SERENA WILLIAMS made a winning return to competitive action at the Hopman Cup on Monday but could not prevent the United States from losing, 2-1, to Greece in their opening round-robin match.
Williams, playing her first competitive match since losing the US Open final to Naomi Osaka, powered past Maria Sakkari 7-6(3) 6-2 to level the Group B contest at 1-1 after Stefanos Tsitsipas had beaten American Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-7(3) 6-3.
The 37-year-old, who had both ankles strapped and required medical attention in her singles match, then combined with Tiafoe but could not overcome Sakkari and Tsitsipas who won the mixed doubles rubber 4-1 1-4 4-2 to seal the tie.
“It’s great to be back out in match day, and it’s great to be back out here,” said Williams, who will be chasing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this month.
Williams made several unforced errors early on but overpowered her opponent with 13 aces and 29 winners, claiming two breaks en route to a comfortable win.
“It was my first match back, she played unbelievable. Maria is super young and such a good player. I was making a lot of errors. I was like, ‘It’s OK, it’s your first match and you’ll get better.’ I just kept trying to think that.”
Defeat left six-time winner US at the bottom of the group ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with holder Switzerland, which thumped Britain on Sunday.
Roger Federer and Williams, holders of a combined 43 singles Grand Slam titles, will face each other for the first time on Tuesday when they feature in the mixed doubles match alongside partners Belinda Bencic and Tiafoe.
Local media have described the clash as the most anticipated match involving men and women since 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes” which saw 39-time major winner Billie Jean King beat former men’s world number one Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match.
“It’s exciting for both of us and I hope a lot of tennis fans tune in and watch it,” Federer said on Sunday.
“I admire everything she’s done on and off the court, we’re both fierce competitors and we always want to win.” — Reuters
SYDNEY — The 17th Asian Cup finals will be the biggest in the 62-year history of the tournament but even with 24 teams battling it out, it is hard to look much beyond regional powers Iran, Japan and South Korea as potential champions.
Australia will be hoping to join that trio and Saudi Arabia as multiple winners of the continental crown as they defend the title they won on home soil four years ago.
The Socceroos triumph came at the end of a highly successful staging of a tournament played out in front of bumper crowds that has left the United Arab Emirates much to live up to.
The Emiratis, playing hosts for a second time after 1996 when they reached the final, showed with their recent staging of FIFA’s Club World Cup, though, that there is a passion for the game that can be awoken by local success.
Al Ain’s run to the final against Real Madrid brought passionate crowds to the stadiums of Abu Dhabi and provided a welcome pre-tournament boost to a national team that has hardly set the world alight under Italian Alberto Zaccheroni.
It is fair to say, though, that Real also brought more world-class footballers to the Emirates than the Asian Cup will with only South Korea skipper Son Heung-min likely to register with many casual football fans outside the Asia-Pacific.
That does not mean there will not be plenty of skilful football on display as the cream of the world’s most populous continent contest the equivalent of the European Championship and Copa America.
The world’s most populous countries will both be represented but neither China nor India are expected to be around at the business end of the tournament.
The Indians would probably not have qualified without the expansion from 16 teams, while China appears to have stagnated under the guidance of Italian World Cup winner Marcello Lippi.
Under an agreement with his club Tottenham Hotspur, Son will only join the fray for the third and last Group C match against Lippi’s side as well as the knockout stage.
The Taeguk Warriors should have more than enough quality to seal one of the top two spots in the group without him, though, given the other two teams in it are debutants in the shape of Kyrgyzstan and Sven Goran Eriksson’s Philippines.
South Korea, who won the first two Asian Cups and finished runners-up to Australia in 2015, look like the form team in Asia going into the tournament, having gone unbeaten in six matches under Portuguese coach Paulo Bento since their World Cup exit.
Japan, which made the last 16 in Russia before going out to a thrilling Portugal comeback, also look to have a reasonably straightforward passage having been drawn with Uzbekistan, Oman and Turkmenistan in Group F.
Hajime Moriyasu has had the Samurai Blue playing an attractive attacking style since he took over after the World Cup and even without Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki they have enough quality to challenge for a fifth title.
The importance of midfielder Aaron Mooy to Australia’s challenge was illustrated when coach Graham Arnold included him in the squad even though Huddersfield Town had ruled him out of tournament because of a serious knee injury.
For all the class on the ball that Mooy can provide when fit, though, Australia’s title defense is most likely to rest on its ability to find the net now that the totemic Tim Cahill has finally hung up his personalised boots. DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT
A continent as vast as Asia can rarely have put on any sporting event without the backdrop of some political turmoil — astonishing as it may now seem, Israel won the title in 1964 — and the 2019 Asian Cup will be no exception.
Saudi Arabia, who won the last of their three titles the last time the UAE hosted, severed diplomatic ties with Group E rivals Qatar in June, 2017 over Doha’s alleged support of terrorism. Qatar denies the accusations.
The UAE also joined the diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar last year but the 2022 World Cup host will be looking to ignore the distractions and hoping its side can offer some hope of success, or at least no disgrace, in four years’ time.
There are also representatives of the more troubled countries and territories of the west of the continent with Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen all looking to bring cheer to people who have endured much hardship in recent years.
Iraq did just that with its fairytale run to the title in 2007 and the Lions of Mesopotamia have been drawn to play neighbor Iran in Group D.
Iran has had its traditional uncertain run-up to the tournament but is always a force to be reckoned with in Asia and an end to its 43-year wait for a fourth title cannot be discounted.
Carlos Queiroz’s side went out of the last Asian Cup on penalties to Iraq in a thrilling quarterfinal played out in a magnificent atmosphere in Canberra.
If its Jan. 16 group match in Dubai comes anywhere close to matching that, and the tournament can produce a few more clashes with similar drama and passion, the fans that do turn up in the Emirates will be in for a rare treat. — Reuters
(The Year 2018 is about to end and in hindsight, as a sportswriter, there were a lot of standout moments in Philippine sports to remember.)
The Year 2018 was also a standout year for female national athletes who made their presence felt in various international competitions.
This was clearly highlighted in the 18th Asian Games in the middle of the year in Indonesia where Pinay athletes accounted for 13 of the total 21 medals won by the Philippines, including the four gold medals.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz led the impressive showing of the Filipino female athletes in the Games, winning gold in the women’s 53 kg weightlifting event.
She was then followed to a top podium finish by the women’s golf team and Filipino-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso who ran away with the top individual and team honors.
Providing another gold hardware was skateboarder Margielyn Didal who topped her event with much flare.
Judo’s Kiyomi Watanabe gave the country silver in the women’s 63 kg event.
Bronze medals, meanwhile, were provided by the women’s poomsae team, wushu’s Agatha Wong and Divine Wally, taekwondo’s Pauline Lopez, jiu-jitsu’s Meggie Ochoa, golf’s Bianca Pagdanganan, pencak silat’s Cherry May Regalado and karate’s Junna Tsukii.
Also having it good in 2018 was the Philippine women’s national football team, or the Malditas, which played well in the initial round of the Olympic Asian qualifiers to book a spot in the next round to be played later this year.
Combat sports made its presence felt in 2018 with our boxers and mixed martial arts fighters having it solid.
Filipino boxing superstar Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao was world champion anew by bagging the WBA world welterweight title with a spirited showing against erstwhile champion Lucas Matthysse of Argentina in July to win by technical knockout in the seventh round.
He is set to defend the same title against American Adrien Broner in Jan. 20 in the United States.
Jerwin Ancajas was a busy man last year, fighting three times, and remains as the IBF junior bantamweight champion.
In 2018, Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire seized the WBA super world bantamweight title while “Vicious” Vic Saludar became the WBO world minimumweight champion.
Just this Monday, New Year’s Eve, the longest-reigning Filipino world boxing champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes added a fourth division title by bagging the WBO world super flyweight title with a split decision win over Japanese Kazuto Ioka.
In MMA, Team Lakay stalwarts dominated with four champions in ONE Championship and one in Brave CF.
Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio won the ONE world flyweight title in June before teammate Joshua “The Passion” Pacio grabbed the strawweight crown in September.
Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, for his part, downed the unsinkable Bibiano Fernandes to win the bantamweight world championship.
Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, meanwhile, reclaimed the lightweight gold in November with Stephen “The Sniper” Loman retaining his Brave CF bantamweight title.
Filipino-American Brandon Vera, too, kept Filipino MMA rolling by keeping his ONE world heavyweight title.
As far as this writer, 2018 also saw me with some memorable interviews with star players in the Philippine Basketball Association and collegiate leagues.
I was able to talk to sports officials and stakeholders, both local and international, which helped a lot in me better appreciating the goings-on in the sports ecosystem.
International sporting stars I also had the privilege of talking to.
The nomination I got for Martial Arts Journalist of the Year from the 2018 Global Martial Arts Awards in Singapore was a cherry on top of what was a truly memorable year.
Thanks, 2018, and looking forward to another fruitful year of covering and writing in 2019. Cheers!
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat. msmurillo@bworldonline.com
Yesterday’s match between the Spurs and Celtics highlighted plenty of similarities between the protagonists. Both encountered adversity early in the season, and both appeared to have overcome it heading into the new year. Both faced roster and rotation changes that required systemic adjustments, albeit not to the point of loss of identity. Both bucked modern-era trends prompted by advanced metrics in allowing for seemingly unhealthy doses of midrange shots. And both, most importantly, leaned on outstanding mentorship to stay competitive regardless of circumstance.
As things turned out, the Spurs won the first of two meetings with the Celtics. Leaning on a 46-point third quarter in which they turned a six-point deficit into a double-digit lead, they underscored their continued relevance in the National Basketball Association despite the loss of former Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard, longtime starter Danny Green, and dynasty figures Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. For a while there, they looked ready to prove true preseason prognoses that had them missing the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. Not so, and, evidently, not under head coach Gregg Popovich.
Indeed, solid guidance from the sidelines is what appears to have righted the Spurs after a roller-coaster beginning to their 2018-19 campaign. Popovich is, if nothing else, an astute assessor of talent, with his capacity to maximize the resources at his disposal resulting in his constructed whole invariably being greater than the sum of its parts. It’s certainly why he has managed to get top dogs DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge to coexist in harmony even though they best operate in the same space that sabermetrics just so happens to have declared No Man’s Land.
How far the Spurs will thrive in the current tumult of the National Basketball Association remains to be seen. To be sure, there’s ample reason to harbor extreme optimism; they just notched their 11th victory in 13 outings to get to within four games of first place in the crowded West. Admittedly, it won’t stop number crunchers from arguing that a regression to the mean is due. Then again, Popovich isn’t a perennial Coach of the Year candidate for nothing. Yesterday, for instance, his sets produced 14 makes out of 26 attempts from three-point range, never mind his profound dislike for the shot. Simply put, he knows how to win, and he figures to keep doing so despite the so-called odds.
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.
By Kap Maceda Aguila
THE doors to the 2019 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) open on Jan. 8 across 11 venues in Las Vegas, Nevada. The annual event owned and staged by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is fancied as the “world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies… [serving] as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies… [a] global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace.”
The spectacle has steadily grown through the years. When it started in 1967 (then in New York City), the CES attracted 17,500 visitors and featured over 100 exhibitors. Last year, it welcomed more than 182,000 attendees, 4,400 exhibitors, and 1,000 speakers.
To the uninitiated, the CES may not appear to be a venue to showcase automobiles, but it is actually an important stage; contemporary and near-future vehicles have also benefited from advancements in technology. We look at some car brands set to flex their muscles at CES 2019. Audi promises “next-generation drive-in movie theater” for its cabins. AUDI
The German automaker known for innovation promises to “turn the inside of the car into an amusement park” at CES 2019 through a “completely new on-the-road entertainment format and a special movie theater experience inside a luxury sedan.” Audi envisions this as the in-car entertainment of the future — one serving up a digital entertainment experience. This comes, avers the brand, in concert with piloted driving — enabling occupants to enjoy the “free time” in the car of the future.
And the company is proffering an even greater experience through the Audi Immersive In-Car Entertainment. This feature (which functions only if the car is stationary) is fancied as a “next-generation drive-in movie theater” affording occupants the chance to enjoy Hollywood blockbusters or content provided by streaming services.
BMW
It’s the iNEXT for the Munich-headquartered automaker, which uses the term to represent its future of “driving pleasure and the potential of digital connectivity.” Visitors can take a virtual drive in the BMW Vision iNEXT, attended to by the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant.
On display are “innovative capabilities in the fields of design, automated driving, connectivity, electrification and services (or D+ACES), which are all defined as key areas of future activity in its corporate strategy “Number One > NEXT.” Expect a concept cockpit to be displayed in an immersive mixed-reality installation to give a sense of how it will be to drive “autonomously, emission-free, and fully connected in the BMW Vision iNEXT.”
This future drive starts with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant suggesting the day’s agenda and subsequently lining up the activities for the trip. Through virtual reality goggles and a “spatial concept,” visitors will be able to initially “drive” BMW Vision iNEXT themselves, then get a sense of how the system takes over the function. “In autonomous Ease mode, the driver interacts with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, which makes suggestions and controls various digital services for the driver — from videoconferencing, to shopping, to smart home functions.”
Referred to as a “Favorite Space,” the brand claims to answer the question: “What will cars look like when they no longer have to be driven by a person, but still can be?”
More immediate use for the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant will be on display, too — specifically in the new X5 and to other models, from March 2019 onwards. The company highlights the ability to use “natural language for interaction with the vehicle and to access functions.”
Outdoor exhibits are also going to be staged. BMW Motorrad will showcase a self-riding BMW R 1200 GS. Though still a test bike, it is a tantalizing glimpse into the near future where motorcycle systems can help provide better assistance with difficult maneuvers. The wraps on the first-ever X7 SUV will be taken off, and visitors can get the privilege of being driven through an off-road course.
HONDA
For this year’s CES staging, it seems Honda is ready to publicly declare the acceleration of its journey toward autonomous vehicles — at least in more practical applications. Honda will unveil its Autonomous Work Vehicle and PATH (for Predicting Action of The Human) Bot at the show. The former is, as its moniker suggests, a workhorse. Debuting at CES 2018 under the name 3E-D18, this year’s 350-kilogram iteration is the result of collaboration with Honda partners to “beta-test and evaluate use cases in a broad array of work environments, including a large-scale solar operations in North Carolina, a wildland firefighting division in Colorado, and an agricultural and environmental sciences college in California.”
The bigger deal about this robot is that it lends itself as a highly flexible, “autonomous mobility platform” that can be conscripted to duty in various settings by “selecting appropriate attachments.”
Honda says on its promotional video for the PATH that the company “envisions a future where people and robots co-exist.” That status quo needs to be precluded by what the automaker calls “3Es;” empower, experience and empathy. Robots, it continues, must “stay out of the way, blend in with people, and be accepted by people.”
To this end, the Honda PATH is “built to smoothly move around public spaces without making people uneasy.” Indeed, the PATH seems to be a perfect everyday frontliner — akin to a Star Wars droid used to making its way among a universe of citizens. Path-planning technology allows the PATH to get out of your way and map out a way through a sea of pedestrians. “The robot learns how people move and avoid each other in true situations,” shares Honda, and its engineers are currently testing the navigation and balance control tech in public spaces.
MERCEDES-BENZ
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe marks its global debut at CES 2019. Now boasting an evolved MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) infotainment system, the vehicle is touted as “the most emotional vehicle of its class” and an intelligent one. Meanwhile, the MBUX Interior Assistant “identifies operation requests on the basis of movements… [and features] augmented reality for navigation and the ability to understand indirect voice commands as well as Energizing Coach featuring individual fitness recommendations.”
On the automation front, Daimler Trucks’ Vision Urbanetic makes its US premiere. This is a new mobility concept for demand-based, efficient and sustainable mobility — one pillared on “an autonomously driving, electrically driven chassis suitable for bodies intended to transport passengers or cargo.”
Logistics firms and local public transport companies are the main target for the “fully network-compatible” Vision Urbanetic which allows for the digital sending of transport requests across urban environments. A show car is meant to highlight how an effective UI/UX design can maintain the smooth functioning of mobility sans a driver.
HALF a century on and Porsche channels the purposeful vibe of its 911 T from 1968 in the newly released 718 T versions of the Boxster and Cayman.
Porsche’s current pair of two-seat sport models fuses together a turbocharged, 296hp, 380Nm, 2.0-liter flat-four engine with a host of performance items like 20-inch wheels, a chassis lower by 20 millimeters, a six-speed manual gearbox with a short-shift lever (Porsche’s dual-clutch PDK is an option), the car maker’s Sport Chrono package, torque-vectoring, and a mechanical locking rear differential.
Along with these enhancements, Porsche pares down the Boxster’s and the Cayman’s cabins by deleting some furniture; fabric door pulls replace bulky handles, and the sport seats only get two-way power adjustments. Also gone is the Porsche Communication Management module, with a storage compartment taking its place. This infotainment system can still be ordered should a customer wants to, but take note; Porsche explained it took the system out to negate the added weight brought about by its installation of a gasoline particulate filter for the engine.
Marking out the exterior of the 718 T Boxster and Cayman are (besides the 20-inch gray wheels and lowered ride height) gray mirror shells; centrally mounted sport exhaust with black, twin tailpipes; and “718 Boxster T” or “718 Cayman T” logos. Paintjobs offered are Indian Red, Racing Yellow, Carrera White, Deep Black, and GT Silver. Lava Orange and Miami Blue are offered as special options.
Porsche said the 718 T Boxster and Cayman, which weigh 1,350 kilograms (when equipped with the manual transmission), has a power-to-weight ratio of 4.5 kg/hp, allowing it to accelerate from rest to 100kph in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 275kph. The cars’ standard Sport Chrono package offers Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual driving modes, selectable through a switch on the steering wheel. Porsche explained Sport and Sport Plus modes make the cars quicker to respond to throttle inputs, while Sport Plus mode also alters the settings of the Porsche Active Suspension Management and Porsche Active Drivetrain Mounts (PADM), which keep the cars flat during high-speed cornering. The PADM system, added the car maker, minimizes vibrations in the engine and gearbox area, as well as reduces the movements that could affect driving dynamics.
So, while the “T” in the 911 T, as well as in other Porsches since, stood for “Touring,” the tag in the 718 T translates to a more dynamic, purer form of driving performance.
GENERAL Motors (GM) International said it collaborated with Richard Watson, founder of the NowAndNext Website and author of Digital vs. Human, in a study meant to determine trends in the automotive industry in 2019. The projections, specific to Asia Pacific, will not all be evident in the region this year, GM said. But it added “one can expect to see them emerge very soon.”
“In 2019, Asia Pacific will still be the growth region, manifested in its overall sense of optimism about the future compared to the general sense of disillusionment in the rest of the world,” the GM study said regarding overall market conditions that influence vehicle sales.
Here are the predictions: Self-driving cars will continue rapid development
Expect to see further development of autonomous transportation, including cars, trains, buses, trucks and, eventually, planes. Decline of driving licenses held by younger people, especially in cities
Citing research by Schroders, GM said the proportion of young people who have a driving license or own a vehicle has fallen in recent years. The rise of car sharing services, such as Grab and Lyft, is a contributing factor. Impacts of aging populace on car design and use
While the median age of people in Southeast Asia is under 30, other countries around the world have a much older populace — the median age in Japan is nearly 50, according to GM. Increasingly, the vehicle of choice for this older generation is turning out to be midsize crossovers, which allow for easy entry and exit. The introduction of autonomous driving systems and ride-hailing services will further aid older customers. Polarizations between large/small, expensive/cheap, and green/non-green cars
While automakers continue to invest in EVs, they are also responding to popular demand for pickup trucks and SUVs — vehicle segments which GM said would be transformed by advances in electrification and alternative fuels in the coming years. Trend toward smaller, lighter vehicles (and growth in advanced nano materials)
Stringent government regulations needed to meet fuel emission standards and advancements in technologies and materials have made “light-weighting” a major focus of global car makers. Examples of weight-reduction technologies given by GM include the use of carbon-fiber body panels and carbon-nano composite underbody components. Growth of connected cars and integrated city transport solutions
Connected cars, enabled by vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, will likely play an essential role in improving traffic safety and efficiency when widely deployed. GM said it demonstrated its V2I capability on public roads in Shanghai in 2017, and that it had participated late last year in the first multi-industry demonstration of C-V2X, or cellular connected car communications. 3D printing of car components and perhaps whole cars (extending to 4D materials)
GM said automakers have been using 3D printers to fabricate prototypes for vehicle development, and that the practice will grow in scale within five years as the technology improves. The company speculated that the use of shape-shifting transformable 4D-printed materials would follow next. Death of the manual gearbox
Advances in the fuel efficiency and performance of automatic transmissions have all but eliminated demand for stick-shift cars. GM said the use of paddle shifters is also just a “passing fad.” In a 2017 report, GM said that 62% of drivers used their paddle shifters less than two times per year.
AN EMPLOYEE of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which drafted the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) that is intended to strengthen peace efforts in the country’s south, was one of the two casualties in the Dec. 31 bomb blast in Cotabato City that also left more than 30 injured.
In a statement on Jan. 1, the BTC said Jonathan T. Torribiano was one of those who died, identifying him as a “hardworking, humble and peace-loving staff member” of Commissioner Melanio U. Ulama, the indigenous people representative in the commission.
“The Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as well as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and countless advocates, are very much in the forefront of establishing peace through the BOL. Hence, we can only view the bombing as a desperate attempt to sow fear in the people of Cotabato City whose great majority is yearning for true peace and human development,” the BTC said.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has announced that it is creating a special investigation task group (SITG) to probe the blast on Monday afternoon at the South Seas Mall.
“I have directed the creation of an SITG to get into the bottom of this incident. We appeal to the public to remain calm but watchful and to immediately report to authorities (PRO12 Hotline Numbers: 09219898174; 09266500628) any information that may lead us to the suspects,” PNP chief Oscar D. Albayalde said on his official Twitter account on Dec. 31.
According to the latest PNP update as of Jan. 1, two civilians were killed and 34 others, including 10 minors, were hurt when the improvised explosive device went off.
Major General Cirilito Sobejana, an army division commander, told Reuters the bomb bore a “Daesh-inspired signature,” referring to Islamic State by another name. A second bomb was recovered in the same area, he said.
Mr. Sobejana said he suspected the blast was retaliation for the killing by government troops of seven members of a small militant group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief-of-Staff Benjamin R. Madrigal Jr. said the military is also considering the involvement of other groups in the blast.
“While we all know that the terrorist BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) and its breakaway group Daulah Islamiyah are the ones with the wicked desire to sow terror and inflict harm to innocent civilians, we don’t discount the possibility of other interest groups aligned with the same evil intentions to be involved,” said Mr. Madrigal in a statement on Monday evening.
He added, “The AFP on its part is continuously collaborating with the PNP who are leading the investigation as we are also cooperating with the local government of Cotabato City in the overall security of the city.”
Meanwhile, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Mujiv S. Hataman also condemned the attack, which comes a few weeks before the Jan. 21 and Feb. 6 scheduled dates for the BOL plebiscite.
“We are irrevocably grieved about the casualties incurred, thoroughly condemn this act, and call for a thorough investigation. We need to make sure acts like these never happen again, and that the perpetrator is brought to justice,” said Mr. Hataman in a statement on last Dec. 31.
MILF chairperson Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, in a statement on Monday evening, did not discount the possibility that the terror incident could be a move to derail the Bangsamoro peace process.
“The motive is yet too premature to be concluded at this point, but we ask the authorities to examine all angles and make the result of the same public. We should not allow any party or group to make premature conclusions or draw insinuations so as to advance their own personal interest and political agenda,” he said. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreraswith a report fromReuters
A TECHNICAL working group (TWG) composed of representatives from the Department of Justice (DoJ), Bureau of Immigration (BI), and Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will be formed to address the influx of foreign workers in the country.
DoJ Undersecretary and spokesperson Markk L. Perete said Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III requested the creation of a TWG.
“Officers from DoLE, DoJ, and BI will form the TWG and are set to meet this January,” Mr. Perete told the BusinessWorld in a text message last Dec. 29.
“As to the meeting, there is no specific date yet. But once the three offices are able to confirm who to designate as their representatives to the TWG, the TWG itself will be able to schedule and call meetings,” he added.
Mr. Bello made an earlier pronouncement that the DoLE is considering revoking the authority of the BI, an agency under the DoJ, to issue working permits to foreign nationals.
Mr. Perete also said that the internal TWG will study the joint guidelines and submit its recommendations to the inter-agency task force initiated by the DoLE last Nov. 15.
The task force, which “will conduct inspection and come up with joint guidelines in regulating the employment of foreign nationals in the country,” includes members from the DoJ, BI, DoLE, Department of Foreign Affairs, Professional Regulation Commission, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources, among others.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra, for his part, said while he has not yet discussed the matter directly with Mr. Bello, the DoJ intends to “work very closely” with DoLE to address the issue.
He also said that there are other options that may be considered other than taking away the authority of the BI to issue working permits.
“(T)here are other options… such as tightening the rules on issuance of SWPs, BI personnel movements, and improved intelligence/technology to closely monitor aliens working in our country,” Mr. Guevarra said in a text message.
The DoLE, in 2005, authorized the BI to issue special working permits (SWP) to foreigners covering a six-month period. The DoLE issues an alien employment permit (AEP) to foreigners staying beyond six months.
An AEP is issued only if there are no Filipinos competent or able to do the job being sought by a foreigner.
During a Senate committee inquiry last Nov. 26, DoLE said the BI issued SWPs to 119,840 foreigners from 2015 to 2017, mostly Chinese who work for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
DoLE, meanwhile, issued 115,652 AEPs from 2015 to 2017, of which 51,980 were given to Chinese nationals. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
The transport network vehicle service industry was rocked early last year when Singapore-based Grab acquired the Southeast Asian operations of bitter rival Uber, essentially kicking out the American transport network company from the Philippines and subsequently cornering the bulk of the TNVS business in Metro Manila. To me, however, this wasn’t the biggest news about Grab in 2018. As an automotive journalist, I found Toyota’s sudden involvement in the transport startup more intriguing.
In June, Japan’s leading automaker announced that it was investing $1 billion in Grab. That’s an impressive amount of money whichever way you slice it. It indicates that the car-manufacturing giant is dead serious about the business of app-based ride service. At the time, my reading of the matter was that the move was largely so Toyota could get a head start in the area of data collection.
You see, motor vehicles will eventually be autonomous or driverless whether we like it or not. And for cars to properly operate unmanned, they will need to rely on a myriad of information — including what the busiest hours of the day are, which roads are accident-prone, or even where loading/unloading spots are specifically located. With thousands of Grab cars running around 24 hours a day in most major cities in the region, the TNC is the perfect source of such data.
Indeed, Toyota had installed its in-house-developed driving recorder called TransLog in 100 Grab cars even before it decided to invest in the ride-sharing firm. That project must have yielded fantastic results for Toyota engineers, so much so that their employer wanted to own a stake in the TNC.
And so I assumed that the substantial investment was merely Toyota’s way of preparing for an autonomous-driving future.
In October, a Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) announcement convinced me that there could be more to the Toyota-Grab partnership than just self-driving vehicles of tomorrow.
TMP rolled out its Grab-specific sales program that offered exclusive deals to existing Grab drivers and operators. This includes easy financing packages via Toyota Financial Services Philippines, which is even throwing in P5,000 worth of free fuel to Grab drivers or operators who will purchase a new Toyota car for their TNVS gig. TMP, for its part, is shaving 30% off periodic maintenance service costs up to 80,000 kilometers of car mileage, as well as a 15% discount on batteries, air-conditioning cleaning, engine detailing and car accessories. The objective, obviously, is to sell more Toyota vehicles.
And then, in December, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific in Singapore held an online teleconference just to say it was implementing its Total-care Service, “a pioneering set of mobility services designed for ride-hailing companies” like Grab. A total of 1,500 Toyota cars owned by Grab in Singapore will benefit from this latest after-sales service initiative, which aims to provide “Grab driver-partners with more cost-efficient and timely maintenance services” based on data collected by the above-mentioned TransLog devices.
But there’s a small part in the press statement that I now wish to call your attention to, and it says: “In addition, both companies will work to increase the share of Toyota vehicles in Grab’s fleet in the region by 25% by 2020.”
Yep, still car sales at the heart of the partnership.
Does Toyota know something its rivals do not? Does the automotive giant now believe that the only way it can sustain its sales growth in the foreseeable future is by supplying vehicles to ride-sharing companies? More important, does Toyota think that car sales in certain markets — quite possibly including the Philippines, where TMP is expected to report a significantly lower sales tally in 2018 compared to the previous year — have plateaued, and that people are gradually but steadily moving away from personal car ownership in the advent of convenient TNC rides?
Funny, but my motoring Website (www.visor.ph) recently published an article about how the Chinese may stop buying automobiles altogether within the next 20 years. In that story, we pointed out how China’s transportation officials are now rapidly developing and perfecting a cloud system designed to interconnect autonomous cars. When this is fully implemented, the report said, Chinese folks will no longer have the need to purchase and own individual vehicles.
Are we moving in this direction? Nah. Thankfully, our government has no such foresight (or the ability to consider what’s best for everyone), so we can expect to still be buying and driving our own cars even when giant robots are already roaming the planet.
THE LAST typhoon to hit the country in 2018, locally named Usman, claimed 75 lives with 16 still reported missing and 12 injured, according to the Jan. 1 update from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). As of 6 a.m. yesterday, NDRRMC said Office of Civil Defense regional offices reported a total of 45,348 families composed of more than 191,000 individuals were affected in the regions of CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), Bicol, and Eastern Visayas. Of these, 6,637 families were still in evacuation centers. Out of the 206 flooded areas in CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, and Eastern Visayas, water has subsided in 107. The Philippine Coast Guard also reported that as of Dec. 31, there were no more stranded passengers and vessels in any port. “All fishing and shipping companies have already resumed normal operations,” the NDRRMC report said. A state of calamity was declared in the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon, both located in the Bicol region. AGRI DAMAGE
The Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, reported P299.4 million worth of damage in the four affected regions. In an update as of 5 p.m. of Dec. 31, DA said an estimated 9,606 metric tons (MT) of farm products in 13,862 hectares were damaged, affecting 11,231 farmers. Rice loss was P266.98 million at 7,496 MT. Corn loss was reported at P976,267, with 11 MT. Fruit trees, assorted vegetables and root crops classified as high value crops worth about P31.48 million were also damaged. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
By Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
ANALYSTS agreed with the call of Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana to review the decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States, a move that is seen to help with the Philippines’ future agreements with other countries.
“…What Defense Secretary Lorenzana wanted to happen is to make the military agreement, this treaty to be more specific so not in any other way jeopardize our future mutual defense treaty with other countries. If we look at the mutual defense treaty, it is purely general and we have to remember, the government is now pursuing interdependent military and diplomatic relationship with other countries,” said University of Santo Tomas (UST) political science professor Marlon M. Villarin in a phone interview with BusinessWorld last Dec. 29.
“Of course the President and Defense Secretary Lorenzana wanted to make our defense treaty and alliance with the US to be more specific so as not put a cloud of doubts in the events that we will enter into another mutual defense treaty with another country,” he added, citing Russia in particular as one of these nations.
Meanwhile, Ateneo Policy Center research fellow Michael Henry LI. Yusingco said the review of the treaty is reasonable given the threats of terrorism in the country.
“The fact is, there are threats to our national security now, such as terrorism, which were not considered when the mutual defense treaty was agreed upon. The geo-politics of Asia was vastly different as well. So the call for review is only reasonable. Undertaking the review should be an utmost priority,” said Mr. Yusingco via email to BusinessWorld last Dec. 29.
He added in a separate phone interview on the same day, “‘Yung (That) treaty kasi when that was agreed upon, on my personal view, they were only contemplating acts of aggression by states. Kung halimbawa lusubin tayo ng ISIS, hindi naman siya state (If, for example, the ISIS attacks us, that’s not a state). So therefore, there is a question if the mutual defense treaty will apply.” MORE VULNERABLE
But while analysts agree with Mr. Lorenzana’s call for review, they said that scrapping the treaty will only make the Philippines vulnerable to threats.
Last Dec. 28, Mr. Lorenzana hinted at the possibility of scrapping the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if the review will find it irrelevant in today’s national interest.
“That was done in 1951, there was this raging Cold War. Do we still have a Cold War today? Is it still relevant to our security. Baka hindi na?” Mr. Lorenzana said during a press briefing at the Malacañang.
Foreign policy expert and political analyst Richard J. Heydarian said the alliance with the US also benefits the Philippines in disaster response.
“It is our biggest important insurance…Without an alliance, I don’t think we are in the condition to respond to Haiyan-like kind of tragedy….You can raise doubt on their stand about the South China Sea, but I think there is a little doubt to raise on their help in counterterrorism…not to mention the long standing training of Filipino troops, Filipino officers, provision of high grade equipment and of course intelligence,” he said in a phone interview with BusinessWorld on last Dec. 29.
He added, “So I think realistically there is no reason for this administration to scrap the alliance, because at this point of time, we cannot stand on our own yet. Let’s just be brutally honest about that….What is happening in the South China Sea and the Marawi incident that happened, only shows how vulnerable our country to external threats.”
Mr. Villarin shared the same sentiment: “Of course, number one it may politically affect the military strength and defense of the Philippines. We need to remember that we need the US… It is our way of guaranteeing our defense security.”
Mr. Villarin further said, “Also, we have to remember that the Mutual Defense Treaty, marami na tayong napakinabangan dito (We have benefited a lot from it). It gives the government an alternative way of strengthening and making our Armed Forces of the Philippines capable of providing security to our country. It gives us a window of opportunity to make progressive change in services of our armed services.”
For his part, UST Political Science Department chairperson Dennis C. Coronacion said scrapping the treaty might be impossible, but should it happen, the country would be left open to attack. “Malabo mangyari ‘yun (That’s impossible to happen). But, hypothetically speaking, that would leave us open to attack by a foreign power,” said Mr. Coronacion in an online interview with BusinessWorld on Dec. 29 .
“Since our military doesn’t have the capacity for external defense, yes, the MDT is deemed essential for our security,” said Mr. Coronacion, “Kasi nga (Because) after several decades, wala pa rin tayong (we do not have) external defense capacity. That’s why we still rely on the protection provided by the United States.”
Mr. Yusingco suggested that the treaty could be amended or replaced instead.
“Again, the decision need not be to scrap it all together,” he said.
Analysts also believe that the motive of Mr. Lorenzana in announcing the possibility of scrapping the alliance is to seek assurance from the US on its commitment with the Philippines.
“What Defense Secretary Lorenza wanted to make an impression (on) is if the US is really sincere about their commitment in strengthening their alliance, political and military alliance with the Philippines,” said Mr. Villarin.
Mr. Coronacion also said, “The only possible motive of Secretary Lorenzana for saying those words about scrapping the MDT if it wouldn’t be modified to address our needs today is to seek assurance from the US that it is firmly committed to the alliance.”
