Businessmirror september 10, 2016

“The scene was much like a slaughterhouse where sacrificed animals are dumped on one another. People were screaming for help, but there was no one to listen. Police officers seemed confused and looked like they were not trained to handle this kind of situation.”—Dawood Raza, a 51-yearold businessman from Peshawar, Pakistan, who recounted his experience during a deadly stampede at last year’s annual hajj in Saudi Arabia. AP

“It seems that the North has decided to play an ‘end game’ where they push things to see how far they can go.”—Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korean, expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University, on Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test. AP

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Saturday, September 10, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 336

TUGADE ANNOUNCES SIGNING OF DEAL AMONG CONCERNED FIRMS ON SEPT. 28

SM, Ayala to end feud over common station

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INSIDE

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PUBLIC-PRIVATE partnership (PPP) project in health care is being rolled out in the Philippines to increase geriatric nurses in the country and establish the sunrise industry of internationalretirement migration here.

Public and private sectors from the Philippines and Germany will collaborate in establishing a geriatric curriculum for the Philippine health-care education system that will develop a vocational training module based on the German-ge-

riatric education model.

The PPP project is led by Germany’s pro civitate Rain Tree Care and KFW DEG, in partnership with the Department of Health, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills De-

velopment Authority (Tesda).

In a press conference in Makati City on Monday, Rain Tree Care Managing Director Marc Daubenbuechel estimated there will be 14 million senior citizens in the Philippines between 2017 and 2040.

The figure will be 11.5 percent of the country’s population.

Daubenbuechel said in 2015, the country had 7.5 million people aged 60 years and above.

However, the Philippines is lacking geriatric practitioners as no geriatric curriculum exists, while there are only 10 operators of 25 elderly-care facilities nationwide.

With the PPP project for geriatric curriculum, at least 100 geriatric nurses will be trained and certified by December 2018, the

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TALY’S efforts to prevent a demographic time bomb backfired, after marketing campaigns featuring storks and hourglasses provoked a public outcry and had to be pulled.

The series of ads to raise awareness about the country’s low fertility rate—just 1.37 children per woman compared with a 1.58 European Union average—had slogans like, “Beauty knows no age, fertility does” with a woman holding an hourglass and others proclaiming: “Don’t let sperm go up in smoke,” or “Get going! Don’t wait for the stork.” An ad showing drops of water dripping from a nearly dry sink with the caption “fertility is a common good,” echoed a similar campaign run by dictator Benito Mussolini during Italy’s fascist era.

The ads “have clearly failed as a communication campaign,” said Francesco Daveri, a professor of economics at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Piacenza. “They have nevertheless been the catalyst for a very serious economic issue that should be in focus 365 days a year.”

An aging population combined with a low fertility rate has resulted in the number of people in the 25-to-49 year range, the most productive age group, shrinking by 700,000 in the last 10 years in Italy, and it could contract by another 2 million by 2029, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The demographic pattern could erode Italy’s GDP by up to 0.6 percentage points a year, Daveri said.

“An aging population and low fertility have severe economic implications,” he said. “More health spending, a greater pension burden, but most of all, economic policies geared toward the elderly.”

Italy isn’t the only country facing declining birthrates and aging populations, and isn’t the first to push its citizens to have more children.

In Denmark—where the fertility is 1.69 children per woman— travel company Spies made news with its “Do it for Denmark” and “Do it for Mom” campaigns with humorous ads encouraging young people to have more children. The city of Copenhagen also contribut-

conclusion of the project.

The project also targets to have more trainers and clinical instructors to multiply the knowledge on geriatrics.

The project aims to establish a geriatric course in Tesda, as well as incorporate the module in nursing courses, giving nursing students the choice to specialize in geriatric nursing.

Daubenbuechel said the Philippines can be the hub for nursingcare tourism, as retirees from other countries, particularly from western countries, eye retirement in tropical countries, like the Philippines.

He said that, assuming there will be 10,000 private rooms for geriatric nursing by 2022, the industry can contribute P9.6 billion, or about $230 million, to the economy. PNA

Electric fans may make seniors hotter in extreme heat

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HICAGO—True or false: Electric fans are a cheap and effective way to stay cool during extreme heat waves.

A tiny new experiment in older adults suggests the answer may not be as simple as it seems.

It’s an important issue, particularly for seniors and sick people, whose bodies struggle to adapt to extreme temperatures that are becoming more common as the climate changes.

The results of the experiment suggest electric fans may be less effective for those 60 and up than in younger people during triple-digit heat because older people don’t sweat as much.

The authors don’t want anyone to stop using fans in normal hot weather, though, and they caution their conclusions are not clearcut because they studied so few people at just one extremely high temperature.

Eight adults aged 60 to 80 years agreed to sit for about two hours in a chamber resembling a walk-in freezer, only it was heated to 107 degrees.

Researchers used a steam generator to gradually increase humidity to 70 percent. The participants sat with a

STILL WORKING An unidentified older man continues to manage his watermelon farm despite his age. Many older people like him keep themselves physically fit by working their farms. LEONARDO PERANTE II 16-inch electric fan in the chamber on one day, and came back another and sat without the fan.

Fans seemed to make things worse. Participants’ heart rates were

10 beats per minute higher on average and their body temperatures were almost half a degree higher with the fan than without it. Those small changes aren’t dangerous in the

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‘More Babies’ campaign pours salt in Italy’s demographic wounds

PPP project in health care to increase number of geriatric nurses in nation

short term, but over a longer period of time, they can stress the heart, said study coauthor Craig Crandall, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher. AP

@joveemarie

he Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the concerned private groups have already agreed to sign an agreement for a common station connecting the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 and MRT 7, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said on Friday.

ppp project in health care to increase number of geriatric nurses in nation B4 Saturday, September 10, 2016 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ed to the debate, with a government campaign reminding young people to think about children sooner, including slogans asking women if they’d “counted their eggs today?” and men if their sperm was “swimming too slowly?”

Singapore, which has an even lower fertility rate of 1.24, partnered with Mentos mint-maker in 2012 for a “National Night” ad in which a rapper encouraged citizens to have more kids saying “let’s do our civic duty and manufacture life.”

The Italian campaign included 12 images published online by the Health Ministry, whose spokesman said on Monday they were “teasers” before a broader campaign is launched. The campaign also had a government web site with a video game where players could be sperm or eggs that needed to avoid “enemies,” like contraceptive pills, cigarettes and alcohol, to reach the final goal: insemination.

Thousands of Italians complained the ads were insensitive toward the childless, sexist as they put the burden of blame on women, and didn’t address the reasons people delay having kids, like unemployment and lack of childsupport services.

The ministry still plans to hold a “Fertility Day” on September 22 to discuss the demographic challenges that have prompted Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin to call Italy a “dying country.” Of particular concern is that the median age at which women have their first child is the highest in Italy, according to Eurostat data.

The demographic deficit has consequences, including a heavy pension and health-care burden for the increasingly small working population, and even investor flight.

“Old people, who generally have more savings, may want to invest in countries with a younger population and for higher profits to provide for their own support,” said Ronald Lee, a professor of demography and economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

“That makes it even harder to curb unemployment and spur growth at home.” Bloomberg News

ASHINGTON—Where you live plays a big role in staying independent as you age. Now researchers say an innovative program that combined home fix-ups and visits from occupational therapists and nurses improved low-income seniors’ ability to care for themselves in their own homes.

Still to be answered is whether better daily functioning also saves taxpayer dollars—by helping enough older adults with chronic health problems avoid costly hospital or nursing-home stays.

“We’re improving people’s lives, improving their abilities,” said Sarah Szanton, a Johns Hopkins University associate nursing professor who leads the experimental program reported on Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs.

Surveys show most older adults want to live at home for as long as possible. Yet, chronic diseases and their resulting disabilities—problems in walking, bathing, dressing, cooking—can make that difficult in homes with steep stairs, doorways too narrow for walkers and other obstacles.

And seniors who have trouble with those so-called activities of daily living are costly for Medicare and Medicaid, too often ending up in hospitals or nursing homes because they couldn’t care for themselves at home, or had a bad fall while trying.

Szanton’s team aims to help those seniors maintain their independence through CA-

PABLE—it stands for Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders— a program testing modest home modifications and strategies for daily living.

The fixes sound simple. A double banister let people rest their weight on both sides to get up and down stairs safely. Handymen fixed trip hazards, installed grab bars and lowered shelves so seniors could reach without climbing. Occupational therapists bought assistive devices to help people with tremors feed themselves, and taught the frail how to get in and out of high-sided tubs.

Even simple fixes can be life-changing, like the reaching gadget therapists gave Bertha Brickhouse to help tug on her socks and shoes.

“You just don’t want to ask someone, ‘Can you come to my house and help me put my boots on?’” said Brickhouse, 69, of Baltimore, who has diabetes, high-blood pressure and cholesterol, and uses a cane for damaged knees. “It was like I was born all over again from their help, the things they did to make my life much easier.”

In a demonstration project funded by the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, the Hopkins researchers provided 234 Baltimore residents with 10 home visits by handymen, occupational therapists and nurses. Interventions were tailored to each senior’s priorities: Did they want to bathe without help? Cook? Be able to climb the stairs, or make it out of the house to go to church or visit friends? AP

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MAJOR UPSET! GRANDPA’S MERCHANDISE Lolo Genesis, 74, still manages his old-fashioned merchandise, selling dried tobacco leaves and beetle nut at the Santiago City public market.

Most of his customers are his contemporaries. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Sports BusinessMirror

Quintana keeps lead

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AturdAy,

September 10, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

MAJOR UPSET!

By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press

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EW YORK—For the second year in a row, Serena Williams’s bid to make history ended with a shocking loss in the US Open semifinals.

A seventh title at Flushing Meadows, which would have been an Open-era record, will have to wait. So will a 23rd Grand Slam championship, another record. And her three-and-a-half-year reign at No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings is over, too, one week shy of what would have been yet another mark.

Undone by a half-dozen double-faults, including on match point, and plenty of other mistakes she blamed, in part, on dealing with an injured left knee, Williams was upset, 6-2, 7-6 (5), by big-serving Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday night.

“Karolina played great today. I think if she had played any less, then maybe I would have had a chance,” Williams said. “So I think I wasn’t at 100 percent, but I also think she played well.

She deserved to win today.”

The 10th-seeded Pliskova, who will play No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany for the title on Saturday, began her on-court interview by blurting out that she couldn’t believe she’d eliminated Williams to earn a spot in her first major final. Then Pliskova changed course, saying: “I mean, actually, I do believe it. I always knew I have a chance to beat anyone if I’m playing my game.”

At the 2015 US Open, Williams’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended when she lost in the semifinals to unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy in one of the biggest surprises in tennis history. This one goes pretty high on the list, too.

This was the 33rd major semifinal of Williams’s career, and the first for Pliskova, who beat the 34-year-old American’s older sister Venus in the fourth round after staving off a match point.

Pliskova is only the fourth woman to beat both Williams siblings during the same Slam.

“Obviously, the match with Venus helped me...not only with the game, but also with the crowd,” Pliskova said. “Was my first match on center court.”

And to think: The 24-year-old Pliskova had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.

But now she’s on an 11-match winning streak.

“One more step to go,” she said.

Kerber reached her third Grand Slam final of the season—and of her career—by beating two-time US Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 6-3. Kerber beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Kerber will move up one spot to No. 1 on Monday, ending Williams’s stay of 186 consecutive weeks, exactly the same number Steffi Graf compiled for the record.

Kerber, who becomes the only German woman other than Graf to get to No. 1, had a chance to overtake Williams last month by winning a hard-court tournament in Ohio, but lost the final there to Pliskova.

“For sure, she has a lot of confidence. Now, especially, after the win against Serena,” Kerber said about Pliskova. “I know how I was playing in Cincinnati. I know what to change.”

Williams, who refused to answer questions about the rankings, and Graf also share the mark for most Grand Slam titles since 1968, when professionals were first admitted to majors. And Williams remains even with Chris

Evert with six US Open trophies.

Pliskova, meanwhile, is now one victory from her first, and on Thursday night, she certainly looked the part of an up-and-comer with the strokes and demeanor to go far.

The temperature was in the low 80s, and the air was muggy, and Williams kept using the pleats of her black-and-pink skirt to wipe her sweaty palms between points. She made 31 unforced errors in all.

Afterward, Williams dismissed the notion she was fatigued from a grueling three-set quarterfinal against Simona Halep that concluded less than 22 hours before the semifinal started (Pliskova, whose quarterfinal was earlier Wednesday, watched, then slept in until 1 p.m. on Thursday).

Instead, Williams and her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, pointed to the left leg that she repeatedly clutched.

He said she spent far less time than usual warming up for the match, after getting treatment much of the day.

“When you’re hampered, you’re thinking of other things. Like, I was making errors that I never make, and definitely I didn’t make in this tournament in particular. So many simple, simple shots that I easily could have made,”Williams said.

“I just blame that on just mentally thinking about my leg and just not thinking about the shot.”

Mouratoglou was more succinct.

“She didn’t show up. She couldn’t play,” he said. “She was so slow. She couldn’t move.”

Pliskova said she was focusing on herself and didn’t notice whether Williams was troubled.

SERENA WILLIAMS is upset, 6-2, 7-6 (5), »by big-serving Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. AP

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The budget being sought by the transportation department for 2017 During deliberations on the DOTr’s proposed 2017 P55.4-billion budget, Tugade told lawmakers that the agreement would be signed by September 28.

“We’ve met separately and collectively with all these stakeholders. We had a meeting yesterday [Thursday], all the Continued on A2

on a wing and a prAyer A family of three takes a groupie with the Pililia Wind Farm as background. Using wind energy to generate power is kinder to nature than using fossil fuels. Wind energy, unlike fossil fuels, does not produce greenhouse gases, discharge particles and other pollutants into the atmosphere, or cause liquid or solid waste to be dumped into the soil or water. Mindful of the environment, car manufacturers prefer working on greener, more environment-friendly engines. NONIE REYES

Handy men, home care help seniors trying to age in place

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ANDIA, Spain—Nairo Quintana of Colombia preserved his lead of nearly four minutes over Chris Froome in the Spanish Vuelta after a relatively flat stage won by Magnus Cort Nielsen of Denmark on Thursday.

Quintana finished with the peloton to stay three minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Britain’s Froome after the 200-kilometer route from Requena to Gandia on the Mediterranean coast, with Esteban Chaves of Colombia and Alberto Contador of Spain less than 30 seconds behind.

Nielsen thrived in the final sprint to beat Nikias Arndt of Germany and Jempy Drucker of Luxembourg at the line, with the peloton closely behind.

“I gave it a go today. It was amazing,” Nielsen said.

Riders faced little adversity with only one small climb during the 18th stage.

Froome will have a chance to cut Quintana’s lead during Friday’s 37-km individual time trial, which is one of his strengths.

Quintana, a two-time runner-up at the Tour de France, is seeking his first Spanish Vuelta title.

“We got another day behind us today,” the Movistar rider said.

“I’m confident I can get a good time tomorrow.”

The Vuelta ends on Sunday. AP

LONG SETTLES FOR SILVER

IO DE JANEIRO— US swimmer Jessica Long hugged Australian Lakeisha Patterson when the women’s 400 freestyle final was over and offered congratulations. Long had a medal in her fourth Paralympics, but Patterson took the gold and the world record.

“I wish it went a little differently,” said Long, the highly decorated US Paralympian who is competing in nine races at the Rio Games.

“I think the only hard part about that is adding time in one of my best races. But at the same time, I’ve overcome some really bad shoulder injuries.

So I’m really proud that I finished, and even signed up for the race.”

Patterson’s time of four minutes and 40.33 seconds nipped Long’s previous record of 4:40.44.

“Jess is an amazing person and a really great, fierce competitor,” Patterson said. “She’s achieved so much. To be able to have my idol come up to me and say she’s proud of me — it was really quite bittersweet. And that’s going to stick with me for a long time.” The 24-year-old Long now has 18 medals overall, a dozen of them gold.

But Patterson, a 17-year-old swimmer from Caboolture, Australia, who has

cerebral palsy, steadily took control of the race after the first 100 meters. Long finished far back, in 4:47.82.

Long was born in Siberia with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect that left her without her fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in her feet.

Shortly after being adopted at 13 months old, Long went through multiple surgeries, eventually having each of her legs amputated below the knee. Growing up in Baltimore, she took up swimming at age 10 and joined her first team.

Two years later, she became the youngest member of the US Paralympic team and went on to win three gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

Long is just the third American swimmer to appear in four Paralympics.

She may be rivaled only by US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden, competing in seven events from the 100 meters to the marathon in Rio, as the bestknown and busiest American Paralympian.

“Oh my goodness,” Long exclaimed, when asked after her qualifying heat about how she’s handling her nine-event schedule. “Day by day. Literally, I can’t even think about tomorrow. Just thinking about today, and basically what I can control which is today and just enjoying it. It’s a lot of fun to be back.” AP

SPORTS

INSPIRATION FOR CAREGIVERS Dear Lord, we need to understand our work as caregivers. We need inspiration, encouragement and faith to care for a loved one. If we feel overwhelmed: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). May we all be blessed with grace, patience and love in this task of caregiving. Amen!

Caregivers, Lori Hogan, Shared by Luisa M. Lacson

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OBAMA DESERVING OF PHL’S HIGHEST CIVIL AWARD–CARPIO

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See “Obama,” A2

Pinoy consumers in record-high confidence index

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) believes tourists from the United States will continue to visit the Philippines in strong numbers, despite the recent dustup between the two countries.

In a news statement issued on Friday, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo expressed confidence that

PESO exchange rates n US 46.8370

454,170 The number of Americans who visited the Philippines from January to June, up 9.18 percent

strong friendly relations between the two countries will continue, and that Americans are always welcome to visit

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

the Philippines. “The Philippines has always had strong ties with the US, and that is not going to change any time soon,” she said.

The US continues to be the secondlargest source of foreign visitor arrivals in the Philippines. In 2015 a total of 779,217 visitors from the US toured the country. From January to June 2016, 454,170 visitors from the US came to the Philippines, up 9.18 percent from the same period last year. First-half

hanges attributable to the Duterte administration pushed consumer confidence in the economy to a new high, with the latest central-bank survey showing Filipinos are at their most confident state since 2007.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday that consumer confidence on the country’s economic condition vastly improved for the July-to-September period, with a record-high confidence index (CI) of positive 2.5 percent, improving from the negative 6.4 percent in the previous quarter.

CIs are computed as the percentage of optimistic respondents minus the percentage of consumers that indicated otherwise. A positive CI for this quarter means that the number of optimists increased compared to that of the last quarter.

The third-quarter CI is the first positive CI since the survey started in 2007.

According to the respondents, their optimism during the quarter is due to improvements in the peace-and-order situation, the availability of more jobs, the stable prices of commodities and the anticipated increase in salaries.

Effective government policies, the assumption into office of the new administration, the pronounced campaign against drugs and the continued assistance of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) were also among the top reasons behind the all-time-high CI. The high CI of consumers in the country for the third

See “DOT,” A2

See “Pinoy,” A2

DOT: US tourists will continue to come @Pulitika2010 Special to the BusinessMirror

@davecaga

he proponent of the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China to resolve the territorial dispute in the South China Sea on Friday said he would nominate US President Barack Obama for the highest civil award being given by the Philippine government strongly supporting the enforcement of obama the verdict issued by the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio said Obama should be named ‘Defender of the West Philippine Sea” for his statements during the recent Asean Leaders Summit in Lao PDR, where he told China to comply with the arbitration court’s ruling in favor of the Philippines.

“For telling China to comply with the arbitral ruling, I nominate Obama for the highest Philippine award and to name him Defender of the West Philippine Sea,” Carpio told the BusinessMirror.

According to Executive Order 236 issued in 2003, the highest civil award that the Philippine government can give to a foreigner is the Order of Lakandula, “for deeds worthy of particular recognition, including

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By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

By David Cagahastian

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media partner of the year

“These are kids that basically have been hungry all their lives, and some are so far gone that they die here in the first 24 hours.”—Jean Stowell, head of the Doctors Without Borders emergency feeding center in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on the children dying of starvation because of Boko Haram’s insurgency.AP

n japan 0.4570 n UK 62.2792 n HK 6.0384 n CHINA 7.0273 n singapore 34.6581 n australia 35.7835 n EU 52.7572 n SAUDI arabia 12.4905

Source: BSP (9 September 2016 )

A2 Saturday, September 10, 2016

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SM, Ayala to end feud over common station Continued from A1

heads of the stakeholders, including [Ayala Corp. Chairman Jaime Zobel de] Ayala, [San Miguel Corp.

President] Ramon S. Ang, businessman Manny V. Pangilinan and [SM Investment Corp. Vice Chairman Teresita] Sy-Coson. All have agreed that there has to be connectivity; all agreed that we will have a common station; all have agreed that we will sign an agreement by the end of this month expressing full conformity to one single station,” Tugade said.

“There will be a meeting on September 28 to sign the agreement during the time. What is the basic technical issue involved is whether there will be an overpass or underpass. But the connectivity is given assumption,” he added.

The common station, which will rise between Ayala’s TriNoma and Sy’s SM North Edsa, will connect the LRT Line 1, the MRT Line 3 and the yet-to-be-constructed P63billion MRT Line 7.

The MRT 7 will be constructed

by San Miguel Holdings Corp.’s Universal LRT Corp. (ULC).

“In our first early days, this was one of our priorities to put meaning and life to that one single station,” Tugade said. “All of them saw the importance of one single station.

All of them saw the difficulty of making people walk to do connectivity between LRTs and MRTs. All of them agreed that there’s got to be connectivity.”

The common alignment has been in limbo ever since the previous transport department reviewed the project’s technical and financial components years back.

To recall, the transportation department decided to change the station’s location from SM North Edsa to TriNoma after several reviews on the project’s technical and financial components.

SM Prime sought court intervention, as it initially paid P200 million for the naming rights of the station. This led to the trans-

Obama. . .

Continued from A1

suffering materially for the preservation and defense of the democratic way of life and of the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines, for devoting his life to the peaceful resolution of conf lict, or for demonstrating an outstanding dedication to the fostering of mutual understanding, cultural exchange, justice and dignified relations among individuals,” among others.

In his speech before Asean Leaders in Laos, Obama asserted

portation department’s proposal of building two common stations as a compromise to the feud.

Building two common alignments would cost somewhere between P2.2 billion to P2.6 billion, which was the cost of the original three-in-one station approach.

Building a single station in TriNoma would only cost P1.4 billion.

The compromise deal is aimed at ending the stay order issued by the Supreme Court and moving toward the construction of the facilities.

Meanwhile, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, at the sideline of the budget hearing, assured the public that Congress will not give a blanket definition of emergency powers to President Duterte.

“We need to identify carefully what will be the projects under the emergency powers, but we assure you we will not allow blanket definition of emergency powers,” he said. Tugade, on the other hand, said emergency powers will solve the traffic problem in the country.

He added that through the emergency powers, the next government will be allowed to open private subdivisions to commuters and will provide President Duterte the option to forego public biddings to speed up construction.

Tugade noted that bidders’ legal actions have delayed the implementation of government projects.

The procurement law provides that all government projects should be subjected to a public bidding to ensure that the government gets the most affordable and best possible transaction.

However, the law also allows direct contracting and negotiated contracting in “highly exceptional cases.” Earlier, the Speaker has expressed confidence that Congress may pass the proposal granting President Duterte emergency powers before the year ends.

Alvarez added that the measure granting Mr. Duterte emergency powers that will address traffic

problems in the country is one the priority measures of the lower chamber.

The Speaker said the lower chamber is eyeing to start its deliberations on the emergency powers this month.

According to Alvarez, Congress will pass first the bill granting President Duterte emergency powers before it constitutes itself into a constituent assembly and jumpstart the country’s shift to a federal form of the government.

“We will prioritize the emergency powers. The country is experiencing horrendous and worsening unsolved traffic crisis caused by insufficient infrastructures coupled with inefficient management of transportation services,” said Alvarez, author of House Bill 3, or the Traffic Crisis Act of 2016, during the Philippine Constitution Association membership meeting on Tuesday.

In his bill, Alvarez, citing the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), said the Philippines loses P2.4 billion per day, or equivalent to $51 million per day, in potential income as a result of traffic-congestion problems and lost productivity.

“Also, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) concluded that without the necessary intervention by the authorities, traffic costs will likely increase to P6 billion a day, which costs are based from several factors, namely, value of time lost due to delay, fuel costs, vehicle operating costs, impact of health, greenhouse-gas emissions, great demand for transport-cost expenses from household income, productivity losses and overcapacity of registered vehicles, whether public or private,” he said.

Under the Constitution, Congress is tasked to approve the grant of emergency powers to the President through a resolution approved by two-thirds of its members in a joint session.

Alvarez’s bill allows the President to reorganize the Depart-

that China’s claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea had no legal basis, and that the ruling of the PCA was “binding,” even on China, which has refused to acknowledge the international court’s jurisdiction.

On July 12 the PCA issued its ruling in favor of the Philippines in the arbitration case, which Carpio had pursued to be filed since the 1990s but was only given the gosignal for filing during the Aquino administration.

In its ruling, the PCA invalidated China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea, as reflected by its overarching “nine-dash”

line. The ruling said “none of the features claimed by China was capable of generating an exclusive economic zone.”

Obama welcomed the ruling and asserted that it was binding, even on China, which refused to take part in the proceedings at the PCA. “The landmark arbitration ruling in July, which is binding, helped clarify maritime rights in the region,” Obama said.

“I recognize this raises tensions but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively move forward together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and stability,” he added.

Emergency powers

ment of Transportation (DOTr) with Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Toll Regulatory Board of the Philippines for land transportation concerns; and the Civil Aviation Board and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for air-traffic problems, to make them more effective, innovative and responsive agencies to solve both land- and air-traffic crisis.

The bill said the President may also abolish or create offices; split, group, or merge government positions; transfer functions, equipment, properties, records and personnel; institute drastic cost-cutting measures and take such other related actions necessary to carry out the purpose herein declared.

“The authority granted to the President under this act be valid and effective for a period of two years from the effectivity of the act unless sooner withdrawn by a resolution of Congress,” the measure said.

It also allows the President to create and establish a centralized traffic authority—both on air and on land—empowered to address all traffic concerns and implement better management services resulting from balanced integration of traffic education, engineering and enforcement of services.

The bill said the President may administer and implement remedial and such other related measures to address the traffic crisis in the country, which shall include: ■ the creation and establishment of mass transport system; ■ the transfer of transport terminals to decongest choke points in Metro Manila and other major cities; ■ creation or immediate establishment or designation of alternative international airports and the creation of parallel runways, if feasible, to decongest airport traffic, in order to relieve and alleviate traffic situation and spread through less congested areas near or adjacent Metro Manila;

DOT. . .

Continued from A1

visitors from the US this year accounted for some 15.3 percent of total foreign visitor arrivals for the period.

Most of the visitors from the US are Filipinos who have either migrated there or were born there of Filipino parentage. The DOT is now trying to market the country to mainstream Americans, or those who don’t have existing ties by blood to the Philippines.

For 2016, the DOT is targeting to attract 867,742 visitors from the US, and 968,395 in 2017.

The Miss Universe beauty pageant, to be held in January 2017, will also likely boost arrivals from the US. An earlier interview with an executive from the Tourism Promotions Board, the marketing arm of the DOT, indicated that while it is beamed live around the world, said beauty contest attracts the most number of viewers in the US than in other countries, because the Miss Universe Organization is based in the US. (See, “Private sector to shoulder Miss Universe costs–DOT, in the BusinessMirror,” July 20, 2016.)

US President Barack Obama cancelled an earlier arranged bilateral meeting with President Duterte on the sidelines of the US-Asean Summit in Laos over comments made by

Pinoy. . .

Continued from A1

quarter of the year contrasted the local businesses view, as the results of the central bank ’s quarterly Business Expectations Survey (BES) showed business

■ transfers of public markets on busy highways; ■ the establishment of Friendship routes, or alternative routes by opening an otherwise private subdivision road to nonresident motorists, with the option to provide nonfiscal incentives in return for the use of the said private roads; gated communities and gated military camps parallel to major thoroughfares may, likewise, be opened, subject to conditions and restrictions; ■ the issuance and implementation of rules on the working hours of employees and workers in government, and whenever it becomes necessary, in the private sector to alleviate traffic congestion during rush hours; ■ exercise state power of eminent domain in order to appropriate private property for establishment of easement or right of way, expansion of public roads or other public purposes, with payment of reasonable compensation usually based on the fair market value of the strip of land and for any effect the condemnation of that strip has on the value of the owners’ remaining property; ■ formulate, coordinate and regulate the implementation of medium- and long-term plans and programs for the delivery of nationwide transportation-related services, consistent with national developmental objectives and priorities; ■ whenever it is advantageous to the government, the President may enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of roads, bridges, railways, toll roads, expressways, skyways, airport runways and facilities, and similar infrastructure and facilities, and the procurement of coaches, subject to requirements; ■ implement the “road map for transport infrastructure development for Metro Manila and its surrounding areas” approved by the Neda board, known as the “dream plan” road map, estimated to cost

the government P2.3 million; ■ to temporarily take over or direct the operation of any transportation franchise, which is found to have redundantly violated the herein declared national policy.

Mindanao railway

Meanwhile, the DOTr said the government will award the 2,000-kilometer Mindanao railway project before the year ends.

Tugade told lawmakers that Mindanao railway project is one of President Duterte administration’s priority projects.

“The presentations with National Economic Development Authority have started. This has been placed on a fast-track. The priority plans, the design, the destination and the origin are being laid out now,” he said.

“Once that is in place, hopefully, we are targeting before the end of next year, the award and the plan and the study,” Tugade said.

In the Senate, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III filed Senate Bill 112, or the creation of Mindanao Railways Corp.

Pimentel, citing collective experience of Japan, Canada, the United States and most of Europe, said railroad networks spurred and sped up their national development.

He said the proposed railroad network crisscrossing Mindanao would considerably shorten travel time between Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro, and Davao and Cagayan de Oro. Under Pimentel’s proposal, the Mindanao Railways Corp. would have a corporate existence of 50 years, with an authorized capital of P100 billion, divided into P500 million common shares with par value of P200 apiece fully subscribed by the national government.

The bill said the initial paidup capital of the corporation will be set at P20 billion, with the balance to be provided under a continuing annual appropriation of not less than P2 billion from the national Treasury.

the latter, which seemed to take a jab at the US President, calling him a “son of a bitch.”

Said statement was in response to a question from the media asking what Mr. Duterte would do if Obama would raise the issue of extrajudicial killings with him.

The Philippine Head of State later expressed regret for making the statement, which he said made it appear like a “personal attack” against Obama. Later, the two were reported to have “exchanged pleasantries” for a few minutes in a holding room with other heads of state, before the gala dinner for the summit.

On Thursday, however, Obama would snub President Duterte again, not shaking the President’s hand, unlike he did the other heads of state, after the latter called to question the US military’s alleged atrocities versus Filipinos when the Philippines was still an American colony from 1898 to 1946. Mr. Duterte even held up a photo of US military killings during the period, veering away from his prepared speech at the East Asia Forum of the Asean Summit.

The DOT, however, chose to overlook the latest kerfuffle in its news statement, underscoring only the “warm pleasantries” earlier exchanged between the two presidents.

“Mr. Obama must have found out for himself how amiable Presi-

dent Duterte is, one thing that I’ve known personally for many years in Davao City,” Teo said.

She also clarified that President Duterte’s “son of a whore” expletive “was not personally directed to Obama, but a natural reaction” to a reporter’s hypothetical question.

Now, they are getting to know more about President Duterte, his usual af front and uncompromising principles, and stand on issues,” she stressed.

The DOT chief also hailed the chairmanship by the Philippines of the Asean Summit in 2017. “As President Duterte elucidated, the Filipino people will be most honored to host the Asean leaders and their partners in dialogue, whom he urged to be the Philippines’s dynamic and vibrant partners in regionalism, with the interest of the people at its core.

“We share the President’s optimism and enthusiasm for the country’s hosting of the 2017 summit, with the theme ‘Partnering for Change, Engaging the World,’ to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Asean.

“We cannot overemphasize that the Philippines played an instrumental role in the founding of the regional bloc. We at DOT, therefore, stand alongside President Duterte, ready and willing to steer Asean toward realization of its goals of cooperation and regional stability.”

outlook on the economy was lower in optimism as the overall confidence index (CI) of firms surveyed in the country. It also contrasted the less favorable views of consumers in the euro area, Japan and the United Kingdom, and the steady outlook in the United States for the third quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, it mirrored the positive sentiment of consumers in Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Broken down by income group, the low-income segment largely pushed the CI to an all-time high, while the high- and middle-income group showed mixed outlook.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs

Dam boosts productivity of Leyte farmers AGRICULTURAL productivity of Leyte farmers, especially during the rainy season, is expected to improve, thanks to the completion of a P134-million mega flood-control facility-rehabilitation project of the government.

In a media advisory, the public works department said it has completed the rehab and improvement works for the Dungcaan River Basin flood-control structure, which protects agricultural lands in Baybay City against floods.

Flood-mitigating measures composed of dredging activities and reconstruction of concrete wall were implemented for prevention of flood waters from entering the southern substream in Poblacion of Baybay.

“Through the rehabilitation of Dungcaan River Basin, flooding will be mitigated and reduced in the area, hence, damages to fields, communities and infrastructure in the province during rainy days will be prevented,” the advisory read.

Likewise, the department was also able to complete two flood-mitigation projects in Leyte, namely, the P112-million rehabilitation of floodcontrol structures along DaguitanMarabong River in Barangay Caridad in the town of Julita and the P9-million Tabgas flood-control structure along Tabgas River in the town of Albuera. Leyte is surrounded by Camotes Sea and Leyte Gulf and usually visited by typhoons, which make it more vulnerable to flood, affecting not only the agriculture industry but also the socio-economic activities and daily lives of its people.

Agriculture is also one of the most important economic activities in the province. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Legarda seeks immediate passage of housing dept bill

Sen. Loren Legarda has sought the immediate passage of the proposed measure creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD) to immediately and efficiently address the country’s housing needs and other related issues.

Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, renewed her call for the immediate passage of Senate Bill 37 creating the DHUD, following concerns raised by Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo during the Senate hearing on the budgets of the Office of the Vice President and shelter agencies.

“The Philippine housing sector is replete with enormous challenges, spanning the issues of ever-increasing need for affordable housing provisions, limited access to housing finance, the need for more sustainable housing solutions, and the need to relocate families and households to safer ground on account of increasing threats of disasters,” she said. Statistics from the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) show that the country currently has a backlog of 5.56-million housing units.

Province-wide blackout in Bukidnon looms

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A total power blackout in the two cities and nine towns in Bukidnon province would take place next week for failure of the Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperatives (Buseco) to settle power bills, a report reaching here said on Friday.

Elizabeth Ladaga, spokesman of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), has confirmed the notice of disconnection on Thursday.

The affected areas are the city of Malaybalay and part of Valencia and the municipal towns of Lantapan, Cabanglasan, Impasug-ong, Sumilao, Manolo Fortich, Malitbog, Libona, Baungon and Talakag.

She said Bukidnon Sub-Transmission Corp. (BSTC) has requested NGCP to shut down the MalaybalayMaramag 69-kilovolt power line on September 15. According to Ladaga, the NGCP would carry out the request, because all other matters concerning the Buseco and the BSTC would only be between the two entities.

“The NGCP would cut the power lines on the requested date unless the BSTC withdraws its request, which would mean that Buseco has settled its power bills,” Ladaga said. PNA

Economy

BusinessMirror Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon • Saturday, September 10, 2016 A3

Exports decline widened PHL trade deficit to $13.967B from Jan to July

By Cai U. Ordinario

W

@cuo_bm

eak exports widened the country’s trade deficit to $13.967 billion in the Januaryto-July period, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The country’s trade deficit in 2016 increased 159.13 percent, from $5.39 billion in the January-to-July period in 2015.

This indicated that the Philippines continued to buy more products abroad than sell local wares in other parts of the globe.

“We must continue to upgrade and improve our industries to ensure their competitiveness and resiliency to shocks,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

The growth in the country’s trade deficit was also higher at $2.05 billion in July 2016, from $1.475 billion in July 2015. However, it was lower than the $2.098 billion posted in June 2016. The trade deficit is computed by subtracting imports from exports. If exports are lower than imports, it will indicate a trade deficit, while the reverse would indicate a trade surplus.

In the January-to-July period in 2016, imports amounted to $45.473 billion, while exports only reached $31.505 billion. This resulted in a total trade of $76.978 billion and a trade deficit of $13.967 billion during the seven-month period.

In July the PSA reported on Friday that total revenue from trade fell from $12.2 billion in the previous year to $11.4 billion in July 2016.

This is attributed to the 13-percent decline in exports and 1.7-percent decline in imports.

Pernia, who is also National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general, blamed this on the weak performance of

We must continue to upgrade and improve our industries to ensure their competitiveness and resiliency to shocks.”

—Pernia the country’s exports. Pernia said the decline in exports is due to the decrease in demand for Philippine products from traditional markets, such as Japan, China, Hong Kong and the US. Meanwhile, the decline in imports is a result of the decrease in local demand for raw materials and intermediate goods (13.6 percent), as well as mineral fuel, lubricants (26.3 percent).

“We must continue to expand our presence in nontraditional markets to reduce our dependency on traditional markets,” Pernia said.

The Neda added that exports to the country’s nontraditional markets posted hefty increases, particularly in France and Mexico, which grew by 59.2 percent and 22.4 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, imports from Japan, China, Hong Kong and Singapore increased in July 2015.

Apart from diversifying markets,

No escape Workers use an intricate web of galvanized iron pipes and steel bars as scaffoldings to construct the foundation of a skyscraper on Magsaysay Avenue in Manila. The construction in Metro Manila remains on the upswing, despite the rainy season. Nonoy Lacsa

Pernia warned of the looming threat of La Niña, saying that the government must ensure that policies that improve and strengthen the resiliency of agricultural communities are passed swiftly.

“We must prepare ahead and improve infrastructure and weather facilities. We must tap agriculture research and extension facilities to better equip the farmers to cope with increasing unpredictable weather conditions,” Pernia said.

Meanwhile, export of manufactured goods declined by 13 percent to $4 billion in July 2016, the steepest decline for the last 10 months since September 2015.

Imports of capital goods grew by 23.1 percent to $2.3 billion, while consumer goods grew by 8.3 percent to $1.1 billion in July 2016.

Pernia said strong sales in coconut products, particularly in coconut oil and desiccated coconut, and agrobased products eased to 0.6 percent in July 2016, a relief from the four-

month long double-digit decline since March.

“The outlook for the electronics industry is improving, particularly for semiconductors. We must take advantage of this and beef up the capacity of the electronics industry for production, research and development, and design to enable us to keep up with the imminent increase in demand,” he said.

“This only means that our domestic market is growing and healthy, despite the weak global economy.

We must support this growth by aggressively addressing logistical bottlenecks that hamper the flow of trade,” he added.

The country’s biggest import source in the January-to-July period were China, which accounted for 18.5 percent of total imports, followed by Japan, with an 11.7-percent share and United States at 8.6 percent.

In July China was also the country’s largest import source, with a share of 19.1 percent, followed by

First solar plant in W. Visayas inaugurated

I

LOILO CITY—The first solar-power plant established in the province of Iloilo and the entire Panay and Guimaras islands was formally inaugurated on Thursday.

Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. was joined by Miag-ao Mayor Macario Napulan in gracing the inauguration of the 5.67-megawatt solar-power plant of Cosmo Solar Energy Inc. (CSEI) in Barangay Narat-an in Miag-ao.

CSEI President and CEO Rodolfo Golez Jr. said the power plant, albeit small and startup, embodies the realization of a dream and the Filipino spirit of passion, craftsmanship and hard work.

He said the project was conceptualized

in 2012 and, with the help and support of the local government of Miag-ao and the province of Iloilo, it has come to reality.

Golez recalled that they have encountered many hindrances along the way, but, because of the encouragement from Defensor and his business partners, he was able to overcome the obstacles.

Defensor thanked Golez and his group for investing in renewable energy in the province. He said solar-power plants are a big help in addressing climate change.

Napulan also thanked CSEI for choosing the municipality of Miag-ao as the site of their project.

He said their municipality is proud to

host the first-ever solar power plant in this part of the country.

Golez disclosed that they have invested P745 million for the establishment of the solar-power plant, which sits on a 15-hectare property.

He said CSEI is also planning to put up another solar-power plant in the adjacent property, which is already part of the town of San Joaquin.

Golez said the second phase intends to provide an additional 6.5 MW of solar power into the national grid.

The Department of Energy has awarded CSEI with a 25-year solar-energy contract for the development of the facility. PNA

BOI, Nedo ink pact for pilot use of e-vehicles in Manila

T

he Board of Investments (BOI) will be implementing a P550-million e-vehicledemonstration project of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (Nedo) that will pilot the use of public electric vehicles (e-vehicles) in Manila.

In a news statement on Friday, the BOI said its project with Nedo, called Mobility as a System, or Maas, demonstration project, will see 50 electric tricycles (etrikes) and 17 charging stations placed in Intramuros, Manila, for pilot testing.

The project will run for two years.

“The project boosts the development and promotion of electric vehicles in the country,” said Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo, who signed a memorandum of agreement with NEDO to become

a member of the steering committee tasked to implement the project.

Currently, there are over 30 firms engaged in the local e-vehicles industry. The industry employs 10,000 individuals. As the government continues to support the use of electric vehicles, the industry is expected to grow in the coming years.

BOI, through its Industry Development Program, is supporting the evehicle project in the implementation of its electric vehicles road map. The e-vehicles working group (EVWG) is a subcluster of the automotive working group. The government has been promoting the use of electric vehicles across the country, notably as a form of public transportation.

Under the current Investments Priorities Plan, the manufacture of

e-vehicles and components, as well as the establishment and operation of electric vehicles charging stations are preferred activities for investments that may be entitled to incentives.

Electric jeeps and e-trikes are slowly being adopted in the country’s major business districts and urban areas.

The establishment of “green cities” is also expected to generate higher demand for e-vehicles for public transportation.

Electric jeepneys are now plying regular routes in various areas, such as Makati City, Filinvest City in Alabang, Bonifacio Global City, Las Piñas, Iloilo, Bacolod and Muntinlupa, and in university campuses, like La Salle and Ateneo.

Likewise, e-trikes are being adopted in the local government unit level for certain cities in Metro Manila, like in Manila and Mandaluyong. Catherine N. Pillas

Japan, with 12.3 percent; and United States at 8.5 percent.

The country’s largest export markets are Japan, with a share of 21.1 percent of total receipts in January to July 2016, followed by United States, at 16 percent; and Hong Kong at 11.3 percent.

In July Japan was the country’s top export market, with a share of 19.5 percent, followed by United States, with 16.6 percent; and Hong Kong, with 12 percent.

Almost all Asian countries, Neda said, except for Vietnam (5.1 percent), experienced declines in export performance with Indonesia (-12 percent) and Malaysia (-10.2 percent) joining the Philippines with double-digit negative growth rates for July 2016.

It added that all Asian countries experienced declines in import payments, with the Philippines remaining at the helm despite declining by 1.7 percent, followed by Vietnam with 2.2 percent.

PHL economy’s resiliency boosts manufacturing sector in July

R

esiliency of the Philippine economy continues to back the country’s manufacturing sector, which posted another expansion in July, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Friday showed a 10.1-percent jump in the agency’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries on the Volume of Production Index (VoPI), a big jump compared to the 0.1-percent rise in July 2015.

Also, the Value of Production Index (VaPI) posted a reversal after a hike of 5.6 percent from year-ago’s 6.6-percent drop.

Domest ic dem a nd re mained solid with the 4.3-percent rise on the Volume of Net Sales Index (VoNSI), although the Value of Net Sales Index (VaNSI) posted a less than 0.1-percent drop.

“This growth shows that our economy has remained resilient to the continuing weakness in global demand for export-oriented manufactured goods caused by uncertainties, such as low commodity prices and the EU [European Union] debt crisis,” Pernia said.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary also noted the doubledigit growth in the production

of transport equipment and said this is a sign that demand for light vehicles remain.

Production of constructionrelated goods like rubber and plastic products as well as basic metals, particularly nonferrous metals, is also strong.

“Furthermore, improved efficiencies, lower material prices, increases in out-of-home food consumption, and the growing number of convenience stores nationwide, likewise, contributed to the positive performance of food manufacturing,” the concurrent Neda director general said.

Pernia, however, cited risks to the third-quarter manufacturing output and these include the rainy season and planting and closed milling season, as well as the closed fishing season in Davao gulf from July to September.

He, thus, stressed the need for continued state support to further boost the sector.

“Public and private investments in research and development must be encouraged to enhance the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers in the global market,” he said, adding that the importance of having a cost-effective power and telecommunication services as plus factors to entice more foreign investments. PNA

A4 Saturday, September 10, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Media can spin anything

T

here is an old saying in the newspaper business that goes, “When a dog bites a man, that is not news. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.” Certain events are newsworthy and some events are not. However, this is the 21st century, when something that is “factual” does not mean that it is true. It is all about the spin.

The international news agency Reuters published an article this past week that was licked up in the local media. The title was “Move over, Manila? Congo call center gives glimpse of what might be,” written by Aaron Ross. The story is about a 10-year-old call-center company—the Congo Call Center (CCC)—located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Started in 2005 by two women who received a grant from the World Bank’s International Finance Corp., the CCC currently has about 350 callcenter agents and is primarily French speaking, as the DRC is a former French colony. It also handles some of its 8,500 calls each day in the local African languages of Lingala, Swahili, Tshiluba and Kikongo. The company hopes to expand to 600 agents within another three years.

The article is an interesting examination of the outsourcing business in a nation that ranks 184th out 189 countries for “ease of doing business”.

The fact that part of the initial funding came from a World Bank program to encourage and help facilitate small businesses in poor countries is also worth noting.

But the reality is that the DRC has been involved in either a regional or civil war almost all the time since 1996. Mobutu Sese Seko was the military dictator and president from 1965 to 1997. President Joseph Kabila has been in power since 2001, taking office after his father—the former president—was assassinated. Kabila’s legal term of office is supposed to end in November with elections, but he is claiming that the voter rolls are not accurate and elections should not be held any time soon.

As you might be able to tell, the DRC is not on the top list of foreign investment destinations for call centers or otherwise.

With the Philippines now being high on the list of global stories, Reuters included “Manila” in its headline to attract attention and readership.

Of course, Manila and the Philippines are not mentioned even once in the body of the article.

Because of the way the headline was able to “spin” the article, certain Duterte detractors jumped on the article as an indication that the Philippine call-center business is in a desperate situation, thanks to the President. But maybe they are correct. At its current growth rate, the CCC would overtake the Philippines in about 9,854 years. But who is counting? It is the spin that matters, not the facts.

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The PSE: It’s Aquino’s fault John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

S

ince everyone is suddenly an expert on the stock market, let’s have a little quiz to test our knowledge. True or false: Stockmarket performance reflects economic performances? Answer: Mostly false.

Eight studies examining the Group-of-20 stock markets using 10to 30-year time periods since 1950 concluded that: The stock market underperforms its historical average when the economy outperforms its historical average. The converse is also true. This makes sense.

If the economy is doing well, then you make more money operating a siomai kiosk than taking stockmarket risk. Since the market is a self-fulfilling prophecy, less investment means less price increase. If the

economy is not doing so well, then it makes sense to invest in the stock market and prices go up.

True or false: Stock prices reach a peak when interest rates also reach their peak? Answer: True.

As interest rates go higher, so does the market, as stock prices must offer at least a similar return as debt instruments. When rates peak, so does the market. Market tops come at interest-rate tops.

Two months ago, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) failed to break

and hold a new historic high above 8,000, basically the same level as the high in 2015. Why did this happen?

The newly appointed stock-market experts are putting the responsibility on President Duterte. Actually, the short answer for the blame is former President Benigno S. Aquino III. In 2015 the PSE reached the 8,000-level historic high. Aquino said this on April 14, 2015: “I expect to ring the bell in celebration of the index breaching the 9,000 and 10,000 levels, hopefully before I step down from office.” He was wrong. The PSE fell 25 percent from then until end-January 2016.

Certainly, no one in their right investment mind would have held through that decrease. Psychologically, 8,000 has become a major trauma level.

Of course, Aquino is not to blame.

However, here is the long-answer reason the PSE fell 25 percent. First, 2015 was marked with steadily increasing economic growth. Ignore the actual numbers. The key in 2015 was the increasing trend of growth,

The world has a sex problem

W

By Victoria Bateman | BloombergView

hen it comes to identifying the causes of the two major economic problems currently facing the developed world —rising inequality and a slowdown in economic growth —sex is rarely mentioned. However, as far as Thomas Malthus, the original economic doomster, was concerned, the “passion between the sexes” was central to economic malaise.

If Malthus were alive today, he would no doubt argue that the Western economy is paying the price of excessive population growth in the world’s poorest economies. An increase in global labor supply exerts downward pressure on the wages of Western working classes, those with whom the world’s poorest compete for jobs, raising inequality and encouraging businesses to pursue cheap labor. The result is a reduced incentive to invest and slower global growth.

Malthus’s emphasis on population growth has long been brushed to one side. That’s because for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, his prediction of economic stagnation did not ring true—at least in the West. Not long after he published his Essay on the Principles of Population in 1798, Europe and North America entered a period of sustained economic growth. The work of the male inventors of the Victorian age was key to this growth, but it wasn’t the only factor. There was something Malthus didn’t bet on: the empowerment of women.

As women went to work, became economically independent and escaped early marriage, families got smaller. These smaller families boosted economic growth in numerous ways, including by preventing downward pressure on the average wage. Not only did a higher wage help raise the standard of living of the average family, it also provided firms with an incentive to mechanize, pushing forward industrialization. Plus, smaller families could better afford to educate their children and to save. Malthus became history.

That is, until now.

With the onset of globalization, the West’s comfortable highg row th, high-wage economic model—one based upon relative freedom for women—has come face-to-face with a very different kind of equilibrium in other parts of the world. As trade barriers have fallen, Western workers have had to compete with an army of low-wage unskilled workers from elsewhere, an outcome of the high fertility rates and low standards of living that tend

to exist in countries where women are second-class citizens.

More than 60 percent of the world’s illiterate population are women. Females earn 24 percent less than male workers. Only a fifth of landowners are women and less than a quarter of all lawmakers. What is particularly worrying, however, is the lack of catch-up between the West and the rest.

A gender-equality index from the Center for Global Economic History shows that while there has been a general improvement in the relative position of women during the past century, we have seen little in the way of convergence between countries. It is this lack of convergence —combined with the opening up of the world economy—that is undermining the equilibrium the West had managed to achieve some time ago.

In a new working paper from the Center for Global Economic History, the authors argue that this lack of convergence reflects the fact that gender inequality is deeply rooted in family structures. Differences in what they call the “female friendliness” of family institutions—such as the norms of marriage—go all the way back to ancient times, with early civilizations paradoxically becoming the most patriarchal over time (hunter-gatherer societies were relatively more equal than many of their successors). Today low femalefriendliness of family structure is

which was much like 2013. Note also that the stock market fell in 2013 just like in 2015.

Second, interest rates went up at the end of 2014. Interest rates stayed at a three-year high as the PSE dropped that 25 percent. And notice that rates started going down in January 2016 as the PSE started going up. Now the market is reacting to rates having peaked and going lower.

Unfortunately, none of this matters to the new stock-market experts. They know the truth as dictated to them by their petty and pathetic politics. Meanwhile, the stock market—based on money flows—is drinking Goût de Diamants champagne out of Swarovski crystal goblets, having babies with beauty queens and movie stars, and vacationing at seven-star hotels.

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.

most often seen in societies where inequality is most pronounced.

In the Arab states, female laborforce participation is a particular problem, reaching a low of about 15 percent in Iraq and Syria. By contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa women tend to engage actively in the labor market, but carry a high reproductive burden, with a fertility rate of just under five children per woman. Child marriage is a related problem, not just in Africa but also in South Asia, where more than one in two women aged 20 to 49 married as a child.

Had women in places such as India and Africa been able to enjoy something closer to the freedoms of Western women, their economies would have been richer and there would have been less downward pressure on the wages of unskilled workers.

While gender inequality already features in numerous global discussions, it is strikingly absent from economic debates about inequality and growth. Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century was meant to be an exhaustive study of wealth and inequality but contains only one mention of gender. It is missing altogether from Richard Baldwin and Coen Teuling’s noteworthy book Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes and Cures, whose 21 contributors are male (more or less the norm for an economics book). It’s easy to dismiss Malthus; but also, it seems, to repeat his error.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The air will kill us slowly but surely

Buy and give through Caritas Margins’s 4th expo Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

Jemain Tinio Diaz de Rivera

Forward Moving

O

ver 6 million people in Asia die annually from air pollution. Most of these cases are in China and India, which are two highly polluted countries. But the Philippines may not be far behind.

Edsa and Taft Avenue have the worst air quality in Metro Manila.

A friend from the World Health Organization noted that streets like these are why Asians in various cities are dying young.

Improvement in the publictransport system will help improve the air quality, but it’s a clear and present crisis facing Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez.

I was informed by a fellow alumni of the Youth For Understanding that Lopez will speak next week about her plans as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

They all hope she sets high but realistic performance goals for herself and that she achieves these at the DENR. President Duterte received mixed reactions from the green groups when he delivered his first State of the Nation Address.

He highlighted plans on climate change, disaster response, waste disposal, mining and other environmental activities.

Most waste-to-energy facilities in the country are old and are, in fact, a contamination to communities. Some advocates vowed to fight attempts to legalize these facilities due to violations of the country’s Clean Air Act. Friends working and living in Clark noted that during certain months of each year the air quality in Region 3 is worse than Manila, because the plantations are all burning straw or the grass after harvesting the crops, causing health issues in the surrounding communities.

Everyone hopes to enjoy his or her community’s natural resources and to sustain clean and healthy environment. The DENR has to mobilize the citizenry, including farmers and plantation owners, to protect, conserve and manage the environment and natural resources.

Those in Clark are wondering if the new DENR secretary will include air pollution in the country’s major urban centers as a priority, since the elements of air pollution are also the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change.

The Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 seeks to uphold the right of every Filipino to breathe clean air by addressing air pollution.

Previously, the government promoted Bantay Sunog, which was not sustained by the communities in Region 3. A stronger collaboration between the government and stakeholders must be developed to address the air-pollution problem in agricultural communities.

Support from other government agencies is required to address air pollution. These agencies are the departments of Science and Technology, Trade and Industry,

The Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 seeks to uphold the right of every Filipino to breathe clean air by addressing air pollution.

Previously, the government promoted Bantay Sunog, which was not sustained by the communities in Region 3. A stronger collaboration between the government and stakeholders must be developed to address the airpollution problem in agricultural communities. and Energy, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the local government units, Philippine Information Agency, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.

Region 3 produces one-third of the country’s total rice production, and is known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines.

It is an investment site at the crossroads of Asia Pacific, and is one of the dynamic and vibrant regions in the country catering to foreign business organizations desiring to penetrate Asia.

Many investors are glad that they are located in Clark, allowing them to directly fly into the country through the Clark International Airport and totally remove the Manila traffic from the experience.

Region 3 has the highest urban population ratio (60.3 percent) to total population. Human resources in the region are better prepared in terms of a higher participation rate at the primary (94.2 percent) and secondary (86.1 percent) levels of education.

Natural resources found in the area include an abundance of wildlife. Central Luzon has 24 sites included in the initial components of the National Integrated Protected Areas System.

Region 3 is an important trading center and transportation terminal. Land travel is facilitated by a network of well-paved and extensive highways and roads. A railway system is planned to be built linking Clark and Manila.

Like other regions in the country, Central Luzon is a wonderful place to live and work in. It faces its own challenges like air pollution, which can only be solved by the government with the support and cooperation of the community and each citizen. If we fail, the air will kill us slowly but surely. If we succeed, we will enjoy the bounty of modern living, and improve our quality of life.

E-mail: jemain_diaz_de_rivera@yahoo.com.

Saturday, September 10, 2016 A5

SERVANT LEADER

C

aritas Margins, the Social Enterprise Marketing arm of Caritas Manila, will hold its fourth Buy and Give Expo from September 16 to 18 at the Alabang Town Center.

Most Rev. Jesse Mercado, bishop of Parañaque, will lead the blessing of the expo opening on September 16 at 10 a.m. The three-day expo will showcase various Caritas Margins products from different marginalized community partners, ranging from food, home and ladies acces-

sories, personal-care products and artwork from resident inmates of penal communities cared by Caritas Restorative Justice Ministry to other gift items and decors.

During this event, the e-commerce web site where shoppers can buy online will also be launched, as

well as new natural products. There will be healing Masses every 6 p.m.

Also, musical performances of artists such as Kulas Basilonia, Zea Santiago, Andre Paliza and Hazel Nemis, among others, will be featured.

As the social brand to help end poverty, Caritas Margins markets products of marginalized communities and microenterprises in the country. It also provides skills and training to the urban-poor communities and marginalized sector, as well as honing them to become social entrepreneurs.

Caritas Margins not only supports the livelihood of microentrepreneurs, but, likewise, helps send youth to college through Caritas Manila’s flagship program, Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP). There are more

T

Ireland voted to stay. David Cameron was booted out as ruling Conservative Party head, and replaced as prime minister by Theresa May, on the basis of his having promoted the referendum on EU membership, campaigned to stay in and then lost. May campaigned to stay in, but nonetheless was selected to occupy 10 Downing Saint in order to lead Britain out of the EU, pledging to exit on the best terms possible.

To donate and support Caritas Manila’s programs for the poor, visit www.caritasmanila. org.ph; and 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.

Q&A: Scott Anderson on the perils of making Middle East conflict out to be a Holy War

By Michael A. Lindenberger The Dallas Morning News/TNS

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ast month The New York Times Magazine devoted its entire issue to a single story by reporter Scott Anderson, whose book Lawrence in Arabia was published last year. It told the story of the modern Middle East, and traced its coming apart in a way that no other contemporary piece of journalism has done. After 18 months of reporting, Anderson left the region with great admiration for the reformers waging war there. But he is more pessimistic about its future and about America’s prospects for success in the region.

Tell me one thing that most people think they know about the Middle East, but are wrong about?

There’s a misunderstanding about what the Islamic State (IS) is about. I interviewed probably close to 20 former IS members who are now captive either in Iraq or in Kurdistan. What I was very struck by was how most of these guys have much more in common with (when it comes to reasons for joining the IS) why a kid would join an inner city gang in America or why a kid in Mexico would join a narco gang. At the foot-soldier level, it’s not about religion. It’s about having a little bit of power in a powerless life, and having, for want of a better word, excitement in a rather dull existence.

None of the (20 or so captured IS members) I talked to ever said it was about religion or even about politics.

They weren’t radicalized in mosques.

They joined because their buddies did or because it seemed like a cool thing to do.

If that’s true, how should it change the way we engage with them?

I don’t know if it makes the problem any more soluble. Not to trivialize it, it was almost like a juveniledelinquency problem. It’s a problem of people with no economic future and who’ve just been kind of disenfranchised.

What’s the solution? It’s not like anyone’s going to go in and pour billions of dollars to rebuild the economy of Iraq or Syria at the moment.

I think that all the talk of radical Islam, radical Islamic terrorism and stuff, I feel it’s really kind of counterproductive. I don’t understand this impulse to make it out to be this clash between religions. I think that plays very much into the hands of the IS hierarchy.

When it comes to our response to the Arab Spring, how do you rate the US policy? Have we helped

when we should have? Stayed away when that was best?

T he one huge mistake the Obama administration made was in Syria, having told Assad that if he used chemical weapons that that would be crossing a red line, that doing so would bring an American response. … I think the Obama administration, they took a very narrow, legalistic approach to it in saying, “Well, it’s not certain beyond a reasonable doubt that the regime did it.”

I really think that you’re in a time and in a place in the Middle East where it’s more important to do something and ultimately be proven wrong than to do nothing and be proven right. I think that that was where the administration really fouled up.

What I think that did was it sent a message to regimes like Assad’s, that the Americans weren’t going to do anything. It also, I think, terrified our allies in the region. They realized that American threats were toothless.

I remember the debate. I was in Washington at the time as a correspondent. They were debating whether to send in the jets and bomb Assad as punishment for the chemical weapons. Obama had finally decided to do it. But then Britain’s Parliament voted against it, so Obama pivoted, and told Congress: I am going to wait until you give me authorization.

Of course, Congress immediately recoiled. They didn’t want to touch it.

But what it did do is give a few days’ breathing room—time for a diplomatic solution. Putin stepped in and offered to get Assad to remove the chemical weapons, and he did, far more effectively than if we would have bombed the arsenals.

Yes, I certainly think that Obama himself would disagree that this was

a fiasco. You’re absolutely right. It probably did achieve getting a lot of the chemical weapons out of Syria that otherwise would have remained.

I think it was really at a point when it wasn’t about a narrow diplomatic victory. It really required a moment when the United States had to take a bold stand.

Of course, Putin coming in to help the administration save face, was, of course, the wedge that Putin can operate from, and is now a major player in the region. I think on a larger, macro level, it was kind of a disaster in the long term.

Still, I wonder whether any resolution is possible without Russia’s participation, and at least they’re at the table.

I think the problem, too, is it’s actually even far more chaotic than I think most Americans realize.…

There are, at this point probably hundreds, if not thousands, of separate little militias. Some are like neighborhood defense committees; some are isolated to one part of one province, or one city. I don’t know how you forge a cease-fire between these different groups. I just don’t know how it’s done.

My fear and my hunch about Syria is Syria’s going to burn for the next 10, 15 years. It reminds me a little bit of the civil war in Lebanon, in that once you have this falling out of all the different factions within the country, now you have all these regional players coming in.

You have the Saudis, the Qataris, the Turks, us, Russia, Iran. I just don’t know how you get all those people together at a table.… The continual bleeding is always going to be to the benefit of somebody, sadly.

That is discouraging. Of course, we’re going to have a change of administration here. Whoever wins, it may signal a different approach.

And speaking of the election, let me ask you about Hillary Clinton’s decision to help persuade President Obama to intervene in Libya. Right call? Or no?

I think at the point when they intervened, it was really starting to get very, very bloody.… We could have been looking at tens of thousands of dead, or hundreds of thousands.

But this comes up again and again and again, throughout the Arab world: When it comes to American foreign policy, whoever the American president is, is this lack of follow-through. We careen between

Hold the Scotsxit: As Britain’s EU exit looms, Scots are staying put he preeminent questions of Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) and the possibility of independence for Scotland are linked, at least in Scotland, for the moment.

The United Kingdom voted on June 23 to leave the EU, by a relatively modest but nonetheless decisive margin. Of the UK’s four regions, England and Wales voted to leave, Scotland and Northern

than 5,000 youth scholars nationwide being assisted by Caritas Manila’s YSLEP. Caritas Margins Buy and Give Expo 4 is copresented by Metro Pacific Investment Corp., PLDT Home, Smart Communications Inc., Cardinal Santos Medical Center and Cardinal Medical Charities Foundation, St. Scholastica’s College, Lyceum of the Philippines, Alabang Town Center, Radio Veritas and TV Maria.

Leaders of EU countries did not want Britain to bail. Following the vote, reactions have ranged from ambivalence over the speed of its departure to the position that it should move on quickly.

The Scottish matter is tangled up with the centuries-old question of Scottish independence. The last time that issue was put to a vote, in 2014, Scots voted against independence 55 percent to 45 percent.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) head, Alex Salmond, leader of its regional government, was turfed out on that basis. The SNP’s current leader, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, reacted to the June 23 vote to exit the EU with a threat that Scotland, based on its vote to stay in, would replay its vote on independence. She is now backing away from that threat, based on the polls’ indication that Scots

don’t want another referendum on independence now.

May is trying to waffle on the question of when the UK begins the formal two-year process of withdrawal from the EU. Sturgeon, in effect, is working with her to obtain the best terms possible. The ideal for May would appear to be for the UK to stay in the EU single market while putting major limits on EU immigration into the UK. That was the

becoming involved in something and then we walk away from it.

You can go all the way back in the region to Afghanistan, when the Soviets were there in the 1980s. We come in. We supply the Mujahedeen.

The Russians leave. Then that’s the last you hear about Afghanistan for 10 years in this country.

Iraq, another example. We come in as this crusade of liberation. Things start to go bad, and so we kind of declare victory and go home. This is something that you just see happening. In Vietnam, of course, kind of a similar thing. You just pick up and leave.

I think collectively what it’s done is sent a message is that you can wait out the Americans. If the Americans don’t destroy you right off the bat or very quickly, eventually they’re going to get tired. They’re going to leave, and then you step into the void.

I think it raises a really important question. Consider the Taliban. We went after them 15 years ago with striking consequences. Yet, they survived, and we’re still there. We haven’t defeated them. We have pushed them back, but they’re still a threat.

Should we be a lot more selective about when we engage overseas?

Or do we just need to prepare for generation-long commitments?

After all, we didn’t just leave in Vietnam. We left after sticking it out for years, and at enormous cost in treasure and lives.

I would make a 10-to-1 bet what’s going to happen in Afghanistan.

We’re going to continue to push Taliban back. We’re not going to defeat them. Eventually, we’re going to pull out, and the Taliban’s going to take over, if not the entire country, most of it. We’ll be right back to where we were in 2001.

I think that when America, as a general rule, if they are going to militarily involve themselves in a place, they have to take a long view. That’s just something our political system, or maybe it’s our collective psyche, is not very good at doing.

I think we have a tendency to believe in quick fixes. I think you saw that in Iraq. We seem to endlessly be caught up in this notion that we are going to be greeted as liberators if we come into a country and overthrow a despot like Saddam Hussein. We seem to always forget that nobody actually likes to be invaded and have their cities destroyed.

main issue that apparently caused British voters, at least England (minus London) and Wales, to vote to leave the EU. The initial threat of Scotland’s voting to separate from Britain after the June 23 referendum seems to be off the table for now. The Scots look primarily to their own economic well-being and do not seem to be drawn to the somewhat xenophobic appeal of stifling immigration. TNS

The Nation

A6 Saturday, September 10, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Senate tribunal set to hear election protest to unseat Duterte’s nemesis

Piñol pushes release of 99 fishermen held in Indonesia

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

ENATORS started preliminary proceedings on Thursday in preparation for Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) hearings next month on a pending protest case filed by former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis N. Tolentino to unseat neophyte Leila M. de Lima.

In his petition, Tolentino asked the SET to nullify 1.3 million votes alleged to have padded de Lima’s lead over him to take the 12th seat at stake in the May 9 senatorial elections.

“We were briefed on the petition filed by Tolentino, the response of de Lima, the timetable, the pro-

cess that we will follow and the timetable we will target for the decision to be rendered before the end of the 17th Congress,” Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin M. Drilon said.

In a brief interview, Drilon declined to give details of Thursday’s SET proceedings, saying

senators in attend a nce were given “ just a general outline, in broad strokes of the process that we should follow.”

Drilon confirmed that senators sitting in the SET, including Grace Poe, Nancy S. Binay, Antonio F. Trillanes IV and Cynthia A. Villar, are scheduled to hold a conference with other SET members from the judicary—Supreme Court Justices Antonio Carpio, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Arturo Brion— on October 6 “in order that we can summarize everything, including definition of the issues.”

He, however, sidestepped a question on whether the tribunal is now ready to formally hear Tolentino’s protest. “I cannot answer that because there are procedural aspects, including payments of fees and all that stuff,” Drilon said.

Tolentino’s election protest case to unseat de Lima is on top of a pending complaint against the neophyte senator before the Senate ethics committee for allegedly receiving bribe money from drug

lords for her senate campaign, a charge that de Lima vehemently denied.

The former MMDA chairman is asking the Senate tribunal to void de Lima’s “fraudulent and sham” proclamation by the Commission on Elections’ Board of Canvassers, which paved the way for her assumption to the Senate.

In his pleading, Tolentino seeks a recount and nullification of the ballots in some of the protested precincts, “including a forensic audit of the vote counting machines used in the contested areas” which gave de Lima 14,144,070 votes to grab the 12th Senate slot over 13th placer Tolentino, who got 12,811,098 votes.

Tolentino is questioning results in 60,611 precincts covering the provinces of Tawi-tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato, Agusan del Norte, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Eastern and Western Samar, Aurora, Benguet, Ifugao, Isabela, Kalinga, Ilocos Sur, Bulacan, Pampanga, Quezon, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo and

Zamboanga del Norte.

In addition, the former MMDA chairman is also contesting results from 74 precincts used by overseas absentee voters in China, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Spain and Italy.

Tolentino explained, “The results in the foregoing protested precincts are being contested, as they do not reflect the true votes cast therein.”

“These are manufactured, sham and false results, which, if compared with the actual ballots, will not tally with the transmitted totals,” he added.

“Had these manufactured, padded, falsified and fraudulent vote totals been discovered, removed, or corrected, and Tolentino’s true votes reflected in the registered and transmitted totals, Tolentino would have definitely and easily beaten de Lima in the recently concluded senatorial elections, placing, at the very least, as the 12th winning senator,” Tolentino asserted.

DENR official backs bill expanding Nipas coverage Proposed writ suspension pits

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N official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Friday expressed support behind the refiling of a proposed measure expanding the coverage of the National Integrated Protected Areas (Nipas) Act. Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) said the proposed measure will allow the government to enhance the protection of Protected Areas (PAs) in the Philippines; provide demarcation and delineation of the proclaimed PAs under Nipas and would leverage for additional resources, not necessarily from national government but other partners.

Once enacted into law, the Expanded Nipas (E-Nipas) bill would help strengthen enforcement and capacity of the PAs to provide benefits for the communities.

Lim said the bureau helped identified the priority PAs included in the proposed measure.

She said a Senate version of the bill is set to be filed by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar.

“The E-Nipas will also allow the inclusion of the PAs as national parks under the Constitution,” she said, explaining that under the law, there is a separate classification for PAs that are backed with legislation.

On June 30 Liberal Party Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato of Occidental Mindoro refiled House Bill (HB) 177,

BLOODY DAY

a measure amending certain provisions of Republic Act (RA) 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992.

According to Sato, the country is rich in biodiversity but protection for the country’s unique, but threatened, wildlife species, such as the Philippine eagle, the largest bird of prey, Mindoro’s dwarf buffalo, or more popularly known as the Philippine tamaraw, and other unique species that are endemic to the Philippines, as well as their habitats remain wanting.

She said only 13 of the 113 Protected Areas covered by Nipas Law are backed by individual laws providing stronger protection measures for PAs. HB 177, or An Act Ensuring the Preservation and Management of Protected Areas, Amending for the Purpose RA 7586, Sato said, would change that as it lumps 101 PAs under the E-Nipas.

With its passage, the 101 PAs would become an integral part of the proposed measure.

“The Philippines is described as one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world and belonging to one of the 17 megadiverse countries. While it is host to 70 percent to 80 percent of the world’s life forms and is believed to harbor more diversity of life than any other country on earth on a per-hectare basis, we are losing our biodiversity at an unprecedented rate,” she said.

PAs are outstandingly remark-

able areas and biologically important public lands that are habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals, biogeographic zones and related ecosystems, whether terrestrial, wetland or marine.

Mindoro’s crown jewel, the Apo Reef, is among the best and wellmanaged PAs in the country. Sato, as then governor and now a lawmaker supported Apo Reef ’s protection, rehabilitation and development by pouring resources and ensuring that people are part of its management, Sato said.

Mindoro also boasts of Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park, home to the few remaining wild tamaraw which are being protected by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in partnership with the local governments of Mindoro provinces.

“It is about time that we put more protection to our key biodiversity areas,” she said.

Sato is confident that under the 17th Congress, the law would undergo smooth sailing and will finally get the approval of members of the House of Representatives.

The measure also aims to facilitate the provision of full scientific and technical support needed for the conservation of the biodiversity and integrity of the ecosystems, culture, and spiritual practices of communities within the identified PAs. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (Earist) students and personnel wait for their turn to donate blood during the school’s yearly bloodletting activity. The school’s administration—headed by Editha V. Pillo, in coordination with the College of Industrial Technology Extension and Community Services, Extension and Alumni Affairs Office, School Disaster Risk Reduction and Management—and the Philippine Blood Center, partnered with the Rotary Club of Cosmopolitan Timog, conducted the activity dubbed “Dugtong Buhay, Sa Kapwa Ko Iaalay” at the Earist Apilado Hall, Nagtahan, Manila.

Gordon vs Drilon, de Lima

Gordon

de lima

EN. Richard J. Gordon is planning to ask Congress to pass a law suspending the writ of habeas corpus, saying it was meant to preempt President Duterte from imposing martial law, as a next step after placing the country under a “state of lawlessness.”

But two senators—Franklin M. Drilon and Leila M. de Lima— promptly shot down Gordon’s proposal for “lack of basis.”

“It’s a bill. The law I am proposing is a bill,” Gordon told reporters, adding that he will ask Duterte to certify it as an urgent measure to fast-track congressional approval.

“We will ask the President to certify its urgency, but even if he does not, we will fight for passage of the bill [suspending the writ].”

Gordon anticipates that the bill likely be referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Laws, chaired by Drilon, and will be thoroughly scrutinized during the public hearings on the proposal.

In filing the measure to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, Gordon explained that he was simply “trying to protect the public.”

“I would rather have myself draft the restrictions than he [Duterte] dictates to me the restrictions. Im talking about Congress creating the restrictions,” Gordon said, warning that he was prompted to make the proposal because “there is always a possibility of abuse. That’s a possibility.”

He said approval of his proposal will even “enhance” Duterte’s state of lawlessness proclamation. “It is now by congressional act. We participated. It is no longer just a unitary act by the President; he can proclaim lawless violence, call the military, that’s his prerogative.”

Gordon added that, once the bill is passed, Congress will have a role to play “to protect the public.”

But Drilon told reporters he is not inclined to conduct hearings on Gordon’s proposal. “There is no basis for that... there is no ground to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.”

De Lima, for her part, pointed

out that the privilege of the writ can only be suspended in cases of rebellion and invasion.

“The drug war is not really an invasion or rebellion. Using ‘war’ to describe the antidrug campaign is just a figure of speech,” she said.

“We should not take the analogy too far as to think that the drug war is a literal war between armed combatants dedicated to waging said war, and treat drug lords and pushers as foreign invaders or rebels out to overthrow government. They are not. Let us keep that basic constitutional consideration in mind.”

The senator noted that “habeas corpus basically is the power of the court to require the State in general to produce before the court the physical body of a person in its custody, whether detained legally or illegally.

The privilege of the writ is the remedy of a petitioner to question the legality of the detention and to ask the court to order the release of the body in the event that his detention is illegal, e.g., arrested without warrant.

She said suspension of the writ means that the court can still ask the State to produce the body, but it can no longer inquire into the legality of the arrest or detention. “In short, anybody can be arrested without a warrant and the legality of the arrest cannot be immediately questioned through a petition for habeas corpus, but maybe in some other later proceeding.”

“The only limitation, thus, to warrantless arrests when the privilege of the writ is suspended is that the arrest effected must be related to the offenses of rebellion and invasion and the person arrested for rebellion or invasion, or any offense related to such must be formally charged in court within three days after his arrest,” she added.

“It will effectively legitimize situations of warrantless arrests, prolonged detentions without being formally charged in court [at least up to three days] or other situations which would otherwise be deemed arbitrary or illegal were it not for the suspension of the privilege of the writ. Butch Fernandez

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By Allen V. Estabillo Philippines News Agency

ENERAL SANTOS CITY— Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol is pushing for the immediate release of at least 99 fishermen from this city and other parts of Mindanao who are currently detained in Indonesia for alleged illegal fishing.

In a statement, Piñol said he has referred the case of the detained fishermen to President Duterte for possible inclusion in his discussion with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during their scheduled bilateral talks.

Duterte arrived in Jakarta on Thursday night for a state visit, after attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Piñol, who is in Jakarta for the President’s visit, said he submitted a memorandum to Duterte through Special Executive Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go to look into the fate of the 99 fishermen.

He said it includes a briefer on the plight of the fishermen prepared by the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Citing the executive summary, Piñol said the fishermen had been charged with illegal fishing and are currently detained in separate jails in Bitung and Manado in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

“Given the fact that charges have been filed against the 99, it was suggested that the Philippine government would only ask for the expeditious resolution of the cases,” he said.

Piñol said the detained fishermen include crew members of two support boats that were stopped

by Indonesian naval authorities despite the proper coordination was made by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Danilo Medina, captain of F/B Trinity and Rene Perez, captain of L/B EBS 04, and their crew members Dionesia Paglinawan, Elito Libay, Danilo Empleo and Gregorio Seroyla were intercepted by the Indonesian Navy, while their boats were passing through Indonesian waters, en route to the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, he said.

F/B Trinity is owned by the Trinity Home Industrial Development Corp. based in Spring Valley compound in Barangay Tambler here.

Piñol said the fishermen have been detained in Indonedia since November 8, 2015, “even when their travel through the Indonesian waters was made with proper coordination and in spite of the fact that their boats were merely supply boats and did not carry fishing gear.”

He said a total of 279 fishermen had been arrested and detained in Indonesia on charges of illegal fishing, but 174 of them were released last week. “[The release was] apparently as a reciprocal gesture to the release of 172 Mecca-bound Indonesians who were arrested in the Philippines for carrying Filipino passports,” he said.

Piñol said he met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay Jr. on Thursday night and brought up the “issue of the Filipino Consular Officers’ inability to visit the detained Filipino fishermen despite the 2014 Agreement on Consular Affairs.”

Piñol is accompanied by five other DA officials—Undersecretary for Fisheries and BFAR Director Eduardo Gongona, BFAR Assistant Director Drusila Esther Bayate, BFAR Fisheries Regulatory and Quarantine Division chief lawyer Annaliza Vitug and Agriculture Attaché Anna Abejuela.

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, September 10, 2016 A7

EASY VICTORY

By Lance Agcaoili

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IñAN City—Foton Pilipinas suffered a third blowout loss this time at the hands of Ba’yi Shenzheng of China, 25-16, 25-18, 25-14, in the 2016 Asian Volleyball Confederation Asian Women’s Club Championship at the Alonte Sports Arena on Friday.

The loss shattered the Tornadoes’ dream of advancing to the semifinals, but they significantly earned the respect of the Filipino fans that they wouldn’t go down without a fight against the most powerful team in the tournament.

Against a taller, quicker and more experienced Chinese who are believed to be their country’s second national squad, the Tornadoes were schooled in world-class volleyball for the third time after suffering similar fates against NEC Red Rockets of Japan and Altay VC of Kazakhstan earlier in the week.

“We know who we are and we know who we want to become and of course China is in another league like Japan and Thailand,” Foton Pilipinas’s Italian Coach Fabio Menta said.

“Going to the semifinals was more of a dream for the country, not really a target knowing that we got together in the last minute.”

The match lasted only 69 minutes with Liu Yanhan unleashing 19 points on 16 hits and three blocks for the Chinese team, and Chen Yao chipping in 12 points and Wang Yunlu and Wang Qi adding 11 points apiece in a duel that was more of a warmup game for the visitors.

Nobody scored in double figures for Foton Pilipinas with American import Lindsay Stalzer leading the team with nine points. Skipper Jaja

FOTON Pilipinas’s Jovelyn Gonzaga spikes against Ba’yi ShenZheng China’s Wang Yunlu as Lindsay Stalzer gets ready to react.

ALYSA SALEN

Santiago delivered seven hits.

“China is a very disciplined team, they’re just flawless and we’re lacking in that area,” said Stalzer, who played her second straight game after sitting out two matches because of back spasms. “I’m just proud with the way we fought and we’re learning and trying to improve every game.”

Santiago said the loss to China gave them more opportunity to get better in the tournament.

“We did not make it to the semis, but we won’t stop reaching our goal. We will still keep on fighting against our next opponents and try to reach our new goal, which is fifth place,” Santiago said.

The Tornadoes were relegated to the classification matches for fifth to eight places.

They will face the loser of Friday’s other knockout quarterfinals match between Altay VC of Kazakhstan and Sarmayeh Bank of Iran at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Interestingly, the Tornadoes committed only 12 errors against the Chinese, who had 18 miscues.

But Ba’yi Shenzheng dominated all departments, especially in attacks with 46 won points against the Philippines’s 25 spikes.

The Chinese also had nine blocks and the Philippines only three.

The NEC Red Rockets demolished T.Grand of Chinese Taipei, 25-6, 25-23, 25-13, behind Sarina Koga’s 19 points to also advance to the semifinals.

The Red Rockets will face the winner of the last eight match between Thailand Bangkok Glass and Thongtin Lien Viet Post Bank of Vietnam.

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Takahashi will arrive on September 14 and will immediately buckle down to work as he opens the training camp with the team composed of seven Filipino and seven foreign players next week.

“We tapped a Japanese coach because we know the level of their training and their system,” said PSL President Ramon Suzara, a top Asian Volleyball Confederation official who used his deep relationship with the Japan Volleyball Federation to bring Takahashi to the country.

Also helping Suzara in making the announcement was Eventcourt CEO Peter Bratschi, coorganizer of the prestigious worldclass tournament.

Takahashi would be assisted by Ramil de Jesus of F2 Logistics and Sammy Acaylar of Cignal, while Kungfu Reyes of RC Cola-Army and Benson Bocboc of F2 Logistics will serve as trainers.

Lance Agcaoili

Perpetual Altas prevail in 2 OTs

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RIGHT ALHUETIE muscled his way through the second overtime to power University of Perpetual Help past Jose Rizal University (JRU), 89-80, on Friday in the 92nd National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Akhuetie scored seven of his game-high 28 points in the second extra period and together with another game-best 18 rebounds, helped lift the Altas to their 11th win against four losses.

The Altas are now a win away from the Final Four, which they missed last season.

San Beda snapped a two-game losing streak with a 89-73 thrashing of Lyceum of the Philippines University. Arnaud Noah scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half when the Red Lions roared away from the hapless Pirates. Reymar Caduyac had 27 points and four rebounds for the Pirates who owns the league’s second-worst 5-10 record.

The game was tight all the way with Perpetual Help holding a 14-11 first-quarter lead, JRU grabbing the half, 28-27, and both teams refusing to yield after the third period, 43-43.

Regulation ended at 64-64 and the first overtime at 74-74. The Las Piñas-based school, however, had topple a seven-point deficit in the second overtime to snatch the win.

“We rode on Bright [Akhuetie] in the second overtime, but I think the key was the team’s perseverance in the fourth quarter, the players refused to give up,” Perpetual Help Coach Jimwell Gican said.

Gab Dagangon, Daryl Sinontiko and Genmar Ilagan chipped in 15, 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Altas.

Teytey Teodoro topscored for JRU with 23 points, but was held SAN BEDA’S Arnaud Noah (right) challenges to only two points in the second the defense put up by Lyceum of the Philippines overtime. The Bombers fell to University’s Jesper Ayaay. Stephanie Tumampos 9-7 (won-lost).

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EANDER LAZARO pulled through in a tight first-set duel, then mastered fancied Patrick John Tierro in the next to carve out a 7-5, 6-1 upset and arrange a title clash with Johnny Arcilla in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Tuna Festival Open Tennis Championship at the General Santos City Tennis Club on Friday.

The former National University standout leaned on his solid baseline game and pounced on the second-seed Tierro’s miscues to notch the victory, his biggest since steering the Bulldogs to their fourth straight championship early this year.

Lazaro’s win also ended the second-ranked Tierro’s quest for a third straight championship after sweeping Arcilla in two Philippine Columbians Association Open events recently.

Lazaro, a former two-time University Athletic Association of the Philippines Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, took the next two points after Tierro forced a deuce in the 11th game to hold serve then surprised the latter in the next to break and win the opening frame.

Tierro never recovered from that setback, as Lazaro broke the former again via a shut-out in the second game of the second set, then won the next three games to go 5-0 before Tierro broke the slump and held serve and Lazaro rattled off four straight points to clinch the set and the match.

The 23-year-old ace from Malabon, who reached the quarters of the recent Olivarez Cup, hopes to complete his remarkable campaign when he takes on Arcilla at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The top-seeded Arcilla held sway to frustrate No. 4 Ronard Joven, 6-4, 6-2, in the other semis match of the event sponsored by the country’s leading pawnshop, remittance and claim center Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

FOOTBALL IN DIPOLOG

Young assistant coach from Japan to handle PSL All-Star in world tilt YOUNG, but credentialed, Japanese will coach the Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Star team that will compete in the International Volleyball Federation Women’s Club World Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena from October 18 to 23.

Shun Takahashi, a 26-year-old assistant coach of Japan’s national senior women’s team, was appointed as head coach of the squad that will see action against the world’s best club teams from Italy, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, Switzerland and Thailand in a weeklong volleyball festival.

Known as a strict drillmaster, Takahashi played for FC Tokyo in the Japan Premier League for three years before joining the Red Star club of Serbia.

Takahashi was appointed assistant to Masayoshi Manabe in the Japanese national team last April with the primary responsibility of running drills, scrimmages and training, as well as helping in plotting the tactics.

Lazaro slips past Tierro in GenSan

FILIPINOS DRAW NORWAY G

RANDMASTER Julio Catalino Sadorra blew his winning chances against reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, but consoled himself with a draw, as the Philippines escaped with a 2-2 standoff with 12th-seed Norway to remain in contention after six rounds of the 42nd World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Thursday night.

Playing black and defending with the French Defense, Sadorra, 30, gained a pawn advantage early after a bishop sacrifice, but couldn’t hold on to it in the end after running into time trouble in the first time control to settle for a 41-move standoff.

The draw helped the Filipinos scrape a 2-2 split, after GMs John Paul Gomez, Eugene Torre and Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. all drew their games against higher-ranked GMs Jon Ludvig Hammer, Aryan Tari and Frode Urkedal, respectively.

points each approaching the last five rounds of the biennial meet using an 11-round System format.

Janelle Mae Frayna, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Catherine Secopito beat WIM Alejandra Rodriguez Guerrero, WIM Lilia Ivonne Fuentes Godoy and WFM Miriam Parkhurst Casas on boards one to three, respectively, to give the Philippines a 3-1 win over Mexico in the women’s section.

Shania Mae Mendoza failed to cash in on her early advantage and suffered her first loss in three outings to Ivette Ale Garcia Morales on fourth board.

With the win, the Filipinos jumped into the top 10 alongside nine others with nine points apiece, just two points behind coleaders Russia and Ukraine.

The men’s team will tangle with Italy next while the women’s side tackles two-time champion No. 8 Hungary.

Interestingly, Hungary will be the third top 10 team the Philippines faced after shocking No. 4 Georgia, 2.5-1.5, in the second round and losing to No. 5 India in the next, .5-3.5.

And Frayna was the biggest reason the Philippines is up there, as she has scored 4.5 points on three wins and three draw and without a loss in six outings that kept her in the hunt of gaining the third and final norm for her to become the first Filipina Woman Grandmaster.

Sadorra, however, was the star of the show, as the University of Texas Dallas graduate attracted the most spectators, including the daughter of the president of the host country.

He obliged by putting on a great show.

Because of it, the Filipinos moved into a 16-team group at No. 13 with nine match

Dipolog City Mayor Darel Dexter Uy (fifth from left) welcomes delegates from the Football For A Better Life (FFABL) during the recent third leg of the FFABL nationwide grassroots developmental series sponsored by PRU Life UK that features a free clinic and a pocket tournament for local teams. The event was organized by Spears Activation, in partnership with the Azkals Foundation and regional associations. Photo shows Uy with Spear’s Albert Almendralejo (second from right), former Azkals skipper Chieffy Caligdong (third from right), U16 and U 14 national team members Rei Sergio Cordova and Mark Zidane Alonquihan, ZNDIFA President Irvin Banga and PRU Life’s RJ Estayola and Elmer Centeno (first and second from left).

Tarlac City hosts bootfest 4th leg

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HE Football For A Better Life (FFABL) shifts to Luzon this weekend with Tarlac City hosting the fourth leg of the nationwide 10-leg grassroots developmental program backed by PRU-Life UK. Azkals Marwin and Marvin Angeles and Eduard Sacapano and training pool member Mike Cases and former Azkals skipper Chieffy Caligdong, also the FFABL Project Director, will be conducting a free clinic on Saturday at the Robinson’s Field in Hacienda Luisita. It will be followed by a football festival among local teams in the region.

Organized by Spears Activation, in

partnership with the Azkas Foundation and different regional football associations all over the country, the FFABL is on its second year of the developmental program, which has touched the lives of thousands of young players in the provinces.

From last year’s total of 63 participating teams for the football festival, four more have been added for a total of 67 squads, including 13 in the girls’ under-18 category.

Fifteen teams are entered in the boys’ U16, 13 in the boys’ U12, 12 in the boys’ U14, eight in the U10 and six in the U8.

GREEN ARCHERS SEEK SOLO LEAD D

E LA SALLE guns for the solo lead, as three other teams try to barge into the win column on Saturday in Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball action at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Green Archers square off with University of the Philippines (UP) in the main game at 4 p.m. right after the tussle between season host University of Santo Tomas (UST) and University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m.

De La Salle is coming off an 83-78 win over defending champion Far Eastern University (FEU) last Wednesday to give rookie Coach Aldin Ayo a rousing debut in the UAAP. Cameroonian Ben Mbala and Jeron Teng delivered huge numbers for Ayo and came up with the clutch baskets to hold on for the win against the pesky Tamaraws. Mbala had 13 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks, while the graduating Teng finished with a game-high 28 points.

Ayo was happy to get the win, but wanted his players to play consistently on both ends and lessen their turnovers. They committed 27 errors against FEU. “We need to play with a better decision-making, especially in transition. We did not make good decision in transition [against the Tamaraws],” Ayo said.

De La Salle also has an ax to grind against the Fighting Maroons, who beat them, 71-66, in the second game of Season 78, 71-66, for UP’s 2-0 start.

UP, also under Coach Bo Perasol, dropped its opening assignment to Adamson University, 85-104.

Paul Desiderio erupted for 24 points against the Soaring Falcons but Perasol’s wards had no answer on Adamson’s onslaught led by rookie Jerrick Ahinmisi, who tallied 28 points highlighted by six-of-seven shooting from three-point zone.

Veteran Jett Manuel had 15 markers in that loss and his leadership will be needed against the

deadly Green Archers.

The Growling Tigers and Red Warriors also try to bounce back from their opening-day losses. UST yielded to Ateneo de Manila, 69-73, spoiling the debut of rookie mentor Boy Sablan, while bowed to National University (NU), 72-66.

NU, meanwhile, opens its quest for a “threepeat” in girls division against FEU-Diliman at 7:30 a.m. today at the Adamson University Gym. Last season’s runner-up UST clashes with UP Integrated School at 9 a.m., while De La Salle-Zobel takes on UE at 10:30 p.m.

In the boys division, titleholder NU and UE collide in a rematch of last year’s Finals at 4:30 p.m. De La Salle-Zobel and FEU-Diliman square off at noon, followed by the Ateneo-UST game at 1:30 p.m., and the UPIS-Adamson match at 3:30 p.m.

Joel Orellana

Sports BusinessMirror

Quintana keeps lead

A8 | S

aturday, September 10, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

MAJOR UPSET!

By Howard Fendrich The Associated Press

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EW YORK—For the second year in a row, Serena Williams’s bid to make history ended with a shocking loss in the US Open semifinals.

A seventh title at Flushing Meadows, which would have been an Open-era record, will have to wait. So will a 23rd Grand Slam championship, another record. And her three-and-a-half-year reign at No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings is over, too, one week shy of what would have been yet another mark.

Undone by a half-dozen double-faults, including on match point, and plenty of other mistakes she blamed, in part, on dealing with an injured left knee, Williams was upset, 6-2, 7-6 (5), by big-serving Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday night.

“Karolina played great today. I think if she had played any less, then maybe I would have had a chance,” Williams said. “So I think I wasn’t at 100 percent, but I also think she played well.

She deserved to win today.”

The 10th-seeded Pliskova, who will play No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany for the title on Saturday, began her on-court interview by blurting out that she couldn’t believe she’d eliminated Williams to earn a spot in her first major final. Then Pliskova changed course, saying: “I mean, actually, I do believe it. I always knew I have a chance to beat anyone if I’m playing my game.”

At the 2015 US Open, Williams’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended when she lost in the semifinals to unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy in one of the biggest surprises in tennis history. This one goes pretty high on the list, too.

This was the 33rd major semifinal of Williams’s career, and the first for Pliskova, who beat the 34-year-old American’s older sister Venus in the fourth round after staving off a match point.

Pliskova is only the fourth woman to beat both Williams siblings during the same Slam.

“Obviously, the match with Venus helped me...not only with the game, but also with the crowd,” Pliskova said. “Was my first match on center court.”

And to think: The 24-year-old Pliskova had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.

But now she’s on an 11-match winning streak.

“One more step to go,” she said.

Kerber reached her third Grand Slam final of the season—and of her career—by beating two-time US Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 6-3. Kerber beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, Kerber will move up one spot to No. 1 on Monday, ending Williams’s stay of 186 consecutive weeks, exactly the same number Steffi Graf compiled for the record.

Kerber, who becomes the only German woman other than Graf to get to No. 1, had a chance to overtake Williams last month by winning a hard-court tournament in Ohio, but lost the final there to Pliskova.

“For sure, she has a lot of confidence. Now, especially, after the win against Serena,” Kerber said about Pliskova. “I know how I was playing in Cincinnati. I know what to change.”

Williams, who refused to answer questions about the rankings, and Graf also share the mark for most Grand Slam titles since 1968, when professionals were first admitted to majors. And Williams remains even with Chris

Evert with six US Open trophies.

Pliskova, meanwhile, is now one victory from her first, and on Thursday night, she certainly looked the part of an up-and-comer with the strokes and demeanor to go far.

The temperature was in the low 80s, and the air was muggy, and Williams kept using the pleats of her black-and-pink skirt to wipe her sweaty palms between points. She made 31 unforced errors in all.

Afterward, Williams dismissed the notion she was fatigued from a grueling three-set quarterfinal against Simona Halep that concluded less than 22 hours before the semifinal started (Pliskova, whose quarterfinal was earlier Wednesday, watched, then slept in until 1 p.m. on Thursday).

Instead, Williams and her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, pointed to the left leg that she repeatedly clutched.

He said she spent far less time than usual warming up for the match, after getting treatment much of the day.

“When you’re hampered, you’re thinking of other things. Like, I was making errors that I never make, and definitely I didn’t make in this tournament in particular. So many simple, simple shots that I easily could have made,”Williams said.

“I just blame that on just mentally thinking about my leg and just not thinking about the shot.”

Mouratoglou was more succinct.

“She didn’t show up. She couldn’t play,” he said. “She was so slow. She couldn’t move.”

Pliskova said she was focusing on herself and didn’t notice whether Williams was troubled.

SERENA WILLIAMS is upset, 6-2, 7-6 (5), »by big-serving Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. AP

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ANDIA, Spain—Nairo Quintana of Colombia preserved his lead of nearly four minutes over Chris Froome in the Spanish Vuelta after a relatively flat stage won by Magnus Cort Nielsen of Denmark on Thursday.

Quintana finished with the peloton to stay three minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Britain’s Froome after the 200-kilometer route from Requena to Gandia on the Mediterranean coast, with Esteban Chaves of Colombia and Alberto Contador of Spain less than 30 seconds behind.

Nielsen thrived in the final sprint to beat Nikias Arndt of Germany and Jempy Drucker of Luxembourg at the line, with the peloton closely behind.

“I gave it a go today. It was amazing,” Nielsen said.

Riders faced little adversity with only one small climb during the 18th stage.

Froome will have a chance to cut Quintana’s lead during Friday’s 37-km individual time trial, which is one of his strengths.

Quintana, a two-time runner-up at the Tour de France, is seeking his first Spanish Vuelta title.

“We got another day behind us today,” the Movistar rider said.

“I’m confident I can get a good time tomorrow.”

The Vuelta ends on Sunday. AP

LONG SETTLES FOR SILVER

IO DE JANEIRO— US swimmer Jessica Long hugged Australian Lakeisha Patterson when the women’s 400 freestyle final was over and offered congratulations. Long had a medal in her fourth Paralympics, but Patterson took the gold and the world record.

“I wish it went a little differently,” said Long, the highly decorated US Paralympian who is competing in nine races at the Rio Games.

“I think the only hard part about that is adding time in one of my best races. But at the same time, I’ve overcome some really bad shoulder injuries.

So I’m really proud that I finished, and even signed up for the race.”

Patterson’s time of four minutes and 40.33 seconds nipped Long’s previous record of 4:40.44.

“Jess is an amazing person and a really great, fierce competitor,” Patterson said. “She’s achieved so much. To be able to have my idol come up to me and say she’s proud of me — it was really quite bittersweet. And that’s going to stick with me for a long time.” The 24-year-old Long now has 18 medals overall, a dozen of them gold.

But Patterson, a 17-year-old swimmer from Caboolture, Australia, who has

cerebral palsy, steadily took control of the race after the first 100 meters. Long finished far back, in 4:47.82.

Long was born in Siberia with fibular hemimelia, a birth defect that left her without her fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in her feet.

Shortly after being adopted at 13 months old, Long went through multiple surgeries, eventually having each of her legs amputated below the knee. Growing up in Baltimore, she took up swimming at age 10 and joined her first team.

Two years later, she became the youngest member of the US Paralympic team and went on to win three gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

Long is just the third American swimmer to appear in four Paralympics.

She may be rivaled only by US wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden, competing in seven events from the 100 meters to the marathon in Rio, as the bestknown and busiest American Paralympian.

“Oh my goodness,” Long exclaimed, when asked after her qualifying heat about how she’s handling her nine-event schedule. “Day by day. Literally, I can’t even think about tomorrow. Just thinking about today, and basically what I can control which is today and just enjoying it. It’s a lot of fun to be back.” AP