Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 10467

Tax exemptions for nonprofit club fees

In 2012, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 35-2012, which clarified the taxability of clubs organized and operated exclusively for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofit purposes.

The RMC emphasized the clear intention of legislators to omit from the Tax Code of 1997, as amended, recreational clubs from the list of income tax-exempt corporations. Consequently, the club’s income derived from whatever source, such as membership fees, assessment dues, rental income, service fees, and the like are subject to income tax. The RMC further stated that gross receipts including, but not limited to the preceding club income, are also subject to VAT.

To dispel confusion due to rulings that exempt recreational clubs from income tax and VAT, RMC 35-2012 repealed all rulings and policies that are inconsistent with its directives.

In reaction, recreational clubs challenged the validity of the RMC through an appeal to the Regional Trial Court (RTC), arguing that the policy was unjust, oppressive, and confiscatory for subjecting membership fees, assessment dues, and service fees to income tax and VAT.

In a 2016 decision, the RTC declared RMC 35-2012 valid and constitutional.

However, the Supreme Court, in a case docketed as G.R. No. 228539, recently set aside the ruling of the RTC on the basis that RMC 35-2012 erroneously interpreted the phrase “income from whatever source.”

While the RMC was correct to say that the exemption from income tax previously granted to recreational clubs had been deleted in the Tax Code of 1997, the interpretation that membership fees and assessment dues are sources of income from which tax liabilities may accrue is misplaced. The Court distinguished between the term “capital,” which means the fund, and the term “income,” which refers to the flow of services rendered by capital and further defined as profit or gain.

Applying this distinction, membership fees, assessment dues, and other fees of a similar nature only constitute contributions for the maintenance and operations of the facilities and services offered by recreational clubs to their members. They are not paid as consideration for services or goods purchased but instead, are utilized as funds for the upkeep of the club facilities and for retention of membership in the club. These payments are held in trust and are to be used to cover operating and general costs. As funds intended for the preservation and maintenance of the clubs’ general operations, nothing is to be gained upon their collection.

Funds in the form of capital are to be distinguished from fees as consideration for the clubs’ services and other income-generating facilities like bars, restaurants, and accommodations that constitute income or profit. Recreational clubs are generally free to use these fees for whatever purpose they desire, and thus, these are considered “fruits” from business transactions.

The Supreme Court emphasized that as long as the membership fees, assessment dues, and other items of similar nature are treated by recreational clubs as collections from their members solely for their membership and for the maintenance and preservation of their operations and facilities, the funds should not be classified as income from whatever source subject to income tax. They only form part of the capital from which no income tax may be collected or imposed. Moreover, imposing income tax on these membership fees and assessment dues is arbitrary and confiscatory because these are capital and not income.

As for VAT, the membership fees and assessment dues do not involve the sale of goods or services. Since there is no economic activity involved in the collection in the absence of a sale, VAT is not imposable.

Because RMC 35-2012 interpreted the phrase income from whatever source to include membership fees, assessment dues, and other items of similar nature, the BIR exceeded its authority by issuing an erroneous construction of the law. As a rule, administrative regulations should always be in accord with the provisions of the statute they seek to carry into effect. Any resulting inconsistency shall be resolved in favor of the fundamental law or the Tax Code in this case.

While the Supreme Court ruled specifically in the case of recreational clubs, condominium corporations and homeowners’ associations may be left wondering if the same logic can be applied to exempt from income tax the dues and fees they collect from their members. After all, the fees are intended for the same purpose. Well, that discussion may be a separate article entirely.

Anyhow, while it took nearly five years for the Court to resolve the validity of RMC 35-2012, recreational clubs can now put the issue to rest and focus on the business of providing better facilities and services to their members. Besides, why tax the funds needed by clubs to preserve recreational facilities for the maintenance of the members’ wellbeing? As the saying goes, bread is the first necessity of life, and recreation is a close second.

The views or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Isla Lipana & Co. The content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for specific advice.

 

Maria Jonas Yap is a Senior Manager at the Tax Services Department of Isla Lipana & Co., the Philippine member firm of the PwC network.

+63 (2) 845-2728

maria.jonas.s.yap@pwc.com

September on their minds

The most accessible and most credible source of information for most Filipinos, broadcast media made much of September’s advent this year for the usual — and depressingly trivial — reasons.

Some broadcasters began playing Christmas carols as early as September 1. So did some of the country’s shopping malls, this month being the first of the four months whose names end in “ber” that in this country mark what is smugly touted as the start of the longest celebration of Christmas on the planet.

Forgotten, if at all even known to some of the younger television and radio broadcasters, were two September events, the remembrance of which has become crucial to the imperative of preventing the return of authoritarian rule in a country that even Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. has described as incapable of changing for the better.

The first date of these events that need remembering is September 11, while the second is the 21st.

This Wednesday was the 102nd birth anniversary of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos. He was born in 1917 in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, to a political family. He managed to graduate from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law and to pass the bar examinations with a 92% score despite being on trial for the murder of Julio Nalundasan, his father’s political opponent, being found guilty of it, and being sentenced to death. (The Supreme Court reversed that verdict in 1940.)

After the Second World War, he falsely claimed to be the most decorated fighter against the Japanese. From 1949 onwards he rapidly rose through the post-US occupation legislature, first as a three-term congressman, and later as senator and Senate President.

From the latter post, and after switching political parties — he was a member of the Liberal Party (LP), but went over to the Nacionalista Party when he realized that the LP would nominate someone else as its candidate for the Presidency — he went on to be President of the Philippines.

He was first elected in 1965, and to a second four-year term in 1969 in elections that made the term “overkill” current, because he not only spent much more than was usual during the campaign. He also forged all sorts of alliances with the provincial warlords in control of command votes in several regions, and with their help fielded thousands of goons to intimidate voters.

His second term as President was supposed to end in 1973, but Marcos preempted his leaving that post and made himself President for life by declaring martial law in the same month as his birthday: on September 21, 1972.

That date is either fast fading from the memories of many Filipinos or has become of no moment to some who do remember it. But it is being spun into the fiction that it was a golden moment in history by those who have an interest in revising what really happened. They dismiss accounts on the horrors of the martial law period as grossly exaggerated, and falsely portray that episode as Marcos’s answer to the demand for change in the 1960s. Among others, the intention is so the Marcoses and their clones can once more take up residence in Malacañang through one of their number’s ascent to the presidency via an election or any other means.

Another Marcos in the Presidency isn’t as far-fetched a possibility as the survivors of the Marcos kleptocracy hope. The factors that made the rise of Marcos, Sr. almost inevitable in the post-World War II period are still very much in evidence in this alleged democracy. Among them is the politics of money and intimidation that assures the continuing monopoly over political power of the handful of families, their agents, and their accomplices who have been driving this country to irreversible ruin for decades.

Like the current occupant of Malacañang, Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. was initially part of a province-based dynasty. His father Mariano was himself a congressman. Elected to represent the same district as his father’s, he became a national figure by assuring himself of continuing media attention, through, among others, his exaggerated war record, his marriage to the beauty queen Imelda Romualdez, and the unwavering support of the warlords of the Ilocos region.

Later, as it became clear that as an astute politician skilled in backroom maneuvering and manipulating the corruption-ridden electoral system, he could become President, he pandered to the anti-communist obsession of the United States and assured himself of American support. His anti-communism was also crucial to the Catholic Church’s “critical support” for his bloody regime.

Once President, he made sure of the allegiance of the military establishment by appointing retired generals to lucrative posts in the civilian bureaucracy and appeasing their mercenary instincts. Alarmed over the political ferment of the late 1960s, business and the middle class welcomed martial rule and became the social base of the fascist regime he erected on the ruins of the Republic. Again like Mr. Duterte, he also promised change. He would “make this nation great again” and claimed that he declared martial law “to save the Republic and reform society.”

But more central to the Marcos story are the methods of ward and feudal politics that he and his cohorts learned during the US colonial period, among whose justifications was the training of the Filipino principalia — the urban and rural gentry — in “self government.” The use of money and intimidation; promising the electorate anything during campaign periods; forging alliances of convenience; and putting self, family, and class interests above principle, among others, have not only survived as the tried and tested methods of keeping the political dynasties in power. They have also metastasized throughout the political and governance systems as the norm.

It is those methods that allowed the return of the Marcoses to the country and to power, and the same tactics that will assure their, or their cohorts’ and allies’ further rise in the highest circles of government and the damaged and damaging political system.

Remembrance and resistance are the only antidotes to the return of tyranny, whether in the person of a Marcos, an Arroyo or a Duterte. But as has been widely noted, remembrance, much less resistance, are the least of the virtues of your average Filipino, whether rich or poor, or high or low.

The reasons for this are fairly obvious. Among them are the survivalist instincts of too many Filipinos who value only self and family. But there is, as well, much of the corporate media’s focus on simply quoting what the powerful say with neither explanation nor analysis, in abdication of the journalistic responsibility of enabling the citizenry to make sense of what is happening.

The few exceptions among some practitioners and media organizations are daily proving the rule. Illustrative is the media focus on September as the supposed start of the Christmas season. Together with that accent on trivia is the failure of much of the media to remind their audiences that September is not so much worth remembering because it is the birth month of the first and far from last fascist bred by the political system. It is its being the month when, by declaring martial law, he and his gang of thieves plunged the country into decades of uncertainty, fear, and misery that still haunt it today. September was rightly on much of the broadcast media’s minds — but for all the wrong reasons.

 

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

Let’s have a Religious Freedom Protection Act now

It seems bizarre to need to say it but bizarre seems to be the norm nowadays. Anyway, here it is: religious freedom is a fundamental constitutionally protected right.

So much so that the Supreme Court — despite the liberal progressive demand that people think otherwise — declared that “the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitutions were crafted in full acknowledgment of the contributions of religion to the country.”

Yet, religion is under attack, being seen as a stubborn obstacle to those seeking to advance ideological agenda that unfortunately and conceivably could destroy the culture, values, traditions, and institutions that made our society free, dynamic, and human.

Heritage Foundation’s Patrick Fagan (Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability; January 1996) found that the best response to societal problems, such as “violent crime and rising illegitimacy, substance abuse, and welfare dependency” is to heed the “positive consequences that flow from the practice of religion.”

Thus, studies show that religion:

• strengthens the family and marital happiness, with spouses less likely to divorce or separate;

• helps poor persons out of poverty;

• helps the youth develop moral formation and sound moral judgment, and have better relationships with their parents;

• lessens the possibility of and hastens recovery for persons falling into problems such as suicide, drug abuse, alcoholism, out-of-wedlock births, crime, and divorce;

• has beneficial effects on physical and mental health, longevity, self-esteem, and greater family, and marital happiness; and

• makes people more optimistic and set realistic goals about their futures.

The Supreme Court, in various cases, defines “religion” as: a “profession of faith to an active power that binds and elevates man to his Creator.” Or “has reference to one’s views of his relations to His Creator and to the obligations they impose of reverence to His being and character and obedience to His Will.” Nevertheless, the Supreme Court does go on to say that, with a nod to US jurisprudence, religion may include “non-theistic beliefs.”

However, for purposes of this article and the legislation proposed below, “religion” here means not only the a) profession of faith but also b) the exercise of faith within the context of an established organization, c) with rules as to membership, d) a core set of beliefs, stories, or tradition embodied in existing literature (or holy “scripture”), and e) with defined rituals for both individual or communal practice.

The Supreme Court also fleshed out the protections under the Constitution’s Article III. 5, provided the following are complied with: existence of compelling State interest in interfering with religious rights, sincerity of the believer regarding such beliefs (here, the Supreme Court noted that “only beliefs rooted in religion are protected by the Free Exercise Clause, secular beliefs, however sincere and conscientious, do not suffice”), and the measure chosen is the least intrusive on such religions.

To expressly concretize the various protections surrounding the religious rights and freedoms in the Constitution and as illustrated by the Supreme Court jurisprudentially, the following law protecting religious freedom is proposed.

This proposed law, admittedly getting inspiration from the RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Acts) experiences in the US, seeks to:

1. Protect a person’s or religious institution’s religious beliefs or freedoms from being restricted or likely burdened by government (“person” herein defined to include any corporation or legal entity whose corporate values or policies expressly conform to a religion’s beliefs);

2. Protect a person’s or religious institution’s right to preach, teach, publish, or otherwise express or apply such religious beliefs in the public square, schools, or as organizational policy;

3. Protect a person or religious institution from having its property likely restricted or likely burdened by government in a manner contrary to that person’s or religious institution’s religious beliefs or freedoms;

4. Entitle persons or religious institutions to employ their religious beliefs as basis of their claim or defense in a suit brought by any individual or entity (government or private) before any administrative or judicial tribunal;

5. Provide remedies ranging from compensation to prohibitions or mandamus. However, this proposed law is not intended to provide a cause of action against any private employer or academic institution by any applicant, employee, or former employee (instead, laws specific to labor or academe will apply);

6. Declare and provide that no religious speech, expression, or publication shall be considered “hate speech” unless such violates the “clear and present danger” standard; and

7. Provide, finally, that all the protections mentioned above applies even for laws of general application, except if: a) such law is intended to further a clear and defined compelling State interest; and b) is the least restrictive means of furthering such clear and defined compelling State interest.

Considering the times, the foregoing suggested law is urgently needed to protect a true and fundamental right against the horde of faux or made-up rights that media, academics, politicians, and various ideologues seek to impose on every Filipino of good faith.

 

Jemy Gatdula is a Senior Fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence.

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter @jemygatdula

We don’t know nearly enough about e-cigarettes

By Max Nisen

“AT LEAST it’s better than smoking” was a common mantra when it came to vaping devices. Not anymore.

Doctors in more than 30 American states have seen hundreds of patients turn up with severe and mysterious lung illnesses this year as the popularity of vaping explodes. As many as six people have died. We’re scrambling to figure out what’s putting otherwise healthy young people on ventilators and how to respond because states and the federal government have only just started to regulate these products.

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving to ban flavored vaping products from the market that particularly appeal to young people, with President Donald Trump himself calling vaping a “problem.” While the acknowledgment and promise of action are positive, there’s a lot more that needs to be done to ensure the latest crisis doesn’t become an even bigger public-health issue.

The FDA gained oversight over e-cigarettes in 2016, and under an initial timeline, manufacturers were set to have to apply for agency approval starting in 2018. The FDA still isn’t reviewing vaping products because the Trump administration pushed the key application deadline back. We can already see the damage from the agency’s lack of urgency. Meanwhile, marijuana products, which appear to play an outsize role in this health crisis, aren’t regulated at the federal level.

Lawmakers and advocates are responding to the rash of vaping-related illnesses by calling for greater restriction of nicotine e-cigarettes (Bloomberg Philanthropies — the charitable organization formed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News owner Bloomberg LP — announced an initiative this week with Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to increase awareness about the potential dangers of vaping and push for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes). The companies that make e-cigarettes would prefer to focus on cannabis and bootleg products sold outside of stores. Given the large gaps in our knowledge of vaping’s impact and the fact that people are dying, we need an aggressive “all of the above” approach.

The defining characteristic of this emerging crisis is uncertainty. A review of 53 recent cases in Wisconsin and Illinois published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 94% of the group of mostly young and healthy individuals were hospitalized, and 32% required ventilators.

FREEPIK

Most of those patients — 84% of those surveyed — reported vaping THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. A couple of bootleg cannabis brands have popped up multiple times. However, there have been plenty of cases where patients report vaping nicotine as well, and smaller groups report using nicotine products alone. Physicians and regulators are suggesting that everything from the inhalation of metal vapors to vitamin E acetate might be to blame, but nothing can account for all of the illnesses so far.

The little we do know isn’t encouraging. E-cigarette fluids have been found to contain at least six groups of potentially toxic chemicals. We have no idea what happens when THC is added, or when these substances are heated together and inhaled daily for months or years. There was early evidence of potential heart issues before this current crisis, and the FDA is also looking into reports that vaping may cause seizures. The supposedly countervailing evidence that these products help people avoid combustible cigarettes is limited. The fact that they’ve introduced a whole new generation of young people to a highly addictive and possibly dangerous habit is indisputable.

Discovering specific tainted products that might be contributing to these illnesses should be a priority, but regulators can’t stop there. A complete response has to tackle four big issues.

First, the FDA needs to accelerate its efforts to scientifically review legally available products, with an added emphasis on safety. A ban on flavored products will help curb the teen vaping epidemic, but stricter age restrictions and a more aggressive clampdown on deceptive marketing should follow. Then there’s the black market: The devices people are buying on the street and the liquids used in them demand more attention. Finally, this crisis makes it even more clear that marijuana products shouldn’t continue to exist in confusing regulatory limbo.

It’s an imposing wish list. But the inevitable consequence of leaving things as they are is more illnesses and deaths.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Prince Harry can’t make your holiday green

By Chris Bryant and Andrea Felsted

BRITAIN’S Prince Harry is urging tourists to be more eco-friendly — while at the same time flitting across Europe by private jet. It’s hardly the only contradiction in the travel industry’s drive to become more sustainable.

The world’s largest hotel chains house as many people each day as a decent-sized city, making them a big source of pollution and waste. Directly, hotels account for about 1% of global carbon-dioxide emissions — although that estimate doesn’t include the hydrocarbon-burning flights and car journeys guests make as they come and go. All-in, tourism’s contribution to man-made emissions could be as much as 8% of the total.

As with overcrowding at the world’s most popular tourist attractions, this massive environmental footprint is giving the hotel industry a bad name. Along with energy, food and water, hotels are gargantuan consumers of plastics.

Hoteliers’ efforts to kick this particular dirty habit have been capturing headlines lately: Marriott International Inc. and InterContinental Hotels Group Plc have both promised to eliminate plastic shampoo and shower gel miniatures, which should prevent several hundred million small bottles being dumped in landfill annually. (They are, however, trusting you not to steal their new, bulk-sized refillable containers.)

Drinking straws, cocktail picks, door key cards, slipper-cellophane, disposable cutlery, and water bottles are all in the cross-hairs of the hotel industry’s growing anti-plastics drive.

At the margins, these interventions should also help to cut the huge amount of plastic waste that ends up in the oceans and these policies should be relatively simple to implement — unlike the plastics challenge facing supermarkets, for example. But these eye-catching ecological measures have, rightly, prompted accusations of tokenism.

If I take three connecting flights to reach my villa in the Maldives, crank up the air conditioning on arrival and then eat filet mignon for dinner, forgoing a plastic stirrer in my margarita and my haul of free plastic miniatures isn’t going to matter a hoot, is it?

This isn’t a laughing matter: The tourism industry will be the first to suffer if we don’t change. Coral reefs are being bleached and beaches ruined by plastic detritus and foul-smelling, fertilizer-fueled seaweed blooms. Recently, parts of the Bahamas have been devastated by a hurricane whose destructive power was likely magnified by warmer oceans.

In fairness, most big hotel groups are making pretty comprehensive efforts to consume fewer resources and cut carbon pollution. Marriott’s promise to cut the amount of waste going to landfill by 45% by 2025 isn’t to be sneezed at when you consider it has 1.3 million rooms worldwide.

Resource efficiency is also plain good business sense: the signs asking you to kindly reuse your towels help to cut the hotel’s utility bill as well as its electricity consumption.

Hotels know they cannot afford to look lax on these issues. Customers — particularly corporate ones — are considering sustainability issues when purchasing trips and online booking platforms are making it easier to tell environmental saints from sinners. Competitors like home-sharing site Airbnb have been talking up the environmental benefits of staying in someone’s home instead of a large hotel, putting the industry even more on the defensive.

Many large hotel chains already provide an impressive level of disclosure about their environmental impact and some use market-based incentives to help ensure sustainability promises are kept.

When AccorHotels signed a new 1.2 billion-euro ($1.3 billion) credit facility with a consortium of banks, it linked the interest rate to its compliance with sustainability goals. Marriott offers guests extra loyalty points if they forgo having their rooms cleaned, not that its housekeepers are happy about this.

Unfortunately, though, the industry’s rapid growth risks overwhelming the benefit derived from these hard-won efficiency gains.

Hilton has achieved an impressive one-third cut in carbon emissions per square meter since 2008 and it plans to extend that to a 61% reduction by 2030. But its absolute emissions have jumped by one fifth over the past decade because the company added thousands of hotels to its portfolio — it opened one a day last year.

So what can be done? Plastic bans make for good headlines, but hotels should focus on reducing their most environmentally damaging activities.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning account for up to 45% of hotel energy consumption, according to AccorHotels, so installing the most efficient technology and switching to carbon-free energy sources would seem a sensible priority.

That’s easier said than done. The Sheraton Stockholm Hotel boasts that its power is supplied entirely by clean hydroelectricity, but its counterparts in nearby Poland, where coal accounts for 80%of power production, have fewer options. Hence, the industry is increasingly choosing to produce its own renewable energy on-site.

Of course, the easiest way for the business to clean up is act is also the most unpalatable: open fewer hotels, especially in far-flung destinations only accessible by plane.

Getting the balance right is difficult. Hotels provide lots of jobs in poor countries. Still, from an environmental standpoint, video conferencing and staycations are better than hopping on a jet. Similarly, a tent is superior to an air-conditioned luxury hotel room, as Richard Clarke at Bernstein Research points out.

But wait for hotels to cap their growth or consumers to voluntarily forgo the comfort of a hotel bed and you’ll be waiting a long time. Higher taxes that penalize the negative consequences of travel may become unavoidable. For now, “sustainable travel” is too often a contradiction in terms.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

San Sebastian gets back at College of St. Benilde

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE SAN SEBASTIAN Stags split their season series with the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers in National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 after taking their second-round encounter, 83-67, on Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Finished at the raw end in their maiden encounter in the opening round, the Stags (7-3) avoided falling for a second straight time against the Blazers (6-4), banking on steady solid shooting to open their second-round bid on a winning note.

Things got off in a shoot-fest with the teams finding their mark from beyond the arc.

The count stood at 13-10 with 5:32 to go in the opening quarter and San Sebastian on top before the latter, led by RK Ilagan, finished the frame with a 15-10 run to hold a 28-20 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.

CSB got some traction back to begin the second quarter with Justin Gutang and Yankie Haruna on the firing end, coming to within two points, 33-31, with 4:30 to go in the frame.

But the San Sebastian trio of Ilagan, Allyn Bulanadi and Alvin Capobres would lead a 9-0 run in the next two minutes and a half to stretch the gap to 11 points, 42-31.

The Blazers tried to reclaim some land back but with little success as the Stags maintained control, 48-39, at halftime.

San Sebastian kept its hot shooting to begin the third canto, opening with a 5-0 run to build a 52-39 advantage with just four minutes lapsing.

It was a streak it would capitalize on for the rest of the quarter as it fended off any CSB rally to hold a 68-50 lead heading into the payoff quarter.

Sensing they had the Blazers on the ropes, the Stags went for an early kill.

Bulanadi and the Stags opened the fourth quarter with a 10-3 blast to make it a 25-point lead, 78-53, with six minutes left.

CSB made attempts to salvage the game but no comeback would be completed as San Sebastian showed no let-up on its way to bagging the win.

Bulanadi top-scored in the big win of the Stags, finishing with a career-high 32 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Ilagan had 13 and Capobres 12 for San Sebastian, which has now won five straight games. For CSB it was Haruna who led with 16 points.

Meanwhile games today (Sept. 13) will see the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers (3-7) battle the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals (1-9) at 12 noon followed by the Letran Knights (7-3) against the Mapua Cardinals (3-6) at 2 p.m. and the San Beda Red Lions (10-0) and Arellano Chiefs (2-8) at 4 p.m. Venue is the FilOil Flying V Centre.

France knock holders US out of World Cup medal rounds

BEIJING — France caused the biggest shock of the basketball World Cup in China after beating holders the United States 89-79 to reach the semifinals of the 32-nation tournament on Wednesday.

France will meet Argentina on Friday for a berth in Sunday’s final while 2006 champions Spain take on Australia, who overpowered Czech Republic 82-70 in the day’s other quarterfinal.

The United States, favorites to win their third successive and sixth overall world title, dropped into the 5th–8th place playoffs after they failed to reach the medal rounds for the first time since the 2002 tournament in Indianapolis.

The Americans were beaten in a last-eight clash by the former Yugoslavia in that tournament and they next face Serbia, who were billed as their most likely rival in a gold-medal clash in this year’s event.

With 17 of their top NBA players pulling out of the roster in the build-up to the tournament in China, the US lacked depth but their coach Gregg Popovich, the winner of five NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs, refused to make excuses.

“It is a disrespectful notion to even bring something like that up,” Popovich told a news conference.

“To say ‘hey you guys didn’t have this guy or that guy,’ that’s disrespectful to France or whoever else is in the tournament. France beat us.

“It doesn’t matter who is on the team. I couldn’t be more proud of these 12 guys who sacrificed their summer having never played together before.

“They put themselves in the arena and competed. They deserve credit for that just like France deserve credit for winning. It’s not about ‘the United States didn’t have their other guys.’ There is no such thing as ‘other guys.’”

Having ground out a barely deserved 93-92 overtime win over Turkey in the preliminary group stage, there was to be no escape for the US this time against an athletic French side who dominated them in every department.

AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE
An aggressive French defence forced a flurry of first-half turnovers and having engineered a 45-39 halftime lead, they surged 51-41 ahead early in the third quarter thanks to inspired performances from Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert.

As the duo began to tire, Team USA hit back thanks to a one-man show from Donovan Mitchell, who netted 14 of his 29 points in the third quarter to give the 2014 champions a 66-63 lead ahead of the final 10 minutes.

But Mitchell stayed scoreless in the fourth quarter while his Utah Jazz team mate Gobert and Orlando Magic guard Fournier hit top gear.

Trailing 72-65, France went on a 17-4 run and cool free-throw shooting in the last 90 seconds of the clash gave them a memorable win as Gobert finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds while Fournier netted 22 points.

The towering Gobert also produced two crucial blocks in the final minute as the Americans lost their momentum and threw away several key possessions.

The only positive they will take from the tournament is that they have qualified for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo alongside Australia, Argentina, Spain, France, Iran and Nigeria.

Japan gained an automatic berth as hosts and four other nations will complete the 12-team field after next year’s qualifying tournaments.

The impressive Australians, who have never won a major medal, lived up to the billing of dark horses after a mature performance gave them a sixth successive win in the tournament.

The Czechs fought hard throughout to stay in touch but were undone by another fine display from Australia’s Spurs guard Patty Mills, who racked up 24 points. — Reuters

Samantha de la Costa: Finding her place under the jiu-jitsu sun

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WHILE she is a relative new convert to the sport of jiu-jitsu, it has not stopped Samantha de la Costa from steadily carving a name for herself in it, winning medals in various competitions along the way.

Started in the sport in 2015, after a decorated judoka career in college, Ms. De la Costa has seen her transition to jiu-jitsu bear much fruit, the most recent of which was a gold medal at the Thailand Ju-jitsu Open Grand Prix 2019 in August.

The Ateneo de Manila University product seized the top hardware in the -45KG category, topping compatriot Danica Palanca in the finals.

Her gold was one of four gold medals that Team Philippines won in the tournament along with three silver and three bronze medals.

Making this latest achievement of hers special, she said, was it was done sans most her senior teammates in the squad and that the experience she had in Thailand would go a long way as she continues to find her place under the jiu-jitsu sun.

“As an athlete, you can only dream of representing your country. So this whole experience — joining the national team makes me so happy! It’s very surreal. I’m still so thankful!!! This is the first international competition I joined as an official part of the national team and I was able to win a medal at that. How can you top that?” said Ms. De la Costa in an e-mail correspondence with BusinessWorld.

“This experience made me more appreciative of everyone; because despite the fact that we come from different teams we were a big family there. Everyone was really helpful and caring. I remember we didn’t have a PT (physical therapist) so everyone was each other’s PT. I really felt the support for one another,” she added as she spoke of their campaign which happened from Aug. 10 to 11 at Rangsit University in Thailand.

In the Ju-Jitsu Open, Ms. De la Costa said her mindset was that of nothing to lose and everything to gain, a product of her years doing judo.

“I remember my first international judo competition, my coach told me this, ‘You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.’ I lost that day but I think it kind of stuck with me after all these years. So the whole time in Bangkok, I kept that in mind,” she said.

Later this year the Philippines will be hosting the 30th Southeast Asian Games where jiu-jitsu will make its debut as a medal event.

Ms. De la Costa said she is very excited for it albeit she rues that she will not be able to compete in it due to a technicality in the SEA Games handbook over the number of athletes to be fielded in a particular event.

“I believe the team is more than ready for the SEA Games. From what I see and experience during training, everyone is giving their all. Like nothing will be left to chance. From strength, technique and even nutrition, everyone is covering everything to be 100% by SEA Games time,” she said.

“Since I’m not playing in the SEA games, you can still expect 10000% support from me! I’ll be giving my all during trainings so my teammates will have good training partners. Also, on competition day, you can expect me on the stands. I will be one of the crazy fans wearing our colors with facepaint,” Ms. De la Costa added.

She went on to say that jiu-jitsu in the SEA Games should be of help in further growing the sport in the country.

“This is really big! Having airtime will truly help inform Filipinos about our sport. It’s a different martial art from karate and taekwondo. Also, this event can help remove the stigma people have with combat sports, especially jiu-jitsu. It’s not a bad and really scary sport! In fact, a lot of kids love doing it! Hopefully this year’s SEA Games can help spread awareness for jiu-jitsu and will come to support our national team in the coming events,” Ms. De la Costa said.

Irishman Rory McIlroy tops Brooks Koepka for 2018–19 PGA Tour Player of the Year honors

NEW YORK — Rory McIlroy may not have added to his collection of major titles during the 2018-19 campaign, but the Northern Irishman did enough to be named the PGA Tour Player of the Year on Wednesday for a third time.

The 30-year-old Northern Irishman, who won three titles during the season including the Players Championship and Tour Championship, beat Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar and Xander Schauffele in a vote by players for the Jack Nicklaus Award.

“I couldn’t be more proud of what I achieved this year,” McIlroy, who had 14 top-10 finishes in his 19 starts, said on a conference call.

“I wanted to try to bring my best every single week that I played, and I feel like I did that to the best of my ability.”

McIlroy, who won the award in 2012 and 2014, made 17 of 19 cuts while racking up three victories, the final one at the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta where he also claimed the FedExCup for a $15 million payday.

The four-times major champion’s other victory came in his RBC Canadian Open debut, where he set a tournament record and won by seven shots — the largest winning margin of the season.

But when it came to the majors, McIlroy finished tied for 21st at the Masters, tied for eighth at the PGA Championship, tied for ninth at the US Open and missed the cut at the British Open in his native Northern Ireland.

McIlroy admitted he was surprised to win the award over Koepka, who last month was named PGA of America Player of the Year and considered the front-runner after finishing in the top-five at each major, including at the PGA Championship where he picked up his fourth major title.

“Players don’t just feel that four weeks a year is important,” said McIlroy. “It’s a huge vote of confidence from the players that we play for more than just maybe what the narrative suggests.

“I thought maybe Brooks wining the PGA Championship this year was going to be the difference maker but the other players thought differently. I am very honoured that they thought enough of my season to give me this award.”

When asked if he would rather have a year like 2019 or 2014 — when he won consecutive majors at the British Open and PGA Championship, sandwiched around his win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational — McIlroy took a few moments before replying.

“Every year is different. I’ve already had a year like 2014, I might have a year like that again,” said McIlroy. “I’m happier with where my game is now. I feel like I’m a better player now than I was in 2014. And that gives me a lot going forward.”

South Korean Im Sung-jae was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after a campaign in which he had seven top-10 finishes in 35 events and was the only rookie to make the Tour Championship. — Reuters

REV Major set for later this month in Solaire

THE PHILIPPINES’ premier multi-title fighting game tournament — REV Major — happens for a third straight year later this month, promising a bigger and stronger staging.

Happening from Sept. 28 to 29, this year’s iteration of the REV Major will see 12 different fighting game tournaments to be held at The Tent at Solaire Resorts & Casino in Parañaque City.

Games featured are tournament main title, Tekken 7, along with Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st], King of Fighters XIV, Mortal Kombat 11, Samurai Showdown and Soul Calibur VI.

Organizers said that apart from the main games which will be played on the stage, more games are also being planned to be added as part of the side and community tournament features.

Added as Master Event of the Tekken World Tour, competition in the REV Major 2019 main title Tekken 7 is expected to be more cutthroat, especially with the winner to be awarded 300 points which would go a long way in boosting players’ standing in the leaderboard in the race to become this year’s best Tekken player.

In last year’s edition of REV Major, Korea’s Sun-woong “LowHigh” Yoon emerged as the Tekken Tournament winner.

Apart from Tekken, another REV Major 2019 title — Dragon Ball FighterZ — has just been revealed to be part of the DBFZ World Tour. A bigger stake is also up for grabs in Street Fighter V where the REV Major winner will be flown to Japan to compete in the Red Bull Kumite Championship.

To have more people experience the burgeoning fighting game community in the country, organizers are opening the doors to REV Major for free to spectators.

Registration for REV Major 2019 fighting game tournament, organized by the Playbook Esports in partnership with Gariath Concepts, is now open and interested players can check out the event’s official Website at revmajor.playbookph.com for particulars. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Villar’s historic HR carries O’s past Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.

The 443-foot shot to left, off left-hander Caleb Ferguson (1-2), was the 6,106th in the majors this season, setting a new record.

The Dodgers clinched the National League West title with a win over the Orioles in the series opener on Tuesday. But Villar ruined any hopes Los Angeles had of a three-game sweep, breaking a 2-2 tie and putting the Orioles ahead for good.

The win ended the Orioles’ six-game losing streak and gave them 47 victories for the season, tying their 2018 total. Shawn Armstrong (1-1) earned the victory thanks to 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief on his 29th birthday.

Baltimore starter John Means threw 6 1/3 strong innings but again didn’t get much offensive support and came away with a no-decision. He gave up two runs on four hits and finished with six strikeouts, often baffling the Dodgers in his first appearance against them.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Trey Mancini led off with a double, and Dwight Smith Jr. followed with a run-scoring double.

Means and Baltimore held the lead until the sixth. That’s when Austin Barnes doubled to start the inning, and A.J. Pollock followed with a two-run homer to center to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead.

But the Orioles answered right back in the bottom half. New pitcher Joe Kelly walked Hanser Alberto to start the inning, and Alberto went to second on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, Smith struck again, this time driving in the tying run on a single to right.

After Villar broke the tie with his seventh-inning blast, Pedro Severino added a two-run shot off Baltimore native Adam Kolarek in the eighth, giving the Orioles a 7-2 lead. — Reuters

Cebuana Lhuillier Girls’ Tennis Challenge underway

SOME of the most promising and youngest tennis players in the local scene will battle it out in the upcoming Cebuana Lhuillier Girls’ Tennis Challenge set to commence on Sept. 13, 2019, at the Makati Sports Club. Winners in the Under 14 and Under 16 Qualifying Tournament will represent the country in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Future Stars happening in China on October this year.

“Since 2016, the Cebuana Lhuillier Girls’ Tennis Challenge has seen the talent of many junior tennis players, producing rising tennis stars like Alex Eala who recently made her debut at the US Open. My hope for these young girls is that they prove their mettle through this tournament and give the Philippines something to be proud of in the WTA Future Stars tourney,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO.

Competing in the 14-under category are Alexa Milliam of Bacolod City; Marielle Alexi Jarata of La Union; Tiffany Claire Nocos, and Khymberly Jhane Mckenzie of Cebu; Jufe-Ann Cocoy of Alabang, Muntinlupa; Mica Ella Emana of Manila; Angel Denopol of Lanao Del Norte; and Corazon Lambonao of Ormoc.

Battling for top spot in the 16-under category are Jenaila Rose Prulla of Bulacan; Amanda Gabrielle Zoleta, and Julia Asaliah Ignacio of Lucena City; Justine Hannah Maneja of Quezon City; Sydney Enriquez of Zamboanga Del Norte; Kristine Guia Margarette Bandolis of Lanao del Norte; Maria Judy Ann Padilla of Ozamis City; and Althea Fay Ong of Olongapo City.

The Cebuana Lhuillier Girls’ Tennis Challenge is sanctioned by Unified Tennis Philippines and supported by AXA Philippines, Standard Insurance, Dunlop, and the Makati Sports Club.

1...10,46610,46710,468...14,215Page 10,467 of 14,215
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube