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ONE Championship names Hata head of Japan office

SINGAPORE — ONE Championship has just announced the latest addition to its executive leadership team, naming Hideyuki “Andy” Hata as president of ONE Championship, Japan.
As president, Mr. Hata will be responsible for overseeing operations in Japan, driving development and growth across all key metrics.
Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “I am thrilled to welcome Andy Hata to our leadership team at ONE Championship. Andy is a world-class business leader with a deep passion for sports and a desire to make a big impact on the world. He brings strong startup and global leadership experience, hands-on intellectual firepower, and a proven championship track record of commercial performance.”
For his part, Mr. Hata said he is excited and honored to be part of ONE Championship, which has steadily grown its business and reach throughout the year.
“I am excited and honored to be a part of a billion dollar global property like ONE Championship that is focused on and committed to celebrating Asian values on a global stage. I look forward to expanding the opportunities ONE Championship has in a market rich in the tradition of martial arts, as well as bringing ONE Championship’s brand of world-class entertainment to Japanese fans across the country.”
Mr. Hata is currently the President of Nielsen Sports, North Asia, where he is responsible for all of Nielsen Sports’ business activities in Japan, South Korea, and Mainland China. Prior to joining Nielsen Sports, Andy led a number of global projects with Sony Corp. and was part of Sony’s global partnership team with FIFA where he spearheaded their global activation strategy for all FIFA tournaments, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
ONE Championship is set to enter the Japanese market in 2019 with its first event “ONE: A New Era” taking place on March 31 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

Agent optimistic about client Markelle Fultz’s status

THE PHILADELPHIA 76ers do not know when Markelle Fultz might be ready to return to action, but Fultz’s agent is optimistic that the second-year guard will play for Philadelphia again this season.
Agent Raymond Brothers told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday that Fultz, 20, is seeing improved strength and mobility in his right shoulder.
Earlier this month, after visiting a number of doctors, Fultz was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), which causes compression or irritation of the nerves or blood vessels in the area between the lower neck and upper chest.
Fultz, who played only 14 games in his rookie season due to a right shoulder ailment, has played in 19 games this season, averaging 8.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 41.9 percent. Last season, he averaged 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists, and he shot 40.5%. — Reuters

Perspective by Peter Long

 

17th Asian Continental
Chess Championship
(2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)
Open Division
Tiara Oriental Hotel,
Makati City, Philippines
Dec. 10-18, 2018

FINAL STANDINGS
1-3 GM Wei Yi CHN 2728, GM M.Amin Tabatabaei IRI 2587, GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2714, 6.5/9
4-11 GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly IND 2621, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2641, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov UZB 2546, GM Parham Maghsoodloo IRI 2688, GM Lalith Babu MR IND 2529, GM SP Sethuraman IND 2664, GM Baskaran Adhiban IND 2695, GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2701, 6.0/9
12-19 GM Susanto Megaranto INA 2512, GM Ni Hua CHN 2683, GM Abhijit Kunte IND 2469, GM Rinat Jumabayev KAZ 2602, GM Alireza Firouzja IRI 2607, GM Wang Hao CHN 2730, IM Nguyen Anh Khoi VIE 2480, GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami IRI 2537, 5.5/9
Total of 64 participants
Time Control: 90 minutes for the 1st 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added after every move starting move 1.
Recently we had to go through the unpleasantness of one of the top players in the region, GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, complaining about the tournament conditions during the Asian Continental Chess Championships. His complaints about being threatened by armed goons outside the hotel has been proven to be false, but there was some truth to his grumblings about the hotel room not being of a sufficiently high quality for such a prestigious event.
One of my friends in the region, Peter Long, is an experienced organizer who has served as an International Arbiter in many events. I asked him to comment on the tournament conditions for the players during the tournament and this is what he wrote:
PERSPECTIVE BY PETER LONG
My life in chess really began when in 1980, as the Malaysian Junior Champion, I participated in the Asian Junior Championships held in Baguio, Philippines.
The contrast could not be greater for one coming from a national schools championship held during term breaks where we slept on desks in classrooms and played in the school hall and where the only open tournament in the country was held on evenings in a school library.
Some might be old enough to remember the Philippines as I experienced it then as the most advanced country in Asia!
In chess terms, undisputed No. 1 in Asia, boasting Asia’s first Grandmaster and a candidate for the World Championship in Eugene Torre in a time when there were few International Masters and getting a FIDE rating was an achievement by itself!
What did the Philippines do right then in organizing?
First, the players had the stage, left, right and center. They and their games were the focus and the public, corporate sponsors, government and the chess community all saw this.
Second, perfect conditions, be it the high-profile playing venue or the hotel where all stayed and where meals were five-star, and with no expense spared with hospitality.
All this came together at the highest level and in the best possible way at the Manila World Chess Olympiad which is till today, if not ranked the best ever, certainly in everyone’s top three.
But what about the prize fund you might ask? Of course there has to be reasonable attractive prizes but look around the region you will see that the big successes like the Bangkok Chess Club Open and JAPFA Chess Festival have adopted exactly this formula without a big prize fund a major factor!
Perhaps if anything is to be added to a proven winning formula, it is essential today to have high-speed Internet access and for the games to be broadcast live.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
From my talks with Mr. Long It appears that the hotel accommodations and food for the participants in the tournament were OK but nothing special. One important item though that was overlooked was that no provisions were made for special dietary needs for vegetarians and those unable to eat pork or beef for religious reasons.
High-speed Internet access was available to some but not all. There was no live broadcast of games, and, to me the most important of all, the tournament was not open to the public.
In short the tournament organizers just provided the bare minimum but they could have done much more. Contrast this with the events of the Philippine Chess Society in the early 2000s where the players would be housed in a nearby serviced apartment with excellent conditions and shuttle cars to transport the players from hotel to playing hall to shopping malls, where the tournament would be held in the giant SSS Auditorium with seating arrangements for the public, with sensory boards where the moves of the players are immediately flashed on giant screens so the public can follow the moves, with separate press rooms and analysis rooms and even a parallel open tournament to entice the best players in the country to come and play, spectate and comment on the games.
In fact, the tournaments were so legendary that organizers from other countries would come and watch what we were doing!
We have got to bring those days back when tournaments were really events for the players and the public. Where chessplayers would all congregate to celebrate the game that we all love.
Then and only then will the Philippines get back our glory days in chess.
All this criticism is of course meant to be constructive, the road we should take going forward, for the 2018 Asian Continental Chess Championship was a rush job and the organizers barely had a month to put the whole thing together. We cannot be too harsh on them.
On the chess side of the equation too we have to do some self-assessment. Take a look at this game from the first round.

Pascua, Haridas (2442) —
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi (2701) [D74]
17th Asian Continental-ch Open 2018
Makati City (1.4), 10.12.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 0–0 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Nc3 Rb8 9.e3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 b6 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Rd1 Qd7 13.e4 Na5 14.Bf4 Rbc8 15.Rac1 e6 16.h4 h6 17.e5 c5 18.dxc5 Qa4 19.cxb6 axb6 20.Nh2 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 h5 22.Nf3 Qc4 23.Qe3 Qxa2 24.Bh6
[24.Qxb6? needlessly complicates the position after 24…Nb3 25.Rb1 Rxc3]
24…Nc4 25.Qf4 Bxh6 26.Qxh6 Qa8 27.Qf4 Rc5 28.Kg1 Qb8?
Taking his eye away from the f3–knight. This is a mistake because after …
29.Qh6
The threat of Ng5 forces Black to give up material.
29…Rxe5 30.Nxe5 Qxe5 31.Rd4 Qc7 32.Rcd1 Nb2
33.R1d2
For some strange reason Haridas goes for a repetition. If he was looking for a win then it is not so hard to see that 33.Rd7! is very strong:
33…Qxc3? 34.R1d4 picks up an important tempo for White. For example, there is now a threat of 35.Rxf7! Kxf7 (35…Rxf7?? 36.Rd8+ Rf8 37.Rxf8#) 36.Rf4+ Ke7 37.Qxf8+ Kd7 38.Rf7+ and wins Black’s queen next move;
33…Qc8 (34.R1d4 Nc4 (Once again 34…Qxc3?? is met by 35.Rxf7) 35.Qg5 (now the threat is Rd8) 35…e5 and now White can go for either 36.Rd8 or 36.R4d5.
33…Nc4 34.Rd1 Nb2 35.R1d2 Nc4 ½–½
Haridas is playing a superGM, someone rated 259 points higher. Statistically, that means that if they play a 100-game match Vidit is expected to win 82 games against Haridas’ 18. He cannot be faulted then for aiming for a draw in the first round against such a strong GM. However, if he ever wants to become a GM, Haridas must take his chances as they come, and going for a win in a position where he was the exchange up and virtually no chances to lose is mandatory. If he wants to progress to the next step and become a Grandmaster.
As you can see from the table above there were no Filipino players in the top 19. On no. 23 is balikbayan IM Ricardo de Guzman, someone who achieved the International Master title in 1982, 36 years ago!
If the cream of Philippine chess is playing in the Asian Ctontinental Championship and the highest-placed is a 57-year old IM, it does say something about the current state of Philippine chess. Having said that, Kiriks is really a very strong player and the following win is reminiscent of his best days — playing over the entire board, all his forces advancing and the opponent’s retreating, and a nice finish.

Bai, Adelard (2100) —
de Guzman, Ricardo (2357) [E15]
17th Asian Continental-ch Open
2018 Makati City (2.31), 11.12.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.e3
More topical is to sacrifice a pawn with 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0–0, a very dangerous weapon wielded by Levon Aronian and also used by the famous artificial intelligence chess engine AlphaZero which used it to defeat Stockfish in their famous 2017 match. White prefers a more conservative approach though.
7…Be7 8.0–0 Qc8 9.dxc5 Qxc5 10.b3 Qc7 11.Bb2 d6 12.Nc3 a6 13.Rac1 Nbd7 14.Rfd1 0–0 15.e4 Rac8 16.Nd4 Qb8 17.Qe2 Rfe8 18.h4 g6 19.g4 h6 20.Rc2 Bf8 21.Rcd2 d5! 22.Nc2 Qf4 23.Bc1
Not 23.f3? Bc5+ 24.Kh1 dxe4 25.Nxe4 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Nxg4 (threatening mate on h2) 27.Bh3 Nf2+ with a winning position.
23…Nxg4 24.Rd3 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 Ndf6 26.Rg3
The best move here is 26.Rh3 but White had a trick in mind.
26…Qxh4 27.Rh3
“Trapping” the Black queen but Kiriks had seen farther.
27…Qxf2+ 28.Qxf2 Nxf2 29.Kxf2 dxe4
Black has four pawns for the knight, 5 passed pawns on the kingside and the queens are off so he can just win by advancing his pawns down the board. Easier said than done but IM de Guzman’s skill in piece and pawn coordination is legendary.
30.Ke2 g5 31.Na4 b5 32.Nb6 Rc7 33.Bb2 Ng4 34.Ne3 Nxe3 35.Rxe3 f5 36.Be5 Rf7 37.Nd7 Bg7 38.Bxg7 Kxg7 39.Ne5 Rc7 40.Rd7+ Rxd7 41.Nxd7 Rc8 42.Rc3 Rc7 43.Nb6 h5 44.Ke3 f4+ 45.Kd4 f3 46.Bf1 b4 47.Rc2 Kf6 48.Ke3 g4 49.c5 g3 50.Bh3 Rg7 51.Rc1 g2 52.Rg1 Rg3 53.Nd7+ Ke7 54.Ne5 Rxh3 55.c6 Bc8 56.Kf2 Rh1 57.Nc4 Kd8 58.Nd2 e3+! 0–1
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

Lakers sans James

LeBron James was angling to make a good impression yesterday, and not simply because of his status as the National Basketball Association’s all-time leader in points scored on Christmas matches. For the fourth consecutive year, he faced the Warriors as the holiday’s marquee matchup. And while he was slated to trek to the court wearing a different uniform than those for the previous three, he relished the opportunity to show that he’s the only constant necessary for success.
Considering the stakes involved, James felt he had something to prove heading into the set-to. With the Warriors standing between him and victory, he was bent on underscoring to all and sundry that he could take the measure of the defending titleholders no matter who made up his supporting cast. Likewise serving as added incentive were statements recently made by fellow Most Valuable Player candidate and familiar Finals foil Kevin Durant on how “toxic” the atmosphere around him could be. As he admitted in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, he was “pissed” when he learned of the sentiments.
And so James performed as best he could. Unlike in previous outings as a Laker, he resolved to stay engaged from opening tip. There would be no stretches of on-court rest, of lackadaisical defense, or of uninvolved offense. There was just one problem, however. His vaunted durability took a hit. Up until he suffered an apparent groin injury four minutes into the third quarter, he looked to be leading the purple and gold to an upset of the Warriors in hostile territory. He was brilliant in keeping the blue and yellow at bay, coming up with 17, 13, five, and one in 21 minutes of play — until, that is, he “felt a pop” while dribbling into the paint and slipped. He then needed to leave the floor for good.
Needless to say, the Warriors pounced on James’s absence. They wasted no time mounting a comeback, cutting the lead down to two not five minutes from his departure. Still, the Lakers hung tough and, after losing the third quarter by six, went on to prevail pulling away. They scored a whopping 36 points in the fourth and, remarkably, limited the hosts to 17 in a solid display of end-to-end work that seemed lacking in recent memory. Having hitherto lost four of their last six outings, they were ripe for the picking. Instead, they displayed their potential to stand toe to toe against the established elite.
No doubt, the Lakers were doubly motivated to triumph in James’s absence. While they succeeded in winning for him, though, the jury’s out on whether they can consistently do so without him. Which is why they’re crossing their fingers magnetic resonance imaging results won’t reveal any lasting damage. He’s crucial to their progress, this season and beyond. And unless and until he recovers fully, they’ll be hoping for the best while playing to avoid the worst.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

Rate hike impact on lending ‘limited’

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Senior Reporter
“GRADUAL” interest rate hikes introduced by the central bank this year are unlikely to weigh on banks’ lending activities, with strong demand expected to be sustained despite higher borrowing costs.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that market interest rates have “gradually risen” following the 175-basis point (bp) cumulative increase in policy rates in 2018, but not at a pace that would make a dent in the growth of bank loans.
“We expect loan growth to remain buoyant even amid higher interest rates, given the generally favorable outlook on the domestic economy,” the BSP said in e-mailed responses to questions from BusinessWorld.
The Monetary Board unleashed five consecutive rate hikes from May to November in an attempt to rein in inflation expectations, at a time when prices of widely used goods have risen to nine-year highs. That was the most aggressive tightening move by the BSP in over a decade, so far, in the face of rising food and oil prices.
Average bank lending rates climbed by 98.7 bps in the 10 months to October, the BSP has said, reflecting “transmission” of higher policy rates and keeping in step with the uptick in global yields.
Despite the rising cost of borrowing, demand for cash is expected to remain strong — particularly for production sectors — and should continue to “support broad-based economic growth in the country.”
Loan growth has so far sustained double-digit pace over the past few months, with an 18.1% increase recorded in October, according to latest available BSP data.
Even the retail segment is expected to remain upbeat, with individual Filipino consumers expected to keep on borrowing despite higher rates slapped by banks.
“[R]ising interest rates appear to have had a limited impact thus far on consumer lending, with overall growth in loans for household consumption (which also includes credit card loans, auto loans and salary loans) exhibiting a robust pace even amid the BSP’s monetary policy tightening measures,” the central bank added.
“Nevertheless, we continue to monitor the market for any signs of stress, particularly as monetary policy typically affects interest rates and bank loans with a variable lag.”
S&P Global Ratings projects credit growth to ease to 14-15% in 2019 due to rising borrowing costs, versus a 19% increase in December 2017 and a projected 15% pickup this year. Analysts added that rising interest rates could also affect the ability of borrowers to settle liabilities.
On the other hand, Fitch Ratings, continued to flag overheating risks in the Philippines after affirming its “BBB” rating last week. Fitch said “excessive” credit growth remains a key concern for the country despite sustained above-6% annual economic expansion.

Budget chief flags smaller national tax share for local governments

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter
THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT may have to reduce local governments’ take in national taxes should the Supreme Court, in a final ruling, stand pat on a bigger revenue base for these units’ “just share,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said last week.
Mr. Diokno cited the need to ensure the fiscal deficit remains manageable amid higher spending on state infrastructure and social services and a bigger Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for local governments.
“Worst case, i-invoke namin ’yung unmanageable public sector deficit. Gagawin namin (We will make it) 30%… of the total (national government tax collections) which is approximately equal to the current system,” Mr. Diokno said in an interview on Wednesday last week.
According to section 284 of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code, the President can reduce the IRA to 30% in the event of an unmanageable public sector deficit, from 40% currently.
The high court released a decision in July, ordering the “automatic release without further action” of local governments’ “just share” of internal revenues that includes all national government taxes, including collections of the Bureau of Customs — not just of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, as practiced currently — and that the national government should implement the ruling prospectively.
The national government filed a motion for reconsideration in August as it sought to keep its fiscal position intact.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the government’s motion.
In the wake of the court decision, state economic managers had considered devolving more national government programs such as conditional cash transfers for the poorest of the poor, farm-to-market roads and local health care programs, although they doubted the capacity of some local governments to take on this additional burden.
The government has programmed its fiscal deficit at 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 and three percent in 2020-2022.
State economic managers have cautioned that complying with the Supreme Court decision and keeping the IRA at the current proportion would push the fiscal deficit to four percent of GDP and may, in turn, threaten the investment-grade standing of Philippine debt which the country bagged and has maintained since 2013.
Complying with the Supreme Court decision is estimated to cost the national government an additional P195 billion, on top of the P522.75 billion in national tax share allocated to local governments this year.
“We cleared that (IRA stand) with the President. He said (of bigger fiscal deficit proportion to GDP) ‘not during my watch,’” Mr. Diokno recalled.
Under the current IRA scheme, local governments will get P575.52 billion next year, to be divided among provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, depending on size of the population and land area.
IRAs are automatically appropriated every fiscal year, based on internal government revenues three fiscal years prior. Local governments are mandated by law to allocate 20% of their annual IRA shares to development projects.
While the national government has been goading local units to be more financially independent, IRAs have so far been most local governments’ main source of funds for programs and projects, although they have the authority to impose local levies like real property tax, business tax, and fees for services.

Transport dep’t to submit NAIA rehab proposal this week for NEDA approval

By Denise A. Valdez
Reporter
THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) plans to submit to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in the next few days the unsolicited proposal of the “super consortium” to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), months after the group bagged original proponent status (OPS).
Asked for an update on the consortium’s NAIA rehabilitation proposal, Transportation Undersecretary for Planning Ruben S. Reinoso, Jr. said the department received late last week the updated submission from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
“We’re evaluating MIAA submission. (We received it) just last Friday. We’ll try (to give it to NEDA) before New Year,” he said in a text message on Monday.
Last September, the government awarded the consortium of seven of the country’s top conglomerates — dubbed as a “super consortium” or “NAIA consortium” — OPS for its proposal to rehabilitate and expand the country’s main air service gateway.
The group consists of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.; AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., with Changi Airports International Private Ltd. as technical partner.
Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo told reporters on Friday that the proposal was “with MIAA” which was “doing the final project evaluation report, and it is due to be submitted on or before 3 p.m. this afternoon to DoTr.”
“And then from DoTr, sa amin mabilis lang ’yan eh [it will be quick from our end]. Pagka [If] everything is complete… we’ll send it to NEDA,” Mr. Tamayo said.
The group’s rehabilitation proposal covers the expansion of the existing terminals and building new taxiways at NAIA.
It originally included construction of a third runway, but the DoTr opted to remove this segment and instead have it as an option for expansion.
PASSENGER CAPACITY BREACHED
Mr. Tamayo noted that, after the consortium bagged OPS in September, MIAA found “many” “technical” issues in the proposal that needed to be reviewed. “I can’t reveal the details, pero marami pang nakitang issues [but there were several issues seen]. It’s more about the project details. Technical.”
Mr. Tamayo said the consortium’s proposed timetable puts a Swiss challenge in the second quarter of next year, while construction is targeted to begin by September.
The group’s original submission in February was for a P350-billion, 35-year contract to rehabilitate and expand NAIA.
It eventually had to trim costs to P102 billion and the concession period to 15 years after comments from the DoTr.
The development of NAIA is seen as a solution to decongest the airport, which accommodated 42 million passengers last year, way beyond its 30.5 million capacity.
The consortium targets to expand annual capacity at NAIA to 47 million in two years and further to 65 million in four years.

Elections could hinder fiscal reforms — Nomura

THE 2019 MIDTERM ELECTIONS could pose some risks to fiscal reforms being pursued by the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, analysts at a global bank said, as the fate of succeeding tax measures will depend on the outcome of the polls.
Nomura economists have flagged politics as one of their biggest concerns for the Philippines next year, saying the outcome of the May 13 elections will determine the fate of reforms in the next 18th Congress.
“The mid terms will likely pose some uncertainty to the prospects for fiscal reform through the rest of President Duterte’s administration,” the Japan-based bank said in its Asia 2019 Outlook published earlier this month.
In May, Filipino voters will have to fill 12 of the 24 Senate seats and fill all of the seats at the House of Representatives, as well as posts for provincial governors, mayors and other local government officials.
Nomura pointed out that it now seems “unlikely” that the second package of the tax reform program put forward by the Department of Finance will be signed into law before the elections, as lawmakers will have to end their sessions early to make way for the campaign period which starts on Feb. 12.
Package two, which aims to reduce corporate income tax rates and revamp the existing scheme for tax incentives and other fiscal perks, recently hurdled the House of Representatives and is now under Senate deliberation.
“This implies that the remaining packages will also face further delays,” Nomura said.
“In that scenario, the pace at which related legislation can be passed will depend on the outcome of these elections, i.e., whether President Duterte’s allies win and he retains his ‘super-majority’ in Congress.”
The difficulty with which the first of up to five planned tax reform packages was approved in both legislative chambers had sowed doubts that Mr. Duterte, whose popularity has remained relatively intact in opinion polls, otherwise had enough political clout to push his reforms in Congress.
The Executive has been pushing for the passage of other tax packages in order to rake in more revenues to finance the administration’s aggressive infrastructure spending plans.
Nomura noted that lawmakers look less interested in pursuing tax reforms despite being backed by the President.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had told taxmen during the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s 114th anniversary in August that “… there is now more political resistance to succeeding tax reform packages” with the “proximity of elections.”
“Tax policy, as we know, is never the best way to be reelected,” Mr. Dominguez had said.
Nomura, in its report, cited “signs of reform fatigue as the implementation of Package 1 led to some public backlash and the perception that it contributed to this year’s surge in inflation.”
“Given the political cycle, we doubt that legislators will push to expedite the legislative process before May, hence pushing out further the passage of subsequent packages, particularly if President Duterte has less support in Congress after the elections.”
On the other hand, Nomura has acknowledged that the elections will give a one-time boost to consumption as candidates spend for their campaigns, as observed in past election years.
The bank sees gross domestic product growth surging to 7.1% in 2019 from a projected 6.3% this year, before scaling back to 6.8% by 2020. If realized, this would mean that the state’s 7-8% growth target for 2019 would be doable, even if the official 6.5-6.9% goal for 2018 will be missed. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

SM Prime upbeat on mall business

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has 72 shopping malls in the country. — BW FILE PHOTO

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. remains upbeat on its shopping mall business, noting that the country is not facing an oversupply of malls yet.
SM Supermalls Chief Operating Officer Steven Tan called the retail sector “very vibrant,” citing the shopping mall’s shift to being a more experiential place.
“It’s more exciting now more than ever. I was asked if there was a surplus already, but no we’re still enjoying. For example, SM North EDSA is 99% occupied. I don’t really see that as it poses a threat or a problem,” Mr. Tan said in an Dec. 7 interview on the sidelines of the opening of the North Towers, a new segment of the company’s SM North EDSA mall in Quezon City.
For instance, Mr. Tan said the company included an “experience zone” in the newly-opened North Towers to give shoppers a place to hang out.
“It’s not your usual mall where people go shopping, it’s really more like hanging out. There’s a lot of restaurants, we created an experience zone, lots of games,” Mr. Tan explained.
North Towers is an expansion of SM North EDSA, making it the country’s second largest mall next to SM Mall of Asia. It is one of the 72 SM malls in the Philippines, the latest of which is located in Eastern Visayas called SM Center Ormoc. The company also has seven malls in China.
The property unit of country’s richest man Henry Sy, Sr. plans to end the year with 9.6 million square meters of retail space across its local malls. By 2019, the company targets to have 10.5 million sq.m. of gross floor area in the country, further increasing it to 10.8 million sq.m. in 2020.
The listed firm’s expansion is now geared toward the provinces, as it seeks to take advantage of the economic growth opportunities in the regions.
“Our expansion program should allow us to sustain double-digit growth over the next three years. The growth will be driven by malls and residential operations complemented by our other businesses,” the company said in a presentation posted on its website.
SM Prime’s shopping mall unit contributed 58% of its revenues in the first nine months of 2018, following by the residential business at 34%.
The company booked a net income attributable to the parent of P23.44 billion in the first nine months of 2018, 17% higher than the P20.05 billion it made in the same period a year ago. Gross revenues meanwhile went up 15% to P74.56 billion during the nine-month period.

Magic on the ice


FOR THOSE who have made it a holiday tradition to watch skating shows during the Christmas season, they will find that this year they can watch one show which combines magic, acrobatics, and figure skating.
The show — Steve Wheeler’s Magic on Ice — opened on Christmas Day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, and has performances until Jan. 1.
The US touring production has entertained “millions of viewers” in the continental US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia since it started more than 15 years ago.
“[The show] is a fusion of art forms,” Mr. Wheeler, the show’s producer and resident magician, told the press on Dec. 20 at the Novotel Araneta Center.
Mr. Wheeler shared that he started performing magic when he was very young (“around nine or 10 years old”) and around the time he was playing ice hockey.
“Then as a teenager, I got the idea, well, why don’t I take the magic that I have and combine it with my love for the ice and big productions and create something that’s never been done before? That’s the start of Magic On Ice,” he explained.
The show, which has toured more than 200 cities including Seoul and Abu Dhabi, started as a 10-minute act and was a part of another show. In the beginning there were six people in the act, then “it grew and grew, and just became bigger and bigger,” he said.
Now, the show is one-and-a-half-hours long and features a company of 21 performers including Mr. Wheeler’s wife, Tracey Wheeler (who also serves as one of the show’s producers), and Estonian champion and four-time Olympian Maria Sergejeva on ice.
It will also showcase 23 different acts, from grand illusions to skating numbers.
Aside from breathtaking magical performances and the beauty of figure skating, Mr. Wheeler said they also put in a lot of effort to involve the audiences in the show itself.
“At one part of the show, we’re going to invite children to come up on stage and perform with us,” he said.
“It’s not a kids show but the kids love it [likely because] kids have a fascination with magic,” he added.
The Magic on Ice team spends four months preparing for the show, a feat that seasoned lighting director Emilio Morgia (who did the lighting for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino) said is unheard of in the industry.
“In other shows we only spend weeks preparing,” he said.
Also joining the technical team are John Fox (director), Glenn Grayson (music director), and Tim Clothier (illusion and scenic).
Steve Wheeler’s Magic on Ice runs until Jan. 1 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Tickets are available at www.ticketnet.com.ph or call 911-5555 for more information. Ticket prices range from P190 (General Admission) to P2,335 (VIP). — Zsarlene B. Chua

Young author publishes a children’s book on adoption

TWENTY-ONE little girls aged four to six, dressed in lovely Sunday dresses, sat in two rows of small chairs facing the windows at the lecture room for another Saturday of reading sessions with 18-year-old Alexis Lopez at the White Cross Orphanage in San Juan city. But today was different. Aside from reading various children’s books, Ms. Lopez read her self-published children’s book to the little girls for the first time.
Volunteering since Grade 8, Ms. Lopez has been conducting reading sessions and theater workshops with the same group of little girls in the orphanage every two weeks.
Aside from actively volunteering, Ms. Lopez’s passion for writing inspired her to write a story on adoption. Her self-published book, Jodie’s Journey, tells the story of a young orphan who lives in St. Mary’s Orphanage, with her friends being her only family. Jodie’s life unexpectedly changes when she learns that she will be moving to Spain to live with new parents.
The children’s book contains both English and Filipino versions of the story, features illustrations by Ray Sunga.
The inspiration for the story came from one of the little girls in Ms. Lopez’s theater workshop. “After one of my theater workshops, I heard that one of the girls that I was teaching was going to move to Spain to be adopted and live with a family there,” Ms. Lopez told BusinessWorld after the reading session at last week’s book launch.
“I thought about how there was no story written about adoption yet,” she said about inter-country adoption. “I think that when we read about characters in books who go through something similar as us, it makes us feel reassured. So, I thought that maybe in writing this book, I’d help these children be able to transition more smoothly to their new lives in their new homes.”
INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTIONS
According to White Cross Orphanage executive director Mely V. Reluya, inter-country adoptions are applicable to receiving countries such as the US, Canada, Italy, and Spain.
There are accredited agencies who facilitate the matching with foreign parents who require clearances from their governments.
“Their documents will be sent to the Philippines. A panel will review their report, specially the psychological evaluation, to check if they are prepared and emotionally ready to take care of the child,” Ms. Reluya told BusinessWorld in a mix of English and Filipino.
Ms. Reluya further explained that when foreign couples may only suggest the preferred age of the child whom they wish to adopt. She said that prospective parents aged 47 years old and below are advised to adopt children aged one to two years of age, while older prospective parents are advised to adopt older children. In addition, the couples should also provide a legal guardian in case of emergencies.
After a child is matched to a family through the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB), the policy-making body for inter-country adoption, the child will be sent a “welcome album” with photographs of their future family members, relatives, and their house. A social worker will orient the child about his/her future family and relatives.
NOT ALONE
Ms. Lopez has already distributed her book to three other orphanages in Metro Manila including Hospicio de San Jose. She plans to distribute the book to orphanages in various regions in the future.
“I want to be able to bring the book to more orphanages in the country so that each child that gets adopted gets to read the story and see that they are not alone,” she said about the intention to deliver the book to its target audience — orphans — directly. She has no intention at the moment to distribute the book commercially.
The young author hopes that her young readers understand that “their feelings are normal and in what they’re going through, they have people to support them.”
“The best stories can be found around you and the people you are surrounded by. The stories that I like to write are about people and real experiences of hope, optimism, and perseverance,” Ms. Lopez said before leaving the lecture room to join the little girls for their morning snack. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

AEV allots up to P60-billion capex for 2019

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
ABOITIZ EQUITY Ventures, Inc. (AEV) is looking to allocate up to P60 billion to fund the expansion of its power, food, banking, land, and infrastructure businesses in 2019.
“We haven’t finalized yet…but (2019 capital expenditures) would probably be in the range of P50 to P60 billion,” AEV Chief Financial Officer Manuel R. Lozano said during a round table interview in Taguig City last week.
The 2019 capex is lower than the P77 billion AEV has committed to spend in 2018. Mr. Lozano noted the company has only spent about three-fourths of this budget, since some projects have spilled over to 2019.
“(The) bulk (of capex) will be for power, but now we already have Apo Agua for water, that’s gonna be big also. (AboitizLand) has several projects that we started. So I think now you’re going to see a little bit more from the other subsidiaries,” Mr. Lozano said.
Apo Agua is AEV’s bulk water project in Davao City worth about P13-14 billion. It was designed to have a capacity of 347 million liters per day, making it the largest bulk water project in the country. The facility also comes with a 2.5-megawatt hydro-electric power plant.
The bulk water project is scheduled to start operations in 2021.
For its power unit, AEV is looking at more renewable energy projects at the local front while also exploring opportunities abroad.
“We really want to look at more projects in the solar side. There’s a lot of opportunities there. We’re bringing guys who understand hydro, solar, and wind… at least get them moving in 2019,” Mr. Lozano said.
The AEV executive also said the company is upbeat on potential projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Myanmar.
“In Vietnam, they have a lot of solar, wind projects that we’re looking at. And Indonesia all kinds, from geothermal, to solar, to hydro, so we’d like to see where we can do things.”
Meanwhile, AboitizLand, Inc. also has some projects lined for its nationwide expansion in 2019. Mr. Lozano said the property developer is looking at new township developments in Cebu and Davao, alongside some land banking efforts.
AboitizLand has recently opened The Outlets at Lipa, a 9.3-hectare commercial, lifestyle, and leisure development in Batangas. The property opened with 25% of its total gross leasable area of about 27,000 square meters leased out, with more to tenants to expected to locate there in the first quarter of 2019.
To finance its 2019 capex, Mr. Lozano said they are planning to file a shelf registration for about P30 billion worth of retail bonds at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Our plan is to do a shelf, get it already started next year, and then depending on our investments we can either do a bigger offering later in the year or in 2020… The shelf lasts for three years, so I think P10 billion a year on average is not unreasonable especially since we’re still growing a lot of our business,” Mr. Lozano said.
AEV is also expected to close a $579-million (around P30.6 billion) loan from several banks by the first quarter of 2019. This will finance its acquisition of GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co. and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. from the Ayala group.
“But we’re going to hedge some of it. We’re trying to match it with the cash flows from the company as well. It’s a dollar borrowing, the only question is how much do we hedge to peso,” Mr. Lozano said.
AEV booked a net income of P17.3 billion in the first nine months of 2018, nine percent higher year-on-year, on the back of a 21% uptick in gross revenues to P135.25 billion.

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