: (052) 480-4858/ 820-6880/ 0922-811-3992 n DWQJ -95dot1 HOME RADIO NAGA E-MAIL ADDRESS: homenaga@yahoo.com ADDRESS: Eternal Garden Compound, Balatas Road, Naga City CONTACT NOs.: (054) 473-3818/ 811-2951/ 0922-811-3993

Printed by brown madonna Press, Inc.–San Valley Drive KM-15, South Superhighway, Parañaque, Metro Manila

without the national-election process. The EU can effectively tell the UK how many carrots it can grow if the French carrot farmers need a little more business. The UK voters decided they did not need the EU’s “protection” in return for giving up their national sovereignty. If you know history, think of the US Bell Trade Act that gave the US “parity rights” to be able to compete equally in business against Filipino citizens in the Philippines. Further, the US received lower tariffs on US products imported to the Philippines. And you wonder why Filipino manufacturing never took off. The global financial, currency and commodity markets crashed on the news of the Brexit vote. Good. It is about time for that to happen. The financial elite is now reaping the whirlwind from the political elite’s actions. The crash is not because of the economic consequences of Brexit because no one knows what those are going to be. It is the financial elite that trades the markets saying “OMG. The political establishment

Affirmative action is here to stay

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

Online Editor Social Media Editor

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

Brexit: Now what?

So long as universities carefully articulate why they must consider race to achieve a diverse student body, it would seem that affirmative action in higher education is here to stay. And Kennedy’s opinion will now replace O’Connor’s as the go-to precedent on the subject. The opinion is a surprise for several reasons. For one thing, the case had been sent back to the lower courts before. At the court’s oral argument, Kennedy complained that the record didn’t seem to have changed much, despite the case’s being remanded —a signal that he was considering doing it again. The most likely explanation for Kennedy’s change in attitude is the court’s composition. When the oral argument took place, the late Justice Antonin Scalia was still on the court, and because Justice Elena Kagan wasn't participating, the case stood a strong chance of being deadlocked

4 to 4. With Scalia’s death, Kennedy was able to write a majority opinion for a 4-to-3 court. Some commentators, myself included, speculated that Kennedy might not want to decide such a major issue with a court of just seven justices. Apparently, that didn’t worry him. This may be an unintended effect of the Senate’s refusal to vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill Scalia’s seat, Judge Merrick Garland. The justices, including Kennedy, now know that they may be in for an extended period of short-handedness. That presumably weakens the concern that major decisions should be delayed until all nine justices are present and voting. Another reason for surprise is that in the past, the justices have seemed to suggest that affirmative action in higher education had a sell-by date. In her opinion 13 years ago in Grutter v Bollinger, O’Connor

speculated that affirmative action would cease to be necessary in 25 years. Kennedy has seemed unwilling to buy into the Grutter decision unequivocally. That led court watchers to think that Kennedy wasn’t certain what he wanted his legacy on affirmative action to be. Now, Kennedy has assured that his affirmative- action legacy is going to be a liberal one—not so revolutionary as his gay-rights jurisprudence, but outside the conservative camp. In particular, Kennedy’s opinion puts the use of race as one factor in a holistic admissions process on firm constitutional ground. Kennedy said a university using race to achieve diversity must frequently reevaluate its practices and its results. He added the caveat that “formalistic racial classifications may sometimes fail to capture diversity in all of its dimensions and when used in a divisive manner, could undermine the educational benefits.” But the thrust of the holding was that a university can consider race to produce a diverse student body, provided its goals are not “amorphous.” Notably, there’s no element in Kennedy’s opinion suggesting that affirmative action is any sort of remedy for past wrongs. The diversity goal is freestanding, which is why it’s also not time-limited. Kennedy approved all the university’s stated goals: Facilitating cross-racial understanding, training a cross-section of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and creating an academic environment for “robust exchange of ideas,

that we own is losing control.” We saw the same thing in reverse in the Philippines in May, except that was the small investors that trade our stock market in a sense applauding the “finger poked in the eye” of the establishment. The local stock market fell this past week, as investors panicked and looked to the foreign financial wizards for advice, which is usually a mistake. I have been telling subscribers of MangunOnMarkets.com to expect this, not because of Brexit, but because of a Double Top chart pattern and strong price resistance at 7,575 on the composite index. Certainly, the next weeks—maybe months—are going to be stormy. Typhoons that cause damage also clear away dead trees. However, the Philippines is not in the path and is far removed from being a dead tree. Buy the Philippines. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

exposure to differing cultures, preparation for the challenges of an increasingly diverse work force, and acquisition of competencies required of future leaders.” To my mind, these goals are actually pretty amorphous—but they are also good values that are familiar to people who work in higher education. Other universities can now state that these are their goals and know they are covered by the Supreme Court. The Texas plan is fairly unusual in that it admits 75 percent of the students in the university by taking the top 10 percent of every graduating public high-school class in Texas. Thursday’s case involved the remaining 25 percent of the class, which is admitted through the more familiar process of weighing various kinds of qualifications. Kennedy said that the “sui generis” nature of the Texas scheme “may limit its value for prospective guidance.” But I think that is wrong. The court endorsed the details of Texas’s diversity rationale, and that part of the opinion should apply regardless of whether a university uses the holistic method for all or part its admissions. Kennedy’s opinion is, therefore, more than just an exercise in judicial restraint. It’s a judicial embrace of the modern-diversity rationale for racial affirmative action in higher education. As a historical matter, that rationale developed as a result of Supreme Court jurisprudence. Today, it’s widely believed and accepted—including by Kennedy and the majority.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

There is a new sense of freedom in Bacolod

Radio Veritas launches Catholic info-hub Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Jemain Tinio Diaz de Rivera

Forward Moving

B

ACOLOD City gave President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte a very warm welcome when he campaigned last August with an estimated crowd of 10,000 people from different parts of Negros Occidental. Bacolod City is experiencing a very good economic condition in 20 years. The landscape has changed. Real-estate developments have been sprouting around the city from local and national developers, an indication of their confidence in the city’s economy. Bacolod has a growing information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) industry, ranked 85 in the Tholons 2016 Top 100 outsourcing destinations worldwide. It was identified as a Center of Excellence for IT-BPM in 2013 by the Department of Science and Technology’s Information and Communications Technology Office and IT and Business Process Association Philippines, a position it still holds to this day, together with Davao City, Iloilo City, Metro Cebu, Metro Clark and Metro Manila. The rating is based on talent, infrastructure, cost and business environment. The province started with only 1,000 IT-BPM employees; the number increased to 11,00 in 2010. Today Bacolod has over 24,000 IT-BPM employees from 20 major companies that are growing by 20 percent every year. One of the most inspired advocates of the industry is lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue. Together with members of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, she helps cities and provinces create a stronger and smarter countryside. She believes the biggest challenge is not only to be leaders, but innovators. National government must make sure that information and communications technology (ICT) development must not only be in Metro Manila, but must trickle down to the provinces. The passion and commitment to help the country grow one province, one city at a time is so evident it has become viral. Many ICT champions stand up and engage other sectors to a dialogue to create collaborative mechanisms to work together as one. Bacolod City is now considered a “land of opportunities” due to its booming economic growth. Mayor Monico O. Puentavella expressed his gratitude for what Bacolod has become and attributes the success of the city to its hardworking citizens. Incoming Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia and Vice Mayor El Cid M. Familiaran will soon have the responsibility to manage and lead the growth in this beautiful city. According to global online property portal Lamudi, traffic for Bacolod increased by 279 percent, from the fourth quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015. The city ranked fifth on its list of eight cities

to watch this year. SM has a Hypermart, a mall and an SMX convention center. Ayala Land has a mixed-use development that will cover 9 hectares. Megaworld is building a township in a 50-hectare lot and 34 hectares in size. Soon, Bacolod will be the commercial hub of the region. It is a first-class city with the biggest economy and population in the Negros Island Region. It is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region and the 17th most populous city in the Philippines. It is part of a metropolitan area called Metro Bacolod, which includes the cities of Silay and Talisay. Among the tertiary colleges and universities in Bacolod City are Bacolod City College, Carlos Hilado Memorial State College, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod, La Consolacion College, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, University of Saint La Salle and West Negros University. Its airport, the Bacolodo-Silay International Airport, is one of the three international airports, together with Kalibo International Airport and the Iloilo International Airport, serving the Western Visayas region. Tourists will enjoy the adventures in this city from the culinary to the historic. The people of the city are known for their excellent cuisine. The families and communities were able to maintain a number of ancestral homes and churches. During the third week of October, Bacolod hosts the delightful and much-awaited MassKara Festival. The city plaza is interesting. It is where you will find San Sebastian Cathedral built in 1876. Its coral stone is from Guimaras and its hardwood is from Palawan. The historic building of Palacio Episcopal, or Bishop’s Palace, built in 1890, served as a refuge for the Spanish colonizers during the revolt of 1889. The fountain of Justice in front of the old city hall is where the Spanish colonizers surrendered to Filipinos in 1898. The Diocesan Shrine of Saint Thaddeus has a “floating” Risen Christ at the altar and its painted ceiling. The Santa Clara Chapel is modest, but has a mosaic mural made from mother of pearl and 95,000 pieces of shells. The San Antonio Abad Church looks like a crown, notable for its altar made by National Artist Solomon Saprid. Bacolod is an awesome place to live, work and raise a family. Hats off to the people of Bacolod. E-mail: jemain_diaz_de_rivera@yahoo.com

A bad day for Europe

T

HIS was never supposed to happen. Three years ago, when UK Prime Minister David Cameron promised his country a referendum on remaining a member of the European Union (EU), he was sure of victory. The country had other ideas. On Thursday Britain voted to quit. It’s a momentous choice—and not in a good way. The immediate risk to Britain’s economy is grave, because the vote creates enormous uncertainty. This is likely to persist for months, until it becomes clear what kind of new trading rules will govern Britain’s economic relationship with Europe and the rest of the world. Add to this the likelihood of political turmoil at home.

Cameron, in effect, has just lost a national vote of confidence. It’sdoubtful he can remain as prime minister. Most members of the Parliament—Labour and Conservative alike—were supporters of the Remain campaign. What confidence does the electorate any longer have in them? Scotland has supported remaining in the EU, so demands for Scottish independence might surge anew. This vote will shake the UK to its foundations. It may shake the EU almost as badly. Britain is only one EU member, but among the biggest and most influential. The first country to leave the union in this fashion, it will now resolve to prove that exit works. If, against

Saturday, June 25, 2016 A5

R

ADIO Veritas, the leading faith-based AM station in the Philippines, recently launched Catholink, its Catholic knowledge management system, which provides up to date, accurate and relevant information about the Catholic Church, and its pastoral ministries and services in the Philippines. As part of the station’s initiatives to expand the Church in multimedia and establish a center for information and communication, Radio Veritas 846 presented its Catholic information hub to its partners and collaborators on June 24, at Merced Bakeshop and

Restaurant in Quezon City. Veritas established Catholink, in line with its mission to strengthen the social communications ministry of the Church, thus, envisioning Catholink as a beacon of useful Catholic information and orthodoxy. We created a repository of

China’s dog-meat problem Adam Minter

BLOOMBERG VIEW

I

ATE dog meat just once, and it was an accident. A Chinese scrap-metal dealer, with whom I’m friendly, invited me to a fancy hotpot restaurant in Chongqing.

As the waitress delivered bowl after bowl of dunkable vegetables and raw meats for cooking at our table, I pointed to one and asked: “What’s this?” My friend’s answer, in heavily accented English, sounded like “duck.” It tasted like a meaty hair ball. As the magnitude of my mistake sank in, I thought of Yulin, the southern Chinese town infamous for its annual dog-meat and lychee festival, which opens this week. In recent years, the festival has become synonymous with animal cruelty, attracting celebrity outrage from the likes of Ricky Gervais and Leona Lewis. But it’s also emblematic of a larger failure—one that my

unintentional experiment instantly brought to mind. For years, scandals have been undermining confidence in China’s food supply, ranging from plasticizer in baby formula to “poisonous fake mutton” sold to (gulp) hotpot restaurants. In 2014 authorities shut down a decade-old, nationwide ring that had been selling some 70,000 diseased pigs a year to underground slaughterhouses. The dog-meat trade offers a vivid example of why these problems are so persistent. Visitors to Yulin’s festival have witnessed dogs being slaughtered on streets or in filthy abattoirs. Many of the animals were likely strays or kidnapped, raising se-

information of the Catholic Church in the Philippines to provide comprehensive, accurate and updated information. Catholink makes information about the Church available to the faithful, links them to Church organizations to meet their pastoral needs, consolidates different ministries, and helps release pastoral statements from the Church through its web site, catholink.veritas846.ph, all to deliver assistance to the faithful for their spiritual needs. Catholink is an avenue for different dioceses, parishes and Church organizations to serve more faithful with all the information they can provide. Through this program, we aim to serve more faithful and make the Catholic Church closer to them. The importance of a service, such as Catholink, was also stressed by His Holiness Pope Francis in his 2013

encyclical, Lumen Fidei: “We need knowledge; we need truth, because without these, we cannot stand firm, we cannot move forward. Faith without truth does not save; it does not provide a sure footing.” Radio Veritas 846 is owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. Established in 1969, the Catholic radio station— that was a Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient—continues to be a leading social-communications ministry for truth and new evangelization in the country today.

To know more about Caritas Manila, visit www. caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, please call our DonorCare lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@ gmail.com.

rious concerns about disease. Some may have even had rabies. And yet, thousands will be consumed over the 10 days of the festival. That may sound shocking. But with few qualified food inspectors, and plenty of more mainstream worries, regulators aren’t in any hurry to crack down, especially in regions where dog eating is acceptable and contributes to local coffers. The story is much the same at wet markets across China, whether the animal is a dog or a duck. Despite the best intentions of officials in Beijing, the vast scale of China’s agricultural sector—with hundreds of millions of farmers—makes it difficult to monitor. And its economic importance means that local governments are keen to protect it, no matter how abhorrent the practices. Two years ago, I watched as chicken vendors at a Shanghai-area poultry market were tipped off to a bird flu-related culling and simply fled with their animals. Even when regulators have tried to crack down, vendors have wised up. The dog-meat industry now cleverly advertises itself as a collection of modern, large-scale breeding operations—even though

one study found that those breeders tend to be fronts for unsanitary home operators. Their shady counterparts in the pork business have set up similar schemes. The results are depressing but not surprising: The dog meat festivals continue, food scandals persist and China’s leadersacknowledge that they have a long, long way to go. It’s not all bad news, however. For one thing, dog meat, never all that popular in China, is becoming less so by the year. Chinese consumers are also increasingly health conscious and willing to spend more for quality food. In time, market forces could have as much of an impact as an army of regulators. Dog lovers, too, have reasons for optimism. In 2009 the government issued a draft animal-welfare law. Although it hasn’t yet passed, its mere existence is a remarkable step for a country that was largely agrarian only a generation ago. More humane butchering will, in time, lead to safer butchering. Meanwhile, my friend hasn’t forgotten the look on my face as I unwittingly consumed my one and only bite of dog. “It’s not for everyone,” he told me recently. “But I’m sorry.”

Obama’s immigration problem will become someone else’s

T

HE Supreme Court’s onesentence decision today on President Barack Obama’s immigration policy resolves nothing. That’s unfortunate—usually (though not always), the court is a little more helpful—but it’s also oddly appropriate: This is a political problem, not a legal one. The case itself resulted from a cascade of political failures. The House failed to follow the Senate’s lead and pass comprehensive immigration reform, which would have resolved the status of millions of long-resident undocumented immigrants among other goals. Obama failed to work with Republicans after the 2014 elections and instead responded with aggressive executive actions to

achieve, temporarily, what Congress had not—shielding some 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and making them eligible for work permits. Conservative political leaders then sought out a sympathetic federal judge in Texas to block implementation of the executive actions. And by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, the bench was missing a deciding vote due to Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold hearings and a vote on Obama’s nominee to the court. Today’s 4-4 ruling leaves the lower-court decision intact, which means Obama’s policy cannot go forward. However legally justified Obama’s executive actions were, they were politically

fraught. A president’s unilateral action, based on the executive’s discretion in enforcing immigration laws, is a poor substitute for congressionally approved legislation. Obama today lamented the “perpetual cloud” that the court’s ruling leaves over millions of heads. That’s true enough—but even if the court had ruled in the administration’s favor, the forecast would remain cloudy: Absent congressional action, a future president could change Obama’s policy. And it’s unclear how long the cloud will remain. The lower court ruling, left undisturbed by the Supreme Court, extends an injunction against Obama’s executive actions nationwide. That, in particular,

seems eminently challengeable. While Texas and other states opposed the executive actions, many states—including California and New York—supported them, citing economic benefits, while the plaintiffs complained of economic harms. Obama made no indication that such a legal challenge is forthcoming. Even if successful, it would add another layer of confusion as states operated under different policies. Instead, he looked to this year’s election to help resolve the issue. “Sooner or later,” Obama said, “immigration reform will get done.” Yes, and it will get done under a different president—and more to the point, a different Congress.

the odds, it succeeds, other EU members could be tempted to do the same. Anti-EU sentiment is not confined to Britain. In 10 EU countries recently polled by the Pew Research Center, the union is viewed unfavorably by roughly one in two citizens. A median of 42 percent want powers returned to national governments, versus 19 percent who want more transferred to the EU. Today, the union is less popular in France than it is in Britain. An election is approaching in Spain, as is a referendum on constitutional reform in Italy. The shock of Brexit is sure to reverberate. There’ll be time later for blame—and there’s plenty to go

around. For the moment, amid all the uncertainty, the priority must be to restore calm. This means rowing back from the rhetorical excesses of the campaigns, with each side predicting doom if the other had its way. Instead, so far as possible, the emphasis should be on continuity over discontinuity. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, it will seek and should quickly be promised access to Europe’s market on friendly terms, akin to those enjoyed by Norway and Switzerland. This is a matter of compelling mutual interest. To make this possible, the UK will have to accede to an array of EU rules and regulations, with details to be decided. In com-

ing to this new accommodation, neither side should take a maximalist position. After the bogus certitudes of the referendum debate, a spirit of compromise is called for. To be sure, Britain’s former EU partners may be tempted to punish the UK and, that way, set an example for other would-be quitters. They should resist. First, because a punitive approach is unlikely to endear the EU to citizens elsewhere, already chafing at what they perceive to be its excesses. Second, because the UK and the EU can and must be close friends and allies, despite this vote. The time to start building this new relationship is now. It’s clear that the dangers in

all this outweigh the opportunities—yet, there are opportunities nonetheless, and they should be seized. Whatever posture the EU adopts toward its former partner, it should recognize the force of rising anti-EU sentiment elsewhere in the union and act to stanch it. Maybe Brexit will provide the necessary jolt. Europe’s leaders have long preferred to ignore such discontent rather than acknowledge it—much less accommodate it. Britain’s vote for exit shows the great cost of such complacency. To minimize the harm to its own interests, and to stop the next such vote before it happens, Europe needs to change.

Bloomberg View

Bloomberg View

A6 Saturday, June 25, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Party-list group backs Consla’s election-fraud claim

T

By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE call of party-list Confederation of Non-Stock Savings and Loan Associations Inc. (Consla) for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate the alleged vote manipulation during the May elections got a boost from another party-list group—Buhay. An officer of Buhay executed a sworn affidavit backing Consla’s complaint f iled w ith the Comelec and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), in connection with the discrepancy in the number of votes it garnered for the party-list contest on the May 9 elections. Consla, through its lawyer Rodolfo San Diego, claimed that the group’s votes reached 555,896 by 12 noon of May 10, based on the PPCRV quick count posted on its Twitter account. However, San Diego said the group was surprised to find out that the official result of the Comelec’s canvassing showed Consla with only a total of 213,814 votes.

Arnold Arriola, who works for Buhay party-list, attested that Consla’s number of votes had reached 342,513 as of 10:40 p.m. of May 9, with 66,262 clustered precincts counted, or roughy 74.18 percent of all clustered precincts, and was ranked No. 17 among contending party-lists. In his affidavit, Arriola recounted that on May 9, at around 8 p.m., he arrived at the PPCRV headquarters to inquire and monitor the results of voting for party-list groups. After waiting for approximately three hours with no information, Arriola said he decided to go in and talk to the first available person he met just to ask for the status of the voting in the party-list polls.

At around 10:30 p.m., Arriola said he was able to talk to a certain Rommel Bernardo, who agreed to show the quick-count results for the party-list elections. Bernardo, according to Arriola, opened a workstation and showed him the partial and unofficial counting of votes for party-list groups according to the PPCRV quick count. Arriola said he took photos of the screen using his cellular phone, while Bernardo was showing the results of all party-list groups. The photos, which Consla submitted to the Comelec and PPCRV to support its complaint, would show the discrepancy in the votes tallied by PPCRV and the final results released by the Comelec. “The attached pictures are faithful reproduction of the photographs in my Experia [cellular phone]. The photographs have not been altered, whether digitally or otherwise,” Arriola assured. Arriola also said he is willing to submit his cellular phone for examination by the Comelec and PPCRV. On Thursday Consla formally asked the Comelec to conduct an investigation into the discrepancy in the number of votes it garnered. San Diego said the group relied on the accuracy of the results being published by the PPCRV and other

GMA asks SC to rule on petition to junk plunder case immediately

F

ORMER President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has pleaded anew for the Supreme Court (SC) to immediately resolve her petition seeking the dismissal of the plunder case filed against her, involving P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds. In a three-page motion filed on Thursday, Arroyo insisted that the case pending before the Sandiganbayan should be dismissed through demurrer to evidence. Arroyo argued there is a need to now resolve her case after the Office of the Ombudsman recently started investigation on a new complaint for plunder and malversation of public funds, also in connection with the PCSO funds—this time covering the period from 2004 to 2007. “That the institution of the new complaint, which involves disbursements of PCSO funds for earlier

years, hardly suggests that its filing is to vindicate a public wrong,” Arroyo said in her motion filed through lawyer Estelito Mendoza. “Indeed, in an earlier pleading, the petitioner has stated that, in the light of the arguments now on records of the case, [petitioner Arroyo] sees the ‘break of dawn’ in the full restoration of her freedom. The Office of the Ombudsman seeks to prolong her nightmare,” it alleged. Arroyo asked the SC to resolve her petitions “at the earlier possible opportunity,” as she lamented she has been detained since October 2012. Aside from her petition on demurrer to evidence, she also has two other pending petitions questioning the Sandiganbayan decisions upholding the finding of probable cause and denying her bail petition. The SC is expected to tackle Arroyo’s

cases in its next en banc session. T he SC justices are a lready expected to decide on Arroyo’s plea after receiving complete records of her plunder case from the Sandiganbayan. Arroyo recently filed a motion seeking urgent resolution of her plea for house arrest, pending decision on her bail petition. The former leader lamented that the Court has not resolved the motion for house arrest she filed in December last year, or after about six months. The SC earlier stopped the trial of Arroyo in the remaining plunder case against her through a status quo ante order on the proceedings before the First Division of the antigraft court pending its resolution of her bail petition. The order has been extended three times. Joel R. San Juan

Albay hosts world’s largest hospital ship By Johnny C. Nuñez Phillippines News Agency

L

EGAZPI CITY—Albay will host a new round of joint humanitarian partnership program from June 27 to July 11, involving some 1,000 troops from the US Pacific Fleet and Australian Navy, among others, and the world’s largest hospital ship, the USNS Mercy. The program is dubbed “Pacific Partnership.” Started during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and its consequent deadly tidal waves, or tsunami, Pacific Partnership features an annual deployment of forces from the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, aimed at building interoperability during disasters, and security ties. The activity in Albay is under the auspices of the the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty. The visiting troops will be joined by the Philippine Naval Forces–South Luzon, and will be received by Albay Gov. Joey S. Salceda in brief ceremonies at the Albay Astrodome, in this city on June 27. Salceda said Pacific Partnership provides an opportunity to enhance goodwill and cooperation among the region’s military forces and governments needed during disaster-relief operations, and, at the same time, delivers humanitarian and engineering assistance to local stakeholders. He said Pacific Partnership also opens up an opportunity for Albay to

USNS Mercy

show off its ecotourism wealth, being a multiawarded and fastest-growing global tourism destination in the country. Albay, a Unesco World Biosphere Reserve, is itself a United Nation global model for climate-change adaptation (CCA) and disaster-risk reduction (DRR), and a pioneer of novel strategies in disaster resiliency with its Green Economy program. The world’s largest hospital ship, USNS Mercy, serves as the centerpiece of the humanitarian activity. Equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities, its medical personnel with local troops will treat some 4,000 local patients aboard the ship and in designated areas around the province. The Pacific Partnership engineering troops are also scheduled to build or improve school rooms, water deposits and hand-washing stations and beach cleanups. The troops and local resource persons will conduct seminars on DRR, sanitation, environment protection and sports events. “It is an honor for Albay to host this activity and have the world’s largest and

famous hospital ship USNS Mercy to lend humanitarian attention to Albayanos, and people from neighboring areas,” said Salceda, a UN senior champion for CCA and DRR. Albay had consistently hosted past humanitarian activities with US and other friendly troops, notably the PhilippinesUS annual joint military Exercise Balikatan in 2014; the Amphibious Landing Exercises, or Phiblex, in 2012; the US Pacific Angel in 2010; the RP-US Balikatan in 2009; and the visit of USS Peleliu in 2007. USNS Mercy’s last visit to the country was in 2013, in Roxas City, following the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda. Reputed as the world’s largest mercy ship, it measures 272.5 meters long, 32.2 meters across, and has a full load displacement of 62,922 tons, according to the Guinness World Records. In accordance with the Geneva Convention, USNS Mercy and its crew do not carry offensive weapons, although defensive weapons are available. Firing at the Mercy would be considered a war crime.

media entities, since they were given direct access to the transparency server, to which election results from all precincts are being transmitted, by virtue of Comelec Resolution 10105A. “How can votes canvassed by PPCRV from the transparency server, which essentially are the same votes canvassed by the Comelec, turn out completely different results? The Comelec needs to investigate this matter to avoid further allegations of irregularities during the May 2016 elections,” San Diego asked. Likewise, Consla also demanded an explanation from the PPCRV with regard to the discrepancy “in the spirit of transparency.” The group noted that, during the early hours of the transmission of the election results on May 9, the PPCRV quick count had already tallied a total of 342,513 votes for Consla. The following day, PPCRV’s own Twitter account (@PPCRV_2016), showed that Consla was 14th overall with 523,753 votes. By 12 noon of May 10, Consla remained on 14th place with 555,896 votes. However, San Diego said the group was surprised to find out that the official result of the Comelec’s canvassing showed Consla with only a total of 213,814 votes.

MGB autoclave laboratory starts operating By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

T

HE Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is embarking on a research-and-development project for the development of feasible value-adding activities for laterite ores. MGB Director Leo Jasareno said the MGB’s Metallurgical Technology Division (MeTD) laboratory autoclave is now fully operational at the required leaching parameters to conduct testing. The installation process, which include setting up software synchronization and numerous commissioning test trials, was done for the 1-liter autoclave acquired by the MGB as part of ongoing research and development. “We spent a little over P1 million for the machine,” he added. The research for mineral processing is ongoing. It is a new method. It hopes to provide mining companies with appropriate technology at less cost and more environment-friendly. It uses pressure, so it means it will use less chemicals,” Jasareno said. He said the basic research being conducted is part of the MGB’s mandate to make mining more efficient. The new method, he said, is now being used in other countries in a pilot scale. “We get sample and test it. It will determine if the metal processing is efficient, such as in nickel processing,” he added. He said the test will help, in particular, nickel-mining companies operating in the Philippines. “Nickel is a metal that will always stay. Nickel metal will stay in the next several years,” Jasareno added. More than half of the 44 operating mines in the Philippines are into nickel mining. The MeTD team said the complex equipment, which is operated using high pressure and temperature, is now being utilized for the current research that is aimed at comparing the efficiency of atmospheric leaching with the high-pressure acid leaching in treating low-grade Philippine laterite ores. Several high-pressure and atmospheric leaching tests using sulphuric acid were already conducted. Leaching products were submitted to the Chemical Laboratory and Service Section of MeTD for chemical analysis. Further researches using other types of acids and bases will also be conducted.

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

Sports BusinessMirror

Saturday, June 25, 2016 A7

GILAS COACH BALDWIN TO REVEAL FINAL 12 ON SUNDAY

MIRROR, MIRROR... G By Joel Orellana

Favorites tangle in V-League elims

F

AVORITES Pocari Sweat and BaliPure take the floor in what could be a finals preview, while National University (NU) and University of the Philippines (UP) fight for survival in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Saturday. At stake in the Pocari Sweat-BaliPure match at 6:30 p.m. is the top spot in the Final Four. Pocari Sweat is bringing its unbeaten 5-0 won-lost card, and so does BaliPure, which went unscathed in five matches. Both teams are playing in full force for the highly anticipated match. Michelle Gumabao and Myla Pablo, who missed Pocari’s last two outings, have been confirmed for Saturday by team manager Eric Ty. The Lady Warriors’ 1-2 punch are averaging 18 and 14 hits, respectively, in three games, making them key figures in the encounter to be aired live by ABS-CBN Sports + Channel 23. Alyssa Valdez will be at the forefront for BaliPure, along with Gretchel Soltones, Amy Ahomiro, Dzi Gervacio, Janine Marciano and May Tajima. BaliPure is also showing up with ace setter Jem Ferrer and utility Ella de Jesus. Equally crucial is the 4 p.m. duel between the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Maroons, who will knock each other out for at least a playoff for the fourth and last semifinals berth of the tournament, sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa and Accel. Tied with idle Laoag at fourth at 3-3, NU shoots for the all-important win to assure itself of at least a playoff for the last Final Four seat, while UP needs to sweep its last two games, including against Laoag on Monday, to stay in the hunt. Cellar-dwellers Bounty Fresh and Philippine Navy, meanwhile, clash at 1 p.m. in the Spikers’ Turf. Lance Agcaoili

Petron faces Army in All-Filipino duel

P

ETRON and RC Cola-Army shoot for a share of early lead when they face separate opponents in the 2016 Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan. Petron takes on Generika at 2 p.m., while RC Cola-Army clashes with Cignal at 4 p.m. in the club tournament bankrolled by KLab Cyscorpions, Asics, Grand Sports, Mikasa, Mueller and Senoh, with TV5 as official broadcast partner. Petron and RC Cola-Army hurdled their opening assignments with ease to trail De La Salle-powered F2 Logistics, which defeated Cignal in its opener and dominated Amy’s in three sets late Thursday for a 2-0 win-loss card. Although the Tri-Activ Spikers lost Dindin Manabat, Fille Cayetano, Rachel Anne Daquis and Aby Maraño, they remain explosive behind Far Eastern University stalwarts Bernadeth Pons and Remy Palma, as well as Rosario, Bang Pineda and veteran Aiza Maizo-Pontillas. Petron’s off-season gamble look to be paying off. Pons and Palma are solid at the net, while Maizo-Pontillas has been accurate with her spikes. But Petron will be put to a test against a young and hungry Generika side, which parades rising stars Chloe Cortez, Shaya Adorador, Gen Casugod and Wensh Tiu. And with veteran playmaker Rubie de Leon at the helm, the Lifesavers dominated Standard Insurance-Navy in four sets. Although they surrendered a 11-25, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25 setback to Foton late Thursday, Lifesavers Coach Francis Vicente still liked what he saw. “I love the intensity and energy of the team,” said Vicente, who steered Philips Gold to two runner-up finishes last year. “They are young, hungry and aggressive. We just have to stay together and continue our fighting stance. This is a good start.” Lance Agcaoili

ILAS Pilipinas’s final roster for the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) will be known even before the team returns on Monday from a three-week training camp in Europe. Head Coach Tab Baldwin will name the final 12 players of the men’s

national team on Sunday via Skype. It will be aired live by Sports5 starting at 6:30 p.m. Baldwin and the 14-man pool are now in Bologna, where they will face Italy in a tuneup game on Saturday. The Filipinos will meet the winner of the China-Canada exhibition match on Sunday. The 28th-ranked Gilas is coming off a horrible 68103 loss to No. 8 Turkey in a previous tune-up match in Istanbul and the game against Italy, ranked No. 35 in the world, could give the 58-year-old Baldwin a clearer picture for his final roster. Only naturalized player Andray Blatche is assured of a spot on the team, while Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro, June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Marc Pingris, Jeff Chan and Ranidel de Ocampo, members of the 2014 Fiba World Cup team, are tipped to make the final 12. The two players who will be cut will be relegated to reserve status for the Manila OQT, set from July 5 to 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The other members of the pool are Calvin Abueva, Bobby Ray Parks, Troy Rosario, Ryan Reyes, LA Tenorio and Terrence Romeo. Baldwin’s squad will be back on Monday and is scheduled to play Turkey again on July 1, in another exhibition match also at the Mall of Asia Arena. New Zealand, meanwhile, revealed its final roster for the Manila OQT. The Tall Blacks will be led by 2014 World Cup veterans Everard Bartlett, Mika Vukona, Corey Webster, Tom Abercombie, BJ Anthony, Isaac Fotu, Tai Webster and Rob Loe. Head Coach Paul Henare also included Shea Ili, Michael Karena, Jordan Ngatai, and Derone Raukawa in the final lineup for New Zealand, which is bracketed with the Philippines and France in Group B of the Manila OQT. New Zealand, No. 21 in the world, played in the Atlas Challenge in China and will end its preparation in Latvia before flying to Manila.

THE remaining guard »positions could wind down as a toss-up between (from left) Ryan Reyes, LA Tenorio and Terrence Romeo.

LETRAN-SAN BEDA OPENS SEASON

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

L

ETRAN and San Beda, bereft of stars that made them 1-2 last year, provide a comprehensive look at how strong they are when they clash in the main game of the 92nd season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament that kicks off on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The Knights, champions in Season 91, no longer have Aldin Ayo coaching them. Also missing on the roster are Kevin Racal and Mark Cruz, who have turned pro after their championship run last season. The Red Lions are practically in the same predicament. Gone are Ola Adeogun, Baser Amer, Arthur de la Cruz and Ryusei Koga—all instrumental in San Beda’s dominant campaign in the past several seasons. The Knights-Red Lions showdown is set

at 2 p.m., or right after the traditional colorful opening ceremony prepared by season host San Beda at 12:30 p.m. Mapua and Jose Rizal University, teams which figured in the Final Four last season, complete an explosive opening-day schedule at 4 p.m. Douglas Nierras is directing the opening presentation based on the season’s theme, “Sports Builds Character; Achieving Breakthrough @ Season 92.” Besides the traditional parade of the 10 participating schools, the league will also honor the late great Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga by retiring the No. 14 he donned when he played for San Beda in the 1950s. Letran and San Beda finished with similar 13-5 won-lost records last year—they split their elimination-round duels—making Season 91 one of the hotly contested by two schools in league history. But the Knights played with the bigger heart in the finals, beating the Red Lions in Game Three, 85-82, to end 10 years of frustration. They were coached by Aldin Ayo, who, just weeks after hoisting the biggest trophy, packed his bags for De La Salle, which suffered a miserable season in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Letran tabbed Jeff Napa, a champion coach from National University (NU). Napa, who won three high-school titles for NU, may have the missing pieces from last year’s team, but he packs confidence entering the new season.

“The good thing about this team is that it has no superstars,” Napa said. “It’s probably good for us that they may not consider us a title threat because it challenges us more.” His counterpart at San Beda, Jamike Jarin, felt his team is not championship caliber this time. “I’m really surprised that we’re considered title favorites when we lost practically all our

starters and our Defensive Player of the Year in Ola [Adeogun],” said Jarin, now on his second season as Red Lions head coach. He, too, came from the juniors ranks and steered Ateneo to several UAAP crowns. “But we’re thankful of the early accolades we’re getting and we hope to really do better this season and live up to their expectations,” Jarin added.

SELFIE

The Orlando Pride’s Alex Morgan takes a selfie for a fan after the Pride beat the Houston Dash in a national women’s soccer league match on Thursday at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. AP

TONY LASCUñA studies the line of his putt at No. 3.

Lascuña falters just a bit but stays 8 strokes up front T ony Lascuña birdied the three par-5s to negate a triple-bogey mishap on No. 5 but his first over-par card in three days—a 72—still put him eight strokes clear of Michael Bibat and three others, and closer to the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Forest Hills Championship crown at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City on Friday. Just when his rivals tried to cash in on his early mishap, Lascuña used his power off the tee and solid iron play and putting to nail birdies on Nos. 6, 10 and 16, his missed-green bogey on No. 15 marring his brilliant recovery but failing to stop him from virtually nailing his third leg victory on the local tour. “I gambled on my approach shot on No.

5 but my 6-iron fell short into the hazard,” said Lascuña, whose three-putt miscue compounded his misadventure on the par-4 fifth hole. Still, it hardly mattered in a day of soaring scores at the tough par-71 layout as Lascuña pooled a 54-hole aggregate of 12-under 201, spiked by an opening 65 and a solid 64, and went unassailably ahead after Bibat hobbled with a three-over 74, Jay Bayron and Marvin Dumandan matched par 71s and Orlan Sumcad fired a one-under 70 for identical 212s. Bibat, who started the round six shots off Lascuña, closed to within three with a 34 after nine holes but he stumbled with a double-bogey on No. 12 and fumbled with three more bogeys against a birdie in the last seven holes. Bayron also failed to put it all together,

shooting three birdies but making the same number of bogeys, while the long-hitting Dumandan rattled off four birdies but had a double bogey and two bogeys, the last on No. 17 costing him the hold of solo second heading to the final 18 holes of the P2million championship. Sumcad, one of the tour’s noted powerhitters, turned in one of three best cards of 33 at the front, went three-under with another birdie on No. 10 but struggled, while tackling the tough pin placements in the closing holes. He bogeyed Nos. 12 and 15, birdied the 16th but holed out with another bogey for that 70. Mars Pucay also fired a 33 at the front but the 2010 champion here closed out with a double-bogey and settled for a 71 and a 211 in a tie with veteran Danny Zarate, who rallied with a 34 for a 70.

Zanieboy Gialon, who fought back with a 65 midway through the event, birdied No. 18 for a 70 to gain a share of eighth with Rene Menor, who strung up four-straight birdies from No. 11 to turn in a 70 for 212. Clyde Mondilla, earlier tipped to slug it out with Lascuña in their pursuit of a third leg win in the circuit, groped for form at the back and made a 38 for a 73. He dropped to solo 10th at 213, 12 strokes off the pace. Despite his huge lead, the 46-year-old Lascuña remains wary of his chances for a follow-up to his earlier wins at Luisita and Eagle Ridge, saying no lead is safe at the Forest Hills layout. “I like my chances but I can’t get too complacent. I still have to put in a solid round to secure the win since this course is tough and punishes wayward shots and poor decisions,” Lascuña said.

Sports BusinessMirror

FROM DOWN UNDER AND ON TO THE TOP N

EW YORK—Ben Simmons went from Down Under to the top of the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, and a record number of international players followed. The Philadelphia 76ers took the Australian with the No. 1 pick on Thursday night, making him the first of a record 14 international players chosen in the first round. Nearly half the selections in the 30-pick round were international players, topping the 12 international players chosen in the first round in 2013. Simmons climbed on stage to the sound of cheers from a Philly-filled crowd hoping he could turn around the 76ers. Not long after the same crowd was largely quiet as the draft filled with unfamiliar names. The picks included the first Austrian (Utah center Jakob Poeltl, No. 9 to Toronto), the highest Greek player ever drafted (Georgios Papagiannis, No. 13, Phoenix, rights dealt to Sacramento), two Croatians (Dragan Bender, No. 4 to Phoenix and Ante Zizic, No. 23, Boston), and two players from the Caribbean (Buddy Hield, Bahamas, No. 6 to New Orleans; and Skal Labissiere, Haiti, No. 28, picked by Phoenix but dealt to Sacramento). The NBA said there were 26 international players selected, surpassing the record of 21 set in 2003. Some of the international players won’t come to the NBA next season and, perhaps, never will. Simmons might be ready to star now. Philadelphia grabbed the versatile 6-foot-10 forward from LSU, who averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists to become the only player in Southeastern Conference history to finish in the

top 5 in all three categories. He comes with some questions—he made only one three-pointer—but too much potential for the 76ers to pass up with their first No. 1 pick since taking Allen Iverson 20 years ago. “It feels amazing, honestly,” Simmons said. “I can’t even—my legs were shaking when I was on stage.” Philadelphia fans who made the trip to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center loudly cheered the selection in hopes that Simmons can help them move forward after three straight dismal seasons, including a 10-72 finish in 2015-2016 that was just a game better than the worst ever in the 82-game schedule. The last No. 1 pick from LSU was Shaquille O’Neal—who will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with Iverson in September. The Los Angeles Lakers, picking second for the second consecutive year, took Duke’s Brandon Ingram, who averaged 17.3 points as the ACC freshman of the year. He is the latest young player on a team that will begin life without the retired Kobe Bryant next season. AP

A8 | S

aturday, June 25, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

Rahm turns pro, wrests early lead in Tiger’s tourney

B

UH-OH!

Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story (left) tags out Arizona Diamondbacks’ Phil Gosselin as he slides into second base trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh inning of their Major League Baseball game on Thursday in Denver. The Diamondbacks won, 7-6. AP

ETHESDA, Maryland—Jon Rahm couldn’t remember a single shot he took in a professional debut to remember. Ernie Els recalled shots he hit on the same course 19 years ago. Rahm shot a seven-under 64 on Thursday at Congressional to take the first-round lead in the Quicken Loans National, Tiger Woods’s annual tournament that started two hours late because of rain. The soft course, with a fox lounging on the edge of a bunker and darting around with little care for the golf going on around him, allowed players to attack fairways and play aggressively. Rahm took advantage of that with seven birdies in a bogey-free round. “I was anticipating this moment,” the 21-year-old Spaniard said. “I’m working on it a long time that I kind of blacked out a little bit. I don’t remember a single swing I made all day or any putting stroke or anything. I just remember the ball flying or rolling.” The former Arizona State star was the only amateur to make the cut last week in the US Open, tying for 23rd at Oakmont. With momentum from the US Open, Rahm tried to temper his expectations and relied on advice from golf great Jack Nicklaus. “What he told me is to just never do more than what I can do,” said Rahm, who cited not looking at social media as another key to his success. “Try not to risk too much. And that’s certainly

something I did today.” The long-hitting Rahm had a one-stroke lead over Jhonattan Vegas and a two-stroke advantage over a pack that included Els, who won the 1997 US Open at Congressional. Rickie Fowler and Vijay Singh were among those at 68. Els, who turned pro five years before Rahm was born, chose to play the Quicken Loans immediately after missing the cut at the US Open because of how much he likes the course. He has the same caddie, Ricci Roberts, who was on his bag back in 1997, and Thursday was full of useful memories. “Winning a major at a special place like Congressional, playing here again, you just keep thinking back on shots,” Els said. “Almost every single hole there’s a moment back in 1997 where we can remember still.” The 46-year-old Els is almost four years from his last victory, when he won the 2012 British Open. But he started feeling more like himself during the proam on Wednesday and showed it by shooting a 66. “I felt comfortable with my swing this week,” Els said. “I’ve had a very tough year. I haven’t played very well, so I need to start playing well.” Rahm, on the other hand, has been gradually improving. He opened eyes by tying for fifth at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February 2015, and turned pro as the top-ranked amateur. Now his challenge is to keep expectations low, while leading a tournament. Rahm’s plan was to go see a movie and get away from golf rather than focus on it. “It is a challenge,” Rahm said. “I’ve been playing a lot of golf lately and maybe trying to get time off golf is just as important as time practicing, so maybe just resting my mind a little bit would be the best way to do it.” AP

LEBRON, TOO, SKIPS RIO The three-time champion LeBron James is the latest bigname player to withdraw from the US team, joining Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, James Harden and others.

A

By Tom Withers The Associated Press

KRON, Ohio—LeBron James has all the gold he needs this summer. Days after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the National Basketball Association (NBA) title, James has decided not to play in the Rio Games and chase a third Olympic gold medal. Agent Rich Paul told The Associated Press (AP) on Thursday night that James informed USA Basketball of his decision on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation about what the four-time league Most Valuable Player (MVP) would do once the season ended. The 31-year-old James was named Finals MVP after leading the Cavs past the Golden State Warriors, ending Cleveland’s 52-year pro sports championship drought. James and his teammates were honored on

Wednesday with a parade attended by nearly 1 million spectators in Cleveland. Following a post-parade rally, James left the rally clutching the golden Larry O’Brien Trophy, the only shiny reward he’ll chase this summer. James took the trophy home and brought it with him on Thursday night to a rally in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. His voice hoarse from several exhausting days since the Cavs won, James addressed a tightly packed crowd for just two minutes and left without speaking to reporters. The three-time champion is the latest big-name player to withdraw from the US team, joining MVP Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, James Harden and others. The 2016 US team will miss James’s leadership and his stats, as he ranks as the career leader in points and assists in the Olympics. With James taking a pass, Carmelo Anthony alone will have a chance to become the most-decorated

Olympian in men’s basketball history. The New York Knicks forward has agreed to chase a fourth Olympic medal, a person with knowledge of the details said on Thursday. Without James, the Americans still have two spots to fill on their 12-man roster that will be named on Monday. Toronto teammates Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will be on it, the person told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the roster discussions were to remain private. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Indiana’s Paul George, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, Chicago’s Jimmy Butler and the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan are also committed to play for the two-time defending champions in Rio de Janeiro. The Americans are also holding a spot for Kyrie Irving, James’s Cavaliers teammate. Kawhi Leonard passed on the opportunity to play,

with the San Antonio Spurs announcing his withdrawal in a news release. “This was a very difficult decision. It’s an honor to have been considered for the team and I hope that in the future I will have the chance to represent my country by playing for USA Basketball,” Leonard said. Anthony won gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and a bronze in 2004. He, James and Hall of Famer David Robinson are the only Americans to play in three Olympics. Anthony previously said he planned to play, telling the AP recently: “Listen, I’ve been with USA Basketball since I was 16, 17 years old. Can’t stop now.” DeRozan played for the Americans when they won the gold medal at the Basketball World Cup in 2014, but Lowry’s inclusion on the roster was a surprise, since he wasn’t even in the Americans’ roster pool of 31 players. But with Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Russell

Westbrook all withdrawing, USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo said earlier this month he wouldn’t rule out adding another guard. He may even need to add another if Irving declines to play. Irving was the MVP of the 2014 Basketball World Cup and would probably start for the Americans if he opted to play after helping the Cavaliers win the NBA title. Yahoo! Sports first reported on Thursday that Anthony, Lowry and DeRozan would play. Durant won gold in 2012. George, Green, Thompson, Cousins, Butler and Jordan would all be making their Olympic debuts. DAYS after leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the »National Basketball Association title, LeBron James has decided not to play in the Rio Games and chase a third Olympic gold medal. AP