Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 10538

Elite test mettle against defending champs Kings

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

OPENING-DAY winners Blackwater Elite go for a second win in row when they test their mettle against defending Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in league action at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Fresh from their 94-91 overtime victory over the Meralco Bolts on May 19, the Elite try to sustain their good start in their scheduled 7 p.m. encounter with the Kings, who are making their debut in this year’s edition of the midseason tournament.

The Elite gallantly fought off the spirited fight of the Bolts, finding ways down the stretch to outlast their opponents.

Import Alex Stepheson showed the way for Blackwater in their dig-deep victory, finishing with 21 points and 31 rebounds.

Mike DiGregorio also had 21 markers for the Elite while rookie Ray Parks, Jr. had 20 points and eight rebounds in his first official game in the PBA.

Allein Maliksi was the other Blackwater player who scored in double digits with 12 points.

Delivering the way they did in a tightly fought contest, new Elite coach Aris Dimaunahan heaped praises on his players , underscoring how they stuck together and to their game plan.

“I’m happy that the players stuck together against a Meralco team which is strong in import-laden tournaments. They stuck to our game plan and worked hard till the end,” said Mr. Dimaunahan postgame.

The win marked the first win of the new Elite coach after being named to replace Bong Ramos during the in-between conference break.

“I couldn’t be any happier than this. Hopefully, we get another one the next time out although it will be a big test for me as after Coach Norman [Black of Meralco], it’s coach Tim [Cone of Barangay Ginebra]. I’d be more motivated. We’ll see what happens. We’ll prepare and come up with the best game plan possible against Ginebra,” he added.

Meanwhile, out to have a good start to their title defense are the Kings, who have brought back multi-titled PBA import Justin Brownlee to banner their campaign.

Barangay Ginebra failed to advance in the quarterfinals of the previous tournament and are angling to have a better showing this time around.

Mr. Brownlee said he is ready to help the Kings anew and believes that with support from the rest of the team they can defend their crown.

“I feel great entering the new conference. I’m fresh and the tournament I played in previously helped me to stay in shape,” said the 31-year-old Brownlee, who last played in the Lebanese league where he helped Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut to the title.

“We are ready to defend the title and bounce back after the loss last conference and the Governor’s Cup before that,” he added.

Playing in the curtain-raiser today at 4:30 p.m., meanwhile, are the Bolts and Columbian Dyip, who both lost in the tournament opener.

Meralco got a good output from import Gani Lawal Jr. in his debut with 34 points and 21 rebounds.

It was not enough though to tow his team against Blackwater.

The Dyip, for their part, were 111-98 losers to the Alaska Aces last time around.

Import Kyle Barone had 30 points and 22 rebounds for Columbian while rookie CJ Perez finished with 19 points in their defeat.

Bucks to reclaim momentum from Raptors in Game 5 today

LOS ANGELES — The Toronto Raptors have the momentum, but the Milwaukee Bucks will be playing on their home court Thursday night in the pivotal Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Raptors will try to maintain the energy they showed in winning the past two games at home to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.

“Each game is its own entity,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “Let’s see. … if we can go do it in Milwaukee, we need to take this challenge of playing in a hostile environment, right? We’re going into a tough, loud place to play, and let’s see if those guys can bring that same pop and focus, determination on the road.”

The Bucks, meanwhile, will be trying to find the defense that was lacking in the Raptors’ 120-102 Game 4 victory on Tuesday.

“I think (Tuesday) is probably the first night defensively where I don’t feel like we were close to where you need to be to give ourselves a chance,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “So, credit to Toronto. They obviously played well, had a lot of guys step up and play well. Their bench was very good.”

The Bucks started the game aggressively — led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored the first five points of the game — and led 12-5. But Toronto eventually took over and led 32-31 after one quarter and dominated the rest of the way.

“We had a great start the first few couple of minutes, we started aggressive — especially Giannis,” said Nikola Mirotic, who scored 11 points. “But then I think we allowed a lot of points, especially that first quarter after those few minutes … our defense was not the way we should be. We’re going to learn from it and try to bounce back next game.”

Mirotic said the defensive problem “was a little bit of everything.”

“Rotation, defensive transition as well, we didn’t show the crowd as we usually do,” the Bucks forward said. “They beat us on the boards (44-40), a lot of offensive rebounds (10) so it was just not the best game. But listen, nobody said it was going to easy. We’re 2-2. We need to go back to Milwaukee and do the same what they did with us. They punched us here and we’re going to do the same there.”

“We just came out in the third quarter flat,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s something we can get better at, it’s something we can fix, it’s something we’ve been doing all season. Usually in the third quarter we come out and we’re aggressive, we’re making shots, we’re moving the ball. … Hopefully when we get back home we can shoot better in the third quarter and throughout the whole game.”

With Kawhi Leonard favoring his left leg after playing 52 minutes in Sunday’s double-overtime win by Toronto, others stepped up. Kyle Lowry scored 25 points in Game 4 and the bench — led by Fred VanVleet (13 points), Norman Powell (18 points) and Serge Ibaka (17 points, 13 rebounds) — was vital.

“It was big time,” said Leonard, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. “Everybody contributed, knocking down shots, playing great defense. (Ibaka was) making plays, getting rebounds, blocking shots and making shots on the other end. You know, when he does things like that everybody just gets energy and just the whole team flows at that point.”

Leonard played 34 minutes Tuesday.

“I feel good,” he said. “Keep going and keep fighting and we have a chance to make history.”

LEONARD ‘FEELING GOOD,’ LOWRY ‘NOT GREAT’
Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard’s health is just fine, while point guard Kyle Lowry is fighting through significant pain, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters Wednesday.

“He’s feeling good,” Nurse said of Leonard, who has shown an occasional limp during the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. “No concerns at this point. He’s good.”

Leonard had his workload managed during the regular season and did not play on back-to-back nights, but he has logged 38.2 minutes per game through 16 postseason games, averaging 31.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals. He had a modest 19 points in Tuesday’s Game 4 as the Raptors equaled the series at 2-2.

Lowry has been playing with an injured left (non-shooting) thumb since hurting it in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs, wearing an oversize, padded glove to aid the healing process. He struggled in Games 3 and 4 but managed 25 points, six assists and five rebounds in Game 4.

“Kyle’s hand is not great,” Nurse told reporters. “You know, he’s — it’s hurt and it’s sore and it causes him a lot of pain. But he seems to be able to manage it through the game and do what he can do.

“He’s obviously scoring and playing great on top of the other things he always does.”

Nurse also said forward OG Anunoby remains without a timetable for a return after having an emergency appendectomy last month.

“He’s moving pretty good, he’s shooting, but still a ways away from being able to take hits and contact in the areas that he needs to test out,” Nurse said.

Anunoby averaged seven points and 2.9 rebounds in 67 regular-season games this year.

Game 5 of the series is (Friday in PHL) in Milwaukee. — Reuters

Beermen not getting ahead of themselves with Grand Slam thoughts

PUT themselves in position once again to win a Philippine Basketball Association Grand Slam after claiming the season-opening tournament, the San Miguel Beermen recognize the spot they are in but are choosing not to get ahead of themselves and are instead focusing on the next step first, which is the Commissioner’s Cup.

Won their fifth straight Philippine Cup title, San Miguel is the lone team anew which could complete a rare Grand Slam, or winning all three conferences in one season of Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

The Beermen were in a position to win another Grand Slam during the 2016-17 season after winning the first two conferences. But they failed to claim the Governors’ Cup championship that year to fall short.

San Miguel, however, is one of only four teams to have won a Grand Slam, the others being Crispa, Alaska and San Mig.

Crispa won it in 1983, then the Beermen in 1989 and Alaska in 1996. San Mig Coffee was the last team to achieve the feat, doing it in the 2013-14 season.

Recognizing how tough the road is to a Grand Slam, San Miguel is instead taking it a game and a conference at a time.

Speaking at the weekly forum of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) at the Amelie Hotel-Manila in Malate on Tuesday, Beermen coach Leo Austria said they are not putting too much pressure on themselves and that just going about things step by step.

“We’re not thinking about the Grand Slam. It’s one step at a time for us. We will try to win the next conference first,” said Mr. Austria, who was joined in the forum by players Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter and Von Pessumal as well as their Commissioner’s Cup import Charles Rhodes.

“We don’t want to put added pressure on ourselves,” he added.

Mr. Austria went on to say that they believe in Mr. Rhodes’s ability to lead them back to the Commissioner’s Cup title but that they will be up against tough opponents with solid reinforcements in the ongoing conference.

“We believe in Charles. He is a best import awardee and he can play against the best imports in this tournament,” the San Miguel coach said.

The Beermen will open their Commissioner’s Cup campaign against the Northport Batang Pier on June 5. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Chairman’s Cup Regatta sails in Subic Bay

THE SUBIC Sailing Club (SSC) celebrated another successful sailing season in a grand event organized by both chairman of SSC, Jun Avecilla and Congressman Ricky Sandoval, which was held at The Lighthouse Marina Resort, Subic Bay Freeport Zone on April 30 this year.

The inaugural Chairman’s Cup Regatta (CCR) provides a platform that enhances the standards of regattas to foster camaraderie among sailors and showcase the natural prowess of Filipinos as sailors and seafarers.

The Chairman’s Cup Regatta was composed of eight classes. There were three classes on the keelboat division: IRC, Cruising and the FarEast 28R Classes. The FE28 had a total of seven boats composed of six crew or less per boat with a maximum weight limit of 425kgs. This was the most competitive class in this division.

The Philippine Sailing Association team, composed of the Philippines’ SEA Games athletes, had two teams headed by Asia’s match racing champion, Ridgely Balladares and Asian Sailing Federation Keel Boat Cup champion, Emerson Villena. Another team representing the Philippines was from Subic Sailing, with Olympian sailor Maria Vidoeira. There were also international teams participating from Hong Kong (Alain Choi), Japan (Yukie Ikawa), China (Ren Feli) and Taipei (Richard Lin).

For the Dinghy division, there were three classes: Optimist, Streaker and Oz Goose. The Oz Goose was the largest fleet in the Dinghy Class with a total of eight boats. This boat was also the latest addition to the Dinghy Class through the support of the Philippine Gaming Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, and the Philippine Home Boatbuilders Yacht Club, headed by Roy Espiritu together with the Oz Goose designer, Michael Storer, who also participated in the race.

For this year and for the first time, SSC had included windsurfing in the regatta with two classes: RS: X and RS: One. The athletes who have participated in this regatta were also mostly contenders representing the Philippine team for the upcoming SEA Games. These athletes will continue training in Subic Bay throughout the year. “We look forward to working with the Philippine Windsurfing Association in bringing more interest for the sport in Subic Bay,” said Zed Avecilla, Executive Director of Subic Sailing Club.

There were a total of 30 boats and 12 windsurfers who have competed in the regatta from April 25-30. “We had hoped to increase the number of boats joining this regatta by getting more international participants. This year, we had a participant from the inaugural Hong Kong to Puerto Galera Race, which was Rampage II. We aim to get more foreign participants next year, especially those joining the famous Rolex China Sea Race that will finish at Subic Bay on Easter, a week before the second Chairman’s Cup Regatta,” Zed Avecilla added.

Jamba Juice supports sport of Ultimate Frisbee

Jamba Juice shares the qualities of the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in achieving the right blend to achieve a healthy and active routine.

FINDING SOMETHING common with the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in how it can enhance a healthy and active routine, Jamba Juice recently hosted the second Whirl’d Cup.

Happened at the Ayala Alabang Country Club at the weekend of May 12-13, the second Whirl’d Cup, which was open to first-timers, regulars and veterans, attracted over 550 players and 27 teams which competed and tested and showcased their skills in the two-day event.

The tournament was organized with JMJ Sports Training Services, in partnership with the Philippine Flying Disc Association.

“When we looked at Ultimate Frisbee, we saw how the community blended each individual player into one big family. From ages 15 to 50, men and women blended together for a weekend of Ultimate fun and Jamba Juice smoothies,” said Jamba Juice Marketing Manager Steph Elumba.

Adding, how they at Jamba Juice are also striving and pushing for the same “perfect blend” in their products.

Ms. Elumba went on to say that they hope that through the Whirl’d Cup, Ultimate Frisbee would further grow among the Filipinos.

“For us, Ultimate is the sport that best encapsulates our values and our vision for how anyone can live a Better Blended life. Ultimate is a great way to blend people of different ages, sexes, professions, and backgrounds in one space, as the sport’s inclusive nature makes it easier for people who share a passion for sports, fitness, and good food and drink to come together,” said the Jamba Juice official.

During the second Whirl’d Cup, Jamba Juice served healthy blends of their smoothies.

A portion of the sales from the Jamba Juice food truck, the Fender Blender, was also allotted to support Pilipinas Ultimate, the national Ultimate team, which is set to compete in tournaments in Japan and China.

Ultimate is a fast-paced, no-contact sport requiring only a disc and a well-lit space to play. The sport has rapidly grown since it was first introduced in the Philippines in the early 2000s, making the local Ultimate community one of the fastest-growing in Asia. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Go For Gold skateboarding Mindanao leg unfolds

THE bravest and boldest skaters from the south will try their luck to snatch a spot in the national team through the Mindanao leg of the 2019 Go For Gold Skateboarding National Championships in Saranggani province.

Around 60 aspirants have signed up both for the downhill challenge in Barangay Bagacay in Alabel, Saranggani and the Game of Skate at Robinsons Mall in General Santos City.

“I believe skateboarding is a great sport to encourage our youth. It’s not so expensive and can be done almost anywhere,” said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go.

Skaters Abigail Viloria and Arianne Mae Trinidad topped the women’s division during the Luzon leg almost two months ago while Charles Louise Paje and Tomas Romualdez shone on the men’s side.

“We are looking for the best skaters in the regionals,” said Monty Mendigoria, president of the Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines Inc.

“The top three participants from the regionals will get the chance to prove their worth in the national SEA Games qualifying championship,” added Mendigoria, whose team found a very supportive godfather in Go For Gold Philippines.

According to Mendigoria, they have moved the Visayas qualifier on June 1 and 2 to the Iloilo skatepark from the original venue in Cebu City.

All of these aspirants are dreaming big to reach the level of Cebuana Margielyn Didal, the Filipino skateboarding idol who won the gold medal in the Asian Games and the country’s biggest bet for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“We feel that Margie and the skateboarding team will become our bright lights in the 2020 Olympics, and hopefully they can bring home our first Olympic gold medal,” said Go, vice president for marketing of Powerball Marketing and Logistics Corp., the prime mover behind the Go For Gold program.

The top performers from the three regional legs will advance to the national finals tentatively set on Aug. 24-25 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and vie for slots in the SEA Games on Nov. 30-Dec. 11.

Skateboarding in the Philippines catapulted to instant fame when the 19-year-old Didal made a name in the Asian Games in Indonesia last year.

Didal is now busy preparing for a series of Olympic qualifying tournaments that will bring her to Tokyo.

Gobert, George, Antetokounmpo headline NBA All-Defensive team

LOS ANGELES — Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George — the three finalists for the 2018-19 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award — highlight the All-Defensive first team, announced Wednesday by the league.

They were joined by Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe.

Antetokounmpo, Gobert and George are repeat awardees; this is the first time on the All-Defensive team for Smart and Bledsoe.

Selected to the second team were guards Jrue Holiday of New Orleans and Klay Thompson of Golden State; center Joel Embiid of Philadelphia; and forwards Draymond Green of Golden State and Kawhi Leonard of Toronto.

This was Thompson’s first selection to an All-Defensive team. The others are repeat selectees. — Reuters

Warriors’ owner ‘confident’ of keeping Thompson, Durant

LOS ANGELES — Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob intends to re-sign Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant when they become unrestricted free agents this summer, even though Durant’s agent said the superstar is undecided.

With the Warriors in the midst of a nine-day break before the NBA Finals as they await the winner of the Toronto Raptors-Milwaukee Bucks series, Lacob answered questions about the futures of Thompson, 29, and Durant, 30, from The Athletic.

“The season is still ongoing,” Lacob responded. “We are not finished. I have no new ideas or data for you. We love Klay and KD and intend to attempt to re-sign them. Period. I am confident about BOTH of them.

“But it is their choice to do what is best for them. They have earned that right. Our goal is to keep our team together. We are pretty good.”

Keeping Thompson and Durant — and signing forward Draymond Green to a contract extension — likely are the team’s top priorities as they prepare to move into Chase Center in San Francisco next season.

It still isn’t a certainty Durant will move across the bay with the Warriors. His name often has been linked with the New York Knicks, as well as a number of other teams.

His agent, Rich Kleiman, told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night that nothing is firm and that Durant is focused on returning from a strained right calf injury and helping the Warriors to their third straight NBA title.

“I’m waiting on Kevin. That’s the truth,” Kleiman said. “I think there’s a feeling that this thing is like war games and everybody is playing chess years out.

“But when somebody gets to the level of basketball that he’s at, you can’t juggle focus like that. There’s so many things he’s juggling too. He’s not scripting his future while he’s playing the way he plays and practicing the way he’s practicing.” — Reuters

He is Brooks Koepka

Wikipedia has a good many uses, never mind its susceptibility to inaccuracy given its crowd-sourcing predilections. Creditably, its contributory nature likewise lends itself to speedy corrections in line with its mandate as a purveyor of facts. Edits to entries, particularly new ones, are frequent and constant in the name of truth. That said, the mistakes, intended or not, last long enough for social media hounds to preserve for posterity; in this regard, the targets are mostly those with a humorous bent, and the goal is to generate laughs.

Take, for instance, an entry to Brooks Koepka’s Wikipedia page the other day. “Koepka is currently the owner of the PGA Tour and is Brandel Chamblee’s father,” it noted to the delight of golf fans. It was taken down quickly, of course, but it had already cracked Facebook and Twitter by then, and was subsequently picked up by a handful of news sites. And, no doubt, the reigning PGA Championship and United States Open titleholder and his friends shared a few laughs over it.

To be sure, the hearty appreciation for the embellishment of the naughty Wikipedia volunteer stems from Koepka’s seeming mastery in and of golf’s premier tournaments. In ruling Bethpage Black over the weekend, he became the only player in the sport’s history to retain two major titles in the same year. And that he did so in dominant fashion serves only to underscore that he does “own” the tour. Even as he coasted in the third round and sputtered on the back nine of the fourth, he built such a large cushion over the first two days — while not coincidentally toiling alongside Tiger Woods — that he still finished at least two strokes clear of the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, broadcast analyst Chamblee became the subject of the same Wikipedia sentence due to comments he made during the Masters last month and in the run-up to the PGA Championship. Koepka, he argued, could not be considered a legitimate challenger to Woods’ reign at the top due to a relative lack of toughness. “You extrapolate from accomplishment, you infer qualities from a human being like, ‘He’s really tough.’ Maybe he is, I don’t know. I got to say, I still need to be convinced.” His comments weren’t appreciated by the golfer, who tweeted a picture of him with a photoshopped clown nose and then, more importantly, went on to prove him wrong.

In the aftermath of Koepka’s PGA Championship victory, Chamblee gladly ate crow and compared him to Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Ben Hogan. Judging from his comments, he didn’t appear to be in the mood for magnanimity, however. “Telling me I wasn’t tough, that pissed me off. That really pissed me off,” he said in his post-mortem. Which is to say he was extra-motivated to prevail. Perhaps he should actually thank the pundit for spurring him to action. He was certainly laser-focused heading into the first tee of his first round at Bethpage Black, and so much so that he spurned two good-luck-kiss attempts by girlfriend Jena Sims.

Not surprisingly, Koepka has been installed as the odds-on favorite to defend his US Open Trophy next month. In typical fashion, though, he’s already looking beyond — okay, way beyond — Pebble Beach. “Double digits, easy. I don’t see why I can’t get to double digits” was his reply to a query by CNN’s Don Riddell on his projected haul of career Grand Slam wins. It may sound cocky, but it’s nonetheless an earnest assessment from a proven commodity who has never been one to shirk from great expectations. He is who he is. And precisely because he is who he is, he can’t be questioned.

• • • • •

POSTSCRIPT: Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. successfully revived its charity golf tournament early this month, drawing 120 players, and, more importantly, some P5 million in sponsorships and donations. Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, Inc. figures to use all the proceeds for the benefit of social responsibility programs in the communities where CCBPI has a presence.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Humans cause nine out of 10 data breaches in the cloud: Kaspersky Lab

Incidents in public cloud infrastructure are more likely to happen because of a customer’s employees rather than actions carried out by cloud providers, according to a new Kaspersky Lab report –‘Understanding security of the cloud: from adoption benefits to threats and concerns’.

Companies expect cloud providers to be responsible for the safety of data stored on their cloud platforms. However, around 90 percent (SMEs (88 percent) and enterprises (91 percent)) of corporate data breaches in the cloud happen due to social engineering techniques targeting customers’ employees, not because of problems caused by the cloud provider.

Cloud adoption allows organizations to benefit from more agile business processes, reduced CAPEX and faster IT provision. However, they also worry about cloud infrastructure continuity and the security of their data. At least a third of both SME and enterprise companies (35 percent SME and 39 percent enterprise) are concerned about incidents affecting IT infrastructure hosted by a third party. The consequences of an incident may make the benefits of cloud redundant and instead evoke painful commercial and reputational risks.

Even though organizations are primarily worried about the integrity of external cloud platforms, they are more likely to be affected by weaknesses far closer to home. A third of incidents (33 percent) in the cloud are caused by social engineering techniques affecting employee behavior, while only 11 percent can be blamed on the actions of a cloud provider.

The survey shows there is still room for improvement to ensure adequate cybersecurity measures are in place when working with third parties. Only 39 percent of SMEs and half (47 percent) of enterprises have implemented tailored protection for the cloud. This may be the result of businesses largely relying on a cloud infrastructure provider for cybersecurity. Alternatively, they could have false confidence that standard endpoint protection works smoothly within cloud environments without diminishing the benefits of cloud.

There are some specific measures that Kaspersky Lab advises businesses take, to ensure their data remains secure in the cloud:

  • Explain to employees that they can become victims of cyberthreats. They mustn’t click on links or open attachments in communications from unknown users. Dedicated awareness training, such as gamified Kaspersky Security Awareness, can help with this.
  • To minimize the risk of unapproved use of cloud platforms, educate staff about the negative effect of shadow IT and establish procedures for purchasing and consuming cloud infrastructure for each department.
  • Use an endpoint security solution to prevent social engineering attack vectors. It should include protection for mail servers, mail clients and browsers.
  • Implement protection for your cloud infrastructure as soon as possible after migration. Choose a dedicated cloud cybersecurity solution with a unified management console to manage security across all cloud platforms, and support automatic detection of cloud hosts, as well as auto-scale the roll out of protection to each one.
  • Kaspersky Hybrid Cloud Security offers businesses multi-layered protection for multi-cloud environments, unified cybersecurity and seamless orchestration. The solution detects common and complex threats and protects the entire cloud infrastructure — from on-premise virtualized environments to public cloud platforms — such as AWS and Microsoft Azure.

“The first step for any business when migrating to public cloud is to understand who is responsible for their business data and the workloads held in it,” said Maxim Frolov, Vice President of Global Sales at Kaspersky Lab.

“Cloud providers normally have dedicated cybersecurity measures in place to protect their platforms and customers, but when a threat is on the customer’s side, it is no longer the provider’s responsibility,” he said. “Our research shows that companies should be more attentive to the cybersecurity hygiene of their employees and take measures that will protect their cloud environment from the inside.”

IMF flags gaps in state spending practices

THE GOVERNMENT is on the right track in ramping up spending, especially on infrastructure, but much remains to be done to improve project planning and implementation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a May 16 report that was e-mailed to journalists on Wednesday.

The technical assistance report — which resulted from an Aug. 9-22, 2018 mission in the country from the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department that was requested by Philippine authorities — gauged public investment management practices against 15 indicators, namely: fiscal target and rules, national and sectoral planning, coordination among entities, project appraisal, alternative infrastructure financing, multi-year budgeting, budget comprehensiveness and unity, budgeting for investment, maintenance funding, project selection, procurement, availability of funding, portfolio management and oversight, project management and monitoring of assets.

“Overall, the Philippines has better institutional framework than the average of emerging market economies, including emerging Asia, in the areas of national and social planning, budget comprehensiveness and unity, budgeting for investment, availability of funding, and monitoring of assets in terms of both institutional design and effectiveness,” the report read.

“However, in terms of effectiveness of institutions, the Philippines is weaker than its peers in the areas of project appraisal, multi-year budgeting, portfolio management and oversight, and procurement,” it noted, adding that the country “also shares similar weaknesses with its peers in the areas of project selection and project management.”

A summary of the team’s findings bared “high” institutional strength in national and sectoral planning, availability of funding and monitoring of assets; as well as “high” effectiveness in terms of budgeting for investment.

At the same time, the report identified as “reform priority” five fields that are marked by “low” effectiveness, namely:

• project appraisal (land issues and resettlement, as well as detailed designs and risk mitigation are not always considered during appraisal);

• multi-year budgeting (no published projections, no multi-year ceilings for projects, updating of cost without effective cost validation);

• maintenance funding (routine maintenance not costed appropriately and not adequately funded);

• project selection (land and resettlement issues not resolved before projects are funded);

• and procurement (low competition in most public investment sectors and no systematic review of procedures to induce competition).

The report also cited three other fields as reform priorities, namely:

• alternative infrastructure financing (no gateway process for preliminary assessment of fiscal risks and for post-award proactive management of fiscal risks);

• portfolio management and oversight (certain major projects are monitored but with significant time lag, and review of actual gains or losses is not conducted systematically);

• and project management (project adjustments are not confined to unforeseen technical issues; there is a need for rules on cost overruns; and there are limited audits on actual gains/losses).

In order to address these weaknesses, the IMF mission prescribed eight “priority” ways to strengthen the country’s public investment management framework, namely:

• Strengthen fiscal assessment of actual gains or losses of infrastructure projects by forming “a dedicated unit” within the Finance department, the Budget department and the National Economic and Development Authority that will be responsible for conducting such thorough ex-ante assessment of projects focusing on long-term fiscal sustainability and fiscal risks, including contingent liabilities and proposing mitigation measures for accepted risks;

• Broaden the framework for private participation in infrastructure, particularly at the local government level;

• Expand medium-term budgeting, particularly by introducing a multi-year perspective for public investment per line department;

• Make project appraisal and selection more rigorous and comprehensive — by including right-of-way readiness and resettlement of affected residents — in order to prevent or at least minimize delays and cost overruns;

• Improve routine infrastructure maintenance;

• Foster effective competition in infrastructure procurement (the report noted that “[M]any procurements result in a single bidder) by addressing potential constraints to effective competition, such as projects that are too large, qualification criteria that are too strict, deadlines that are unrealistic, or specifications that are poorly defined, while sanctions for anti-competitive practices by bidders should be steeper and procurement Web sites should be revamped to make procurement information more easily accessible to the public;

• Improve regulations for project cost adjustments, among others by allowing cost increases only for unforeseen technical issues and not to address inadequate design and planning and changes to the scope of the project;

• Strengthen central monitoring of implementation of major projects.

PHL growth outlook eases with rest of the world

SIMMERING trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China, will weigh on global economic prospects, the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported on Wednesday — a factor that led Fitch Solutions Macro Research to slash its own gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for the Philippines in particular for this year.

Fitch Solutions said in a May 21 note, titled “Philippine stimulus to only partially offset external drags,” that it expects the country’s GDP expansion to “fall below the government’s 6-7% annual expansion target in 2019, growing by 5.9% (down from a previous 6.1% projection) before rebounding modestly to 6.3% in 2020.” GDP expanded by 6.2% last year, marking the slowest pace in four years.

“Trade tensions and a general softening of external demand will continue to drag on headline growth,” the note read, noting that actual GDP expansion slowed sharply to 5.6% in the first quarter, also the worst performance in four years.

At the same time, Fitch Solutions said it expects that “economic growth will pick up modestly from Q1[20]19 and into 2020, supported by government consumption and still-strong household demand,” while “monetary policy will once again become more accommodative to support growth over the coming quarters.”

In a separate note on the same day, Fitch Solutions said it expects the BSP to fire off another 25-basis-point cut to bring the key policy rate to 4.25% by end-2019 and 25 bps more to four percent next year. “We see scope for a further cut as early as September [26], given the economic and global market backdrop provides some room for further easing.”

A week after cutting policy rates by 25 bps to a 4-5% range, the BSP on Thursday last week also announced a three-phased 200 bsp cut to big banks’ 18% reserve requirement ratio between May 31 and July 26.

In the face of “[e]scalating trade conflicts and dangerous financial vulnerabilities”, Wednesday saw the OECD projecting global economic growth to slow to 3.2% this year from an estimated 3.5% in 2018, before picking up to 3.4% in 2020, and the UN slashing its world growth forecast from January by 0.3 percentage point to 2.7% this year from an estimated three percent in 2018, and its 2020 projection by 0.1 percentage point to 2.9%.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Sun Life Asset Management Company, Inc. announced a cut in its Philippine economic growth forecast for this year even as it expects the government to accelerate infrastructure spending.

Sun Life Financial Philippines Chief Investments Officer Michael Gerard D. Enriquez said GDP growth will likely clock in at 6.4% this year, still faster than 2018’s 6.2%, but lower than its 6.6% projection as of Sept. 6, 2018.

“Definitely, both private consumption (and) public consumption in terms of government spending will… help accelerate GDP growth for the country,” Mr. Enriquez said, adding that he expects that “policy rate cuts will continue.” — RJNI and KANV

1...10,53710,53810,539...13,813Page 10,538 of 13,813
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube