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Dengue cases in Davao Region up 60%; highest in Davao City

DENGUE CASES in the Davao Region increased by about 60% to 4,345 during the first seven months of the year compared with the same period last year, the regional office of the Department of Health reported last week. Of the total, 21 deaths were recorded, up from 14 last year. Davao City, the most populated urban area in the region, had the highest number of cases at 2,168 with 11 deaths, nearly double than what was reported last year. Among the provinces, Davao del Norte had 562 cases with six deaths while all the others reported one death each. The other provinces in the region are Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental, and Compostela Valley. Antonietta P. Ebol, Davao Regional Dengue Control and Prevention Program manager, said the Buhangin district in Davao City had the most number of dengue patients, which has been the case in the last five years despite continued campaigns undertaken by both the DoH regional office and the City Health Office. Ms. Ebol said the main factor contributing to the problem in Buhangin is the lack of water supply in the area, and residents “are storing water in open containers” that become breeding grounds for dengue-causing mosquitos. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Nation at a Glance — (08/13/19)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Nation at a Glance — (08/13/19)

NCAA: Mapua goes for back-to-back victories

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

HAD THEIR first taste of victory in National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 last time around, the Mapua Cardinals go for a second serving when they trek back to the court today against the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Set for 2 p.m., the Cardinals (1-5) try to build on their breakthrough win over the Arellano Chiefs, 73-64, on Saturday and continue their flight in the ongoing season of the country’s oldest collegiate league.

Playing in the 4 p.m. game, meanwhile, are the still-undefeated College of Saint Benilde Blazers (4-0) against Arellano (1-5).

Guard Laurenz Victoria provided the motor in Mapua’s debut win over the Chiefs, finishing with a career-high 29 points, built on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.

He also wound up with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Arellano kept Mapua in check in the opening half but saw its opponent play steady on both ends in the second fold as the latter made its way to the win.

Providing support to Victoria was Paolo Hernandez, who finished with 14 markers, while Arvin Gamboa had nine to help the Cardinals hand new coach Randy Alcantara his first win.

Victoria said they take pride in the win as it was a product of their hard work in training despite the tough start they have had and digging deep collectively during the game.

“We really needed this win because every time we lose the morale of the team somehow goes down. We saw an opening to win in this game and we just stayed aggressive and went for it,” said Victoria, in the vernacular, after the game.

Incidentally, the career game of Victoria led to him being named the NCAA player of the week.

In winning the award, given by media covering the league, Victoria edged out Lyceum’s Mike Nzeusseu and San Beda’s Evan Nelle.

Out to stop the Cardinals is EAC (1-5), which has lost four straight but nonetheless is competing each outing.

The most recent of the Generals’ defeats came at the hands of Jose Rizal University, 64-58, in an NCAA on Tour offering on Aug. 1.

Leading the way for EAC is guard Marwin Taywan, going for 15.7 points per game. Forward JP Maguliano has been a double-double machine for the team with 14.3 points and 12.2 rebounds while Jethro Mendoza has been good for 12 points per outing for the Oliver Bunyi-coached Generals.

SAINT BENILDE
Meanwhile, with all of its three scheduled matches previously washed out by bad weather, Saint Benilde is hoping to finally take the floor and continue its solid run so far in NCAA 95.

The last time the Blazers played was on July 30 against the San Sebastian Stags and came away as a 77-72 winner despite playing sans top man Justin Gutang who was out because of knee injury.

Guard Unique Naboa paced CSB with 15 points, followed by Chris Flores with 14.

Jimboy Pasturan and Clement Leutcheu each had 12 points for the Blazers while veteran Yankie Haruna finally played his first game from injury and finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Blazers eye win number five against season host Arellano, which has lost two consecutive games after notching its first victory of the season.

Reed ends title drought with Northern Trust win

PATRICK REED secured his first victory since last year’s Masters when he beat Mexican Abraham Ancer by one stroke at the Northern Trust in New Jersey on Sunday.

Reed emerged on top from a packed leaderboard by carding two-under-par 69 in the first of three PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff events at Liberty National.

The American sank his winning putt from three feet to finish at 16-under 268, while Ancer remains in search of his PGA Tour breakthrough after also shooting 69 for second place.

Spaniard Jon Rahm, who had the outright lead at the turn, also carded 69 to tie for third with American Harold Varner III (68), two behind.

Reed, nicknamed “Captain America” after the fictional superhero, said he could not think of a better place to win than on the doorstep of one of the country’s iconic landmarks — the Statue of Liberty.

“Just to be back, and to feel like I’ve been playing some solid golf, and finally have it pay off, and to come out as a victory, it’s been a while, a little too long honestly,” he said in a greenside interview.

“But what better place to do it than here, Statue of Liberty in the background, Presidents Cup was here in ‘17, and hearing ‘Captain America’ all week, it was definitely a good time to get a W (win).”

ROCK SOLID
With his seventh PGA Tour victory, the 29-year-old jumped to second behind Brooks Koepka in the FedEx Cup standings.

Seven players were within one shot of the lead early in the final round before Rahm, winner of last month’s Irish Open, seized the initiative with three quick birdies in a four-hole stretch.

But he had a poor back nine, opening the door for his rivals.

Reed did not exactly bust it down, but two birdies in a bogey-free back nine were enough, while Australian Open champion Ancer birdied the 16th and 17th for his best result on tour.

“I knew I had to make birdies coming down the stretch,” said Reed, who took a rare three-week break between the PGA Championship in May and the US Open in June to recharge his batteries.

He has been rock solid since returning, and Sunday’s victory elevates him back into contention for the Tiger Woods-captained US side for December’s Presidents Cup against an International team in Australia.

Reed vowed his latest victory augured well for the rest of the year.

“It’s just the beginning,” he said. — Reuters

Veteran Castro appreciative of still being recognized at this stage of his career

WHILE HE was quick to say that there is still a lot of good basketball left in him, TNT KaTropa star guard Jayson Castro could not help but be sentimental and appreciative of having his efforts on the court continued to be recognized even as this stage of his highly successful Philippine Basketball Association career.

Now 33 years old, Mr. Castro added another feather under his cap by winning the best player of the conference award in the ongoing PBA Commissioner’s Cup, his fifth in his 11 years in Asia’s first play for pay league.

And the significance of this latest accolade is not lost to the TNT veteran considering that competition in the league and the level play of the players right now have risen significantly.

Mr. Castro, who averaged 14.7 points, six assists and 5.3 rebounds up until the semifinals, beat out San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo and rookies Ray Parks Jr. of Blackwater Elite, Robert Bolick of Northport Batang Pier and CJ Perez of Columbian Dyip for the prestigious award.

“I appreciate this award so much. At my age, to be able to get an award such as this, it shows that my hard work is not being overlooked and it only motivates me to keep going and improving,” said Mr. Castro when asked by media for his thoughts on the award following Game Four of the best-of-seven PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals series on Sunday.

Pampanga native Castro finished with 1,077 total points — from statistical points, media and PBA votes — to run away with the award.

Mr. Fajardo of finals foe San Miguel was a far second with 762 points.

Mr. Parks ended up at third with 576 points, followed by Mr. Perez (428) and Mr. Bolick (421).

The latest BPC plum of Mr. Castro was in addition to those he won in the Philippine Cup (2012), Commissioner’s Cup (2014 and 2015) and Governors’ Cup (2016).

He also tied two-time league most valuable player Danny Ildefonso at second with the most BPC awards with five, behind only Mr. Fajardo who has eight.

But despite the joy he is feeling from winning another BPC award, Gilas Pilipinas standout Castro underscored that the ultimate goal for him this conference is to win another championship for TNT, something they have not experienced since 2015.

“While I’m happy with this award, our goal is still to win the championship. They (San Miguel) are always winning and it’s about time to have our turn,” Mr. Castro said.

The ongoing finals between TNT and San Miguel is tied at two games apiece with Game Five set for Wednesday, Aug. 14. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Tearful Serena retires injured in Toronto final

TORONTO — Serena Williams’ first US Open tune-up ended in dramatic fashion as the tearful American was forced to retire with a back injury while trailing Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu, 3-1, in the Rogers Cup final on Sunday.

Williams, who hopes to chase a record-equalling 24th career Grand Slam title at the US Open, seemed fine on court but suddenly sat crying in her chair before deciding to retire 19 minutes into the match with back spasms.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do it today. I tried but I just couldn’t do it,” an emotional Williams, who struggled to get the words out, told the crowd.

“It’s been a tough year but we’ll keep going.”

Andreescu consolidated an early break to move 3-1 up at which point Williams went to her chair where she called for the trainer and broke down in tears.

Williams said the spasms began during her three-set semifinal win over Czech Marie Bouzkova on Saturday. They got so bad that she was unable to sleep and could not really move but she added that she at least wanted to try and play the final.

“I was just trying to figure out how do you play a match where you have no rotation?” said Williams.

“And I don’t want to get this far and not at least try. I think I would have really regretted not at least going out there and seeing maybe if a miracle happened.”

The 37-year-old Williams, whose competitive action this year has been severely limited because of knee issues, declared herself pain-free ahead of the tournament, which she was hoping to use as a springboard for the rest of her hardcourt swing.

But the six-time US Open champion, still without a title since returning from maternity leave in 2018, now faces her latest injury setback with the year’s final Grand Slam just two weeks away.

Williams, who is due to compete in Cincinnati next week, said she has experienced back spasms a lot in her career and that if this latest episode plays out like those before, she does not expect it to keep her out of any events.

“They’re incredibly painful, but it goes away after, like, 24, 36, maybe 48 hours, and like clockwork,” said Williams.

“In that first phase, it is incredibly painful, to a point where I usually don’t get out of bed. So if it’s what typically happens, I will be fine, but I have to wait and see.”

As Williams sat dejected in her chair, Andreescu, who is no stranger to injury setbacks, went over to console her. The pair embraced and had a heartfelt conversation.

Andreescu, who shot to prominence with her Indian Wells triumph in March and was competing this week for the first time since withdrawing from the French Open with a shoulder injury, is the first Canadian to win the event in 50 years. — Reuters

Kaya back on the winning track after rout of Air Force

CUP CHAMPION Kaya FC-Iloilo swung back to the win column on Sunday after routing Philippine Air Force FC, 5-0, in a Philippines Football League fixture at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.

Kaya scored all its goals in the first half which allowed it to cruise along in the second half and use its bench on its way to the victory, which fortified its hold of solo second place.

Jordan Mintah scored the first of his two goals for the day in the 15th minute and followed it up with another seven minutes later to make it 2-0 for Kaya.

The onslaught continued for the Copa Paulino Alcantara champions as Masa Omura scored in the 24th and Connor Tacagni in the 27th minute to make it a 4-0 lead.

Kaya capped its fiery first half with another point care of Jayson Panhay in the 41st minute.

In the second half, Kaya chose to play its reserves who did a good job in sustaining the momentum the team built early on to book the win.

The win allowed Kaya (8-1-2) to return to winning after losing to defending champion Ceres-Negros FC, 1-0, on Aug. 3.

It now has 25 points, three behind Ceres (9-1-0).

“We worked hard for the five points in the first half which allowed us to control the game in the second half. Hopefully we get to build on this for our next game,” said Kaya coach Noel Marcaida.

Air Force (1-1-10), for its part, has dropped two straight with the loss. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

US teams top Jr. NBA Global Championship in Florida

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — US Central (girls) and US West (boys) won the 2019 Jr. NBA Global Championship on Sunday at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. The two Global Championship finals featured US Central defeating Canada 72-35 in the girls division and US West defeating Africa, 70-61, in the boys division.

National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver, three-time NBA Champion and Jr. NBA Global Championship Ambassador Dwyane Wade and New Orleans Pelicans Vice-President of Basketball Operations/Team Development and former WNBA All-Star Swin Cash presented the winning teams with trophies in postgame ceremonies.

The global youth basketball tournament took place from Aug. 6-11 and featured 32 of the top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world. Overall, 15,000 players from 75 countries participated across Jr. NBA Global Championship regional competitions.

Hunan International Open

Hunan Belt and Road International Open
Hunan, China
July 29-Aug. 6, 2019

Final Top Standings

1 GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly IND 2638, 7.0/9

2-3 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2736, GM Bassem Amin EGY 2707, 6.5/9

4-9 GM Ivan Cheparinov GEO 2666, GM Wang Hao CHN 2725, GM David Anton Guijarro ESP 2678, GM Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2687, GM Wei Yi CHN 2737, GM Maxim Matlakov RUS 2701, 6.0/9

10-14 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2636, GM Yu Ruiyuan CHN 2464, GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2608, GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac ROU 2621, GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2595, 5.5/9

Total Number of Participants: 73 players, out of which there are 43 International Grandmasters, 21 International Masters and 2 FIDE Masters.

Time Control: 90 minutes with 30 second increment from move 1

The Belt and Road China Hunan International Chess Open was held in Tongguanyao town, Changsha city, Hunan Province, China, from July 29-Aug. 6 this year.

A side note: The “Belt and Road Initiative” is the plan of China to recreate the Silk Road, a network of trade routes which connected the East and West and ran through China from the 2nd century BC to the 18th century. “Belt” refers to the overland routes for road and rail transportation, and “road” refers to the sea routes.

The tournament was notable for the huge prizes, most especially USD$50,000 for 1st place, roughly P2.6 million. This is why so many 2700+ GMs made the trip to Hunan in Central China to compete. The top 6 seeds were:

Wei Yi CHN 2737

Yu Yangyi CHN 2736

Wang Hao CHN 2725

Le Quang Liem VIE 2713

Bassem Amin EGY 2707

Maxim Matlakov RUS 2701

In the end it was the 15th-seeded Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2638) who came through with an undefeated 5-win, 4-draw performance for 7.5/9 and solo 1st place. Second prize of USD$25,000 (P1.3 million) went to Yu Yangyi while the Egyptian Bassem Amin came through with a strong showing and earned USD$15,000 (around P780,000) 3rd prize.

Ganguly is principally known as the longtime second of former world champion Vishy Anand, especially during his title matches with Kramnik (2008), Topalov (2010) and Gelfand (2012), but is a very strong player in his own right. Born Feb. 24, 1983 in Kolkata he is a six-time champion of India and won the Asian Continental Champion in 2009 held in the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic Bay, Olongapo City. He tied for 1st again in the 2015 Asian Championship with Salem A.R. Saleh, but the UAE player got the title on tie breaks.

In Hunan Ganguly was always among the leaders but his 5th round defeat of Wei Yi allowed him to tie for the lead and a 2-win 2-draw finish was enough for him to finish ahead of the chasing pack.

Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (2638) — Wei, Yi (2737) [A33]
Hunan Belt and Road Open 2019 Hunan (5.2), 02.08.2019

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5

Ganguly is known to favor this line so the opening could not have been a surprise for Wei Yi.

7…Ne5

The main move. 7…Bc5 is known to be bad, not because of 8.Nd6+ Ke7 9.Nde4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Bb4+ when Black has chances, but because of 8.Bg2! Bxf2+ 9.Kf1 Ng4 10.Qd6! when White is clearly better (Andrzej Lipinski-Wladyslaw Schinzel Poland 1978). Nc7+ is threatened and after 10…Kd8 11.Qf4 Nce5 (11…h5? 12.Qxf7 Be3 13.b4! Bxc1 14.c5 Qa6 15.Qxg7 Re8 16.Rxc1 White is clearly winning) 12.Na4! (12.Bf3 right away is met by 12…Be3) 12…Qa5 13.Bf3 Black cannot disentangle.

8.Bg2 a6

Black should not take the c4 pawn: 8…Nxc4 9.b3 Ne5 (9…a6 10.bxc4 axb5 11.Nxb5 d5 12.0 — 0 Bc5 13.Rb1 Black has got to be careful here) 10.Be3 Qa5 11.0 — 0 Bb4 12.Nd6+ Ke7 (12…Bxd6 13.Qxd6 Qxc3 14.Bd4 White is clearly better) 13.Nce4 Nd5 (13…Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Kf8 15.a3 Be7 16.b4 Qc7 17.Rc1 Black’s position is not easy to play) 14.Bd4 f6 15.a3 Bxd6 16.Nxd6 Nf7 (16…Kxd6? 17.e4 wins) 17.Nc4 Qa6 1 — 0 Kazakov, K. (2302)-Kozganbayev, E. (2249) Kostanay 2012.

9.Qa4

GM Evgeniy Agrest (Sweden) introduced 9.Na3 during the 2002 championship of Sweden in Skara and it is now considered to be White’s best chance for retaining the initiative. After 9…Bxa3 10.bxa3 Nxc4 11.0 — 0! (White will play Bg5 only after Black castles) 11…0 — 0 12.Bg5! d5 13.Rc1 Nxa3 14.e4 d4 15.e5 Nd7 16.Ne4 Nxe5 17.Nf6+ gxf6 18.Bxf6 Ng6 19.Qh5 White threatens, of course, Qh5 — h6 — g7 mate. Black counted on 19…e5 but did not reckon on 20.Rc6! and now he can resign. Howell, D. (2685)-Jumabayev, R. (2607) Tallinn 2016 1 — 0 27.

9…Bc5?

In annotating a game from the 2016 Baku Olympiad GM Mihail Marin remarked that 9.Qa4 is long known for not offering much because of 9…Rb8 10.Be3 Bc5 11.Bxc5 Qxc5 12.Qa3 b6 13.Nd6+ Ke7 14.Qxc5 bxc5 15.Nxc8+ Rhxc8 16.b3 d5! 17.cxd5 c4! (trying to open the c-file for his rook) 18.b4 Rxb4 Black is doing well. Timman, J. (2630) — Alterman, B. (2595) European Team Championship 1997 0 — 1 33. Wei Yi probably knew this but did not expect Ganguly’s next move.

10.Bf4!

Opening preparation. Maybe Wei Yi expected the usual 10.0 — 0 when he intended to continue 10…Nxc4 11.Qxc4 axb5 12.Qxb5 Qxb5 13.Nxb5 0 — 0 when White is a bit more comfortable but Black should be able to hold.

10…Bxf2+

Obviously surprised, Wei Yi took 21 minutes before playing this. Other moves don’t work:

10…d6 11.Nxd6+;

10…Nxc4 11.Nc7+;

10…Nfg4 11.h3 Bxf2+ (11…Nxf2 12.Bxe5 Nxh1 13.Nc7+ wins for White) 12.Kf1 is the same as what actually occurs in the game.

11.Kf1 <D>

POSITION AFTER 11.KF1

At first glance White is trying to weather a strong attack but on closer look Black is in dire straits — he does not have any direct threats and White is threatening to capture the knight on e5. If he moves the knight then that clears the way for Nc7+]

11…Nfg4

[11…Bd4? 12.c5! unveils a double attack on the d4 bishop]

12.h3 g5

What do do?

12…Ne3+ 13.Kxf2 Nd1+ 14.Ke1 Nxb2 15.Qb3 Nbxc4 16.Na3 Qxb3 17.axb3 Nxa3 18.Rxa3 f6 19.Na4 Rb8 (19…b5?? 20.Bxa8) 20.Nb6 (threat is Ra3 — a2 — c2) 20…d5 21.Bxe5 fxe5 22.e4 d4 23.Ra5 Black is lost;

12…Bg1 13.c5! as in the game

13.Bxg5 Bxg3 14.c5!

It is important to lure the black queen to c5 so that Ne4 later on will attack the queen. Not 14.Ne4? right away because 14…Ne3+ White cannot play Kg1.

14…Qxc5 15.Ne4 Qg1+

Now we see why White had to preface his Ne4 with c4 — c5, because now 15…Ne3+ 16.Kg1 there is no good discovered check for Black as then White will simply capture the queen.

16.Kxg1 1 — 0

Not 16.Rxg1?? Nh2#

Former Russian (2001) and European (2014) Champion GM Alexander Motylev did not do so well. He got the wind completely knocked out of his sails by this loss:

Zeng, Chongsheng (2551) — Motylev, Alexander (2654) [C59]
Hunan Belt and Road Open 2019 Hunan (6.8), 03.08.2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6

The Two Knights’ Defense! Not so commonly seen nowadays.

4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Nh3

This old move of Steinitz, considered an eccentricity, became popular when Bobby Fischer used it to defeat GM Arthur Bisguier in 1963 Poughkeepsie.

9…Bc5 10.d3 0 — 0 11.Nc3 Nb7 12.0 — 0 Bxh3 13.gxh3 Qd7 14.Bg4 Nxg4 15.hxg4 f5 16.gxf5 Rxf5 17.Ne4 Raf8 18.Qe2 Rf3

Black only needs to make one more move and he is completely winning. After 19…Qh3 his threat of …Rf8 — f5 is deadly. 20.Ng3 does not work because of 20…Rxg3+ 21.hxg3 Qxg3+ 22.Kh1 Qh3+ 23.Kg1 Nd6 followed by Nd6 — f5 — h4.

19.Kh1! Qh3 20.Nxc5 Nxc5

[20…R8f5!? does not work because of 21.Nxb7 Rh5 White can force a draw with 22.Bf4! exf4 (22…Rxf4? 23.f3 with the mate protected White will win) 23.Qe8+ Kh7 24.Qe4+ Kg8 25.Qe8+ draw]

21.Be3 R8f5 22.Rg1

Of course not 22.Bxc5? Rh5.

22…Rh5 23.Rg2 Ne6 24.Rag1 Kh8 25.Bd2 Nd4! 26.Qe4 Rf7!

With the idea of …Nf3.

27.Bf4 Rxf4??

Correct is 27…Rh4

28.Qh7+! Horrified, Motylev realizes that 28.Qh7+ Kxh7 29.Rxg7+ Kh8 30.Rg8+ Kh7 31.R1g7# is mate and so he resigns. 1 — 0

A lot of bloodthirsty chess was played in Hunan. I will show you some more on Thursday.

 

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Right direction

Heading into the final round, The Northern Trust appeared to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. Headlines were being grabbed by developments off, and not on, the 7,370-yard pride of Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. Masters champion Tiger Woods, still golf’s biggest draw, had to withdraw from the tournament prior to the second round due to a “mild oblique strain that led to pain and stiffness;” never mind that, in negotiating his first 18 poorly, he appeared rusty and not injured. At the same time, social media habitues also focused on slow play, and particularly on egregious examples put forth by so-called mad scientist Bryson DeChambeau.

Fortunately, The Northern Trust finished with aplomb courtesy of a stellar performance by 2018 Masters titleholder Patrick Reed. It wasn’t just that he consistently displayed good form from Day One; more importantly, it was that he proved unflappable under pressure, coming up with clutch shots in the back nine to both reclaim the lead and ensure he didn’t lose it again. And, certainly, the irony wasn’t lost on avid followers of the sport; although the subject of many an article on his failings outside the ropes, he wound up distinguishing himself under the klieg lights.

For a while there, Reed didn’t look ready for prime time. Following his remarkable victory at August National last year, he seemed to stumble in the face of greater scrutiny. Even his beloved Captain America persona suffered from his poor Ryder Cup showing and subsequent attempts to pin the blame on skipper Jim Furyk and frequent playing partner Woods. To his credit, though, he moved to recover from his missteps; he made amends to those he slighted, and then aimed to fix his game by first clearing his mind.

As Reed explained yesterday, “I was pushing too hard and trying too hard, and all of a sudden, it was going in the wrong direction.” To this end, he took a three-week-long spring break in the Hamptons that included 10 straight days of golf-free stuff. “My team was smart enough to tell me to back off, shut it down, and reset and get clear — because we can finish the year right.” And, needless to say, his triumph at Liberty National gets him moving in the right direction; it ended a 16-month drought and catapulted him to 12th in Presidents Cup standings and second overall in his bid for the FedEx Cup.

Reed has never lacked confidence; in fact, he has such an abundance of it that it borders on cockiness. With the win, however, he gets validation as well. He locks in a Tour Championship berth, claims prime position for the $15-million pot, and puts himself back in the conversation as, at the very least, an at-large selection for the Presidents Cup. And, make no mistake, he wants to secure an outright spot in Team USA and, en route, repair his image as a stalwart for the red, white, and blue. Momentum is on his side, with his win preceded by Top 10 finishes at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the British Open. As he noted, “if you play good golf, that all takes care of itself.”

 

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.

DoF: Mining tax reform still on the table

By Charmaine A. Tadalan
Reporter

INCREASING the state’s share in mining revenues is one of the tax reforms targeted by the government for enactment in the next two years, even as President Rodrigo R. Duterte did not mention it in his July 22 State of the Nation Address (SoNA), but it will take a back seat to the other measures, a senior official of the Department of Finance (DoF) said last weekend.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in his fourth SoNA last July 22, asked Congress to approve the remaining tax reform packages, starting with the proposal to reduce the corporate income tax rate to 20% by 2029 from 30% currently and rationalize fiscal incentives by making them more time-bound and performance-based. He also cited proposals to increase excise tax rates for alcohol products and e-cigarettes, centralize real property valuation and assessment, and simplify the tax structure for financial investment instruments.

Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito G. Lambino II said in a mobile phone message on Sunday that the measure that will reform the fiscal regime of the mining industry is “still part of the comprehensive tax reform program and we will pursue it after the others are enacted.”

At the same time, “[w]e are prioritizing presidential directives from the SoNA,” Mr. Lambino said.

The proposed tax reform for mineral products nearly made it out of the 17th Congress that ended in June, as the Senate adopted House Bill No. 8400 with minor amendments. The said bill reduced the royalty on large-scale mining within mineral reserves to three percent of gross output from five percent currently and introduced a 1-5% margin-based royalty on those outside mineral reserves.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri have each filed bills increasing the government’s revenue share from mineral products; while three bills have already been filed in the House of Representatives.

If enacted, this will be levied on top of other taxes, such as the corporate income tax, excise tax which Republic Act No. 10963 doubled to four percent, royalty to indigenous people and local business tax, among others.

The government has so far enacted RA 10963, which slashed personal income tax and increased or added levies on several goods and services; RA 11213, which offers estate tax amnesty and amnesty for delinquent accounts that remained unpaid even after being given final assessment; and RA 11346, which will gradually increase excise tax on tobacco products to P60 per pack by 2023 from the current P35.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had earlier said that tax measures should be approved by Congress within 15-18 months, which Senator Pia S. Cayetano, ways and means committee chairperson, had said is a “reasonable time to study and vote on the four priority measures.”

Her counterpart, Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda, for his part, plans to apply Rule 48, which will allow the House ways and means committee to immediately submit for plenary action a measure that secured third-reading approval in the preceding Congress.

Moody’s Investors Service, in the annual credit analysis on the Philippines that it e-mailed to journalists on Friday last week, gave a “moderate(+)” score on “the government’s demonstrated ability to pursue its economic and fiscal reform agenda in the face of increasing political noise” and the country’s “longer track record of sustaining improvements in its fiscal profile than its peers.”

At the same time, while “[t]he strong pro-administration majority in both houses of the legislature enhances the prospects for further reform… the government has a comparatively short window of about two years to pursue its legislative agenda,” Moody’s said.

“We expect campaigning to detract attention away from reform in the year prior to the next general election scheduled for 2022.”

The mining industry has struggled under a trying policy environment since Executive Order No. 79 in 2012 imposed a moratorium on permits for new projects until enactment of a new law that would give the government a bigger share in industry revenues.

But Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies 2018 released at the end of February showed that while the Philippines has stayed at the bottom fifth of mining territories in terms of investment attractiveness, it has been improving in rank in terms of mineral potential.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) data as of May 30 showed metallic mineral production in the Philippines growing in value by 11.57% to P27.466 billion in the first quarter from P24.618 billion a year ago.

Mining contributed about 0.66% to gross domestic product in this year’s first three months, roughly steady since at least 2016.

Taxes, fees and royalties from the industry have been on a steady decline from P35.494 billion in 2016 to P25.691 billion in 2017 and to P11.733 billion last year. Levies totaled some P268.8 million in the first quarter, MGB data showed.

SEC eyes release of new REIT rules by September

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) targets to release the final guidelines for real estate investment trusts (REIT) by September, while remaining optimistic that the first such product will be launched within the year.

SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong said they are now working on the draft framework for REITs which will be out for public comment this month.

“We hope to have the rules out for public comment within the month… most likely there’s a 15-day comment period. If it’s not too complicated, we can expedite it,” Mr. Amatong told reporters on the sidelines of Ayala Corp.’s Integrated Summit on Corporate Governance, Risk Management and Sustainability in Makati last Friday.

Salient provisions in the draft guidelines include the reduction of the minimum public ownership (MPO) to 33%, from the current requirement of 40% on the first year of listing raised to 67% on the second year.

This places the Philippines at par with the 20-33% MPO requirement seen for REITs in other Asian markets.

Mr. Amatong said reduction of the MPO comes with the condition that all proceeds from the REIT vehicle will be plowed back to the Philippines. “The amount equivalent to the REIT proceeds must be reinvested by the REIT sponsor, which is the developer… [They] should be reinvested in the Philippines within one year in either real estate or infrastructure,” he said.

The commissioner said corporate regulators are still working out the mechanics of this provision with the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, including penalties should a REIT vehicle fail to comply.

“There’s a suggestion also that there’s a holding period of about four years after you’ve reinvested the proceeds. May mga comments pa ako dun, but once we are able to agree on the concept, then magagawa na namin ’yung regulation,” Mr. Amatong explained.

Republic Act No. 9856 was enacted back in 2009, yet no company has launched a REIT vehicle since due to the hefty MPO requirement, issues on independence of the REIT fund manager and the 12% tax on transfer of real properties once such assets are placed in a REIT.

Enactment in late 2017 of RA 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, has since resolved the taxation issues, while the SEC has taken steps to address the first two issues.

Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is set to become the first company to launch a REIT, composed of its premium office assets in the Makati Central Business District. ALI said the REIT company will be valued at about $500 million, about $300 million of which will be offered to the public.

“We’re still very confident that we’ll get one (REIT listing) within the year,” Mr. Amatong said, shrugging off the current weakness of the market as he cited apparent interest of investors to participate in the country’s first REIT listing. — Arra B. Francia

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