Low-carbon economy bill hurdles House committee

August 11, 2024 | 7:20 pm

A HOUSE of Representatives committee last week approved a bill that will force companies to take part in the government’s decarbonization plans, aligning the Philippines with a United Nations (UN) agreement limiting global temperatures from rising by more than 2°C this century.

The climate change committee approved an unnumbered substitute bill that seeks to limit companies’ greenhouse gas emissions.

The measure creates a carbon pricing framework that requires companies exceeding government-set emission targets to spend or invest in environmental sustainability projects to offset their carbon footprint.

“It not only sets a clear policy direction for decarbonization but also provides businesses with the tools and flexibility to achieve these goals in a way that supports economic growth,” Bohol Rep. Edgar M. Chatto said in a statement last week.

“The bill encourages investments in low-carbon technologies that can deliver cost efficiencies for businesses, while significantly reducing their environmental impact,” he added.

The Philippines loses 3% of its economic output yearly due to climate change, according to a Swiss Re Group statement in February.

Under the House bill, companies can choose their decarbonization initiatives, including the ability to invest in their own low-carbon projects, jointly investing with other businesses to fund companies creating low-carbon technologies and equity investments in enterprises that specialize in environmental sustainability.

“The bill’s flexibility is designed to empower businesses to choose the most effective and economically viable path to decarbonization, whether through direct investments in their operations or by supporting broader industry-wide initiatives,” the House climate change committee said.

The measure seeks to encourage investments in sustainable technology companies, enabling economic growth and innovation, Bukidnon Rep. Jose Manuel F. Alba said in the same statement.

It also creates a domestic carbon market, allowing Philippine companies to sell, trade or buy carbon credits for their operations.

“The bill provides enabling measures to support investments… facilitating access to carbon markets and international climate finance, which can help de-risk investments and make them more profitable,” according to the statement. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

CA issues ruling on Verde Island

August 11, 2024 | 7:20 pm

Court-of-Appeals-053119 — PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has partially granted a petition that seeks to compel the Environment department to identify polluted areas and implement programs to prevent further environmental degradation at the Verde Island Passage, which is part of the so-called Coral Triangle.

The court, however, dismissed a plea by environmental groups to prohibit the issuance of new discharge permits and environmental compliance certificates to power plants operating around the marine corridor, citing lack of jurisdiction and violation of court hierarchy.

“The Court acknowledges the need to safeguard bodies of water from imminent threats that may endanger both the rich marine biodiversity and the sustenance and economic well-being of the populace,” the court said in a 59-page decision written by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio M. Santos.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment.

The Verde Island Passage, a marine-rich strait separating the islands of Luzon and Mindoro, provides food and livelihood to about 2 million Filipinos, according to Conservation International. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

LGUs told to tap ‘survival fund’

August 11, 2024 | 7:18 pm

LOCAL government units (LGUs) should ask for funding from the People’s Survival Fund so they could build rainwater harvesting systems in their local communities in preparation for the rainy season, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

The People’s Survival Fund is a P1-billion fund included in the proposed 2025 national budget. It is meant to fund the construction of natural disaster resilience infrastructure, helping communities deal better with climate change.

“[It is a] special fund that provides subsidies to climate change adaptation and natural disaster resilience strategies, including… the installation of practical rainwater collectors,” Makati Rep. Luis Jose Angel N. Campos, Jr. said in a statement.

“We all have to get used to stockpiling rainwater during the wet season so that everybody can have access to extra freshwater supplies during dry conditions,” he added.

The National Government allotted P30 billion for its nationwide disaster risk reduction program aside from the People’s Survival Fund. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Bill eyes Samar Island Region

August 11, 2024 | 7:18 pm

A CONGRESSMAN last week filed a bill that seeks to combine the provinces of Samar Island in central Philippines into one region as part of efforts to improve National Government administration.

House Bill No. 10727 will consolidate the provinces of Northern Samar, Samar and Eastern Samar into one Samar Island Region to boost support for the region, Party-list Rep. Marcelino C. Libanan said in a statement on Sunday.

“Our measure… will expedite the dispensing of National Government services to the communities of the three Samar provinces,” he said. “They will also have their own highly focused Regional Development Council to drive economic growth and job creation.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

More PhilHealth benefits sought

August 11, 2024 | 7:17 pm

A CONGRESSMAN last week filed a resolution urging state-controlled Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to increase by 30% all its benefit packages and coverage amid its transfer of P89.9 billion in unused funds to the National Government.

Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee in House Resolution No. 1900 asked PhilHealth to increase its benefits and adding health packages, including diagnostic and laboratory tests,

PhilHealth has enough money to provide these he said in a separate statement on Sunday, citing its excess funds.

“PhilHealth shall serve as the national healthcare provider and not as an investment powerhouse,” he said in a statement. “It is mandated and obliged to utilize most of the funds to increase the program’s benefits and decrease the amount of members’ contributions.”

“It is best for the interest of the beneficiaries and contributors of the National Health Insurance Program to increase all benefit packages and coverage of PhilHealth to ultimately lower the out-of pocket costs of Filipinos for their healthcare needs,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Bangsamoro sends traffic enforcers

August 11, 2024 | 7:17 pm

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro government and police have started sending deputized traffic law enforcement teams to rid the highways in the autonomous region of fake enforcers.

Bangsamoro Transportation and Communications Minister Paisalin P. Tago told reporters on Sunday the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Office and the police’s Regional Highway Patrol Group last week trained traffic management employees of the Cotabato City government as law enforcement deputies.

He said the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region are supporting efforts to organize deputized traffic and vehicle regulation enforcement teams to operate in the six provinces and three cities of the region.

He added that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-BARMM would seek the help of municipal and provincial governments in the region in its planned expansion of the program. — John Felix M. Unson

Bianca figures in exciting nonstop shift of fortunes

August 11, 2024 | 7:05 pm

PARIS, France — For the fourth straight round on Saturday, Bianca Pagdanganan birdied the 18^th hole of Le Golf National, with a booming 278-yard drive then a 163-yard second shot over the water and into the green with a 41-yard eagle putt.

She missed the long putt, leaving her with a birdie chance from 2’8” distance.

She holed out with that easy birdie, ending with her best round of a four-under 68 and a six-under 282 total, and she’s immediately overcome by emotion, shedding tears of joy amidst cheers from the Philippine gallery led by the Pagdanganan family.

No matter what would happen to the remaining flights behind her, the 26-year-old bet could sense she had done something special — a big fight serving as good final hurrah for Team Philippines in the 2024 Olympics.

By calmy sinking the birdie, Ms. Pagdanganan broke into the Top 3 at six-under. And that was from an amazing, searing charge from joint 13^th through 54 holes.

She had composed herself and was all smile as she reached the mixed zone for the postgame interview.

“I gave ‘em my all out there. Whatever happens at the end of the day, it happens,” said Ms. Pagdanganan to the Cignal TV/One Sports team.

“I really wanted it, I want our names up there. I want them to know that we’re great athletes,” Ms. Pagdanganan emphasized. “This is just not for golf, we’ve excelled with other sports, and I think it’s a great wake-up call back home that we can excel in sports.”

In that drama-fraught Saturday in that beast of a course in Saint Quentin En Yvelines, Ms. Pagdanganan charged back into contention with her final day 68 marked by seven birdies against three bogeys.

Just when everybody through she’s a goner after bogeys on No. 10 and 13, Ms. Pagdanganan came alive again with three birdies on the last five holes — her whole Paris Games odyssey punctuated by a closing back-to-back birdies.

“I really felt proud of how I performed in such extreme pressure,” said Ms. Pagdanganan, figuring in an enthralling nonstop shift of fortunes in this fateful weekend.

Safe from the rest was eventual gold-medal winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand (71-278).

The rest duked it out in a wild, wooly showdown — the leaderboard changing by every minute and settling down only when Germany’s Esther Henseleit closed out with a 66-280 for the silver and Chinese Janet Lin at 69-281 for the bronze.

The 409-yard, par-5 No. 18, guarded by waters and a bunker, suffered tremendous beating from the contenders.

Ms. Henseleit canned in a birdie then Ms. Lin herself drilled in the same to end the drama.

The specter of a sudden death vanished in the air. Ms. Pagdanganan, Aussie Hannah Green, Korean Amy Yang and Japanese Misu Yamashita ended up at joint fourth.

“It’s such a great Olympic experience. I wasn’t able to have this in Tokyo but being able to share this moment with my family means so much,” said Ms. Pagdanganan, herself thrilled by the nerve-wracker of a finish.

Ms. Pagdanganan settled for the strongest showing by a Philippine bet in Olympic golf.

Miguel Tabuena was 53^rd in Rio in 2016, Juvic Pagunsan was 55^th in Tokyo in 2021 while Ms. Pagdanganan was 43^rd also back in 2021 where Yuka Saso finished ninth.

Ms. Saso, the two-time US Open champion carrying the Japanese flag here, was 54^th place this time (82-305). Doing better was Dottie Ardina at joint 13^th (68-285). — Nelson Beltran

Malixi trails Talley by one in first 18 holes of US Women’s Amateur finals

August 11, 2024 | 7:04 pm

RIANNE MALIXI of the Philippines trailed old rival Asterisk Talley of the US by one after the first 18 holes of the US Women’s Amateur finals Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Mmess. Malixi and Talley engaged in a back and forth in the initial salvo of the 36-hole finale at the Southern Hills Country Club, which was split over two days due to inclement weather forecast in the area early Sunday.

The two went through three lead changes and three dead-locks before Ms. Talley grabbed the upperhand with a birdie on No. 17 and maintained it with a par on the 18^th.

The 17-year-old Ms. Malixi will seek to turn it around in the final 18 holes Sunday afternoon and repeat against Ms. Talley, 15, the same player she defeated last month en route to the US Girls’ Junior crown, 8 and 7.

If successful, the Pinay ace will join Eun Jeong Seong as the only players in history to win the US Girl’s Junior and the US Women’s Amateur in the same year. Ms. Eun achieved the feat in 2016.

Mmess. Malixi and Talley arranged a title rematch by beating their respective semifinal opponents, Kendall Todd of the US and top seed Maria Jose Marin Saturday morning.

To clear the path to their second finals showdown in 21 days, Ms. Malixi fired back-to-back birdies in the last two holes to rally past Ms. Todd, 1-up, while Ms. Talley held a 1-up edge before a limping Ms. Marin conceded after 14 holes.

“It’s amazing. I love Asterisk,” Ms. Malixi said of Ms. Talley. “She is such a good player and a good person as well. It’s fun being matched up with her again.”

“I’m feeling a lot better than last time I played Rianne (Malixi),” Ms. Talley said with a chuckle. “I feel like it’s just that this course is a lot harder than (El Caballero in California) and what we had to play before. I mean, she shot like 10-under in the first 15 holes. You can’t really do that out here, especially with us both missing a ton of fairways today.”

“I feel like that’s going to be what I have to work on for tomorrow. I need to hit more fairways. That’s going to help me get close to the hole, hit more greens. I feel like that’s what will be what wins tomorrow, is whoever can keep their ball in play the most.” — Olmin Leyba

Zamboanga sweeps Asian Tournament

August 11, 2024 | 7:04 pm

EX-NBA star Demarcus Cousins ran roughshod as the Zamboanga Valientes completed a perfect championship run with an 81-65 trashing of the Macau Black Bears in the Asian Tournament grand finals over the weekend at the Zamboanga City Coliseum.

The 6-foot-10 Mr. Cousins flirted with a triple-double of 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, saving his best for last after limited action in the elimination round that Zamboanga still found no trouble sweeping despite his absence.

Rickey Brice collared 25 points and 10 rebounds en route to the Finals Most Valuable Player citation after leading the squad right from the get go.

Former PBA players Mike Tolomia, Rudy Lingganay, Mac Belo and Franky Johnson also threw in ample contributions for the team owned by Junnie Navarro.

Zamboanga, which went title-less in the first four legs, had a sluggish start by staring at an early 28-39 deficit before striking to within 39-41 at the turn.

Messrs. Cousins and Brice took over from there, anchoring a 32-14 barrage to erect a commanding 71-55 lead halfway through the payoff period en route to the win in front of 15,000 Zamboangeños.

A four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA member, Mr. Cousins put on the finishing touches with a thunderous slam in the last two minutes as Zamboanga capped a flawless 5-0 campaign. — John Bryan Ulanday

Frayna and Fronda made some rating pluses in The Netherlands sorties

August 11, 2024 | 7:04 pm

JANELLE MAE FRAYNA and Jan Jodilyn Fronda showed their readiness to lead the Philippine women’s team in next month’s FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary after finishing decently in a recent tournament in Vlissingen, The Netherlands.

Ms. Frayna, who owns the distinction of being the country’s first and only Woman Grandmaster (WGM) to date, smashed Dutch Joaquin Aarts in the ninth and final round Saturday night to end up tied for 13^th place with eight others with 6.5 points.

The Army woman from Bicol was just a point behind eventual solo champion Daniel Howard Fernandez of England, who had 7.5 points.

GMs Antonios Pavlidis of Greece and Samvel Tersahakyan of Armenia wound up in an 11-player pack with seven points apiece but took second and third place, respectively.

Ms. Fronda, for her part, downed another local bet Hicham Boulahfa to end up in a 16-player logjam at No. 22 with six points.

“Happy with my performance and made some decent rating pluses,” said Ms. Frayna, whose participation was being supported by the Philippine Sports Commission through chair Richard Bachmann and commissioner Edward Hayco, and NCFP chief Butch Pichay.

Ruelle Canino, the reigning national women’s titlist, will join Mmess. Frayna and Fronda in their last two tournaments in Dortmund, Germany, which starts Monday, and Barcelona, Spain from Aug. 23 to Sept. 1.

The three, along with Shania Mae Mendoza and Bernadette Galas, will represent the country in the Olympiad scheduled Sept. 10 to 23 in Budapest, Hungary.

This is part of the country’s preparation for the Olympiad in Budapest,” said NCFP CEO GM Jayson Gonzales, who is with the squad in Europe. — Joey Villar

Federations must join World Boxing to include sport at LA Games, president says

August 11, 2024 | 7:03 pm

PARIS — Joining World Boxing is the only action national boxing federations can take to ensure the sport is included on the program for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the body’s president Boris van der Vorst said on Saturday.

The boxing competition at the Paris Olympics, which concluded on Saturday, was run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC stripped the International Boxing Association of recognition last year over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance.

It has not included the sport on the LA 2028 program yet and has urged national boxing federations to appoint a new global boxing body or risk missing out on the Olympics in four years.

International federations are responsible for organizing world championships for their sports, as well as Olympic tournaments.

IOC President Thomas Bach said on Friday that a decision on boxing’s inclusion at the Los Angeles Olympics has to be made in 2025.

“The IOC has made it abundantly clear that the only way that boxing will be restored to the program for Los Angeles 2028 is if it has a trusted and reliable international federation (IF) to work with that has support of the national federations (NF),” Van der Vorst said in a statement.

“World Boxing is that IF. And we are committed to creating a sustainable and inclusive sporting structure — underpinned by strong governance and transparent financial management — where all boxers can compete and excel knowing that the integrity of the sport is guaranteed and competition is fair.”

World Boxing, launched in 2023, has 37 members, far fewer than the IBA, and is not recognizsed by the IOC.

Mr. Van der Vorst said he was confident that World Boxing would soon have up to 50 members.

“We cannot allow boxing to exit the Olympic stage, and I invite every NF that cares about their boxers and the future of the sport to take immediate steps to join World Boxing now and work with us to deliver a better future for the sport.” — Reuters

MVP

August 11, 2024 | 7:03 pm

Exactly 11 months ago today, rumors of LeBron James committing to the 2024 Olympics reached hoops circles. As far as National Basketball Association off-seasons went, the news was as big as they came. For all the bits and pieces of information that hogged headlines on slow days, it was worthy of note if for nothing else than because the star of stars was likewise doing a massive recruitment job. Evidently, he had taken it upon himself to convince other marquee names to join the cause. And when the King talks, everybody listens.

Needless to say, the sway James held over his peers manifested itself in the pledges he got off the bat. Such notables as Kevin Durant, already a legend in the Summer Games, and Stephen Curry, who had yet to attend the quadrennial festivities, said yes. So did Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, who, like him, last suited up for the red, white, and blue in 2012 (as a late replacement for the injured Blake Griffin). In short, he did a lot of the work for Grant Hill, managing director of the men’s national basketball team.

To be fair, Hill did get the ball rolling by approaching James shortly after the latter broke the NBA all-time scoring record in April 2023 and getting an affirmative response that was fortified when the United States lost four games in the FIBA World Cup. In other words, the premier league’s senior citizen had a mission to cling to, and one that would further add luster to an already singular career: restore lost glory for Uncle Sam (while, not coincidentally, sporting a similar gray beard) and exit the world stage in a blaze of honor.

The rest, as the cliche goes, is history. James would go on to literally and figuratively lead Team USA to gold in the Paris Games. His imprint on the squad was clear from the outset. He led practices and scrimmages, barked orders from his familiar spot at the top of the key in live-ball situations, and, for good measure, played hero in tuneup matches against would-be opponents in the Olympics. He even went on to serve as Flag Bearer alongside Coco Gauff for the 502-strong contingent across 34 disciplines.

In the contests themselves, there was no questioning James’ influence. He was Team USA’s most consistent performer, and would finish the tournament with norms of 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.3 steals. And when the going got tough, he got going. Against Serbia in the semifinal round, he claimed a triple-double to help snatch victory from the throes of defeat. His output in the fourth quarter, during which he, Curry, Durant, Joel Embiid, and Devin Booker overcame a five-point deficit to triumph: six markers, six caroms, four dimes, and outstanding defense on reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.

Considering James’ sterling body of work, it was but fitting that he would wind up with Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors and banner the All-Star Five (with Curry, Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder) at the close of the Olympics. He got what he aimed for, reaching the pinnacle of success while leaning on, and still learning from, aging stalwarts he called to serve. He was also all fun off the court, making the experience even more memorable. The Avengers assembled, with the Expendables at the forefront, and everything came together as envisioned.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.