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Logistics, infrastructure and the consumers

Last Monday, upon the invitation of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), I attended the 2nd Logistics Services Conference and Exhibition at the Philippine International Convention Center. I was invited as media and I attended the press conference led by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, flanked by leaders of various private industry associations and government officials from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Export development Council the International Finance Corp. ), and the DTI.

I am unfamiliar with the major issues of this sector, hence my curiosity about the conference. I was also intrigued by the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) so I checked that biennial report. The index is composed of six factors — Customs, Infrastructure, International shipments, Logistics quality and competence, Tracking and tracing, and Timeliness.

I extracted from the Excel database the numbers for major Asian economies for the years 2010, 2014, and the latest report 2018. Germany is included in this list because it is the consistent No. 1. The Philippines has a bad trend — a declining score and declining global rank out of 160 countries and jurisdictions covered. In particular, its rank in Customs has fallen from 47th in 2014 to 85th in 2018. The good news is that its rank in infrastructure has somehow improved (see Table).

I know Secretary Mon Lopez — we are both members of the UP School of Economics Alumni Association and I spoke with him a few times. I know that he is solutions-oriented as the private sector and business competition had been his home for many years before joining the DTI.

Listening to him and many other speakers at the press conference, I was surprised that while it was the DTI that led this conference, many of the issues that cause headaches to players in the sector are outside the mandate and core concerns of DTI. Like lack of drivers for trucks, forklifts and heavy equipment (TESDA training), port congestion (Customs bureau, Department of Finance), truck ban and numbers coding ban (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority), long period to get vehicle franchises (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Department of Transportation), etc.

During the open forum, I asked if the advocacies by various stakeholders cover the wider macro-economic and intra-industry reforms like airlines and shipping lines liberalization, seaports and airports modernization, tollroads expansion nationwide. Secretary Mon said they do, that the administration’s Build, Build, Build programs address these infrastructure challenges, and investment liberalization measures are being advanced.

My impression now is that the DTI has become a sort of intermediary for many government agencies that tend to over-bureaucratize logistics players like truckers, freight forwarders, cargo handlers, airlines and shipping lines, to temper their itch to demand too many requirements and simplify these instead.

This should extend to infrastructure development. Too many permits and requirements — from local governments to various national agencies — to build or expand seaports, airports, tollways, power plants, dams and water sources, etc.

The goal of policy reforms should be the betterment of the consumers. More goods and services at lower cost and prices, reduced waste due to faster mobility of commodities from manufacturers and traders to end-users. Less government bureaucracies and more private competition, these will favour the consumers. Happy to see the DTI leading this.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Technology has its downside

Airbnb is an online marketplace or brokerage that people use to book or offer lodgings. It is popular among internet-savvy travelers and short-term renters. I have used the service myself a number of times looking for places to stay in while on vacation, and, to be honest, I have been quite happy with it. And, I am sure many others are happy with it, or else Airbnb’s global business couldn’t have made $2.6 billion in gross commissions in 2017.

Online companies like Airbnb and Uber and Grab have been matching people with surplus lodgings and transportation with consumers who need them. In the same way, Amazon and Alibaba have become online marketplaces for products from different makers all over the world, for sale to consumers globally. Even Facebook now has its own marketplace for goods and services, which I occasionally peruse.

And, for about a decade now, I have come to accept such use of technology to avail myself of goods and services. At some point, I even raved about it. Improvements in internet service in recent years, as well as the availability of more sophisticated and more powerful mobile devices, and the proliferation of sellers and service providers online have made all this happen. As such, when travelling, the mobile device with reliable data connection has become indispensable.

It was thus with some concern that I came across a story by Joseph Schmid of the Agence France Presse dated July 9, which narrated how families have been leaving Paris in favor of the French suburbs, and, as a consequence, many Paris schools have been forced to shut down. And the situation has been blamed on Airbnb, and how it prompted a significant rise in Paris property prices and how this has been driving out families from the French capital.

Schmid wrote, “Real estate prices in Paris and most Western capitals have soared in recent years, making it harder for middle-class couples to find family-sized apartments in a city already known for its cramped living conditions. While record low interest rates and a shortage of housing have fueled the boom, fingers are increasingly being pointed at Airbnb. Its popularity has encouraged thousands of property owners to turn Paris flats or commercial spaces into short-term rentals that are far more profitable than traditional leases.”

He added, “The fall in the number of children in Paris is inversely proportional to Airbnb’s spectacular growth since 2013. With 65,000 listings for a population of 2.2 million in the 20 districts that fall within the city’s limits, compared with 50,000 for the 8.5 million people spread across New York’s five boroughs, Paris is Airbnb’s single biggest market. By contrast with Berlin, where many Airbnb offerings are for a room in an apartment, nearly 90% of the Paris listings are for an entire home, according to the Paris Urbanism Institute. City officials accuse Airbnb of effectively siphoning thousands of apartments off the market.”

With homes suitable for families being lost to tourists and short-term renters, many couples with children have opted to live out of Paris. As such, they’ve also put their children in schools outside Paris. As a result, four schools have shut down in four years, following 10 others that have shut after being merged with other schools because of lack of enrollees, Schmid reported. He added that a dozen more “are at risk of closure or ‘merger’” since “student levels have fallen every year since 2012 — a decline of 9%, or nearly 13,000 pupils overall.

I am sure that Airbnb is not entirely to blame for this situation, and that other factors may have had their contributions to the issue. Schmid’s report also noted a shortage in new housing projects and falling birth rates. He also quoted Airbnb as saying, “Official data show the Paris population has been declining since the 1950s, and the housing issues in Paris go back several decades before the creation of Airbnb.”

There is still a need to ascertain statistically that falling enrollment, and thus school closures, in Paris in recent years can truly be attributed to the popularity of Airbnb. However, never did I imagine school closures to be among the possible unintended adverse consequences of its business model. Such a socioeconomic implication, if at all proved to be strongly correlated with Airbnb’s success, should be a cause for concern.

But one cannot easily blame property owners for turning to short-term rentals. After all, it pays better, and not only in Paris. In Manhattan’s Lower East Side, one study found that full-time Airbnb listings earned, on average, two to three times the median long-term rent. This was noted by Daniel Guttentag, an assistant professor in hospitality and tourism management at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, who in 2018, was commissioned by the BBC News to analyze how Airbnb was affecting neighborhoods globally.

A number of territories have also started to curb short-term renting. BBC News quoted New York City council member Carlina Rivera: “The aim is protecting our affordable housing stock for the millions of New Yorkers who could not live here without it.” In Barcelona, short-term rentals must be licensed, and new licences are no longer being issued, noting that illegal accommodation “creates speculation and illicit economies and its activities leave nothing positive for local neighbors, causing nuisance and complaints.”

BBC News also noted that a Barcelona study and others looking at Boston, Los Angeles, and the entire US have “suggested a link between the concentration of Airbnb properties in a neighborhood and rising rents.” One report also “suggests that Airbnb profits from illegal rentals that ‘cause rent increases, reduce the housing supply, and exacerbate segregation’,” BBC News added.

Despite these developments, I still believe that technology is a friend, not a foe. But, to me, it should be seen as what it is: a tool, a means to an end. With Artificial Intelligence or AI, however, this may no longer be the case. AI and computer algorithms have become surrogates for human intelligence and discretion. Emotions, as well as accountability, have been neutralized as factors in decisions and actions. In this line, any business model that strongly relies on technology for its success should always be audited regularly for its economic and social implications and how it can adversely impact the human condition.

 

Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippines Press Council.

matort@yahoo.com

Keep the ‘killer’ tagline alive!

“Drip… drip… drip…” that’s the sound I heard in the middle of the night from the aircon in my bedroom. I got out of bed and rushed for pails! I was annoyed because the aircon was just cleaned a month ago. I called the company the next day to send someone to fix it. It took at least four days for someone to come. Two technicians arrived. They told me that they were the ones who cleaned the aircon a month ago. The older one was the lead man — he said that he was new in the company, but he was proud to say he had years of experience. I was surprised to learn that the younger man was an on-the-job-training employee! I am a loyal customer of their company. But I could not believe that they sent company neophytes!

When the work was done, I signed and wrote a note on the service report. I said, “It is true, right? It is a back job!”

Two hours after they left, it was irritating to hear the “drip… drip… drip…” from the aircon once again. I was disappointed as I ran to get the pails again.

A technical assessment group arrived two days later. To cut the story short, their findings were “For general cleaning. Plus, replacement of damaged window-type aircon cover.” The damage resulted from the aircon service cleaning. The technical group left and the pails were still below the aircon. Furniture was displaced in the rooms.

The company’s killer tagline is “SMILE…!” The service provider’s slogan conveys the assurances that I will smile when they provide me a service. So, what does “smile” mean? According to neuroscientist, Andrew Newberg, a smile denotes emotions that are highly positive. While it is momentary, a smile demonstrates a person’s reaction to a satisfactory service experience. When customers are pleased, they are happy. Thus, they smile. Unfortunately, the service provider failed to deliver what they promised. The smile was rubbed out because the technicians were not reliable. The newly hired was entrusted to deliver work that he did not know. A newly hired employee who is unfamiliar with the work should not be given the responsibility to train a subordinate unless he went through sufficient training himself and was evaluated to perform a job the “company” way.

They conveyed one message, “the customer is not important.” Thus, they just killed their tagline, “SMILE…!”

Actually, it is not so difficult to keep a customer smiling if a company focuses on pleasing its customers. Customers aspire to having a satisfying experience with a service. Service providers should bear in mind that their customers remember their experiences. Any direct or indirect contact with the service provider is a touch point in multiple phases of their customers’ experience. Every touch point relates to the Moment of Truth as it is when a customer interacts with the service being provided. Thus, providing quality customer care and service in all touch points is important.

Achieving service quality. Customers match the service provided to them with their expectations. Parasuraman and his colleagues mentioned five ways that customers measure the quality of a service. They include:

• Tangibles which pertain to the physical component or objects used in the service. The worker’s appearance is considered a tangible. For example, a worker who needs to repair the aircon in a bedroom wearing muddy shoes can upset a customer.

• Empathy is the attention to given to customers. Empathy is the ability of service providers to put themselves in the shoes of their customers. By reassuring a customer that the problem will be resolved, they build customer rapport.

• Reliability is when service providers perform their promised service accurately. This includes the timely service and the accuracy of records about the provided service. The customer should be able to depend on the work that was performed.

• Responsiveness involves providing timely service to the customer. For instance, complaints should be responded to no later than 24-hours.

• Assurances encompass the required knowledge of service providers. For example, returning to do a job again does not demonstrate the expertise of the service provider. Service providers should be competent when it comes to the work that they do to inspire trust and confidence.

The higher the service quality, the higher the perceived value which drives above-expectation customer satisfaction. Customers become dissatisfied when the provided service is below their expectation.

Giving attention to all the touch points in the service journey requires coordination in the entire business. An organization should encourage a culture that is customer-centric to embrace excellent customer service goals. As the killer tagline says, “SMILE…,” the organization should totally strive to keep customers smiling. In this way, the killer tagline is kept ALIVE!

 

Ana LiSa “Pinky” Asis-Castro, DBA, REALTOR teaches in the MBA program of De La Salle University.

ana.asis-castro@dlsu.edu.ph

People make it so hard to ditch plastic straws

By Scott Duke Kominers

RARELY has a minor consumer product received more vilification than the plastic straw. As a symbol of human wastefulness and our careless disregard for the environment, straws are the near-perfect villain. You use a plastic straw once and toss it, but it stays with us forever, sitting in a landfill, floating in the sea, or harming wildlife.

That’s why some local governments like that of New York City have stopped allowing them, along with other single-use plastics. This seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, even though plastic straws comprise only a small part of the total volume of plastic disposed of each year.

But eliminating plastic straws offers a case study in how simple solutions can be devilishly tricky to implement — and sometimes even worse than the problems they were meant to solve. For that, we can largely thank ourselves and our behavioral quirks.

Let’s look at just one example: Some restaurants and bars have replaced their plastic straws with reusable metal variants. But there’s a hitch, as the New York Post recently reported: customers keep taking the metal straws home with them.

This leaves restaurants holding the short straw, so to speak. Metal straws are expensive — perhaps a dollar apiece (or more) versus a penny or two for the plastic version — and so replacement costs add up quickly.*

This might not be so problematic if the metal straws that customers walk off with get reused frequently. But most probably go on display as novelties or sit forgotten in a utensil drawer. And this means the metal straws — which presumably required mining, plus large amounts of energy to convert into sheet metal and then fashion it into a cylindrical tube — don’t provide the intended environmental benefit.

I’m not aware of any research on the relative environmental costs of producing different types of straws. But the evidence on reusable grocery bags is not heartening.

Reusable bags take much more energy than single-use paper or plastic bags to make. As a result they become an environmental plus only after a large number of uses — estimates suggest you need to use a reusable bag almost 40 times to break even in terms of environmental costs. Most reusable bags get lost, discarded or neglected in a closet before that milestone, undermining the case for them.

It would be surprising if the calculus for metal straws were any better. If metal straws get pilfered before they’ve been used enough, they may well be worse for the environment than their plastic peers.**

So what’s to be done? Economics offers a straightforward answer: instead of banning single-use plastics, the right strategy is to tax them.

Taxes force people to pay — or in econ-speak, internalize — their own environmental costs. This tends to lead people to change their behavior: with plastic taxes, everyone reduces usage on the margin, with those who get relatively lower value from single-use plastics reducing their usage more. Even small taxes can change behavior substantially: a seven cent tax on all grocery bags in Chicago, for example, was associated with a 42% drop in usage.

We can calibrate taxes to match actual estimates of environmental harm. This helps make environmental concerns tangible, and in particular makes people aware of which types of plastic are most harmful. Moreover, we can use the plastic tax revenue to support environmental causes, as Chicago and other cities have.

Of course, with these sorts of user and consumption taxes we have to be careful about inequality: the effective tax burden tends to fall more on those with lower incomes and/or those who need to use more plastic products. But tax-based policy can be designed to account for individual circumstances. For example, the high-end plastic bags in upscale grocery stores are often taxed more highly than bags at lower-cost stores. Meanwhile, some people have disabilities that mean they need to use straws; they could be exempted from the straw tax.***

So while it’s true that reducing plastic straw usage might be an easy way to limit the harm we do to the environment, we need to make sure the limitations we place really are providing solutions. And that means taxes may be better than bans.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

 

*For one restaurateur, losing up to 50 metal straws a month was too many. As he told the New York Post, he now declares: “If your glass comes back, and [the metal straw] is not in it, you’re gonna see it on the bill.”

**The reusable grocery bag assessment looks even worse once we account for the possibility that some single-use bags get reused for household storage or as bag liners. But in the case of plastic straws, at least, reuse is unlikely.

***Exempting these individuals from plastic straw bans would not help nearly as much, since under bans many restaurants will stop stocking plastic straws entirely.

Bolts earn playoff for last QF berth

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE MERALCO BOLTS kept their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup campaign alive by beating the San Miguel Beermen, 95-91, on the final day of the elimination round on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Showing the steadfastness on both ends of the court needed to keep their hopes alive, the Bolts outlasted the Beermen to improve to 4-7 and earn a playoff for the last quarterfinal spot against the Alaska Aces.

Knowing the significance of the contest, the two teams had it close to begin the opening quarter.

The Beermen had early traction but the Bolts would eventually keep in step.

After the first 12 minutes, the count stood at 22-21, and Meralco on top.

The nip-and-tuck nature of the match continued in the second frame, with the teams fighting to a 31-29 score, and the Beermen ahead, after six minutes.

Raymond Almazan then led an 11-7 run by the Bolts to overtake the Beermen, 40-38, with 2:52 on the clock.

Led by import Chris McCollough, however, San Miguel would regain its footing, able to pull even at 42-all at the break.

It was a shootout to begin the third quarter with import Delroy James leading the way for Meralco and June Mar Fajardo for San Miguel.

Meralco managed to hold a 61-58 lead at the halfway point of the frame.

Chris Newsome and Mr. James kept the Bolts machine humming for the rest of the quarter to help their team to a 74-70 lead heading into final 12 minutes of the contest.

San Miguel opened the payoff quarter with more fire, looking to seize the momentum from Meralco.

The Beermen went on a 10-5 run in the first three minutes and a half, to move ahead, 80-79.

Mr. Newsome and the Bolts though stayed the course to mix it up and go on top anew, 87-85, with five minutes left on the clock.

San Miguel pulled even at 89-all with 3:39 to go off an and-1 play from Mr. McCollough.

The score was at 91-all entering the last two minutes.

Mr. James broke the tie with a layup with 1:03 remaining to hand the Bolts the lead, 93-91.

After a timeout, the Beermen tried to execute a play to tie the game but was foiled by the Meralco defense.

Mr. James then made it a four-point lead for the Bolts, 95-91, with another layup with 32 ticks left.

San Miguel had a chance to narrow the gap but Mr. McCollough missed his two free throws with 19 seconds remaining.

The Beermen was forced to foul Mr. Newsome with 13 seconds to go but he missed both charities to leave the window open for the Beermen.

San Miguel, however, was not able to capitalize on it as Meralco held on for the win.

Mr. James led the way for Meralco with 34 points to go along with six assists, four steals and two blocks.

Mr. Newsome had 20 points while Mr. Almazan had 15.

For San Miguel (5-6), Messrs. McCollough and Fajardo finished with 27 points apiece.

“It was a game we had to have to stay alive. The players really stepped up both offensively and defensively. So we lived to fight another day,” said Meralco coach Norman Black after their big win.

With the win, Meralco edged the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters for a playoff for the last quarters spot against Alaska with a superior quotient.

Alaska, Meralco and Phoenix finished the eliminations with identical 4-7 cards.

San Miguel, meanwhile, with the loss could fall down to as low as seventh depending on the outcome of the TNT KaTropa-Magnolia Hotshots match later yesterday.

In the event it does fall to seventh, it will have a twice-to-win disadvantage against the number two team in the next round.

BOLICK ROOKIE OF THE MONTH
Meanwhile, Northport Batang Pier’s Robert Bolick is the PBA Press Corp rookie of the month.

Stepping up after the departure of erstwhile team star Stanley Pringle, Mr. Bolick, the third overall pick in this season’s draft, has helped continuity in Northport goes seamless, resulting to a best record to date for the franchise of 9-2 in the Commissioner’s Cup.

The 23-year-old Bolick, was quick to lead the way for the Batang Pier shortly after Mr. Pringle’s departure last June 18, steering the team to back-to-back wins over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and Blackwater Elite before losing a close one against the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters.

In NorthPort’s first three games in the post-Pringle era, it was Mr. Bolick who was at the forefront, averaging 16.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.

For the month of June, overall Mr. Bolick submitted numbers of 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists in six games to earn his first PBA Press Corps Rookie of the Month honor.

During that stretch, the Batang Pier went 4-2 in the six games they played.

Royals’ Sparkman shuts out White Sox

KANSAS CITY — Glenn Sparkman pitched the first shutout of his career as the host Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-0 Tuesday. He became the first Royals right-hander to throw a shutout since Johnny Cueto did it in his Kansas City home debut in 2015.

Sparkman (3-5) previously went seven innings twice this season before his career-longest start on Tuesday. His eight strikeouts were also a career high, and all five hits he allowed were singles. Sparkman walked one.

Whit Merrifield led the offense with his first career inside-the-park home run, the 100th in Royals history. He finished a triple short of a cycle.

The victory may be overshadowed by a left shoulder injury sustained by Adalberto Mondesi, who was hurt diving for a foul ball hit by Yolmer Sanchez. The Royals announced after the game that Mondesi would undergo an MRI exam on Wednesday to evaluate the extent of the injury.

The White Sox also lost a key player. Prized rookie Eloy Jimenez had to leave with right elbow soreness in the first inning when he collided with center fielder Charlie Tilson on a flyout. After the game, the team announced that Jimenez was headed back to Chicago for an MRI exam.

Dylan Cease (1-1) took the loss in his second major league start. He gave up six runs (four earned) on eight hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

The Royals jumped on Cease early.

Mondesi started a first-inning rally with a one-out single. A wild pickoff throw by Cease allowed Mondesi to advance to second. Mondesi promptly stole third and scored on a wild throw by catcher James McCann. Alex Gordon singled, and Hunter Dozier followed with an RBI triple off the wall in right center.

The Royals got two more in the third inning, thanks again to Chicago’s porous defense.

Mondesi led off the inning with a single. Gordon followed with a grounder to short, but a wild throw from Leury Garcia allowed Mondesi to score and Gordon to race to third. Another run scored in the inning on Bubba Starling’s RBI single.

In the fourth inning, the Royals’ Cam Gallagher stroked a one-out double to center. Merrifield then hit his inside-the-park home run down the right field line to give Kansas City a 6-0 lead.

The Royals got another run in the seventh and four more in the eighth, including two on a 447-foot home run by Dozier.

LATE HOMERS LIFT YANKEES OVER RAYS
Aaron Judge slugged a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam four batters later as the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

The game featured a brief benches-clearing incident in the sixth inning.

Judge gave the Yankees their only lead of the night when he hammered a 3-2 fastball from left-hander reliever Colin Poche (2-3) into the right-center field seats. Judge’s 10th homer occurred one pitch after he hooked a ball inches foul down the right field line.

Gregorius subsequently hit his fourth career grand slam, sending a 1-2 fastball into the right field seats. It was the shortstop’s second hit in his past 27 at-bats.

The late homers occurred two innings after benches briefly emptied after New York left-hander CC Sabathia fanned Avisail Garcia with two on and two outs.

After the strikeout, Garcia and Sabathia began jawing at each other. Sabathia continued yelling as he walked off the mound, and Garcia inched closer to Sabathia, who was restrained by Gregorius. At that point, the benches cleared and relievers raced from the bullpens. After a few minutes, order was restored and nobody was ejected.

Yandy Diaz homered in the fourth inning and delivered an RBI double in the sixth for the Rays, who are 5-10 in the season series. Austin Meadows homered in the second inning for the Rays, who lost for the second time in their past eight games overall.

Edwin Encarnacion homered in the second inning and DJ LeMahieu went deep in the sixth for the Yankees, who are 19-6 in their past 25 games.

Tampa Bay’s Ryne Stanek allowed a run in two innings while being used as the opener for the 27th time.

Sabathia, who was ejected for yelling at former Tampa Bay catcher Jesus Sucre last September and also yelled at Meadows on May 17, allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. — Reuters

Woods defends his lack of golf ahead of British Open

PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND — Tiger Woods has shrugged off concerns about his lack of golf heading into this week’s British Open, saying he needs to carefully manage the remaining years of his career.

Woods has played only 10 competitive rounds since winning the Masters in April and his last tournament start was at the US Open.

By the time the 43-year-old tees up on Thursday he will have gone 32 days without playing competitively.

“Last year, I played too much. I played 17 events,” Woods told a news conference on Tuesday. “And a lot of it was trying to qualify for certain events.

“So this year I made a conscious effort to cut back on my schedule to make sure that I don’t play too much. I want to play here as long as I possibly can. And you have to understand, if I play a lot, I won’t be out here that long,” the American former world number one said.

“So it’s understanding how much I can play, prepping how much I do at home and getting ready. And that’s the tricky part is trying to determine how much tournament play I need to get the feel for the shots and also understanding where my body is,” Woods added.

“I’m trying to figure it out and trying to play enough golf to where that I can compete and win events.”

Woods said his Masters victory took a lot out of him and he went on a two-week family vacation in Thailand after finishing tied for 21st at the US Open last month. “It’s not quite as sharp as I’d like to have it right now,” he said. “My touch around the greens is right where I need to have it. I still need to get the ball — the shape of the golf ball a little bit better than I am right now, especially with the weather coming in and the winds are going to be changing.

“I’m going to have to be able to cut the ball, draw the ball, hit at different heights and move it all around. Today it was a good range session. I need another one tomorrow. And hopefully that will be enough to be ready,” he said.

Woods, who has 15 major titles to his name, reiterated his view that the British Open offers one of the best chances of adding to that tally.

“It allows the players that don’t hit the ball very far or carry the ball as far to run the golf ball out there,” he said.

“And plus, there is an art to playing links golf. It’s not — okay, I have 152 yards, bring out the automatic 9-iron and hit it 152. Here, 152 could be a little bump-and-run pitching wedge. It could be a chip 6-iron. It could be a lot of different things. — Reuters

Philippine national men’s hockey team expects tougher road to Southeast Asian Games gold

NO LONGER under radar like in the 2017 edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the Philippine national men’s hockey team said it is expecting the road to be tougher as it tries to win back-to-back gold medals in the regional meet happening later this year in the country.

Came out of nowhere to cop the top hardware in the first-ever staging of the sport in Malaysia two years ago, the Philippine hockey team recognizes that it now has a target on its back and that the competition is preparing better against it.

“We have a target behind our back. We’re expecting the other four teams to be stronger, faster and we’re preparing for that,” said Francois Gautier, national team defenseman and executive vice-president of Hockey Philippines, in a talk with media last week at the signing of their memorandum of understanding with cybersecurity company Kaspersky as one of their sponsors for the SEA Games.

“Of course the goal is to get the gold but we know it’s going to be tougher than before. That’s why we made changes in our training. Thailand and Malaysia will be tougher, Singapore and Indonesia are making improvements. We are confident of our chances but we still need to put in the work,” he added, referring to the four other teams seeing action in the competition.

In the 2017 SEA Games, the Philippine hockey team surprised many with its performance, which has since been fondly referred to as “Miracle on Ice.”

The Philippines completed a sweep of its four-game assignment, beating Indonesia, 12-0, in the opener before following it up with 7-2 and 8-7 victories over Singapore and host Malaysia, respectively, in the round-robin phase.

It capped its performance by edging Thailand, 5-4, in a thrilling final match that earned it the gold medal.

Forward Paul Sanchez emerged as the competition’s top scorer with 14 points, with teammates Steven Fuglister (11), LR Lancero (9) and Carl Michael Montano (7) figuring in the top 10.

Goaltender Gianpietro Issepi was top in his position with a 91.67% save percentage and teammate Paolo Spafford (88.14%) at third.

Mr. Gautier said they will announce the team roster soon, which they have already short-listed to 25 players before trimming it down further.

He went on to say that they will go out on the ice representing the Philippines well and are not leaving anything to chance and are preparing hard.

“We have the players that we need. We want to show we are the best in Southeast Asia. But it’s different on paper and ice. Anything can happen. Two years ago they were giving the title to Thailand but we beat Thailand in the finals,” said Mr. Gautier, who also expressed hope that fans would come out and support them during their matches.

The 30th SEA Games happens from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. The ice hockey event will be held at the ice rink at the Mall of Asia Arena. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Alvarez-Folayang match elevated as it becomes part of ONE Championship Grand Prix offering on Aug. 2

WHAT IS ALREADY an anticipated match between American mixed martial arts star Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez and Filipino icon Eduard “Landslide” Folayang on Aug. 2 here in Manila has become more significant after it was elevated to be part of ONE Championship’s Grand Prix offering at its “Dawn of Heroes” event.

In an announcement made this week, Alvarez-Folayang, already part of the Manila card, was pushed as a replacement semifinal bout after Russian lightweight Timofey Nastyukhin, who was supposed to face off with Filipino Honorio Banario, was forced to pull out because of injury.

Both Messrs. Alvarez and Folayang are coming off losses in their previous fights and are seeking to redeem themselves in their ONE lightweight grand prix semifinal bout.

American Alvarez, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion, was rocked by Mr. Nastyukhin after being knocked out in the first round of their grand prix quarterfinal encounter in March in Japan.

It was The Underground Kings’ debut outing in ONE Championship.

Mr. Folayang, meanwhile, lost his lightweight title to Japanese Shinya Aoki also in the same event.

The winner of this bout moves on to face Turkish sensation Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Finals.

For Team Lakay stalwart Folayang, having the chance to face a legend like Mr. Alvarez is a dream come true.

“I was very excited when I heard the news that Eddie Alvarez was next for me. He’s one of the most well-known martial artists in the world. In many ways, he’s a legend. Sharing the ring with him is my honor and privilege,” Mr. Folayang said.

He was quick to say though that he being awestruck would not stop him from what he wants to accomplish, which is to give his best and get the victory that would put him back into the mix of title contention.

ONE: Dawn of Heroes is to be headlined by the world featherweight championship fight between Vietnamese-Australian champion Martin Nguyen and Japanese challenger Koyomi Matsushima.

Co-headlining it is the flyweight muay thai world championship fight of champion Jonathan Haggerty of England against Rodtang Jitmuangnon of Thailand.

Also part of the card are the world grand prix semifinals between American Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Tatsumitsu Wada of Japan and Filipino Danny “The King” Kingad against Australian Reece “Lightning” McLaren.

Other Filipinos seeing action at the event, which will happen at the Mall of Asia Arena, are former flyweight world champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio and featherweight Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

How strong is Magnus now?

Croatia Grand Chess Tour
Zagreb, Croatia
June 26-July 8, 2019

Final Standings

1. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2875, 8.0/11

2. Wesley So USA 2754, 7.0/11

3-4. Levon Aronian ARM 2752, Fabiano Caruana USA 2819, 6.0/11

5-7. Anish Giri NED 2779, Ding Liren CHN 2805, Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2775, 5.5/11

8. Sergey Karjakin RUS 2748, 5.0/11

9-11. Viswanathan Anand IND 2767, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2774, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2779, 4.5/11

12. Hikaru Nakamura USA 2754, 4.0/11

Average Rating 2782 Category 22

Time Control: 130 minutes play-to-finish with 30 second delay before the clock starts on every move

After winning the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen’s rating is at 2882 which ties the highest-ever rating he (or anyone else in the world for that matter) has ever achieved. He won the world title from Vishy Anand in 2013 and retained it in 2014. He was also the world champion in rapid and blitz, the first player to simultaneously hold all these titles.

After the 2014 high, when he was world champion of everything, he sort of got lazy and started over-relying on his technique (this is my opinion which of course anyone is free to dispute) and his games went through a phase of trying to prove a theorem rather than an explosion of ideas to overwhelm an opponent. He still won tournaments, but dominating performances now came only once in a while.

Now he is back in the groove. In this year he has won seven consecutive elite tournaments: Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee), Grenke Chess (Germany), Shamkir Chess (Gashimov Memorial, Azerbaijan), Abidjan (Rapid/Blitz in Ivory Coast), Lindores Abbey Chess Stars (Lindores Abbey Distillery, Scotland), Norway Chess (Altibox tournament, Stavanger, Norway), and finally this tournament in Croatia.

His last loss in a classical game was against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Biel last July 31, 2018. Before that it was the month before against Wesley So in 2018 Altibox Norway Chess. The reason I harp on this is because just before their game Carlsen made some unfortunate comments: “I can’t remember him (So) ever being close to beat me. If I want a draw, I will often get it easily.”

But I digress. Known for his attacking style as a teenager Carlsen has since toughened up his technique to mold himself into a universal player, equally good in attack, defense, and grinding away with technique. How can you be stronger than that? Where can you find space to improve yourself?

From the chess that he has played I can confirm that this is the new, improved version, Magnus Carlsen II, if you like. He is even more dangerous than before, with obviously a lot of hard work done on his openings, and then there is this new-found aggression with which he pounces on his opponents, trying to finish them off quickly rather than transpose to the endgame and complete the job there.

Aronian said about Carlsen:

“He started going into the main lines, which he was usually not doing in previous years. I think he trained pretty well for his match with Fabiano. Now he does something that is unusual for him: he plays very critical opening lines from the start. He plays central chess, something he wasn’t doing. And it works well for him.”

Giri also made this point about Carlsen and openings.

“I think what has changed is, he won a few games after repeating a lot of lines at home. Such preparation takes a lot of energy and effort. You have to analyze and afterwards you have to look at these lines and you have to make sure you remember them. That takes a lot of effort, and I think before he thought that wasn’t worth it. Now he won a few games this way, he felt, oh wait, that’s actually worth it. So now he is not only having walks in the rain like today, but at some point he also sits with his laptop in his room, puts on his headphones and stares at the screen for a couple of hours and does his job. That makes him a different player and people have to still get used to it but I think right now they really understand. He has simply become one of the best prepared players in the world.”

Here is his win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, one of the world’s greatest authorities in the Gruenfeld. The ease with which the Frenchman is dispatched is almost obscene.

Carlsen, Magnus (2875) — Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2779) [D85]
Croatia Grand Chess Tour Zagreb CRO (11.1), 07.07.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3

Another even more popular system is 8.Rb1 0–0 9.Be2 but MVL has already shown he can handle the Black pieces quite well here. An interesting game from two years ago went 9…cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0–0 Bg4 13.Be3 Nc6 14.d5 Na5 15.Bg5 b6 16.Bxe7 Rfe8 17.d6 Nc6 18.Bb5 Nxe7 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Qe6 21.Bxe8 Rxe8 22.dxe7 Qxe7 Aronian, L (2799)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2804) Tbilisi World Cup 2017. MVL’s exchange sacrifice has ensured that black’s queenside pawns give him sufficient counterplay. 1/2 32.

8…Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 cxd4 11.cxd4 0–0

[11…Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0–0 leads to a typical Gruenfeld endgame where White has his pawns on d4 and e4 and tries to prove them a central force, while Black puts pressure with pieces. There is no theoretical conclusion yet as to whether White has any advantage here]

12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.Bd3

White wants to castle quickly, perhaps because he saw MVL’s game where he quickly attacked the white king and the first player was not able to survive the opening: 13.d5 e6 14.Bd2 b6 15.Bxa5 bxa5 16.Bc4 exd5 17.Bxd5 Ba6!? 18.Bxa8 Rxa8 19.e5 Bf8 20.Rc1 Rd8 21.Rc2 Bb4+ 22.Nd2 a4 23.Kd1 Bd3 24.Nf3 Be4+ 0–1. Bellahcene, B (2475)-Vachier Lagrave, M (2811) Bastia FRA 2016.

13…Bg4 14.0–0 Bxf3 15.gxf3 e6 16.Rfd1

For the next few moves the play is centered around White’s d4–d5 advance. Carlsen tries to put maximum forces behind it while MVL seeks to discourage it.

16…Rfd8 17.Bf1 b6 18.Ba6

In general outline white intends d4–d5 and then control d8 and d7 with his bishops.

18…Rd6 19.Rbc1 Rad8 20.Bg5 f6

Forced. 20…R8d7? 21.Rc8+ Bf8 22.Bb5 and Black has to give up the exchange, for 22…Rb7 23.Bh6 leads to mate.

21.Be3 h6 22.Bb5 f5 <D>

POSITION AFTER 22…F5

23.d5!

Perfect timing.

23…g5

[23…exd5? 24.Bf4 Rf6 25.Bc7]

24.Bd2 fxe4

[24…exd5 25.Bb4]

25.fxe4 a6!

A nice try to complicate the issue.

26.Ba4!

[26.Bxa6? allows Black the use of the c6 square after 26…exd5 27.Bb4 Rc6]

26…exd5 27.Bb4 Re6 28.Rxd5 Rxd5?! 29.exd5 Re4

Naturally White had to ensure that he is not losing a piece here.

30.Rc8+ Kf7 31.a3 Be5 32.Be8+ Kg7 33.d6 Rd4 34.d7 Nb7 35.Be7 Re4 36.Rc6 Bd4 37.Rc7 1–0

Caruana joined in the praise:

His tournament here was extraordinary, but his play throughout the year has been really excellent, and he’s winning games with remarkable ease, which normally these things don’t happen, like today, he ends the game with an hour on the clock. I think that things are just all falling together for him, at every stage of the game.

Giri, Anish (2779) — Carlsen, Magnus (2875) [B30]
Croatia Grand Chess Tour Zagreb CRO (1.1), 26.06.2019

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.h4 h5 7.e5 d6?!

The usual move here is 7…Ng6. While this new move is really not that good, it totally discombobulates Anish Giri, who is one of the best prepared GMs in the world.

8.exd6 Ng6

It appears that Black intends to continue with ..e6–e5 (that’s the reason the knight went to g6) …Bg4 and finally …Bxd6. Giri embarks on a faulty maneuver to counter this idea.

9.Nfd2 Bxd6 10.Nc4 Be7 11.Nc3 Ba6

Simply removing the knight from the board, the knight which White had taken pains to position on the optimum c4 square.

12.Qf3 Bxc4 13.Qxc6+ Kf8 14.dxc4 Nxh4 15.0–0 Nf5 16.Ne2

Black obviously wants to put his knight on d4 so Giri immediately takes steps against it.

16…Rc8 17.Qa4?

Giri had been playing some weird knight moves, but this one is a clear mistake. Why not centralize the queen with 17.Qe4.

17…Rc7 18.Bf4 Rd7 19.c3? g5! 20.Rad1? Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Qa8!

Surprisingly, White can no longer adequately defend his king.

22.Bc7 h4 23.f3 h3 0–1

The worse part about his position is that the white queen cannot even try to get back to her king’s defense. For example 23…h3 24.Qc2 Ne3

The lesson from all this is that the best can still get better, and so long as everybody keeps trying to improve themselves the classical form of chess will always be alive.

 

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

Gentler Woods

There was a time when press conferences featuring Tiger Woods yielded nothing by way of information. He was being reticent by design, to be sure. He didn’t want those on the outside looking in to know more about his private life, and, just as importantly, his peers from getting a better grasp of how he went about his business on the course. As far as he was concerned, winning wasn’t everything; it was the only thing. And for a long, long while, his steely demeanor served to underscore his dominance and singular stature; he was on a pedestal by his lonesome, with all and sundry looking up from a distance — exactly the way he wanted things to be.

That time is long gone, and happily, even for Woods. His kinder, gentler self was on display when he met with members of the media two days before the start of competition at Royal Portrush, and if anything seemed out of the ordinary, it showed in the candor with which he patiently addressed query after query. At Carnoustie last year, he found himself in contention for the Claret Jug, and he revealed that his extremely positive British Open experience fueled his belief that, for all his physical travails, he could win again in golf’s grandest stages. And he did at the Masters in April.

Certainly, Woods continues to enter tournaments with an unwavering commitment to prevail. It’s his approach that has changed, and dramatically. He no longer prepares with a focus bordering on obsession; rather, he does so with a keener understanding of the limitations brought upon him by his advancing age and increasingly brittle body. Meanwhile, he sports the confidence of a 15-time major champion every time he tees off, backstopped by the knowledge that he remains without peer when it comes to mental fortitude.

When Woods begins his campaign for a fourth British Open victory today, he will not be the favorite. It isn’t simply that he knows little of and about Royal Portrush. It’s that, as he acknowledged, his game is “not quite as sharp as I’d like to have it right now.” Much of his perceived handicap stems from his relative lack of in-event reps due to new realities, family pursuits included; after he played at the United States Open, for instance, he saw fit to go on a two-week vacation in Thailand with loved ones. And he hasn’t wielded a club in competition since then. In this light, “not quite as sharp” may well be an understatement.

At this point, Woods is compelled to take the long view. “I want to play here as long as I possibly can,” he noted. “And, you have to understand, if I play a lot, I won’t be out here that long.” Which is why he’s content to walk the tightrope, accepting the fact that, under the circumstances, getting ready simply means not taxing himself and, when he needs to hit the ball on a certain lie in a certain way, trusting that he will always have the imagination and skill set to do so.

 

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 plunges on strong US data

THE PESO plunged against the dollar on Wednesday, dragged by reduced expectations of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve due to upbeat June US retail sales data.

The local unit closed yesterday’s session at P51.13 versus the greenback, 23 centavos weaker than its P50.90-a-dollar finish on Tuesday.

The peso traded within a wide range, opening the session at P50.95 per dollar. It slipped to as low as P51.16, while its intraday high stood at P50.88 against the greenback.

Trading volume climbed to $1.208 billion from the $1.045 billion that changed hands the previous session.

Traders attributed the decline of the peso to the dollar’s ascent, driven by the upbeat June US retail sales data.

The US Commerce Department reported retail sales climbed 0.4% last month as households bought more automobiles and other goods.

“In the morning session, the peso went as high as P50.88, but as the dollar strength continued, the dollar-peso moved lower on the back of short positioning covering among banks,” the trader said in a mobile phone interview.

“Somehow it’s a panic move to cover their short positions since they’re seeing strong dollar.”

Another trader said the release of the stronger-than-expected US retail sales report reduced market expectations of a strong policy cut by the Fed by the end of the month.

“We also saw US Treasury yields also climbing up also due to this upbeat retail sales data,” the first trader added.

The US central bank is expected to cut rates for the first time in a decade at its July 30-31 policy meeting. Fed chair Jerome Powell hinted on a cut in benchmark rates, saying it will “act as appropriate” to sustain economic expansion.

For today, the first trader expects the peso to trade between P51.10 and P51.30 versus the dollar, while the other gave a P51-P51.30 range. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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