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This human settlements thing

Just for nostalgia: what was done on May 1, Labor Day, in Martial Law? From the National Library archives, “The President’s Week in Review: April 27 – May 3, 1981,” President Ferdinand Marcos in his Labor Day speech said he “will ask the Batasang Pambansa for early approval of a bill restoring the right of workers to strike.” (officialgazette.gov.ph/1981/05/04). Marcos had just “lifted” martial law in January, and was unraveling what had gone on for nine years as what he called a “benevolent dictatorship.”

The gazette shows that on April 29, 1981, “President Marcos and 15 others filed yesterday with the Commission on Elections their certificates of candidacy for president in the June 16 elections” (Ibid.). More important than the elections (Marcos a shoo-in for another six years) was a referendum that allowed the change of the Marcos-style federal system under martial law to Marcos-style semi-presidential system that retained all of the presidential decrees, legislative powers and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus.

First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos said the thrust of the coming election campaign will be on development and not on personalities. “The election of President Marcos is only incidental,” Imelda Marcos told newsmen. “After all, the needs of the people is my No. 1 concern” (Ibid.).

And Imelda Marcos was indeed in the center, and in-charge of “the needs of the people”, in what the late writer, former Marcos press secretary turned critic Primitivo Mijares called The Conjugal Dictatorship (written 1976) in the 14-year martial law.

That week of Labor Day in 1981, Imelda as Metro Manila Governor and Human Settlements Minister, welcomed to Manila and hosted the fourth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements, attended by 58 countries with 600+ delegates “to discuss such basic community needs as energy, housing, livelihood opportunities and related topics”. Imelda was elected chairman of the UN conference by acclamation.

At his keynote address, President Marcos declared “the country (as) being relatively peaceful… (so) the government is now pressing forward with its human settlements program as well as the training of leaders (Ibid.).

How eerie that today, 38 years after that probably deemed uneventful week tersely recorded in the government official gazette, the elements of the martial law tableaus seem to come alive in the present governance.

On Labor Day, Wednesday last week local workers asked for the end of “Endo”, the end-of-contract scheme whereby temps are hired for less than the six months for permanency of employment. It was the promise of late-registrant candidate Rodrigo Duterte at the May 2016 presidential elections then, that “Endo” will be ended. “Endo” makes for less rights and opportunities for labor by lack of total participation of workers in a business entity (because the “Endos” have no leverage) in strikes and protests against issues like work conditions, pay, perks and retirement.

Ending “Endo” can be a paraphrase of Marcos’ offering to allow workers to strike. But can Duterte really keep his promise to workers, like did Marcos truly allow workers to strike in his time? Ay, but there’s always Big Business to deal with, in these critical and sensitive issues promised by the two strong-men presidents. When a business faces added constraints and costs (increased employee pay and benefits), that will impact its bottom-line. There will be cost-cutting, downscaling, and less production. The economy will slow down, because in the new arena of globalization, cut-throat capitalist competitiveness has whittled opportunities for both production and labor. And presidents always jealously guard bragging points of GDP growth.

What would Marcos do, Duterte, an unabashed Marcos fan, must be asking himself. Almost step by step, he has copied from the Marcos dictatorship — from pushing for the federalist “divide and rule”, Marcos style, to maximizing control over and across the three supposed co-equal and independent branches of government — the executive (his), the legislative (almost his, pending the critical mid-term elections in May that hopes to seat a significant opposition in the Senate), and the Judiciary (by the time his term ends in 2022, only 3 of 15 Supreme Court justices will not be his appointees: Rappler March 6, 2017). “Is Duterte a resurrected Marcos?” asks political science professor (Ateneo University) Carmel V. Abao in behalf of many Filipinos afraid of another bout with martial law (BusinessWorld Sept. 10, 2018).

Only last month, before Holy Week, Duterte said he would “suspend the writ of habeas corpus if pushed against the wall” (philstar.com April 4, 2019). He threatened to declare a “revolutionary war” after Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon asked the administration to be cautious in reviewing government contracts. But he has threatened this before, when irked by something or other. “If it (the situation) will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law if I want to. Walang makapigil sa akin (No one can stop me),” Duterte said before the Davao City Chamber of Commerce (Rappler, Jan. 14, 2019).

“The dominance of fear and violence makes Duterte’s regime a de facto dictatorship — even without the Marcos-style proclamation of martial law,” Prof. Abao says (BusinessWorld, op. cit.). But Marcos was “bureaucratic authoritarian” and Duterte is a “populist authoritarian,” Abao distinguishes, meaning, “alam niya ang kiliti” (he knows the soft spot) of the common people. And thus his popularity ratings are steadily high.

Realizing his peculiar populist charm, he waxes poetic about what he does and will do for the good of his people. One of his latest coups was the signing on February 14 Republic Act 11201 creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD). The new law will merge the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board. It will also reconstitute the HLURB into the Human Settlements Adjudication Commission (The Philippine Star Feb 20, 2019).

The law also creates the National Human Settlements Board to be composed of the department secretary, as well as the heads of the National Economic Development Authority, the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). It shall have administrative supervision of the National Housing Authority, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, the Home Development Mutual Fund, and the Social Housing Finance Corporation (CNN News Feb. 19, 2019).

OMG! This DHSUD will be the superbody of all in the bureaucracy, ruling much of the lives and fate of Filipinos. The editorial of the Philippine Star cautioned that “The first time the country had a ministry in charge of human settlements, it was headed by then first lady Imelda Marcos, who ended up being indicted together with her deputy for corruption related to housing programs. They were cleared by the Sandiganbayan in a ruling that was assailed by victims of the Marcos dictatorship…We hope that (the DHSUD) will not go the same way” (Philstar Feb. 21. 2019.)

It has been almost three months, and well into the 180-day period given to the DHSUD to organize itself, and start identifying idle public land for intensive free public housing development. Yet Pres. Duterte has not chosen or identified the super-person who will be department secretary. Some catty oppositionists tease that Human Settlements Secretary will probably be Imelda Marcos, in glorious redux of her esteemed position in “the Conjugal Dictatorship” as Minister of Human Settlements. Or maybe by right of representation, and in honor of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, it will be Bongbong Marcos; or Imee Marcos, if she does not win as senator in the May 13 elections. Or whoever. Whatever.

Why does a leery taunting hurt the sensitivities with that coarse voice saying, “Up yours?”

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

On credit ratings upgrade and power shortage risk

The Foundation for Economic Freedom just released a statement on the recent credit upgrade, congratulating President Duterte and his Economic Team on a job well done.

“We, the Foundation for Economic Freedom, congratulate President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his economic team for enabling the Philippines to get a ratings upgrade from Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings to BBB+ from BBB.

The ratings upgrade is attributable to the administration’s economic reforms, sound fiscal policies, and prudence in external debt management. Credit must be given to President Duterte and his economic team led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The ratings upgrade will result in increased investor confidence in the economy, lower borrowing costs for the government and the private sector, and more investment inflows.

In light of lower borrowing costs to government and the private sector, the government may wish to consider shifting away from projects funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its tied procurement, to ones funded via Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Overall, PPP Projects will turn out to be cheaper than ODA projects because of the incentive of the private proponent to finish the projects on budget and on time, especially with the lower borrowing costs enabled by the higher S&P ratings.

The administration should also sustain the ratings upgrade by acting quickly to solve the water shortage,power shortfalls,and infrastructure bottlenecks.

Moreover, we would like the Duterte administration to take the ratings upgrade as a challenge to push for more reforms that will drastically reduce poverty and strengthen the economy’s structural foundations. In particular, the administration should focus on agricultural growth, which had been lagging behind population growth. Its weak performance had been acting as a drag to manufacturing and the other sectors of the economy, making the country vulnerable to food price shocks.

The administration should also shore up the country’s weak export performance in order to contain the ballooning trade and current account deficits. The country cannot continue to rely on OFW remittances to finance its negative external trade position. In the meantime, the administration should also promote tourism and a stable mining policy regime in order to generate more dollars to finance the growing capital import requirements of its bold infrastructure program.”

The FEF Board equivocated a bit on issuing this statement. Because of the numerous recommendations on how we can do better, the statement may be misread as a “backhanded compliment,” a remark that “seems to be compliment[ary], but can also be understood as an insult.” It is not that,but a commendation meant in all sincerity. Our abiding desire is the success of this administration, which is also the success of our country and the economy.

Allow me to also focus on one risk factor to such success that the FEF became acutely aware of after listening to a recent dinner speaker, Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Agnes Devanadera. Fellow FEF Fellow Boo Chanco lucidly summarized her “good and brave” remarks on the power situation in his column: “Numbers behind the power crisis,” Philippine Star, May 3. I would disagree with Boo only in his characterization of the situation as a “crisis”. Though it can certainly turn into one unless the various government agencies act resolutely and coherently.

Chair Devanadera’s chart, “On PSA Evaluation”, particularly grabbed my attention. It goes a long way in explaining why we have been having red and yellow alerts lately, beyond the more immediate cause of a “perfect storm”, the occurrence of forced outages of several plants during the peak hours of the high demand summer months. Or as a power sector colleague well explains it — “shit happens” .

Chair Devanadera’s chart shows that there are 454 Power Supply Agreements Requiring Further Action, involving 150 power plants. How long does an evaluation take and how many technical people has the Energy Regulatory Commission assigned to evaluate? Answer : 90-180 days; 14 technical personnel. Clearly, we will be in trouble if Energy Regulatory Commission stays on a business as usual course.

WESM

Thankfully, Chair Devanadera is not a business as usual person. FEF Pres. Toti Chikiamco described her as being “very open minded and approachable and with a good grasp of the issues”. Below are some proposals learned from colleagues in the power industry, including FEF Fellow and former Energy Secretary Raphael “Popo” Lotilla, and co-members in the MAP Energy Committee. ( Disclosure: I serve as an Independent Board Director in Aboitiz Power Corporation. )

1) The Energy Regulatory Commission can be more faithful to market based competition principles under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act by moving away from detailed cost based review of every PSA, an impossible task given the backlog and available technical staff. Instead of, or in addition to “the principle of full recovery of prudent and reasonable costs incurred”, it should adopt “such other principle that will promote efficiency as may be determined by the ERC” ( Section 25 of Electric Power Industry Reform Act) . For example, a simple validation of adherence to Competitive Selection Process rules to ensure arms length competitive contracting would be a fairly quick and straightforward alternative approach.

2) The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation ( PEMC) should fast-track the creation of the Power Reserve Market. This will encourage the development of standby power plants. Moreover, together with the ERC, PEMC needs to review the secondary price cap in the spot market as it distorts the true cost of electricity and discourages investment in peaking facilities.

3) The National Grid Corporation should review the required level of reserves, particularly regulating reserves considering the amount of variable renewable energy that is now connected to the grid. It also needs to contract for new capacity for ancillary reserves similar to what is being done by the distribution utilities. Right now, they are “free riding” on existing capacity via set asides without compensation under the Grid Code.

EPIRA is working — additional capacity have been and are being built, and electricity prices have been dropping. Government agencies and private players need to perform their respective roles.

 

Romeo L. Bernardo is a Fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom. He was Finance Undersecretary during the administrations of Corazon C. Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos.

romeo.lopez.bernardo@gmail.com

Neglect can be benign

By Tony Samson

EVEN as PR advice to what is seen by a client as a burning issue of crisis proportions, the admonition to “do nothing” is received with grave skepticism — what are we paying you for? And yet, leaving things alone can prevent a crisis which too much attention will actually create.

The phrase “benign neglect” is attributed to Daniel Patrick Moynihan who was Nixon’s adviser on urban affairs and later long-serving Senator of New York. The recommended policy of neglect referred to how the hot issue of race in 1969 could benefit from inaction to lower the rhetoric and get it moving on its own with a lower profile. Such a prescription of “doing nothing” is often controversial, especially when dealing with prickly issues, like race and poverty.

Economic issues, except when they impact price and inflation, are usually misunderstood and therefore ignored. It is not the stuff of screaming headlines, except in a water crisis followed by the water utility being fined a billion pesos and its CEO dismissed. Otherwise, even more high-impact economic developments like the lowering of the bank reserve ratio, the legislated tariff on imported rice replacing a government monopoly, or the final implementation of REIT are largely neglected even by media…except this paper.

Expletives and the latest rants attract more attention, and even these are gradually being discounted, if not neglected as well.

Still, government should be given credit when it is not paying attention, allowing unsupervised adults to acquire companies, float new bonds, expand their plant and raise employment rates without any congressional oversight. Resisting the appearance of any interest in the economy can be a deliberate policy.

Truly, negligence, otherwise known as the sin of omission, can be a virtue.

Certain plants like cactuses and other succulents require only to be watered once a month. To nurture them too much with daily ablutions will turn them yellow and eventually kill them. This neglectful handling applies as well to olive trees, which in Greece exceeds in number the population by a factor of two. These extraordinary trees, prized for the oil their fruits yield, require little care, depending only on rain to make them survive and grow.

Relationships as well can do with some low-maintenance affection (give me space). It’s not negligence really to forget gifts for birthdays. Sometimes it’s a reciprocal arrangement to save for something more interesting, like a trip to El Nido to watch the cliff diving contest.

Government occasionally dampens moves to push for legislated wage hikes (usually coming up this time of the year) as these are perceived to be detrimental to investors’ cost of doing business, and eventually leading anyway to higher levels of unemployment and more contractualizations. It refuses to consider price controls for necessities, specially food. This can reward the city consumers at the expense of the producing farmers, leading eventually to supply shortages and a black market with even higher prices.

We cheer enlightened inaction. If the economy cannot be described as good. It can still be fairly rated as…not bad. Anyway, economics is too important to be supervised by politicians. Leave the businessmen alone to create jobs.

Allowing the unregulated market to do its work follows Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” theory. This states that people seeking their own self-interest and working independently of each other will as though guided by an invisible hand achieve the common good. This is an economic approach of leaving the market unregulated and allowed it to do its own thing. It is referred to as “laissez faire” economics, which is a French phrase that literally means “allow to do”…whatever they want.

Political will is often invoked only in the positive pursuit of goals like the elimination of corruption, the streamlining of the bureaucracy, the assertion of rights of private property, the cleaning of beaches, or the building of more classrooms. It is seldom applied to intentional inaction and indifference. And yet, it takes political will too not to interfere.

Maybe, media too can exercise some benign neglect on CCTV-recorded cell phone snatchings, fistfights in street corners, or the collision of a cement truck with a motorcycle. The barrage of criminal reporting only promotes the fiction (or is it?) that Manila is a dangerous city. Well, viewers can shrug their collective shoulder and switch to CNN to see what disasters have befallen some other countries.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda

ar.samson@yahoo.com

UST back in the finals

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses are back in the finals of women’s volleyball in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines after eight years following their hard-earned disposal of defending champions De La Salle Lady Spikers in five sets on Sunday in their Final Four joust at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Carried a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals, the Tigresses wound up not using it as the team got off to a strong start and dug deep in the end led by super rookie Eya Laure to beat the Lady Spikers, 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25 and 15-10, to barge into their first UAAP Finals since Season 73.

La Salle got early traction to begin the game but UST was quick to adjust to claim the lead in each of the two technical breaks.

The Tigresses would use it to as a springboard to race to the set win and the 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second frame, the game took a familiar route with the Lady Spikers getting some early success before graduating captain Sisi Rondina and the Tigresses made their move to go ahead 16-13 midway.

UST stretched its lead to 20-15 after and was looking to pull away.

La Salle, led by rookie Jolina Dela Cruz and Des Clemente, would make a run to come within two points, 21-19.

Service errors though would cause the Lady Spikers the set as they saw the Tigresses go up, 2-0.

The two teams fought hard to begin the third set, fighting to an 8-7 count by the first technical break.

UST then raced to a 15-10 lead after only to find La Salle charging back to overtake it, 16-15, at the halfway juncture.

The Lady Spikers used the momentum they got to create further distance the rest of the way and eventually narrow the gap, 2-1.

Laure got the Tigresses going in the fourth set, helping her team build a 5-1 lead at the starting block.

But Des Cheng would lead the Lady Spikers to level the count at 5-all.

The Tigresses though continued to hold sway by the first technical timeout, 8-6.

La Salle remained undeterred, shooting its way to level the score at 11-all and still within striking distance, 16-15, midway.

It would continue to put the pressure on UST, and sped to a 23-19 advantage.

Caitlin Viray and Laure pushed the Tigresses to within a point, 24-23, after.

But the Lady Spikers hung on to claim the set and level the game score at 2-2 and force the contest to a sudden death fifth set.

In the decider, Laure pushed her team to a 3-0 lead from which the rest of the team took cue from to hold an 8-5 lead by the switch.

UST continued to pour it in and extended its lead to five points, 10-5. La Salle, however, racked up three straight points, to narrow the gap at 10-8.

Laure stopped the bleeding for UST with a kill to give her team an 11-8 breathing space.

The Lady Spikers managed to pull to within a point, 11-10, after which UST scored back-to-back to build a 13-10 advantage.

Laure pushed the Tigresses to match point, 14-10, with another kill and finished things off to send UST to the championship.

Laure paced UST with 25 points, 21 of which off attacks. Rondina had 17 while KC Galdones and Viray had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“It was a privilege for us to face the defending champions. We learned a lot from them and at the same time it served as a motivation for us. We’re happy with this win and finally go over them,” a jubilant UST coach Kungfu Reyes said after their victory.

The loss stopped for La Salle a streak of 10 straight UAAP Finals appearances.

Rockets survive Warriors in OT

LOS ANGELES — James Harden followed a contested 3-pointer against the shot clock with a challenged floater in the lane, and the Houston Rockets claimed Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series with a 126-121 overtime victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

Houston cut the series deficit to 2-1, with Game 4 set for Monday in Houston.

Harden finished with 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists, carrying the baton home after Eric Gordon (30 points) and Clint Capela (13 points, 11 rebounds) held the line in the first half.

Harden drilled a step-back 3-pointer over Andre Iguodala with 49 seconds left in overtime, building the Houston lead to 124-118.

Kevin Durant — who poured in a game-high 46 points on 14-of-31 shooting — answered with three free throws following an Austin Rivers foul, but Harden scored over Draymond Green the ensuing possession for a five-point lead.

After Stephen Curry missed an uncontested dunk that would have cut the deficit to three with 19.2 seconds left, the Warriors did not foul, and the Rockets secured their first victory of the series.

Durant, who scored 10 consecutive Warriors points to open the fourth quarter, and Green, who notched his sixth career postseason triple-double (19 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), were brilliant in defeat. Along with Iguodala (16 points, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers), that tandem helped the Warriors manage through the poor shooting of Curry and Klay Thompson, who finished a combined four-for-15 from deep.

Still, when the Rockets went the final 5:09 of regulation without a basket, the Warriors had their shot at a 3-0 series lead. Durant missed with 19.2 seconds left in regulation, and Thompson tied up Chris Paul in the final seconds to prevent the Rockets from attempting a would-be game-winner.

Gordon kept the Rockets afloat during their ragged start offensively. Golden State led by as many as nine midway through the first before Gordon got some help, first from Capela on the offensive boards and then from Paul down the stretch of the period, with his five points cutting the deficit to 26-25 heading to the second.

When the Rockets extended to an 11-point lead in the second, it was Gordon again leading the charge. His steal and layup preceded a 3 that pushed Houston to a 36-27 advantage, and Gordon closed the first half with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Harden finally came alive late, his 13 points offsetting strong showings from Green and Durant that kept the Warriors close. — Reuters

Jerwin Ancajas in dominant TKO win over Funai

INTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas retained his title on Sunday (Manila time) after his technical knockout win in the seventh round over Japanese challenger Ryuichi Funai at the Stockton Arena in California.

Fighting in his seventh title defense, Mr. Ancajas, 27, left no doubt as to the outcome of the contest, dominating his opponent right from the opening bell all the way to the moment that the ring side doctor deemed Mr. Funai had taken enough damage and called the fight off, effectively handing the TKO victory to Mr. Ancajas at the start of the seventh round.

The explosive victory took Davao del Norte native Ancajas’ record to 31 wins as opposed to one loss and two draws.

It was also a sea change in performance for Mr. Ancajas after his split draw outing against Mexican Alejandro Santiago in September and a unanimous decision victory over compatriot Julius Sultan prior to that.

Both fights were lukewarmly received by pundits and fans who believed he could have performed far better than he did.

After winning over Mr. Funai, the Filipino champion thanked his supporters both in the Philippines and California for rallying behind him in his latest conquest and serving as motivation to do well.

He was also humble in victory, giving Mr. Funai his due credit as well.

“Credit to Funai as well. He showed what a true Japanese fighter is, not giving up in fights. I hit him with some solid and hard punches but he just kept coming,” Mr. Ancajas said post-fight.

With the loss, Mr. Funai dropped to 37-2.

Ancajas has been a champion since Sept. 2016 when he defeated McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico.

As he prepared for Mr. Funai, the IBF super flyweight champion and his team made adjustments in the fighter’s training setup, including moving much of their training time to a Marine base in Ternate from its Survival Camp in Magallanes, Cavite, to allow Mr. Ancajas to focus more; engaging the services of a nutritionist to monitor his food intake; and employing a number of sparring partners to give him different looks and styles to take note from. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Magnolia ahead anew of San Miguel in series, 2-1

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok are back in the driver’s seat of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup Finals series after beating the defending champions San Miguel Beermen, 86-82, in Game Three on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Proving to be the steadier team between the protagonists all game long, the Hotshots continuously frustrated the Beermen even when the latter made a spirited run late in the game to book the victory and move a step closer to the title of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament.

Mark Barroca paced Magnolia with 22 points.

Ian Sangalang and Rafi Reavis each had a double-double. The former finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds while the latter had 16 markers and 15 boards.

Arwind Santos, meanwhile, led the Beermen with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

June Mar Fajardo struggled for 17 points with Terrence Romeo adding 15.

The Beermen came within three points, 82-79, with 17 seconds left after an Alex Cabagnot triple but Mr. Barroca gave Magnolia more breathing space, 86-79 , with four straight free throws after.

Marcio Lassiter hit a three-pointer to narrow Magnolia’s lead, 86-82, with four seconds remaining but the Beermen would not go any closer than that as the Hotshots closed things out.

Game Four of the Finals is on Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

Homegrown Max’s Group steps up commitment to Philippine sports

WHILE it is no longer a stranger in dipping its hands in supporting Philippine sports, Max’s Group, Inc. (MGI) has stepped up its involvement, affirming its “end to end” commitment to help the country’s Olympic dreams realized.

In ceremonies held on May 2 at Max’s Kabisera in Bonifacio Global City, MGI officials, led by President and Chief Executive Officer Robert R. Trota, unveiled their partnership with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) for the country’s bid in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The link-up is bannered by the financial support of MGI amounting to P10.5 million for the “Olympic journey” of Philippine athletes, starting from their training,

The investment will also cover funding of POC operations, catering for POC-related events, and a P3-million grand cash incentive for athletes bagging historic gold medals for the Philippines.

MGI also pledged to support the families of the athletes, helping them get nourished through monthly gift certificates at the group’s restaurants so the athletes would not worry too much and could concentrate on their training.

Fans, too, will get the chance to experience the Olympics as MGI will give them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cheer for the Philippine team live in Tokyo 2020.

MGI, which counts brands such as Max’s Restaurant, Max’s Corner Bakery, Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Teriyaki Boy, Dencio’s, and Sizzlin’ Steak under its wing, said it structured its pledge of support behind the three Fs — Flagbearers (athletes), Families and Fans.

“As an iconic Philippine brand, what better way to support Filipino athletes than helping them raise the country’s flag in the international arena. We share the vision of the POC and it’s fitting that we support them and the athletes,” said Mr. Trota, whose group was also an early supporter of Gilas Pilipinas and grassroots football.

MGI said they are still in the process of threshing out the details of the partnership and would come out with a more detailed information in the coming weeks.

For POC President Ricky Vargas, MGI coming on board the country’s Olympic journey is truly a welcome development and expressed hope that other private groups will follow its lead, seeing how the help of such enterprises will go a long way in what Philippines sports wants to accomplish.

“It’s not only bright but also so welcome,” said Mr. Vargas of the support of MGI.

“It shows the confidence of Max’s to the Philippine Olympic Committee, but more importantly any support for the athletes from the private sector is welcome,” added the POC president, who also underscored and commended how MGI’s support is end-to-end with commitment not only to the athletes but to their families as well. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Trail Blazers and Nuggets back at it after marathon Game 3

LOS ANGELES — The Portland Trail Blazers and visiting Denver Nuggets head into Monday’s Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals in the same boat.

With precious little in the tank.

Some 41 hours after the end of the Trail Blazers’ 140-137 quadruple-overtime victory over the Nuggets in Saturday’s Game 3, the teams will tip it off again.

“(The Blazers) have the same turnaround,” Denver coach Mike Malone said after the second four-overtime game in NBA playoff history. “You try to learn from the loss and get (the players) ready for battle.

“Both teams are exhausted. It’s the same for them as it is for us. We will not use it as an excuse. We haven’t used it all year long, and we won’t use it now.”

Game 3 was a three-hour, 35-minute marathon that left players and coaches drained at the final buzzer. There were 24 lead changes and 18 ties and enough drama to script a season of “Days of our Lives.”

“I have no idea what happened in the first half, the second half or the first three overtimes,” deadpanned Portland coach Terry Stotts after his Blazers had finally put away the Nuggets to seize a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. “I’ve never been involved in a game like that, regular season or playoffs.”

Malone can relate.

“There were a couple of moments when I thought we had the game,” Malone said. “It was almost like, ‘When is this game going to end?’ It kept on going and going.

“It speaks to their group, to our group — competitors, fighters leaving it all out on the floor. Hats off to Portland. Great win for them, and now we have to try to get one on Sunday.”

The Blazers had just enough to offset the sensational performance of Denver’s Nikola Jokic, whose triple-double (33 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists) came in 65 minutes on the court — 64 minutes, 58 seconds to be exact.

“That’s unheard of — ridiculous,” Malone said, chastising himself as he met with the media afterward. “I can’t ask him to do that. That’s too many minutes.”

CJ McCollum and Rodney Hood earned the major plaudits in Portland’s most important victory in 19 seasons, dating to the 2000 Western Conference finals against Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

McCollum matched his career playoff high with 41 points while playing a franchise playoff-record 60 minutes. Hood came off the bench to score seven of his career playoff-high 19 points in the fourth overtime. His 3-point swisher with 18.6 seconds remaining gave the Blazers a 138-136 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. — Reuters

Run of local club association Philippine Premier League abruptly ends

THE rebranded local club association Philippine Premier League proved to be a short-lived one after the Philippine Football Federation at the weekend decided to cut ties to it that effectively ended the league’s run after just one match day being played.

In a statement released on May 4, the PFF said with approval of its board it had come to a decision to terminate its agreement with PPL operator Triple CH Holdings Co. Ltd. “with immediate effect” and is reverting to the Philippines Football League which is scheduled to kick off in the middle of this month.

The PFF did not give further details as to the reason behind the termination of the agreement but reports have it that the football federation was not happy with the way things were panning out for the rebranded league across various fronts.

The federation said all concerned, including Triple CH Holding and its chairman Bernard Sumayao and the five licensed teams, namely Ceres Negros FC, Kaya FC-Iloilo, Stallion Laguna FC, Global Cebu FC and Green Archers United FC, were already notified of its decision.

Launched early this year, the PPL took over from the PFL, which run for two seasons.

The PPL, through Mr. Sumayao, vowed to jolt the local club football scene with, among others, quality staging of matches and presentation.

It, however, encountered some problems in the lead-up, including having some of the competing teams not able to secure the needed licenses to participate in its inaugural season.

The league was supposed to kick off on March 30 but was forced to reschedule it to April 27 to give the teams more time to work on the pertinent requirements.

It was dealt a major blow when on the eve of its kickoff, Stallion and Global Makati FC, teams that were expected to compete in the league, decided to withdraw over several issues and questioned the capacity of the operator to run the league.

The PPL nonetheless proceeded with its kickoff with Philippine Air Force and Mendiola FC 1991 fighting a 2-2 draw and Kaya emerging as a 3-0 winner over Green Archers United.

After opening day, the PPL released an announcement, dated May 2, that said “we would like to inform the public that due to circumstances beyond our control as of the moment we are constrained to not schedule any matches for this coming weekend.”

The PFF said for the return of the PFL further details will be given in the coming days. — MASM

Coaches in MPBL

Former PBA coaches Jong Uichico, Bong Ramos and Chris Gavina are now going to bring their rich experience calling the shots for their respective teams in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League beginning June 12, the league’s third season.

Three years removed from coaching in the PBA, Uichico is now back in the local coaching scene to become mentor of the Bataan Risers and succeed cage legend Jojo Lastimosa. He spent the past few years working on different capacities in basketball, serving as an assistant coach of Chot Reyes at Gilas Pilipinas, then assumed the role as head of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Coaches’ Commission.

In his return to coaching, the nine-time PBA champion coach is hoping to bring his winning touch back on the court and rub it on the Risers, the team which topped the elimination round of the MPBL Datu Cup before losing to the Manila Stars in the best-of-three semifinal series of the Northern Division.

Uichico will be one of the three ex-PBA coaches strutting their wares in the fastest growing regional amateur basketball league put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with PBA legend and former MVP Kenneth Duremdes serving as commissioner.

Ramos, a former mentor of the Air 21 Express, Barako Bull and Blackwater, will also assume his new role as coach of the Pampanga Lanterns.

Being on the sidelines wasn’t new for the former Mapua guard, who served as consultant of the Lanterns last season. He will take the reins vacated by Aldrin Morante, the same mentor who led the Muntinlupa Cagers to a finals stint in the MPBL’s inaugural staging.

Then, there’s Gavina.

For one and a half seasons, Gavina coached the Valenzuela Classic, leading the team to a semifinals stint in the MPBL’s first season, then returned last season and handled the team until midway the elimination round before joining the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the PBA as an assistant coach.

But the urge to coach in the MPBL is one thing that excites Gavina so when the Bacoor Strikers presented him the opportunity to handle the squad, the Fil-American mentor decided to accept the offer.

Uichico, Ramos and Gavina will bring a different element to a league, whose style of play is often described as free flowing yet exciting.

“It’s a challenge,” added Uichico, who is used to a systematic, deliberate half court offense. “Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone, but continue doing the things that you love, which is coaching. The MPBL is a good avenue to learn and this is good for me.”

For Ramos, whether it’s coaching in the PBA, the amateur or collegiate ranks, the game remains the same.

“It’s still five-on-five. The concept is still the same, putting the ball in the hoop and making stops,” added Ramos. “Whatever level it is, coaches are still driven by that purpose of teaching, learning and imparting his knowledge.”

For Gavina, getting back in the MPBL gives him an opportunity to handle a retooled squad. Bacoor has done some massive acquisitions to provide help for Gab Banal, the reigning Most Valuable Player, and the Strikers are determined to surpass the Final Four finished they had in the season just passed.

Truly, the MPBL is not just an avenue to provide players of all levels, a platform to get more livelihood and build their own careers. It is also a sanctuary for coaches who are looking to reestablish themselves and give themselves a new identity.

 

Rey Joble is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association.

reyjoble09@gmail.com

Battle of attrition

That Game Three of the Blazers-Nuggets semifinal-round series came to within a free throw of forcing a league-record fifth overtime underscored the resolve of the protagonists. It wasn’t just that they wanted to win; more tellingly, it was that they refused to lose. To a man, they toiled as if there were no other games left to negotiate in the postseason. Even the coaches hung tough; hardly any substitutions outside of last-shot settings — or, in the case of the most impactful one, of an unavoidable circumstance — were made. The players that forced extended action after extended action were going to decide the outcome.

In this regard, the contest became a battle of attrition. Each side was taking the measure of the other, exchanging seemingly decisive haymakers and, as the night wore on, missed opportunities until it became apparent to all and sundry that the end would come only after one blinked. That certain one happened to be Nikola Jokic, who flubbed the front end of two charities he earned with 5.6 ticks left in the fourth extra period; had he canned it instead, the match would have likely continued for at least five more minutes.

Not that the Most Valuable Player candidate could be blamed for the fatal miss. Up until then, Jokic had been burning rubber without any rest for a whopping 53 minutes and 46 seconds dating back to early in the second quarter. And fatigue had clearly set in; not for nothing had he produced only two points in the extra period heading into his trip to the stripe. To be sure, his presence on the court was required for the Nuggets to keep in step with the hosts; he was their principal playmaker who kept the defense honest and allowed teammates to generate good looks at the basket.

The Blazers, meanwhile, had the same mindset. They were determined to roll with the same faces that got them close to the finish line. And then fate intervened; Mo Harkless cramped up and had to be replaced by the very fresh Rodney Hood, who turned out to be the hero. When his number was called with 1:59 left in the fourth OT, he literally hop-skipped his way to the action from the scorer’s table and promptly scored on three straight possessions. The last shot, taken with supreme confidence off a pump-fake and sidestep from beyond the arc, turned a one-point deficit into a two-point lead and subsequently obligated Jokic to make the aforesaid free throws.

Not surprisingly, the aftermath reflected the take-no-prisoners nature of the encounter. Countless fans at the Moda Center stayed in their seats long after the final buzzer sounded, still shell-shocked by the experience and taking time to catch their breaths. In the locker rooms, knees were being iced, bruises and bumps were being tended to, and, depending on perspective, egos were either being stoked or being soothed. Among the “casualties” of war: the Blazers’ Enes Kanter, who got treatment for his separated shoulder. He’s happy, though; he may have been fueled solely by adrenaline late in the game, but he’d gladly take 56 minutes of pain for a playoff team than recall his immediate past riding the pine for the lottery-bound Knicks.

Today is another day, and the next game beckons. The Blazers will be aiming for another triumph to consolidate their hold on the series even as the Nuggets are bent on reclaiming homecourt advantage. How exertions in Game Three will impact performances moving forward figure to mold the future. One thing’s sure, though: there will be no retreat, and there will be no surrender.

 

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

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