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66 years in media… and counting

I believe “Ad Lib” is the second longest-running column in BusinessWorld, next only to that of the venerable Tony Samson. But I think we both started writing for this paper the same year it was reincarnated from the ghost of Business Day. My first piece came out on Sept. 21, 1988, almost 31 years ago.

Headlined, “Ah, those good old tabloid days,” it must have scandalized the usually straight-laced, prim and proper readership of what would become the country’s leading business daily (as Business Day had been). It was about my experience as a 16-year-old cub reporter in a tabloid — the kind that specialized in all the news not fit to print.

I had led off with the classic advice that the deskmen gave me, if ever I got stumped for a sensational story — “Masturbate it!” — and I thought that was shocking enough. But Letty Locsin, then managing editor, pushed it to the edge by translating that line into Tagalog: “Salsalin mo!”

At the time, Rodrigo Duterte had only been trashing good manners and decency in Davao City — not yet nationally — and being publicly bastos (vulgar) was not yet in fashion, thus my entry into column writing was a shocker.

But that wasn’t the first time my writing broke rules. For the mid-term elections in 1959, I wrote the scripts of the propaganda films of both the Liberal Party (LP) and the Nacionalista Party (NP) — and I wasn’t even old enough to vote.

For some reason, Documentary, Inc., the film production company of celebrated director Lamberto V. Avellana, had been assigned both competing projects by the two dominant political parties, and I happened to be the company’s in-house script writer. With no loyalty to either party, I dug up all the dirt I could find about them in the morgue of the Philippine Free Press and wrote the kind of hit pieces that were de rigueur back then.

One of the LP candidates was a charismatic congressman from Ilocos Norte, Ferdinand Marcos. I portrayed him reviewing for the bar exams behind bars. Marcos turned out to be the top vote-getter in an election dominated by the NP.

Six years later, in the 1965 presidential election, Marcos would run as the official candidate of the Nacionalista Party against reelectionist President Diosdado Macapagal. I had just joined ABS-CBN TV Network as head of program evaluation and development, and was given a special assignment by network president Eugenio Lopez, Jr. The Lopezes were helping Marcos, one reason being that Senator Fernando Lopez was his vice-presidential running mate.

I was asked to produce a daily anti-Macapagal TV show for which I suggested the title, Alis Diyan (“Get out of there,” a popular noontime show expression). Marcos won and changed the course of Philippine political history. Mea culpa.

At the start of the 2010 presidential campaign, some supporters of Senator Benigo Aquino III asked me for assistance. I said that I wasn’t impressed with Aquino but I was persuaded to help because he did seem like a better choice than the other contenders. Noting that Senator Manuel Villar was leading in the surveys, I suggested a term to scuttle his surge: Villarroyo — a mash-up of Villar and Arroyo (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), which had become the most toxic name in politics at the time.

I did it for free. Gratis.

Villar’s campaign lost steam, Aquino overtook him and won. From reports, I understand that my creative contribution to the campaign helped a great deal. I subsequently found Aquino a disappointment as president. Villar, a seasoned executive, could have performed better. Mea culpa.

These and other historical, interesting, intriguing and engaging vignettes are contained in a book which I have just finished: Confusions of a Communications Man. It is as much an inside story of the Communications industry, including its seamy side, as it is the tale of a young boy who stumbled into it, “not knowing where he was going but getting there anyway.”

Sixty-six years… and counting. I have been actively involved in more areas and disciplines of media and communications than most people would experience in two lifetimes. And I’m still in the harness. Still involved in media, still doing marketing and communications. But this time, with tools and techniques that were considered science fiction when I began.

The book is not simply an exercise in nostalgia. It includes events and involves personalities who have become part of our country’s history. In a number of cases, I wasn’t simply a passive onlooker seated in the bleachers, but an active participant or an up-close eyewitness as the events unfolded.

I was acting in soap operas when radio was still the best alternative to going to the movies — before TV was introduced in the Philippines. This was in 1953. The following year, Alto Broadcasting System — the ABS half of what would become ABS-CBN — went on the air and brought the country into the mind-expanding and dumbing world of television. I was among the first batch of performers to appear before the TV cameras.

A few years later, I would also produce shows on television. In fact, I wrote, directed and produced the first action series on Philippine TV. Telecast on ABC TV Channel 5, Target: Agent 69, was unabashedly patterned after Ian Fleming’s Agent 007 series. Much later I did special reports on ethnic TV in California; was involved in the entry of both GMA Network and ABS-CBN Network in the United States; and produced a weekly news-magazine program that was telecast on the major cable and direct-to-home systems in America.

While still performing on radio; I landed a job as a police reporter, then got promoted to associate editor of a fan magazine; and that, in turn, got me involved in Tagalog movies. I wrote my first story and screenplay for LVN Pictures at 17, and made some 200 films, including some of the biggest box office hits on record.

But there were years when screenplay writers were paid starvation fees. Needing to earn money to support my family and help send my siblings to school, as well as pay for my own college education, I joined an advertising agency and set off on a new career path. But I still continued to write for the movies and direct TV serials.

It was a killing pace. Early on, I had to drop out of college and never finished. But I taught Advertising Management at De la Salle and Lyceum U, as well as at the Asian Institute of Journalism, despite lacking academic credentials.

I spent more years in advertising than in any of my other “careers”; became president and CEO of one of the leading ad agencies in Manila, Advertising & Marketing Associates; created ad campaigns (many of them for Nestlé) that are considered classics in the industry; and then relocated to the US where I set up my own ad shop, Minority Media Services.

While I referred to it as a mom-and-pop-and-kids operation, it did pretty good work in a highly competitive environment. In fact, my agency won the 1996 Gold Effie for the “most effective non-English campaign in the US.” This was for a campaign that I wrote for Wells Fargo Bank.

If all that seems confusing, it certainly is — which is why my book is entitled Confusions of a Communications Man. The sub-title is: Surviving Radio, TV, Movies, Journalism and Advertising.

Indeed, it was a test of survival. There were times when I was engaged in all five careers in a virtual non-stop grind, relieved only with catnaps and spurred by the Spartan showbiz axiom that “the show must go on.”

I am told that my book could serve as a source of inspiration for anyone who wants to “make it” in the World of Communications, but only if one is equipped with a capacity for hard work, a strong heart, and the will to win. Plus brains and lots of luck.

The book will be available on Amazon shortly.

 

Greg B. Macabenta is an advertising and communications man shuttling between San Francisco and Manila and providing unique insights on issues from both perspectives.

gregmacabenta@hotmail.com

Of Passports, ‘Wash’ Sycip and Unbearable Lightness

By Raul V. Fabella

WHEN Hong Kong denied entry to two valid Filipino passport holders, there seems no more to it than the rightful prerogative of a government to bar who it considers persona non grata. When the Philippine territorial waters and exclusive zones are being impunitively violated, there seems no more to it than conflicting territorial claims. Or wasn’t there? In the 1840s and 1850s Western colonial powers bombarded the coastal cities of Imperial China and even occupied Beijing to force China to open its borders to the lucrative opium trade. Defeated China was forced to swallow the “Treaty of Nanjing” dictated by the occupiers. The mindset behind these two actions set two centuries apart seems to be the same: “You are a lightweight, you don’t matter.”

There is a view we owe to, among others, Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) that says “When you don’t matter, you are free.” Gravity does not tether “no-matters” to the ground. Gautama Buddha believed as much. Our own Dr. Jose Rizal put it well: “Morir es descansar” (To die is to rest). Death unburdens us; it dissolves all debts that in life weighed us down. Which is why in many East Asian cultures untouched by Christianity, suicide is the preferred honorable exit; it spares your kin of the shame you caused. Suicide, mind you, is very cost efficient: it spares family and society the burden of your demoralized self. So when you finally end it, you attain a lightness of being not unlike freedom. Pareto efficiency in another guise!

Kundera’s quarrel with Friedrich Nietzsche’s “eternal recurrence” rather than his bearably prosaic storyline of love and infidelity was what gave him the gravitas to take the literary world by storm, even to earn a nomination for the Nobel. “Lightness” in Kundera means your “sin” and its dire consequences end with you. Contra Nietzsche, they will not be a curse on future generations. You can thus indulge without the guilt of collateral damage. Fair enough. But unbearable? It resonates differently with different people. Let me share how it resonates with me.

My generation, really the “boys of the ’50s and ’60s,” spanning the second half of the 20th century, saw the Philippines fumble its way from grudging envy to veiled contempt in the Asian region. The post WWII era was when the Philippine passport was cherished; aliens faked or bribed their way to its possession. In droves, students from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia graced even our second-rate campuses. A Philippine PhD and MBA commanded high premia in the global marketplace. Young accounting wizards of Sycip, Gores and Velayo logged countless air miles to other Asian capitals and back to teach the natives the rudiments of double entry accounting and equity markets. The burden of leadership towards the promised land of development lay squarely on our laps. The epithet “Pearl of the Orient Sea” was consonant. Did anyone ever think that 40 years later the same epithet would seem dissonant?

The once coveted passport had become a ticket to exit the misery of the homeland. Customs authorities elsewhere now treat the Philippine passport holder with suspicion. The burden of leadership in the region slipped from our laps as the global league tables told year-in and year-out of our deadweighting the region’s index averages. It came to a head in 2019 when two prominent Philippine passport-holding visitors to Hong Kong were denied entry.

The venerable Washington “Wash” Sycip whose birth date, June 30, I am commemorating with this reflection, was more distressed than any Filipino by this reversal of fortune. “Wash” worried that endless quibbling over who gets what of the prospective harvest leaves the field unsown; that the ceaseless quarrel over who sits where on the deck of the sinking Titanic gets us closer to hunger and disaster. Can a democracy gone bad, one that privileged the individual over the group before its time, heal itself? May it not be the case that the healing of a democracy gone sour lies in its opposite, an autocracy? Many people disagreed with Wash on this but his was a valid scientific point. It remains at the dead center of our present national political discourse.

Our state authorities obsessed endlessly over the best modality to build the dam projects to supply bulk water for Metro Manila instead of building them. And when the inevitable water crisis finally came, the state authorities responsible for the missing dams found convenient scapegoats in the water concessionaires whose pipes could not deliver the missing water from unbuilt dams! Among East Asians, suicide or at least resignation among accountable state officials would be expected, but East Asia has long departed our DNA.

Through decades of unbuilt and half-built arterial infrastructure, through generations of unresolved ambiguity between the market and populism, investment sagged and economic dynamism relocated elsewhere in East Asia. The last 40 years came under the spell of “development progeria” when policies that strangled Tradables (Manufacturing, Agriculture) dragged the low income economy down to the sewers of low investment, low growth, and high poverty incidence. With investment on a long eclipse, the Philippines became a fast fading spectacle in East Asia’s rear view mirror. Observers joked that we forfeited our East Asian identity and relocated elsewhere. Only recurrent horrendous natural and man-made calamities (Typhoon Yolanda, the Maguindanao Massacre, Marawi) and occasional pugilistic feats, neither of which is of the East Asian genre, reminds the world that we still exist.

For better or for worse and despite the heroic effort of some of our generation to right the ship*, this I fear will go down as my generation’s legacy to its progeny and what Wash Sycip found so unbearable — the lightness of inconsequence.

This painful journey to inconsequence had a hopeful pause that started from Aquino’s watch and into the first year of Duterte’s. We saw a spell of the new normal (see e.g., Fabella, 2017, “Manufacturing, Quality of Growth, and Poverty Reduction,” BusinessWorld, Jan. 16, 2017, bit.ly/Introspective20170116) when the quantity but more importantly the quality of growth parted ways with the old. But this pause is itself having a hiccup as we enter the last three years of Duterte. Growth quantity and quality is reverting towards the old norm. Investment is being threatened by assertive populism. Temporary hiccup, we hope and pray! Otherwise, future generations of Filipinos will be condemned to Wash Sycip’s worst fear: the “unbearable lightness of inconsequence.”

*In early September, some of those boys — Romeo “Romy” Bernardo, Calixto “Toti Chikiamco, Emmanuel “Noel” de Dios and I, with the late Cayetano “Dondon” Paderanga — will launch a book called Momentum: Economic Reforms for Sustaining Growth that contains recommendations for staying in the new normal. Hope springs eternal.

 

Raul V. Fabella is a retired professor of the UP School of Economics, a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology and now an Honorary Professor at Asian Institute of Management. Weaving ideas in coffee shops is an integral part of his day. He gets his dopamine fix from hitting tennis balls with wife Teena and bicycling.

Japan is cool but has no clue about selling itself

By Noah Smith

NETFLIX just re-released one of the most popular animated television programs of all time — Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show, which combines dark, complex themes of alienation and loneliness with action-packed battles between robots and monsters, captivated the worldwide audiences when it came out in 1995. It introduced an entire generation to Japanese animation, whose high quality, adult themes and unique sensibilities helped redefine Japan’s culture in the eyes of the world, supplanting traditional visions of Mt. Fuji, geisha and tea ceremonies. But a quarter-century later, Japan is having difficulty transforming its newfound cultural cachet into economic riches.

Yet Japanese pop culture is thriving, with enormous fan conventions all over the world. Thanks to platforms like Crunchyroll (owned by AT&T) and Netflix — which has licensed many TV programs from Japan, as well as ordering its own originals from Japanese studios — overseas sales have been increasing rapidly, with cartoons making up the bulk.

BOOM TIMES
This is progress, but the Japanese entertainment industry could do much more. As things stand, the profits from platform distribution flow to AT&T and Netflix; if a Japanese company bought Crunchyroll or started its own worldwide streaming distribution service, those profits would go to Japan instead. Japan also has so far failed to make an internationally successful live-action movie business, despite possessing the technology to make cutting-edge visual effects that could rival Hollywood.

But the real power of Japan’s cultural cachet could go well beyond entertainment products. As the book Reinventing Japan noted, many of the products and services that Japan makes — cars, clothing, food, architecture, even zippers — embody a matchless Japanese aesthetic sensibility. This Japanese-ness is difficult to describe, but easy to recognize. And if promoted correctly, it could be used to help increase Japanese exports.

Many people think of Japan as an export-oriented economy, but it’s more insular than most:

SO WHO’S DEPENDENT ON EXPORTS?
The lure of its large domestic market is too strong, causing many companies to look inward for safe, reliable revenues. But with the population shrinking and aging, and the rest of the world growing, that strategy makes less sense every day. Japanese companies must look outward.

Japan already has a reputation for making high quality products, but that’s not enough. Consumer branding, marketing and other consumer-facing services capture large amounts of the value in supply chains, so by increasing brand value and close contact with international customers, Japanese companies can rake in the profits. And cultural cachet provides a way to do that.

Consumers don’t just buy products because they’re high-quality; they consume a certain lifestyle. Traditionally, it has been the US that captivated the hearts of global buyers. They see the freewheeling lifestyle in Hollywood movies and dream of big trucks and Levi’s jeans. Or they see comfortable suburbia and want SUVs and Crocs. Now, thanks in part to ongoing urbanization and in part to the spread of Japanese entertainment, Japanese life has captured the hearts of many of the world’s young. The country’s dense yet peaceful cities, its intricate architecture and artistry of its interior design, and its refined yet friendly culture combine to create a uniquely pleasant environment.

Any doubt about this appeal should be allayed by the scale of Japan’s recent tourism boom, which has far exceeded the targets set by the government a few years ago.

NO ONE PREDICTED THIS
The same attraction that draws in tens of millions of tourists every year can be used to sell products. It’s a short jump from admiring Japanese life to wanting Japanese cars, clothing, food, online services, or retail experiences. Or cosmetics — Shiseido, the Japanese cosmetics giant, is seeing record sales and profits, driven by its successful attempts to export a Japanese ideal of beauty to countries like China. The challenge is to make Shiseido the norm rather than an outlier.

Japan’s government has long recognized the potential of what some have called the country’s “gross national cool.” But the government’s ham-handed attempt to capitalize on the trend, the Cool Japan initiative, has been mostly a failure. It funneled large amounts of public funds to leading advertising agencies like Dentsu and Hakuhodo, but these companies’ efforts produced few tangible results.

A new strategy is needed. Instead of going through intermediaries like Dentsu and Hakuhodo, the government should encourage entertainment-production companies themselves to export their products, using financial incentives and bureaucratic pressure. As for using Japan’s cultural cachet to market other products, the government should award contracts to a large number of smaller marketing and advertising firms instead of the big incumbents, and direct resources toward the ones that succeed in penetrating foreign markets.

Japanese companies will also have a role to play in this effort. Like Shiseido, they should strive to market their products not just as high-quality, but as conferring the stylish sophistication of Japanese culture upon anyone who buys them. They should appoint young, flexible-minded employees with international experience to lead the effort, sending more people and capital overseas in order to develop new markets.

More than two decades after Neon Genesis Evangelion first appeared on TV screens around the world, Japan is cooler than ever. It just needs to believe in its coolness.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Aussie fighter Tuivasa basking in chance to fight at the UFC

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WITH FIVE FIGHTS under his belt in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since joining the promotion in 2016, Australian heavyweight fighter Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa said it is an opportunity that he is basking for the many lessons he has been getting in so many ways.

Brought to the country by AirAsia early this week to conduct a fight camp as part of its #DARETODREAM campaign, Sydney native Tuivasa, 26, said his UFC experience to date has been nothing but amazing and it is a platform he is using to develop himself as a fighter and best represent Australia on the global mixed martial arts (MMA) stage.

“As most people know, Australia is still young in the sport (MMA). Initially I started fighting because I enjoyed it then I had a family of my own and it kind of changed everything for me — my whole attitude in life and things. So I took a bit serious and after that I headed to the UFC,” said Mr. Tuivasa in an interview with BusinessWorld.

“I love being one of the front-runners in the UFC for Australia. I think we have so much talent and potential. And we have UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and number one featherweight contender in Alex Volkanovski. And then there is me. I’m learning at the top level. I’m learning heaps about myself and the people around me and I’m just grateful. To wake up and do something you love,” added the current number 12 heavyweight contender.

While in the UFC, Mr. Tuivasa, who counts Kiwi fighter Mark Hunt as one of his MMA inspirations, has compiled a 3-2 record, his losses coming in his last two fights against Junior Dos Santos and Blagoy Ivanov, in that order.

It is a skid that he is not putting much into and treating it as a chance to better himself.

“I’ve lost plenty of times in life. But it’s a learning curve for me. These losses are something that I’m not going to walk with my head down. These losses are against the best in the world. So it’s a learning curve. I’m just 26 and one of the youngest in the division,” Mr. Tuivasa (8-2) said.

The AirAsia brand ambassador also shared that he is bullish of the growth of MMA in Asia-Pacific and seeing it eventually catching up with the rest of the world.

“We’re still a bit off but we are coming in quietly — with guys like Whittaker, Volkanovski, me and the other fighters in different promotions here. We’re not so far behind. It’s just that the other countries have more global exposure in it but we’re coming,” he said.

Mr. Tuivasa went on to say that to further the MMA growth in this part of the world more top-level competition is maintained and that fighters should be take care of and paid well.

During his stay here, Mr. Tuivasa taught camp participants at the UFC Gym in Alabang proper strength and body conditioning exercises as well various MMA techniques.

The camp is part of AirAsia #DARETODREAM campaign, which aims to grow talent and the local sports scene while giving back to the ASEAN community.

School girl Gauff turfs idol Venus out of Wimbledon

LONDON — Cori Gauff served up the perfect excuse for playing hooky from school on Monday as the 15-year-old American caused one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history by dispatching Venus Williams 6-4 6-4 in the first round on Monday.

Aged 39, Williams is considered Wimbledon royalty as she has been part of the All England Club family for over two decades, having won the singles title five times — including two before Gauff was even born.

But Gauff, the youngest player to qualify for the main draw in the professional era, was in no mood to play a lady-in-waiting as she made a mockery of the 24-year-age difference and 269 ranking spots that separate her from her idol Williams.

Playing a fearless brand of tennis that belied her young age, she bullied Williams into submission.

“I don’t even know how to explain how I feel,” Gauff, who wiped away a tear as she walked off Court One, said moments after her remarkable win.

“I definitely had to tell myself to stay calm, I have never played on a court so big, but I had to remind myself that the lines on the court are the same size, everything around it might be bigger, but the lines are the same and after every point I was just telling myself to stay calm.

“I never thought this would happen, I am literally living my dream right now, and not many get to say that. So I am just happy that Wimbledon gave me the opportunity just to play and I obviously never thought it would be this far,” added the teenager, who was given a wildcard into the qualifying tournament.

Before the match, Gauff, known as Coco, had told her Instagram followers: “Two of my teachers found out I played tennis after I made the main draw here.”

If her Florida-based teachers needed any proof on exactly what she was up to, they only needed to tune into their TVs to see just why Wimbledon was going Coco-crazy on Monday.

A break in the fifth game of the opening set, which included a delectable lob over the statuesque Williams, was enough to win her the first set.

The nerveless display continued in the second set and she sealed victory on her fourth match point when Williams netted a forehand.

“After the match I told her just thank you for everything she did. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. I was just telling her that she is so inspiring and that I always wanted to tell her that. Even though I met her before, I guess I had the guts to (tell her today).” — Reuters

TNT KaTropa eye to keep top spot

LEAGUE-leading TNT KaTropa look to stay on top of the heap of the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup when they return to league action today against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Holders of a 7-1 record in the midseason PBA tournament, a game ahead of second-running Northport Batang Pier (7-2), the streaking KaTropa shoot for their sixth straight win in their 7 p.m. match with the Elasto Painters to create further distance from the chasing pack and boost their push for a top-two finish in the elimination round and the twice-to-beat advantage that go with it for the next round.

TNT last played on June 21 where it defeated the Columbian Dyip, 109-102.

Import Terrence Jones had another solid outing for the KaTropa in said game, finishing with 39 points, 17 rebounds, seven blocks and six assists to lead the team in the victory.

Jayson Williams had 22 points and six assists while Roger Pogoy finished with 16 points and four steals.

The KaTropa had their struggles to begin the game versus the Dyip but steadily picked things up as the game progressed on their way to their fifth victory in a row.

“We are happy with the win. We struggled early in the game but good thing we were able to recover in the second half,” said TNT coach Bong Ravena, adding they hope to keep their form for the rest of the tournament.

Looking to stop TNT is Rain or Shine, currently in the middle of the pack and in search of a victory to pad its cause.

The Elasto Painters (3-4) lost in their last game against the NLEX Road Warriors, 100-97, that dropped them to below the .500 mark.

Import Denzel Bowles top-scored for Rain or Shine with 35 points to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks.

Guard Kris Rosales backstopped him with 18 markers with Ed Daquioag and Javee Mocon adding 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Rain or Shine had its chances to come out on top of NLEX but it could not complete them en route to the defeat which left it at eighth place at the moment in the race.

Meanwhile, Northport tries bounce back from a loss previously when it takes on Columbian (2-6) in the curtain-raiser at 4:30 p.m.

The Batang Pier bowed to the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters, 97-87, on June 26 which effectively halted their four-game winning streak prior.

The Dyip, for their part, are coming off a rousing 134-132 overtime victory over powerhouse San Miguel Beermen on June 30 to snap a three-game losing streak. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

‘Miss’ missing as Wimbledon shakes up tradition

LONDON — A familiar sound was absent from Wimbledon’s courts when the tournament started on Monday as umpires were no longer using a woman’s marital status at the end of each game and match.

The use of prefixes such as ‘Miss’ and ‘Mrs’ has, for the most part, been scrapped by the organizers, ending a long-held tradition and bringing parity with the men’s game.

That means no more “Game, Miss…” or “Game, set and match, Mrs…”

Britain’s Heather Watson was among those to welcome the move, saying: “Equality is always good.”

Yet, as with the passing of all traditions, not everybody was completely won over.

Men’s world number one Novak Djokovic said he supported the move, but added: “I thought that tradition was very unique and very special. I thought it was nice.

“It’s definitely not easy to alter or change any traditions here that have been present for many years. It’s quite surprising that they’ve done that.”

Prefixes will not disappear entirely — they will still be used for code violations, medical announcements and player challenges, but this is the same for women and men. — Reuters

Timberland Heights hosts first Salomon Xtrail event

TIMBERLAND Heights continues to bolster its position of being the metro’s prime eco-playground destination through its hosting of another prestigious sporting event, the Salomon Xtrail dubbed “Gateway to Sierra Madre.”

Salomon Xtrail is a regional trail run in the Asia-Pacific Region, that has been successfully held for a decade now. This year marks its eighth year in the Philippines and has since become the biggest, much-anticipated trail event, participated in by hardcore athletes & enthusiasts alike.

The Salomon Xtrail Race has had different trails and race venues all over the Philippines, showcasing different terrain, elevations and challenges, ensuring an epic experience for all participants, staying true to Salomon’s catchphrase “#1 in trail running.”

The recently concluded Salomon X-trail presented three races in a day, namely; the Xtrail run, the Ultra 50, & the Xtrail Kids Race. These races were designed to test the limits of the most dedicated trail runners in the country. The newest category, the Ultra 50 required its participants to conquer five different mountains in the Sierra Madre — Purro, Campananan, Malemod, Ayaas, Parawagan and Maarat.

More than 1,000 participants geared up to conquer Timberland Heights’ challenging terrain. Atty. Aldean Philip Lim, Race Director of the 2019 Salomon Xtrail Run said that they handpicked Timberland Heights as this year’s venue because of its natural terrain and its accessibility from the city. “We chose Timberland Heights particularly the Glades as this year’s venue because of the premium staging area and the gateway to the Sierra Madre Mountains because of its proximity to Metro Manila. We are happy and glad that Filinvest is our venue partner for this year’s Salomon Xtrail. I would highly recommend to all my friends that if you want a place close to the metro and adventure is in your blood — this is the place to be.”

Timberland Heights was also the venue host for other sporting events such as the annual 7-Eleven trail series, the first-ever Spartan H3X, a grueling 24-hour endurance race simultaneously held in several countries, Fox Biking 101, Lagalag Sundown Run, and the Hoka Trail Run.

Timberland Heights is home to a world-class bike trails that is fast gaining popularity among mountain biking enthusiasts’ and participants of other athletic events of international caliber. The trails are also compliant with the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) trail specifications for both safety and technical standards. It is aptly dubbed the “mountain biking capital of the Philippines.”

Djokovic sweeps through under keen gaze of Ivanisevic

LONDON — Novak Djokovic has always been a player willing to try anything and anyone to improve his game and he now hopes that the presence of Goran Ivanisevic in his coaching team will help keep him one step ahead of the chasing pack.

The 2001 champion was courtside on Monday when Djokovic began the defense of his Wimbledon title by impressively beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-5 6-3.

Having previously worked with Boris Becker and Andre Agassi, Ivanisevic is the third Wimbledon champion he has hooked up with.

“He’s someone I’ve always looked up, he was something of a hero of mine and we’ve been friends for a long time — though usually on the opposite side of the net,” Djokovic said of Ivanisevic, who Djokovic said he helped, as a wide-eyed teenage hopeful, to that 2001 triumph by delivering him snacks during his pre-tournament training camp.

Mr. Djokovic, 32, came into the tournament having decided not to play a grasscourt warm-up event and he must have been a little edgy having lost to Mr. Kohlschreiber in straight sets on the hard courts of the Indian Wells earlier this year.

The 35-year-old German was playing his 15th successive Wimbledon, but in eight of those he had gone out in the first round.

Djokovic made an inauspicious start, double-faulting his first point en route to being broken, but quickly found his feet to reel off the next four games and win the first set 6-3.

The two men then traded heavy blows in crowd-pleasing rallies not often seen these days on the grass but the champion gradually took command to take the second set 7-5 and cruise quickly through the third.

Djokovic arrived in London this as number one in the world and on the back of a stellar 12 months but said when he walked out on Centre Court he took time to reflect on how different things were a year ago when, still on his way back from elbow surgery, he was unsure of himself.

“Last year I dropped out of top 20, I was still struggling coming back from injury and to find the desired level of tennis. Approaching this tournament now it’s been different for me. I think I have a bit less pressure, more confidence in my game.

“Last year it was just huge to win this trophy. This is the biggest tournament in the world and to win here meant a lot for me. I felt a huge relief and after that I started to play my best tennis.

“Today if felt great being the first to play on Centre Court… it is the cradle of our sport and it has a special place in my heart and my career.” — Reuters

Old-timers show young guns how it is done at All England Club

LONDON — The older generation gave tennis’s tyros a lesson in staying power on Monday as a string of golden oldies, led by the 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic, stormed into the second round at Wimbledon.

On a day when a number of the youngsters tipped for the top, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, waved goodbye to the All England Club, those at the other end of their careers showed them how it was done.

At 40 years 123 days, Karlovic is the oldest man to start in the main draw and the oldest to compete in the men’s singles at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall in 1975.

Yet the giant Croat is still able to battle it out with most players on the circuit and, armed with a serve that continues to pack a fearsome punch, he made light work of Italian qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi by winning 6-4 6-4 7-6(4).

At 37-year-old, Feliciano Lopez’s career should be winding down to a close and yet — having lifted the singles and doubles titles at Queen’s — he has a spring in his step that carried him into the second round at Wimbledon.

The sun was beating down on the intimate setting of Court 11 when Lopez faced Marcos Giron, but it was the 25-year-old who was slumped on the net after handing the Spaniard the decisive break in the third set before a 6-4 6-2 6-4 defeat.

While his advancing years do not seem to have taken too heavy a toll on Lopez’s legs, he did seemingly forget his age when he spoke to reporters who asked about his Queen’s success.

“As you see, I have many reasons to be happy. It was obviously quite unexpected at 38 years old to be winning those titles in the same week,” he said.

There were 47 men aged 30 in this year’s main draw, not far off the Grand Slam record of 51 at the French Open in 2016.

With Roger Federer (37), Rafa Nadal (33) and Novak Djokovic (32) still holding the tightest of grips on the men’s game, it is hard to see a member of the younger generation emerging victorious on Sunday week.

Djokovic eased into the second round on Monday with a 6-3 7-5 6-3 win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, another veteran at 35, and the march of the old-stagers continued throughout the day.

The 35-year-old Fernando Verdasco eased past Kamil Majchrzak, 23, 6-4 6-4 6-4, while Andreas Seppi, who is also 35 beat Nicholas Jarry, 12 years his junior, 6-3 6-7(8) 6-1 6-2.

The 35-year-old Steve Darcis, who felled Nadal in one of the tournament’s major shocks in 2013, beat Mischa Zverev 6-2 6-4 6-4 and Marcel Granollers (33) beat Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(4) 6-4 6-4. — Reuters

All that Jazz

National Basketball Association free agency opened frenetically on Monday, July 1 (Manila time), with a lot of players on the move and set to join new teams come the 2019-20 NBA season.

And as has been case during this time of the year in The Association, there were winners and losers amid all the dealings.

One of the teams that this space believes won on the first day of free agency was the Utah Jazz.

The moves they made may not be as jaw-dropping as the other teams’ but they were able to get players who can help them improve, which at the end of the day primarily is the reason for all these maneuverings.

To date, Utah has sharpshooting forward Bojan Bogdanovic and rebounding big man Ed Davis.

Bogdanovic, who played last season with the Indiana Pacers, reportedly agreed to join the Jazz for four years in a $73-million deal while Davis, who played for the Brooklyn Nets, is in for two years in a $10-million deal.

Bogdanovic stepped up well in the absence of injured Pacers All-Star Victor Oladipo for much of last season. He proved himself as a solid source of offense, averaging 20 points per game, and at times were clutch for Indiana.

Davis, meanwhile, was a key cog off the bench for the Nets, tallying averages of 5.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 81 games.

Apart from the skills set they bring to the Jazz, what makes them good acquisitions is that they fit in well with the direction that Utah seemingly wants to take — which is still to be defensively sound and steady while improving their offense.

The two are a good add-on to the pre-draft acquisition of veteran guard Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies.

Together, the new guys, along with staples Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles and defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert, can surely make up for the departure of guys like Derrick Favors, Ricky Rubio, Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, Thabo Sefolosha and Grayson Allen.

Ingles and Bogdanovic should stretch the defense of the opponents with their ability to hit long bombs, allowing Mitchell and Conley to do their thing with their penetration and playmaking.

Then Gobert will still be the center of defense with Davis providing quality minutes off the bench both as a four or five.

On paper, the Jazz are pretty good, and league talk of them being a legit contender is not without reason. It now boils down to making things happen and going for it.

All that Jazz. Utah fans should be excited.

 

Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.

msmurillo@bworldonline.com

LA bound

The second day of free agency in the National Basketball Association came and went with the status of Kawhi Leonard officially still up in the air. Even as a flurry of moves involving majority of marquee names of note served to include a full quarter of franchises in the title mix, his own figures to be the biggest game changer in the league’s most open season in recent memory. Which is why all and sundry remain transfixed on his plans for the 2019-20 season and beyond. He’s fresh off a remarkable playoff run that established his status as a dynasty killer and king of the hill, and his would-be decision shifts the balance of power to where he will ply his trade.

Little wonder, then, that the Lakers worked overtime to open up a maximum salary slot leading up to the first day of free agency and then stayed put while just about every other contender nabbed proven talents. So far, they have a grand total of one commitment, and on a minimum contract that doesn’t affect their salary cap standing. They’ve gone all in, and their resolve to hold their ground while players they hitherto expressed interest in went off the market speaks volumes on how much they value Leonard. Likewise, it’s a reflection of their confidence that he will ultimately agree to form the most formidable Big Three in league history.

The risk is enormous, to be sure. Should Leonard decide to stay with the Raptors or align with the Clippers, the Lakers will be left to fight for scraps. Yet, there’s reason for the optimism.

He’s a California native who grew up bleeding purple and gold, and who, when things with the Spurs went sour last year, asked to be moved to the home of his childhood idols. It’s why his camp touched base with living legend and former franchise head Magic Johnson over the weekend; he wanted to know if he was, well, wanted, and if it tried its best to get him at the time. According to the grapevine, he was happy with the reply — that a deal couldn’t be done because his former employers played hardball against arch rivals.

Well, a deal can be done now. And if reports from informal sources are to be believed, a deal is as good as done. All that’s left is for Leonard to cross the “t”s and dot the “i”s by attending previously scheduled meetings with the Clippers and Raptors; absent an unexpected, mind-blowing presentation from either, both will leave with the news that he’s bound for the Lakers. Imagine that. For all the beating they’ve absorbed and for all the dysfunction they’ve shown on and off the court over the last six years, their brand and what it represents continues to hold remarkable luster.

If Leonard does become the latest star to head to La-La Land, he will effectively be signing off on a smooth transition from one generational great to another. He gives LeBron James the opportunity to fade off into the sunset with grace and aplomb, and himself the chance to rule the league in the medium term with Anthony Davis by his side. Meanwhile, he affords the Lakers the privilege of hosting the proceedings. A dynasty in the making? No doubt.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing the 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.

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