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Reputation has financial value

By Tony Samson
IS REPUTATION considered in financial transactions?
In the bank’s credit evaluation for granting loans, aside from Capacity, Capital, Collateral, and recently Conditions which include matters like industry structure, technology change, market distribution, and regulatory factors, there is also “Character.” The fifth “C” focuses on a borrower’s reputation in terms of fiscal behavior. Does he pay the caterer on time? Does he have extravagant and frequent vacations? Do his employees and suppliers complain about him?
Still, character does not always have good metrics to go by. It’s mostly qualitative, behavioral and covers gossip and social media postings. And then the judgment is probably binary — yes for good; or no for “let’s not take a chance.”
The character of the principal behind a company is critical. In the new field of behavioral economics, the value of character in a corporation is becoming part of the soft metric in picking stocks. It is the emotional part of the decision process that sometimes dominates. This includes the aspects of status, revenge, and even shame for winning or losing out on a deal can drive the negotiation dynamics (and possible overpricing) in an acquisition or merger.
Even the element of luck, superstition, and numerology and astral signs can affect a financial transaction, its timing, and how the office should look. Who is his feng shui master?
Is the character of the CEO of a company worth a premium or a discount? Some positives driving premium pricing includes the CEO’s track record of transparency, work ethic and fiscal prudence. A character discount can come from a reputation of fuzzy accounting, weak second-tier management, over-the-top spending habits (how many corporate planes?), and lack of a succession plan.
Characters as stock pickers also affect market sentiment. A market maker like Warren Buffett “betting all-in on the future of the American recovery” with the purchase of railroad stocks, like the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) ten years ago, after the financial meltdown of 2008, can make the bears take flight and change market sentiment for certain stocks.
In our small market, character reigns, and reputations are made and lost among a small group of influencers and peer groups. Stocks are identified by their principals and lumped together as a group, under the banner of its CEO or family group. The difficulties that befall one subsidiary inevitably affect even the group’s holdings in unrelated businesses. Rumors of a takeover of a company by a known player are enough to lift a sleepy stock into the stratosphere or make it go on free fall.
Ties with a now-favored region or country identify new movers that can make rival groups shake (in their boots). Political connections certainly affect character valuations, until a term ends, as scheduled.
With corporate reputation now mostly driven by word of mouth and social media with its fake news, the character impact can be overblown. Reports of social events like the hosting of a wedding and the cost of the food and entertainment have a halo effect on the fiscal reputation of the party-giver. The reaction is not always negative, especially when the previously unknown host is catapulted to the billionaire club. Still, such unvetted sources of information are vulnerable to fake news and planted demolition jobs.
The disproportionate role of reputation in determining the true worth of a company has made self-proclaimed crisis managers much sought after and handsomely paid, sometimes to kill the news. They serve as the guardians and protectors of reputations. “Reputational risk” is such an important consideration in assessing the company’s decisions. Non-business events such as social gaffes at a wedding anniversary or murky associations with low life affect perceptions of business value.
Character analysis is not a static science as personalities in charge also change. New names come up and quickly grow into conglomerates. Old names drop out of the picture. New tech companies rise and fall. Still, it is the track record, sometimes a very short one that determines whether character will play a big part in the valuation of the stock.
In a small market like ours only a small number of players needs to be tracked as closely as the ticker tape, they don’t necessarily talk to each other. And when they start a conversation…is it time to buy or sell? Get the feng shui master on the phone.
 
Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda
ar.samson@yahoo.com

Philippine ‘democracy’

By Benjamin R. Punongbayan
DEMOCRACY can be defined in a variety of ways, from definitions with varying complexities to a rather simple one. Let us pick a basic and simple definition: a form of political association among the people of a state within a defined geographical area where sovereignty resides in the people who express such sovereignty by voting to select the leaders of the government of the state.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, in his book, Republic, considers a democracy an inferior form of government and holds the view of its likely deterioration into despotism.
Later philosophers have expressed their thoughts about the structures of government. Of particular note are those of Polybius (Roman era) regarding checks and balances, and Montesquieu (18th century) about separation of powers (both referenced from The Great Political Theories [Vol. 1], edited by Michael Curtis).
The most popular country that adopted democracy as a form of government right from its founding is the United States, with its systems of separation of powers (executives, legislative, and judicial) and of checks and balances.
Then the Philippines became a US colony during the term of President William McKinley. Succeeding US political leaders, urged on by Filipino nationalists, prepared the Philippines to a path towards independence. In doing so, the influence of the US was very strong in developing the government structure of the nascent independent Philippines. The resulting Philippine government structure, as promulgated in the 1935 Constitution and retained in the existing Constitution, is substantially a mirror image of the US federal government structure. However, I thought a big mistake was made when the members of the Philippine Senate were made to be elected at large in the whole country. This is very different from the US (Federal) Senate, to where each US state sends two senatorrepresentatives who are elected statewide by each state. It was an unfortunate oversight. It was not a case of differentiating a federal senate from a national senate. The underlying principle is whether the members of a country’s senate (the second legislative chamber) are to be elected geographically (by province or by region, in the case of the Philippines) as it is in the US Senate (two senators from each state).
Interestingly, in my review of the present structures of the state senate (different and separate from the US or Federal Senate) of large US states (California, New York, Texas, and Florida), I find that the state senators in these states are elected by district (one for each district) and not statewide. There are indications that these structures had developed later than the time when the Philippine 1935 Constitution was promulgated. What I want to emphasize is that, even in a US state government itself, the senators in the state senate are presently elected geographically and not statewide.
More interestingly, I find that California imposes term limits for their state legislators. It has the novel practice of requiring a term limit of 12 years for a legislator, the period of which is counted in any combination of four-year state senate and two-year state assembly terms.It appears that this term limit is counted cumulatively and not necessarily consecutively.Therefore, when a state legislator completes a term of 12 years, they cannot run for either the state house or state senate anymore. We should adopt a similar requirement to prevent our own legislators to hop from the Senate to the House or vice-versa and turn around again, ad infinitum.
To this day, the members of the Philippine Senate continue to be elected nationwide. As a result, the provinces have a weaker voice in the Philippine Congress, because the perspectives of Philippine senators are not about specific provincial concerns, unlike their US counterparts whose perspectives are about the concerns of their respective states. Each Philippine senator takes the role of a national spokesperson and postures themselves as the probable next President. No wonder that the national government has been given the sobriquet “Imperial Manila,” in spite of the presence of the people’s provincial representatives in the House.
That said, there is a much bigger concern, though. It is clear to me that Philippine “democracy” has turned into a government of oligarchs, a condition that may turn into despotism as anticipated by Plato. It happened before, during the time of Marcos.
The reason is clear. Voting, the people’s expression of their sovereignty, is not being exercised properly. And our leaders do not seem to care; they probably like it that way. There are two main causes of this existing condition: a voter’s lack of adequate information about relevant issues and problems to enable them to make an informed judgement about who to elect; and vote buying. These two factors actually overlap.
A voter’s lack of adequate information is a consequence of widespread poverty and applies to most voters. As a result of poverty, a large majority of the present adult population did not finish high school and many of them did not even go farther than elementary school. Because of this handicap, they tend not to have interest in acquiring a good understanding of important current problems and issues, not to mention the already existing political, social, and economic conditions. They generally do not read newspapers, which are mainly published in English. The television shows they watch are slapstick programs during the daytime and movies throughout the day. Since they provide the biggest audience for television, television broadcasters match their programs to their tastes and, therefore, continue to produce similar shows over and over. This audience, seldom, if not at all, tune up to programs that deal with political, social, and economic news, views and issues which are expressed in English. In any case, such programs are now rare on mainline TV and are mostly found on cable TV, to which most of the poor do not have connection.
The other cause relating to most voters’ lack of adequate information is the unfortunate existing lack of use of a common language. The government, both national and local, deliberate in English and issue their communications in English. On the other hand, most of the population do not have the appropriate level of understanding of English, because of inadequate education or, simply, they do not use the English language at all. As a result, they are unable to appreciate the deliberations in government; communications issued by government; and news, views, and reports in print media and English TV programs. Had we developed a common language for common use, whether such language be Filipino, English, or Spanish, Filipinos, even the poor ones, may have a better understanding of current events and issues.
Countries in Southeast Asia that were similarly colonized as the Philippines had conclusively dealt with such an important issue. Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, right at the time of its independence, chose a native language, Bahasa Indonesia. Similarly, the former French colonies, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos use a native language. Among the British colonies, multi-ethnic Singapore, whose population is predominantly Chinese, chose English. Multi-ethnic Malaysia, predominantly Malay, had decided on Bahasa Malaysia, which is similar to Bahasa Indonesia, many years ago. In Myanmar, the official language is Burmese, a native language.
The lack of adequate information among voters leads to their inability to make well-evaluated personal choices. Instead, they go for name recall, which created the development towards movie and TV personalities getting into electoral contests. Moreover,these voters are also easily influenced and swayed by strong local leaders to support these leaders’ choices, enhanced by vote buying.
Vote buying, the other cause of improper expression of people’s sovereignty, is now common, particularly in elections for local government officials and House representatives. There are standard prices for vote buying in each province or region, depending upon the position being contested. The government is not doing anything about it.
So, under these circumstances, what are the possible solutions? The short-term solutions are obvious, but could not be promulgated and, if already promulgated, could not be implemented, because the decision makers, members of the present oligarchy, will not relinquish their hold on power and so lose their superior political advantages. The framers of the present Constitution did recognize the problem and included provisions in the Constitution that may provide solutions. They provided for the adoption of an anti-dynasty legislation but, which, sadly, has been totally ignored by legislators. They also provided for mandatory term limits, but this requirement cannot stand alone. It has to be paired with an anti-dynasty law to work effectively. Note that these remedies do not even directly deal with the problem. These are indirect measures that merely reduce the size of the problem, because the direct solution of improving the education of the voting mass will take much time, especially under present political circumstances.
The adoption of a language for common use is highly desirable. But it needs a strong leader who recognizes the underlying issue to get the solution, which is necessarily long-term, done.
Vote buying is right in front of our eyes for some time now. But those who can deal with it, don’t.
So, under these circumstances, the only alternative is to wait for the Filipino voters to get better educated and, thus, acquire the discernment to exercise properly their sovereignty by making an informed judgement when making choices in electoral contests. That, of course, will be a very long wait.
We are not a democracy today. We are under an oligarchical rule, with its consequent unchecked abuse of power and promotion of self-interest and the inevitable effects of limiting the sustainability of political and economic growth and development.
We, the sovereign Filipino people, now find ourselves inside a straitjacket. We will stay that way for generations, if we continue to be indifferent. Must we?
 
Benjamin R. Punongbayan is the founder of Punongbayan & Araullo, one of the Philippines’ leading auditing firms.
ben.buklod@yahoo.com

PBA: Magnolia Hotshots earn back-to-back wins

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok earned their first back-to-back victories in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup after defeating the Columbian Dyip, 109-83, on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Struggled to have their campaign in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament to take flight in their first six games, the Hotshots gave themselves a boost with another convincing win over Columbian, their second in a row, to improve to 3-4 in the standings.
The win was in follow-up to their 103-96 victory over the Alaska Aces last time around even as the Hotshots dropped the Dyip to a 5-5 card.
Magnolia jump-started things in the first quarter, racing to a 15-6 lead with 4:15 left in the frame.
It would use it to build a 10-point cushion, 22-12, after the first 12 minutes of the match.
The Hotshots maintained dominance to start the second canto, stretching their lead to 17 points in the first two minutes.
But Columbian found its groove after, going on an 18-4 run in the next three minutes, led by rookie CJ Perez and guard Rashawn McCarthy, to come within three points, 33-30.
The Hotshots though regained their footing, paced by Jio Jalalon and Mark Barroca, rebuilding a double-digit lead anew, 41-30, with four minutes remaining, and a 48-38 advantage at the half.
Columbian came out in the third aggressive, coming closer to four points, 52-48, after just four minutes of play in the frame.
However, much like what they did in the previous two quarters, the Hotshots found ways to separate themselves from the Dyip again.
They went on a 12-4 fightback to go on top by 12 points, 64-52, by the 3:51 mark.
Magnolia took advantage of its newfound wave to make its way to a 75-57 lead after three quarters.
The Hotshots’ steady shooting spilt over into the final canto to keep the Dyip at bay, 83-62, with nine minutes left.
Columbian made attempts to narrow the gap but Magnolia had answers each time.
The count stood at 90-71 with six minutes to go, and the Hotshots still comfortably ahead.
From their Magnolia would not be threatened, moving on to roll to the key win.
Ian Sangalang led the Hotshots with 16 points with Mr. Barroca adding 14 and Rome Dela Rosa 12 points.
Mr. McCarthy was the high point man for Columbian with 19 with Perez adding 14 points.
“It’s all about our desire to win. I talked to the players about the importance of this game and they responded well,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero after the game.
“We are not out of the woods yet as we are still below in the standings but I’m happy where our game is right now, especially defensively, than in our earlier matches,” he added.

Lady Eagles steamroll to fifth triumph in a row

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
LIKE a freight train the Ateneo Lady Eagles steamrolled to their fifth straight win in UAAP Season 81 with a four-sets victory over the Adamson Lady Falcons, 25-8, 22-25, 25-16 and 25-10, in their “avian clash” on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Had it up and down in the first two sets, the Lady Eagles played with more steadiness in the next two frames to put out the fight from the Lady Falcons and improve to a University Athletic Association of the Philippines season-best 5-1 record.
The Lady Falcons had some success to begin the first set, building a 4-0 lead, before the Lady Eagles began exacting their will.
Ateneo went on an 8-1 run after to claim an 8-5 lead by the first technical timeout.
It was all Lady Eagles the rest of the way, outworking and outhustling their opponents for the dominant 25-8 set win.
The start of the second set took a familiar route as the first with Adamson gaining early traction.
But Ateneo would once again beat it at the first technical break, 8-6.
The Lady Falcons though did not allow the Lady Eagles to soar too far, going on a 5-2 run on the lead of veteran Joy Dacoron to overtake Ateneo, 11-10.
Bea De Leon and the rest of the Lady Eagles then responded with a 6-3 blitz to stay ahead, 16-14, midway.
The fight, however, was not over for the Lady Falcons as they fashioned out a comeback, taking a 21-19 lead.
It used it as leverage to go on and take the set 25-22 and level the match at a set apiece.
Recognizing that they let the second set slipped from their claws, the Lady Eagles began the third frame with more aggression.
On the lead of De Leon anew, Ateneo rocketed to an 8-2 advantage, extending it to an even bigger lead, 16-8, at the halfway juncture.
It would not relent on the surge after that to take the set, 25-16, and the 2-1 lead for the match.
The Ateneans met a strong challenge from Adamson to start the fourth set but collectively stayed solid.
Towed by De Leon, Ponggay Gaston and Kat Tolentino, the Lady Eagles created a 16-8 separation.
It was a distance that proved too far to overhaul for the Lady Falcons as they bowed to their second straight defeat.
Gaston paced Ateneo with 16 points with Tolentino adding 15.
De Leon, for her part, had 14 points.
Adamson (1-5), meanwhile, was led by Eli Soyud with 13 points with Dacoron and Chiara Permentilla adding nine points each.
“We really wanted to have this win. We had a short turnaround from our last game but credit to the players for stepping up the way they did today,” said Ateneo coach Oliver Almandro postgame.
Ateneo finishes its first-round assignment on March 16 versus the National University Bulldogs while Adamson will have a date with University of the Philippines Lady Maroons on March 17.

Ceres makes it 2 wins in as many games at AFC Cup

CERES-NEGROS FC maintained its control of Group G in the 2019 AFC Cup with another victory on Tuesday night over Becamex Binh Duong, 3-1, in Vietnam.
Getting a splendid performance from Spaniard Bienvenido Maranon, the “Busmen” made it two victories in as many games in group play of the ongoing tournament to take solid leadership in the grouping with six points.
Mr. Maranon silenced the home team early as he out-witted Becamex goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong, stealing the ball from the latter in the host’s penalty area and tapping it into the net for a Ceres goal and the lead, 1-0, in the 26th minute.
Becamex tried to get back the point for the rest of the opening half, creating some solid opportunities to score, but Ceres continued to hold sway by the halftime break.
At the start of the second half both teams picked up the pace, looking to establish the momentum they needed to seize control of the match.
The home team got the first dent in the second half when Brazilian Wander Luiz pulled Becamex even when he volleyed the ball inside the net in the 72nd minute.
Ceres immediately regrouped though with Mr. Maranon scoring his second goal two minutes later to give back the lead to his team, 2-1.
Mr. Maranon and the Busmen continued to put pressure on Becamex and created further separation, 3-1, in the 78th minute when the Spaniard completed his hat trick with help from teammate OJ Porteria.
Becamex scrambled to make a late comeback on the lead of Wander Luiz but nothing would come of it as Ceres fought off everything that was thrown at it down the stretch en route to the victory,
Following Tuesday’s fixtures in Group G, Ceres (2-0-0) is at solo first place, followed by Indonesia’ Persija Jakarta (1-1-0), Becamex (0-1-1) and Shan United FC of Myanmar (0-0-2).
As per tournament format, the top teams in each of the groupings earn an automatic spot in the Zonal semifinals of the tournament.
Ceres next plays on April 3 against Persija Jakarta at its home field of Panaad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

UAAP 3×3 basketball hailed as step in the right direction by SBP

STAGED for the second straight year this season, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) 3×3 basketball tournament was welcomed not only by alumni schools but also the country’s basketball federation for the key role it plays in fostering the growth of the sport here and establishing the Philippines’ capabilities in it abroad.
In a statement released early this week, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) lauded the UAAP for staging a successful 3×3 tournament held on March 2 and 3 at the Ayala Malls Feliz in Pasig City.
SBP President Al Panlilio cited the efforts of the league to have its own 3×3 tournament in alignment with the SBP and asked other groups as well to do the same to make the country’s 3×3 push a concerted one and reap the corresponding benefits.
“The alignment forged by the UAAP 3×3 organizers with the SBP is what we’ve been actively espousing. We are very pleased that the UAAP 3×3 with their 3×3 commissioner Xavier Nunag and SBP 3×3 program head Ronnie Magsanoc were able to establish a strong link and partnership that benefitted our country in our goal to generate as many points as possible,” said Mr. Panlilio in the statement.
“Remember that 3×3 is now an Olympic sport and that’s why I am calling on all independent 3×3 event organizers to align with coach Ronnie so that they can be guided accordingly on the correct formula in running their respective tournaments,” he added.
Mr. Magsanoc shared the same view even as he said that he was pleased on how this year’s edition of the UAAP 3×3 tournament panned out.
“On behalf of the SBP, we are grateful to the UAAP for helping the national program of the 3×3. Some of the best and brightest 3×3 players traced their roots in the UAAP,” said Magsanoc.
“Players like Ricci Rivero, Juan Gomez de Liano, Thirdy Ravena, Jack Animam of women’s basketball have represented the country playing for the national team. Looking forward to having the discipline as a part of the regular sports competition for Season 82,” he added.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles topped the men’s division of the UAAP 3×3, defeating University of Santo Tomas in the finals, 19-13, while the National University Lady Bulldogs ruled the women’s side, beating the Adamson Lady Falcons, 21-3. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

LeBron, Lakers snap skid; Blazers break Clippers run

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 36 points and 10 rebounds, and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers overcame their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season to end a five-game losing streak with a 123-107 win against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 24 points off the bench, Kyle Kuzma scored 21, Rajon Rondo had 14 points and 10 assists, and JaVale McGee finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers.
Robin Lopez scored 20 points, Otto Porter Jr. had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Kris Dunn finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Chicago. Ryan Arcidiacono started in place of leading scorer Zach LaVine (knee) and had 14 points and six assists.
The Lakers scored 16 points in the first quarter, and the Bulls closed with an 11-1 run to take an 18-point lead into the second quarter. Los Angeles went ahead for the first time since making the first basket of the game when Kuzma put in a layup for a 66-64 lead with 8:48 left in the third quarter.
BLAZERS END CLIPPERS’ WIN STREAK WITH LATE SURGE
CJ McCollum scored 23 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 125-104 victory over the host Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.
Damian Lillard recorded 20 points and 12 assists as Portland won for the eighth time in the past 11 games. Jusuf Nurkic added 20 points and 12 rebounds, Enes Kanter contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, and Seth Curry scored 10 for the Trail Blazers.
Montrezl Harrell registered 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Lou Williams added 18 points for Los Angeles, which had a five-game winning streak halted. Shea Gilgeous-Alexander scored 15 points, Landry Shamet added 11 and Ivica Zubac had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Portland (41-26) is tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Clippers (39-30) are in seventh place.
The Trail Blazers outscored Los Angeles 40-20 in the final quarter to pull away.
SPURS 112, MAVERICKS 105
DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his team-high 33 points in the first quarter and LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 of his 28 in the third to lead visiting San Antonio past Dallas.
Derrick White added 23 points and seven assists, and Davis Bertans dropped three 3-pointers, including two big ones in the fourth quarter. San Antonio ran its win streak to a season-best six games.
Dallas lost for a sixth consecutive game as rookie Luka Doncic, playing with a sore right knee, was limited to 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting. He was 1 of 7 from deep, a frustrating 1 of 9 from the free-throw line and committed nine of the Mavericks’ 14 turnovers. Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 34 points for Dallas.
BUCKS 130, PELICANS 113
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points to lead six Milwaukee scorers in double figures in a win at New Orleans.
Khris Middleton added 23 points, Malcolm Brogdon scored 18, Eric Bledsoe and former Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic had 14 each and Brook Lopez 13.
Elfrid Payton had his second consecutive triple-double for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight, finishing with 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 assists. He is the first New Orleans player to have a triple-double in consecutive games since Chris Paul did it in 2008.
76ERS 106, CAVALIERS 99
Ben Simmons had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead host Philadelphia past Cleveland.
Joel Embiid added 17 points and 19 rebounds for his 50th double-double of the season. Embiid also blocked four shots. JJ Redick scored 17 points for the Sixers, who were without Jimmy Butler as he was held out for a planned rest day.
Collin Sexton paced the Cavaliers with 26 points while Cedi Osman added 18 and Jordan Clarkson had 13.
PACERS 103, KNICKS 98
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points as Indiana continued its home dominance of New York.
The Pacers rebounded from a pair of nationally televised double-digit defeats at Milwaukee and Philadelphia by beating the Knicks for the 13th time in their last 14 meetings in Indianapolis and completing their third season sweep of New York in the past five seasons.
The Knicks’ latest losing streak is at seven games. New York, which got 21 points from Emmanuel Mudiay, scored fewer than 100 points for the fourth straight game. — Reuters

2019 World Team Championship

12th World Team Championship
Astana, Kazakhsstan
March 5-14, 2019

Current Standings (6 of 9 rounds)

1. RUSSIA (Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Andreikin, Artemiev), 10/12

2-3. INDIA (Adhiban, Sasikiran, Ganguly, Sethuraman, Aravindh), ENGLAND (Adams, Mcshane, Howell, Jones), 9/12

4. USA (Swiercz, Sevian, Onischuk, Lenderman, Izoria), 8/12

5. CHINA (Ding Liren, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua), 6/12

6. IRAN (Maghsoodloo, Idani, Tabatabaei, Firouzja), 5/12

7-9. AZERBAIJAN (Naiditsch, Mamedov, Guseinov, Safarli, Abasov), KAZAKHSTAN (Jumabayev, Ismagambetov, Kazhgaleyev, Makhnev, Kostenko), SWEDEN (Grandelius, Tikkanen, Blomqvist, A.Smith, Johansson), 4/12

10. EGYPT (Amin, Adly, Fawzy, Hesham, Abdelnabbi), 1/12

Match Point System. Each match will be scored by match points as used in the FIDE Olympiad. Winner will get two points, a draw will give each team a point, and a loss is scored as zero points. If any teams finish with equal match points, the tie shall be resolved by board points in total.
Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.
The World Team Championships is held every two years as some sort of counterpoint to the Chess Olympiad, which is also a biennial even taking place in even-numbered years. The World Team Championship occurs in the odd-numbers.
The World Team champions is supposed to be a gathering of the elite teams only. This is a 10-team event and its composition is:

Defending World Team Champion — China

European Champion — Azerbaijan

Asian Champion — Iran

Champion of the Americas — USA

African Champion — Egypt

Olympiad Top Finishers not otherwise qualified — Russia, Poland (declined, replaced by Sweden), England

Host Federation — Kazakhstan

Nominee of FIDE President — India (the FIDE President nominated the next higher ranked in the 2018 Olympiad)

Due to the uncertainty over the scheduling of the event and where it will be held there were several notable absentees. In particular the American team came without any of their silver-medalist Olympiad squad (Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Samuel Shankland, Ray Robson). On the other hand the team they did send was not so shabby either. Aside from Samuel Sevian, Alexander Onischuk and Alex Lenderman, they had two strong newcomers, Darius Swiercz (formerly from Poland) on top board and Zviad Izoria (formerly from Georgia) on board 5.
As you know China had won the 2018 Batumi Olympiad and also is the defending World Team Champion, so they have strong claims to being the top chess nation in the world. Personally I find this an anomaly, for how can you be the numero uno if you don’t see anybody playing chess in the streets, in the parks, in bars and pubs all over the capital and even in the marketplace? Chess everywhere is something you see in Russia, Germany, several other capitals in Europe and even some places in the United States. In the Republic of Georgia they routinely include a chess set in a bride’s dowry. Estonia (Keres) and Armenia (Petrosian) have chessplayers in their bank notes!
But not in China.
Anyway, chess country or not China sent their gold-medal winning Olympiad squad to Astana minus Li Chao, who was replaced by Ni Hua. This seemed to wreck their team chemistry a bit. Li Chao, a frequent Philippine visitor, is a bit of an up-and-down guy, sometimes losing very badly, sometimes appearing to be invincible. He however seems to revel in team events. For example in the 2017 World Teams Li Chao was the team’s hero at the event with five wins and four draws. He scored what became the crucial win of the whole event by toppling Vladimir Fedoseev’s Berlin Wall in the only decisive game of the Russia-China match. In the final round China had to beat Poland to gain gold medals and once again it was Li Chao to the rescue, as he scored the only win while the other three games were drawn.
Here in Astana, China started out by beating Azerbaijan (who came without their top two stars Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov) 3.5-0.5, but then slid down to two consecutive losses to the USA and Russia, both by 1.5-2.5 counts. Ian Nepomniachtchi’s victory over Yu Yangyi was the decisive point for Russia. It is a beautiful game. Watch!

Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2771) — Yu, Yangyi (2761) [C43]
World Team-ch Open 2019 Astana (3.2), 07.03.2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.0 — 0 Bd6 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0 — 0 10.Qh5 f5 11.Re1 c6 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.Re3 g6 14.Qh4 Rae8 15.Rae1 Rxe3 16.Rxe3 Re8 17.c4
Nepom revealed after the game that he had prepared this line with GM Alexander Motylev before the game. At this point Yangyi had already spent an hour while White had hardly used up any time.
17…Rxe3 18.Bxe3 Be8 19.c5 Qe7
Also in the same interview Nepom expressed the opinion that this move was a mistake, because after …
20.Bg5! Qe1+ 21.Bf1 Bf8 22.Be3! <D>
POSITION AFTER 22.BE3
Black’s queen, far from threatening the White king, is shut out of play.]
22…Qa5 23.Bf4!
The Black queen still can’t get into play.
23…Bf7 24.Qf6 Bg7 25.Qd6
Threatening mate with Qb8+ followed by Bd6.
25…Qe1
After 25…Bxd4 Nepom will continue nevertheless with 26.Qb8+ Kg7 27.Bd6 Black will have a difficult time keeping his position together.
26.Be3 Bf8 27.Qb8 b6 28.cxb6 axb6 29.Qxb6 Qa1 30.Qa7
Now White will be pushing his passed a-pawn, but Black has to take some desperate measures.
30…c5?! 31.Qa8!
With the idea of Bh6
31…Qe1 32.dxc5 d4 33.Bh6! Be8 34.Qd5+
An inaccuracy. An easy win could be had with 34.c6 Bd6 (34…Bxh6 35.c7 the pawn queens) 35.c7! Bxc7 36.Qa3! with a mating attack. The actual game continuation still wins, although slower.
34…Bf7 35.Qd8 Qe7 36.Qxe7 Bxe7 37.c6 Bd6
[37…Bxa2 38.c7 Be6 39.Bc4!]
38.g3 Bd5 39.a4 Kf7
Yangyi couldn’t take the c6 — pawn because 39…Bxc6 40.Bc4+ would trap his king in a corner. The bishops would then be powerless against the passed pawn. Let’s check it out: 40…Kh8 41.a5 Bc5 (41…Bb7 42.a6 Ba8 43.Bf4 Bxf4 44.gxf4 and now Bc4 — f1 — g2 wins) 42.a6 Be4 43.Kf1 Bxc2 44.Ke2 Be4 45.f3 Bc6 46.Bf4 Kg7 47.Be5+ Kf8 48.Kd3 Ke7 49.Bxd4 Bxd4 50.Kxd4 and now, While the Black king and bishop have to keep watch over the dangerous a6-pawn, White will raid and liquidate the enemy kingside pawns.
40.Bb5 Bc7 41.Bf4 Bxf4 42.gxf4 Ke7 43.c7 Bb7 44.a5 1 — 0
Nepom had an easy time executing Yangyi. The time control in use was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then an additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move. At the time that Yu Yangyi resigned on the 44th move GM Ian had 96 minutes left, more time than when he started!
In round 4 China had a chance to get back on track against India, playing without their top 3 Anand, Harikrishna and Vidit. These three are also India’s only 2700+ rated players. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly then bombarded Yu with tactical shots to hold the Chinese to a 2-2 draw.

Yu, Yangyi (2761) — Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (2633) [D38]
WchT Astana 2019 Astana (4.2), 08.03.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.e3 0 — 0 10.Be2 Be6 11.0 — 0 a6 12.Rfc1 Bd6 13.Qd1 Ne7 14.Na4 b6 15.b4 a5 16.b5 g5 17.Nb2 Ng6 18.Nd3 Rae8 19.Nfe1
Pre-empting …h6 — h5. Or so he thought.
19…h5!
Even then! Ganguly wholeheartedly gives up the h-pawn to open up the h-file.
20.Bxh5 Kg7 21.h3 Rh8 22.Bg4 Bxg4 23.hxg4
All according to plan. But he did not count on …
23…Rxe3! 24.Rc6
Not 24.fxe3 Bh2+ 25.Kh1 Qf1#
24…Bh2+ 25.Kf1
[25.Kh1 Rxe1+! 26.Qxe1 Qxd4 27.Rd1 Qxg4 and there is no salvation.]
25…Bg3! 26.Kg1
[26.Rxf6 Rh1#]
26…Bh2+ 27.Kf1 Bg3 28.Kg1 Qxd4! 29.Nc2!
Somehow White is still alive.
29…Bh2+ 30.Kh1
Not 30.Kf1? Qxd3+ 31.Qxd3 Rxd3 there is no immediate mate but Black is clearly winning.
30…Bf4+ 31.Kg1 Bh2+ 32.Kh1 Bf4+ 33.Kg1 Qxd3 34.Nxe3 Bh2+ 35.Kh1 Be5+ 36.Kg1 Bh2+ 37.Kh1 Qxb5 38.Rac1 Bg3+ 39.Kg1 Bh2+ 40.Kh1 Ne7! 41.g3 Nxc6 42.Nf5+ Kf8 43.Kg2 Bxg3! 44.Nxg3 Rh6 45.Nf5 Re6 46.Qf3 Qb2 47.Rh1 Ne7!
Once White’s powerful knight on f5 is gone there is no more hope.
48.Qg3 Nxf5 49.gxf5 Re2 50.Qf3 Qe5 51.f6 Ke8 52.Rh8+ Kd7 53.Rf8 Qe6 54.Qh5 Qe4+
Now it is skin and bones.
55.Qf3 Qxf3+ 56.Kxf3 Rxa2 57.Rxf7+ Ke6 58.Rxc7 Kxf6 59.Rc6+ Kf5 60.Rxb6 Ra3+ 61.Ke2 a4 62.Rd6 Ke4 63.Re6+ Kd4 64.Rg6 Ra2+ 65.Kf3 a3 66.Rxg5 Rc2 0 — 1
Its looking like China is already out of contention. On Tuesday we will give the final results.
 
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

Close call

Absent any information on and about the Sixers’ homestand yesterday, National Basketball Association habitues can be forgiven for making assumptions in support of the final score. That the hosts had a close call against the otherwise-stumbling Cavaliers gave rise to speculation that All-Star Joel Embiid was again sidelined, and that visiting counterpart Kevin Love, meanwhile, had a monster outing. In truth, it was the opposite, the former managed to burn rubber for 34 minutes, while the latter stuck to schedule and rested.
To be sure, the Sixers didn’t have their full complement; starter Jimmy Butler was likewise held out. Still, there can be no excusing their effort, or, to be more precise, relative lack thereof; they blitzed the Cavaliers early as expected, but then fell prey to careless mistakes and allowed the supposed patsies to keep close the rest of the way. A whopping 21 turnovers and just 85 field goal attempts all told against one of the league’s most porous defenses helped tell the tale. And, significantly, Embiid himself proved far from his best; in a performance he described as “trash,” he canned only six of 16 stabs at the basket on aggregate.
In the end, though, the Sixers were simply too talented to lose, even on an evident off day. They held the Cavaliers to under 40% shooting and grabbed 60 rebounds, 19 by Embiid. And, significantly, he was solid in the clutch; with the red, white, and blue up by just one in the final minute, he came up with an offensive rebound, a dunk, a block, and four straight free throws to ensure victory. If nothing else, it provided even more evidence of his importance to the cause of the Finals hopefuls.
Perhaps the Sixers are already looking ahead to the postseason. They likely figured the Cavaliers, on the second day of a back-to-back set, would be fodder at the Wells Fargo Center, and so acted accordingly. In keeping Butler off-duty, though, they failed to account for highly motivated opponents fresh from an emphatic triumph versus the powerhouse Raptors. Their gamble ultimately paid off despite their foibles, but because of Embiid, and not without a scare. In any case, he’s not worried. “By playoff time, we’ll be back to normal,” he said. Needless to say, fans have their fingers crossed he’s right.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Rebel-turned-peacemaker: Ghazali Jaafar, 75

FLAGS were flown half-mast at the Bangsamoro People’s Compound in Cotabato City in honor of Ghazali Jaafar, one of the most prominent leaders of the Moro armed struggle and later negotiator for peace.
Mr. Jaafar, 75, succumbed to a lingering illness at around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13, at Metro Davao Medical Research Center Hospital in Davao City.
“Itong latest na nangyari dito sa ospital sa Davao, ang findings sa kanya ng mga doktor ay nag-malfunction ang kanyang kidneys at meron siyang parang asthma,” said professor Raby B. Angkal, chief of staff of the Office of the Chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) and aide of Mr. Jaafar, in a phone interview on Wednesday, March 13. (The latest that happened in the hospital in Davao, the doctors found out that his kidneys had malfunctioned and he had asthma).
Mr. Angkal said Mr. Jaafar was hospitalized in Manila last year after the bicameral meeting on the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).
“Nu’ng after bicam, nagkaroon na siya ng panghihina. Nu’ng sinuri siya sa St. Luke’s [Medical Center], may diperensya siya sa puso, then tinakbo siya sa [Philippine] Heart Center, nagkaroon muna po siya ng masusing gamutan ng puso…gumaling pa siya diyan,” said Mr. Angkal. (After the bicam, he was already getting weak. When he was brought to St. Luke’s, he had a heart problem, then he was rushed to Heart Center, he had a thorough heart medication,…his condition improved).
But after the BOL was ratified early this year, Mr. Angkal said Mr. Jaafar became weaker.
“Pero after ratification ng BOL, lalo siyang humina. Ito na nga three days before, napasok na siya sa ospital sa Davao at kaninang gabi nga po ay napasok sa ICU [Intensive Care Unit], at ‘yun na po hindi na naka-recover,” said Mr. Angkal. (He got weaker after the ratification of BOL. Three days before, he was rushed to the hospital in Davao and last night he was brought to the ICU and he was not able to recover).
Mr. Jaafar was first vice -chairperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), witnessing the beginnings of his rebel group’s transition into the mainstream and the Bangsamoro region into an official autonomous region.
He was chairman of the BTC, which drafted what would become the Bangasamoro Organic Law following the peace deal between the MILF and the government.
BTA Chief Minister Murad Ebrahim said the passing of his comrade in the MILF, who was among those who started their movement in the 1960s, is “a big loss to the leadership of the BARMM and the MILF.” He described Mr. Jaafar as “someone who dedicated most of his life to the Bangsamoro struggle.”
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito G. Galvez Jr., said in a statement, “We will never forget that despite his health condition, Jaafar went the extra mile to join several campaign rallies to push for the realization of the Moro people’s aspiration for a genuine and meaningful autonomy.”
“Jaafar selflessly dedicated and devoted his life for others. Truly, he is a man of peace,” Mr. Galvez said.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador L. Panelo said in a statement, “Mr. Jaafar was a warrior of peace…. The Palace takes this opportunity to send our heartfelt condolences to the family members and friends of Mr. Jaafar. He has fought many battles for peace and may Allah grant him a place in Jannah (Paradise).”
Armed Forces of the Philippines Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard A. Arevalo said Mr. Jaafar “has been instrumental to the quest for peace in Mindanao as AFP’s dependable partner in that elusive aspiration. His insights and dedication as a person and as a peace advocate will be his enduring legacy— not only to the Bangsamoro people but to the entire nation as well.”
Lt. Gen. Arnel B. Dela Vega, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said Mr. Jaafar’s “legacy as a peace stalwart and devoted leader shall live on. His contribution to the peace efforts of the government and the security forces shall forever be remembered.”
In its statement, the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy said in part, “His passing is a big loss to the MILF and the newly created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BARMM). Jaafar has served as the first chairman of MILF panel when peace negotiations started in 1997 which resulted (in) a cease-fire agreement with the government.”
“While, he might not have lived to see the inaugural session of the BARMM his contributions will long be remembered and treasured.” — Tajallih S. Basman and Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

PHL to EU: Stop funding Red fronts

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINE government has asked the European Union (EU) to stop funding “communist front organizations” in the Philippines.
In a press briefing at the Palace on Wednesday, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations Brigadier General Antonio Parlade, Jr. said the Philippine delegation to the EU asked the foreign organization last month to stop funding identified communist “terrorist” front organizations in the country.
He also said a legal group under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Insurgency is currently “consolidating” the government’s evidence against its identified “communist front organizations” allegedly being funded by the EU.
The formal complaint will be filed before the EU “maybe next month,” Mr. Parlade said.
“The earlier the better…. They (the EU) wanted us to move fast also because the next tranche of funds could be released anytime soon. So they wanted to make sure that they have these documents before they release the succeeding tranche of [funds],” he said.
‘A LOT OF FUNDS’
“Sa ating pagre-research, nakita natin na ang dami po nung funding na nakukuha nitong mga organizations na ito (In our research, we saw that these organizations have been receiving a lot of funds), specifically from the European Union. Ang nakita natin na (What we saw that was) very clear [was] the release of some 622,000 euros para doon sa (for the) Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and they are proudly displaying the logo of the European Union without [them] knowing na ito pala ay mga (that these are communist) front organizations,” Mr. Parlade said further.
He added that the government has also engaged with the Ambassador of EU in Manila “and we found out that the EU is also planning to release another 1.3 million euros [for the] succeeding projects…being undertaken by the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.”
The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, according to its website, is an “inter-congregational” organization of religious men and women, priests, and lay people.
‘FRONTS’
Mr. Parlade said there are “seven” existing Belgian organizations in Manila. Under these Belgian organizations, he said, are “front organizations” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“I’m not at liberty to divulge to you right now itong mga…pangalan nitong mga organizations na ito (the names of these organizations). But ang very clear doon na nasa (on the) front page ng ano [of the CPP website] are these IBON and KARAPATAN,” he said.
IBON Foundation is a non-profit research organization while KARAPATAN describes itself as “an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense of people’s rights and civil liberties.”
Mr. Parlade said the government has already identified “around 30” front organizations in Mindanao being funded by the EU.
“Sa Mindanao pa lang iyon. Mayroon pang Visayas, mayroong Luzon…so I don’t know. Maybe aabot sa daan ang organization na pinopondohan nito (That is in Mindanao alone. There are also organizations in the Visayas and Luzon. So I don’t know. Maybe the number of EU-funded organizations will reach hundreds),” he said.

Catholic Church steps up effort to stop charging of services

GUIDELINES are being set up for the gradual removal in the Catholic Church of the arancel system, or the Church “practice of giving stipends to priests for specific church services,” the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan scrapped the system of charging fixed rates for sacraments and sacramentals in his archdiocese as early as 2015, the CBCP, citing that example, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Bishops take everything into consideration because their parishes have varying realities,” the statement noted.
In Manila, the country’s largest archdiocese, some parishes have already started ‘to calibrate their finances’ towards the removal of arancel.
Fr. Roy Bellen of the Manila archdiocese’s communications office said the target is to end the arancel system by 2021, the fifth centenary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines.
“This hopefully can be a gauge of the faithful of their change of paradigm in support the Church rather than thinking of ‘buying the sacraments’ from the Church,” he said.
Saying that sacraments are gifts from God, Pope Francis has repeatedly urged churches to give services freely, the statement noted.
“The latest to follow suit is Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga who ordered the removal of fees for funeral masses and blessings in his diocese,” the statement said.
“Financial obligations from the perspective of the Church are not of prime importance and must not be a burden to them,” Bishop Santos wrote in a circular on Tuesday. He also ordered that no fees for masses must be required by priests even for those in funeral parlors and memorial chapels.
“We should not obliged them either for the arancel, but we can be open for their free will to give or donate for the Church.”
Bishop Santos said their next plan is to start removing arancel on baptism, weddings, confirmation and Masses in the few years to come.

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