MANILA, Philippines¡ªTwo rival billiards tournaments are currently going on at exactly the same dates, from May 6 to 11, and they have confused both players and fans. One is the Mandaluyong Mayor¡¯s Cup, an international tournament organized by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) currently being held at the Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium. The other is the Villar Cup at the Villar-owned Star Mall in Alabang.

Why the same dates? I think it is purely intentional¡ª

on the part of a rival group out to sabotage BSCP¡¯s Mandaluyong Cup, which has been on the sports calendar since February. The Villar Cup came out of the blue only 10 days ago. The Mandaluyong Cup is sanctioned by the Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU) and recognized by the international billiards community.

How do the two tournaments compare? The Mandaluyong Cup is an international event with foreign players participating; the Villar Cup is strictly local. The winner of the first gets a guaranteed slot in the World Ten Ball Championship, a trophy and a title; the winner of the latter gets only the prize money, nothing else. The Mandaluyong Cup is televised by ABS-CBN; the Villar Cup is not. The BSCP is recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee and by national and international sports communities; the Villar Cup is not.

The Villar Cup has infuriated not only the BSCP but also the mayor-members of the League of Cities of the Philippines, which is sponsoring the series of tournaments. The Mandaluyong Cup is only the first leg of the tournament, which will go to other cities of the Philippines. If Senate President Manny Villar intends to use the Villar Cup to jump-start his presidential campaign, I think he is doing it the wrong way. He has just alienated the city mayors, especially Mandaluyong¡¯s Ben Hur Abalos. Definitely, Villar will not get tips on how to win a presidential election from former Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos.

BSCP and the mayors ask: There are 365 days in the calendar year, why did Villar choose May 6 to 11 for his own torunament, the same dates when the Mandaluyong Cup is being held? It looks like there was a malicious intent in the scheduling.

I think Villar was used by this rival group, which desperately wants to take over the sports and is envious of the success of BSCP and its partner organizations. His mistake was that he and his handlers did not first investigate the billiards scene. Had they investigated, they would have learned that there are two billiards groups fighting for dominance and that BSCP is the better one. Until the present BSCP took the helm three years ago, local billiards was in a sad state with a bogus ¡°billiards godfather¡± at the helm, and gambling as its main staple.

BSCP¡¯s Philippine Pool Tour is an annual series of televised tournaments staged in strategic cities in the Philippines. This year, six cities are participating. Next year, 12 tournaments and 12 cities will be involved. In addition, BSCP will be staging its own internationally recognized World Ten Ball Championship and the event is broadcast around the world. How the Villar Cup can match all these events without turning into a joke is hard to see.

Villar bet on the wrong horse.

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Also going on is a conference of Filipinos from all over the world seeking a solution to the looming food crisis. With the theme, ¡°Building the Global Filipino Nation for Effective Governance,¡± the conference at the University of Makati seeks to solve the food shortage through practical technologies and resources.

It will try to involve the eight million overseas Filipinos to contribute their experiences and technologies and know-how to solve the Philippines¡¯ various sociopolitical problems.

¡°There are thousands of IT professionals in the world who have contributed to significant innovations worldwide,¡± said one delegate. ¡°It is time to harness that knowledge and create a platform to strengthen the economic, social and political environment in the Philippines.¡±

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to lower its rates to Manila Electric Co, (Meralco) so that the latter¡¯s pass-on rates to consumers would be lower. That may mean further losses to Napocor.

There is an easier way to reduce power rates: Remove the 60 percent royalty on natural gas from Palawan. That would immediately cut the cost of power by at least P1.70 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Indigenous natural gas from Camago-Malampaya field accounts for 40 percent of the electricity produced for Luzon. This gas, our own, is taxed 10 times more than imported coal. (The tax on imported coal is roughly P.017/kWh, while the royalty tax on Camago-Malampaya gas is a whopping 60 percent of the gas price or roughly P1.70/kWh). Also, this gas, although produced from our own gas field is priced the same as imported gas. Why? What is the benefit of producing our own natural gas if we pay the same price for it? We might as well keep it in the ground to be tapped when gas fields overseas are exhausted, which is what the United States is doing to its oil in Alaska.

We have the ridiculous situation of having clean, locally sourced natural gas taxed more than dirty imported fuels even as it is consumed by Filipinos. We are the only country in Asia that penalizes its citizens when they consume indigenous fuel. All countries in Asia, except the Philippines, collect a royalty only when they export gas or oil, never when it is consumed domestically. In fact, our mining industry is only levied a 2 to 3-percent royalty when it exports its minerals. But gas consumed domestically is taxed 60 percent?

Removing the royalty on natural gas will not only lower power rates but also encourage more use and development of clean, indigenous fuel.