Businessmirror september 13, 2015 by BusinessMirror

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n Sunday, September 13, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 339

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S&P predicts recovery of PHL currency

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW PESO

n Previous week: The local currency continued to decline in value last week, hitting its trough at 46.93 to a dollar on Tuesday as investors continue to grapple with hard-hitting sentiment on the global economy, particularly on the uncertain growth story of China. In particular, the local currency opened trade on Monday at 46.92 to a dollar, and hit its lowest point of the week on Tuesday at 46.93 to a dollar. The peso then hit 46.855 to a dollar on Wednesday, and was barely unchanged on Thursday at 46.85 to a dollar. The peso ended the week at 46.89 to a dollar. The total traded volume is at $2.73 billion, while the average value of the peso is at 46.889 to a dollar during the week. This is weaker than the 46.722 average trade value of the peso in the previous week. n Week ahead: The peso is still likely to fall in value against the dollar in the coming week, economists said, owing largely to the uncertainties lingering from China and the upcoming meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in the coming week.

By Bianca Cuaresma

OCAL consumers and economists shared mixed views on the possible direction of the local currency’s value in the near future, amid bouts of volatilities coming from uncertainties in the global front. In its latest commentary on Asia Pacific, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) expressed its outlook that the peso will likely recover from its near-47 value in recent weeks toward the end of the year. In particular, S&P said that

the peso is set to end the year at the level of 46 flat to a dollar—appreciating from its most recent level of 46.89 to a dollar on Friday. However, in the most recent survey conducted by the Bangko See “S&P,” A2

Cabangon Chua leads rites at blessing of giant Saint Rose of Lima statue FORMER Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua views the commemorative marker bearing a prayer to Saint Rose of Lima during the inauguration of the Santa Rosa de Lima Plaza at the Eternal Gardens in Santa Rosa, Laguna, on Saturday. ALYSA SALEN

BOP (August 2015) Friday, September 18 n July BOP: The country’s transactions with the rest of the world surpassed government expectations for the entire 2015 in as early as July this year, as the central bank reported in the previous month that the country’s balance of payments (BOP) position

See “Outlook,” A2

ORMER Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, president emeritus of the ALC Group of Companies, made a surprise visit at the blessing of Santa Rosa de Lima Plaza at the Eternal Gardens in Santa Rosa, Laguna, as an expression of gratitude to the saint for his

recovery from a recent ailment. In his speech, Cabangon Chua said the Peruvian saint is special to him, as the Feast of Saint Rose de Lima falls on his birthday. The plaza hosts a 14-foot statue of Saint Rose of Lima, the Continued on A2

U.S. oil production seen tumbling, but record-low prices may hold on

ARIS—Oil supply from the United States, Russia and other countries outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is expected to drop sharply next year—possibly the steepest decline since the Soviet Union collapsed—because of low prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast on Friday. In its latest monthly report, the IEA says non-Opec production is expected to drop nearly half a million barrels to 57.7 million barrels a day in 2016. But a prominent investment firm questions whether even a cut that steep will shrink the glut of oil on the market enough to boost the price. Amid booming US production and high Opec output, the benchmark price of oil plunged from over $100 last year to about $45 this week. Global oil demand has grown, but at a slower pace, and analysts have said big production cuts are needed to balance the market. Producers in the US, who need a higher price per barrel than Opec countries to break even, have started to cut back. The US Energy Department estimated this week that production fell by 140,000 per day in August. The decline is expected to widen in the coming months, and production should average 400,000 barrels a day less in 2016 than in 2015. Russian and North Sea supply is also forecast to shrink in 2016, according to the IEA. Overall, non-Opec production should drop the most since 1992, when non-Opec output shrank 1 million barrels after the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics fell apart. Low oil prices are also spark-

ing an increase in demand, the IEA said. With pump prices well below $3 a gallon in most states, gasoline demand in the US is at an eight-year high. The agency said demand in China is still growing, despite signs of economic weakness, as growing use of transportation fuels offsets lower industrial demand for crude oil. It forecast global oil demand would rise 1.7 million barrels a day this

year, the highest in five years, and grow by another 1.4 million next year. The IEA does not provide a forecast for oil prices. In its report earlier this week, the US Energy Department said it expects US oil to average $49 per barrel this year and $54 per barrel in 2016, about $5 below the estimated average for Brent crude, the benchmark for many international types of crude. AP

BPI: Expect weak peso as uncertainty remains over Fed’s decision

SLAMMED! Serena Williams’s

Grand Slam chase ends with a semifinal exit at the US Open. Story on A10.

PI Asset Management sees a weaker peso versus the US dollar this coming week, brought by uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s (the Fed) decision to hike interest rates in its September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Analysts at BPI Asset Management said that, at this point, the possibility of a rate hike in September is still uncertain, given mixed economic-data releases and the instability of markets across the globe.

PESO exchange rates n US 46.9260

“We expect the peso to continue falling vis-à-vis the US dollar as investors remain defensive ahead of the FOMC meeting—although a disappointing inflation print, coupled with no change in Federal Reserve policy rates, may allow the peso to partly rebound,” it said. In last Friday’s close, the peso continued to weaken as investors positioned cautiously ahead of the FOMC meeting next week. Week-on-week, the Philippine peso depreciated 16 centavos, or 0.34 percent

lower, to close at the 46.89 level. The peso started weak against the US dollar last week, breaching above 47 on Tuesday due to continued concerns over China, emerging markets and the timing of the Fed’s rate hike. Analysts said sentiment over China improved, which allowed the peso to recover some of its losses, but the spotlight turned to Brazil, whose foreign-currency rating was downgraded to “BB+” with negative outlook, as its fiscal position and

political system continued to deteriorate. The continuation of net foreign outflows prevented any significant rally of the local currency for most of the week. The Bangko Sentral data showed net foreign direct investments declined 30.9 percent to $383 million in the first half of 2015, from last year’s $554 million, predominantly on the back of investor sentiment anticipating a Fed rate hike and global concerns over China’s slowing economy. Net equity-capital investments com-

posed the majority of the components at $214 million, four times higher than the $54 million in the previous year. The BSP said net foreign outflows from stocks, bonds and deposit certificates continued for a sixth straight month in August. For the month, outflows reached $524 million, higher than the previous month’s read of $160 million. This resulted in a net foreign outflow position year-to date of $64.3 million. Genivi Factao

n japan 0.3888 n UK 72.5007 n HK 6.0550 n CHINA 7.3584 n singapore 33.2055 n australia 33.2384 n EU 52.9044 n SAUDI arabia 12.5159 Source: BSP (11 September 2015)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, September 13, 2015

Palace confirms Domingo’s resignation

Domingo

rade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo has tendered his resignation to President Aquino, Malacañang confirmed on

Saturday. However, the resignation is still under consideration, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said. “According to Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., Secretary Gregory Domingo has submitted his resignation to President Aquino and that this is under consideration. Secretary Ochoa is awaiting word from the President regarding this matter,” Coloma said in a statement to reporters. Domingo has served as a Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary during the Arroyo administration, and as managing head of the Board of Investments under then-Trade Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II. C. Pillas

Outlook… Continued from a1

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Cabangon Chua leads rites at blessing of giant Saint Rose of Lima statue Continued from A1

continued to yield millions of dollars of surplus in July this year, albeit at a slower rate than that of last month. The country’s BOP yielded a net surplus of $354 million in surplus in July alone this year—posting the second consecutive month that the BOP registered a surplus. Meanwhile, the BOP surplus in total for January to July this year hit $2.038 billion. The government earlier announced that it projects the BOP to hit $2 million by the end of the year. The seven-month total BOP surplus is a turnaround from the $3.6-billion deficit seen in the same seven-month period last year.

n August BOP: In a recent commen-

tary, although global developments continue to ensue several countries’ external position, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said that the Philippines, along with other nations, are relatively well positioned to handle such volatilities and would likely still are able to keep their BOP afloat the surplus territory. The BSP warned, however, earlier, that the country must be “cautiously optimistic” that the country could sustain this above target BOP level despite foreseen volatilities brought by the impending lift off in the United States’ interest rates and the foreign exchange market turbulences due to the recent devaluation of the Yuan and the Dong. Bianca Cuaresma

largest statue of a Catholic saint to be erected in the province. Liberal Party Rep. Danilo Fernandez of Laguna and Santa Rosa Mayor Arlene B. Arcillas, as well as ALC CFO Benjie Ramos and Eternal Gardens CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon and other top executives of Eternal Gardens, joined the ambassador at the blessing ceremony. Cabangon Chua said the ALC Group is very grateful to the growing number of Eternal Gardens sales agents who continue to contribute to the growth of the company. Fernandez said Laguna is honored to host various investments from the ALC Group of Companies, including the Eternal Gardens in Santa Rosa City. At the same time, Arcillas said the city will continue to be peaceful and progressive as it hosts the first giant statue of Saint Rose of Lima, the town’s patron saint. Arcillas expressed gratitude to Cabangon Chua for keeping his promise of giving the town a giant statue of its patron saint and for the huge investments of ALC Group of Companies in the city. “The City of Santa Rosa is thankful for hosting Eternal Gardens and the Santa Rosa de Lima Plaza that can also serve as a worship place for the townsfolk,” Arcillas said during the program. “I will tell my constituents about this good news,” Arcillas promised the ambassador. Estrella Torres

Eternal Gardens inaugurates the Santa Rosa de Lima image and plaza at the Eternal Gardens Santa Rosa on Saturday. Gracing the event are (from left) Alexander Atienza, Eternal Gardens Santa Rosa branch manager; Numeriano B. Rodrin, Eternal Gardens president and COO; Rep. Danilo Fernandez of the First District of Laguna; Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene B. Arcillas; ALC Group Founder and Chairman Emeritus Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, Eternal Gardens chairman and CEO; former Santa Teresita, Batangas, Mayor Bayani Andal; and Benjamin V. Ramos, Eternal Gardens vice chairman. ALYSA SALEN

S&P…

Continued from a1

Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), local consumers said that the peso will likely continue toward its depreciation trend up until the next year. “More respondents were of the view that the peso would depreciate against the US dollar in the next 12 months compared to those who said otherwise,” the central bank reported in its latest consumer expectations survey (CES). The BSP, however, did not cite the average forecast of local consumer respondents in the survey for the end of this year. S&P, meanwhile, said the peso is also poised to end 2016 at 46 to a dollar, while 2017 will likely see an appreciation and hit 45.5 to a dollar at the end of that year. Also in its most recent commentary, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) economists were also of the view that the peso will likely correct toward the end of the year, and will settle at around 46.8 to a dollar. The BPI is of the view that although recent market volatility seemed to be favoring the strength of the US dollar in recent weeks, the actual hike in the US’s interest rate—which is widely expected in September or October this year—will ease speculations and could provide some nearterm relief for the peso after the dust has settled. “Market volatility is usually highest prior to the fact with markets settling down after the actual event. The run-up to a Fed hike will undoubtedly lead to increased pressure on the peso and regional peers with an eventual correction in the wake of such,” the BPI said. “A possible response from the BSP to match the projected Fed move would also provide some short-term relief for the local unit,” the local banking giant added.

NewsSunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Sunday, September 13, 2015 A3

House will not railroad RFI bill D By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

espite the inclusion of the Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives (RFI) bill on the list of priority measures, the House of Representatives has assured businessmen that it will not railroad the passage of the measure.

Liberal Party Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina City, House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, said in an interview that the lower chamber is currently “studying line by line the RFI bill.” “We will never rush the [passage of] RFI, because it’s [a] very vital legislation that has deep impact in the confidence of our investors,” Quimbo said. He assured that the rights of every businessmen in the country will be respected under the proposed law. “This is a very important measure, so we will study it very carefully and we will make sure vested rights are respected,” he said. Earlier, the Makati Business Club (MBC) advised lawmakers not to

rush the RFI bill, as railroading the measure just to pass it in the present Congress may lead to a slipshod version of the key fiscal-reform measure. MBC Executive Director Peter Angelo Perfecto said that, while the business sector supports the initiative to streamline fiscal incentives to help plug revenue leakages, sacrificing the content of the law just to ensure its passage this Congress could lead to the erosion of the country’s competitiveness as an investment destination.

DOF, DTI conflicting views

QUIMBO has asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Finance (DOF) to settle their differences and produce a unified version of the bill, as their conflicting views affect the passage

of the bill at the lower chamber. The bill is among the 16th Cong ress’s and Ma lacañang’s priority measures. “Before, they [the DTI and the DOF] said that they are 80-percent done with the drafting of their unified version of RFI, but now [as I see] they’re now down to 35 percent. It’s a step backward,” Quimbo said, adding, “what we’ve seen today is they are still far off from the finish line.” According to Quimbo, the passage of the RFI is now “on the hands of the DOF and the DTI.” Last week Malacañang also moved to reconcile the DOF and the DTI reported conf lict over a long-pending administrationreform measure. In the recent hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means on the RFI bill, Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. identified four contentious issues: Implementation of a uniform incentive package for all economic zones consisting of a four-year income-tax holiday (ITH), after which a choice of either a 5-percent reduced tax on gross income earned (GIE) or a 15-percent corporate income tax (CIT) for 11 years (total of 15 years). Renewability of either the 5-percent GIE or the 15-percent

No end in sight for Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic

HE arteries of Metro Manila were clogged on different occasions last week, with commuters relaying on social media that they experienced one-hell-of-a-commute owing to blocked roads, choosy drivers and the lack of proper traffic management. Metro Manila residents have been suffering from heavy traffic since Tuesday—two days after the National Police’s Highway Patrol Group took over Edsa—thanks to the torrential rains that drenched the metropolis in the past few days. A trip from Bonifacio Global City to Ayala Avenue in Makati—which usually takes about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the traffic situation—took a group of media practitioners an hour. Much to their dismay, the situation was no better going home to the provinces. This reporter was not spared from the situation, as it took him three hours before he was able to hail a ride going home to San Mateo, Rizal, from Cubao in Quezon City. Tuesday’s traffic mess might have been the worse for many, but take out the rain from the equation, the situation will only be lessened by a small degree. Hence, for Cisco Philippines Country Manager Luis Castañeda, solving the chronic mess in Manila’s traffic requires investments in cutting- edge solutions or, in layman’s term, technology. “With each Filipino estimated to lose 300 hours due to traffic every year and the economy losing billions of pesos in productivity, the need to come up with a long-lasting, cross-cutting solution is even more urgent,” he said. “Metro Manila’s problematic traffic jams call for cutting-edge solutions that encompass various areas—the public-transport system, traffic and monitoring coordination and road-safety behavior.” Traffic congestion per day, according to studies, amount to P2.4 billion in economic losses—

that is for Metro Manila alone. Combined with the losses from the cities and provinces surrounding the capital, the Philippines loses P3.4 billion daily. “Withmorethan50percentoftheworld’spopulation currently living in cities and close to 700 million people moving into urban areas within the next 10 years, tremendous stress is being placed on already aging public infrastructures,” Castañeda said. He recognized short- and medium-term measures were put in place and some of it has shown promising results. However, long-term measures must be considered to address the challenges of traffic management. “For instance, urban and traffic planners can study how smart cities around the world have configuredtheirtraffic-managementsystemsusing Internet of Everything (IOE), and Big Data analytics. These cities employ IOE and analytics to connect the traffic-management system—traffic signals and traffic command centers—with a geographic information system (GIS)-enabled digital road map and use real-time analytics to manage traffic flow through busy thoroughfares,” he said. Castañeda added that the use of Internet protocol (IP) cameras, sensors, applications over a secure Wi-Fi network infrastructure around Metro Manila can help provide real-time traffic condition visibility for traffic-management authorities. Sensors, he noted, could be spread out across Edsa, for instance, and can send information to a central server, where traffic-management authorities can tag heavily congested sections, routing motorists into less congested side streets and improving traffic flow along Metro Manila’s major artery. “Smart analytics, where data produced by smart+connected infrastructures, such as those mentioned above, are analyzed to gain insights on trends and behaviors, can be, likewise, used

to manage intersections and accident-prone areas, where traffic buildup usually originates. The Smart Intersection Solution, developed by AGT International and Cisco utilizing its Data in Motion technology, uses edge analytics to aggregate data at intersections to support vulnerable road users, improve traffic flow, monitor air pollution and optimize traffic-infrastructure management,” he explained. Cisco’s Smart Intersection solution “implements a number of technologies at city intersections to provide intelligent services to citizens, car drivers and pedestrians alike around the city. This solution has already shown potential in various real-world applications, such as an implementation of Hamburg’s first Smart City pilot projects.” Castañeda said benefits for cities and road users include more efficient traffic flow, less pollution, and improved road safety and congestion traffic conditions. “For transportation departments, a smartconnected traffic-management system will help deliver automated incident detection and quicker responses, better management of thoroughfares due to better-informed operational decision-making,” he said. Castañeda also said that smart analytics can save lives. “For instance, it can guide an ambulance by getting real-time data from sensors, traffic signals on the way to hospital and GIS mapping of all roads leading to hospital. A message is sent to the ambulance display panel in front of the driver informing him which road to take. All signals toward hospital are asked to be on a particular color—red or green—prompting the ambulance to pass through,” he explained. These technologies, he said, would aid the government in implementing measures to lessen the traffic congestion in the capital. Lorenz S. Marasigan

CIT for 15 years, upon review after 15 years. This incentive is on top of the ITH and GIE/CIT combination, totaling to 30 years of incentives availment. While the DTI is in favor of the time-bound perks, the authority to renew or terminate incentives should lie with the investment-promotion agency boards. Implementation of any change in the incentive package, either for

export-oriented enterprises in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) or the Board of Investments (BOI), should be prospective. Existing locators who enjoy the present package should be given an option to migrate to the new scheme. Cristobal said keeping the incentive packages attractive is significant, now that other competing

Asean member-nations are offering better packages. Vietnam, for instance, offered Samsung a 30-year ITH for the electronics giant to locate there. Indonesia, according to the Peza, just doubled its ITH period from 10 to 20 years. The DOF, however, remained firm in its opposition, specifically on the second issue.

Science

BusinessMirror

A4 Sunday, September 13, 2015

New human relative found from bones in S. Africa cave

AGA LIESBURG, Sout h A f r ica— Scient ists say they’ve discovered a new member of the human family tree, revealed by a huge trove of bones in a barely accessible, pitch-dark chamber of a cave in South Africa. The creature shows a surprising mix of human-like and more primitive characteristics—some experts called it “bizarre” and “weird.” And the discovery presents some key mysteries: How old are the bones? And how did they get into that chamber, reachable only by a complicated pathway that includes squeezing through passages as narrow as about 17.8 centimeters? The bones were found by a spelunker, about 48 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg. The site has yielded some 1,550 specimens since its discovery in 2013. The fossils represent at least 15 individuals. Researchers named the creature Homo naledi. That reflects the “Homo” evolutionary group, which includes modern people and our closest extinct relatives, and the word for “star” in a local language. The find was made in the Rising Star cave system. The creature, which evidently walked upright, represents a mix of traits. For example, the hands and feet look like Homo, but the shoulders and the small brain recall Homo’s more ape-like ancestors, the researchers said. Lee Berger, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg who led the work, said naledi’s anatomy suggest that it arose at or near the root of the Homo group, which would make the species some 2.5 million to 2.8 million years old. The discovered bones themselves may be younger, said Berger, an American. At a news conference on Thursday in the Cradle of Humankind, a site near the town of Magaliesburg where the discovery was made, bones were arranged in the shape of skeleton in a glass-covered wooden case.

This March 2015 photo provided by National Geographic from its October 2015 issue shows a reconstruction of Homo naledi’s face by paleoartist John Gurche at his studio in Trumansburg, New York. In an announcement made on September 10, scientists say fossils found deep in a South African cave revealed the new member of the human family tree. Mark Thiessen/National Geographic via AP

Fragments of small skulls, an almost complete jawbone with teeth, and pieces of limbs, fingers and other bones were arrayed around the partial skeleton. Berger handed a skull reconstruction to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who kissed it, as did other VIPs. Berger beamed throughout the unveiling. The researchers also announced the discovery in the journal eLife. They said they were unable to determine an age for the fossils because of unusual characteristics of the site, but that they are still trying. Berger said researchers are not claiming that naledi was a direct ancestor of modern-day people, and experts unconnected to the project said they believed it was not. Rick Potts, director of the human origins program at the Smithsonian Institution’s Natural History Museum, who was not involved in the discovery, said that without an age, “there’s no way we can judge the evolutionary significance of this find.” If the bones are about as old as the Homo group, that would argue that

naledi is “a snapshot of...the evolutionary experimentation that was going on right around the origin” of Homo, he said. If they are significantly younger, it either shows the naledi retained the primitive body characteristics much longer than any other known creature, or that it re-evolved them, he said. Eric Delson of Lehman College in New York, who also wasn’t involved with the work, said his guess is that naledi fits within a known group of early Homo creatures from around 2 million year ago. Besides the age of the bones, another mystery is how they got into the difficult-to-reach area of the cave. The researchers said they suspect the naledi may have repeatedly deposited their dead in the room, but alternatively it may have been a death trap for individuals that found their own way in. “This stuff is like a Sherlock Holmes mystery,” declared Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study. Visitors to the cave must have created artificial light, as with a torch, Wood said. The people who did cave drawings in Europe had such technology, but nobody has suspected that mental ability in creatures with such a small brain as naledi, he said. Potts said a deliberate disposal of dead bodies is a feasible explanation, but he added it’s not clear who did the disposing. Maybe it was some human relative other than naledi, he said. Not everybody agreed that the discovery revealed a new species. Tim White of the University of California, Berkeley, called that claim questionable. “From what is presented here, [the fossils] belong to a primitive Homo erectus, a species named in the 1800s,” he said in an e-mail. At the news conference in South Africa, Berger disputed that. “Could this be the body of homo erectus? Absolutely not. It could not be erectus,” Berger said. AP

Sunday

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ceramic water filter

Bringing clean water to Juan and Maria

By Marilou Guieb | Correspondent

rawing from an age-old craft of pottery and adding to it cutting edge nanotechnology has created the candle-type ceramic water filter that now serves some communities without potable water.

Launching of ceramic walter filter with Dr. Gilbert Arce (second from left), president, University of Northern Philippines; Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo (center); and Department of Science and Technology Ilocos Region Director Armando Ganal. Gerry Palad, STII S&T Media Service

The launching and ceremonial turnover of the water-filter technology to the University of Northern Philippines was a highlight of the Science Nation Tour for the Northern Luzon Cluster, a project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which was held recently in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The theme for the Science Nation Tour is “Agham na Ramdam: Science for Every Mang Juan [and Aling Maria].” Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo said at the Science Nation Tour that addressing the problem of lack of potable water, especially in the countryside and remote areas, is one of the priorities of the DOST. “This project is a blend of old artisan work and science, which is enhancing the old practice with nanotechnology,” he said. The idea of using clay filters is an old one, but the process we used is our own, Montejo said. Every type of clay has its own properties and will need different processes, he explained. The lack of potable water has, in fact, become a global crisis. The World Health Organization

and the United Nations Children’s Fund have identified a population of 750 million in the world with no access to clean water and 82 percent of these live in rural areas. In the Philippines 20 percent have no access to potable water with 432 municipalities without water-service facilities. Healthwise, some 31 percent of illnesses in the country are caused by water-borne diseases. Forty-five percent of water sources in the country are supplied by community-based associations, which unfortunately are largely untreated water which can carry bacteria that cause the spread of water-borne diseases. Microfiltration, like ceramic-based micro filters, is a proven technique to eliminate microbial contaminants. Based on this the Industrial Technology and Development Institute of the DOST provided the unique ceramic filtration system using very local material. This ceramic water filter uses red clay abundant in many areas. Clay samples from different parts of the country—such as Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Tarlac, Isabela, Aurora, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Aklan, Leyte, Cagayan de Oro, South Cotobato, Pampanga and Mountain Province—were analyzed and showed they were suitable for processing into water filters with nanotechnology. “We cannot just keep adding coatings to the clay. This has to be prepared in a way that will accept the nano material,” Montejo said. Silver, known for centuries to be an antibacterial mineral, is added to the clay filter. Silver is a nano material, Montejo added. Production entails the clay to be meshed to a measured fineness and mixed with water and other combustible material. Water impurities are sifted. Silver ions are trapped between the spaces in the slightly porous clay. When water flows through the filter, the silver ions kill the pathogens in the water, including coliform bacteria and protozoa. There are now four production centers of this ceramic water filter: Eliano Baluyot Pottery Inc. in Arayat, Pampanga; University of Northern Philippines in Vigan, Ilocos Sur; the local government of Santa Maria, Isabela, in Cagayan Valley; and Bila Pottery Association in Bila, Mountain Province. The DOST tapped on existing pottery establishments and had them trained on the formulation technique of the water filters with nanotechnology. The formulation has been carefully tested and standard tests yielded heterotrophic plate count to be less than 30, where the standard should be less than 500 colonies per plate count. It also passed safety tests for coliform and E. coli. The initial design was of a cumbersome clay pot but Montejo suggested a lighter more portable design made of white translucent plastic composed of a pitcher that holds the raw material and another catchment that holds the clay filter, and when assembled resembles the shape of the candle, thus, its name. The product weighs 500 grams only and has a maximum filtering flow rate of 2 liters per hour. The DOST has rolled out these water filters to beneficiaries in Vigan City, Catanduanes, Iloilo, Zamboanga and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. A thousand units were given to Supertyphoon Yolanda victims. An order of some 50,000 units were made from disaster-prone areas. “We are hoping that there will be adopters to help roll out the product to areas with no potable water,” Montejo said. The production cost is at P300 and the plastic assembly is P112. The unit can be bought for about P450. Next commercial sites being developed are the CAR, Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao. The candle-type ceramic water filter is also considered a climate-change adaptation technology, an ideal solution for disaster stricken areas where access to roads to deliver bottled water becomes a problem. Thus, every household or family in evacuation centers can have clean drinking water with just this invention made available to them, DOST-CAR Regional Director Julius Caesar Sicat said. The ceramic water filter can purify tap water, deep well water and water from ponds and springs.

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

DENR suspends permits to transport monkeys

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has suspended the issuance of transport permits for monkeys to prevent the spread of Ebola Reston virus (ERV) recently. This, after several monkeys being kept in an undisclosed breeding facility died because of the deadly virus recently. The DENR, through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), issues permits for the transport of captive wildlife, including monkeys. Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said in a statement that DENR field offices nationwide had already been advised not to issue transport permits, until the interagency body tasked to look into the ERV incident concludes its investigation. The investigating team, composed of representatives from the Department of Health, the DENR and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), is trying to determine the source of the virus and confirm which other living species could be possibly infected by it, Paje said. The DENR is taking the necessary precautions to ensure that the virus would not spread to other monkey population and other animal species, according to BMB Director Theresa Mundita Lim. She appealed to the public to report to the DENR any monkey that may have been left unattended or showing signs of hemorrhagic fever. While the BAI regulates the transport and export of local monkeys in breeding facilities, the DENR also monitors them as they belong to the breed of Macaca fascicularis, or the Philippine macaque, which is classified as “near threatened” on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Capturing and transporting of Philippine macaque are strictly regulated and require government permit. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Lawmaker seeks higher penalty for theft of government property By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

LAWMAKER has urged the leadership of the 16th Congress to approve two bills imposing higher penalties against theft of government property. In House Bills (HBs) 5598 and 5599 that she filed, Unang Sigaw Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing of Nueva Ecija said that over the years, theft of government properties have become rampant, especially since the sale of many items, such as railroad and sidewalk railings, manhole covers and signposts and signages, is profitable. “These government properties are placed in their respective locations because the government trusts that the public will take care of them, as they are intended to serve public interest and welfare,” she said. HB 5598 is titled “An Act Amending Republic Act (R A) 3515, as Amended, also known as the Revised Penal Code, Article 310 on Qualified Theft.” HB 5599 is titled “An Act Imposing Penalties on Person or Persons Guilty of Fencing Properties Owned by the Philippine Government Such as Railings, Manhole Covers, Signage, Sign Posts, Slabs, and the Like, Amending for the Purpose Sections 3 and 6 of Presidential Decree 1612, Otherwise Known as the AntiFencing Law of 1972.” HB 5598 seeks to amend Article 310 of RA 3815, as amended, or the Revised Penal Code, classifying theft of government property as qualified theft, imposing higher penalties against the perpetrators. HB 5598 seeks to insert in Article 310 this paragraph: “ The penalty of prision correccional, in its medium and maximum periods, and a fine of not less than P25,000 but not exceeding P100,000 shall be imposed if the property stolen be any property of the government of the Philippines.” On the other hand, under HB 5599, it seeks to insert the following provisions in Section 3 of Presidential Decree 1612: “[g] If the property or object of fencing is owned by the government of the Republic of the Philippines such as railings, manhole covers, signage, sign posts, slabs and the like, the following penalties shall be imposed: The penalty of reclusion perpetua if the value of property stolen is more than P100,000; The penalty of reclusion temporal, in its minimum and maximum periods, if the value of the property stolen is more than P50,000 but not exceeding P100,000. (3) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and maximum periods, if the value of the property stolen is less than P50,000,00. The accessory penalty pertaining thereto as provided in the Revised Penal Code shall also be imposed.” The two measures are now under consideration by the House Committee on Revision of Laws.

Sunday, September 13, 2015 A5

House bills reforming SK, banning reappointments to JBC approved

HE House of Representatives recently approved on third and final reading the measure instituting reforms in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) to make it more responsive to the needs of the youth sector and the bill banning the reappointment of a regular member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) who has already served a full term.

House Bill 6043, or the proposed Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act, seeks to amend certain sections of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, by increasing the age requirement of SK members from 15 to 18 to 21 years of age. The measure also requires elective or appointed officials of the SK to be at least 18 years of age but not more than 21 on the day of the election. It allows the SK officials who reach the age of 21 to finish their terms. It also provides that the Sangguniang Barangay shall appropriate the SK fund in lump sum to be disbursed solely for youth development and empowerment purposes.

The bill also provides that the 10-percent SK share in barangay funds shall be released provided that the request for such release is supported by an SK resolution and a project proposal duly approved by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The bill includes provisions on the grounds for suspension and removal of SK officials from public office, changing the period of the meetings of the Katipunan ng Kabataan from at least once every three months to once every six months, and prohibiting the election or appointment of SK officials who have a relative in elected public office within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. In addition, the

measure institutionalizes the observance of the Buwan ng Kabataan, during which local officials shall conduct activities with the participation of the youth. It mandates the conduct of leadership trainings and seminars for SK members to be managed jointly by the Local Government Academy of the Philippines and the DILG, and establishes an SK Capability Building Fund to support the mandatory trainings and seminars on leadership and program development. Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Alfredo D. Vargas III of Quezon City, one of the authors of the measure, said the progressive reform in the current youth representation would ensure that the spirit of volunteerism will be strengthened and the youth will be insulated from the perils of traditional politics. Vargas said that the bill aims to strengthen SK by reorienting youth participation in governance toward meaningful volunteerism and by shielding them from partisan politics. Meanwhile, House Bill 6040, which the House has also passed, disqualifies a regular member of the JBC from being reappointed to the same position in any capacity once said member has served the full term of office. The disqualification shall also apply to any person who has been appointed and has served the unexpired portion of at least

two years of the term of office of a regular member who has ceased to become one by reason of death, incapacity or resignation. LP Rep. Francis Gerald A. Abaya of Cavite City, one of the authors of the measure, said the bill seeks to ban reappointments to the JBC to avoid the possibility of instances where its members, in their desire to be reappointed to the Council, succumb to pressure from the Executive branch to nominate individuals based on political considerations, instead of their actual merits and qualifications, seriously undermining the quality of judicial appointments and the independence of the judiciary as a whole. Abaya said the measure shall enhance the independence of the Judiciary by insulating it from political pressure. One of the key provisions of the bill enumerates the regular members of the JBC as provided under Art. VIII, Section 8 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, who shall be appointed by the President for a term of four (4) years with the consent of the Commission on Appointments. The regular members are as follows: (a) representative of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP); (b) professor of Law; (c) a retired Member of the Supreme Court, and (d) representative of the Private Sector. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

PRC continues helping refugees in Surigao del Sur By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

HE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of refugees now temporarily sheltered at the sports complex in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. The refugees fled their community in Lianga town owing to armed violence that started on September 1. PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon said the humanitarian organization is working with the local government, led by Gov. Johnny T. Pimentel, in providing support to some 628 lumad families sheltered at the Oval Sports Complex in Telaje, Tandag City. “The PRC reminds all parties to the armed violence of the need to respect human life and dignity at all times. Civilians, regardless of their religion, ethnic group, gender or political beliefs and their property, must be spared from violence,” Gordon said. Immediately upon receiving a report on the armed conflict last week, the PRC started preparing relief packs providing for the displaced families’ immediate needs. Included were food items; sleeping kits containing blanket; mosquito net and mat; hygiene kits; jerry cans; and tarpaulins. The hygiene kits contained towels, laundry soap, bath soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, sanitary napkins, basin and a plastic bag. The PRC Surigao Chapter has

also started regularly distributing hot meals twice a day to some 13,356 individuals on September 2. It also provided treated water, distributing an average of 20,000 liters per day and initially distributing 40,000 liters.

The PRC, a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, also set up a welfare desk and a first-aid station and provided psychosocial support to the displaced people and the families

of the three fatalities. “We hope that the issues will be settled upland and those who are killing and harassing people will be captured,” Gordon said.

Hospitality industry seen on upward trend until ’18 By Roderick L. Abad

HE continuous influx of foreign investments in the Philippines is seen spurring the projected growth of Metro Manila hotels in the next three years, a property consultancy firm predicted. “Foreign appetite for investment in the Philippines continues to be vibrant as more foreign firms are eager to have their slice of the cake,” CB Richard Ellis Philippines Inc. said. It noted that foreign direct investments (FDI) registered net inflows of $403 million in May, the highest so far in 2015. Given this, the company expects a strong demand in hotel rooms on the back of mas-

sive visitor arrivals from anywhere else in the world. In fact, data from the Department of Tourism show that foreign tourist arrivals rose by 8.15 percent to 2.23 million from January to May of this year. Top contributors of international arrivals came from Korea and the United States. The growing inclination of the domestic market to travel also drives local tourism development. All these and other factors are indicators for the entry of foreign hotel brands in the country to date. Among the preferred investment destinations nationwide, Metro Manila continues to lead the hotel industry with a supply of almost 15,000 rooms, CBRE said.

Novotel Hotels, Crown Towers, Conrad Hotels and Resorts are some of the upcoming hospitality developments this year with 3,427 rooms. Adding 1,724 rooms, Movenpick, Savoy, and Citadines will bring the inventory to a total of around 17,000 rooms by next year. For 2017, the aggregate supply is estimated to reach almost 18,000 from 850 rooms coming from Somerset Serviced Residence and Sheraton. An upward trend will remain up to 2018 with about 20,000 rooms overall as Okura Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and Crockfords Tower build 2,192 more rooms. Apart from the growing business

travelers that help boost the Mice, or Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions, market, CBRE added that the expansion of the gaming industry in the country will simultaneously increase activity in the hospitality and leisure sector. Catapulting the Philippines into the global market is the Entertainment City in Parañaque City by the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. A combined total of $15 billion from private companies is seen to be invested here, with Solaire, City of Dreams and Tiger Resorts of Okada Group already building their presence in this reclaimed area. “The Philippines is, indeed, making waves in being a top tourist destination in the world,” CBRE stressed.

A6 Sunday, September 13, 2015

SundayVoices BusinessMirror

editorial

Thoughts on solving Metro Manila’s traffic mess

he government administrations worked hard to improve and strengthen Metro Manila’s traffic system, with the Ramos administration opening up C-5, initiating Metro Rail Transit 3 and laying out the beginnings of Light Rail Transit (LRT) 2. The Arroyo administration picked up where the Ramos administration left off by completing LRT 2, extending LRT 1, and building pumping stations at key points in the metropolis to channel off floodwaters that had been causing traffic jams in Metro Manila. Not the present administration. Through sheer incompetence, the BS Aquino administration seems bent on ensuring that Metro Manila’s traffic degenerates into the worst in the world. In this dubious quest, it seems to be succeeding. In the last few days, with the rains coming down, transportation was paralyzed, thousands of commuters were left stranded on flooded sidewalks, reaching home in the early hours of the following day. In the midst of this most trying period for Metro Manilans, it is comforting to turn to ideas put forward by some citizens on how to solve Metro Manila’s traffic problems in an efficient and effective way. In a number of carefully thought-out articles, Benjamin de la Peña, director of Community and National Strategy of the John S. and James C. Knight Foundation, a graduate of the University of the Philippines and master of urban planning of Harvard University who has worked on urban issues in various parts of the world, outlines several ideas on how to deal with Metro Manila’s traffic mess, two of which can be outlined here. One idea is encapsulized in an article “The Metro Manila Sub-Way is Fine but Fix the Bus System First.” How long will it take to build the subway and how much will it cost? De la Peña tells us that megacities like Mexico City, Bogota and Guangzhou designed and built world-class Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in two to three years. These systems have become the envy of cities in various countries. The sooner we replicate the BRT system in Metro Manila, the better for us. The second idea is outlined in the article “How to Solve Metro Manila’s Housing and Traffic Problem at the Same Time.” Here, de la Peña argues that the key to the traffic issue is the location of the working people relative to their place of work. He suggests that in the development of mixed areas, there should be a requirement for the inclusion of affordable “rental” housing for lower middle-income families who constitute the source of prospective employees for industrial and commercial enterprises. Such a location for these families will drastically reduce the need for transportation and thus, lessen the pressure for extensive public-transport systems. The time span for the implementation of the Dream Transport Plan for Metro Manila and Adjacent Regions, prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Administration, is 2016 to 2030. While waiting for the realization of this plan, we can carry out many useful and necessary things to save and enhance our urban environment. Some of these have been suggested by our citizens. Let’s give these suggestions a chance for our own sake.

The problem of misdiagnosing poverty in the United States By Robert L. Woodson Sr. The Heritage Foundation TNS Forum

VER the past 10 years, in spite of massive and growing funding of America’s antipoverty agenda, the percentage of individuals able to support themselves free of government welfare has declined. The fundamental reason the nation has failed to effectively reduce dependency and promote self-sufficiency is we’ve been misdiagnosing poverty. People experience poverty for varied reasons. Remedies for poverty should take this diversity into account. Through my experience with the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise and the nearly 3,000 community groups working in lowincome neighborhoods it has served, I have come to understand that there are typically four basic categories of the poor. There is one cohort whose poverty is the result of an unexpected setback, such as the death of a breadwinner or the loss of a job. For these people, the welfare system can function as originally intended, providing temporary support until recipients can find their footing again. A second cohort comprises those who have remained dependent on the system because the disincentives to marry and work embedded in its regulations make it a rational choice to avoid those stepping stones to self-sufficiency. They have “done the math” and calculated that it is not worth the loss of benefits to take the first steps toward upward mobility. The third group is made up of the disabled, many of whom will always be in need of some support.

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Sunday, September 13, 2015

The fourth cohort consists of those who are in poverty because of the choices they make and the chances they take. For example, those suffering from alcoholism and other addictions, who choose to live with the consequences rather than pursue recovery. It is that fourth category of the poor whose choices impose avoidable costs on the larger society. Those who engage in self-destructive and predatory behavior make poor decisions that often lead to emergencyroom treatment, police dispatches and incarceration. No amount of income distribution, safety nets or programs will make a substantial or sustainable difference in their status. Among this cohort, a fundamental revitalization in vision, character and values is a prerequisite for them to reclaim their lives and escape from dependence on government aid. This internal transformation can be—and has been—uniquely engendered by community-based (often faith-inspired) outreach by neighborhood leaders throughout the country. These healing agents exhibit common characteristics. They share the same geographic and cultural ZIP codes with the people they serve; they have a firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by those they serve; and they are available on a 24/7 basis for the long haul. It is not uncommon for these grassroots leaders to be involved in a person’s life from childhood to adulthood. I have witnessed the dramatic transformations that have resulted from the work of these selfless grassroots leaders. Once an internal transformation has been accomplished, these men and women, who had

ND Jesus went on with His disciples to the villages of Caesare’a Philip’pi; and on the way, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” And they told Him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Eli’jah; and others, one of the prophets.” And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.” And He charged them to tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and

virtually lost their lives to drugs and alcohol, emerge as responsible employees, spouses and parents. I have seen fatherless youths who were raised on the streets and were drawn to the lures of gang violence and drug trafficking—exactly those youths whom data predicts will give rise to a second generation with the same dismal futures—instead become agents of peace and renewal in their communities and loving fathers to their children, because of a surrogate father figure’s mentorship. I have known men released from prison, with the mark of a felon and no job prospects, become successful businessmen and entrepreneurs who provide employment to others in the community. To harness fully the power of America’s transformative neighborhood healers requires a new paradigm for identifying the “experts” who deserve recognition, trust and support. Their authority comes not from diplomas and certificates on their walls but instead from the testimonies of the men, women and youths whose lives they have touched. Policy-makers should cease relying on sociologists’ “failure studies” that document neighborhoods’ deficits as the primary way to describe the conditions of the poor. Those living in poverty should not be identified in terms of their liabilities and disabilities but rather by their strengths and latent abilities. Such “capacity studies” can identify the coping strategies of those who have achieved against great odds. The right diagnosis would give Americans greater insight on how to bend the self-sufficiency curve in the right direction.

be killed, and after three days rise again. And He said this plainly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” And He called to Him the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My Sake and the gospel’s will save it.—Mark 8:27-35

SundayVoices BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, September 13, 2015 A7

Discriminating ‘cheapos’ I Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

T was laugh out loud funny, but was it fair? Ross McGuinness writes that waitress, Jess Jones, was serving a table at a bar and grill. Instead of leaving her a tip on a $112 tab, they left her a note: “1 hour for food, lol.” She posted it on Facebook and wrote “I would have preferred a zero dollar to a laugh-out-loud tip; but as a waitress, bad tips and harsh notes are part of the job. Sure, they did wait an hour to eat,” Jess said, “but they

were satisfied with filled drinks and a proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than usual. I’ve worked in the service industry for five years. I take pride in providing great service.” She relies on tips to pay her bills. People close to me have worked as waiters, so I know. It is a hard job, especially if it includes being the busboy who carries out the dishes. Jess said, “My experience with this table was cruel. Waiters are mere messengers. It is wrong to shoot

them, however bad the news.” My own rule of thumb is the smaller the bill, the bigger the tip because it takes the same amount of time and effort to serve a beer as a dish. A general rule is to give as much as your idiot son tips the waiter to impress the slut he’s dating. Basically, what you spend without giving it a thought—say for a gewgaw—is the fair amount of a tip. If a haircut costs P400, give a

P300 tip at the very least; if it costs P1,000, give P1,000. Why? Because you throw that money without a thought; why not throw it to the people who serve you as none of your social friends have ever done or ever will do, especially if you’re down on your luck? I really appreciate people who leave giant tips, especially the big-mouth loud ones who want to be heard by the entire restaurant. That’s fine with me if their volubil-

ity is matched by their liberality with the waiters. I feel the same way about household help. Anything they need, give it to them. Any medical costs they incur, pay it, and send them to the same doctors and dentists you frequent. You have the same kind of teeth and organs. Remember, no one in your social or business circles, and no one in your family has ever consistently served you well as the household help.

9/11: Honoring the memory by going on By Gina Barreca The Hartford Courant TNS Forum

HAVE always been afraid to fly, but I know a lot of people who became afraid to fly after 9/11. Those moments—when American buildings and American planes were brought down on American soil— remain terrifying and indelible. Of course, 9/11 scared people. No American lived through that day unchanged, from my first-year students, who were in grade school, to World War II veterans who had seen nothing like it in 55 years. No one who looked at the beautiful blue sky on that September morning could avoid a sense of devastation. But that day didn’t make me more afraid to get on a plane. My fears were more parochial and always had been; I was afraid of turbulence and

bad landings. My fears did not, on that date, become worse. Since 2001, I’ve flown four times, into and out of Boston and New York, on September 11. The airports were subdued; there was visible additional security and, I’m sure, even more security that was invisible. Pilots on those f lights acknowledged the importance of the date and asked us to keep a good thought or say a prayer for those who died years ago. Nobody ignored the memory; they honored it and then got on with the business of the day. Most of my family lived in New York, but my husband and I were living in Connecticut. That semester, both of us were teaching at 8 a.m., and on most days, we’d rarely see each other between our drive in together and our drive home. But on September 11, Michael

was standing outside the door of my first class as it ended. I saw his face and I knew someone had died. My father was elderly and unwell, my heart tightened like a fist in preparation. Instead, Michael said, “We’re at war.” I had no idea what he meant. We’d flown back from a writers’ conference the night before, arriving at Boston’s Logan airport late. We’d sat with writer Andre Dubus III on the plane, laughed the entire flight (mostly about my fear of flying) and I was exhausted. I thought I wasn’t hearing Michael right. “Planes just hit the World Trade Center,” he said. “It was deliberate. Thousands of people are dead. They’re sure it was a terrorist act.” The first person I thought of was my friend Lynette, who worked in the World Trade Center. She’d been there during the bombing of

1993, but was unhurt. Was she unhurt now? I thought of my nephew, starting his first day of high school in Manhattan, and I thought of my youngest stepson who lived in Greenwich Village. Where was he? Was my father all right? And what about the other dozen people I felt closest to in the world? Classes were canceled and Michael and I left for home. We turned on the television and sat on the sofa, motionless except for the telephone calls we were desperately trying to put through. We kept trying to reach the people we knew. One by one, we spoke to all of them. We were lucky. Our immediate family was fortunate, but 9/11 still changed our lives in trivial and major ways. The skyline of lower Manhattan without the twin towers “looked like the face of a beautiful woman who

had her teeth knocked out,” according to my dad, who refused to move from his 17th Street apartment. My younger stepson, a good photographer, had a roll of film containing pictures both of the World Trade Center’s elegant dining room—he had taken them two weeks earlier for a friend’s portfolio—and photographs of the smoke over the wreckage snapped from his roof on the day of the tragedy. These images collided on the same roll of film. I was scheduled to give a speech the next week in another city. I thought about canceling it only to realize I wasn’t actually more afraid of traveling than before. And, I decided, I wasn't going to live like that, anyway. America decided that it wasn’t going to live like that, either. We honor the day, mourn the dead and get on with it.

We might be near peak environmental impact By Justin Fox | Bloomberg View

HE Northeastern US is full of forests these days, and those forests are increasingly full of bears, coyotes and other wildlife. This probably would have seemed inconceivable 150 years ago, when the region’s trees were being clear-cut to oblivion. Undesirable, too. “Wilderness” didn’t have really positive connotations at the time. What happened? Coal replaced wood as heating fuel. Rising agricultural productivity reduced the need for farmland. And so the trees began to come back. The initial drivers were economic and technological. Only later did changing attitudes come into play. Forested acreage has been increasing in the Northeast since the early 20th century, according to the US Forest Service. There was a slight decline in the 1960s and 1970s as suburban sprawl took its toll. That also happens to be when the US environmental movement rose to prominence, and since then the reforestation has resumed. Similar trends have been playing out in temperate zones around the world. Deforestation in the tropics is still outpacing reforestation elsewhere, but worldwide

losses of forested acreage have slowed. We also may be nearing peak global demand for wood.

Source: Breakthrough institute

For those attempting to read this on a smartphone, the bars are total wood consumption, divided into wood for fuel (brown) and wood for other purposes (blue). The green line shows percapita wood consumption, which has been stead i ly dec l ining. Focusing on wood may seem a little retro, but the above chart comes from a report out this week that suggests that its trajectory is a precursor of what is to come for other natural resources and environmental indicators. It is now conceivable that the human race will reach “peak impact” before the end of this century, Linus Blomqvist, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute, an Oakland, California, environmental think tank, write in “Nature Unbound: Decoupling for Conservation.” The decoupling to which they refer is a breaking of the link between economic and population growth on the one hand and resource use on the other. Some decoupling indicators from the report: T h e p e r - c a p it a f a r m l a n d

requirement (cropland and pasture) has declined by half in the last half-centur y. In absolute terms, cropland has expanded 13 percent and pasture 9 percent in that time period, but the sum of the two has remained stable since the mid-1990s.… Total water consumption increased by 170 percent between 1950 and 1995, but per-capita water consumption peaked around 1980 and declined thereafter. The least decoupled environmental impact is greenhousegas emissions from energy: global per-capita emissions increased by nearly 40 percent between 1965 and 2013. A couple weeks ago, I made a few charts and wondered if maybe the global decline in commodity prices was, perhaps, not just a cyclical drop but “the beginnings of a plateauing in the world’s demand for things—and, even more, the resources needed to make those things.” That prompted an e-mail from Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at Rockefeller University in New York, who, it turns out, has been making similar arguments for 20 years. Instead of berating me for ignoring his work, Ausubel said a few nice words and included links to the Breakthrough Institute re-

port, which leans heavily on his research, and some of his own writings. For a concise, bracing and quite entertaining summingup of the peak-impact evidence, you can’t do better than Ausubel’s “Nature Rebounds,” a 15-page essay that begins with the true tale of a bear eating a college student in New Jersey. That story is one indication that hitting peak impact won’t necessarily be great for every last human. So is the account by Margaret Newkirk, Tim Loh and Mario Parker in the new Bloomberg Businessweek of what falling coal demand is doing to towns in Appalachia. Many wrenching changes await us as the makeup of global economic activity shifts. Still, this is far better than any conceivable alternative future in which resource demands don’t abate, right? It isn’t all a done deal, though. “Peak impact is not inevitable,” the authors of the Breakthrough Institute report write, “but rather depends on concerted action by governments, NGOs [non-governmental organizations], and private actors.” What kind of action? Well, that’s where things get interesting. Breakthough founders Nordhaus and Shellenberger are known for a pragmatic, optimis-

tic, technology-friendly brand of environmentalism that can sometimes deliver jarring advice, and they don’t disappoint here. The continued spread of high-tech, high-yield agriculture is essential to shrinking the land footprint of food production, they write. Organic farming requires more land and more resources and, in most cases, shouldn’t be encouraged. The production of biofuels using current sources, such as corn and sugarcane should be actively discouraged—it’s far more damaging to the environment than drilling for oil. Meanwhile, hydroelectric dams can reduce dependence for wood and greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels. Instead of opposing them, environmental groups should help countries find locations for them that cause the least environmental damage. Technological innovation is more important to reducing environmental impact over the long run than conservation efforts are. And so on. The overarching message is that it’s time for “a framework that reduces trade-offs between development and the environment.” For the past couple hundred years, the trade-offs have been big, and the environment has usually lost out. If that’s changing, it may be the most important news of our time.

A more humane approach to migrants and refugees By Angie Trudell Vasquez Tribune News Service

HE vast majority of Americans, through lineage or otherwise, are immigrants, and certain politicians should not forget that. Aside from Native Americans, who can trace their time on this landmass back through countless generations, most people have ancestors who came here from

somewhere else. But some candidates for higher office in this country, including GOP presidential contenders Donald Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, are shouting that they will build walls on both borders and say immigrants, particularly Mexicans, are not good people. They claim they will deport all 11 million people living here illegally, which is not possible. These are falsities thrown out

to gather votes, as are their ideas of ending birthright citizenship. Our treatment of asylum-seekers is also shameful. Thousands of refugees, including children, who arrived last summer from Central America are still locked up. They are waiting to see if their asylum claims will allow them to stay in this country. This immoral and inhumane situation is unfolding under a Democratic president. It is not enough that this

administration has depor ted more people than any previous one. We have to listen to politicians talk about how they will be tougher than the current president and be even harder on immigrants. Refugee or migrant? Immigrant or first-born in this country? How many generations can you count back? What does it matter? We are all human beings, though some of us are more hu-

mane than others. The Obama administration should look to Germany, a country that has confronted the historic inhumanity of its treatment of minorities and resolved to do right by the refugees who are streaming toward its border. Our nation of immigrants should be a leader in treating human beings with dignity, as well. And we should beware the scapegoating of minorities and immigrants.

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

‘Marimar’ off to a hot start

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon cut a rug to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ at US Open

OT a few critics cried that another telling of Marimar would be too soon, or that there could be a better choice than Megan Young, but according to data from the latest AGB Nielsen Philippines survey of the viewing preferences in Mega Manila homes, all worries can now be put to rest as GMA’s latest prime-time offering has been hitting the ball out of the park. The third remake of the Mexican telenovela, following Thalia’s 1994 original and the 2007 revival starring Marian Rivera, averaged a remarkable 23.6-rating turnout in its first 10 episodes, topping the charts in all but two days of that period. On August 25, it only trailed GMA’s flagship news program 24 Oras by .4 percent and three days after, ABS-CBN’s Pangako Sa ’Yo beat it by a hairline of .1 percent. Needless to say, Miss World Megan Young, with her 10,000-megawatt smile and electrifying stare that perfectly embody Marimar’s jubilance and fervor, is holding her own in stepping into one of local television’s most prized roles. There’s certainly a long way to go to see if Megan can butterfly into superstardom from this cocoon of a project the same way her predecessors did, but things sure look promising so far. Meanwhile, the weekend prime-time ratings board also belonged to GMA as the longtime-running Magpakailnman and Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho found their way back on top, following the conclusion of the eyeballdrawing The Voice Kids. However, with the second season of the well-received Your Face Sounds Familiar—featuring the contestant lineup of Denise Laurel, Sam Concepcion, Michael Pangilinan, Erik Nolas, Myrtle Sarrosa, Kean Cipriano, KZ Tandingan and Kakai Bautista lated to start this month, ABS-CBN may soon reclaim the weekend slates. Here are the top 10 prime-time programs in the first week of September:

SEPTEMBER 1

1. Marimar, GMA, 23.7 percent 2. 24 Oras, GMA, 21.9 percent 3. Beautiful Strangers, GMA/

Pangako Sa ’Yo, ABS-CBN, 20.5 percent 4. Nathaniel, ABS-CBN, 18.7 percent 5. On the Wings of Love, ABS-CBN, 18.6 percent 6. My Faithful Husband, GMA, 17.2 percent 7. TV Patrol, ABS-CBN, 16.9 percent 8. Pasion de Amor, ABS-CBN, 13.9 percent 9. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 12.1 percent 10. Legendary Women, GMA, 11.9 percent

SEPTEMBER 2

1. Marimar, GMA, 22.9 percent 2. 24 Oras, GMA, 21.6 percent 3. Pangako Sa ’Yo, ABS-CBN, 20.8 percent 4. Beautiful Strangers, GMA, 20.2 percent 5. Nathaniel, ABS-CBN, 18.5 percent 6. On the Wings of Love, ABS-CBN, 18.3 percent 7. My Faithful Husband, GMA, 17.9 percent 8. TV Patrol, ABS-CBN, 16.3 percent 9. Legendary Women, GMA, 11.4 percent 10. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 11.3 percent

SEPTMEBER 3

1. Marimar, GMA, 24.8 percent 2. 24 Oras, GMA, 23.5 percent 3. Pangako Sa ’Yo, ABS-CBN, 22.6 percent 4. On the Wings of Love, ABS-CBN, 20.7 percent 5. Beautiful Strangers, GMA, 19.7 percent 6. Nathaniel, ABS-CBN, 19.4 percent 7. My Faithful Husband, GMA, 17 percent 8. TV Patrol, ABS-CBN, 16.1 percent 9. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 14.4 percent 10. Pasion de Amor, ABS-CBN, 13 percent

SEPTEMBER 4

1. Marimar, GMA, 22.8 percent

Megan Young and Tom Rodriguez gives the beloved characters of Marimar and Sergio a fresh take as the latest retelling of the Mexican telenovela reigns supreme in the prime-time ratings board

2. 24 Oras, GMA, 21 percent 3. Pangako Sa ’Yo, ABS-CBN, 20.7 percent 4. Beautiful Strangers, GMA, 20.3 percent 5. Nathaniel, ABS-CBN, 18.2 percent 6. On the Wings of Love, ABS-CBN, 17.7 percent 7. My Faithful Husband, GMA, 17.4 percent 8. TV Patrol, ABS-CBN, 16.1 percent 9. Bubble Gang, GMA, 14.1 percent 10. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 12.5 percent

SEPTEMBER 5

1. Magpakailanman, GMA, 26.5 percent 2. Celebrity Bluff, GMA, 23.1 percent 3. Pepito Manaloto Ang Tunay na Kuwento, GMA, 20.5 percent 4. MMK Ang Tahanan Mo, ABS-CBN, 20.3 percent 5. Boses ng Bulilit Muling Bibirit, ABS-CBN, 18.5 percent 6. 24 Oras Weekend, GMA, 18.1 percent 7. Imbestigador, GMA, 16.2 percent

8. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 15.4 percent 9. I Witness, GMA, 14.3 percent 10. Home Sweetie Home, ABS-CBN, 11.2 percent

hey’re the dancers! Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon gave an impromptu performance of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” routine at the 2015 US Open men’s singles quarterfinals match in New York on Wednesday. Taking the pressure off Richard Gasquet of France and Roger Federer of Switzerland, the multihyphenate and The Tonight Show host, who’ve been pals for years, were sitting in the stands when they treated match-goers to some rump-shaking choreography as the three-time Grammy-winning single played over loudspeakers at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. A bodysuit and heels-clad Timberlake performed with Queen Bey during a Saturday Night Live parody of the music video in 2008, and in 2015, the muscle memory was definitely still there as he executed those signature moves with straight-faced perfection (actually, much better than he did in the parody). Fallon, on the other hand, tried to keep up but kept laughing through the bit. But Sasha Fierce, bless him for trying! The frequent collaborators reunited again later that day on The Tonight Show for the latest installment of their ongoing History of Rap series, performing hits from Kendrick Lamar, Notorious B.I.G. and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. Los Angeles Times

SEPTEMBER 6

1. Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, GMA, 29.5 percent 2. Ismol Family, GMA, 25.6 percent 3. Vampire Ang Daddy Ko, GMA, 22.8 percent 4. 24 Oras Weekend, GMA, 19.2 percent 5. Boses ng Bulilit Muling Bibirit, ABS-CBN, 17.8 percent 6. Rated K Handa na Ba Kayo?, ABS-CBN, 16.3 percent 7. Gandang Gabi Vice, ABS-CBN, 14.6 percent 8. Pinoy Big Brother 737, ABS-CBN, 14.5 percent 9. Juan Tamad, GMA, 14.1 percent 10. Wansapanataym, ABS-CBN, 13.5 percent

Justin Bieber sports rather terrifying platinum blond hair on ‘Today’ show GUESS gets in

on with Zedd

J Andrea Torres goes on a sensual adventure

hat’s it like to go on an intimate getaway with GMA Artist Center star Andrea Torres? It will be revealed in the latest photo book, titled Andrea: Road Trip, featuring the sultry actress. Andrea: Road Trip is a gravure photo book that takes readers on a sensual adventure with the dusky beauty, who made waves when she first appeared on the cover of FHM Philippines’s December 2014 issue and eventually shot to the second spot in this year’s FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World list. Photographed by master lensman Jay Tablante, Road Trip sees Andrea posing seductively in various locations of a secret hideaway, letting readers imagine just what a trip with her would be like. The book will be soon available in all leading bookstores and magazine stands nationwide. Andrea will be signing copies of Andrea: Road Trip at the Manila International Book Fair, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, on September 19 at 2:30 pm. Meanwhile, Andrea is currently part of GMA’s longest-running gag show Bubble Gang. Her first international project with Mikael Daez, Blood in Dispute, will be shown in the Philippines soon.

ustin Bieber’s been saying he’s learned now how to make better decisions. But...look at that hair. The singer’s long-over-short ‘do practically glowed platinum blond during his Thursday morning concert appearance on the Today show. Just look it. Look at it. Look. At. It. “I do see some resemblance to my former hairstyle,” Kate Gosselin, she of the infamous hedgehog hairstyle, told Cosmopolitan. com after seeing Bieber’s previously less platinum incarnation on the MTV Video Music Awards at the end of last month. “Justin’s is a current take on it, yes! And it’s OK. He can have it!” She thought its easy-care nature might mean less time spent focusing on his hair and more time focusing on his music. But now that it’s platinum, all we can focus on is his hair. However, all that peroxide may have made him a bit cranky on Thursday. As the show was going to commercial, the Biebs was caught snapping at a cameraman for coming too close to him while he was dancing. “Next time I won’t dance because the camera’s here the whole time. Might as well not dance,” he said crankily but calmly. But then his voice got tense. Whiny, actually: “What do I do this for if they’re just gonna...” And then it went to commercial. Dang. You do it because it’s your comeback, Justin. And because now you’re the youngest guy ever to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Bieber’s time offstage seems to have left him a little bit rusty. After his touted return at the MTV Video Music Awards, he cried on stage, then explained on The Tonight Show the next night

THE best-selling singer showing off his platinum top during a performance on NBC’s Today show in New York.

that he’d been overwhelmed by the audience’s support. He also revealed that he’d “missed some cues” and was a little disappointed. One thing that didn’t disappoint during the Today concert: In addition to his newer music, including the new tune “What Do You

Mean?,” Bieber did an acoustic rendition of his first hit, “Baby.” Now that’s a decision we—and everyone in the audience who sang along in the rain—can stand behind. Just keep the ballcap on, baby. Los Angeles Times

ANILA certainly knows how to party—and party heartily, it did, as Grammy award-winning, Billboard Top 20-topping international DJ Zedd drew 12,000 concertgoers for the Philippine stop of his True Colors album circuit. Revelers partied to the electro synth stomps and scintillating beats of the EDM titan recently, turning the Arena in Mall of Asia complex into a sea of flashing lights, with Guess was in the thick of it all. Always loyal to giving their customers access to exclusive and exciting events in the country, Guess ran a raffle promo prior to the concert, giving their patrons a chance to win a Zedd True Colors Tour Experience Kit. The covet-worthy pack received by the 20 winners included a Guess denim tote bag, a CD of the True Colors album, and two gold tickets to the concert. Guess even put together a photowall at the event venue for guests to have souvenir pictures of the concert. With the True Colors Tour, Guess again enters into a partnership with Neverland Manila as it made another mark in the country’s event scene by staging a world-class musical performance. The event was a magnet for the youthful, hip, trendy and adventurous set that is Guess’s market. Zedd performed to the sold-out crowd tracks from his True Colors album, including the tunes like “I Want You to Know,” which features vocals from Selena Gomez; the trance-y “Beautiful Now”; other hits like “Find You” from the Divergent soundtrack; “Clarity” and “Stay the Night” from his previous album Clarity; and the ingeniously remixed “Legend of Zelda” theme.

Sports

327 days

BusinessMirror

AUGUST 5, 2016

A9 |

Sunday, September 13, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph

ATENEO, UE PREVAIL A

By Joel Orellana

TENEO de Manila bucked a slow start and beat Adamson University, 84-60, to notch its first win in Season 78 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Blue Eagles trailed after the first quarter, 13-16, but got their acts together and broke away in the second half to bounce back from a 64-88 loss at the hands of Far Eastern University. In the second game, University of the East (UE) stunned defending champion National University (NU), 76-71, to notch its first win in the tournament. The Red Warriors, playing minus suspended starting center Chris Javier, forced the Bulldogs to 11 turnovers in the third period to seize control of the game and take a 60-46 lead entering the final period. NU, which dropped to 0-2, unloaded a 15-2 assault to cut the lead to 61-62 but Edgar Charlos hit a key three-pointer

that sparked a 10-3 counter to push UE’s lead back to 72-64, 1:53 remaining. The Bulldogs never recovered from there and absorbed another heartbreaking defeat. They lost to De La Salle, 63-67, in their opening assignment last week. Edison Batiller tallied 23 points for the Red Warriors, who bounced back from a 55-62 setback at the hands of season’s host University of the Philippines. Reigning Most Valuable Player Kiefer Ravena led the charge of Ateneo with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, while Von Pessumal and rookie Aaron Black chipped in 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the team

of Head Coach Bo Perasol. “The way we performed in the second half was the way we envisioned our team to be this season,” Perasol said. “It’s a good win for us especially for our confidence. Because whatever confidence we had before the first game, it was really shattered after the FEU loss,” he added. The Soaring Falcons, who drew 13 points and 14 rebounds from Pape Sarr, dropped to 0-2. They were still in the game after two quarters, trailing by four, 30-34, before Ravena sparked Ateneo’s third-quarter outburst to grab a 62-48 lead entering the fourth period. Pessumal and Black joined the scoring fray for the Blue Eagles, who extended their lead to as high as 26 points. Joseph Nalos contributed 10 points and seven assists for Adamson, which committed 29 turnovers in the game that led to easy baskets Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo de Manila University drives past the defense of Jose Carlo for the Blue Eagles. Escalambre of Adamson University. ALYSA SALEN

LADY EAGLES WIN

Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez tries to score against Carmela Tunay (8), Marivic Meneses (18) and Pamela Tricia Lastimosa (6) of University of Santo Tomas. NONOY LACZA

EA de Leon took the spotlight from the eminent Alyssa Valdez and fired 16 hits as Ateneo shrugged off a shaky start to smother University of Santo Tomas (UST), 27-25, 25-16, 25-17, and move in the threshold of the finals of the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City on Saturday. De Leon, who, with the rest of the Lady Eagles, used to stay in the background since Valdez took the lead role in their second game in the group stages of the tournament presented by PLDT Home Ultera, matched her eight attacks with an awesome eight-block performance to anchor the Loyola-based squad’s superb net defense and the victory at the start of their best-of-three semis series. Valdez did unleash a 15-hit output, including 13 attack points, while Amy Ahomiro, Jhoanna Maraguinot, Kim Gequillana and Gizelle Tan provided the needed backup with a combined 26 hits to complete the unbeaten Lady Eagles’ 78-minute demolition of the six-time champions. “Good blocking, defense,” Ateneo Coach Tai Bundit said. The second-seeded National University (NU) stumbled in the third set but put its act together in time to defuse Far Eastern U, 2515, 25-22, 25-27, 25-23, and, likewise, zero in on the other finals berth in their side of the Final Four. Skipper Jorelle Singh stepped up in the absence of guest player Dindin Santiago-Man-

abat, scoring 11 hits she capped with three aces, while Jaja Santiago and Myla played true to form and combined for 37 hits for the Lady Bulldogs, who will try to finish off the Lady Tams in Game Two on Sunday. The match, set at 12:45 p.m., will be aired live on GMA News TV Channel 11, according to the organizing Sports Vision. Ateneo and UST clash at 3 p.m. with both matches can also be viewed live via streaming on www.v-league.ph. The Lady Tams, behind guest player Jovelyn Gonzaga, Bernadeth Pons and Toni Rose Basas, outsteadied the Lady Bulldogs in the extended third set to stay in the match, but lost steam in another down-to-the-wire finish in the fourth. Pons wound up with 16 markers, while Basas and Gonzaga added 12 and 11 hits, respectively, for the Lady Tams, who seek to bounce back strong today and send the series to a deciding match on Wednesday. Save for a scary first set, it was all Ateneo the rest of the way as the Tigresses lost their poise while trying to defend the Lady Eagles attacks from all angles. They did hold their ground in defense upfront, coming through with seven blocks against the Lady Eagles’ 11, but the Tigresses failed to sustain their attacks after dropping the tightly fought opener, finishing with just 21 against their rivals’ 35. Ateneo also pounced on poor UST service reception, scoring 11 aces against the Tigresses’ five.

TABUENA SNARES OPEN CROWN, ORDER OF MERIT LEAD M

IGUEL Tabuena pulled through in a wild finish at Wack Wack’s dreaded East layout that took the sting out of Tony Lascuña, completing an incredible comeback from four shots down to a four-shot romp on a closing 71 to claim the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Open Championship on Saturday. The margin of victory didn’t reflect the manner by which Tabuena meticulously worked his way up from way down and into the lead with gutsy pars and clutch birdies while pouncing on Lascuña’s uncharacteristic meltdown midway through the battle for survival in one of the toughest courses in the land. In the end, the young gun proved steadier than his veteran rivals, including Angelo Que and Cassius Casas who joined the title chase in one stretch until they, like Lascuña, fell by the wayside while trying to go for birdies in tough conditions. In fact, Tabuena buried a crucial birdie on No. 12 to tie Lascuña at even par overall, went two-up on Lascuña’s bogeys on No.s 14 and 15, birdied the difficult 17th to go three-up then finished on top by four at

one-under 287 as Lascuña bogeyed the final hole and wound up with a 79, a career-worst final round, for a 291. “I didn’t expect to win with Tony in the lead. But I stayed patient in the last six holes, focused on every birdie opportunity that came my way,” Tabuena said. He said his 15-foot birdie on No. 17 sealed the win and his 71 proved to be the best in the toughest day at the fabled layout en route to notching his third-leg victory on the tour sponsored by ICTSI. Tabuena earlier won the Splendido and Rancho Palos Verdes legs of the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, Titleist, Nike Golf, PacSports, Callaway, Srixon, KZG, Sharp and Foot Joy. More important, Tabuena’s P650,000 purse shoved him past Lascuña in the Order of Merit (OOM) derby, seizing the lead with total earnings of P2,601,917 heading to the last two legs of this year’s circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. Que, just two behind Tabuena at the start of the round, charged into contention with a 35, but missed a couple of birdie putts at the back and bogeyed two of the last three holes for a 73, tieing Lascuña at second. Each took

Miguel Tabuena hoists his trophy after ruling the Open Championship at Wack Wack’s East.

home P335,000 each with Lascuña dropping to second in the OOM race with P2,334,960 and Que staying at third with P2,272,131. One hole actually did the once unflappable Lascuña in as the reigning threetime OOM winner double-bogeyed the layout’s signature hole, the par-3 No. 8,

after dumping his tee-shot into the right bunker, where he needed two blasts to get out, the last barely reaching the green. “I lost my rhythm and poise after I double-bogeyed No. 8,” rued Lascuña, who bogeyed the next two and dropped three strokes in the last five holes. Casas, tied with Tabuena after 54 holes, rebounded from a 40 start with back-toback birdies from No. 12 to stay in the hunt but faltered with two bogeys in the last three holes and limped with a 76. The winner of the 2001 Philippine Open here ended up fourth at 292 and received P195,000. Charles Hong, winner at Luisita Championship, rallied with a 72 and grabbed solo fifth at 294 worth P155,000, while halfway leader Zanieboy Gialon skied to an 81 and tumbled to joint sixth with Orlan Sumcad, who matched par 72, at 295. Each got P125,000 each. Dutch Guido van der Valk turned in a 75 to finish eighth at 297 worth P100,000; while Elmer Salvador placed ninth at 299 after a 76 for P88,000; and Rene Menor and Danilo de los Santos wound up tied at 10th at 301 after a 74 and 77, respectively. Each received P75,250.

SPORTS PLUS PATO TO BE FETED

UTGOING Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Chairman Patrick Gregorio, who serves as alternate governor of Talk ‘N Text, will be honored as the 2015 Accel-Executive of the Year when the PBA Press Corps (PBAPC) holds its Annual Awards Night on Wednesday at the Century Park Hotel. The soft-spoken Tropang Texters executive will be feted with the award named after legendary Crispa Redmanizers team owner Danny Floro in a year that saw the pro league registered a new record number of teams and a new all-time high in crowd attendance. Under Gregorio’s term, the PBA expanded to a record of 12 member-teams with the entry of expansion franchises KIA Motors and Blackwater. The league also celebrated its 40-year existence with a lavish opening ceremony that attracted a new all-time crowd attendance of 52,612 at the new Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan. It was also under Gregorio’s watch that a documentary tracing Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league’s humble beginnings from 1975 onward was produced. The league, likewise, undertook a new direction following the entry of Asian imports in the season-ending Governors Cup, which further strengthened the PBA’s thrust to go global. And more important, a transition in the PBA leadership was effected with the appointment of outgoing Commissioner Chito Salud as the first ever president and CEO of the league in a move to sustain the gains made during the season and adapt to the everchanging times. Gregorio will be joining a galaxy of superstars on the special gala night set September 16 that includes June Mar Fajardo, named Gerry’s Grill-Defensive Player of the Year, Calvin Abueva (Mr. Quality Minutes), Alex Cabagnot (Comeback Player), Paul Lee (Order of Merit), along with the All-Rookie Team made up of Stanley Pringle, Chris Banchero, Jericho Cruz, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Jake Pascual.

TEXTERS DOWN CT

ALK ‘N TEXT rode on rookie Troy Rosario in the final minutes to turn back Chinese Taipei, 99-91, to grab its first win in the MVP Cup invitational tournament on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Rosario, the No. 2 overall pick in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft, had seven of his 19 points in the crucial stretch for the Tropang Texters to pull away from a tight contest. The former National University center also grabbed nine rebounds and shot nine-of-14 from the field for Talk ‘N Text, which lost its opening game to Gilas Pilipinas, 77-93, on Friday night. Top rookie Moala Tautuaa paced the Tropang Texters with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Danny Seigle added 19, while Denok Miranda chipped in 11. Liu Chen led the Taiwanese with 24 points while big man Tien Lei added 19. Tsai WenCheng contributed 16 markers for the visiting team, which absorbed an 80-108 loss to Wellington Saints of New Zealand. With the loss, Chinese Taipei dropped to 0-2 and is now already out in the running for the MVP Cup crown. The Taiwanese will face the PHL 5 on Sunday. Taiwan was ahead 82-80 when Rosario completed a three-point play that sparked a 17-5 exchange capped by Larry Fonacier’s three-pointer to take the game for good, 9787, 29.5 seconds left in the game.

DUATHLON RACE ON

SIAN Beach Games bronze medalist Robeno Javier stakes his claim as the country’s top male duathlete when the National Duathlon Championships 2015 unfolds on Sunday at Lantaw South Road Properties in Cebu. The race is set at the 10K run, 40K bike, 5K run distance with Javier to be tested not only by fierce rivals in duathlon, but also the finest members in triathlon. World Game veteran Carlo Pedregosa brings the challenge from the ranks of the duathletes, while former top triathlete who is also slowly making his mark in the run-bike-run races, John Chicano, is also expected to crowd for the men’s elite crown. Chicano is fresh from a successful campaign in the Iloilo Riverbank Duathlon on March 22 and has primed himself for a fitting follow-up victory in Cebu. Jarwyn Banatao, Robinson Esteves, Jeric Buhian, Deo Timbol, Benjamin Rana and local sensation Philip Duenas are also entered and are very much capable of upsetting the favorites in this race.

Sports SLAMMED! BusinessMirror

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| Sunday, September 13, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Vinci stuns Williams in U.S. Open semis, Slam bid ends

EW YORK—For Serena Williams’s first 26 matches this year at major tournaments, no deficit was too daunting, no opponent too troublesome, no victory too far from reach. She was unbeaten and, seemingly, unbeatable, nearing the first Grand Slam in more than a quartercentury. All Williams needed was two more wins to pull off that rare feat. And yet, against an unseeded and unheralded opponent in the US Open semifinals, she faltered. Her pursuit of history ended, oh so close. In one of the most significant upsets in the history of tennis, Williams finally found a hole too big to climb out of, losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday at Flushing Meadows to 43rd-ranked Roberta Vinci of Italy. “I don’t want to talk about how disappointing it is for me,” Williams said at the start of a briefer-than-usual

Roberta Vinci of Italy celebrates after shocking No.1 seed Serena Williams of the United States in their US Open semifinals, ending the latter’s bid for a rare grand slam. AP

news conference. “If you have any other questions, I’m open for that.” Vinci had never before played in a Grand Slam semifinal; Williams owns 21 major titles. In four previous matchups, Vinci had never taken a set off Williams. “Every so often,” Vinci said, “a miracle happens.” How little faith did even she have? Vinci said she booked a flight home for Saturday, the day of the final. But Vinci’s unusual style, full of slices and net rushes and volleying skills she honed while winning a career Grand Slam in doubles, kept Williams off-balance enough to cause problems and prevent the 33-year-old American from becoming the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win all four major tournaments in a calendar year. As Williams quickly left the scene, hopping in a waiting black SUV and taking off, her coach, Patrick

Mouratoglou, was explaining to reporters what he called “a bad day, clearly.” He said he could tell before the match that something was off. “She was very slow. There was no movement with her lower body, so she was in bad positions to be aggressive and play her attacking game,” Mouratoglou said. “She couldn’t find it today. You don’t wake up the same way every day. Some days you feel good, other days you don’t feel good. That’s life. Usually she finds a way, and today she did not.” Williams had been pushed to the limit before—this was her 12th three-setter in a major this season—but had managed to win titles at the Australian Open on hard courts in January, the French Open on clay courts in June and Wimbledon on grass courts in July. And she had won

five matches on the US Open’s hard courts over the past two weeks. This time, for once, the No. 1-ranked Williams could not pull it out, undone by 40 unforced errors, twice as many as Vinci, including four double-faults. That negated the impact of Williams’s 16 aces, including one at 126 mph. “I thought she played the best tennis in her career,” Williams said about Vinci. “She played, literally, out of her mind.” Vinci next faces another Italian making her Grand Slam final debut: 26th-seeded Flavia Pennetta, who eliminated No. 2 Simona Halep 6-1, 6-3 in another, if less-unbelievable, surprise. The men’s final on Sunday, in contrast, will be No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 2 Roger Federer in their record-

tying 42nd career matchup. Pennetta, 33, and Vinci, 32, have known each other since they were kids, growing up in towns about 40 miles (65 kilometers) apart on opposite coasts of Puglia, a region in the southeastern heel of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula. They used to meet in local tournaments in their early teens, then paired up to win a French Open junior doubles in their late teens. Now, all these years later, they will face each other in a stadium in New York with a Grand Slam trophy on the line. “We’ll be as tight as violin strings, both of us,” Vinci said. She gave a thumb’s up while noting in English that “an Italian wins, for sure,” then pointed to her chest and whispered in Italian, “Me, let’s hope.” AP