“We are very pleased to be en-tering into a joint venture with Ayala Land. We believe that this is an excellent partnership that will enable us to build an outstanding mixed-use development which will offer a wide range of property in-vestment and lifestyle options to customers,” Tan, LT Group chair-man, said in a statement. Eton earlier said it is focusing on constructing office buildings, with its projects through 2018 target-

ing business-process outsourcing (BPO) firms. The company said it is adding an additional 200,000 square meters of office space in a span of three years, or more than doubling its cur-rent offering for the BPOs.

The company has already built some 124,000 sq m of projects in Quezon City and Ortigas Center dedicated to BPOs, all of which are fully occupied. The company said the bulk of its

expansion of office space over the next years is concentrated in the vast 1,000-hectare township of Eton City in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Eton, one of the lowest revenue contributors in the LT Group Inc., said its income for the three quar-ters of 2015 reached P197 million, an improvement over the P65 mil-lion last year. Rental income continues to ac-count for a significant portion of

S “A,” A

S “T,” A

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.8680 n JAPAN 0.4064 n UK 68.1018 n HK 6.1250 n CHINA 7.2751 n SINGAPORE 33.4250 n AUSTRALIA 33.3250 n EU 52.0804 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.7546 Source: BSP (22 January 2016 )

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Asean firming up cruisestrategy to hike arrivals

INSIDE

SINGAPORE LEADS EFFORTS TO DEVELOP NEW CRUISE PRODUCTS EMERGINGMARKET ROUTDEEPENS AS CHINA FAILSTO HALT CAPITAL EXODUS

Ayala Land, LT Group to jointly develop 35-ha township on C-5 Road

THAT 81-POINT GAME

VIETNAM PMRETAINS SLIMCHANCE FOR TOP POST

S “E ,” A

DY: “Our shared vision and

commitment to this project will open new

opportunities for economic growth,

which will contribute to the

development of the community.”

We will see a very volatile period, as

markets are still faced with the conundrum on oil and global growth.”—Ramos

WorldBusinessMirror

The

B2-1 | Saturday, January 23, 2016• Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

THE Capitol in Washington, on Thursday morning, after less than an overnight snow that created hazardous road conditions and major tra� c delays. The Washington region could get up to 2 feet of snow along with strong winds and whiteout conditions on Friday night and Saturday. AP/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

WASHINGTON—A massive bliz-zard plodded toward the east-ern United States on Friday, with

forecasters predicting more than 2 feet of snow in Washington and a state of emer-gency declared in � ve states and the Dis-trict of Columbia.

Schools and government o� ces were being closed pre-emptively, thousands of � ights canceled and food and supplies disappeared from grocery and hardware stores. College basketball games and con-certs would have to wait.

The capital’s subway system an-nounced that it would shut down en-tirely late on Friday night and remain closed through Sunday for the sake of employee-and rider-safety. Under-ground station usually stay open during major snowstorms.

The director of the National Weather Service said all the ingredients have come together to create blizzards with brutally high winds, dangerous inland-� ooding, white-out conditions and even the pos-sibility of thunder snow, when lightning strikes through a snowstorm.

The snowfall, expected to continue from late Friday into Sunday, could eas-ily cause more than $1 billion in damage and paralyze the Eastern third of the na-tion, Weather Service Director Louis Uc-cellini sad.

“It does have the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm that can af-fect more than 50 million people,” Uccel-lini said at the service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Washington looks like the bull’s-eye of the blizzard, and New York City is just in-side the slow-moving storm’s sharp north-ern edge, which means it is likely to see heavy accumulations, Uccellini said.

Weather Prediction Center meteo-rologist Paul Kocin estimated more than 2 feet for Washington, a foot to 45 centi-meters for Philadelphia and eight inches to a foot in New York.

Unfortunately, more than just snow is coming. Uccellini said it won’t be quite as bad as Superstorm Sandy, but people should expect high winds, a storm surge and inland � ooding from Delaware to New York.

Other severe but non-snowy weather is likely from Texas to Florida as the storm system chugs across the Gulf Coast, gain-ing moisture.

White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama would hunker down at the White House, and is con� dent local o� -cials will get it right.

On Thursday, icy conditions caused accidents that killed two drivers in North Carolina and one in Tennessee. A truck with a snowplow killed a pedestrian while it was snowing in Maryland.

States of emergency were declared in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and parts of other states, where road crews were out in force on Thursday. Blizzard warnings or watches were in e� ect along the storm’s path, from Arkansas through Tennessee and Ken-tucky to the mid-Atlantic states and as far north as New York. AP

Monster blizzard on eastern US

� e Communist Party of Vietnam began an eight-day congress on � urs-day, which is held every � ve years for a usually orchestrated transfer of power to a new set of leaders.

But this time, a rare tussle emerged between party General Sec-retary Nguyen Phu Trong and his long-time rival, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, that will be played out at the congress being attended by 1,510 delegates representing Vietnam’s 63 provinces, ministries and party orga-nizations.

Regardless of who becomes the chief, analysts say there will be little change in the way Vietnam is run, or in the economic policies that favor some free-market reforms.

However, Dung, who has spear-headed the reforms over the last � ve years, is backed by the  busi-ness community and investors. He is also seen as being tougher on China, which has irked Vietnam by expanding its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.

His rivals in Trong’s camp have, however, accused him of economic mismanagement and corruption.

“Corruption and wastefulness remain serious problems...causing discontent in the public, a� ecting people’s trust in the party and the state,” Trong warned in his speech to open the congress.

Dung, who has built up consid-erable support within the party through patronage, has ambi-tions to be general secretary, the de facto Number one in the col-lective leadership that rules Viet-nam. � e leadership comprises a 16-member Politburo, which looks after the day to day a� airs, and a larger Central Committee that handles policy.

Earlier this week it was thought that Trong had sidelined Dung when a preparatory meeting agreed to continue with a contro-versial 2014-rule barring all but o� cially nominated candidates from consideration, with no new nominations allowed from the congress � oor. Trong was en-dorsed as the general secretary candidate earlier this month.

However, on � ursday Minis-ter of Information and Commu-nications Nguyen Bac Son gave a new interpretation of the rule that suggested Dung’s case might not be hopeless.

Son said that while the Central Committee members’ hands were tied, other delegates at the congress were free to nominate anyone they wished.

A Central Committee member such as Dung would be obliged by the rule to refuse nomination, but

delegates could reject his refusal, said Son. Such a scenario could set up a showdown with Trong.

None of this drama, however, will be played out in the public. All proceedings of the Communist Party, which is empowered by the constitution to rule the country, are held behind closed doors.

Even if there is an outright confrontation between the two leaders, the delegates are un-likely to take a vote, and the contest will be settled through negotiations and consensus.

Over the next week, the con-gress will review and set national and party policies, and select a new 180-member Central Committee. On one of the last days of the con-gress, the new Central Committee will meet to select a Politburo from among its ranks and pick one of them as party general secretary.

A united face will be presented on January 28 when the congress will announce the names of the new general secretary, the prime minister, the president and the chairman of the National Assem-bly, along with other top posts.

� e actual selection of the last three leaders will be done by the National Assembly, which will be elected in May by popular vote, although the candidates will � rst have to be approved by the Com-munist Party.

A compromise is already be-lieved to have been reached, under which Trong would stay as general secretary for two years instead of � ve, and a Dung supporter would become the chairman of the Na-tional Assembly. � e prime min-ister’s post would go to a neutral person and the president would be a Trong loyalist.

� is con� guration “would be a demonstrable loss for Dung” but it should not be “confused with an outright win by Trong,” said Chris-tian Lewis, a Vietnam expert at the New York-based Eurasia Group think tank. “It is instead a composi-

tion that re� ects a desire for a bal-ance and more consensus-driven decision-making at the very top,” he wrote in a commentary.

� e economic reforms Dung had been backing have brought a � ood of foreign investment, created a � edgling stock market and helped triple per capita GDP to $2,100 over the past 10 years. At the same time, he is not without blemish. His rivals accuse him of economic mismanagement and failing to control massive public debt and non-performing loans of state-owned banks.

Vietnam is one of the last re-maining communist nations in the world, with a party membership of 4.5 million, but like its ideological ally China, the government be-lieves in a quasi-free market econ-omy alongside a strictly controlled society that places several restric-tions on its 93 million people.

Lewis said the new set of lead-ers will also support the current economic reforms and trade poli-cy. Notably they remain commit-ted to the Trans-Paci� c Partner-ship with the United States and other key trade deals including the free trade agreement with the European Union.

Vietnam has an ambivalent rela-tionship with China. Despite being its largest trading partner, China is also a security challenge. Beijing has been expanding its territo-rial assertions in the South China Sea, but Vietnam has pushed back against those claims. Dung has been seen as standing up to Beijing, not afraid to criticize it, while Trong was seen as being soft on China. AP

Vietnam PM retains slim chance for shot at top postHANOI, Vietnam—Vietnam’s

prime minister still retains a slim chance of challenging

his rival, the ruling communist party chief, for the top job, according to a new interpretation of complicated rules disclosed at the start of a party congress that will name national leaders next week.

BEIJING—Thirty-� ve restaurants across China, including a popular Beijing hot pot chain, have been found illegally

using opium poppies as seasoning, one of the more unusual practices bedeviling the country’s food regulators.

Five restaurants are being prosecuted while 30 others, ranging from Shanghai dump-ling joints to noodle shops in southwestern Chongqing, are under investigation, said the China Food and Drug Administration.

Cases of cooks sprinkling ground poppy powder, which contains low amounts of opi-ates like morphine and codeine, in soup and seafood are not new in China, though it is unclear whether they can e� ectively hook a customer or deliver a noticeable buzz.

Shaanxi provincial police busted a noodle seller in 2014 after being tipped o� by a failed drug-test. Seven restaurants were closed in

Ningxia province in 2012 for using the addi-tive and Guizhou province shut down 215 restaurants in 2004.

Hu Ling, the general manager of Hu Da, a popular chain with several adjacent locations on the raucous Beijing nightlife strip known as “Ghost Street,” con� rmed on Friday the company was under investigation, saying it may have unknowingly sourced season-ing containing opiates. She declined further comment.

Poppy powder, made from capsules and shells that contain higher opiate content than the seeds commonly seen on bagels, can be easily purchased in markets in western China for about $60 a kilogram, according to a 2014 report by the o� cial Xinhua news agency.

The additives were commonly mixed with chili oil and powders, making detection di� cult without laboratory equipment. AP

China busts 35 restaurants using opium poppies as seasoning

Members in Vietnam Puliburo

16

WORLD B21

SPORTS A8

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FLOOD-FREE Jan Willem Roehl of Flexbase (from left), consultant for Vistaland; Ambassador Marion Derckx of the Netherlands; Manuel Paolo Villar, CEO and president of Vistaland; and Neric Acosta, Laguna Lake Development Authority secretary, lead the inauguration of the Vintahanan floating village at the Laguna Lake. Designed to float on water, the project is built to serve as a model of a floating village, with proper waste-management system in place. NONIE REYES

B VG C

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. and LT Group Inc., the holding firm of tycoon

Lucio C. Tan, will jointly develop a project along the C-5 corridor that is envisioned to become a township development spanning portions of Pasig City and Quezon City. Ayala Land did not give the de-tails of the agreement. But based on initial information available,

the project is a 35-hectare mixed-use development to be undertaken by Ayala Land and Eton Properties Philippines Inc., the property-devel-opment arm of the LT Group, based on their joint master plan. “Our shared vision and commit-ment to this project will open new opportunities for economic growth, which will contribute to the devel-opment of the community,” said Bernard Vincent Dy, Ayala Land president and CEO.

THE $2.3-trillion rout in emerging-market stocks deepened, as the capital exodus from China showed ,no signs of abating. Russia’s ruble

plunged to a record, as investors dumped the currency of the world’s largest energy exporter.

Cash injections by the world’s second-biggest econ-omy to ease a money-market squeeze failed to improve sentiment, as shares in Shanghai and those in Hong Kong extended losses. Qatar led declines among most equity markets in the Middle East, as Brent crude traded below $30 a barrel. The ruble weakened 1.5 per-cent against the dollar. Brazil’s real slid to the lowest since September, after the central bank unexpectedly refrained from raising interest rates. Developing-nation stocks have made the worst start to a year on record, with at least 26 emerging and frontier markets in bear territory. The epicenter of the sell-off is in China, where the slowest growth since 1990 and yuan volatility have shaved off $4.3 trillion from the nation’s equities. Lower demand from the world’s second-biggest economy has con-tributed to a plunge in commodity prices to a record, sparking a contagion across exporting nations such as Russia and Brazil. “The bear sentiment is just a case of the blues for a lot of the investors; there’s a feedback between oil prices, China and rest of the emerging markets,” Bri-an Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management, who helps oversee $242 billion, said by phone from  Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “It’s just unfortunately going to take sometime to play out here.” The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.6 per-cent  to 688.52, reversing earlier gains of as much as 0.9 percent. The gauge closed at the lowest since May 2009, sending valuations to the cheapest since March 2014.

A technical measure signaled weakening momen-tum in the MSCI gauge. The 14-day relative strength index hovered below 30 for a 12th day. While traders see a temporary dip to that level as a sign of an upcom-ing rebound, they interpret a prolonged stay below that threshold as indication a downtrend is taking hold.

B M. S F. ASpecial to the BM

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will be developing new cruise products to boost intra-

Asean travel and encourage more interna-tional tourists to visit the region. 70,000

In a news briefing on Friday, AK Zulkairi Pg Abdul Razak of the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism of Brunei Darussalam said “the Singapore Tourism Board is working with cruise

lines to develop new cruise products in Asean.” He added that Asean recorded a 13-percent increase in port calls in Southeast Asia from 2013 to 2015.

Number of international cruise passengers attracted by the Philippines in 2015, up 16 percent from 2014’s 60,183

news@businessmirror.com.ph BusinessMirrorSaturday, January 23, 2016A2

BMReportsLED-lighting products continue to expand PHL market share

its earnings, with all five existing office buildings for the BPO firms fully leased out, the company said.

Ayala Land, meanwhile, is the country’s second-largest property developer. Based on its plan, the company wants to speed up the pace of its growth, both in terms of profits and revenues, by an average of 20 percent per year for the next five years through 2020.

It hopes to increase its net income from just P14.8 billion in 2014 to P40 billion by 2020.

Township. . . C A

Asean. . .C A

PISES PRATCHAYAPATTRA (from left), International Sales and Marketing head at Racer Electric Thailand; Jirasak Mantharngkul, director of Demand Side Implementation Division; Eduardo Manahan, chairman

of Building Owners and Managers Association of the Philippines; and Genesis A. Ramos, chief of the Lighting and Appliance Testing Division of the Department of Energy share their thoughts during the

panel discussion on the outlook of Southeast Asia’s LED and Energy Saving Sectors. NONIE REYES

“We will see a very volatile period, as markets are still faced with the conundrum on oil and global growth,”  Robert Ramos, who helps manage about $836 million as chief investment officer at Union Bank of the Philippines, said in Manila. “Funds won’t come in a big way.”

StocksEIGHT of 10 industry groups in MSCI’s developing markets gauge dropped, led by utility and indus-trial companies. Hong Kong’s Hang

Seng China Enterprises index lost 2.2 percent to the lowest close since March 2009. The Shanghai Com-posite lost 3.2 percent to the lowest since 2014. 

China is trying to hold bor-rowing costs down to support its economy without spurring an exo-dus of funds that drove the yuan to a five-year low this month. The People’s Bank of China said on Thursday it conducted 110 billion yuan ($16.7 billion) of seven-day reverse-repurchase agreements

and 290 billion yuan of 28-day contracts. A gauge of interbank funding availability jumped the most in 13 months on Wednesday. The Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 2.8 percent to the lowest level since February 2014. Foreign investors have pulled $63 million from the nation’s shares in January, poised for a record 10th straight month of withdrawals. The measure entered a bear market on January 11. India’s Standard & Poor BSE Sensex fell to the lowest since

May 2014, while Vietnam’s VN In-dex dropped to the lowest since De-cember of that year.

CurrenciesA GAUGE tracking 20 develop-ing-nation currencies fell less than 0.1 percent. The ruble fell 1.5 percent to 82.63 against the greenback. The ruble is trading beyond the lows it touched at the peak of Russia’s financial turmoil in December 2014. The ruble-de-nominated Micex Index advanced

2.9 percent, the most in a year. The equity benchmark in Qatar declined 1.2 percent. The real fell 1.4 percent versus the dollar. Brazil kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, in a decision seen only by 15 of the 57 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Since the bank’s last meeting last November, surging inflation and hawkish central bank commentary had most observers anticipating a half-point increase.

Bloomberg News

Razak and other tourism officials from the region spoke about proj-ects to promote the “Asean for Asean” tourism campaign. Citing the United Nations World Tourism Organization, he said a large chunk of international travels in 2015 “took place in their own regions.” Intra-Asean arrivals, he added, are projected to increase by 4.9 million every year until 2030, due to the “no-visa requirement” for leisure travelers.

This developed as the Philippines’s Department of Tourism (DOT) said there were 70,000 cruise passengers who ar-rived in 2015, posting a 16-percent rise, from 60,183 passengers in 2014. Last year’s cruise passengers were on ships which made 52 port calls, up from 44 port calls in 2014.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Ar-turo P. Boncato Jr. told in a separate news briefing, “with the completion of the Philippine cruise strategy, it is envisioned that the cruise market will continue to deliver more visitors to the country, as the strategy will provide support not only in the infrastructure requirement of this segment, but also provide policies that will continue to develop the cruising industry.” The DOT is working with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to identify key ports in the country to develop these into viable deep harbors to accommodate mega-cruise ships. These ports are Manila, Puerto Princ-esa, Subic, Boracay and Davao. Discus-sions between the DOT and the PPA are ongoing, as such, it is not yet known how much the development budget would cost.

For his part, Tourism Undersecre-tary for Market Development Benito Bengzon Jr. said: “We have always maintained that the Philippines has very strong potential in cruise tourism, considering we are an archipelago. We can be a cruise destination and not only a port of call as what we are now see-ing.” A turnaround cruise ship carry-ing 2,000 passengers, he noted, will be able to generate tourism receipts of some $1.2 million.

“What we want is for cruise passen-gers from long-haul destinations to fly into Manila, board the ship here, sail in Southeast Asian waters and fly out in another destinations if it’s an open jaw itinerary,” he added.

Meanwhile, Michelle Chan, Asean cruise coordinator representative, said new tourism products will be developed and promoted under the “one cruise initiative.” She added that the cruise tourism segment in the region will be success-ful as tourists can visit “25,000 islands in 10 countries. There are a multitude of options available for tourists, as well as our constant tropical climate [makes it appealing for travelers].”

She also said cruise passengers can visit 27 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization world heritage sites “in one day.” Tour-ism officials and executives of national tourism organizations are in Manila to attend the five-day Asean Tourism Fo-rum, which began on January 18.

This year there will be joint undertakings by Asean member-nations to boost its cruise tourism segment, such as participation in the Seatrade Cruise Global 2016 in Miami in March; launching of the Asean cruise map; engaging more regional travel agents; and more publicity efforts to promote Southeast Asia as a cruis-ing region of choice. The Asean tourism ministers were expected to unveil the de-tails of the Asean Tourism Strategic Plan for 2016 to 2022 on Thursday afternoon.

Emerging markets. . . C A

B R C

LIGHT-EMITTING diodes (LEDs) are energy efficient sources of light; and the Philippines is importing LED-lighting devices at an incredible

growth of 30 percent to 40 percent annually.

The current shift to the use of LED products by various sectors was highlighted on Friday during the LED Expo and Energy Saving week 2016 news conference in Makati City spear-headed by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) through the Import Exhibi-tion Management Co. Ltd.

The forum explained how Egat is currently developing a 20-year energy conservation plan to reduce energy consumption of LED products by 30 percent. This will have significant results for all sectors.

“We asked importers who are importing LED products, that’s how we learned about the 30-percent to 40-percent growth of LED imports. However, the other lighting products still account for 50 percent to 60 percent of importations,” Gen-esis A. Ramos, chief of the Lighting and Appliance Testing Division of the Department of Energy.

Currently, LED lighting products may come a bit more expensive than other conventional lighting products, but the energy efficiency of LED still results in significant savings for com-panies and households. Ramos said LED products are seen helping infrastructures become more energy-efficient and buildings to become greener, or more en-vironment-friendly. The big savings that LED offers have encouraged a number of businesses to switch to using LED products. “We have noted a big increase in the adop-tion of LED products,” Ramos said, but added that the growing penetration of LED devices in the market does not come without challenges. Ramos said that questions on reliability and quality are still present, which is one reason LED products are not being fully adopted by a greater number of users.

“There are questions why the LED product the consumers buy, which said ‘20,000 hours’ have not lasted that long. So, we have low qual-ity LED products in the market that are being sold cheaper. But these products don’t last. We hope that eventually we will be able to resolve the issue of reliability and quality,” he added. Ramos said when buying LED-lighting

products, the more expensive ones do not nec-essarily mean they have better quality. But he admitted that they have no capability yet to determine which LED products in the market are reliable. These are the challenges the LED-lighting sector has to face and resolve to ensure its continued adoption and market expansion in the country, he said.

THE integration of the Asean regional bloc is seen to further boost connec-tivity and mobility in the region via travel, as integration will pave the way for intra-Asean tour products, accord-ing to the Asean Tourism Association (Aseanta).

“There is enormous potential in bundling together several Asean countries in one tour package, espe-cially now that international travel has become increasingly affordable,” Aileen Clemente, Aseanta president, said in a news statement.  

The Asean Tourism Forum’s Travel Exchange event attracted some 1,000 sellers from the 10 Asean countries, matching them with 630 buyers from around the world.

Clemente said the Asean Tourism Strategic Plan for 2016 to 2025 would clear the path for the region as a single tourist destination with a wide range of attractions that offers world-class standards and amenities.

Last year data from the United Nations World Tourism Organiza-tion showed that tourist arrivals in the region increased by 5.10 percent to 102.20 million, with the Philippines wel-coming 5.36 million of the total arrivals.

Clemente said their members, all of whom are national organizations in the primary tourism sectors, are ac-tively participating in travel exchange, and are expecting increased interest for their respective tourism products and services. Catherine N. Pillas

WITH the provisional jeepney mini-mum fare reduction of P0.50 from the previous P7.50 effective on Friday, the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said that it will be on the forefront in making sure drivers comply with the order.

LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez told the Philippines News Agency that the Board has deployed inspectors and enforcers to monitor compliance with the fare reduction.

Ginez said that there will be teams deployed in transport terminals near the Manila City Hall, as well as in malls such as SM North Edsa, TriNoma and Ali Mall, among others. At the same time, he said that the Board will no longer be issuing fare guides since the rollback is only provisional.

“From the passengers’ current fare, they just have to deduct P0.50 centavos to avail themselves of the reduced fare,” Ginez said. To recall, the LTFRB ordered an additional provisional fare reduction of P0.50 for the first 4 kilometers of ride in public-utility jeepneys (PUJs) plying in Metro Manila, Region 3 and Region 4 due to recent drops in diesel prices. This provisional fare reduction was taken into consideration after a group of jeepney operators filed their petition for a voluntary rollback.

Under the Order, the incremental fares for the succeeding kilometers after the first 4 km will remain at P1.50 per km. PNA

MONTHS before the start of this year’s summer season, the Ayala-led Manila Water said that it will continue to install more fire hydrants in its concession area as part of its service-continuity program.

Manila Water Corporate Strategic Affairs and Corporate Communications Head Jeric Sevilla Jr. said that Manila Water currently operates 3,237 fire hydrants in its concession area as of the end of 2015. Sevilla added that personnel have also been deployed to monitor and ensure that these fire hydrants are properly main-tained and ready to be use in cases of fire, particularly during the summer season, where temperatures are expected to be hotter. Teams also ensure that the fire hy-drants are not tampered with nor used for unauthorized withdrawal of water.

Of the 3,237 fire hydrants installed, 918 are in Quezon City, 349 in Makati, 396 in Pasig, 475 in San Juan and Man-daluyong, 361 in Taguig and Pateros and 258 in the province of Rizal.

Apart from the operation and main-tenance of these facilities, Sevilla said Manila Water is also conducting a regular information campaign among barangays in the East Zone on how to use the fire hy-drants during times of emergencies.

briefs

LTFRB DEPLOYS ‘SPIES’ TO MONITOR P0.50 JEEPNEY FARE ROLLBACK

ASEAN INTEGRATION SEEN TO BOOST TRAVEL CONNECTIVITY, MOBILITY

MANILA WATER TO INSTALL MORE FIRE HYDRANTS

Naia passenger traffic rose in 2015B R M

THE Manila International Air-port Authority (Miaa) reported on Friday that over 36 million

passengers transited through the pre-mier airport’s four passenger terminals in 2015, surpassing its previous record by at least 2 million passengers.

 A total of 36,681,601 passengers utilized the four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), “roughly an increase of 2 mil-lion passengers from 2014, when passengers totaled 34,094,159,” the Miaa’s Media Affairs Division said.

The 34-million mark was reached in early December last year.

There were also more domestic passengers at 19,513,514 compared to international travelers totaling 17,168,087.

Miaa General Manager Jose Angel Honrado said that airport develop-ments in the previous year served as the foundation for a steady rise of passengers.

The Naia under went a three-year

P1.42-billion upgrading. The project was officially finished last end of September last year without anyone from the airport concessionaires, air-port workers and other government agencies being made aware of it.

“There was no turnover, no big event by the DOTC [Department of Transportation and Communica-tions],” Miaa Spokesman David de Castro said.

Initially projected to be finished in May 2014, the upgrading went into overtime and overprice. The origi-nal contract was for P1.3 billion, but the final bill was P120 million more, without the proposed “greeters area.” This is where hordes of relatives are supposed to send-off and welcome

long-absent loved ones coming home or leaving for foreign lands.

“The greeters area is a separate contract. It will cost another P1 bil-lion to build it,” Honrado said in an earlier interview with the Business-Mirror. He said the plan that was circulated earlier, showing a greeters area with swaying palm trees  and boutiques, was submitted by the tri-umvirate of Cobonpue-Pineda-Layug design team.

However, since the trio submit-ted a “free-of- charge” design, the DOTC simply ignored it and opted to hire the Leandro V. Locsin and associates, the original designer of the 32-year-old building.

Then the DOTC hired DM Con-sunji Inc. (DMCI), one of the coun-try’s leading construction compa-nies, who, eventually, subcontracted the Naia 1 upgrading to another construction firm.

The subcontracting issue came about when, in the early days of con-struction, one of the workers almost fell to the ground from the ceiling, when he stepped on a soft cardboard that gave way, raining materials on the marble floor of the lobby.

No one was injured in the inci-dent. In the ensuing investigation, DMCI put the blame on their sub-contractor.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, in awarding the con-tract, said the DMCI must complete the project by December 1, 2014, just before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) senior officials’ and high-level meetings. The Apec summit transpired in October 2015.

Although photographs of a fin-ished, refurbished Naia 1 had been circulated before the upgrade, show-ing a futuristic passenger terminal, complete with a greeters area and other amenities, no such transfor-mation took place.

The refurbished Naia 1, accord-ing to airport longtimers, was sim-ply repainted, while the ceilings and walls were either replaced or buffed to a shine.

According to de Castro, the other improvements at the Naia were the enhanced flight operations with the reactivation of Runway 31 for depar-tures, which allowed flight move-ments to take place concurrently on both runways.

  “The extension of Taxiway N [November] further decongested the taxiway—particularly at the intersection of the runways—and facilitated a more flexible handling of international operations,” he said.

The rehabilitation project of Terminal 1 also widened passenger

movement areas with the redesign-ing of the terminal interiors.

Meanwhile, de Castro said the Miaa had introduced new routes and airline partnerships, which brought in more passengers to the airport in 2015.

In particular, Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines started their Manila route to Istanbul and Addis Ababa, respectively, he said.

Local carriers also expanded their connections to Legazpi, Albay; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Auck-land, New Zealand; Doha, Qatar; and Fukuoka, Japan, the Miaa added.

This brings to 90 the total num-ber of airlines flying out of the Naia, adding  more than 90 destinations worldwide.

“As Manila hosts the Asean Tour-ism Forum this week, the Miaa gives its commitment to be a key player in sustainably welcoming tourists to the country. We continue to build on developments from last year, as management brings in more projects this year for the benefit of passen-gers,” Honrado said.

Some projects in store for the year include the upgrading of the air-conditioning systems at Terminals 2 and 3, as well as the introduction of transportation network companies to the airport.

news@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Saturday, January 23, 2016 A3BusinessMirrorEconomy

B M M

A LOCAL think thank has commissioned a book of policy papers and recom-

mendations that it hopes would be considered by the next adminis-tration in the crafting of near- and long-term economic, security and governance strategies.

The book initiated by the ADR Institute (ADRi), titled Thinking Be-yond Politics, contains eight exten-sively researched papers address-ing concerns on foreign policy and national security, economy, gover-nance reform and the environment, which were shaped through a series of roundtable discussion groups in-volving thought leaders and public intellectuals.

“The reality that, if you look at

the basic concerns of the Filipino people, the primary concern is re-ally poverty and lack of livelihood and job opportunities of the people. But you cannot address that from a purely economic point of view,” said Dindo Manhit, president of ADRi, who also served as the edi-tor of the book.

According to Manhit, while pov-erty remains as the country top con-cern, the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) was also highlighted during the book launch in Makati due to the growing tension in the Spratlys.

“We have a national-security policy, but does not provide a na-tional-security strategy that will tell us what are the national-secu-rity challenges we are facing in the 21st century and what are basically

the means that we have to develop, means that we have to pursue, so that we could develop the national- security challenge that we have to concern,” said Dr. Renato de Castro, one of the main authors specializing on foreign affairs.

Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said the policy papers and recommendations are vital in the midst of the Asean integration.

“Our country has been recognized as one of Asia’s economic bright spots…. The new administration must grasp the opportunity pre-sented by the emergence of the Asean community and search for more op-portunities from region to region through trade agreements,” he said.

Del Rosario contributed to the book on the defense and security aspects. Del Rosario served as

chairman of Stratbase, which con-ceptualized the book, prior to his appointment in the Aquino Cabinet.

“We started to have the idea that one thing that the Philippines lacks is the idea of thinking strate-gically, where all has been limited by thinking of what I call ‘political timeline,’ which is every six years and every three years, without re-alizing government functions be-yond those six years,” he said during the news briefing.

The institute hopes that the book will reach the presidential candidates in time for the campaign period. Other authors of the book include Drs. Epictetus Patalinghug, Francisco Magno and Carlos Primo David, whose expertise are econom-ics, political science and global en-vironment and energy, respectively.

‘Thinking Beyond Politics’ is way to go for next leaders–think tank

B C U. O

WHOLESALE prices of construction materials in Metro Manila post-

ed a contraction of 0.7 percent in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR) data showed that for the entire year, the CMWPI growth was negative, except for December, which posted a 0.1- percent growth.

The largest drop in the CMWPI last year was recorded in August with a contraction of 1.2 percent.

This was followed by a decline of 1.1 percent in January and September.

“The annual average changes in the indices of cement, and fuels and lubricants correspondingly decreased by 0.2 percent and 16.5 percent,” the PSA said.

In December 2015 the growth was largely due to increases in the indices of cement, reinforcing steel, and fuel and lubricants.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices of selected construction materials in NCR fell by 0.5 percent last December. This was largely due to the 4.3-percent contraction re-corded in the fuels and lubricants index. Further, all other commod-ity groups posted flat growth.

“Prices of gasoline, diesel and fuel oil were generally lower during the month,” the PSA added.

The PSA said that the CMWPI is a variant of the General Whole-sale Price Index that measures the changes in the average wholesale prices of construction materials.

It added that the CMWPI is used for the computation of price escalation of construction ma-terials for various government projects. The current CMWPI market basket considered those construction materials prevail-ing in 2000. The market basket for the 2000-based series includes 102 items.

THE Department of Agricul-ture (DA) on Friday said that it will give renewed attention

to the country’s livestock and poultry industries, saying that these subsec-tors in agriculture are the least ex-pected to be affected by El Niño and other natural calamities this year.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said that he is betting on livestock and poultry to counter the anticipated negative effects of the dry spell and typhoons that pe-riodically devastate country’s agri-cultural lands.

“All components of the subsector recorded increases during the last quarter, when the other subsectors’

production dipped, that is why we will focus on this and other sectors that are not as prone to the effects of inclement weather,” Alcala said in a news statement.

Data obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the agriculture sector’s growth in 2015 slowed to 0.11 percent. On a quarterly basis, it contracted by 0.96 percent in the fourth quarter of the year. The minimal growth was at-tributed to the impacts of El Niño and Typhoon Lando (international code name Koppu).

Decreases in the production lev-els of the crops and fisheries subsec-tors were reported by the PSA, while

the livestock and poultry industries posted positive growth.

The livestock and poultry subsec-tors in 2015 grew by 3.83 percent and 5.74 percent, respectively.

Production levels of all compo-nents in the livestock sector, except carabao breeding and duck raising, showed improvements in 2015.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock Jose C. Reaño said the growth of the two subsectors can be attributed to the improvement in the productivity of breeders and growers.

Meanwhile, the output of the crops subsector was seen to have de-clined by 1.95 percent for the whole

year of 2015. Palay and corn produc-tion, which suffered the most from the long dry spell and Lando, were lower than their 2014 levels.

Palay production was recorded at 18.15 million metric tons (MMT), 4.31 percent lower than the coun-try’s output last year at 18.97 MMT, while corn output also slumped by 3.24 percent to 7.52 MMT, from 7.77 MMT in 2014.

The country’s fisheries produc-tion also fell by 1.96 percent during the January-to-December period. All fisheries products, except tiger prawn and seaweed, posted de-clines in production in 2015.

Mary Grace Padin

Wholesale costof construction goods shrank 0.7% last year

DR. Carlos Primo David (from left), Stratbase Albert del Rosario (ADR) Institute trustee; Prof. Victor Andres C. Manhit, CEO and managing director of the Stratbase Group and president of  the policy think tank, ADR Institute; Renato de Castro, Stratbase ADR Institute trustee;  Secretary Albert F. del Rosario of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Epictetus Patalinghug, ADR Institute trustee; Dr. Francisco Magno, ADR Institute trustee; and Edgardo Lacson, ADR Institute trustee, at the book launch, entitled “Thinking Beyond Politics,” held in Makati City. The book is a diverse book that tackles on government issues, such as foreign policy, national security and economic growth. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS

DA renews focus on livestock and poultry sectors for the year

Saturday, January 23, 2016 •Editor: Angel R. Calso

OpinionBusinessMirrorA4

Edca hysteriaeditorial

THE Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca), signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg in Manila on April

28, 2014, has been upheld by the Supreme Court.The decision slaps down the Senate argument that the Edca is a treaty

needing Senate approval, and is not under the powers of the Executive branch to enter into. The key to the decision was that the Edca is “not the instrument that allows US troops or facilities to enter as the Vis-iting Forces Agreement (VFA) has already done that,” citing its earlier ruling that upheld the validity of the VFA.

We have not been happy with the government’s policy of engage-ment about many issues with China in the last two years. The Aquino administration got off on the wrong foot with the dismal handling of the Luneta hostage killings, and, honestly, relations with China have deteriorated almost consistently since then.

We have said several times that the Philippines is being used as a pawn by both the US and China in their contentious foreign relations regarding this region of the world. The relationship between these two global powers is “complicated,” to say the least. It is about trade, military power, diplomatic influence and, certainly, about each country’s leader trying to show his people how strong he can be with the other side.

The ramifications of the Edca are critically important to the Philip-pines and need to be discussed soberly and thoughtfully, without special interests and personal agendas getting in the way.

While many people do believe that elected officials in govern-ment are far from being the brightest lights on the Christmas parol, even these potential dim bulbs are not traitors to the nation. How-ever, the rhetoric coming from some quarters completely damages sensible dialogue.

We may still see a reversal or clarification of the Supreme Court de-cision at some point in the future with regard to the specifics of the de-ployment of US military forces in the country. That would be beneficial.

But to say this Edca is an attempt of the US with help from Filipino collaborators to recolonize the Philippines is just plain silly. To say that warmongers in Washington, D.C., as using the Philippines as a staging ground for the launching of World War III against China is childish.

On one side are those who are convinced that the Chinese want to invade and take over the Philippines and, therefore, we are desperate for US help. Likewise, there are those who are convinced this is all an American plot to make the Philippines its own.

Certainly, both the US and China would like the Philippines to move closer to their side. But this whole thing sounds like a story of two lovers fighting over the same person and each saying, “If I can’t have him/her, then nobody will.”

Perhaps, Spain will soon be weighing in on Philippine sovereignty, as well.

THE Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index (PSEi) de-creased by 24 percent in the month of October 2008. That looked like a bottom to me for a variety of reasons, and

subsequent price movements in the months that followed proved that judgment to be correct.

PSE: How low can it go?

But at the time, the general con-sensus was that the local stock mar-ket would never go any higher. This month of January 2016 has seen the PSEi down 10 percent, but we still have a week of trading ahead, so maybe we can break the record. I wonder who will be asked to ring the opening bell in honor of that accomplishment.

However, I have it on good au-thority that the PSEi will not go to zero anytime soon.

It is now official that more than 50 percent of the wealth created by stock-market price increases from just the 2011 lows has been wiped

out, given back with the recent de-cline from the 2015 highs. The 40 largest global stock markets, which include the Philippines, are now down 20 percent or more from the 2015 highs, losing $17 trillion in market value. By comparison, these exchanges now have a combined capitalization of $27 trillion.

Some of the “winners” not in a bear market are the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Ger-many, Australia and South Korea. If and when these go, then we will have probably hit the point of “mass capitulation,” and prices will rise.

A stock-market capitulation

and bottom comes after prices have been in an extended decline as has the PSEi for 10 months. The last daily capitulation we experienced was on August 25, 2015. The last monthly came in December 2013. Capitulations are usually not triggered by an event, although they can be. It is more like suddenly realizing you are the only one left at the drinking table and everyone else has left and gone home. Bottoms do not happen when buyers come in, but when sellers disappear. Then, even light buying pushes prices higher, and increasing prices become self-sustaining, as there are very few sellers in the market.

Capitulation points can, but not always, show heavy trading volume. The bottom can come with a whim-per as easily as with a bang.

However, there is a particular price level on the PSEi at which the long-term capitulation will occur, just as could be predicted in 2008 and before that in 1990, 1999 and 2003. Stock markets always follow their own cycles.

While the market will not go to zero, after a 10-month fall, it also will not go into an uptrend without this capitulation. But as with the 2008 bottom, virtually all investors will be clueless that it has happened until they see it in the rear-view mirror. Most in-vestors prefer to run with the herd and, therefore, miss the times of both maximum opportunity and maximum risk.

When and at what point will the coming capitulation happen? You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

WITH the Social Security System (SSS) pension uproar still spreading, another problem more serious and identical is brewing, and it can turn into a nasty one if the govern-

ment fails to listen to their appeal.

Messing up the country’s veteran pensioners is a dangerous game

I am referring to thousands of the nation’s veterans—former sol-diers, sailors, airmen, marines and policemen—who have retired after defending our freedom and liberty, fighting terrorism and criminality and saving countless lives from the deadly effects of natural and man-made disasters.

“We did these willingly, even as we faced the risks of uncertain death or injury inherent in our du-ties, throughout the land. We were on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the veterans said.

Last Sunday they sent an urgent appeal for justice and compassion to President Aquino and members of Congress (House and Senate),

through their 25 organizations, in-cluding the Association of Generals and Flag Officers, against the harm-ful effects of House Bill (HB) 6268 and Senate Bill (SB) 3031 if these pro-posed measures are signed into law.

These measures are intended to suspend or remove the automatic adjustment, or indexation, of their pension rates with the base pay of those in the active service, which has been granted by Presidential Decree 1638 and Republic Act 8551.

“Mr. President, our senators and representatives in Congress, we ap-peal to you not to suspend or repeal the automatic adjustment or index-ation of our retirement pensions,” the veterans said.

The veterans further said:“We are deeply concerned about

the disastrous effects if HB 6268  [Salary Standardization Law] and the SB 3031 [the Retirement Ben-efits Reform Law] are approved in their present form and become law.

“We believe that these bills are discriminatory against us and smack of class legislation, since we, the pensioners of the uniformed services, have been singled out, in contrast to those of the judiciary and constitutional commissions, and that our right to a decent life after active service to our country, as

provided by Section 8, Article VI of our Constitution, is being imperiled.

“The reason given then and now to justify these pending bills is that the nation’s economy cannot afford it.  It is unfortunate that we, as stakehold-ers, have not been properly consulted in the crafting of these bills, which seriously affect our welfare.

“For we are willing to help find not only short-term, but long-term, solutions to address this issue of affordability of the pension of our veteran-retirees.”

In their appeal, the veterans ar-gued that they are asking for this not only for themselves, but more so for the voiceless thousands of retired enlisted personnel and low-ranking policemen and their families.

“The retirement pensions that we receive, for most of us, are the only lifeline to a decent living in our remaining years as veterans and re-tirees,” they said.

It can be argued that one of those hardest hit by inflation (continuing rise of prices of commodities and services) are the veterans and their dependents who largely depend on meager income.

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

OUTSIDE THE BOXJohn Mangun

DATABASECecilio T. Arillo

“We believe that these bills are discriminatory against us and smack of class legislation, since we, the pensioners of the uniformed services, have been singled out, in contrast to those of the judiciary and constitutional commissions, and that our right to a decent life after active service to our country, as provided by Section 8, Article VI of our Constitution, is being imperiled.”

The 40 largest global stock markets, which include the Philippines, are now down 20 percent or more from the 2015 highs, losing $17 trillion in market value. By comparison, these exchanges now have a combined capitalization of $27 trillion.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

OpinionA5BusinessMirroropinion@businessmirror.com.ph

January 24-31, 2016 will mark the observance of the 51st International Eucha-ristic Congress (IEC) in Cebu. With the theme, “Christ in you, our hope of glory (Co-lossians 1:27),” the week-long Eucharistic Congress is intended to strengthen the faith of the people and to promote awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church.

Tune in to Radio Veritas for the special coverage and programming for the 51st IEC. Activities can also be watched through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph, while a special coverage page about the IEC is also available at the web site, veritas846.ph/iec2016.

Below are some of the excerpts from the Recollection given by His Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, DD, for the members of the press regarding the 51st Inter-national Eucharistic Congress.

LOOK at the action of God. The presence of Jesus doesn’t have to be grand. The presence of Jesus comes in simple bread, simple wine, the work of simple hands. Jesus is very consistent.

The simpler we are, the more humble we are, the more people see the presence of Jesus in us.

51st International Eucharistic Congress And then, we remember the

night we were betrayed. This is dur-ing Consecration when the bread is changed into the body of Christ and the wine into the blood of Christ. We call this theology transubstan-tiation, but it’s a change effected by the Holy Spirit. It’s not magi-cal. It’s the Holy Spirit. But it is not just the bread that it is changed into the body of Christ, it is also the wine that is changed into the blood of Christ.

On the night He was betrayed, He took bread and said the blessing. Broke the bread, gave it and said: “This is My body for you.” Another change, the night of betrayal was changed by Jesus into an act of self-giving. When you betray someone, you sell that someone. But on the night Jesus was being sold as if He was telling Judas, “you don’t have to sell Me. I give Myself freely, this is My body for you, this is My blood for you, you don’t need to sell Me. I am not a commodity; I am a gift for you.” The night of betrayals became

the dawn of love, self-giving. And we hope that the Eucharist would teach us to eliminate in society all forms of betrayal. From the fami-lies, business to politics, to human- rights issues.

The Eucharist says, no more betrayals. No more. But how do we combat betrayal? We combat betrayal by teaching people how to love purely, to give off themselves rather than selling others. When Jesus says: “this is My body for you.” Body, what does that connote to us nowadays, “body”. People think of prostitution, people think of hu-man trafficking, people think the bodies mangled by war and torture. But, the Eucharist tells us the body is a gift for you and not an object to be sold, mutilated and harmed. Blood, the blood of victims. The blood of victims of terrorism and senseless killing. Blood should not be wasted that way. For in Jesus, blood became a source of life for us. The Eucharist is also about change. Change to simplicity.

Europe faces a new tidal wave of refugees, EU leaders sayDAVOS, Switzerland—European

leaders warned on Thursday that the continent’s  refugee

crisis is growing, and if it’s not brought under control by spring, it could push the region past the breaking point.

“We see today that in the first three weeks of the year, there were 35,000 peo-ple crossing the [Aegean Sea to Greece] from Turkey,” Mark Rutte, Holland’s prime minister, said. “Last year it was only 1,600 in the full month of January. When spring comes, the numbers will quadruple. We can’t cope with these numbers any lon-ger.” Millions of migrants from the Middle East have made their way through Turkey en route to northern Europe.

Rutte said the European Union (EU) has six to eight weeks to get a grip on the crisis, echoing similar remarks made this week by European Council President Donald Tusk.

“When spring comes, the number of refugees coming out of Turkey and Leba-non and other countries through Greece and the Western Balkans and  into

the rest of European Union [will rise],” Rutte said. He spoke at a panel discus-sion on Europe’s future during the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting.

Rutte said the immediate priority for policy-makers is to make a success of an EU plan with Turkey to limit the number of people trying to reach Europe from its territory. He said it was  necessary to ensure that measures to more equitably redistribute asylum seekers across the 28-nation EU were working. The EU has admitted they are not.

Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s prime min-ister, was on the same panel. “What is happening in the Aegean is a great shame for our common European cul-ture and civilization. On a daily basis we are faced with a death toll in the sea because [people] traffickers are working there unimpeded,” he said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the entire European po-litical leadership agreed the influx was too high, but  it would be a “disgrace if Europe were turned into a fortress.” TNS

The illusion of 70 percentB  R G

Business Sector Representative, Member, Advisory Board  Climate Change Commission, Manila

THIS is a cautionary tale. It is 11:59 p.m. December 9, 2015. You fall into a deep slumber. You dream you are the pas-senger in the fifth car of a five-car collision. The fourth and

fifth cars are metaphors for countries similarly situated as the Phil-ippines in the climate-change debate, i.e., vulnerable and shouting out for attention in the world stage; the collision is the continuing saga of the global interplay on climate-change issues; the car is one’s environment. Your car is badly damaged as a result of the incident. You feel the loss, the damage.

final objective. The first benchmark appears to stand on weak founda-tion.  The Philippine INDC was sub-mitted under the authorship of for-mer Climate Change Commission Commissioner Lucille Sering (aided by Climate Change Office Deputy Executive Director Joy Goco). By se-quence, Goco announced that Sering resigned her position in September 2015. Yet, a covering letter dated October 1st  (attaching the INDC) submitted to the UNFCCC on its face was signed by Sering. The INDC document itself was not signed by the President of the Philippines, as chairman of the commission; for such a critically important interna-tional document outlining official commitment/s  of the republic, the chairman’s imprimatur should be required. The commission is com-posed of three commissioners, plus the President of the Philippines as its chairman; only the chairman can call for a meeting of the com-mission. At the moment, in addition to Sering’s resignation, Commis-sioner Sonny Alvarez’s term lapsed last October, with newly-appointed Commissioner Emmanuel de Guz-man serving the unfinished term of resigned Commissioner Yeb Sano. In further contrast there is no show-ing of a Climate Change Commis-sion en banc meeting convened for the purpose of approving the INDC, and authorizing its release and/or submission to the UNFCCC. In the investment banking jargon, there-fore, the document forwarded may have appeared formal in form, but it likely may not have been official in character.

  Early on in this administra-tion, President Aquino correctly determined that, perhaps, the bet-ter utilization of state resources toward combating climate-change effects over the country’s economy and environment was to address the more pressing and more impacting implementation of adaptation op-tions available to the government —national and local. The President ordered for the immediate enhance-ment and expansion of disaster risk-reduction and management measures nationwide. Effectively then, the President set and directed the climate-change response policy more toward the adaptation pil-lar in the Climate Change Act of 2009, with the mitigation   pillargarnering a second degree of em-phasis given the limited financial resources. For definition of terms, mitigation refers to all efforts and means at reducing GHG emissions. Adaptation refers to all efforts and means to address climate-change issues other than GHG emissions reduction.

So it is with great surprise, as one reads through the INDC, that in the whole document there appears only one quantifiable measure of target-ed achievement being committed to the UNFCCC—greenhouse-gas emissions reduction. Specifically,

Sering’s INDC set an extremely ambitious goal: “The Philippines intends to undertake GHG [CO2] emissions reduction of about 70 percent by 2030 relative to its BAU scenario of 2000-2030.”

There is a glaring disconnect here. Not only is the sole quantifi-able measure of targeted achieve-ment set under the October 1, 2015, document not in consonance to the stated policy of the President of the Philippines, it appears infirm in oth-er relevant aspects too, as follows : 

1.  The director general of the National Economic and Develop-ment Authority (Neda) appears not to have been consulted in the preparation of the INDC. This is a critical lapse. He chairs the Philip-pine Council for Sustainable De-velopment, a vital organ charged with evaluating and recording the impacts of any and all projections of commitments to be made by na-tional government agencies (the commission being one) to bilateral and multilateral institutions, as they ultimately redown into com-mitments of the Republic of the Philippines.  How will Philippine economic growth targets, and de-rivative projections therefrom, be influenced by the macro INDC com-mitments of the Climate Change Commission to the UNFCCC, for example. These are hard questions that need quantified answers before an international The Neda is also a member of the advisory board of the commission.

2. The Department of Agricul-ture (DA)—one of the major players for any GHG emissions-reduction program to succeed—did not seem to have been participation in the INDC process. As another member of the advisory board of the com-mission, the DA’s input is deemed organic to said process. Other line agencies may be similarly placed.

3. On its face the INDC’s sole quantifiable measure of targeted achievement lacks a most crucial element—a verified emissions base-line year reference. From which the measure of success may be calcu-lated in the future. Without it, the ambitious 70 percent emissions-reduction target for 2030 translates to a meaningless figure.  

The INDC may be designed to fail.

The INDC fails to make men-tion of any figures as to a financial claim/s  for either climate justice

or climate finance for the Philip-pines. The second benchmark of ne-gotiation posture thereby appears structurally weak, as well. Any seri-ous claimant knows well to incorpo-rate a specific amount for damages and/or loss in any confrontation process. Is there still any doubt the COP 21 is an open venue for con-frontation processes? Our claims will surely go way past COP 21.

It may be good to emulate the emissions reduction-setting ini-tiatives of the larger economy nations.  But we have our unique requirements.  Classified as an island-state nation, the Philippines is a country that is in need of mul-tilateral assistance more on the adaptation measures, rather than on the mitigation (GHG reduction) measures.  Globally, precisely be-cause we are such an insignificant contributor to global warming (es-timated at only one-third of 1 per-cent of global CO2 emissions), the country cannot realistically look forward toward securing any sig-nificant proportionate share and global attention re: any future green climate fund allocation—the ulti-mate objective in our negotiation posture—based on the mitigation argument plea alone. This is why honest brokering is necessary and demanded of our negotiators.  The much stronger argument for nego-tiation posture in the climate con-ferences should lie with seeking the deserved climate-finance support for Philippine adaptation measures. Let us be honest and straightfor-ward with our counterparties. And to realistically secure such climate-finance support, quantifiable costs (on adaptation measures) must be spelled out/provided in the docu-ment. One has to lay the financial basis to any serious claim toward climate justice and/or climate fi-nance. As indicated in the illustra-tion above, everyone is claiming and disclaiming accountability;  and for those who may just offer compensation, they want to know where the money is going to settle a claim. Such is a business decision to be made by the accountable na-tion, for its own reasons. 

 And as to the mitigation front we already have existing enacted laws that deal with the mitigation issue, actually; for example, we have the Clean Air Act, the Biofuels Act, the Renewable Energy Act, the Eco-logical Solid Waste Management Act. Enforcement of the enacted laws is what is direly needed in this country to fight the war against GHG emissions.  Financial penal-ties are attached to violations of these Acts.  And are we therefore not double-dipping at the till on this issue—when we go to the climate conference for support on mitiga-tion, then, at the same time, make earmark allocations in the General Appropriations Act during the an-nual fiscal budgeting process under the same purpose?

In conclusion, this writer was asked in an interview at CNN Phil-ippines recently as to my opinion of a targeted objective of 100-per-cent  decarbonization in the world by year 2050? My reply was, 2050 is so far off as to render any bud-getary planning process to combat the recognized environmental ills moot and inutile. In addition, this writer cannot realistically imagine a world devoid of carbon fuels. It will always remain the cheapest form of energy source. And with the ever-increasing world population, the hunger for energy to light up and feed the earth’s  inhabitants sim-ply cannot be wholly met by clean energy (alternative + renewable + energy efficiency) sources.  In the mind of this writer, inasmuch as it is the holy grail of committed climate- change advocates like yours truly, a 100-percent decarbonized world at any time is an impossibility. Un-fortunately, currently the COP 21 is almost equally overshadowed by the international war on terrorism ; consequently it is hoped the world leaders’ attentions can be focused momentarily to push to achieve a binding agreement in Paris, incor-porating enough features as to make the same enforceable, lasting and payment-friendly.  

At this moment, the 70-percent GHG reduction target set in the Philippine INDC appears to be a galaxy away. 2030 is only 15 short years away. The country is not situ-ated in Scandinavia or Upper Mon-golia with the unlimited resource of heavy year-round winds; our hydro and geothermal resources are largely identified already and presently being tapped; solar and biomass have no shortage of fuel stock, but requiure heavy private-sector financing support, which remains illusive. Energy efficiency does not get official respect; the Department of Trade and Industry removed it from its most recent investment priorities/incentives plan. The push to 70 percent will surely shut down the Philippine economy, initiate an energy crisis, and will provoke massive unem-ployment and civil unrest.

The Department of Energy con-tinues to issue permits for coal-fired power projects at a rate at least six times more than that for clean-energy projects. A more moderate target is necessitated. The invest-ment banker’s instinct is taking over the environmentalist’s aspiration.

The Filipino people need to be totally aware of the consequences behind the illusion of 70 percent. A national government long-term economic plan should never be cap-tive to a false premise. Otherwise, further budgetary waste and misdi-rection will accrue. At best, a lower carbon economy is what is achiev-able in the journey to 2030. The dream of a 100-percent decarbon-ization of the Philippine economy and environment is a false start.

SERVANT LEADERRev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

You now view one of your proud-est assets as being brought to a state of great disrepair, perhaps you may eventually declare it a total loss. Or seek out someone of higher author-ity to make that declaration for you. There is confusion, and there arises an immediate sense for con-frontation.  You want someone to pay for the damage you assess you incurred. The big question is: Who will pay for it? The drivers in the first, second, third and fourth cars sympathize with your anger, your frustration. But the finger-pointing begins right there and then. No one seems to want to acknowledge moral responsibility, whether full or par-tial. Much less, assign legal respon-sibility. Especially the driver of the first one, a 2-ton truck. Everyone at the scene of the incident sympa-thizes with you—yes it is tragic, they feel your pain [the participants all say, including the pedestrian kibitz-ers now gathered around]. 

As everyone else equally feels having incurred a loss and damage of varying degrees, there is no con-census who should bear ultimate financial responsibility. And before you know it, everyone starts to leave the scene of the incident one by one. The drivers, the police investigator, the witnesses, the kibitzers and hawkers; with departing messages left like “my insurance representa-tive will be in touch with you,”  “call my lawyer,”  “here’s my card and number, call me next week,” “if you wait a little longer, the media will arrive.” And as the scene empties out, you unexpectedly experience self-doubt—did you, perhaps, con-tribute to the incident by some facet of negligence. Were you observing traffic regulations at the time of collision; do you rate yourself a re-sponsible driver overall? Then, in a flash, you wake up. Welcome to the COP 21 meeting in Paris, France.  

Climate change is no longer an illusion to the majority; the science has overcome the myth. But are the goals being debated upon thereon partially illusionary in themselves?

The Philippines is without doubt a country in self-doubt, consistently ranked as one of the topmost vul-nerable countries subject to ex-treme conditions caused by climate change.  No one disputes this fact anymore in this modern age.  But how do we organize our battle plan versus climate change in the world

stage. Let us study the immediate scene of the incident.   

On October 1, 2015, a formal document was directly forwarded to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) office in Bonn, Germany. It was entitled, “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions [INDC] Submission of the Republic of the Philippines.” The UNFCCC is the United Nations-designated inter-national multilateral institution charged with overseeing the global engagement on climate change. For this year’s Conference of Par-ties (COP 21) meeting in Paris, all participating countries (over 180  countries in varying roles) were requested to submit their respec-tive INDC for consolidation into the climate-change talks ongoing.

As of this writing full text docu-ments from COP 21 to reflect the conclusion of agreements have yet to be released or circulated to the public. But one thing is for certain, the talks and negotiations are con-fusing  and confrontational. Just like the five-car collision incident illustrated earlier. The negotiations appear to be evolving into a North-versus-South, a have-versus-have-nots struggle, with climate change morphing into the single rallying point for the many declared eco-nomic and environmental dislo-cations among differing national boundaries around the world.

The currency employed is the level of greenhouse-gas (GHG) or carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions standard. Whereby those countries perceived suffering the most dam-age  from climate change profess the most innocence as to actual li-ability, and thereby further claim-ing loss compensation from those other countries perceived to be most culpable and liable for emitting the highest or much higher GHG emis-sions levels. The compensation level comes in two tranches:  1) the moral accountability, often called climate justice, and 2) the financial accountability, often referred to as climate finance.

For this purpose, we shall limit the parameters to the Philippine conditions. As an investment bank-er of longstanding, one acquires the discipline to first analyze the legal documentation and definition of terms, to be followed by the negotia-tion posture. These, in pursuit of a

The Philippines is without doubt a country in self-doubt, consistently ranked as one of the topmost vulnerable countries subject to extreme conditions caused by climate change. No one disputes this fact anymore in this modern age. But how do we organize our battle plan versus climate change in the world stage?

news@businessmirror.com.phSaturday, January 23, 2016 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo BusinessMirror�e Nation

Poe foe asks Leonen to recuse self from DQ casesB J R. S J

SUPREME Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has been asked to recuse from the

deliberations on the petitions related to the disqualification of Sen. Grace Poe in the May presidential elections.

In her Motion for Inhibition, lawyer Estrella Elamparo said Le-onen, youngest member of the Court,  should recuse from the peti-tions filed by Poe owing to his failure to keep his emotions in check and for showing bias in favor of the senator.

“If the Honorable Justice  Le-onen truly wants to serve the ends of justice in this all important case that may impact the fate of the nation,   the  only just and decent thing would be to inhibit himself,” Elamparo said.

Elamparo was one of those who successfully petitioned the Com-mission on Elections (Comelec) to nullify Poe’s certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on the ground that she is not a natural-born Fili-pino citizen and failed to meet the 10-year residency requirement.

“While the task of adjudica-tion cannot be entirely emotion-free, Justice Leonen has shown his

inability to keep his emotion and personal sentiment in check and in-dicated his judgment even before re-spondent could be heard,” she added.

In seeking for the inhibition of Leonen, Elamparo cited the recent interpellation of Leonen during the first oral arguments on the petitions filed by Poe.

During the interpellation, Le-onen reminded his colleagues that the Court’s role should be “final ar-biters” after letting people decide through the elections. He stressed that suffrage or the right to vote “is an aspect of sovereignty.”

“Suffrage is one of the direct ex-ercises, perhaps, the only direct ex-ercise, where people actually select their agents in terms of government. And, therefore, should this Court ap-ply the doctrine, in that we should first allow the people to decide and then we, the final arbiter, in case of contests?” Leonen asked.

Seeming to take a different stand on the issue, Leonen proposed that the Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, could just exam-ine Poe’s qualifications when and if she gets elected in accordance with the Constitution.

Leonen even pointed out that the Constitution had never granted the Comelec the power to adjudicate on qualifications per se of elected na-tional government officials.

He said the Comelec should have just preliminary evaluated Poe’s COC on whether the facts stated there, from her point of view, were correct, adding, “The inter-pretation of the facts is a matter of opinion and law; to do so would be to adjudicate.”

On a personal note, Leonen admitted knowing the feeling to have missing parents as he grew up without his father.

He said the case of Poe and

others whose real parents remain unknown is “very difficult.”

“What did she do for her parents to leave her? She was a newborn baby and she did not have any moral vo-lition at that point. It is completely the agency and moral decision of the parents to actually leave her behind,” Leonen pointed out, add-ing that the senator was “lucky” because she eventually got adopted by prominent parents.

“At the end of the day should this Court ask her to look for those par-ents who actually left her because she had it lucky. She is now one of the candidates to become president of this country. It’s clear to us what should happen in terms of justness. Can our laws actually contain that kind of a result? Is it clear enough to say that the Constitution of the Re-public looks this way on foundlings? That there can be never a foundling found in rural area of the Philippines

that could ever become president?” Leonen asked.

But for Elamparo, Leonen’s  shared  experience with Poe and his  expression of empathy  had blatantly showed  that the SC magistrate has lost his impartiality and is now determined to champion the cause of petitioner.

Instead of interpellating, Elam-paro lamented that Leonen gave “a passionate plea to end the petitioner’s difficulty.”

“While it may be unavoidable for the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court to already have opinions on the issues at hand based on their own appreciation of the law, the case of the Honorable Justice Le-onen  is  vastly  different.  Not only does he obviously have an opinion, his personal experience and the emo-tions that such experience stirs up obviously predispose him to rule in favor of petitioner,” Elamparo said.

A6

LEGAZPI CITY—Albay has earned the opportunity for the first crack implemen-

tation at the barangay level of the bottom-up budgeting (BuB) scheme, a revolutionary good gov-ernance strategy at the grassroots level involving local communities and accredited civil-society organi-zations (CSOs) and direct transfer of resources from the national government to the barangay, its most basic unit.

The Barangay BuB entails the di-rect participation of the Sangguni-ang Barangay and CSOs in assessing their communities, identifying and planning projects that will best ad-dress their needs, and monitoring the implementation of their develop-ment programs, funded by resources directly released to the barangays by the national government.

The program aims to reduce grassroots poverty through good governance. It was earlier piloted in certain cities and municipalities and had been proven successful.

It was launched recently in Al-bay via a consultative conference attended by Budget Secretary Flor-encio B. Abad, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) top officials, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda and local officials, includ-ing 232 barangays chairmen from the province’s Second District.

Abad said the program was pre-tested in Bohol recently, but Albay is actually the first to hold consul-tations on BuB for barangays.

Albay has been a consistent re-cipient of many government awards

in good governance. Although only barangays from

the province’s Second District were invited to the consultations, all of Albay’s 720 barangays would be part of the first batch of recipients of the direct government funding, set for release in 2017.

This first group, composed of some 12,000 barangays in the en-tire country, will each receive from P500,000 to P 1 million depending on their program undertakings.

Salceda, a respected economist, noted that the fund transfer trans-lates “to an additional P720 million in additional capital resources for Albay, which we hope would be a predictable resource source based on governance and performance.”

Based on the BuB handbook, the projects eligible for funding are those related to Basic Facilities and Services under Section 17 (b) of the Local Government Code, and Di-saster Risk Reduction and Manage-ment, on which Albay has excelled.

Salceda said the BuB will help communities develop more ef-ficiently, since they know better what their needs and requirements are, and program implementa-tion and delivery of services will be transparent since everyone is involved in the planning and monitoring.

The BuB handbook says CSOs are among the stakeholders in the program, together with the Ugnay-an ng Barangay at Simbahan and other groups, which will participate in monitoring the proper implemen-tation of the projects. PNA

Albay first to use barangay bottom-up budgeting system PhilHealth ready for large

intestine cancer patientsTHE Philippine Health In-

surance Corp. (PhilHealth)  President Alexander A. Padilla

assured on Friday that the “Z Ben-efit Package” for colon and rectum cancers has sufficient amount necessary to ensure total care for all affected members.

“We are now evaluating the ca-pabilities of some accredited facili-ties that have expressed intension to become our contracted facilities for the said package. We are opti-mistic that, before the year ends, there will be members who will be availing themselves of the package already,” Padilla said.

As a proof, seven leading physi-cians recently shared their moving stories on the implementation of the Z Benefit Package of the PhilHealth.

“The Z benefits passionately re-minded us that there is financial protection for the health-care sys-tem in the Philippines. Specifically, for us at the Philippine Heart Cen-ter, Z benefits provide an access to specialized cardiovascular care for our patients,” narrated Gerardo S. Manzo, a cardiologist from the Philippine Heart Center. He added that PhilHealth payments reached P146,330,000 for 417 approved cas-es of Z benefits, such as Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, Ventricular Septal Defect and Tetralogy of Fal-lot for the year 2014.

Jose Dante P. Dator of the Na-tional Kidney Transplant Insti-tute, proudly stated that, “In less

than two months, we were able to get the reimbursement from Phil-Health.”  He also encouraged other health-care institutions to become a contracted provider of Z package, especially for peritoneal dialysis.

For his part, Ramoncito Mag-naye of the Batangas Medical Cen-ter (BMC) thanked PhilHealth as they implement the Z benefit package for breast cancer, not-ing that they were are able to buy new sets of equipment to improve their services and initiated the en-hancement of the hospital’s build-ing façade through PhilHealth’s reimbursements. He recommended the strengthening of information and education campaign on the Z benefit packages to maximize the BMC’s service capability.

On the other hand, Paul N. San Pedro of the Philippine Orthopedic Center discussed the hospital’s ex-perience when orthopedic implants were not yet part of the Z benefit package. He said that it almost took two-and-a-half months for indi-gent patients to look for alternative sources of funds before they could undergo the operation.

“Z benefits program is a bless-ing for our patients as it gave them better outcome, less complication and faster recovery,” and added that “for our institution, PhilHealth re-imbursements help in renovation of our wards. It’s a winning propo-sition for everyone.”  He ended his discussion with a simple slogan that

is befitting for the event’s theme “SaPhilHealth, laging panalo!”

Speaking for the University of the East-Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Josephine Robredo Bundoc described the Z MORPH benefit package for below-the-knee prosthesis. She said that PhilHealth has been cooperative and accom-modating by doing consultative/feedback meeting to check if there is room for improvement in terms of benefit availment.

Philippine Children’s Medical Center Executive Director Julius A. Lecciones briefly discussed how Z benefit helps their patients in paying hospital bills, especially those in need.

Diena B. Oroceo, vice president for Academic Affairs of Lyceum Subic Bay, a 75-year-old cancer sur-vivor, shared her experiences in bat-tling colorectal cancer.

Manuel Francis Roxas, a colorec-tal cancer specialist, also gave a brief discussion of the former in the Philippine setting, its survival rate, quality care of a colorectal cancer patient, and other colon and rectum cancer programs in the Philippines prior to PhilHealth’s inclusion  in its Z benefit packages.

With all the testimonies, Padilla concluded: “I’m sure you have seen the exhibit on our members’ expe-riences and how the packages have given them a new lease in life so that they can continue to pursue their dreams.” Claudeth Mocon- Ciriaco

IN keeping with its mission to safe-guard the health and safety of the Filipinos, the Philippine Red Cross

(PRC) will deploy staff and volunteers to man first-aid stations and basic health-care units that will put up for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu from January 24 to 31.

“The Philippine Red Cross joins the Catholic Church in this great undertak-ing. I have personally instructed the Cebu chapter to be visible and provide assis-tance to the participants and everyone who will witness the events during the Eucharistic Congress. As early as now, I would already like to congratulate the organizers for the success of the IEC,” PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon said.

PRC Cebu’s operation for the IEC will start on January 24 for the opening Holy Mass in Plaza Independencia, where five first-aid stations will be set up inside the plaza and another five outside the plaza. First aiders on foot will also patrol the area ready to provide assistance to those who would need medical help and other assistance.

But from January 25 to 27, Red Cross operations will be stopped as the event is strictly for registrants only and will be held at the Pavilion, the main venue for conferences and other indoor activities for IEC 2016, at the Seminaryo Mayor de San Carlos compound in Mabolo, Cebu City.

Red Cross operations will resume on January 28 for the activity that will be at Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu.

The PRC will set up a medical station at the Senior Citizens Plaza near Plaza Independencia, and will simultaneously deploy volunteers with the Lapu-Lapu/Cordova chapter.

On January 29, the delegates, digni-taries, clergies and the public, estimated at around 50,000 people, will have a procession from the Cebu Capitol Build-ing grounds to Plaza Independencia for Mass at 7 p.m.

For this event, PRC Cebu will deploy 100 on foot volunteer first aiders who will walk along with the participants. Seven first-aid stations will also be put up at the staging area and one medical station will be set up in front of PRC Cebu chapter office. For the January 30 activity at Cebu City Sports Complex, there will be five Red Cross first-aid stations positioned inside the complex and five outside, all with volunteers on foot. Claudeth Mocon- Ciriaco

A TOTAL of 135 traffic enforcers will be deployed by the Metro-politan Manila Development

Authority (MMDA) along the route of the homecoming parade of Miss Uni-verse 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach on January 25.

MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos said that the traffic enforcers will also guide motorists that will be affected by the parade.

Carlos added that the route of the parade will start from Hotel Sofitel, left turn to Atang de la Rama Street, right turn to Vicente Sotto Street, left turn to

F. Ma. Guerrero Street, right turn to Bu-kaneg Street, left turn to Roxas Boulevard, right turn to Padre Burgos Street toward Taft Avenue, right turn to Finance Road, right to Taft Avenue, right turn to Quirino Avenue, left to Roxas Boulevard, left to Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, left turn to Ayala Avenue, U-turn to Ayala-Makati Fire Sta-tion, going to Ayala Avenue, to Rustan’s.

Carlos said the entire Ayala Avenue northbound will be closed to vehicular traffic at 3 p.m. It will be opened once the motorcade has passed. It will make a pitstop at the Makati Fire Station along Ayala Avenue before proceeding toward

Rustan’s Ayala, where the parade will end.Likewise, the traffic enforcers from

the Makati Public Safety Department (Mapsa) will be deployed for traffic management and crowd control in all strategic intersections and locations along the parade route in the city.

While traversing Ayala Avenue, Miss Universe 2015 and her entourage will be greeted by confetti showers from Makati business establishments, while Makati students from nearby schools will also be invited to witness the grand event.

Makati Mayor Kid Peña said city residents and employees are very

eager to see Wurtzbach in the flesh after she has brought pride and honor to the nation by winning the coveted crown, outshining 79 other candidates from nations all over the world at the coro-nation night on December 20, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

“Makati is very proud of Wurtz-bach for reclaiming the Miss Uni-verse crown for the Philippines af-ter 42 long years. She has inspired millions of people around the world, including the people of Makati, with her indomitable spirit and extraor-dinary determination to realize her

dream,” Peña said in a statement.Wurtzbach will also pay Peña a cour-

tesy call on Tuesday.Wurtzbach is expected to arrive at

City Hall at around 11:30 a.m., accom-panied by officials of the Miss Universe Organization and Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc.

After four decades, the 26-year-old Filipina-German model and actress will bring home the crown as the third Miss Universe winner from the Philippines. The other two are Gloria Diaz (Miss Universe 1969) and Margie Moran (Miss Universe 1973). Claudeth Mocon- Ciriaco

Red Cross girds for IEC

MMDA prepares for Pia Wurtzbach motorcade

STARTING at 9 a.m. and until about 2 p.m. on Sunday, only one lane will be passable on

the southbound direction of Ara-neta Avenue in Quezon City at the corner of Bayani Road, stretching about 700 meters.

All lanes on the northbound direction will remain open. The Skyway Stage 3 (SS3) contractor will set up the needed equipment and prepare for the rotation of pierhead 32 at the road median.

A frictionless rotating device called sosrobahu, which is embed-ded between the pier-column and the pierhead, still allows the traffic to move on the road below albeit with some inconvenience.

To direct traffic and assist mo-torists where the rotation activity will take place, additional number of traffic enforcers will be deployed. Motorists are also advised to avoid said stretch or use alternate routes. When this activity is finished by 2 p.m., all the lanes will be opened to traffic. Team SS3 appeals for public understanding and cooperation. The ongoing construction of the 14.8-kilometer SS3 Project, from the Buendia-end of the Skyway in Makati City to Balintawak in Quezon City, will use the sosro-bahu in its elevated road struc-ture, wherever possible. The SS3 project aims to help decongest Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and other major arterial roads of Metro Manila and address the increasing traffic demand north and south of Metro Manila.

Expect heavy traffic on Araneta Avenue on Sunday

POE ELAMPARO LEONEN

ALTAS FOIL GENERALS’ SWEEP;JUNIOR ALTAS REPEAT CHAMPSALTAS FOIL GENERALS’ SWEEP;JUNIOR ALTAS REPEAT CHAMPS

SportsA7BusinessMirror Saturday, January 23, 2016

PRINCESS SUPERAL blew a four-stroke lead as she floundered with her short game but pounced on Pauline del Rosario

and Yuka Saso’s mishits on the closing hole to pound out a one-shot victory despite a 73 in the Philippine Ladies Open Golf Championship, presented by Champion Infinity, at the Midlands in Tagaytay City on Friday.

Superal flubbed par putts from long range on Nos. 14 and 15, enabling The Country Club (TCC) teammate del Rosario and Saso to draw level at two-under overall heading to the par-5 finishing hole. But the two challengers hit their drives into a hazard and reached the green in four.

While del Rosario had a long putt for par, Saso, also a former TCC mainstay, flubbed hers from 4 feet, missing forcing a playoff with

70s and allowing the former US Girls’ Junior champion, who closed out with a regulation par, to post her biggest triumph on the local front.

While she relishes her couple of victories on ladies tour, a pro circuit, the 19-year-old Superal considers her latest feat in a string of victories as doubly significant, this being the country’s premier ladies golf championship.

“It’s nice to finally win this crown. It’s an honor being able to join the elite circle of win-ners of this championship,” said Superal, who pooled a 214 and ended Thailand domination of the event the last three years.

But it didn’t come easy. While she appeared headed for a romp after storming to a four-shot lead over del Rosario, Saso and Mikha Fortuna on Thursday, Superal struggled with her irons, dropping crucial shots in the closing holes and

aiding the trios’ fightback that set the stage for a pressure-packed finish in the 54-hole event organized by Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

But as Fortuna, in a flight behind with first-day leader Lois Kaye Go and Sofia Chabon, fell behind with a bogey, del Rosario and Saso pressed their bid with pars to tie Superal at 53 holes, only to reel back with those errant drives. Del Rosario, the reigning Thailand Ladies Amateur Open champion, and Saso, winner of this year’s Thailand Junior title, ended up with 215s. The win also kept Superal’s streak going. She closed out the 2015 with victories in Malaysia, Singapore and Jakarta, then dominated the field to run away with the Hong Kong Ladies Amateur Open crown two weeks ago.

PRINCESS PREVAILS

NEW YORK! NEW YORK! Trainer Freddie Roach (left) talks to Manny Pacquiao during a news conference to promote Pacquiao’s April 9 fight against Timothy Bradley on Thursday in New York. AP

SportsSportsA7BusinessMirror Saturday, January 23, 2016

B L A

UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help outhustled Emilio Aguinaldo Col-lege (EAC), 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19, to prevent the Generals from sweeping the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association

(NCAA) Season 91 men’s volleyball finals on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

The Altas shrugged off a slow start by playing with a near flawless chemistry most of the way to foil the Generals from celebrating their second consecutive crown.

“I was confident we will win Game Two because of our defensive preparation,” said Sammy Acaylar, Perpetual Help’s men’s coach for more than three decades now and with 10 men’s, eight juniors and three women’s championships his name.

Game Three is on Tuesday. Diminutive Rey Taneo Jr. un-loaded 16 points, 13 on attacks, while Ranidean Philipe Abcede scattered 14 points, including nine on kills, for the Altas.

Perpetual Help’s defense also mattered most in Game Two, as the Altas prevented reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Howard Mojica from dominating. Mojica, however, still man-aged 22 points on 20 spikes. The Junior Altas, on the other hand, beat EAC-Immaculate Concepcion Academy, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11, to repeat as juniors champions via a sweep.

Team Captain Jody Severo, who was hailed as the finals MVP, led Perpetual Help with 17 points off 10 spikes, four blocks and three service aces. Darwin Salopaso also had 17 markers on 14 spikes and Aljhon Abalon added 13.

THE Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) requested a meeting with a top

International Basketball Federation (Fiba) official to discuss details of the country’s hosting of one of the three Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT) in July.

SBP Executive Director Renauld “Sonny” Barrios will meet with Fiba Sport and Competitions Director Predrag Bogosavljev at the House of Basketball, Fiba’s headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, hours before the draw for the OQTs. Barrios sought the appointment with the former Yugoslavian junior player on the instructions of SBP President Manuel V. Pangilinan, who wants preparation for the qualifier to get under way immediately.

A meeting with the SBP head and federation officials has also been set upon Barrios’s return on Wednesday.

Fiba awarded OQT hosting rights to Manila, Belgrade (Serbia) and Turin (Italy). Eighteen countries—Angola, Canada,

Czech Republic, France, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, Tunisia, Latvia, Croatia and Turkey—will be divided into three groups via the draw and battle from July 4 to 10 for three slots made available to complete the Olympic cast in Rio de Janeiro in August.

Only the winners of the three OQTs will advance to Rio.

The draw ceremony is set at 6:30 p.m. Geneva time on Tuesday, or around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Manila.

The Mall of Asia Arena will again be the official venue for the Manila OQT.

THE country’s top sports organizations should double their efforts to support athletes who remain in the hunt for berths to the Rio

Olympics.So far, only Olongapo City-born Filipino-

American Eric Shauwn qualified for Rio after making the grade with a 49.12 seconds time in the 400-meter hurdles he set in an international competition in May last year. The cut-off for Rio is 49.40 seconds.

“We should give these athletes the chance to gain Olympic slots. Competition has become tougher through the years, but these are some of the youngest and the brightest among our sporting stars. They deserve to compete in the Summer Games and gain experience that would toughen them up in their next try,” Sen. Francis Escudero said.

Escudero noted the experience of Diaz, the first Filipina to compete in an Olympic weightlifting event. “We have always supported investments for our youth. These are some of the best and brightest Filipino athletes. The Philippine Sports Commission [PSC] should

be in the forefront in supporting

them in

their Olympic bids,” Escudero added.Hidilyn Diaz could still book a ticket to Rio if

she makes the grade in the last leg of the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in April. Trap shooter Hagen Topacio should have qualified, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its support of Kuwait automatically nullifying the points he earned in the Asian Shooting Championships which the Middle East state hosted last year.

Kuwaiti organizers refused to grant a visa to an Israeli shooter, prompting the IOC to withdraw its recognition of the continental meet.

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has asked sports officials to pursue wild-card berths for their athletes. Joey Romasanta, the POC vice president and chief of mission to Rio, said several athletes could still make it to the Olympics, which start on August 5, as wild cards.

Hoping to make the Olympics are London Games veteran Daniel Caluag of cycling; Miguel Tabuena, Angelo Que and Princess Superal of golf; Hagen Topacio, Amparo Acuna and Jayson Valdez of shooting; Marestella Torres and EJ Obiena of athletics;

Mark Anthony Barriga, Rogen Ladon, Eumir Felix Marcial,

Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno of boxing; Pauline

Lopez and Sam Morrisson of taekwondo; Kiyome Watanabe of judo and

Nestor Colonia of weightlifting.

Trainer Freddie Roach (left) talks to Manny Pacquiao during a news conference to promote Pacquiao’s April 9 fight against Timothy Bradley on Thursday in New York. AP

their Olympic bids,” Escudero added.Hidilyn Diaz could still book a ticket to Rio if

she makes the grade in the last leg of the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in April. Trap shooter Hagen Topacio should have qualified, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew its support of Kuwait automatically nullifying the points he earned in the Asian Shooting Championships which the Middle East state hosted last year.

Kuwaiti organizers refused to grant a visa to an Israeli shooter, prompting the IOC to withdraw its recognition of the continental meet.

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has asked sports officials to pursue wild-card berths for their athletes. Joey Romasanta, the POC vice for their athletes. Joey Romasanta, the POC vice president and chief of mission to Rio, said several athletes could still make it to the Olympics, which start on August 5, as wild cards.

Hoping to make the Olympics are London Games veteran Daniel Caluag of cycling; Miguel Tabuena, Angelo Que and Princess Superal of golf; Hagen Topacio, Amparo Acuna and Jayson Valdez of shooting; Marestella Torres and EJ Obiena of athletics;

Mark Anthony Barriga, Rogen Ladon, Eumir Felix Marcial,

Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno of boxing; Pauline

Lopez and Sam Morrisson of

B R RB

FRANCIS CASEY ALCANTARA kept the country’s hopes alive as he barged into the doubles finals with Indonesian

partner Christopher Rungkat in the $75,000 Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)

Challenger Philippine Open 2016 on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Alcantara and Rungkat reached the finals after the Ratiwatana twins—Sonchat and Sonchai—from Thailand withdrew from their semifinals duel.

“They have a family-related problem and it is urgent,” Ronald Herfel, ATP Challenger Tour supervisor, said.

The fourth-seeded Ratiwatana brothers of Thailand dispatched Croatians Dino

Marcan and Nikola Mektic, 6-4, 6-4, while Alcantara and Rungkat disposed

of Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland and Lukas Lacko of Sweden,

6-3, 6-2, in the

quarterfinals.Alcantara

and Rungkat will square off with the winner of the semifinal match between Swede Johan Brunstrom and Dane Frederik Nielsen and Austrian Maximilian Neuchrist and Indian Divij Sharan.

Japan’s Go Soeda, a 17-time ATP tour winner, meanwhile, beat Frenchman David Guez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and will face in the singles semifinals Chiudinelli, who beat unseeded Zhe Li of China, 6-4,

7-6 (7-1), also on Friday.

THE Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub, long regarded as the country’s official team golf championship, marks its 69th year next

month by going back to the island of its birth—Luzon—for the first time in ages, while introduc-ing a new division and opening its doors again to the best players in the land.

Play will be held at Mimosa’s two layouts inside Clark Field in Pampanga. The Championship Divi-

sion, won last year by Manila Southwoods, returns to its old stature as an “Open” bracket, where teams will not be burdened by handicaps anymore.

The likes of reigning two-time national ama-teur champion Jobim Carlos and many-time former winner Rupert Zaragosa will be returning to play for a Canlubang squad that breaks its long hiatus in the centerpiece division when the Regular Men’s event tees off on March 2.

Seniors action will kick off the competition’s 30th edition on February 25 with Canlubang and Luisita renewing their storied rivalry in the event reserved for players 55 years old and above.

Carlos will be using this event as his farewell tournament before turning pro, as he plays in both the Asian Tour and the local circuit while leading the Sugar Barons to a triumphant comeback.

“I’m excited, there’s no doubt about it,” Car-

los said. “The PAL Interclub has a special place in my heart because this is a tournament like no other, where team comes first before individuality. I’m looking forward to playing again.”

The PAL Interclub was first played at Wack Wack’s fabled East layout in Mandaluyong in 1948, with the home team winning. 

69TH PAL INTERCLUB SET AT CLARK’S MIMOSA

AUSTRALIA’S Jacqui Slack and Guam’s Mieko Carey stake their checkered reputations in the Xterra Albay 2016

on February 7.Slack and Carey, who finished runner-up

and fourth place, respectively, last year, have been installed as the triathletes to watch in the women’s side of the off-road triathlon after 2015 winner Flora Duffy begged off to focus on her training for the Rio Olympics.

But with Lizzie Orchard of New Zealand and a host of new pros joining this year’s event, a wide-open battle for top honors looms in the event hosted by the Province of Albay with the city of Legazpi and municipalities of Daraga and Santo Domingo as venue hosts.

Bradley Weiss, meanwhile, is back to defend his crown in the men’s section of

the event sponsored by 2Go Express as the official logistics and courier partner, Columbia, Finisher Pix and David’s Salon. And like in the distaff side, a down-the-wire finish is expected with the likes of Ben Allen and Brodie Gardner, also of Australia, Charlie Epperson of Guam, Michal Bucek of Slovakia and local bet Joseph Miller out to foil the South African’s repeat bid.

Also tipped to crowd the fancied bets in the event, backed by Shotz Sports Nutrition, DOT/TPB, Cetaphil, Human Heart Nature, Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc. and Coca-Cola, are Taylor Charlton, Cameron O’Neal and Hsieh Chun Shing.

They are all raring to prove their worth in the top-level swim, bike and run competition with the majestic Mayon Volcano as backdrop. 

HEALTHWAY Medical is launching its annual Dance for Health on January 30 at the Alabang Town Center.

Healthway Medical has invited 10 teams to participate in the annual dance competition, which aims to help promote an active lifestyle among Filipinos.

The third edition of the event offers a P75,000 cash prize to the winner, P40,000 to the second placer and P25,000 to the third placer.

This event is sponsored by Salem Bed,

Maersk, MNLToday.com, Energizer, Eveready, GenerationRX, Eau Thermale Avene, Hotel H2O, and Bellevue Hotel. “With sedentary lifestyle on the rise, it is important for Filipinos to make it a habit to exercise daily,” Carmie de Leon, vice president for sales and marketing of Healthway Medical, said. “With Dance for Health in place, we will be able to help indi-viduals recognize the important roles played by an active lifestyle in keeping themselves free from any forms of disease.”

NBA RESULTSNew Orleans 115, Detroit 99

Cleveland 115, LA Clippers 102

Memphis 102, Denver 101

Sacramento 91, Atlanta 88

San Antonio 117, Phoenix 89

PERPETUAL Help’s Ranidean Abcede spikes against Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Hariel Doguna.

STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS

Alcantara, Indonin doubles finalsof ATP Challenger

XTERRA ALBAY UP IN FEBRUARY

Third Dance for Health all set at Alabang

‘GIVE PRIORITY TO RIO HOPEFULS’SBP EXEC BARRIOS SETS TONEFOR FIBA MANILA QUALIFIER

DAVID GUEZ of France returns with a two-fisted backhand. NONIE REYES

THAT 81POINT GAME

195 DAYS SportsBusinessMirror

A8 | SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016mirror_sports@yahoo.com.phsports@businessmirror.com.ph

AUGUST 5, 2016DAYS

AUGUST 5, 2016

B G BThe Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant remembers exactly what he had to eat in the 24 hours before he scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors

10 years ago on Friday.The rest is a beautiful blur in

the mind of a 20-year National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran as he looks back on the most prolific, ridiculous individual night of his career.

“I’ve had to play it over in my

mind several times,” Bryant said. “There is really no explanation for it. I can always explain it from an X’s and O’s standpoint, from a training standpoint, but when nights like that happen, there is always something mystical about it. Scoring that many points, that really carries no explanation.”

Bryant turned an ordinary Sunday game for a couple of mediocre teams into the second-highest scoring performance in NBA history. He made 28 of his 46 shots; hit seven three-pointers; went 18 for 20 on free throws; scored 55 points in the second half—and the Lakers won, 122-104.

Kobe still can’t explain what got into him, but it wasn’t health food: He had spent the previous hours celebrating the third birthday of his daughter, Natalia.

“I had pepperoni pizza and grape

soda the night before,” he said with a laugh. “Think I had a burger before the game,

burger and fries. No joke. Went out there and played. My knee was very sore,

so I was kind of trying to work through that a little bit.”

Only Wilt Chamberlain’s

100-point game in 1962 stands

above Bryant’s one-game effort—but

for pure virtuosity, Bryant’s

81-point game stands out.Chamberlain’s performance for the

Philadelphia Warriors included 63 shot attempts and 28 free throws made, while

the Knicks intentionally fouled him. Bryant largely created his own shots

from the perimeter, showing off his explosive movement and that peerless ability to create a jump shot amid suffocating defense.

The Lakers weren’t a good team that season, although they weren’t nearly as bad as their

current 9-35 squad, with which Bryant must finish his career.

His fellow starters against Toronto were Kwame Brown, Lamar

Odom, Chris Mihm and Smush Parker, the Lakers’ second-leading scorer with 13 points. Bryant was the focal point of every defense faced by the Lakers that season, although he still was averaging 34.8 points per game heading in.

Bryant didn’t face many double-teams from the Raptors, although he scoffs at the notion that it would have mattered. Veteran Coach George Karl remembers watching

the game on television and wondering why Toronto didn’t try double-teams, triple-teams—anything to take Bryant out of the Lakers’ offense.

“There is that strategy, and I have used it on Kobe, that you want him to take all the shots,” Karl said. “It’s easier to try and control everybody else than it is to stop Kobe. Try to make him a less efficient player. But there’s got to be a number—40, 45, 50—where you have got to change your strategy.”

With Odom constantly in his ear reminding him to keep pushing, Bryant surpassed Elgin Baylor’s 71-point performance for the best in Lakers history. The Staples Center crowd stood for much of the final minutes as Bryant continued to fill it up in a fairly close game, only leaving with a few seconds left. He hugged Coach Phil Jackson on the way off the court.

Bryant has thought about his 81-point game extensively this month, part of the parade of nostalgia surrounding him weekly as fans and opponents celebrate him one last time before retirement in April.

The best individual night of his career doesn’t compare to his five NBA championships, yet, it still looms large in the memory matrix of his life and career.

“It’s amazing how time flies,” Bryant said. “It’s absolutely crazy it was 10 years. My little baby girl is turning 13. Whoa. She was a little baby in my arms, and now she is a teenager.”

Bryant, meanwhile, is the leading vote-getter for his final NBA All-Star Game, and Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry made late moves to join him in the starting lineup.

Leonard will start in his first All-Star Game and Lowry will start on his home court in Toronto after both made up ground in the final days of voting on Thursday.

Nobody was catching Bryant, who had 1.9 million votes and was selected an All-Star for the 18th time.

Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry of Golden State was next with 1.6 million, and they will be joined in the Western Conference lineup by Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Leonard, the San Antonio star who was more than 12,000 votes behind Golden State’s Draymond Green for the last frontcourt spot after the

most recent returns.Cleveland’s LeBron James and

Indiana’s Paul George will start in the East frontcourt with New

York’s Carmelo Anthony, who held off Chicago’s Pau Gasol by 360 votes.

Wade starts at guard with Lowry, who overcame a

32,000-vote deficit to Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving

after the last update.

Only Wilt Chamberlain’s

100-point game in 1962 stands above Kobe Bryant’s one-game effort—but for pure virtuosity,

Bryant’s 81-point game stands out.

MELBOURNE, Australia—Maria Sharapova played two nearly flawless sets on either side of

the one where she struggled against Lauren Davis in a slight hiccup at the Australian Open.

Sharapova, who won the title here in 2008 and has lost three finals—including last year’s decider to Serena Williams—advanced to the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1 on Friday, her 600th tour-level match win.

“Wow. I’ve won 600 matches?” Sharapova asked, responding to a question in an on-court interview. “Is this like a friendly reminder that I’m getting old? Might be.”

The 28-year-old, five-time major winner is playing her 13th Australian Open since 2003 so she knew what to expect when she lost concentration in the second set despite being up and break and 30-love.

“You know you’re in a Grand Slam environment, third round and against an opponent you haven’t played...that’s fired up and is not going to just give you the

match and that’s exactly what happened,” she said. “I am quite happy that I was able to step up in the third set. That was very important.”

The first set was over in 26 minutes, with Sharapova getting two service breaks and not facing a break point herself. She was broken twice in the second, when Davis came back hard and eventually won in the tiebreaker, despite conceding a key point after a 27-shot rally when she volleyed into the net, and covered her face with her hand.

Sharapova took a bathroom break before the third set and returned with more composure, making just five unforced errors and breaking Davis three times.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova will next play No. 12 Belinda Bencic, who won the opening match on Rod Laver Arena, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, against Kateryna Bondarenko.

Kei Nishikori had some trouble with his wrist, taking a medical timeout and losing the next set before recovering to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win on Friday over No. 26-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. AP 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—A video clip of Saudi Arabia’s top cleric saying that the game of chess is “forbidden” in Islam

because it wastes time and leads to rivalry and enmity among people has provoked heated debate, and widespread criticism, among Arabic Twitter users.

The clip was shared on YouTube last December, gaining traction in recent days on social media. Some Twitter users mocked Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz al-Sheikh, saying chess is an intelligent game and that is why conservative clerics decry it. Others defended his religious advice, saying that many other Islamic scholars have also warned that the game can be addictive and cause people to lose focus from their daily prayers and remembrance of God.

Saudi Arabia’s influential religious establishment adheres to a strict Sunni Islamic ideology known widely as Wahhabism.

Similarly, Shiite Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani previously declared that chess is religiously prohibited because it could be used for gambling, which is not permissible in Islam.

In the 44-second clip, al-Sheikh says “the game of chess is forbidden,” backing up his statement by referring to a verse in the Quran that bans gambling, intoxicants and idolatry. AP

SLIGHT HICCUP

THE rest is a beautiful blur in the mind of 20-year National Basketball Association veteran Kobe Bryant—shown here in action against Sacramento’s Rudy Gay on Thursday—as he looks back on the most prolific, ridiculous individual night of his career. AP

Top Saudi cleric says‘chess is forbidden’

Star for the 18th time.Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry of

Golden State was next with 1.6 million, and they will be joined in the Western Conference lineup by Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Leonard, the San Antonio star who was more than 12,000 votes behind Golden State’s Draymond Green for the last frontcourt spot after the

most recent returns.Cleveland’s LeBron James and

Indiana’s Paul George will start in the East frontcourt with New

York’s Carmelo Anthony, who held off Chicago’s Pau Gasol by 360 votes.

Wade starts at guard with Lowry, who overcame a

32,000-vote deficit to Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving

after the last update.

THAT 81POINT GAMEB G B

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Kobe Bryant remembers exactly what he had to eat in the 24 hours before he scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors

10 years ago on Friday.The rest is a beautiful blur in

the mind of a 20-year National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran as he looks back on the most prolific, ridiculous individual night of his career.

“I’ve had to play it over in my

mind several times,” Bryant said. “There is really no explanation for it. I can always explain it from an X’s and O’s standpoint, from a training standpoint, but when nights like that happen, there is always something mystical about it. Scoring that many points, that really carries no explanation.”

Bryant turned an ordinary Sunday game for a couple of mediocre teams into the second-highest scoring performance in NBA history. He made 28 of his 46 shots; hit seven three-pointers; went 18 for 20 on free throws; scored 55 points in the second half—and the Lakers won, 122-104.

Kobe still can’t explain what got into him, but it wasn’t health food: He had spent the previous hours celebrating the third birthday of his daughter, Natalia.

“I had pepperoni pizza and grape

soda the night before,” he said with a laugh. “Think I had a burger before the game,

burger and fries. No joke. Went out there and played. My knee was very sore,

so I was kind of trying to work through that a little bit.”

Only Wilt Chamberlain’s

100-point game in 1962 stands

above Bryant’s one-game effort—but

for pure virtuosity, Bryant’s

81-point game stands out.Chamberlain’s performance for the

Philadelphia Warriors included 63 shot attempts and 28 free throws made, while

the Knicks intentionally fouled him. Bryant largely created his own shots

from the perimeter, showing off his explosive movement and that peerless ability to create a jump shot amid suffocating defense.

The Lakers weren’t a good team that season, although they weren’t nearly as bad as their

current 9-35 squad, with which Bryant must finish his career.

His fellow starters against Toronto were Kwame Brown, Lamar

Odom, Chris Mihm and Smush Parker, the Lakers’ second-leading scorer with 13 points. Bryant was the focal point of every defense faced by the Lakers that season, although he still was averaging 34.8 points per game heading in.

Bryant didn’t face many double-teams from the Raptors, although he scoffs at the notion that it would have mattered. Veteran Coach George Karl remembers watching

the game on television and wondering why Toronto didn’t try double-teams, triple-teams—anything to take Bryant out of the Lakers’ offense.

“There is that strategy, and I have used it on Kobe, that you want him to take all the shots,” Karl said. “It’s easier to try and control everybody else than it is to stop Kobe. Try to make him a less efficient player. But there’s got to be a number—40, 45, 50—where you have got to change your strategy.”

With Odom constantly in his ear reminding him to keep pushing, Bryant surpassed Elgin Baylor’s 71-point performance for the best in Lakers history. The Staples Center crowd stood for much of the final minutes as Bryant continued to fill it up in a fairly close game, only leaving with a few seconds left. He hugged Coach Phil Jackson on the way off the court.

Bryant has thought about his 81-point game extensively this month, part of the parade of nostalgia surrounding him weekly as fans and opponents celebrate him one last time before retirement in April.

The best individual night of his career doesn’t compare to his five NBA championships, yet, it still looms large in the memory matrix of his life and career.

“It’s amazing how time flies,” Bryant said. “It’s absolutely crazy it was 10 years. My little baby girl is turning 13. Whoa. She was a little baby in my arms, and now she is a teenager.”

Bryant, meanwhile, is the leading vote-getter for his final NBA All-Star Game, and Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry made late moves to join him in the starting lineup.

Leonard will start in his first All-Star Game and Lowry will start on his home court in Toronto after both made up ground in the final days of voting on Thursday.

Nobody was catching Bryant, who had 1.9 million votes and was selected an All-Star for the 18th time.

THE rest is a beautiful blur in the mind of 20-year National Basketball Association veteran Kobe Bryant—shown here in action against Sacramento’s Rudy Gay on Thursday—as he looks back on the most prolific, ridiculous individual night of his career.

MELBOURNE, Australia—Maria Sharapova played two nearly flawless sets on either side of

the one where she struggled against

match and that’s exactly what happened,” she said. “I am quite happy that I was able to step up in the third set. That was very important.”

SLIGHT HICCUP

Coach George Karl remembers watching Star for the 18th time.Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry of

Golden State was next with 1.6 million, and they will be joined in the Western Conference lineup by Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Leonard, the San Antonio star who was more than 12,000 votes behind Golden State’s Draymond Green for the last frontcourt spot after the

THE rest is a beautiful blur in the mind of 20-year

Bryant—shown here in action against Sacramento’s Rudy Gay on Thursday—as he looks back on the most prolific, ridiculous individual night of his career. AP

MARIA SHARAPOVA stumbles at times, but advances at the expense of Lauren Davis. AP