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Vulnerable

Longtime hoops observers have made a big deal out of the United States last week losing for the first time in international competition since 2006, and rightly so. It experienced its maiden setback against Australia, in the process breaking a 78-match win streak covering six tournaments and all exhibitions in between. Moreover, the development underscored the fragile state of USA Basketball heading into the World Cup this weekend; over the last year, all but four of the 35 players USA Basketball included in the national team pool saw fit to drop out of consideration for one reason or another, leaving the final roster devoid of star power.

Needless to say, Australia’s stalwarts rejoiced in the outcome along with 52,079 fans who packed Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. Meanwhile, those who toiled for the US wasted no time moving on and chalking it up as inconsequential in the grad scheme of things. “At the end of the day, this game doesn’t count,” said Donovan Mitchell, by far and so far the best in red, white, and blue. “Obviously, it hurts to lose, but I look at this as more of a learning experience.” And, true enough, head coach Gregg Popovich’s charges bounced back on their very next outing, making short work of Canada to win pulling away at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.

Granted, the US remains far and away the favorite in China over the next fortnight. For all the big-name withdrawals, its lineup is still the most skilled and athletic. The problem, as its five tuneup set-tos have highlighted, is cohesion — or, to be more precise, lack thereof. On paper, it appears capable of taking the measure of any of the other 31 teams in the World Cup. In practice, though, it has been anything but sharp. Against Canada, for instance, it couldn’t buy a bucket from long range and coughed up the ball too many times for comfort.

And so the US will be at its most vulnerable in a long while. The gap between it and its competition boasting of 50 heralds with National Basketball Association experience is closing anew, and nothing short of a concerted effort will keep it at the top. If there’s anything Popovich is proficient at, though, it’s squeezing the most out of the talent he has at his disposal. It’s why confidence continues to ooze in the locker room, and why, for as long as said confidence doesn’t turn into cockiness, Gold should still be the most likely finish.

 

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 down on BSP easing bets

THE PESO edged lower on Wednesday as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) chief hinted on another rate cut this year.

The local unit ended at P52.321 against the greenback on Wednesday, shedding 6.1 centavos from its P52.26-to-a-dollar close on Tuesday.

The peso opened at P52.28 versus the dollar. It traded in a tight range, with its weakest point recorded at P52.33, while its intraday best was at P52.22 against the greenback.

Dollars traded on Wednesday thinned to $1.107 billion against the $1.221 billion seen on Tuesday.

“The peso weakened following dovish comment from BSP Governor [Benjamin E.] Diokno of a possible policy rate cut and lingering market caution amid tensions between the US and China,” a currency trader said in an e-mail.

Another trader said the local currency is “consolidating” as the market awaits fresh leads this week.

“But the trend this week is a weaker peso amid risk-off sentiment as market watchers awaits resolution of escalating US-China trade war,” the second trader said in a phone interview.

Last Tuesday, BSP chief Mr. Diokno said the market can expect another 25-basis-point cut before the year ends. He also signalled another reduction in banks’ required deposit reserves before the Sept. 26 policy meeting.

For today, traders said the peso may decline on strong US data.

“The local currency might weaken further on bets that the second revision of the US GDP (gross domestic product) growth report [today] is expected to remain firm from the initial estimate,” the first trader said.

The first trader expects the peso to move at a range of P52.20 to P52.40 against the dollar today, while the second trader sees it playing within the P52.10-to-P52.50 band. — Mark T. Amoguis

PSEi rebounds as investors pick up blue chips

By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX recovered on Wednesday as investors picked up heavyweight stocks oversold in the previous session.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) firmed up 1.29% or 100.12 points to close at 7,847.50, bouncing back from Tuesday’s losses. The broader all-shares index likewise jumped 0.89% or 42.01 points to 4,748.81.

“We saw some minor gains in blue chips that were sold off heavily yesterday. This allowed the main index to end higher today… The PSEi continues to trade within the range of 7,750 and 7,920 which may continue till the end of the month,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in e-mail on Wednesday.

Among the day’s top gainers were JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (up 3.69%), Universal Robina Corp. (up 1.96%), SM Investments Corp. (up 1.92%), Megaworld Corp. (up 4.16%), and Ayala Land, Inc. (up 1.06%).

“Philippine shares were bought up this time after being aggressively oversold [on Tuesday] as investors viewed the local market in a less volatile state than the rest of the region,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.

The local bourse defied the weakness in international markets which were once again spooked by the yield curve inversion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 0.47% or 120.93 points to 25,777.90. The S&P 500 index dropped 0.32% or 9.22 points to 2,869.16, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.34% or 26.79 points to 7,826.95.

Asian indices were mixed, also weighed down by fears of the US recession and the trade war. The US confirmed that it will impose 10-15% additional tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods this Sunday, Sept. 1, in response to China’s decision to slap 5-10% more duties on $75 billion worth of American imports.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 went up 0.11% or 23.34 points to 20,479.42. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.29% or 8.44 points to 2,893.76, while the Hang Seng index also slid 0.14% or 36.59 points to 25,627.48.

Back home, mining and oil was the lone counter that ended lower, dropping 0.15% or 12.38 points to close at 8,179.16.

The rest went up, led by holding firms which rose 2.06% or 157.01 points to 7,777.51. Property gained 1.38% or 54.45 points to 3,996.75; financials advanced 0.45% or 8.23 points to 1,800.32; industrials went up 0.34% or 37.22 points to 10,943.80, while services added 0.32% or 5.02 points to 1,573.16.

Advancers outpaced decliners, 118 to 83, while 47 names were unchanged.

Some 1.38 billion issues switched hands valued at P8.36 billion, lower than the previous session’s P13.47 billion.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the sixth straight session at P557.83 million, albeit lower than Tuesday’s P1.58 billion.

Chinese ship owner says sorry for mishap

THE OWNER of the Chinese ship that sank a Filipino fishing boat at Reed Bank in the South China Sea has apologized, two months after the mishap, according to a letter addressed to the Philippine Foreign Affairs department.

“I feel deep regret that this accident had to happen and I would like to express my deep sympathy to the Filipino fishermen,” according to the letter coursed through a certain Chinese group. “The shipowner of the Chinese fishing boat involved, through our association, would like to express his sincere apology to the Filipino fishermen.”

Yesterday’s apology comes more than two months after a Filipino fishing boat was sunk and abandoned by the Chinese trawler in Recto Bank, part of the islets claimed by both the Philippines and China.

It also comes on the day President Rodrigo R. Duterte is set to leave for an official visit to China. Mr. Duterte will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit.

The Chinese fishing boat, registered in Guangdong, takes responsibility for the accident even if it was unintentional, according to the group’s letter.

The group said the Philippines should file a claim for damages related to the incident. “The Philippine side is requested to file a specific appeal for civil compensation based on actual loss,” according to the letter.

The group also assured the Philippines that the Chinese ship owner would try to hasten the claims.

The Chinese Embassy on June 14 denied that a Chinese ship had sunk a Filipino boat in a “hit-and-run” incident. It said the Chinese ship was “besieged by seven or eight Filipino fishing boats,” preventing it from rescuing the Filipino fishermen.

It later sent its sympathies to the 22 distressed fishermen who were abandoned at sea for hours and were later saved by a Vietnamese fishing vessel.

In the signed letter, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said he had “noted” the Chinese ship owner’s apology.

The Chinese vessel had failed to take measures to avoid the collision and eventually abandoned the Filipino boat’s crew, in violation of maritime laws, the Philippine Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority said in a report in June.

Mr. Duterte had described the incident as a “little maritime accident,” and said the Philippines was not ready to go to war with China.

Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, on the other hand, denounced the actions of the Chinese fishing vessel for leaving the scene of the incident. The military chief had said the Filipino fishing boat was anchored when it was hit by the Chinese fishing vessel.

“The apology coming from the Chinese side, while two months late, shows the validity of the Philippine version of the incident,” Senator Francis N. Tolentino, vice-chairman of the foreign relations committee, said yesterday.

“We should pursue a civil claim for damages to give justice to our fishermen as well as seek other routes to protect them in the future hand-in-hand with our sovereign rights,” he said.

Mr. Duterte earlier said he planned to invoke a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration panel in the Hague that rebuffed Chinese claims over parts of the South China Sea when he visits Beijing later this month.

The United Nations tribunal in July 2016 ruled China’s efforts to assert control over the South China Sea exceeded the law, rejecting its shared claims with Taiwan to more than 80% of the main waterway.

China rejected the decision of the international court, which has failed to halt its island-building activities in areas also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Duterte to discuss conflict, cooperation with China’s leader Xi

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte was set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today to discuss conflict issues and economic cooperation, the presidential palace said yesterday.

The two leaders will also witness the signing of several agreements on education, science and technology, and economic and social development.

China might raise the issue of the Chinese-dominated Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO), which China deems illegal, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said at a televised briefing in Beijing yesterday.

Mr. Duterte earlier said he would invoke the 2016 arbitral ruling that voided China’s claims to more than 80% of the South China Sea.

He said he would also bring up delays in the South China Sea Code of Conduct, and raise a planned joint oil exploration in the disputed waterway. Mr. Duterte had said he favored a 60-40 sharing in the Philippines’ favor.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on oil and gas development in the South China Sea during Mr. Xi’s visit to Manila in November last year.

“The authority granted to the president is limited to entering into agreements with foreign-owned corporations,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University Policy Center, said in an email.

He said the Philippine Constitution bars any joint exploration deal with foreign countries including China. “A joint exploration agreement with a Chinese-owned corporation can possibly be sanctioned by the charter, but this will definitely be questioned in the Supreme Court given that most Chinese corporations are mere proxies of the Chinese government,” he added.

The Department of Energy banned all exploration and drilling activities in disputed areas of the South China Sea starting in 2014 pending the sea dispute with China.

Mr. Duterte was also scheduled to meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday afternoon before he leaves for the port city of Guanzhou to support the Philippines’ men’s basketball team in its game against Italy at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

PhilHealth officials face graft at DoJ

GOVERNMENT agents filed graft charges against 21 officials and employees of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for allowing a company to do business with the government despite findings of fraud.

PhilHealth officials accredited WellMed Dialysis and laboratory Center Corp. this year even after discovering fraudulent claims, Catherine Camposano-Remigio, chief of the National Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Graft Division, told reporters yesterday.

PhilHealth’s regional office failed to conduct periodic monitoring of WellMed as required by law, according to a copy of the complaint filed with the Justice department.

The agency’s accreditation subcommittee also continued processing WellMed claims even after the company’s accreditation was endorsed for withdrawal.

The accreditation department also failed to withdraw WellMed’s permit after it was informed of the company’s violations, referring it instead to a subcommittee that was unauthorized to deal with it, the NBI said.

The Justice department in June indicted WellMed owner and Vice-President Bryan Christopher W. Sy and whistleblowers Edwin C. Roberto and Liezel Aileen Santos-De Leon for conspiring to collect payments from PhilHealth for medical services to patients who had died.

In a sworn statement attached to the complaint, Mr. Roberto said it was Mr. Sy who had ordered him to file the dialysis claims of two dead patients. Before he resigned in 2018, 27 claims made up of 280 sessions worth P808,600 were claimed.

Early this month, a Quezon City regional trial court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction an estafa case filed by the NBI against the respondents. NBI said the complaint had been re-filed before a metropolitan trial court. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Board created to regulate fishery profession

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into law a bill creating a professional regulatory board for the fishery profession.

The Philippine Fisheries Act, signed on Aug. 22, will “sustain the food security and economic development of the country” and upgrade standards of fishery education.

The board will set up quality standards for fishery professionals that will guide schools and colleges, through the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

The Professional Regulation Commission will supervise the newly created board composed of a chairman and four members.

The new board will administer and supervise licensure exams for admission to the practice of the fishery profession. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Duterte told to delegate power over BuCor

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte should issue an order allowing the Justice department to overrule decisions of the Bureau of Corrections, an opposition senator said yesterday.

The president should delegate his control over the prison agency to the Justice secretary after an unpopular decision to free former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer, Senator Franklin M. Drilon told reporters.

The Senate will investigate the bureau’s enforcement of the law on parole and its earlier plan to release the former politician for good conduct.

Mr. Sanchez was sentenced to seven life terms in 1995 for the rape and murder of two University of the Philippine students in 1993.

“The focus of the investigation, if I may suggest, should be on how the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law is being implemented,” Mr. Drilon said. “Is it implemented properly, or do we have a basis to say that there is corruption?”

Senator Richard J. Gordon, whose justice committee will conduct the probe, said he had filed a bill to computerize prison records for a more accurate computation of remaining service time.

He said Mr. Sanchez was unqualified for parole give his bad record while in jail. Mr. Sanchez violated several prison rules including smuggling illegal drugs and receiving luxuries such as a flat screen TV and air conditioning in his cell, Mr. Gordon said in the bill’s explanatory note. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Storm Jenny leaves behind landslides, closed bridges

TROPICAL STORM Jenny, the 10th to enter the country this year, exited the Philippine area Wednesday, leaving behind landslides and damaged bridges. Among those affected were portions of the Baguio-Bontoc Road, and clearing operations were ongoing yesterday except along K0362+680 in Busa, Sabangan, with the road washed out and will need funds for repair, according to the Department of Public Works and Highway’s (DPWH) Cordillera Administrative Region office. In Isabela, the Turod-Banquero bridge was damaged and not passable. In Biliran, the spillway/detour in Caraycaray River was cut-off by floodwaters. The Caraycaray Bridge is passable only for four-wheel and light vehicles. Vehicles with more than four wheels and heavy equipment have been advised to take the Biliran-Cabucgayan-Caibiran Cross Country Road in going to Naval, Tacloban City, and other parts of Eastern Visayas. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, weather bureau PAGASA reported that Jenny was already 510 kilometers west of Dagupan City, Pangasinan, which is outside the Philippine area.

Hitman in Sytin case pleads guilty

EDGARDO P. Luib, the self-confessed hitman in the killing of businessman Dominic L. Sytin, has pleaded guilty to his murder charge. Senior Assistant State Prosecutor confirmed that Mr. Luib also pleaded guilty to his frustrated murder charge for wounding Mr. Sytin’s bodyguard Efren Espartero. The Department of Justice (DoJ) last month indicted Mr. Luib along with Mr. Sytin’s younger brother, Alan Dennis L. Sytin, and Oliver D. Fuentes in connection with the incident on Nov. 28 last year outside the Lighthouse Hotel at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The slain Mr. Sytin was the CEO of United Auctioneers, Inc., chairman of Foton Philippines, and director and chairman of the board of the listed LMG Chemicals Corp. Mr. Luib, who was arrested by the Philippine National Police last March tagged the younger Sytin as the murder’s mastermind. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

SC junks complaint over ancestral land in Boracay

THE SUPREME Court (SC) affirmed the dismissal of the petition challenging the 2.5-hectare ancestral land awarded to the Ati indigenous community in Boracay, Malay. In a seven-page resolution, the SC’s first division upheld the 2015 decision of the Court of Appeals (CA), which dismissed the petition of two private complainants based on wrong venue. The case stemmed from the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) awarded by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to the Ati community in Barangay Manoc-manoc. The private complainants questioned the award before a Regional Trial Court in Kalibo, which maintained that it has jurisdiction over the case despite the contention of the community. The NCIP and the community elevated the case to the CA, which dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction. The CA said the private complainants should have filed for the cancellation of the award to the NCIP. While the SC upheld that the regional trial court committed grave abuse of discretion in taking up the case, it said that the NCIP has primary jurisdiction to resolve claims over ancestral lands. The high court also said the petitioners should have appealed the NCIP Resolution straight to the CA. “The records show that no such appeal was taken. It would then appear that what the complaint subsequently filed was an attempt to revive a lost appeal, which cannot be countenanced,” the resolution read. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

BARMM’s Finance ministry prepares to evaluate, consolidate budget proposal

THE DIFFERENT ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are expected to submit their respective budget proposals by Aug. 30, which will then be evaluated and consolidated by the Ministry of Finance, and Budget and Management (MFBM). “All of the offices need to submit their budget proposals by Aug. 30 so that we can begin the technical deliberation at the level of MFBM,” BARMM spokesperson Naguib G. Sinarimbo said in a news conference Tuesday. “After all the proposals are already consolidated, the chief minister will submit it to the parliament,” added Mr. Sinarimbo, also head of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government. During the budget forum held in July in preparation for the fund planning, BARMM Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim stressed the need to “establish proper delivery of services and promote fiscal discipline and better planning in utilizing the said budget.”

FISCAL AUTONOMY
Mr. Ebrahim said they are hopeful that there will be no delays and that parliament will be able to enact within the year the new regional government’s budget for 2020. In his Chief Minister’s Hour address before the Bangsamoro parliament last Aug. 22, Mr. Murad noted. “One of the structural flaws of the ARMM was its lack of fiscal autonomy. It needed to ask and defend its budget to Congress yearly. This has been addressed in the BOL (Bangsamoro Organic Law) through the block grant and other fiscal powers granted to the Bangsamoro.” MFBM Deputy Minister Ubaida C. Pacasem, in an interview with BusinessWorld, further explained: “The region’s budget will be appropriated automatically… The Bangsamoro Parliament will program where the funds will be appropriated based on the budget proposal submitted by each office.” The BARMM has a P70.6 billion allocation in the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020, which has been submitted and currently under review by Congress. The total BARMM budget consists of P63.6 billion for the annual block grant, P5 billion in special development fund, and P2 billion for the region’s share in the national taxes. — Tajallih S. Basman

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