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San Beda Red Lions go for third straight NCAA title at MOA Arena

UP 1-0 in their best-of-three National Collegiate Athletic Association finals series, the defending champions San Beda Red Lions seek to close out the Lyceum Pirates and win their third straight title in Game Two today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Set at 4 p.m., the Lions go for a series sweep anew over the Pirates even as the latter are set to welcome back top man CJ Perez, who missed the series-opener on Nov. 6 because of league suspension for infraction he made on NCAA rules about filing application for the Philippine Basketball Association rookie draft.
Faced an undermanned opponent, San Beda did not waste much time in pounding on Lyceum last time around, going on a fast start and pretty much maintaining control the rest of the way to book the win.
The Pirates tried a last-ditch effort to salvage the game in the fourth period but the Lions just allowed them to a certain point before nipping the run on the bud to claim the victory and move a step away from sweeping Lyceum for a three-peat and 22nd NCAA title overall.
Last year, San Beda shut out top-seeded and undefeated in the finals of the country’s longest-standing collegiate league.
The Lions relied on a total team effort to claim the series-opener, 73-60.
Javee Mocon showed the way for San Beda with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Robert Bolick had 12 points and nine assists.
Clint Doliguez had 11 points and Donald Tankoua had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Lions.
While happy that they have the early series lead, San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez nonetheless highlighted that their job is not yet done and they are bracing for a determined and tougher challenge from Lyceum, more so with Perez back in harness.
“Without CJ their game plan was really affected but we only beat them by 13 points which speaks a lot of LPU,” said Mr. Fernandez in the postgame press conference following Game One.
“My players responded well today. Hopefully we can sustain it in the next game when CJ returns,” the former PBA player Fernandez added.
STAVE OFF ELIMINATION
For Lyceum, the mission order is clear — win or go home.
The Pirates remain bullish though of their chances despite going a series down and facing finals defeat even as they lamented Perez not being allowed to play in Game One.
“It could have been a different game and finals had CJ played in Game One,” said Lyceum coach Topex Robinson.
But the Pirates coach made note of his team making a game out of the opener late, something they hope to build on heading into Game Two.
“We could have just rolled over and died but we did not. We’re still in this and we’re excited for Game Two. We have a week to recover. We’ll try to see what adjustments we can make. We have to bring it on Monday and we’re excited to have CJ Perez back in our lineup,” Mr. Robinson said.
In Game One, Mike Nzeusseu led Lyceum with 16 points and 14 boards with Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino adding 13 points each.
Prior to Game Two, top individual awards for NCAA Season 94 will be handed out, including the most valuable player plum going to Prince Eze of season hosts Perpetual Help Altas. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

World Chess Championship starts with Harrelson blunder

LONDON — World Chess Championship officials might rethink the role of ceremonial starter after Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson knocked over a king and moved the wrong pawn in a comical start to the 2018 event in London on Friday.
Norwegian title holder Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana were bemused onlookers as the US actor began their eagerly anticipated match-up by knocking over the American challenger’s king, the move that traditionally signals a concession.
Caruana had asked the “Hunger Games” and “Cheers” actor to move his pawn to start the game, only for Harrelson to hit the king and moved a different piece.
A bewildered Caruana initially appeared to accept the mistake before officials allowed the pawn to be returned. A grinning Harrelson then moved the correct pawn before quickly exiting the stage.
It was a memorable start to the €1 million ($1.2 million) contest, which organizers expect to be watched by millions around the world. The duo are scheduled to play 12 matches through November, with the winner the first to reach 6.5 points.
Carlsen, 27, has won the last three championships and is the world’s top ranked player. He became a chess grandmaster at 13.
Caruana, 26, is bidding to become the first American to win the title since the enigmatic and volatile Bobby Fischer beat Russia’s Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War in 1972. — Reuters

MPBL race to top eight

Bataan Risers, Muntinlupa Cagers, Manila Stars, Davao Occidental Tigers, San Juan Knights, Bacoor Strikers, Makati Super Crunch and Batangas City Athletics. Halfway in the MPBL Datu Cup and these teams appeared to be locked in for a spot in the playoffs, cracking themselves in the top four of their respective divisions in the tournament put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with PBA legend Kenneth Duremdes serving as commissioner.
Of the eight, the Zetapro-backed Risers and the Cocolife-supported Tigers are the hottest team in the tournament.
The Jojo Lastimosa-coached Risers are riding on the crest of their 11-game winning streak and lead the tough northern division with an 11-1 win-loss record. They’ve not lost a game in nearly five months since dropping their opening game against the Robust Energy Capsule-sponsored Manila Stars.
So confident the Risers are that Lastimosa is not much concerned about peaking too early. Winning is the only thing that matters to him aside from learning.
“Of course, I have no ambition of keeping our streak forever, but what we want to value is the learning every game, win or lose,” Lastimosa said.
The Tigers, on the other hand, kept their streak going and extended it to eight in a row following their latest win over the Navotas Clutch on Saturday night. The team improved its win-loss card to 9-3, running second behind southern division leader Cagers, bankrolled by Angelis Resort, who hold a 9-2 mark.
Manila, which posted its fourth straight win just recently, is running second behind Bataan at 11-2, but Philip Cezar and his troops have been a solid force in the fastest growing regional amateur basketball league.
San Juan is not far behind, picking up its 11th win in 14 games following its latest win over Cebu as the race to the top in the northern division has become tougher for the Go-For-Gold-backed Knights, the Stars and the Risers.
Makati is also slowly but surely moving up and its three straight wins has catapulted coach Cholo Villanueva and his troops at fourth spot with a 9-4 record, but the Bulacan Kuyas-Mighty Sports are just one game behind at 8-5 and a lot of things could happen in the chase for the top spot in a game.
In the southern division, the Strikers, now being coached by Leo Isaac, are carrying an 8-5 record, but only half a game ahead of their closest pursuer, the up and coming Athletics, whose four-game winning run had put them back in business.
After struggling in the early goings of the tournament, the inaugural champion Athletics, backed by Tanduay, are now at No. 4 spot holding an 8-6 card and like the old saying goes, you cannot underestimate the heart of the champions.
There are so many intricacies that could happen in the days to come as one win could change a team’s future while a loss could dampen the chances of a squad. Only eight teams per division will advance to the playoffs and by next week, we’ll discuss the chances of the teams at the bottom portion of the standings.
 
Rey Joble is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association.
reyjoble09@gmail.com

Butler out

Jimmy Butler is out. Finally. He should have been dealt soon after he met with, and made demands to, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor two months ago; he was a Top-20 player with an inflated ego who believed himself to be a franchise cornerstone, but on his terms. Instead, management let the situation drag on, with head coach Tom Thibodeau putting personal interests first and allowing the problem to worsen, to the point where All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns all but became a timid scrub and everybody else had to make like nothing was wrong for the sake of sanity.
The Timberwolves didn’t have to suffer through five straight losses and put up a 4-9 slate, a mere game out of last place in the West, to realize that getting rid of Butler was tantamount to addition by subtraction. He was openly recalcitrant; he suited up only when he felt like it and pretty much did anything he desired without regard for the repercussions. Among others, the interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols last month and the celebration of a loss with Celtics fans last week showed he was willing to stoop really, really low just to get what he wanted.
That said, the Timberwolves had better offers on the table than the veritable pile of dog poop the Sixers laid on their doorstep; it gives them a whopping $170,000 in savings, and one of the trade “assets” they got is likely to play zero minutes for them. They received superior proposals for Butler in the time they were dragging their feet, including the maximum-allowable four first-round picks from the Rockets. And don’t believe the load of crock that he had to go to the East. The real reason exposes their myopia: Thibodeau still wants to win now and keep the hot seat, and Taylor — in typical head-scratching fashion — went along.
Moving forward, the Sixers will be scary good. Their defense will be top-notch, allowing them to rub elbows with the best of the best in the league for as long as Butler’s brittle body holds up. Regardless of the strides they’ll make, however, one universal truth will remain: They won’t get close to beating the Warriors. And pundits don’t need an active imagination to envision their new acquisition’s alpha-dog persona running sophomores Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons to the ground after airballs or passed-up open three pointers.
Bottom line, though: Hoops lifers won. The Sixers are better. The Rockets are livid. The Timberwolves are, well, the Timberwolves. And the Warriors are still going to be champions. In short, it’s another crazy day in the NBA, where everything is truly fan-tastic.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Small businesses as vulnerable to website hacks as big companies

Small business owners are just as vulnerable to website security hacks as big companies, a new report found. And the risks of vulnerability go far beyond online downtime.
According to GoDaddy’s Small Business Website Security Report, a commissioned research and analysis of over 65,000 infected website cleanup requests from small business customers, due to limited budgets and knowledge of online security, small business owners fail to prioritize protection of their business websites.
What they don’t realize is that by doing this, they’re actually risking even greater financial losses.
“We refer to this as the small business website security paradox—small business owners lack the knowledge and their perceived notion of funds needed to more fully secure their website,” said Tony Perez, general manager for security of GoDaddy. “But once the website gets hacked, it can lead to significant financial loss due to its effect on business reputation.”
Once a website gets hacked or infected with malware, which are the common problems small business websites face, the effects can go beyond just downtime. Companies such as Google and Norton flag an online portal as dangerous once they detect that it has beencompromised. This action negatively affects traffic to a website and eventually can make it invisible online.
Google blacklists more than 10,000 websites a day. And getting off that blacklist is not easy.
Worse, if malware is present on a website, it can be even easier for hackers to explore its vulnerability.
Other key findings of the report reveal just how much it can affect business growth:

  • Of the 1,000 micro-businesses surveyed, nearly half reported suffering a financial loss due to hacking.
  • Three out of 10 small businesses who suffered a cyber breach reported they had to inform customers and clients.
  • It’s not enough to clean up compromised files, hackers regularly create ‘backdoors’ on a compromised website, so they can secretly re-enter a platform even after a file cleanup.
  • Malware/computer viruses and phishing are the most common types of attack & can target any aspect of a business.
  • SEO spam is also popular among hackers. Hackers go into a website’s keywords and add malicious links, and often, small business owners aren’t aware this is happening.
  • Of the 65,000 global website cleancup requests, half involved outdated software on the most commonly used platform and tools, including plug-ins on WordPress and other popular content management systems (CMS).

What can small businesses do?

Only half of businesses surveyed use a monitoring service to stay on top of their site’s security, with most relying on an effective password strategy. While it’s true that cybersecurity measures aren’t hacker-proof, it’s a good idea for small businesses to start to focus on keeping their business website better protected from potential downtime.
“Cybersecurity is not about preventing a risk. That isn’t yet possible. It’s about reducing the risk. It’s understandable that very small business operators handle a lot and it’s hard to make website security a priority. But taking even modest steps can make a difference,” Perez said.
GoDaddy recommends small business owners invest in a website security monitor service to keep an eye on any red flags or warning signs with 24/7 monitoring, deploy a website application firewall, and register with Google’s webmaster tools which alerts when there is an issue with the website before negatively impacting how it shows in search results.

The key to future-proofing your job? Study gov’t regulations.

Across various industries, today’s business leaders are those who can best adopt and adapt to the latest in technological advancements. But with the plethora of new technologies available, many firms are caught guessing where to start.
According to a new study by ASG Technologies Group, Inc., most firms take their cues not from industry leaders, but from their governments—via data regulations set by local legislators.
“The survey we did showed that compliance is one of the most important factors which allows [companies to] decide on the technology that they want to deploy,” Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific region Praveen Kumar said.
Earlier this year, the European Union implemented the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. What followed was a spike in demand among global firms for workers able to get their systems up to speed with the new standards.
Amid the rapid changes in regulations elsewhere, other countries, such the the Philippines, are lagging behind.
“You can learn from certain countries which are a little ahead in terms of [regulations],” Kumar said. “Like the anti-privacy laws—it’s already here in the Philippines, the regulatory authority and financial sector implements it. The penalties may not be as stringent but it’s there.”
Locally, ASG found that companies are eager to learn, adapt, and innovate in various industries, looking to take leadership in finding ways to automate jobs and maximize use of their data.
Despite the slow movement in regulatory changes, companies in the Philippines are still very open to adopting digital transformation in their operations, and that’s reflecting in the type of employees they’re looking to hire, Kumar said.
“Understanding how data travels is relevant in today’s world to build skills in solutions for compliance which is one of the key drivers in most IT investments today,” he said.
“[I]f you learn certain software sets which will help you implement and satisfy those regulatory requirements a lot easier, then you become an asset to the organization.”
One of the talents in high demand amid the digitization and increasing data regulation would be data scientists, currently low in local supply. Earlier this year, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) launched a new master’s program on data science and a matching R&D facility to churn out local data scientists only this year. Ateneo is also set to offer a master’s program in data science by 2019.
AIM President and Dean Jikyeong Kang said they plan to keep local talents in the Philippines tby developing more data science programs in other educational institutions, in partnership with the government.

This isn’t only important news for potential hires, but for existing employees as well. Since having a full time data scientist in a company “is a very expensive proposition”, Kumar said that most companies today have begun looking for “citizen data scientists”, or employees able to identify and process data.
“[The company has] a bunch of data scientists who are actually crunching data, analyzing, deciding the tools to be used, putting it together, and putting it forward. But you as a person, are an added volunteer who is also paid for being there,” he added.
In the near future, these sought-after skills will highlight adaptable employees as invaluable asset to the company, Kumar said.
 

From the Front Page: Third telco named, GDP growth disappoints

The local economy grew at its slowest pace in three years last quarter, clocking in at 6.1% year-on-year, slower than the 7.2% growth recorded in the same period last year. According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, the economy needs to grow by at least seven percent this quarter to hit the floor of this year’s goal.
Meanwhile, inflation hit its fastest pace in more than nine years in October, as prices of widely used goods rose another 6.7%, steady from September and surging from 3.1% a year ago. Market watchers are divided on whether inflation has peaked, though some expect fresh tightening from the central bank to further temper price expectations.
In other news, factory activity in the Philippines saw the biggest improvement in 10 months in October, keeping the country in the lead in Southeast Asia. This, fueled by “a sharp rise in demand for manufactured goods.” Vietnam and Indonesia tailed the Philippines in growth, with the rest of the ASEAN economies bringing down the regional index towards market deterioration.
The government has named its third major telco: Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel) — a consortium formed by China Telecommunications Corp., Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp., and its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. This came after Mislatel’s two contenders were disqualified over a lack of required documents. A final decision will arrive next week, after the selection committee completes its review of the disqualified companies’ appeals.
Regardless of next week’s result, the third telco will still face an uphill battle towards becoming a true competitor, Fitch Ratings said. They would “initially… compete aggressively on price as it strives to grab market share in an already highly saturated mobile market.” Government intervention may be needed to accelerate industry reforms to raise competition, they added.
 

Fitch cuts Philippine growth forecast

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
FITCH Solutions has downgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines anew, noting that the economy is unlikely to bounce back to a faster pace due to tighter credit conditions and waning investor appetite.
In a report, the global research firm said the Philippine economy will likely grow by just 6.2% this year, down from 6.3% previously following a slower expansion logged during the third quarter.
Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 6.1% in July-September, easing from the 6.2% climb during the second quarter to mark the slowest pace in three years.
This brought the nine-month tally to a 6.3% expansion, well below the government’s downward-revised 6.5-6.9% target.
“We believe that the Philippine economy will struggle to reverse its waning growth momentum over the coming quarters owing to tighter monetary conditions, deepening trade tensions, as well as a declining business environment,” Fitch Solutions said in a report on Friday.
The research unit said household spending will likely remain “weak” as rising interest rates, sustained elevated inflation and declining consumer confidence.
Yields have been on an uptrend following a series of tightening moves from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which has raised benchmark rates by a total of 150 basis points (bp) since May. This comes as the central bank sought to rein in inflation expectations, just as consumer prices have been trending beyond the 2-4% target band.
Inflation has averaged 5.1% during the first 10 months, marked by a nine-year peak at 6.7% tallied in September and October. In turn, Fitch Solutions expects another 25bp rate hike from the central bank before the year ends.
Authorities said private consumption growth cooled to 5.2% year-on-year in the third quarter from 5.9% during the April-June period. The Philippines has long been a consumption-driven economy.
“The rising interest rate environment is likely to dampen consumer spending,” the report read, noting that Fitch Solutions also sees another 75bp worth of rate increases next year.
“The slowdown in private consumption and investment growth was in line with our view, and we continue to expect both GDP components to perform poorly over the coming quarters.”
Growth is seen to ease further in 2019 at 6.1%, well below the state’s 7-8% goal.
Prospects may also be dimming for investments due to dampened business confidence in light of an uncertain tax environment. The research firm cited the Philippines’ slip in ranking under the World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business index to the 124th rank from 113th previously.
Contents of the second tax reform package, dubbed the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-Quality Opportunities bill, is also creating uncertainty for investors pending its passage in Congress.
“Risks to our growth forecasts are weighted to the downside,” the analysts said. “Deepening trade tensions between China and the US are weighing on global risk sentiment, and a faster-than-expected rate hiking cycle in the US could exacerbate a possible capital flight to safety, weighing on foreign investment further.”
Investment-led growth boosted the economy last quarter, the Department of Finance said, with its share rising to 26% of GDP from 23.6% a year ago. The agency said the passage of remaining tax reforms will maintain investment growth, together with reforms to improve the local business climate and by easing limits on foreign participation.

2 groups submit bids for Clark airport O&M

AIRPORT operators from Singapore and Indonesia have teamed up with local companies to submit on Friday competing bids for the Clark International Airport operations and maintenance (O&M) contract.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said North Luzon Airport Consortium and X-Droid Consortium both submitted complete bids on Friday. Awarding of the contract is scheduled in December.
North Luzon Airport Consortium is composed of Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings, Inc.. Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, Inc., and Changi Airport Philippines. Changi Airport Philippines is the local unit of the operator Singapore’s world-class Changi international airport.
Earlier this year, the government rejected the P839-billion unsolicited proposal of Filinvest and JG Summit develop the Clark airport as the DoTr wanted to bid out the gateway’s O&M instead.
On the other hand, the X-Droid Consortium is comprised of Angkasa Pura II, Globalport 900, Inc., Mazy’s Capital, Inc. and Desco, Inc. A representative of Philippines AirAsia, Inc. separately confirmed that it is part of the X-Droid consortium.
Angkasa Pura II is a state-owned operator of several airports in Indonesia, including the biggest one — the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Mazy’s is owned by former Ambassador Alfredo M. Yao, while Globalport 900 is a listed firm led by chairman Michael L. Romero. Messrs.
The bids of the North Luzon Airport Consortium and X-Droid Consortium will now undergo a pre-qualification test by the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC), targeted to be completed next week.
Upon completion of the pre-qualification test, the SBAC will then move to check the technical and financial bids.
The government originally scheduled the opening of bids in July and awarding of the contract in August, but SBAC Chairperson Joshua M. Bingcang said the timeline was changed upon the request of prospective bidders.
Mr. Bingcang also told reporters on Friday about nine to 10 companies originally bought bid documents to participate in the auction.
Among the buyers announced in May but did not participate are Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC); San Miguel Holdings Corp.; Prime Asset Ventures, Inc.; the Central Luzon Infrastructure Consultancy, Inc. consortium; GVK Airport Developers Ltd.; Groupe ADP and Megawide Construction Corp. with partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. (Megawide-GMR).
In a disclosure to the stock exchange last week, MPIC said it decided not to pursue participation because of contentions in the terms.
“[W]hile MPIC expressed its interest to support the government’s Build Build Build initiative for Clark Airport, we find the current draft of the Concession Agreement extremely challenging, given the identified material risks that were not addressed. The schedule of the bid submission further made participation in the bid very difficult, considering that the final draft of the Concession Agreement was released only yesterday. For the foregoing reasons, MPIC is unlikely to submit a bid for the project,” the company said on Oct. 31.
Megawide-GMR, one of the prospective participants in the O&M bidding, also holds the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Clark airport. They are expected to finish the new terminal by 2020.
Mr. Bingcang said they want the O&M concessionaire to come in before Megawide-GMR finishes the building to avoid “interface issue” and account the insights of the would-be operator in the layout.
“We don’t want the building to be completed and then the incoming operator will say that’s not what we want. So we want them to be part of the construction stage,” he said.
The contract will allow the winner to operate and maintain both the existing passenger terminal and the new one that Megawide-GMR is currently constructing. — Denise A. Valdez

Banks required to form task force on payment systems

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has required banks and players to set up a task force to ensure that all payment systems will be compliant to global standards on digital financial data.
Memorandum M-2018-033 signed by BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. mandates all participants of the domestic payments and settlements system to set up an industry task force to organize Philippine payments.
The task force is tasked to ensure that local players are compliant with ISO 20022, which is the international standard for electronic data exchange among financial institutions. The standards are also referred to as the universal financial industry message scheme used by players worldwide.
“The TF-ISO 20022 shall be the driving force of BSP and of the Philippine financial industry in ensuring the adoption of the global ISO 20022 message standards on payments, compliant with BSP’s roadmap and timelines, and in synch with the modernization of the country’s real-time gross settlement system,” the issuance read.
Once established, the task force is expected to draft guidelines for market practice based on the ISO rulebook, including mechanisms for monitoring. The industry must also collaborate with standard-setting bodies like the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which processes payment orders from one financial firm to another.
The task force will be co-chaired by a senior BSP official and a senior representative from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP).
Industry officials will also sit as members of the task force from the BAP, the Chamber of Thrift Banks, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, the Investment Houses Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Finance Association.
Third-party participants of the Philippine Payments and Settlements System (PhilPaSS) are also expected to take part in the industry-led body. These are automated teller machine network BancNet, Inc.; the Bureau of the Treasury, Philippine Clearing House Corp., the Philippine Dealings System Holdings, Inc., and other future participants.
All banks and quasi-banks have been using the PhilPaSS as their clearing platform since 2002, where they transact with fellow lenders, government offices and the central bank.
Mr. Espenilla said the Nov. 7 memorandum shall take effect “immediately.”
The BSP serves as regulator of all payment systems in the Philippines to keep track of all fund transfers across individual and corporate entities.
Separately, the central bank is also pushing for increased use of digital platforms to improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs. The central bank is targeting to raise the share of electronic payments to 20% of total transactions by 2020, coming from just one percent back in 2013.

Failed 3rd telco bidders file motion for reconsideration

bidding NTC
PHOTO BY DENISE A. VALDEZ

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
THE two participants who were disqualified from bidding for the new major telco player have asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to reconsider its decisions.
Sear Telecommunications Consortium, led by TierOne Communications International Inc. and LCS Group of Companies (Sear-LCS-TierOne), and Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) filed separate motions for reconsideration on Friday after the bidding’s selection committee disqualified over the lack of required documents.
The bid of Sear-LCS-TierOne wasn’t allowed to undergo further evaluation by the selection committee for the lack of a “participation security” worth P700 million. PT&T faced the same dilemma, but for not submitting the NTC certification proving its 10-year experience as a telco provider in a national scale.
“It will avail of the remedy available under the Selection Rules, by filing a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) within the prescribed period. In its MR, Sear will demonstrate its compliance with the requirements, which it hopes will qualify it to participate in the Opening of the Second Submission Documents,” Sear-LCS-TierOne said in a statement late Thursday.
The group also accused the franchise holder of the provisional winner, Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. (Mislatel), of breaching a contract with one of its partners, DigiPhil Technology.
“Mislatel is guilty of fraudulent and obstructive practice. For this reason, the selection committee can declare a failure of such selection process…,” it said.
The group composed of China Telecommunications Corp., Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp. and its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. had used Mislatel’s franchise as vehicle for its participation in the bidding.
“[T]here is a Damocles’ sword hanging over the NTC, and the new major player selection process would have been for naught… The best option for NTC would be to declare a failure of this process and commence another selection process,” Sear-LCS-TierOne said.
PT&T, on the other hand, argued the bidding terms of reference which required a participant to have operated for 10 years on a “national scale” as including “or particular regions thereof.”
The NTC did not issue a certification to PT&T indicating that it meets this requirement, as it said in an Oct. 11 clarificatory bulletin that the qualifier only applies to foreign companies.
“The interpretation is erroneous because there is no distinction between foreign and local company in the terms of reference insofar as the applicability of the term ‘regional operations’ is concerned. This is clearly discriminatory against Filipino telco companies,” PT&T said in a statement on Friday.
It added that a “mere clarificatory bulletin” should not change what’s written in the final terms of reference, which was published as a memorandum circular and it said thus has “force and effect of a law.”
The selection committee now has three days to review the motions for reconsideration submitted by the participants. Once any of the two are granted, the win of Mislatel Consortium may be tested.
Mislatel Consortium won Wednesday’s third telco bidding after earning 456.80 points out of the maximum 500 points. It committed for its five years of operations a cumulative coverage of 84.01% of the population, total capital expenditure and operating expenditure of P257 billion, and minimum average broadband speed of 27 Megabits per second (Mbps) in its first year and 55 Mbps in succeeding years.

JG Summit profit falls in Q3

JG Summit Holdings, Inc. saw its attributable profit drop by a fourth in the third quarter of 2018, as the weak peso weighed on its petrochemicals, food, and airline businesses.
In a regulatory filing, the Gokongwei-led conglomerate reported a net income attributable to the parent of P4.96 billion, lower than the same quarter a year ago’s figure of P6.60 billion. This came amid a six percent increase in revenues to P72.23 billion for the period.
On a nine-month basis, the listed holding firm said attributable profit went down by 30% to P14.80 billion, after revenues inched up by seven percent to P217.52 billion.
“JG Summit has a diversified portfolio with a combination of defensive and cyclical businesses. Our airline and petrochemical divisions are more susceptible to the volatility in oil prices and the weaker peso but the effect on earnings has been partly cushioned by our other core businesses in food, real estate and banking,” JG Summit President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Y. Gokongwei said in a statement.
JG Summit’s food and beverage business through Universal Robina Corp. (URC) was hit by the inflationary environment, which resulted to lower demand for ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. This offset the improved sales in the branded consumer foods segment (BCFG) and coffee.
URC’s international BCFG also posted flat results, as sales in Thailand and New Zealand weakened despite the recovery in Vietnam.
With this, URC’s attributable profit fell by 17.2% to P6.8 billion in the nine-month period, after a 3.4% uptick in sales to P95.53 billion.
Earnings of Cebu Air, Inc. dropped by 36.5% to P2.78 billion during the January to September period, even as it booked a 7.4% increase in revenues to P54.4 billion.
The operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific saw its expenses go up by 15.8% to P49.9 billion, primarily due to higher fuel prices. It noted that average prices based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) stood at $85.37 per barrel from January to September, versus $62.89 per barrel in 2017. The weaker peso further pushed up the company’s expenses.
Meanwhile, the group’s property unit through Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) improved its nine-month attributable profit by 43% to P6.55 billion, following higher sales of residential properties and better rental income. Revenues grew by 31% to P21.89 billion during the period.
RLC attributed its growth to its mall division, as it opened its 50th mall and recorded higher cinema box office receipts for the period. Its office leasing business also sustained its momentum thanks to the business process outsourcing sector, while residential revenues also went up due to higher demand from overseas buyers coupled with new product launches.
The petrochemicals group delivered earnings of P1.9 billion from January to June, 61% lower year-on-year due to unexpected plant shutdowns, generally weak demand across the region in the third quarter, higher financing costs, and foreign exchange losses. Average selling prices however increased, resulting to a 6% increase in revenues to P32.4 billion.
For Robinsons Bank Corp., net income jumped by 23% to P293 million, following a 32% increase in revenues to P4.3 billion due to higher interest income from its loan portfolio.
“Given our long-term view, we plan to continue investing wisely for growth as well as transform/strengthen our organizational capabilities so we reap the benefits when the cycle turns more favorable,” Mr. Gokongwei said.
Shares in JG Summit slumped 3.83% or P1.85 to close at P46.45 each. — Arra B. Francia

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