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P3-B fuel subsidies ready this year

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

A TOTAL of P3.1 billion in fuel subsidies has been allocated for the public transport and agricultural sectors in 2024 to help cushion the impact of price surges this year, a congressman said on Tuesday.

“Congress earmarked the sum of P2.5 billion in the 2024 national budget specifically for the direct fuel subsidies to public utility vehicle drivers, including tricycle, ride-hailing, and delivery service drivers,” Makati City Rep. Luis N. Campos, Jr. said in a statement.

The vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said farmers operating agricultural machinery are also entitled to the fuel subsidy. “We also allocated another P510 million in financial assistance to provide relief to small farmers,” he said.

He explained that the fuel subsidy grant activates when the average price for a barrel of Dubai crude oil breaches $80 (about P4,512) for one calendar month. 

“We are determined to sustain the annual funding for the subsidies to vulnerable sectors, so long as the Dubai crude oil price… has reached $80 (P4,512) per barrel,” Campos said.

Mr. Campos said those seeking to participate in the fuel subsidy program must first be “identified and validated” by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Farmers seeking to avail of the subsidy should also be listed in the Department of Agriculture’s Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

In 2023, modern public utility jeepneys and UV Express drivers received P10,000 in fuel subsidies while those driving traditional jeepneys received P6,500.

Delivery couriers received P1,200 while tricycle drivers received P1,000 to subsidize their fuel expenses.

Farmer-beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy program received P3,000 each. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Review El Niño info drive — senator

REUTERS

A PHILIPPINE senator has filed a resolution to review the government’s public information campaign on countermeasures for the El Niño weather phenomenon, which adversely affects lives and livelihood.

Through Senate Resolution No. 987, filed by Senator Ferdinand “Robin” C. Padilla filed on Monday, the government is urged to enhance its information drive on how El Niño affects agriculture, energy, and education, among others.

“Filipinos must be informed of up-to-date and necessary preparations and responses of the national and local government, as the country has been taking the brunt of dangerous levels of heat index, mainly attributed to the El Nino phenomenon,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

So far, agricultural damage blamed on El Niño has risen to P2.63 billion. The government has distributed assistance worth P1.1 billion to those affected, the Department of Agriculture said.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said on Monday that the government does not see the need to declare a state of calamity nationwide for the weather phenomenon, saying it would be better to declare these locally.

El Niño has triggered class suspensions in many areas, especially in the Western Visayas, due to extreme heat.

“It cannot be denied that implementing a comprehensive public information drive is necessary to apprise the affected population of the government’s projects, programs and activities to help them cope with the adverse effects of this crisis,” Mr. Padilla said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

Support onion farmers — lawmaker

Farmers pack newly harvested onions at a farm in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines, Jan. 27, 2023. — REUTERS

THE GOVERNMENT should prioritize supporting onion farmers from production to marketing their produce and only consider importation if there is a supply shortage, a congressman said on Tuesday.

“We should only be importing if there really is a need — if there is a supply shortage and we need to curb the rising prices of agricultural products,” Party-List Rep. Wilbert T. Lee’s statement read. “Instead of relying on importation, the government must strengthen our local production by supporting our local producers.”

Addressing Mr. Lee’s statement, Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said that onion farmers are still in the harvest season, meaning there should be enough onion stocks to last a few months.

“We are still in the harvest period,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message. “Even if some crops were damaged, there should still be ample supply for the next few months.”

On Monday, Party-list Rep. Erwin T. Tulfo said the House of Representatives may recommend importing onions in a bid to lower domestic market prices of onions and prevent traders from hoarding their stocks to artificially inflate prices for greater profit.

Mr. Lee urged Congress to pass measures that could support the farming industry. “Congress should immediately pass measures… providing them access to cheaper farm inputs, fuel subsidy, more post-harvest facilities such as cold storages, and market linkages for faster delivery of their goods.”

Smugglers and hoarders are threats to farmers and consumers alike, he said, as they cause instability to onion market prices. “The price of onion produce spiked before because of smugglers, hoarders, and price manipulators.”

The harvest season for onion produce starts in March and lasts until the end of April, Jayson H. Cainglet, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura executive director, said.

“We should first take inventory of stocks so that we’ll know how much we need to import to address potential supply shortages,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message in Filipino.

The average retail price of the cooking bulb ranges from P80 to P93 pesos per kilo, according to the latest price monitoring bulletin by the Department of Agriculture. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Agents seize P34M of crystal meth

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

COTABATO CITY — Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) seized P34 million worth of shabu from a dealer based in this city and entrapped in Malabang town, Lanao del Sur on Monday.

PDEA-Bangsamoro Director Gil Cesario P. Castro said the suspect, Zacaria Jaji Nandang, is now in their custody and set to be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Mr. Nandang, a Maguindanaon, was arrested in a sting staged in Barangay Matalin, a predominantly Maranaw area in Malabang town, some two hours away via overland travel from here.

Mr. Nandang yielded peacefully when he sensed that he had sold five kilos of shabu worth P34 million to covert agents of the PDEA in coordination with the Malabang Municipal Police Station, the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. 

Mr. Nandang was long under surveillance by agents of PDEA-BARMM and intelligence units of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and PRO-BAR for his large-scale shabu trafficking activities in Cotabato City and in nearby towns in the neighboring Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and in Cotabato provinces. — John Felix M. Unson

Bayan Muna calls for South China Sea demilitarization

REUTERS

MILITANT group Bayan Muna has called on President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to initiate a United Nations (UN) joint resolution calling for the demilitarization of the South China Sea to stop tensions from further escalating in the region.

Bayan Muna Chairman Neri J. Colmenares said in a statement on Tuesday that the joint military exercises being performed by the United States and Australia could escalate tensions over the contested waters in South China Sea.

“The joint patrols and military exercises conducted by the US and Australia… could lead to further escalation of tension,” he said, as China held naval patrol exercises in an apparent response to the joint military drills with the United States, Japan and Australia within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“There is a need to demilitarize the South China Sea, considering China’s military superiority in the region,” Mr. Colmenares added.

China has militarized some islands within the Philippines’ EEZ backed with an armada of coast guard vessels strengthening their hold over the disputed waters.

The Philippines’ effort to resupply a grounded ship off the Second Thomas Shoal has been repeatedly blocked by China’s naval force, a development that has resulted in the injury of Filipino troops as a water cannon was fired at a Philippine vessel trying to deliver supplies.

Mr. Colmenares also recommended that Southeast Asian countries take part in joint maritime activities and freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea.

“Bayan Muna has long proposed the conduct of joint maritime and air patrols led by ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries being trampled by China,” he said.

These patrols should be civilian-led to prevent further escalation with Beijing, he added. “These joint patrols… must be civilian in nature to stem the flow of human trafficking, drugs, smuggling and destruction of the marine environment in the South China Sea.”

For Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, the proposal for ASEAN to lead the demilitarization effort is sensible. “But domestic politics, as well as ASEAN internal dynamics, will make the path forward very challenging,” he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Military in the North rejects Reds’ calls for peace talks

BAGUIO CITY — The military stationed in the northern provinces flatly rejected calls by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to resume the stalled peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF).

Urging instead the remaining communist rebels to abandon the armed struggle, Army Major Rigor Pamittan, spokesman of the Isabela-based 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, issued this challenge: “If peace is what they want, then (they should) drop their arms and return to the fold of the government.”

Mr. Pamittan claimed that the communist movement resurfaced its calls for government and the NDF to go back to the negotiating table amid the thinning ranks of the NPA in the northern provinces.

Last week, a bomb-making facility at a rebel camp in Pilar, Abra was overran by soldiers after a fierce gunbattle with some 30 communist guerrillas along the borders of Sta Maria, Ilocos Sur and Pilar, Abra.

He stressed that they cannot bite into the resurging propaganda of the rebels for peace talks when the numbers and influence of the Ilocos Cordillera Regional Committee of the CPP’s New People’s Army (NPA) has already thinned out in the north.

Major General Audrey Pasia, commander of the 5th Infantry Division, earlier ordered government troopers “to drive the final nail into the coffin of the communist insurgency in the northern provinces to sustain government’s gains.”

Mr. Pasia assured civilians of their safety during military operations determined to end the communist insurgency in Northern Luzon. — Artemio A. Dumlao

Filipinas put up ‘satisfying’ tough fight vs South Koreans

PWNT

PHILIPPINE women’s football coach Mark Torcaso expressed satisfaction with the tough fight the Filipinas put up against Asian power South Korea and the valuable lessons bought home from the two friendlies in Icheon.

The No. 39 Filipinas wrapped up the five-day Icheon sortie with a 1-2 defeat to the No. 20 Koreans Monday night with defender Angie Beard scoring their lone goal off a 74th-minute free kick.

This came after Friday’s 0-3 setback in a match that saw them play their fancied opponents on even terms for a good 72 minutes before the hosts racked up three goals towards the finish.

“We were without (Sarina) Bolden, (Jacklyn) Sawicki, (Merryll) Serrano — three key players. (We had) some youth mixed with some experience and to come and give Korea a very tough two games, we‘re absolutely delighted with that,” Mr. Torcaso said.

“Even with some key players missing, we’re able to fight hard. It’s a trait that Filipinos have: they fight to the end. We saw that in the World Cup (last year) and we’ll continue to see that going into the future and into major tournaments,” he added.

The two friendlies provided the Philippines with needed exposure to top level games against one of the Continental heavyweights while integrating young players and new faces into the program.

“For me, the last two games have been a learning about our team, our courage and our fight…We’re very happy with this group and obviously, we want to keep getting better and bridge that gap and make sure next time we have these chances, we can win the game,” Mr. Torcaso said. — Olmin Leyba

Terrafirma Dyip banking on self-belief in match with unbeaten league leaders San Miguel Beer

PBA.PH

Games Today
(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
4:30 p.m. — San Miguel vs Terrafirma
7:30 p.m. — Magnolia vs NorthPort

THEY have high potential, talent, competitive spirit and drive. But what makes the Terrafirma Dyip click in the PBA Philippine Cup is firm belief they can do it and trust in one another.

“Bilog naman ang bola (the ball is round). As long as we play together, play within the system, magkaka-chance kami (we will have a chance),” said Dyip coach John Cardel, whose crew led by Juami Tiongson, Stephen Holt, Javi Gomez de Liano, Isaac Go and Kemark Carino have steered Terrafirma to one of its best starts at 4-3.

This worked Sunday in a king-sized 91-85 upset of heavyweight Barangay Ginebra.

The emboldened Dyip look to repeat when they face unbeaten defending champion San Miguel Beer or SMB (4-0) today, Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m. in another tough test at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. “If we get a chance of winning in the fourth quarter (against SMB), we’ll grab it. We’ll just have to remind the players sistema tayo, huwag kaniya-kaniya we need to stick to the system and not play individually),” Mr. Cardel said.

Mr. Cardel noted the big improvement of his charges from the one that couldn’t get traction and finished with 2-9 in the import-flavored Commissioner’s Cup.

“The way they compete even in practice, it’s a different team and it’s the All-Filipino so we have a big chance to achieve our goal of making the quarterfinals,” said Mr. Cardel.

“We work hard everyday. Hindi naman ito iyung dominant team, eh; talagang bata pa rin itong mga ito (We’re not a dominant team and are still young). But I’m lucky I have these guys. We have to build. Bottom line here is they sacrifice; naging isang team talaga sila (they have become a team).”

Mr. Gomez-De Liano added: “This conference, we trusted each other more and learned how to play together. Last year, many were rookies; it takes time to get team chemistry and get better. Every game I see more improvements from everyone.”

The Dyip’s smooth run is something SMB coach Jorge Gallent is keeping an eye on.

“The team’s playing well and their three losses were kind of tight. We can’t be over-confident against this team. We’ll have to play hard and play our usual game,” said Mr. Gallent, whose pacesetting troops are also coming off a victory against the Gin Kings, 95-92, Friday.

Like SMB and Terrafirma, streaking NorthPort (4-1) is chasing win No. 5 in its 7:30 p.m. duel with skidding Magnolia (1-2).

The Batang Pier, who have been gone on a tear since dropping their conference opener, aim to capitalize on the Hotshots’ two-game losing streak to bolster their quarterfinal quest. — Olmin Leyba

Lady Cardinals inflict straight-sets defeat on SSC in NCAA tourney after unleashing UE transferees

Games Today
(San Andres Gym)
7:30 a.m. — EAC vs JRU (men)
10 a.m. — EAC vs JRU (women)
2 p.m. — Letran vs AU (women)
5 p.m. — Letran vs AU (men)

MAPUA unveiled a pair of new weapons in Raissa Janel Ricablanca and Freigh Anne Garcia as it turned back San Sebastian College (SSC), 25-20, 25-23, 25-18, Tuesday to set in motion its campaign in NCAA Season 99 women’s volleyball at the San Andres Gym.

Ms. Ricablanca and Ms. Garcia, both transferees from University of the East (UE), made sure their league debuts were memorable and unloaded 13 and 11 points, respectively, as the Lady Cardinals claimed their first win.

Mapua coach Clarence Esteban hopes the added depth could help them address what they lacked last year.

“Naging leksiyon sa kanila last year, hindi kami umabot sa dulo, naubos kami (Last year was a lesson; we didn’t have enough to make it to the end)” Mr. Esteban said. “Sana hindi na mangyari tulad last year na queens of the fifth sets ang tawag samin, kaya kung kaya, kunin namin ng three sets, kunin na. (I hope there is no repeat of last year when we were called the queens of the fifth set; if we can finish in three, we should go for it).”

Roxie dela Cruz continued to make significant strides after a strong rookie season the year before and unleashed a match-best 18 points, 16 of which came off kills.

But it was Ms. Dela Cruz’s mentoring of Ricablanca and Garcia that Esteban loved the most.

“Siya ang nag ga-guide sa mga bata, iyun ang pinaka-grateful ako sa kaniya (I am most grateful for the guidance she gives the young players),” Mr. Esteban said of the power-spiking Ms. Dela Cruz.

The Lady Stags, mentored by multi-titled coach Roger Gorayeb, didn’t have an answer to Ms. Dela Cruz and the Lady Cardinals’ relentless attacking game despite coming into the season boasting some of the best spikers in the league including Kat Santos.

Ms. Santos, in the best shape of her NCAA career, couldn’t get going though and finished with just 12 hits. — Joey Villar

Masters brings together players divided by PGA Tour and LIV circuit

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 8 — World number one Scottie Scheffler comes into this week’s Masters as a unifying force in a divided golf world, playing the type of game that has grabbed the attention of fans everywhere.

As the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV circuit try to iron out an agreement, the reality that fans are the big losers in their feud is sinking in.

The majors have always attracted elite fields but the buzz around this Masters has been dialled up several notches with most of the world’s top players set to go toe-to-toe for the first time since the British Open last July.

“It’s going to be great to see all these great players together,” said twice major winner and broadcaster Andy North. “That’s what we want to see as fans and as broadcasters, to be able to get the best against the best. “To get (Jon) Rahm and (Brooks) Koepka and these guys here to play on the same golf course at the same time as everybody else, I think is really important for our game.”

Lured to the breakaway circuit by huge pay-days, LIV headliners Mr. Rahm, Mr. Koepka and others poached from the PGA Tour have been happily counting their money but largely out of the golfing spotlight. With those big-name departures the PGA Tour has lost currency, seriously diminishing the product but now a golfer of some consequence is starting to emerge from the chaos.

Mr. Scheffler is not an unknown commodity. He has won a major and seven other PGA Tour titles, including two this season. The 27-year-old American is a modest man — when he won the 2022 Masters he said his big splurge was a hot tub — but he is widely seen as the best golfer on the planet by a mile, even by world number two Rory McIlroy.

Statistically, he has entered Tiger Woods territory.

Mr. McIlroy said at the end of last year that Mr. Scheffler was having perhaps the best ball-striking season of all time, which would top Mr. Woods’s 2000 campaign. This season he is posting even better results. Of the eight PGA Tour events Mr. Scheffler has entered this year he has finished no worse than 10th in all but one.

With back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer and Players championship and a runner-up finish at the Houston Open, Mr. Scheffler is the hot favorite to slip into the Green Jacket Sunday.

If Mr. Scheffler does become the first to successfully defend his Masters crown since Mr. Woods in 2002 he could become the marquee golfer the sport needs as it navigates the LIV Golf and PGA Tour storm.

When play begins on Thursday, Mr. Scheffler will be the focus of attention but as always there are others at Augusta National who will grab the galleries’ attention.

Mr. Rahm won the Masters last year as a member of the PGA Tour but returns to defend the Green Jacket as an employee of LIV Golf. The Spaniard is among 13 LIV golfers in the field which includes Mr. Koepka and evergreen Phil Mickelson, who finished runner-up at last year’s Masters.

Mr. Woods maintains he never enters an event if he does not believe he can win but even he would have to view his chances of a sixth Green Jacket as a long shot.

The 15-time major winner has never missed the cut at the Masters as a professional but that run of 23 consecutive cuts made could be in danger.

The 48-year-old has made one PGA Tour start this year and that lasted just 24 holes. Willing himself around Augusta’s rolling layout for 72 holes may be too much to ask of Mr. Woods’s battered back and leg.

Mr. McIlroy, who yearns to complete the career Grand Slam, has declared his love for Augusta but the Masters has never returned his affection. It has been a decade since the hugely popular Northern Irishman’s last major win and there have been heartbreaking near misses at the Masters, such as in 2011 when he began the final round with a four-shot lead only to suffer a harrowing back-nine collapse. — Reuters

UConn knocks off Purdue to repeat as national champion

GLENDALE, Arizona. — Tristen Newton scored 20 points and dished out seven assists as UConn won its second straight national championship, beating Purdue 75-60 late Monday

Stephon Castle added 15 points and Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan contributed 11 apiece for the top-seeded Huskies (37-3), who found a way to limit the Boilermakers on offense outside of center Zach Edey.

Mr. Edey, the two-time National Player of the Year, scored 37 points on 15-of-25 shooting, but much of his scoring in the second half came with Purdue (34-5), another No. 1 seed, facing a sizable deficit.

UConn was quicker, more efficient from the field and tougher on defense compared to the Boilermakers, who stayed close until early in the second half, when the game started to get away from them.

The Huskies are the first team to secure back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles since Florida did so in 2006-07.

Mr. Edey missed his first three shots of the second half, and UConn went ahead by nine when Mr. Castle converted a putback for a 43-34 lead with 16:08 to play. A lob from Mr. Newton to Samson Johnson for a dunk gave the Huskies a 47-34 advantage.

Mr. Newton drove the lane and flipped a two-handed layup over the 7-foot-4 Mr. Edey, whom the Huskies successfully doubled-teamed in the paint in the second half. That basket gave UConn a 51-38 cushion with 12:06 to go.

The Huskies took control for good on an Alex Karaban 3-pointer with 9:53 remaining, and Hassan Diarra followed with a layup for a 56-40 lead. Purdue couldn’t recover, trailing by at least 13 the rest of the way.

Outside of Mr. Edey, the Boilermakers went 9-for-29 from the floor for the game. Braden Smith went for 12 points and eight assists for Purdue. Mr. Edey also hauled in 10 boards. Mr. Edey energized Purdue for long stretches of the first half, making 7 of 12 shots in the period. In one sequence, he emphatically rejected two UConn attempts near the rim.

Mr. Edey was a force down low, even while going up against Mr. Clingan, who, despite being 7-foot-2, could only keep the 300-pound Mr. Edey from scoring when he was able to force the Boilermakers’ big man out of the interior.

But UConn made everyone else on Purdue miss their shots.

Mr. Smith hit a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired with 2:18 to play in the first half, cutting the Huskies’ lead to 32-30. UConn scored the last four points of the half for a 36-30 lead.

The Huskies connected on 48.4 percent of their field-goal attempts for the game. — Reuters

Positioning for the NBA playoffs

The regular season is drawing to a close in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but all eyes are still on the last set of matches on offer. In part, it’s because the play-in tournament has eliminated tanking for all but a handful of protagonists. In larger measure, it’s due to the standings being bunched up heading into the playoffs. Seedings are important for one reason or another. The Celtics may have run away with the top spot in the East, but who comes next remains a big question mark in light of the alarming swoon of the Bucks. Meanwhile, the West cannot be more bunched up, with the jockeying for position occurring both in the high and low ends of the bracket.

Among other things, the return to action of Joel Embiid certainly muddles the prognoses in the East. Even if the Sixers begin their campaign for the Larry O’Brien Trophy from the play-in tourney, his inspired play since taking to the court anew late last week sets them up for a deep postseason run. And then there are the usual suspects, beginning with the Heat; as last season’s Finals appearance proved, the latter have shown that placement matters less than rock-solid coaching and vast experience. And speaking of mentorship, the iffy hold supposed savior Doc Rivers has on his charges has the Bucks scrambling for continued relevancy.

The same air of unpredictability prevails in the West. Homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs may still be up for grabs, but the Nuggets, given their status as defending champions and the presence of presumptive Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, figure to be the contenders all and sundry want to avoid early on. In contrast, the Thunder and Timberwolves are seen as less-imposing threats in the face of their relatively uninitiated positions. Which is why such notables as the Lakers and Warriors, likely play-in participants, aren’t fazed by the challenge that awaits.

All told, the one-and-done set-tos that ninth and 10th placers are afforded have been a boon to both casual observers and longtime habitues of the pro hoops scene. Deliberate losses are down, contests in the last week stay important, and players are constrained from looking ahead. The suspense factor is highlighted. Now if only officiating can improve, or at least be consistent, to the point where outcomes are accepted and not adjudicated.

 

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.

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