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Woods defends his lack of golf ahead of British Open

PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND — Tiger Woods has shrugged off concerns about his lack of golf heading into this week’s British Open, saying he needs to carefully manage the remaining years of his career.

Woods has played only 10 competitive rounds since winning the Masters in April and his last tournament start was at the US Open.

By the time the 43-year-old tees up on Thursday he will have gone 32 days without playing competitively.

“Last year, I played too much. I played 17 events,” Woods told a news conference on Tuesday. “And a lot of it was trying to qualify for certain events.

“So this year I made a conscious effort to cut back on my schedule to make sure that I don’t play too much. I want to play here as long as I possibly can. And you have to understand, if I play a lot, I won’t be out here that long,” the American former world number one said.

“So it’s understanding how much I can play, prepping how much I do at home and getting ready. And that’s the tricky part is trying to determine how much tournament play I need to get the feel for the shots and also understanding where my body is,” Woods added.

“I’m trying to figure it out and trying to play enough golf to where that I can compete and win events.”

Woods said his Masters victory took a lot out of him and he went on a two-week family vacation in Thailand after finishing tied for 21st at the US Open last month. “It’s not quite as sharp as I’d like to have it right now,” he said. “My touch around the greens is right where I need to have it. I still need to get the ball — the shape of the golf ball a little bit better than I am right now, especially with the weather coming in and the winds are going to be changing.

“I’m going to have to be able to cut the ball, draw the ball, hit at different heights and move it all around. Today it was a good range session. I need another one tomorrow. And hopefully that will be enough to be ready,” he said.

Woods, who has 15 major titles to his name, reiterated his view that the British Open offers one of the best chances of adding to that tally.

“It allows the players that don’t hit the ball very far or carry the ball as far to run the golf ball out there,” he said.

“And plus, there is an art to playing links golf. It’s not — okay, I have 152 yards, bring out the automatic 9-iron and hit it 152. Here, 152 could be a little bump-and-run pitching wedge. It could be a chip 6-iron. It could be a lot of different things. — Reuters

Philippine national men’s hockey team expects tougher road to Southeast Asian Games gold

NO LONGER under radar like in the 2017 edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the Philippine national men’s hockey team said it is expecting the road to be tougher as it tries to win back-to-back gold medals in the regional meet happening later this year in the country.

Came out of nowhere to cop the top hardware in the first-ever staging of the sport in Malaysia two years ago, the Philippine hockey team recognizes that it now has a target on its back and that the competition is preparing better against it.

“We have a target behind our back. We’re expecting the other four teams to be stronger, faster and we’re preparing for that,” said Francois Gautier, national team defenseman and executive vice-president of Hockey Philippines, in a talk with media last week at the signing of their memorandum of understanding with cybersecurity company Kaspersky as one of their sponsors for the SEA Games.

“Of course the goal is to get the gold but we know it’s going to be tougher than before. That’s why we made changes in our training. Thailand and Malaysia will be tougher, Singapore and Indonesia are making improvements. We are confident of our chances but we still need to put in the work,” he added, referring to the four other teams seeing action in the competition.

In the 2017 SEA Games, the Philippine hockey team surprised many with its performance, which has since been fondly referred to as “Miracle on Ice.”

The Philippines completed a sweep of its four-game assignment, beating Indonesia, 12-0, in the opener before following it up with 7-2 and 8-7 victories over Singapore and host Malaysia, respectively, in the round-robin phase.

It capped its performance by edging Thailand, 5-4, in a thrilling final match that earned it the gold medal.

Forward Paul Sanchez emerged as the competition’s top scorer with 14 points, with teammates Steven Fuglister (11), LR Lancero (9) and Carl Michael Montano (7) figuring in the top 10.

Goaltender Gianpietro Issepi was top in his position with a 91.67% save percentage and teammate Paolo Spafford (88.14%) at third.

Mr. Gautier said they will announce the team roster soon, which they have already short-listed to 25 players before trimming it down further.

He went on to say that they will go out on the ice representing the Philippines well and are not leaving anything to chance and are preparing hard.

“We have the players that we need. We want to show we are the best in Southeast Asia. But it’s different on paper and ice. Anything can happen. Two years ago they were giving the title to Thailand but we beat Thailand in the finals,” said Mr. Gautier, who also expressed hope that fans would come out and support them during their matches.

The 30th SEA Games happens from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. The ice hockey event will be held at the ice rink at the Mall of Asia Arena. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Alvarez-Folayang match elevated as it becomes part of ONE Championship Grand Prix offering on Aug. 2

WHAT IS ALREADY an anticipated match between American mixed martial arts star Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez and Filipino icon Eduard “Landslide” Folayang on Aug. 2 here in Manila has become more significant after it was elevated to be part of ONE Championship’s Grand Prix offering at its “Dawn of Heroes” event.

In an announcement made this week, Alvarez-Folayang, already part of the Manila card, was pushed as a replacement semifinal bout after Russian lightweight Timofey Nastyukhin, who was supposed to face off with Filipino Honorio Banario, was forced to pull out because of injury.

Both Messrs. Alvarez and Folayang are coming off losses in their previous fights and are seeking to redeem themselves in their ONE lightweight grand prix semifinal bout.

American Alvarez, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion, was rocked by Mr. Nastyukhin after being knocked out in the first round of their grand prix quarterfinal encounter in March in Japan.

It was The Underground Kings’ debut outing in ONE Championship.

Mr. Folayang, meanwhile, lost his lightweight title to Japanese Shinya Aoki also in the same event.

The winner of this bout moves on to face Turkish sensation Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Finals.

For Team Lakay stalwart Folayang, having the chance to face a legend like Mr. Alvarez is a dream come true.

“I was very excited when I heard the news that Eddie Alvarez was next for me. He’s one of the most well-known martial artists in the world. In many ways, he’s a legend. Sharing the ring with him is my honor and privilege,” Mr. Folayang said.

He was quick to say though that he being awestruck would not stop him from what he wants to accomplish, which is to give his best and get the victory that would put him back into the mix of title contention.

ONE: Dawn of Heroes is to be headlined by the world featherweight championship fight between Vietnamese-Australian champion Martin Nguyen and Japanese challenger Koyomi Matsushima.

Co-headlining it is the flyweight muay thai world championship fight of champion Jonathan Haggerty of England against Rodtang Jitmuangnon of Thailand.

Also part of the card are the world grand prix semifinals between American Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Tatsumitsu Wada of Japan and Filipino Danny “The King” Kingad against Australian Reece “Lightning” McLaren.

Other Filipinos seeing action at the event, which will happen at the Mall of Asia Arena, are former flyweight world champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio and featherweight Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

How strong is Magnus now?

Croatia Grand Chess Tour
Zagreb, Croatia
June 26-July 8, 2019

Final Standings

1. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2875, 8.0/11

2. Wesley So USA 2754, 7.0/11

3-4. Levon Aronian ARM 2752, Fabiano Caruana USA 2819, 6.0/11

5-7. Anish Giri NED 2779, Ding Liren CHN 2805, Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2775, 5.5/11

8. Sergey Karjakin RUS 2748, 5.0/11

9-11. Viswanathan Anand IND 2767, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2774, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2779, 4.5/11

12. Hikaru Nakamura USA 2754, 4.0/11

Average Rating 2782 Category 22

Time Control: 130 minutes play-to-finish with 30 second delay before the clock starts on every move

After winning the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s rating is at 2882 which ties the highest-ever rating he (or anyone else in the world for that matter) has ever achieved. He won the world title from Vishy Anand in 2013 and retained it in 2014. He was also the world champion in rapid and blitz, the first player to simultaneously hold all these titles.

After the 2014 high, when he was world champion of everything, he sort of got lazy and started over-relying on his technique (this is my opinion which of course anyone is free to dispute) and his games went through a phase of trying to prove a theorem rather than an explosion of ideas to overwhelm an opponent. He still won tournaments, but dominating performances now came only once in a while.

Now he is back in the groove. In this year he has won seven consecutive elite tournaments: Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee), Grenke Chess (Germany), Shamkir Chess (Gashimov Memorial, Azerbaijan), Abidjan (Rapid/Blitz in Ivory Coast), Lindores Abbey Chess Stars (Lindores Abbey Distillery, Scotland), Norway Chess (Altibox tournament, Stavanger, Norway), and finally this tournament in Croatia.

His last loss in a classical game was against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Biel last July 31, 2018. Before that it was the month before against Wesley So in 2018 Altibox Norway Chess. The reason I harp on this is because just before their game Carlsen made some unfortunate comments: “I can’t remember him (So) ever being close to beat me. If I want a draw, I will often get it easily.”

But I digress. Known for his attacking style as a teenager Carlsen has since toughened up his technique to mold himself into a universal player, equally good in attack, defense, and grinding away with technique. How can you be stronger than that? Where can you find space to improve yourself?

From the chess that he has played I can confirm that this is the new, improved version, Magnus Carlsen II, if you like. He is even more dangerous than before, with obviously a lot of hard work done on his openings, and then there is this new-found aggression with which he pounces on his opponents, trying to finish them off quickly rather than transpose to the endgame and complete the job there.

Aronian said about Carlsen:

“He started going into the main lines, which he was usually not doing in previous years. I think he trained pretty well for his match with Fabiano. Now he does something that is unusual for him: he plays very critical opening lines from the start. He plays central chess, something he wasn’t doing. And it works well for him.”

Giri also made this point about Carlsen and openings.

“I think what has changed is, he won a few games after repeating a lot of lines at home. Such preparation takes a lot of energy and effort. You have to analyze and afterwards you have to look at these lines and you have to make sure you remember them. That takes a lot of effort, and I think before he thought that wasn’t worth it. Now he won a few games this way, he felt, oh wait, that’s actually worth it. So now he is not only having walks in the rain like today, but at some point he also sits with his laptop in his room, puts on his headphones and stares at the screen for a couple of hours and does his job. That makes him a different player and people have to still get used to it but I think right now they really understand. He has simply become one of the best prepared players in the world.”

Here is his win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, one of the world’s greatest authorities in the Gruenfeld. The ease with which the Frenchman is dispatched is almost obscene.

Carlsen, Magnus (2875) — Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2779) [D85]
Croatia Grand Chess Tour Zagreb CRO (11.1), 07.07.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3

Another even more popular system is 8.Rb1 0–0 9.Be2 but MVL has already shown he can handle the Black pieces quite well here. An interesting game from two years ago went 9…cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 Bg4 13.Be3 Nc6 14.d5 Na5 15.Bg5 b6 16.Bxe7 Rfe8 17.d6 Nc6 18.Bb5 Nxe7 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Qe6 21.Bxe8 Rxe8 22.dxe7 Qxe7 Aronian, L (2799)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2804) Tbilisi World Cup 2017. MVL’s exchange sacrifice has ensured that black’s queenside pawns give him sufficient counterplay. 1/2 32.

8…Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 cxd4 11.cxd4 0–0

[11…Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0–0 leads to a typical Gruenfeld endgame where White has his pawns on d4 and e4 and tries to prove them a central force, while Black puts pressure with pieces. There is no theoretical conclusion yet as to whether White has any advantage here]

12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.Bd3

White wants to castle quickly, perhaps because he saw MVL’s game where he quickly attacked the white king and the first player was not able to survive the opening: 13.d5 e6 14.Bd2 b6 15.Bxa5 bxa5 16.Bc4 exd5 17.Bxd5 Ba6!? 18.Bxa8 Rxa8 19.e5 Bf8 20.Rc1 Rd8 21.Rc2 Bb4+ 22.Nd2 a4 23.Kd1 Bd3 24.Nf3 Be4+ 0–1. Bellahcene, B (2475)-Vachier Lagrave, M (2811) Bastia FRA 2016.

13…Bg4 14.0–0 Bxf3 15.gxf3 e6 16.Rfd1

For the next few moves the play is centered around White’s d4–d5 advance. Carlsen tries to put maximum forces behind it while MVL seeks to discourage it.

16…Rfd8 17.Bf1 b6 18.Ba6

In general outline white intends d4–d5 and then control d8 and d7 with his bishops.

18…Rd6 19.Rbc1 Rad8 20.Bg5 f6

Forced. 20…R8d7? 21.Rc8+ Bf8 22.Bb5 and Black has to give up the exchange, for 22…Rb7 23.Bh6 leads to mate.

21.Be3 h6 22.Bb5 f5 <D>

POSITION AFTER 22…F5

23.d5!

Perfect timing.

23…g5

[23…exd5? 24.Bf4 Rf6 25.Bc7]

24.Bd2 fxe4

[24…exd5 25.Bb4]

25.fxe4 a6!

A nice try to complicate the issue.

26.Ba4!

[26.Bxa6? allows Black the use of the c6 square after 26…exd5 27.Bb4 Rc6]

26…exd5 27.Bb4 Re6 28.Rxd5 Rxd5?! 29.exd5 Re4

Naturally White had to ensure that he is not losing a piece here.

30.Rc8+ Kf7 31.a3 Be5 32.Be8+ Kg7 33.d6 Rd4 34.d7 Nb7 35.Be7 Re4 36.Rc6 Bd4 37.Rc7 1–0

Caruana joined in the praise:

His tournament here was extraordinary, but his play throughout the year has been really excellent, and he’s winning games with remarkable ease, which normally these things don’t happen, like today, he ends the game with an hour on the clock. I think that things are just all falling together for him, at every stage of the game.

Giri, Anish (2779) — Carlsen, Magnus (2875) [B30]
Croatia Grand Chess Tour Zagreb CRO (1.1), 26.06.2019

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.h4 h5 7.e5 d6?!

The usual move here is 7…Ng6. While this new move is really not that good, it totally discombobulates Anish Giri, who is one of the best prepared GMs in the world.

8.exd6 Ng6

It appears that Black intends to continue with ..e6–e5 (that’s the reason the knight went to g6) …Bg4 and finally …Bxd6. Giri embarks on a faulty maneuver to counter this idea.

9.Nfd2 Bxd6 10.Nc4 Be7 11.Nc3 Ba6

Simply removing the knight from the board, the knight which White had taken pains to position on the optimum c4 square.

12.Qf3 Bxc4 13.Qxc6+ Kf8 14.dxc4 Nxh4 15.0–0 Nf5 16.Ne2

Black obviously wants to put his knight on d4 so Giri immediately takes steps against it.

16…Rc8 17.Qa4?

Giri had been playing some weird knight moves, but this one is a clear mistake. Why not centralize the queen with 17.Qe4.

17…Rc7 18.Bf4 Rd7 19.c3? g5! 20.Rad1? Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Qa8!

Surprisingly, White can no longer adequately defend his king.

22.Bc7 h4 23.f3 h3 0–1

The worse part about his position is that the white queen cannot even try to get back to her king’s defense. For example 23…h3 24.Qc2 Ne3

The lesson from all this is that the best can still get better, and so long as everybody keeps trying to improve themselves the classical form of chess will always be alive.

 

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

Gentler Woods

There was a time when press conferences featuring Tiger Woods yielded nothing by way of information. He was being reticent by design, to be sure. He didn’t want those on the outside looking in to know more about his private life, and, just as importantly, his peers from getting a better grasp of how he went about his business on the course. As far as he was concerned, winning wasn’t everything; it was the only thing. And for a long, long while, his steely demeanor served to underscore his dominance and singular stature; he was on a pedestal by his lonesome, with all and sundry looking up from a distance — exactly the way he wanted things to be.

That time is long gone, and happily, even for Woods. His kinder, gentler self was on display when he met with members of the media two days before the start of competition at Royal Portrush, and if anything seemed out of the ordinary, it showed in the candor with which he patiently addressed query after query. At Carnoustie last year, he found himself in contention for the Claret Jug, and he revealed that his extremely positive British Open experience fueled his belief that, for all his physical travails, he could win again in golf’s grandest stages. And he did at the Masters in April.

Certainly, Woods continues to enter tournaments with an unwavering commitment to prevail. It’s his approach that has changed, and dramatically. He no longer prepares with a focus bordering on obsession; rather, he does so with a keener understanding of the limitations brought upon him by his advancing age and increasingly brittle body. Meanwhile, he sports the confidence of a 15-time major champion every time he tees off, backstopped by the knowledge that he remains without peer when it comes to mental fortitude.

When Woods begins his campaign for a fourth British Open victory today, he will not be the favorite. It isn’t simply that he knows little of and about Royal Portrush. It’s that, as he acknowledged, his game is “not quite as sharp as I’d like to have it right now.” Much of his perceived handicap stems from his relative lack of in-event reps due to new realities, family pursuits included; after he played at the United States Open, for instance, he saw fit to go on a two-week vacation in Thailand with loved ones. And he hasn’t wielded a club in competition since then. In this light, “not quite as sharp” may well be an understatement.

At this point, Woods is compelled to take the long view. “I want to play here as long as I possibly can,” he noted. “And, you have to understand, if I play a lot, I won’t be out here that long.” Which is why he’s content to walk the tightrope, accepting the fact that, under the circumstances, getting ready simply means not taxing himself and, when he needs to hit the ball on a certain lie in a certain way, trusting that he will always have the imagination and skill set to do so.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Peso plunges on strong US data

THE PESO plunged against the dollar on Wednesday, dragged by reduced expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve due to upbeat June US retail sales data.

The local unit closed yesterday’s session at P51.13 versus the greenback, 23 centavos weaker than its P50.90-a-dollar finish on Tuesday.

The peso traded within a wide range, opening the session at P50.95 per dollar. It slipped to as low as P51.16, while its intraday high stood at P50.88 against the greenback.

Trading volume climbed to $1.208 billion from the $1.045 billion that changed hands the previous session.

Traders attributed the decline of the peso to the dollar’s ascent, driven by the upbeat June US retail sales data.

The US Commerce Department reported retail sales climbed 0.4% last month as households bought more automobiles and other goods.

“In the morning session, the peso went as high as P50.88, but as the dollar strength continued, the dollar-peso moved lower on the back of short positioning covering among banks,” the trader said in a mobile phone interview.

“Somehow it’s a panic move to cover their short positions since they’re seeing strong dollar.”

Another trader said the release of the stronger-than-expected US retail sales report reduced market expectations of a strong policy cut by the Fed by the end of the month.

“We also saw US Treasury yields also climbing up also due to this upbeat retail sales data,” the first trader added.

The US central bank is expected to cut rates for the first time in a decade at its July 30-31 policy meeting. Fed chair Jerome Powell hinted on a cut in benchmark rates, saying it will “act as appropriate” to sustain economic expansion.

For today, the first trader expects the peso to trade between P51.10 and P51.30 versus the dollar, while the other gave a P51-P51.30 range. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Shares extend decline on US-China tariff threats

STOCKS continued to decline on Wednesday as the market was weighed down by threats of new tariffs by the US on Chinese goods.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 30.09 points or 0.36% to finish at 8,233.48 yesterday. The all-shares index also gave up 11.45 points or 0.22% to close at 5,001.54.

“Local shares traded slightly in the red after President Trump cited that they could impose tariffs on another $325 billion of China goods. This was from a statement where he said that if the US wanted and an agreement with China on trade tariffs, it had ‘a long way to go,’ in a briefing with reporters. This came a day after he cited that the trade war had caused a slowdown in its economy,” Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales of Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a text message.

China on Tuesday rebuffed a suggestion from US President Donald Trump that Beijing needs a trade deal with the United States because its economy is slowing, saying this was “totally misleading” and that both countries wanted an agreement.

Mr. Trump, in a Monday tweet, seized on slowing economic growth in China as evidence that US tariffs were having “a major effect” and warned that Washington could pile on more pressure.

Official data on Monday showed China’s economic growth cooled to 6.2% in the second quarter, the weakest annual pace in at least 27 years, amid trade pressure from the United States. In the first half, the economy grew 6.3% compared with a year earlier.

Mr. Trump said on Tuesday the United States still has a long way to go to conclude a trade deal with China but could impose tariffs on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods if it needed to do so.

Jervin S. de Celis, equity trader at the Timson Securities, Inc., shared the same sentiment: “The new threat of trade tariffs by US President Trump may somehow affect the PSEi’s movement as well as the MSCI announcement in early August.”

Mr. De Celis said profit taking also continued following the PSEi’s recent rally past the 8,300 mark.

He added that investors are waiting for more second quarter earnings results.

Most sector counters closed lower led by industrials, which went down 54.76 points or 0.46% to 11,807.16. Holding firms dropped 36.18 points or 0.45% to 7,911.60; property declined 15.88 points or 0.35% to 4,417.03; services dropped 3.63 points or 0.21% to 1,676.70; and financials lost 2.41 points or 0.13% to 1,851.64.

Mining and oil was the lone gainer as it ended 41.67 points or 0.53% higher at 7,835.94.

Losers narrowly beat gainers, 89 to 85, while 67 names ended flat.

Value turnover ended lower at P5.31 billion on Wednesday as 903.06 million shares changed hands, versus the previous session’s P10.49 billion.

Foreigners continued to be net buyers at P384.07 million, although lower than Tuesday’s P1.18 billion. — V.M.P. Galang with Reuters

Duterte’s ratings steady after China incident

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte kept his majority approval rating and remained the most trusted government official in June, weeks after a South China Sea incident that put his warm ties with Beijing on the spotlight.

Mr. Duterte’s approval rating was steady at 85 percent, just 2 points lower than a month earlier, according to a poll by Pulse Asia Research, Inc. His trust rating was unchanged at 85 percent.

His latest ratings come after a Filipino fishing boat sank after colliding with a Chinese vessel on June 9 at the disputed Reed Bank. The president has called the collision a “little” maritime incident.

Mr. Duterte had refused to take an aggressive stance, saying his government was not capable of going to war with China.

“The issue of human rights violations, vulgarity and even the Chinese intrusions are not sticking,” Louie C. Montemar, a sociology professor at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said in a mobile phone message.

“In the minds of many, these are not things that will make them hungry. I think many still believe that relations with Beijing are still being handled well by the Davaoeño in Manila,” he added.

The approval rating of Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, who visited the 22 stranded fishermen, rose 6 points to 55 percent.

The Pulse Asia poll interviewed 1,200 adults from June 24 to 30 and has an error margin of +/- 2.8 points.

Mr. Duterte’s high ratings come even if majority of Filipinos think that the country should try to regain islets occupied by China and assert its rights in the disputed waterway.

The proportion of Filipinos who think the country should recover the islets from China has risen to 93 percent in June from 89 percent in December, according to the Social Weather Stations.

China has been building artificial islands in the disputed Spratly Islands and setting up installations including several runways. China claims sovereignty over more than 80 percent of the waterway based on its so-called nine-dash line drawn on a 1940s map.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has sought closer investment and trade ties with Beijing, including over resources in the South China Sea, since taking power in 2016.

His predecessor, Benigno S. Aquino III, sued China before an international arbitration tribunal over its territorial claims, and won. He also strengthened Philippine alliance with the US to try to check China’s expansion in the main waterway. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Anti-graft court junks former military man’s plea in forfeiture suit

THE SANDIGANBAYAN has denied a plea by a former military finance officer and his family to dismiss a case where the government is seeking to recover P55 million in alleged ill-gotten wealth.

In a resolution, the anti-graft court’s Second Division rejected claims by retired Lieutenant General Jacinto C. Ligot that the law was violated when two charges for a single case were filed, as well as his right to the deposit secrecy.

These arguments have been discussed and answered in previous proceedings, it said.

“The court reiterates its findings that there is no violation of the rule against instituting more than one suit for a single cause of action,” it said. The Bank Secrecy Act was also not violated, it said.

Mr. Ligot was accused of participating in a scheme at the Armed Forces in 2011, in which retiring military officers were illegally given a hefty sum. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Bill to increase age of consent in rape cases

SENATE MAJORITY Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri has filed a bill that seeks to raise the age of consent in statutory rape to 15 years.

Senate Bill 305 will change the 89-year-old Revised Penal Code as amended by the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, raising the age of consent from 12 years.

Under the law, statutory rape involves children below 12 years and does not require proof that force was used. This has encouraged sexual abuse of children, Mr. Zubiri said, adding that the country has the lowest age of consent in Asia.

One of five children below 18 years experience sexual violence, the lawmaker said, citing a 2016 study. “By raising the age to 15 years, I hope that we could put a dent on the number of children victimized.”

Senator Leila M. de Lima had filed a similar bill in the previous Congress that failed to make it out of the committee. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

CA denies protection plea from lawyers

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has rejected a plea by a lawyer’s group to stop government threats against its members.

In an order, the appellate court’s Special 15th Division dismissed the petition by the National Union of People’ Lawyers on a technicality after the group failed to provide a list of its members.

The union had sought a temporary protection order, but the appellate court noted that the Supreme Court had already issued a separate writ to safeguard the rights of its members, who are mostly human rights lawyers.

The government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte had tagged the lawyer’s group as part of a bigger movement that’s allegedly plotting to oust him.

The NUPL has dismissed the ouster plot as absurd, adding that it would continue to speak out against the government’s policies including on illegal drugs.— Vann Marlo Villegas

Customs streamlines baggage declaration

THE GOVERNMENT wants to make travel easier by doing away with Customs baggage declaration forms for those with nothing to declare, the agency said in a statement yesterday.

The forms will be made readily available by airline operators during flights, and passengers will be informed about how to fill them out.

Duties and taxes will not be collected if the value of imported goods does not exceed P10,000. — Reicelene Joy Ignacio

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