LRTA administrator Berroya, 74

November 15, 2021 | 8:06 pm

REYNALDO I. Berroya, a retired police general who became administrator of the Light Rail Transport Authority (LRTA), has passed away. He was 74.

“It is with profound sadness and sorrow that we bid adieu to one of the most courageous and dedicated public servant and defender of the Republic, Gen. Reynaldo Berroya, administrator of the Light Rail Transport Authority,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in a statement on Monday.

Mr. Berroya, who was elected as LRTA administrator in 2017, previously held positions in the Department of Transportation and Communications, Land Transportation Office, Civil Security Group, Anti-Drugs Task Force, and the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, among others.

Mr. Tugade described him as having an “exceptional leadership.”

“As Administrator, he was one of those who was instrumental in lifting and revitalizing the image of the country’s transport system, particularly the railways sector,” he also said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Dargani siblings in pandemic supply controversy caught in Davao

November 15, 2021 | 8:05 pm

Darganis-arrest-OFFICE-OF-SENATE-SGT-OF-ARMS — OFFICE OF SENATE SGT OF ARMS

TWO OFFICIALS of a company being investigated for allegedly anomalous contracts for pandemic supplies are now under Senate custody after they were caught Sunday afternoon at the Davao International Airport, where they were supposed to take a private flight to Malaysia.

Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. President Twinkle Dargani and her brother, Pharmally Corporate Secretary Mohit Dargani, are now detained at the Senate following their arrest by members of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) while already on board a private plane bound for Kuala Lumpur.

Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said at the Pandesal forum Monday that she expects the Darganis to be more forthright in their testimonies now that they are under Senate custody.

“In the past few weeks, the Senate has been scouring possible hideouts of the Darganis after they were cited in contempt and ordered to be arrested for refusing to submit documents the Senate needed in its investigation,” Senator Richard J. Gordon, Sr. who chairs the blue ribbon committee, said in a statement Monday.

“We knew they were hatching their grand escape via the back door,” he added.

Mr. Gordon on Monday also sent a letter to Globan Aviation Corp. to request details and copies of the flight contracts showing the price, contractor, payer, and signatory of the documents related to the Darganis’ supposed flight to Malaysia.

Ms. Hontiveros also said during the forum that the final committee report will likely include recommendations to sue former budget procurement executive Lloyd C. Lao, former Presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, and other Pharmally officials.

“The foreign officials of Pharmally, the elder and younger Huang, are already subject to standing warrants of arrest in Singapore and will probably be recommended for charges here in the Philippines with regards in particular to violations of the new procurement law and the tax code,” she added. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

PAL introduces exclusive flights for fully vaccinated in Manila-Bacolod route

November 15, 2021 | 8:05 pm

Bacolod-Silay-airport-NEGROS-OCCIDENTAL-PROVINCIAL-GOV'T — NEGROS OCCIDENTAL PROVINCIAL GOV'T

PHILIPPINE Airlines, Inc. (PAL) is offering flights exclusively for those fully-vaccinated in its Manila-Bacolod route starting this month.

PAL Bacolod branch head Rene G. Aviles, in a letter to industry partners, announced a “special flight for fully vaccinated passengers only” from Manila, twice a week on Monday and Fridays in November and December.

“You might want to take that flight if you want to travel more safely,” Bacolod City Administrator Em Legaspi-Ang said in a Facebook post where she shared the PAL advisory.

The flag-carrier is also maintaining a daily Manila-Bacolod-Manila service.

The Bacolod-Silay International Airport is the main gateway to Negros Occidental.

Bacolod is currently under Alert Level 2, the second most relaxed quarantine level under the new system.

The city has eased rules for inbound travelers, including the lifting of the negative RT-PCR test result and S-pass requirements for fully-vaccinated individuals.

The city has seen a decline in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and positivity rate over the last four weeks.

As of Nov. 14, Department of Health data show Bacolod had 757 active COVID-19 cases out of the 3,456 recorded since the start of the pandemic. There were 22,093 recoveries and 603 deaths.

Bacolod has fully vaccinated 42% of its target population while over 45% have been given a first dose, based on data as of Nov. 8. — MSJ

House panel approves bill protecting human rights defenders

November 15, 2021 | 8:05 pm

A COMMITTEE in the House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that seeks to protect human right defenders from harassment and intimidation.

In a hearing, the House Committee on Human Rights approved a substitute bill to House Bills 15, 161, and 240, subject to amendments.

The measure would mandate the government to respect the rights of defenders such as forming organizations. It will also prohibit state authorities from freezing or seizing their bank accounts, among others.

State authorities will also be directed to refrain from using “derogatory” labels, or tagging human rights defenders as “red,” “communists,” “terrorists,” or “enemies of the state.”

It would also create a Human Rights Defenders Committee, with the chair and members to be selected by the Commission on Human Rights along with representatives from the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, Karapatan, Free Legal Assistance Group, and the National Union of People’s Lawyers.

House Deputy Speaker Bienvenido M. Abante, Jr. suggested the inclusion of government officials, such as representatives from the Department of National Defense and Department of Justice, in the committee.

Meanwhile, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Jane I. Elago welcomed the approval of the bill saying as it can help enable the youth to actively contribute to nation-building.

“It is imperative to give the highest priority to the implementation of legislative enactments, executive issuances and judicial decisions that guarantee respect, protection, promotion and fulfillment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, to provide access to legal remedies and reparative measures to human rights violations victims,” she said in a statement.

A counterpart bill is pending at the committee level in the Senate. — Russell Louis C. Ku

Spain’s Morata grabs late winner to seal World Cup spot

November 15, 2021 | 7:09 pm

1 of 2

SEVILLE, Spain — Spain’s Álvaro Morata came off the bench to strike a late winner as they qualified for next year’s World Cup finals in Qatar by beating stubborn visitors Sweden (1-0) in a tense clash on Sunday.

Morata struck in the 86^th minute when he cleverly lifted the ball over Sweden’s Robin Olsen after Dani Olmo’s fierce drive was pushed onto the post by the keeper and fell into his path.

Spain, who won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, finished top of Group B with 19 points, four ahead of the second-placed Swedes who could still qualify through the playoffs in March.

“I felt more pressure now then in the Euros,” said Spain manager Luis Enrique, whose side lost to eventual winner Italy on penalties in this year’s European Championship semifinals.

“We tried to work a lot on the mental side, always trying to keep it positive and the players responded well. I’m so proud of them and how they responded.”

Spain, playing in front of 52,000 fans in the sold-out La Cartuja stadium, had never lost a home game in World Cup qualifiers and kept their record intact in Seville.

They had only ever lost four of 52 games in the city.

“We knew it was a life and death situation and we wanted to qualify at any cost. Nobody said it was going to be easy and I’m happy for our people,” Sergio Busquets told reporters.

It was a nervous occasion and although Spain dominated play, the Swedes created the best opportunities through the dangerous Emil Forsberg and Alexander Isak on the counterattack.

Forsberg almost scored twice in the first half. First, he shot just past the upright and then he was left unmarked at the far post to meet Ludwig Augustinsson’s cross with a volley that licked Unai Simón’s right-hand post before going wide.

“It feels sour. I think we played a good first half and created chances, but the ball did not want to go in. It was not our day.” Forsberg told reporters.

After playing the full 90 minutes in Sweden’s 2-0 loss to Georgia on Thursday, Zlatan Ibrahimović started on the bench and made little impact when he came on for the last 20 minutes.

The game was heading for a draw, which would have been enough take Spain to the finals, when Olsen tipped Olmo’s strike against the woodwork before it fell to substitute Morata, who was winning his 50^th cap, and he calmly put the ball in net.

It will be Spain’s 16^th appearance, and 12^th in a row, in 22 World Cups. The last time they failed to qualify was in 1974. — Reuters

Miles Bridges helps Hornets edge Golden State Warriors

November 15, 2021 | 7:09 pm

1 of 2

MILES Bridges scored 22 points and LaMelo Ball had 21 as the Charlotte Hornets edged the visiting Golden State Warriors (106-102) on Sunday night.

The big contribution came from Terry Rozier, who scored all 20 of his points in the second half as the Hornets stretched their winning streak to three games.

The Warriors, who lost for just the second time in 13 games, had a seven-game winning streak snapped. They’re 3-1 in road games.

Andrew Wiggins poured in 28 points and Stephen Curry, playing in his hometown, had 24 points for the Warriors. Jordan Poole added 13 points and Draymond Green 11. Curry was just 3-for-13 on 3-pointers.

There were 27 lead changes in the game.

Rozier’s 3-point play put the Hornets up 102-98 with 2:24 left. The Warriors scored the next two baskets, with Green’s dunk tying the game at the 44-second mark.

Bridges put Charlotte back in front on the next possession. Golden State’s Kevin Looney then missed two foul shots.

Rozier countered with two free throws for the game’s final points.

Cody Martin and Kelly Oubre, Jr. scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench for Charlotte.

It was a close game throughout. In the second half, the margin never was wider than four points — and that happened just three times (once in the third quarter and twice down the stretch in the fourth quarter).

Charlotte’s 47-41 lead marked the widest margin for either team.

The teams were tied at 63, 65, 68, 70, 74 and 77, all in the third quarter.

Then the Hornets went a stretch of more than three minutes with just one field goal, but launched into the lead at 81-80 on Bridges’ basket.

Curry’s second 3 in the final 70 seconds of the third quarter put the Warriors up 88-87 going to the fourth.

Fittingly, the score was 57-57 at half time. Ball had 19 points by the break, hitting four 3-pointers.

The Warriors shot just 6-for-21 on 3s in the first half. — Reuters

Heinicke and Gibson lead Washington to upset the Buccaneers

November 15, 2021 | 7:09 pm

TAYLOR Heinicke passed for one score and Antonio Gibson ran for two touchdowns as the Washington Football Team upset the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers (29-19) on Sunday in a rematch of last season’s National Football Conference (NFC) wild card game.

After Tampa Bay (6-3) pulled to 23-19 with 10:55 remaining, Heinicke led Washington (3-6) on its longest drive of the season- 80 yards in 19 plays over 10:26 before Gibson scored from 1 yard out.

Heinicke, who nearly led Washington to the upset before losing to Tampa Bay (31-23) in the wild card matchup last season, completed the task on Sunday. He completed 26-of-32 passes for 256 yards, with no interceptions.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady was 23-of-34 for 220 yards and two touchdowns, with two first-quarter interceptions.

Joey Slye kicked three field goals in his Washington debut.

Washington defensive end Chase Young left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury.

Tampa Bay was without tight end Rob Gronkowski (rib injury) and wide receiver Antonio Brown (ankle).

Trailing by 10 points at half time, the Buccaneers had a short field following a punt and went 43 yards on four consecutive Brady passes, the last one for 6 yards and a touchdown to Cameron Brate, cutting the Washington lead to 16-13 with 8:46 left in the third quarter.

Washington answered, driving 71 yards in eight plays, with Gibson bulling his way in from 1 yard out.

Dax Milne’s fumble set the Buccaneers up at the Washington 47, and three plays later Brady found Mike Evans alone down the left sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. Ryan Succop missed the extra point, however, and Tampa Bay trailed 23-19 with 10:55 left before Gibson’s 1-yard TD run with 29 seconds left sealed it.

Brady threw two interceptions in the first quarter for the first time since Week 16 in 2012.

Washington settled for a field goal and a 6-0 lead after the first pick, but cashed in the second time. Starting on the Tampa Bay 46, Washington drove to the 20 where, on third-and-6, Heinicke threw a perfect pass to DeAndre Carter in the end zone.

The Buccaneers sandwiched two field goals around another one by Slye and trailed 16-6 at half time. — Reuters

Phil Mickelson wins Charles Schwab; Bernhard Langer lifts sixth Cup

November 15, 2021 | 7:08 pm

PHIL Mickelson fired a final round, 6-under 65 Sunday to earn a one-stroke victory at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club. But Germany’s Bernhard Langer was the biggest winner of the day, as he secured the sixth Charles Schwab Cup of his career.

At 64 years old, Langer eked out another win in the season-long points race as Jim Furyk, his primary challenger, faltered down the stretch. Furyk led the tournament after 54 holes and would have earned the cup with a first or second-place finish, but he shot an even-par 71 Sunday and several players passed him by.

Langer, who was fighting through back pain earlier in the tournament, followed Saturday’s crucial 63 with a 69 Sunday, which included an eagle at the par-4 fifth hole. He placed 17^th for the event at 12 under.

“I mean, how exciting was it coming down the stretch? Literally came down to the last shot,” Langer said. “If he would have eagled 18, he would be standing here lifting the Charles Schwab Cup trophy and he would be the winner.

“I’m literally overwhelmed with emotion. It was an up-and-down week for me. I had back issues earlier in the week, could barely swing the club. I was this close to pulling out and ground through it and made it and started playing a little better, so that was just incredible.”

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic interrupting the 2020 season, the Schwab Cup reflects a 2020-21 combined season.

Mickelson compiled a 19-under 265 to win his fourth Champions Tour title in six starts since he began playing the circuit earlier this year.

The six-time major champion had six birdies and no bogeys and finished a shot better than New Zealand’s Steven Alker (final-round 67).

“To come out on top here was a special week,” Mickelson said. “I want to congratulate Bernhard because he really is the gold standard for work ethic, discipline as well as talent and a great golf game. At 64, to win the season-long championship, that’s pretty impressive, pretty inspiring.”

Mickelson said he would take the rest of the year off from competition but continue working on his game.

“We watch how hard Bernhard works on the course, right, but he works off the course just as hard,” Mickelson said. “That’s what I’ve got to do this offseason to make sure that I’m maintaining speed, maintaining fitness to where I can practice and work as hard as I need to to play and hopefully have another moment like I had in this year’s majors.”

Furyk only managed one birdie on his front nine but was hanging around in contention before bogeys at Nos. 10 and 13 set him back.

Furyk finished second in the points race, with Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez coming in third. Jimenez posted a bogey-free 64 and joined a large tie for seventh at 15 under that also included Paul Goydos, whose 63 was the round of the day. — Reuters

Muguruza seals semifinal berth; Plíšková beats Krejčíková at WTA Finals

November 15, 2021 | 7:08 pm

SPAIN’S Garbiñe Muguruza reached the semifinals of the season-ending Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico, after beating Anett Kontaveit, while Karolína Plíšková missed the cut despite her comeback victory over Barbora Krejčíková on Sunday.

Muguruza ended Kontaveit’s 12-match winning streak with a (6-4, 6-4) win over the Estonian, booking a spot in the knockout stage for the first time since her tournament debut in 2015.

Muguruza won a remarkable 80% of her first serve points and fired seven aces in Sunday’s victory as she finished second in the “Teotihuacan Group” behind Kontaveit, with both posting a 2-1 record.

“Today was a match that was kind of everything or nothing,” Muguruza told reporters. “Starting the round-robin with a loss, it was never good. To finally get two wins and qualify was amazing.”

Two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza will face compatriot Paula Badosa in Tuesday’s semifinal. The winner of the contest will be the first Spanish woman to reach the final since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario finished runner-up in 1993.

“I didn’t know all of this history,” Muguruza said. “1993, I was born that year.

“It’s amazing that there are four players left and two of them are Spaniards. That just shows that Spain has a great level of tennis.”

Earlier, Plíšková came out on top in an all-Czech showdown, storming back to stun compatriot Krejčíková (0-6, 6-4, 6-4).

Despite the win, Plíšková failed to reach the semifinals as she finished third in the group, with Kontaveit and Muguruza advancing as the top two. Second-seeded Krejčíková ended bottom after losing all three matches.

The WTA Finals divides the top eight players into two groups of four, with each player competing in three matches. The top two from each group advance to the semi-finals.

“The first game was super long and I somehow lost my focus and of course I was a bit nervous to play a Czech woman,” Plíšková said after the match.

“It wasn’t easy at all, at some point I thought it is almost over in the second when she broke me to go up 4-2. I am proud that I kind of stayed there and fought for it.”

Having never taken a set off Plíšková in two career meetings, Krejčíková quickly took care of that little bit of business with the French Open champion steamrolling through the opener in just 26 minutes.

Plíšková committed 12 unforced errors in the opening set but the former world number one steadied herself in the second. She still found herself in a hole when Krejčíková grabbed an early break on her way to a 4-2 lead.

With her opponent on the ropes, Krejčíková could not deliver the knockout blow as Plíšková dug deep sweeping the next four games to level the contest.

Plíšková’s powerful serves and pinpoint forehands helped her fend off break points at 2-2 and 4-4 before she completed her comeback in a closely contested decider. — Reuters

Is our slide to the bottom irreversible?

November 15, 2021 | 5:52 pm

buildings-slum area — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

The political season is upon us. As in all national elections, everyone’s distracted by it. Trolling, black propaganda, partisan mudslinging, backstabbing, and all the negatives of self-serving politics are overpowering the nation’s consciousness. Once again it will be about winnability at all costs. Voters will be entertained and pandered to; lots of money will flow to buy the vote and the count. Substantive intergenerational and nation-building issues will be skimmed through; no depth, no breadth, no cogent plan to deal with it. We keep electing the unworthy, yet, foolishly expecting different results.

Time and again it’s been said that we’re a society that’s long on rhetoric and posturing but short on action and performance. We go through the motions merely to gain favor. To use an overused cliché, we talk the talk but don’t walk the talk. We’re good planners but terrible implementors. We don’t mean what we say nor say what we mean. No word of honor; it’s just a word. Everyone wants to be the boss giving orders without ensuring that the work was thorough, on time, within budget, and according to specs. We want the best in life the quickest way possible by hook or by crook. Taking the short cut is endemic in the way we do things.

Self-interest continues to lord it over the national interest. It suits our short-cut mentality. Self-interest is naturally divisive, which explains our fractured state. On the other hand, protecting the national interest requires unity of common purpose despite our socio-cultural diversity. United we are not. Example: geopolitical debates almost always boil down to who’s pro-American or pro-China. Nowhere in sight is our national interest. If at all, a passing mention is made without understanding what it is and what it takes to protect and advance it.

If we were real patriots (at least a critical mass of, say, a third of the population), we won’t be tolerating the repeated inefficiency, crime, corruption, treachery, and negligence that’s defined us through decades without learning its lessons, like only an idiot nation can. But then again, patriotism is just another word to mouth just to sound good. Our national decay began with the failure of education, yet, we haven’t arrested the slide that we’ve been squawking about for decades. Which explains the loss of our moral compass; the lack of knowledge of everything, critical thought, and patriotism; and limited sense of civic duty and responsibility.

Ok, enough said. Let’s tackle a crucial matter — the absolute necessity for us to think long-term; a firm vision of what we want to be; how we’re going to go about it; and the kind of people we need to have in places of command and control beyond the term of one administration to sustain the journey to the next level. Obviously we’re not like the great powers that think in terms of decades. We love short cuts, right? They set their goals way in advance, then engage in backward planning to map out their building blocks in stages with specific strategies, measures and metrics. They strive long and hard to earn their place in the sun.

One private institution that’s helping government institutions to think and plan long-term, i.e., transforming the way they think and do things, is the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) founded by former Secretary of Finance Jesus Estanislao. The ISA uses the Performance Governance System based on the Balanced Scorecard to help them and private corporations re-invent themselves; professionalizing and modernizing for the long pull; resetting mindsets to ensure continuity of effort until the vision is attained, after which they’d start over aiming for the next level.

From where I sit, the results have been promising but not without episodes of backsliding or freezing subject to changes in leadership, degree of commitment to the program, and quality of the team or bureaucracy in each organization to sustain the effort. In the case of government, I noted through the years that while elements considered to be its vital arms, legs, and organs are participants, Malacañang’s overwatch has been perceived to be minimal at best. National and local government continue to dysfunction in many areas of statecraft, lacking direction and integration of effort to harness national power, from the bottom up, in the national interest.

Its perceived lack of involvement is unfair to those who diligently hammered out the National Security Policy for 2017-2022, and the 2018 National Security Strategy that flowed from it, that was based on the security-development nexus. They could do a better job if only the national leadership would be more attentive, purposive, and decisive in enforcing the approved policy and strategy. A thorough performance audit is in order to determine to what extent the country’s national security interests have been accorded proper planning and resource allocation, and whether our elements of national power have been enhanced in the process.

For example: Have our collective actions and recorded performance been reflective of our core national values of maka-Diyos (God-fearing), makatao (humane), makabayan (patriotic) and maka-kalikasan (pro-environment)? To what extent has the national interest — national, economic, human and ecological security — been considered in the conduct of statecraft? Have our instruments of national power — political and legal; diplomatic; informational; intelligence; economic and technological; military and law enforcement — been effectively harnessed for a whole-of-nation approach to solve endemic problems and build our nation better?

For those of us who’ve come across various metrics from authoritative sources on how we rate and rank versus other nations — i.e., education, economy, quality of life, maturity, governance, integrity, will power, defense, justice, and patriotism — I’d say that, over-all, we’re in the second quartile from the bottom. Now, to get back to where I began, I don’t hear any party or candidate for high office giving us a sense of what they’ll do about these vital issues. Maybe as the campaign revs up, I may perceive a candidate or two possessing the right stuff. They may capture my vote and yours, but will they be counted? That’s for another op-ed.

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP.

Rafael “Raffy” M. Alunan III is a member of the MAP, chair of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations, vice-chair of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc., and sits on the boards of other companies as independent director.

The world is going to need a Covax for climate

November 15, 2021 | 5:51 pm

WHEN he stunned the Glasgow climate conference by committing India to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a crucial caveat. Without the “transfer of climate finance and low-cost climate technologies,” he said, developing nations such as India would never be able to achieve their ambitious targets.

That’s not an idle worry. If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that the developing world cannot count on getting access to life-saving technologies quickly and affordably. With climate change, the consequences could be even more dire: The world will never be able to reach its climate goals if large emerging economies such as Brazil and India can’t decarbonize just as fast as the US and Europe do. World leaders need to address such concerns now, before they botch yet another global crisis.

The reality is that many of the key innovations in climate-related technologies, such as battery storage and carbon capture, are likely to come from Western companies. In theory, patent holders could ramp up production in lower-cost countries, or offer licenses to local manufacturers there, to ensure that their products are affordable at scale. Alternately, rich countries could provide enough climate finance to cover the cost of adoption.

But wealthy nations aren’t even meeting their existing financing pledges — let alone the $1 trillion India has demanded by 2030. And some companies will no doubt jealously guard their innovations rather than licensing them, for fear of losing valuable intellectual property.

Suspending IP rights, as India and South Africa have fought to do with COVID-19 vaccines, will not help. Decarbonization cannot happen without the willing cooperation of the private sector. While taxpayer support will be instrumental in developing new climate technologies, just as it was for mRNA vaccines, adopting, commercializing and integrating those innovations into emerging economies — working batteries into the electric grid, for example — will rely on private enterprise. Without strong IP protections, private investment won’t be directed at the problem at the scale the world desperately needs.

Leaders should learn from the errors they’ve made during the pandemic, especially the failure of institutions such as Covax, the common vaccine pool. Covax was supposed to channel vaccines manufactured in the rich world to developing nations. Calling its performance disappointing would be an understatement: Just 5% of the vaccines administered so far across the world have come through the facility.

Other good ideas have seen even less pickup. Last year, the World Health Organization set up what it called a COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, meant for “developers of COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and other health products to share their intellectual property, knowledge and data with quality-assured manufacturers, through public health-driven, voluntary, non-exclusive and transparent licenses.” Companies have roundly ignored the pool — although, in a rare spot of good news, Merck & Co. recently agreed to license its new oral antiviral medicine, molnupiravir, to a C-TAP-aligned body.

The pandemic didn’t exactly give the world a lot of time to design institutions to encourage technology transfer. We don’t have that excuse for the climate crisis. We need to develop and put in place stronger versions of Covax or C-TAP well in advance of the relevant breakthroughs in technology.

A “climate Covax” would focus on ensuring that innovations in climate-sensitive sectors, especially those developed with the help of taxpayer money, could be licensed for use in the emerging world at scale. Covax failed in part because it became just an allocation mechanism, without any right to contest bilateral deals between manufacturers and rich-country governments.

Its successor, therefore, should partner with those governments earlier on in the process and ensure that it is involved in the initial stages of research. Being a co-developer and co-funder would give the facility leverage to push companies to license the technology they develop — similar to how the US National Institutes of Health is pushing Moderna, Inc. on its vaccine patent.

A climate Covax would also have to invest directly in manufacturing, rather than depending entirely on existing suppliers. Covax’s overdependence on the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. meant that New Delhi’s vaccine export ban following India’s devastating second wave crippled the program.

And, finally, rich-country governments supporting fundamental research into climate technology need to write better contracts. The Biden administration might want to help get mRNA vaccines to the world. But officials have complained that their hands are tied by absurdly restrictive contracts written during Operation Warp Speed.

If it passes, the administration’s Build Back Better framework will pump hundreds of billions of dollars into climate-related private-sector innovation. Now is the time to ensure that the world benefits from that investment just as much as individual companies do.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Blackout economics, COP26 and Negros’ power prices

November 15, 2021 | 5:51 pm

“Blackout economics” is the improper allocation of limited resources that leads to blackouts and power outages. I created this phrase and its definition in this column’s piece on June 14 (https://www.bworldonline.com/ten-indicators-of-blackout-economics/).

The first example of blackout economics in the Philippines was the killing of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, when President Cory Aquino, upon the advice of her officials, did not allow the operation of the nuclear power plant. Killing the potential source of 621 MW of power with no alternative big power plants led to large-scale blackouts in the country in 1990-1991.

Another example of blackout economics is happening in Europe with high reliance on solar-wind power and the slow ditching of huge capacities from coal and nuclear. Europe experienced calm weather this summer and wind output was very low, risking blackouts, so they scampered for more gas from Russia. The year to date (YTD) price as of Nov. 12 (€75.68) of TTF/Euro gas was 311% or four times that at end-2020 (€19.12), and UK gas was 251% — from €56.40 on Dec. 31, 2020, to €194.05 on Nov. 12, 2021.

COP26 COMPROMISE
After two weeks of meetings and negotiations at the UN COP26 in Glasgow 2021 that ended in Nov. 12, two major agreements resulted. One, the developing world wants $1.3 trillion per year of climate money from rich countries starting 2030. This is a big jump from $100 billion per year starting 2020 as agreed on in COP 20 in Paris 2015 which was not implemented anyway.

And two, that there would be a “phase down” instead of “phase out” of coal power. This is important because many developing countries aspiring to be rich — China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, etc. — are now dependent on coal for at least 40% of their total power generation. Blackout economics is not part of their aspirations.

SEA ICE MELT AND GROWTH
Among the major arguments for “decarbonization” is that “polar ice melts fast and results in rising sea level.”*

This statement is simply not true, is dishonest, because polar ice in both the Arctic and Antarctica, melt and grow yearly, no exception, for thousands and millions of years. There are years where the ice growth is lower than usual but followed by ice higher than usual.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR), Arctic and Antarctica Data archive System (ADS), keeps daily data of polar ice. Arctic ice in 2021 this November is higher than in the 2010s but lower than in the 2000s. In Antarctica, ice this year was above average until September then below average in October-November.

The lowest level that Arctic ice ever recorded since the 1980s was about 3.2 million sq.kms. in September 2012. Still, this is nearly ten times the Philippines’ land area of 0.3 million sq.kms. And among the highest levels of Arctic ice was in March 2012 at about 14.5 million sq.kms., which is 48 times the Philippines’ land area.

There is no “unprecedented, unequivocal melting of polar ice**,” no alarming rise in sea level due to melted polar ice, no climate crisis.

I pointed this out during the Albert Del Rosario Institute (ADRi)-Citizenwatch virtual townhall discussion last week, on Nov. 11, “Ensuring Power Supply Security for a Sustainable Economic Recovery.” The main speaker was Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy. There were eight other speakers: Jose Alejandro of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Meneleo Carlos of the Federation of Philippine Industries, Romy Bernardo of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, Ernie Pantangco of Management Association of the Philippines, Vic Dimagiba of Laban Konsyumers, Inc., Terry Ridon of InfraWatch, Louie Montemar of Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente, and myself.

I also mentioned during the forum that hastening decarbonization will lead to blackout economics part 2 in the Philippines because coal generates 57% of total electricity production while solar-wind only generates 2.7% (see Figure 2).

NEGROS POWER PRICES
In the Philippines, the most “green” place is the Negros sub-grid. As of 2020, its power generation was 2,358 GWH, 99.8% came from renewables — geothermal 65.5%, solar 20.6%, biomass 13.6%, hydro 0.2%, oil-based 0.2%, and coal or gas zero.

And Negros has among the most expensive electricity prices in the country. For instance, in the October and November 2021 billing of the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO), the generation charge is P6.269/kwh compared with Meralco’s P5.044/kwh in October and P5.335/kwh in November (Meralco’s November rise was largely because of Malampaya temporary gas outage maintenance work).

The transmission charge in Negros is also high — P0.858/kwh in October and P0.753 in November — compared with Meralco’s P0.708 in October and P0.668 in November. One reason is that Negros is power-deficient overall and solar-surplus at certain hours. At night or on cloudy days, Negros imports coal power from the Cebu and Panay sub-grids, while on hot cloudless days it can export surplus solar power. It makes frequent use of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines’ (NGCP) transmission system.

ERC FAVORITISM OF NGCP
Last June, the NGCP’s Negros-Cebu submarine cable, with a capacity of 180 MW, was damaged by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) dredging and re-channeling activities in Amlan, Negros Oriental. Transmission was cut by half to only 90 MW, resulting in higher electricity prices in Negros.

This brings up at least three issues.

One, the NGCP and DPWH have no liability, all congestion costs are passed on to consumers and generation companies (gencos). The DPWH or its contractor should have liability insurance to handle these cases but the NGCP has no incentive to go after the DPWH if it can pass on all the costs to the consumers and gencos.

Two, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) to remove “congestion costs” in the price determination of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). This was a unilateral order, with no consultation with players. This has a distortionary impact on WESM pricing.

And, three, the ERC imposes reliability standards with penalties on the competitive generation sector but has lax reliability standards on the monopoly transmission sector.

When it comes to generation and distribution, the ERC is strict and hard. When it comes to transmission and the NGCP, the ERC is a softie. This is lousy and anti-consumer. n

*Paraphrased from statements like: “Rapid glacial melt in Antarctica and Greenland also influences ocean currents, as massive amounts of very cold glacial-melt water entering warmer ocean waters is slowing ocean currents. And as ice on land melts, sea levels will continue to rise.” — from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting

**Paraphrased from statements like: “Climate change is unequivocal and has caused unprecedented changes to the world’s atmosphere. It affects the polar ice caps…” from https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/climate-change/cop-26-greening-of-polar-ice-should-top-agenda-here-s-why-79839

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

inimalgovernment@gmail.com