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UAAP wars

2017-2018 UAAP Chess Championship (Men’s)
2nd Flr., QPAV Building, UST, España St., Manila
Feb. 17-April 8, 2018

Final Standings
1. National University (NU), 41.5/56
Bd01 IM Paulo Bersamina 14/14, Bd02 Robin Ignacio 4/8, Bd03 FM Austin Jacob Literatus 12/14, Bd04 Rafael Caneda 0/1, Bd05 Ryan Christian Magtabog 9.5/14, Bd06 Neil Conrad Pondoc 2/5. Team Captain: Neil Conrad Pondoc, Team Coach: Jose Aquino, Jr., Team Managers: Samson Go, Manny Go.
2. De La Salle University (DLSU), 33.5/56
Bd01 NM Giovanni Mejia 9.5/14, Bd02 Christian Nanola 7/14, Bd03 Denzel John Amar 6.5/14, Bd04 Jeazzir Kline Surposa 10.5/14. Team Captain: Christian Nanola, Team Coaches: FM Randy Segarra, Susan Grace Neri, Team Managers: Aurelio Family, George Barcelon, Gerardo Achacoso.
3. Far Eastern University (FEU), 32.5/56
Bd01 Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano 9/14, Bd02 NM Paul Robert Evangelista 5.5/11, Bd03 Jose Carlo Castro 0/2, Bd04 Romy Fagon 9.5/14, Bd05 Ferdinand Aviles 3/7, Bd06 Kristian Glen Abuton 5.5/8. Team Captain: NM Paul Robert Evangelista, Head Coach: GM Jayson Gonzales, Asst. Coach: Luffe Magdalaga.
4. University of Santo Tomas (UST), 32.0/56
Bd01 Philip Andrew Uy 5.5/10, Bd02 Heirry Manaloto 8.5/14, Bd03 Christian Anthony Flores 9/14, Michael Angelo Manansala 0/3, Bd05 John Petter Ablid 9/14, Bd06 Jehosphapal Lemi 0/1. Team Captain: Christian Anthony Flores, Team Coach: IM Ronald Dableo.
5. Adamson University (AdU), 30.0/56
Bd01 Remark Bartolome 4/8, Bd02 Godfrey Villamor 1/3, Bd03 Marc Kevin Labog 7.5/14, Bd04 Jayson Levin Tapoia 8/14, Bd05 Khristian Clyde Arellano 8.5/12, Bd06 Christian Huavas 1/5. Team Captain: Marc Kevin Labog, Team Coach: Christopher Rodriguez.
6. University of the East (UE), 28.0/56
Bd01 John Dave Bonifacio 0/2, Bd02 Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo 7/14, Bd03 Keneth Flores 8.5/14, Bd04 Eliseo Budoso 8/14, Bd05 Ronald Allan Barcelon 4/10, Bd06 Sean Andrew Olan 0.5/2. Team Captain: Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo, Head Coach: John Perzeus Orozco, Asst. Coach: Robert Gene Mariano
7. University of the Philippines (UP), 19.0/56
Bd01 Joshua Ryan Nolasco 0.5/6, Bd02 Jefferson Saltorio 2/8, Bd03 Mac Quay Labasano 9/14, Bd04 Justin David Corpin 2.5/11, Bd05 Alson Vincent Lim, Jr. 4/10, Bd06 Shaun Benedict Gan 1/7. Team Captain: Justine David Corpin, Head Coach: FM Leonardo Carlos, Asst. Coach: WIM Catherine Perena-Secopito, Team Manager: Sol Marfori
8. Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), 7.5/56
Bd01 Joseph Carmelo Tsoi 0/7, Bd02 Lance Augustin Ting 0/8, Bd03 Keefe Elbert Tan 0.5/14, Bd04 Gavin Lloyd Ong 2/12, Bd05 Lorenzo Miguel Marquez 4.5/6, Bd096 Jose Lorenzo Lat 0.5/9. Team Captain: Jose Lorenzo Lat, Team Coach: GM Darwin Laylo, Team Manager: Paco Rivera.
UAAP wars medal awardees
To nobody’s surprise National University won this year’s UAAP chess team tournament. In match points their victory is even more convincing. It won 12 matches and only drew La Salle and FEU in the first half of the tournament. In the second half it was a sweep.
UAAP wars standings
The National University’s team was too strong. On board 1 it was IM Paulo Bersamina who led the way — he played in all rounds and won all of his games — a perfect 14 out of 14.

[NU] Bersamina, Paulo — [UP] Nolasco, Joshua Ryan L [E17]
2017–2018 UAAP Chess (MEN) QPAV Bldg., UST, Manila (1.1), 2018

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0–0 Be7 6.c4 0–0 7.d5!
A very dangerous pawn sacrifice used by Lev Polugaevsky in his 1980 Candidates’ match against Viktor Korchnoi.
7…exd5 8.Nh4! <D>
POSITION AFTER 8.NH4
8…c6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Nf5 Ba6
The stem game continued 10…Bc5 11.e4 Ne7 12.Nxg7! Kxg7 13.b4± White had a very strong initiative which he calmly converted into a win. Polugaevsky,L (2635)-Korchnoi,V (2695) Buenos Aires Candidates’ sf 1980 1–0 73.
11.Re1
It seems to me that White can immediately recover his sacrificed pawn with 11.Bxd5 cxd5 12.Nc3 and still remain with the strong initiative, but clearly Bersamina had a different idea.
11…Bb4 12.Bd2 Qf6 13.e4 Bxd2 14.Qxd2 Ne7 15.Nd6 Nc8 16.e5 Qe6 17.Nc3 Nxd6 18.exd6 Qc4 19.Re7
This move does not throw anything away, but White had 19.Nd5! threatening Nc7. After 19…cxd5 20.Bxd5 the rook on a8 is lost.
19…Qd3 20.Qf4 Qc4 21.Qe5 Qc5 22.Qxc5 bxc5 23.Ne4 Bc4 24.Nxc5 Be6 25.b4
Now Black’s queenside pieces are bottled up and Bersamina gets to impose his will on the kingside.
25…a6 26.a4 Ra7 27.a5 h6 28.f4 Bd5 29.Rae1 Be6 30.Be4 Bd5 31.f5 Kh7 32.Bg2 Kg8 33.Re8 Ra8 34.Bf1 Ba2 35.R1e7 Bd5 36.Kf2 Ba2 37.g4 Bd5 38.h4 Ba2 39.g5 hxg5 40.hxg5 Bb1 41.Bc4 Rxe8 42.Rxe8+ Kh7 43.Bxf7 Bxf5 44.Ke3 g6 45.Rg8 Bb1 46.Kf4 Bf5 47.Ke5 Bd3 48.Kf6 1–0
White will swing his rook from g8–e8–e1 and onto the h-file to mate Black.
[AdU] Labog, Marc Kevin — [NU] Bersamina, Paulo [A05]
2017–2018 UAAP Chess (MEN) 1st Flr. QPAV Bldg., UST, Esp. (8.1), 11.03.2018
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.0–0 e6 5.d3 d5 6.d4 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.Re1 Qb6 9.h3 Be7 10.Be3 0–0 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 13.f4 Qc7 14.Nd2 f6 15.exf6 Nxf6 16.Bf2 e5 17.e3 Kh8 18.Qe2 a6 19.fxe5
Labog’s idea is that after 19…Qxe5 he will play 20.e4. Paulo does not allow that freeing move.
19…Ne4!
[19…Qxe5 20.e4]
20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qh5 g6 22.Qg4 Qxe5 23.Rad1 Bc6 24.Rf1 h5 25.Qe2
[25.Qxg6 Rf6]
25…Bd6 26.Be1 Rxf1+ 27.Bxf1 Rf8 28.c4 Kh7 29.Bg2 b4 30.b3 h4 31.Qg4 hxg3 32.Qh4+ Kg7 33.Rxd6 Qxd6 34.Bxg3 Qf6 35.Qxf6+ Kxf6 36.Bd6 Rd8 37.Bxc5 Rd2 38.Bxb4 Rxa2 39.Bc5 Kf5 40.b4 Ba4 41.Bd4 Rc2 42.Bf1 Bb3 43.b5 Bxc4 44.Bxc4 Rxc4 45.bxa6 Ra4 46.a7 Ra2 47.a8Q Rxa8 48.Kg2 Kg5 49.Bc3 Rf8 0–1
Black will put his rook on f3, win the h3–pawn and then push the g-pawn to victory.

[FEU] Sevillano, Rhenzi Kyle — [NU] Bersamina, Paulo [B21]
2017–2018 UAAP Chess (MEN) 1st Flr. QPAV Bldg., UST, Esp (9.1), 17.03.2018

1.e4 c5 2.f4
Someone did some statistics on the openings played in the giant database of the Internet Chess Club and the most popular opening by far was the King’s Indian Attack. Right behind it is the Grand Prix Attack which is used by White here. Paulo of course knows the theory and how to counter it.
2…d5 3.exd5 Nf6
Some people call this the Tal Gambit and indeed it has an excellent reputation.
4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Qxd7 6.c4 e6 7.dxe6
GM Yudasin has tried 7.Qe2 with some success but it seems like 7…Bd6 8.dxe6 fxe6 9.d3 Nc6 10.Nf3 0–0 11.0–0 Rae8 12.Nc3 e5 completely equalizes for Black. Zubov, A.-Averjanov, A. Kharkov 2005 0–1 18.
7…Qxe6+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Nxe2 Nc6
White is still a pawn ahead but his position has a lot of targets for the Black knights.
10.0–0 0–0–0 11.Nbc3 g6 12.f5 Bg7 13.d3 Rxd3 14.Bg5 gxf5 15.Rxf5 Nd7 16.Rxf7 Rg8!
This move starts targeting g2 and that is what proves decisive in this game.
17.Bf4 Nde5 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.Rf5 Kb8
[19…Nxc4?? 20.Rxc5+]
20.Nf4 Rd2 21.Ne4 Rxb2 22.Nxc5 Bh6 23.Nce6 Nxc4 24.g3 Nd2 25.Nd5 a5 26.a4 Rc8 27.Re1 Nb3 28.Rf6 Bd2 29.Ref1 Bb4 30.Rh6 Rc6 31.Rhf6 Nd2 32.Rd1 Rxe6! 33.Rxe6 Nf3+ 34.Kf1 Nxh2+ 35.Kg1 Bc5+ 36.Ne3
[36.Kh1 Ng4]
36…Ng4 37.Rd3 Nxe3 38.Rexe3 Re2 0–1
On Tuesday, we will continue our report on this season’s UAAP Chess Championship.
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

Hero ball

If there’s anything Game Four of the West Finals showed, it’s that not all close games can be considered humdingers. True, yesterday’s set-to between the Warriors and the Rockets proved compelling from beginning to end, if for no other reason than because the outcome was in question until the final buzzer. Considering all the lopsided scores hitherto churned out in both conference series, the match stood out for its uniqueness. All the same, it startled even longtime habitues of the sport for the wrong reasons.
You think the Warriors and the Rockets, pillars of offensive efficiency in the regular season, wouldn’t be involved in a clunker filled with poor shot selections off predictable isolation sets. Well, yesterday proved you wrong, with the continual assault to the senses featuring superstars who should have known better. Everybody got infected with hero ball; from Steph Curry to Kevin Durant to James Harden to Chris Paul, future Hall-of-Famers whose respective resumés are already filled — and still being stuffed — with superlatives, the primary thought was to come up with individual highlights at the expense of collective pursuits.
Admittedly, the star power prevailed on occasion. When the one-on-one forays worked, they were a sight to behold. And, to be fair, the marquee names earned their keep. On the other hand, they, too, wound up being the instigators of the very type of uglyball that modern-day rules and advanced analytics sought to render inutile. Perhaps the Rockets could be excused for their Game Four predilections; after all, their bread is buttered precisely by Harden and Paul’s productivity and productiveness off the dribble. Not the Warriors, though, and especially not at the Oracle Arena.
No doubt, the defending champions will be spending their off-day looking at replays of the contest and wondering why they kept getting sucked in by the Rockets. True, they can get by with any type of system given their superior talent; Durant, Curry, and, yes, Klay Thompson are scoring machines. Nonetheless, their engagement in battles of one-upmanship serve to bail out the opposition. They discount their worth, and play right into their rivals’ strengths, when they allow 48 minutes to be broken down a sequence at a time.
From the outside looking in, the West Finals cannot get any closer. As in the East, the fight for the right to book a seat in the championship series is down to a best-of-three affair. Anything can literally happen. Which is to say the Rockets are exactly where they want to be: with homecourt advantage and mucking up matches by pricking the Warriors’ ego to success. They deserve major props for hanging tough in the face of an early challenge, and for managing to dictate the terms of engagement yesterday. They’ll look to do so again in Game Five, and how well they fare will likely determine their fate.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

UST suspends recognition of fraternities, sororities in anti-hazing move

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) has ceased to officially recognize fraternities, sororities, and other similar organizations in its strongest anti-hazing move since the death of law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III on Sept. 17 of last year, according to a memorandum signed by Office for Student Affairs (OSA) Director Ma. Socorro S. Guan Hing.
“In light of the recent incident involving the hazing death of a law student and keeping with the duty of the University to take proactive steps to protect the students from the danger of participating in activities that will involve hazing, the University has decided to suspend the recognition of all Fraternities, Sororities or similar organizations effective at the start of A.Y. (Academic Year) 2018-2019 until further notice,” read the memorandum dated May 21 and released to media on Wednesday, May 23.
It added: “Accordingly, all fraternities, sororities or similar organizations are directed to cease and desist from recruiting students or engaging in any kind of activities.” — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Stocks down on renewed trade worries

Stocks fell for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday, May 23, amid renewed geopolitical woes due to United States President Donald J. Trump’s comments on their trade talks with China.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index— considered the local barometer for investor sentiment— gave up 1.12% or 85.73 points to close at 7,560.47. The broader all-shares index likewise edged lower by 0.87% or 40.46 points to 4,612.
“Investors are still in risk-off mode particularly foreign funds who have been steadily liquidating since February. To date, net foreign selling has amounted to Php47.8B for the year, almost reversing the net buy of Php55B for the entire 2017,” PNB Securities, Inc. President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona said in a text message.
Net foreign outflows for the day reached P649.85 million, higher than the previous session’s P628.52 million. This is the sixth day of net foreign selling for the market.
“On the whole, foreign investors seem to be cashing in and adopting a risk-averse stance amid renewed concerns on trade between the US and China,” Mr. Lisbona said.
Mr. Trump said that the US government did not arrive at a deal with China for its trade dispute, despite top US officials saying earlier that they have agreed on a framework and have put the trade war on hold.
ChinaBank Securities Corp. Research Director Garie G. Ouano meanwhile attributed the PSEi’s decline to technicalities.
“Probably due to technical factors since there were no major market-moving developments today and the index has so far formed a trading range around 7800-7500,” Mr. Ouano said in a separate message.
All sectoral indices moved to negative territory, led by a 1.76% drop or 132.17 points to 7,381.05. Financials shed 1.52% or 28.65 points to 1,851.86, while services slipped 0.6% or 9.1 points to 1,514.29. Industrial went down 0.38% or 41.96 points to 10,905.02; mining and oil lost 0.28% or 28.27 points to 9,958.01; while property declined 0.08% or 3 points to 3,801.78.
A total of 1.86 billion issues switched hands, resulting to a turnover of P5.88 billion.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 116 to 66, while 55 issues remained unchanged. — Arra B. Francia

Peso plunges to new low ahead of ‘likely hawkish’ Fed minutes

The peso plunged against the dollar anew on Wednesday, May 23, on the back of President Donald J. Trump’s statement on the trade talks between the United States and China.
The local currency closed at P52.47 versus the greenback, 19.5 centavos weaker than the P52.195-per-dollar finish on Tuesday.
This was again the peso’s weakest finish in nearly 12 years since July 19, 2006, where it closed at P52.745.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P52.27 against the US currency. It slipped to a P52.48 low, while its best showing stood at P52.26.
Dollars traded declined to $529.9 million from the $750.65 million that switched hands during the previous session.
A trader said that the peso moved lower due to risk-off move from investors.
“We saw risk-off move the whole day. Market currencies are being sold off, including the peso,” the trader said in a phone interview.
“The market went to safe haven currencies. The emerging markets’ currencies such as the peso are being sold in favor of haven currencies like dollar and yen,” he explained.
Meanwhile, another trader said the peso depreciated to new lows “on market positioning ahead of likely hawkish Fed (US Federal Reserve) policy meeting minutes.”
During its May meeting, the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee decided to hold their interest rates, although it expressed confidence that the inflation uptick, which is nearing the Fed’s 2% target, would be sustained. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

RCI looking to ‘stabilize’ this year

Roxas and Company, Inc. (RCI) expects its business ventures to stabilize in 2018, banking on its property projects and coconut processing plant to drive growth in the coming years.
“The plan for this year is stabilize. What we did last year was implement, complete projects, get them started. This year is stabilize…The team’s working well together, they’re doing what they can to improve operations,” RCI President and Chief Executive Officer Fernando L. Gaspar told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Makati City on Wednesday, May 23.
The listed holding firm of the Roxas family started operations of its coconut processing plant located on a 21,945-square meter (sq.m.) land in Tupi, South Cotabato last October 2017. The facility has the capacity to process 300 metric tons of raw coconut per day to be used for the production of coconut milk, coconut cream, virgin coconut oil, and coconut water concentrate, all of which are for export. — Arra B. Francia

Lawyers, accountants among those who may soon be required to register with AMLC

Fund managers, jewelry dealers, lawyers and accountants will soon have to register with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and submit client data, as the regulator tightens its watch on dirty money.
The AMLC has issued Regulatory Issuance (B) No. 1 which sets the guidelines for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) to register with the financial intelligence unit as institutions required to report their transactions.
“Under the Guidelines, the AMLC oversees compliance by DNFBPs with the provisions of the AMLA, as amended. Interestingly, the Guidelines that lawyers and accountants who provide the services enumerated under Section 3(a)(7) of the AMLA, as amended, are considered covered persons, and must therefore report covered and suspicious transactions to the AMLC,” the agency said in a statement.
“It has been observed in our series of engagements with them at the start of 2018 that the DNFBPs have been largely cooperative with the AMLC, recognizing that they could be used as instruments in the commission of money laundering or terrorism financing. Certainly, professional secrecy cannot be used as a cloak to commit crime. I see that in the foreseeable future, the Philippines will come to embrace international AML/CTF standards more and more,” AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Mel Georgie B. Racela was also quoted as saying. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

New co-working space to connect startups to ‘Fortune 500’ companies

Parallel to the growing number of startup companies in the country, the demand for affordable and flexible work spaces have also increased in the past few years.

Today, entrepreneurs can bring their companies to shared offices while they have yet to grow and scale their businesses.

But for London-based co-working space provider International Workspace Group (IWG), an office space is no longer enough as entrepreneurial interests grow among more people, especially millennials.

IWG, which is also behind co-working space Regus, is bringing to the Philippines its “second and fastest growing” brand “Spaces,” which the company envisions to become a hub that will connect startups with more established businesses and even Fortune 500 companies.

Present in 25 cities worldwide, Spaces is set to open at World Plaza in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, on June 4.

The 3,200-square-meter space will have about 447 workstations, including rooms for private meetings. It will also house its own Wild Flour Bakery + Cafe.

In a bid to create a community of both young and experienced entrepreneurs, Spaces will also feature a 500-square-meter “community hall,” where business and networking events will be held regularly.

“Co-working space is a term of yesterday. What we are building is a community,” Spaces country manager Lars Wittig said in a press briefing.

He added, “When we call it co-working, it is sort of describing a work style. We’re not promoting a work style, we’re promoting a lifestyle. We want people to connect.”

According to Wittig, the company envisions the hall as a venue where “all types of industries and people will be able to network with each other.”

“We need to have the right balance of startups, millennials, and baby boomers.,” he said. “We want to have industry A as well as industry Z, and we want to have the startups as well as Fortune 500. That is how we can get synergy and learn from each other.”

Wittig said three companies in Fortune 500 list, which he refused to disclose, have expressed interests to join the space.

Cost and demand

According to him, rental for Spaces is “not more expensive” compared to those of local small players. However, he added that each square meter would at least be 35% more expensive than the Regus brand, which is currently more expensive than typical commercial leases.

According to Wittig, “today is an exciting time” for the company to launch the space given the “exceptional” demand for shared offices in the country.

In fact, he said monthly inquiries for Regus since January this year have increased by 22- to 33-percent than the same period last year. In March alone, he added they received almost 1,300 inquiries.

While the first location has yet to be launched, the company is already considering expansion to two “major cities” in the metro.

SEC warns against online investment scams with paid-to-click schemes

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised the public against investment scams with paid-to-click (PTC) programs, noting that some may be Ponzi schemes that places them at the risk of losing money.
In an advisory posted to its website on Wednesday, May 23, the SEC cautioned against online-based advertising firms that use the PTC method, where people are asked to pay an upfront fee or are offered to buy products. Doing so will then give investors a share of the program’s profits.
Such types of schemes usually promise high returns in a short span of time “by doing bogus clicking jobs, by logging in everyday or by obtaining referrals or buying ad packs,” the commission said.
The SEC said that some of these programs may actually be investment scams, or the so-called Ponzi scheme, where earlier investors are paid with fake profits by recruiting more investors into the network. — Arra B. Francia

Is it worth moving to Maginhawa?

Maginhawa Street: multicolored tricycles ripping down the residential neighborhood. University students moving restlessly with the passage of time. Rows upon rows of eateries across the two‑kilometer main thoroughfare. For food entrepreneurs opting to tap the young, middle‑class market, this street in Quezon City is the place to be. But for small business owners who have set up shop in this formerly quiet community, with the higher foot traffic comes a hurdle: rent.

Rates for commercial establishments have skyrocketed over the years, with current fees going as high as P60,000 per month.

Despite this, 23‑year‑old Alexx Esponga and 21‑year‑old Kloyd Majam, who were students when they put up rooftop café Jess & Pat’s in other up‑and‑coming food hub Lilac, Marikina, decided to transfer operations to Maginhawa. In here, rent for their 110-square-meter space costs over P50,000 per month: a jump of 714.29% from their previous rental fee of P7,000 in Marikina.

“Based on our market research, most of our patrons are from Quezon City. So that’s one factor why we were not afraid to move here,” she said. But with Maginhawa’s stature as a popular food destination, “we realized that we have to be really competitive because we’re in the ‘real world’ already,” she said.

The two owners who are avid followers of the local indie scene also see their move to Maginhawa as an opportunity to help more Filipino artists. To compensate for the bigger rental, Majam said they plan to increase their sales and stage more local acts.

“In Marikina, we had to pay an additional P5,000 for every event we mounted,” Majam said. “Here, since the rental fee is already fixed, we can stage events as much as we want.”

While the two are bullish on the business, they admit that it will take a long time for them to reap the reward of taking the risk.

“I believe that if you do something for a good purpose or if you are helping others, people will continue to support you,” Esponga said. “The success will just follow.”

The first version of this story was first published on March 20, 2018.

INCIDENTAL INTELLIGENCE
Find Jess & Pat’s at 2/F 63 Maginhawa, Diliman, Quezon City

The skateboard: a vehicle for chicken

From mere slacker uniform, skateboard attire has seeped into the runways of the world’s fashion capitals.

For trans-disciplinary designer Sean Bautista, the skateboard culture is more than just a fashion thing: it is also a vehicle to purvey chicken.

The Comme des Garçons-wearing Ateneo graduate who looks up to David Chang took workshops in design management at Parsons School of Design in New York City before building two original concepts: Tetsuo, an East-Asian casual dining restaurant, and Transit, a retail design concept.

“I’m a fine arts student,” he insists when asked if he ever considered taking a business course. Tetsuo, after all, began as a chicken stall at Ateneo competing for space in the cafeteria. In a week, they met their ROI. After that, they began selling merchandise (imagine, a chicken stall with its own merch), before branching out to events.

“Organically” is how he describes the ideation process. “I and a few friends came together,” he recounted. “I mean we just hung out, we were into skateboarding, music, hiphop… but then we also liked cooking.”

“So from that idea and just trying to be authentic to ourselves, we’ve created a brand that suits or embodies what we thought. Like, embodies our relationship as friends. It starts with the chicken concept because, yeah, we wanted to create something that was palatable to our audience and that everyone would enjoy, but then we tried to elevate the concept and create a bigger personality around it by injecting things that were authentic to us,” he said. “To simplify that idea, we just came from a unique standpoint of dudes just hanging out, cooking together, and being interested in different facets of subculture, and then translating that into a product.”

From its formerly five-square-meter space inside Ateneo, it has expanded into a 50-square-meter restaurant along Katipunan, housing 31 seats. And it is, in fact, things like the playlist, typography, and visuals, among others, that formulate the overall brand.

“I’m able to connect to other people in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was just thinking about the business,” he says. “If I was only thinking about business goals, I don’t think Tetsuo as a product would translate in the way it does.”

INCIDENTAL INTELLIGENCE
Tetsuo is located at 88 Esteban Abada Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

Fiscal deficit widens in first four months

THE GOVERNMENT saw its fiscal deficit grow nearly four times as much in the January-April period, but is still lower than what the government expected, as state coffers exceeded their targets and expenditures continued to increase at a rapid rate.
Citing data from National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that the government’s fiscal position saw a deficit of P115.9 billion in the first four months of the year, 284% wider than the P30.18 billion posted in the same period in 2017.
However, he said that it is “P51.2 billion less than program.”
Mr. Dominguez said that overall “[year-on-year] revenues grew by 21%.”
“Jan to April revenues higher than program by 7% or by P21.4 billion, he said, noting that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) exceeded their goals by P19.4 billion and P2 billion, respectively.
The Finance chief said that the BIR collections grew 17.49% to P655.67 billion in the January-April period from last year’s P558.07 billion.
The BoC meanwhile raked in 30.53% more to P176.57 billion from P135.27 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, “disbursements increased by 31% to P1.04 trillion,” in the first four months of the year from the P798.44 billion recorded in the same months of 2017. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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