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Best Endgame for 2018

My son Keith Colby is a student at Xavier School. Around two years ago my wife made me promise to spend more time tutoring him with his math lessons. I really tried to do that but it turned out that my son’s lessons were much too advanced for me — and he was only in high school! In between my high school days and his the information age arrived, and with the fast access speeds to information from anywhere in the world comes greater demands on the students to catch up fast.
Back in my days when I wanted to research on something I would go to the library to do some reading, or maybe schedule an interview with an authority on the subject or even go to the relevant government agency to get reference materials. Nowadays the children just Google it on their smartphones and they become instant authorities in a matter of seconds.
There is a trade-off to all this new-found access. The pace of life has increased and the demand for more knowledge is ever-expanding. Illiteracy is darkness and people don’t believe in staying at home doing nothing anymore.
One of the casualties of this digital age is the well-played endgame. We all want to finish our games in a single session — no more adjournments and staying up all night considering all the subtle nuances of the rook-and-pawn endgame. And the time controls have been sped up. The 7-8 hour playing session has been halved to 3-4 hours. By the time we reach the endgame we could be playing on increments and there is no more time to think about your endgames — just to act and react to specific threats.
When Kirsan Ilyumzhinov took over as FIDE president in 1995 he had some “radical” ideas to bring chess into the digital age, one of which was to revamp the format of the World Championship — no more interzonals, candidate matches or long-winded 24-game world championship matches. All the regional champions would come together into a massive 128-player Knock-Out event with whoever is left standing declared the world champion. There were, of course, a lot of discussions on the feasibility of his ideas, how the public will accept them, etc-etc, but he persevered, and the 1997 World Chess Championships took place on December 8th 1997 in Groningen in the Netherlands. 96 players played in Groningen and after seven rounds of elimination matches the winner qualified to play Anatoly Karpov in a six-game match in the Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland. The rapid play and sudden death games that are required for tie-breaks take place on the same day as the second normal time rate game.
The second thing he wanted was to speed up the game. One of the main promoters for faster time controls among the top grandmasters was Alexei Shirov. Together with Eugene Torre he campaigned to have the playing session shortened to 90 minutes per player. There was a lot of opposition to this but nowadays it is fairly standard in FIDE competition that each player gets 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move.
I remember this game figures in the discussions, one of the most brilliant endgames I have ever seen.

Topalov, Veselin (2740) — Shirov, Alexei (2710) [D85]
Linares 15th (10), 04.03.1998

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0 — 0 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.0 — 0 e5 11.f3 Qe7 12.Be3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.Rad1 Nc4!? 16.Bc1 b5! 17.f4!
Of course. White has to make use of his mobile pawn center.
17…exd4 18.Nxd4 Bg4 19.Rde1 Qc5 20.Kh1 a5 21.h3! Bd7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Ba2!
Absolutely correct, keeping up the pressure on the c4 — knight.
23…Be8 24.e5!
Topalov will be following up with either e5 — e6 or f4 — f5. Black’s position is on the verge of collapse.
24…Nb6
Intending to answer 25.e6 with 25…Bxd4 as the c3 — pawn is now pinned against white’s queen.
25.f5 Nd5
Not 25…Rxd4? 26.Be3 Rad8 27.Re2 White loses material.
26.Bd2?
A mistake. Correct is 26.Rf3 with the idea of f5 — f6 and e5 — e6.
26…Nb4! 27.Qxa4
Why was 26.Bd2 a mistake? Because now 27.cxb4? Qxc2 28.Nxc2 Rxd2 loses the bishop.
27…Nxa2 28.Qxa2 Bxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Bg5 Rd5!
Shirov has survived the attack and, with the two bishops and an extra pawn, he can actually start playing for a win.
31.Re3 Qd6 32.Qe2 Bd7 33.c4 Bxd4 34.cxd5 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Re8! 36.Qc3 Qxd5 37.Bh6 Re5 38.Rf3 Qc5 39.Qa1 Bf5 40.Re3! f6
[40…Rxe3?? 41.Qg7#]
41.Rxe5 Qxe5 42.Qa2+ Qd5 43.Qxd5+ cxd5 44.Bd2 a4 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.h4 Ke6 47.Kg1 <D>
POSITION AFTER 47.KG1
OK, this is it. As GM Daniel Naroditsky explains it, “If White is able to bring his king to the center (d4, for example), Black might not be able to break through, even if he pushes his to a2. Unfortunately, 47…Bc2, attempting to clear the way for Black’s own king, fails to impress after 48.Kf2 Kf5 49.Ke3, and Black is one tempo too late.”
If 47…Be4, White holds with 48.Kf2 f5 49.g3 Kd6 50.Bd4 Kc6 51.Ke2 Kb5 52.Kd2 Kc4 53.Ke3! and there is no way to make progress. Black’s problem, then, is that as long as the bishop remains on the b1 — h7 diagonal, it will obstruct the king’s movement. Moving it to g4 doesn’t help, since White is able to reach the e3 square in time. But can the bishop move off the b1 — h7 diagonal with gain of tempo?”
47…Bh3!!
This is the only way to win.
48.gxh3
[48.Kf2 Kf5 49.Kf3 Bxg2+ 50.Kxg2 Ke4]
48…Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6
[50.Ke2 f5]
50…d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3 0 — 1
The finish will be 53…Kb3 54.Bc5 d3 55.Ke3 Kc2 56.Bb4 a3 Breathtaking!
One of the players told Shirov that shortening the time controls would mean that endgames as he played above will disappear. His reply was that these are the times we are living in.
Back to the present. The top chess website www.chessbase.com had a competition for the “Best Endgame for 2018.” The famous endgame expert and author GM Karsten Mueller put up a 10 game shortlist and the readers voted for no. 1. Here is the winner.

Carlsen, Magnus (2880) — Caruana, Fabiano (2789) [A22]
World Championship Playoff London (1), 28.11.2018

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.e4!? 0 — 0 5.Nge2 c6 6.Bg2 a6!? 7.0 — 0 b5 8.d4! d6 9.a3 Bxc3 10.Nxc3 bxc4 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Na4 Be6!
Black has to fight to keep his c4 — pawn, otherwise he has no compensation for the broken pawns in the queenside.
13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Be3 Nbd7 15.f3 Rab8 16.Rac1 Rb3 17.Rfe1
With Bf1 to follow and the c4 — pawn is lost.
17…Ne8 18.Bf1 Nd6 19.Rcd1 Nb5?
Perhaps 19…Nb7! was better, preventing Nc5.
20.Nc5!
After this Black is in big trouble.
20…Rxb2 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Bxc4 Nd4
[22…Kf7 is refuted by 23.Bxb5! axb5 24.Bg5! White wins material]
23.Bxd4 exd4 24.Bxe6+ Kf8 25.Rxd4 Ke7 26.Rxd7+ Rxd7 27.Bxd7 Kxd7
If White could only get his king out of the 1st rank then he would be winning, but that is not easy to do..
28.Rd1+ Ke6 29.f4 c5 30.Rd5 Rc2 31.h4 c4 32.f5+ Kf6 33.Rc5 h5 34.Kf1 Rc3?
I think this is where Caruana starts to go wrong. He should have kept his grip on the 2nd rank. After 34…c3 35.Ke1 Rg2 36.Rxc3 Ke5 I do not see a win.
35.Kg2 Rxa3 36.Rxc4 Ke5 37.Rc7 Kxe4?
The losing move. 37…Ra2+! should have been played. After 38.Kh3 Kxe4 39.Rxg7 Ra1 40.f6 Kf3 41.Kh2 Ra2+ 42.Kh3 Ra1 draw.
38.Re7+!
Very nice. Carlsen lets Black takes his f5 — pawn so that his rook can prevent the enemy king from getting on the f3 square. This prevents the drawing maneuver I showed in the previous variation.
38…Kxf5 39.Rxg7
Black cannot hold the h5 — pawn.
39…Kf6 40.Rg5 a5 41.Rxh5 a4 42.Ra5 Ra1 43.Kf3 a3 44.Ra6+ Kg7 45.Kg2 Ra2+ 46.Kh3 Ra1 47.h5 Kh7 48.g4 Kg7
Making it easy. 48…a2 would have forced Magnus to find some difficult moves. 49.Kh2! Kg7 50.g5 Kg8 51.Ra7 Kh8 52.h6! (52.g6? throws away the win 52…Rb1! 53.Rxa2 Rb5 draw) 52…Rb1 53.Rxa2 Rb5 54.Rg2! this is a book win.
49.Kh4 a2 50.Kg5 Kf7 51.h6 Rb1 52.Ra7+ Kg8 53.Rxa2 Rb5+ 54.Kg6 Rb6+ 55.Kh5 1 — 0
Technically perfect. Beautifully ruthless in its efficiency. But compare this with the Shirov game above. That is what we gave up.
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

Patch up

It’s easy to see why the Mavericks quickly moved to patch what appeared to be a broken relationship with point guard Dennis Smith Jr. After all, they used their lottery position last year to choose him ninth overall in the draft, and it would have been foolhardy of them to then give up on him after just a season and a half. For all his pouting, the potential he showed in earning All-Rookie Second Team honors remained, and they felt confident his pairing with superstar-in-the-making Luka Doncic would eventually succeed.
Not that the Mavericks didn’t try to move past Smith early on in his absence. When he started sitting out matches two weeks ago officially due to back issues followed by an illness, they sought to gauge outside interest in him. Not having liked what they saw in terms of trade possibilities, they proceeded to mend fences with him. And, in this regard, no less than head coach Rick Carlisle led the courtship, publicly declaring him to be welcome to return from issues described as solely business related.
So return Smith did, and, true enough, Carlisle acted as if nothing happened. And he wasn’t simply reinserted in the starting lineup yesterday despite having missed six games and significant practice time in between. He wound up playing the most number of minutes and taking the most number of shots among all the Mavericks en route to posing a heady 17-8-4 line. He faded late, but his in-contest swoon didn’t matter in the context of a much-needed victory. The optics told the tale: He came back and helped stop a four-outing losing streak — against the highly regarded Clippers no less.
How the Mavericks’ opinion of Smith, and vice versa, will ultimately be shaped is anybody’s guess. At this point, though, they’re clearly bent on moving forward together. Parenthetically, it helps that he and Doncic get along well off the court, and that the latter gave him a vote of confidence while he was away. That said, there’s a pecking order he needs to understand if he is to keep wearing blue and white; he’s second at best, and he will have to continue proving his worth as such.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Peso rebounds ahead of GDP

peso bills
THE PESO recovered ahead of Philippine economic growth data. — PHILSTAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

THE PESO recovered against the dollar on Thursday from a one-month low the previous session following a negative development in US-China trade talks and amid market optimism due ahead of the release of the Philippine economic growth data.
The local unit ended Wednesday’s session at P52.75 versus the greenback, 18 centavos stronger than the P52.93-per-dollar finish last Tuesday.
The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P52.83 per dollar. It climbed to as high as P52.72, while its intraday low stood at P52.87 against the US currency.
Trading volume thinned to $994.29 million from the $1.234 billion that switched hands the previous day.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso corrected against the dollar following days of trading weaker after the US was reported to cancel a trade planning meeting with China.
CNBC earlier reported that the US rejected to meet with Chinese officials this week due to disputes over intellectual property rules.
If no deal is reached before the 90-day truce ends on March 2, Mr. Trump will proceed with slapping increased tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
“I think the issues that brought the dollar weaker versus major currencies include the concerns over the US-China trade negotiations as well as weak housing data in the US,” the trader said in a phone interview.
“The reality is that we’re seeing data to be quite negative, given that we haven’t resolved major issues such as [partial US government] shutdown and trade war, all things point to a quite some correction.”
Meanwhile, another trader said in an e-mail that the peso regained strength yesterday due to profit-taking amid market optimism ahead of the release of the fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth data today.
A BusinessWorld poll of 16 analysts yielded a median GDP growth estimate of 6.3% for both the fourth quarter and 2018. The full-year projection was below the 6.7% pace recorded in 2017, as well as the 6.5-6.9% target of the government for 2018.
For today, the first trader expects the peso to trade between P52.65 and P53 versus the dollar, while the other gave a P52.60-P52.90 range. — KANV

PSEi edges lower on lingering growth concerns

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE MAIN INDEX edged lower on Wednesday on profit taking amid expectations of slower global economic growth due to the US-China trade war.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 0.23% or 19.02 points to close at 7,989.65 yesterday, but managed to trim its losses in early trading. In contrast, the broader all-shares index added 0.08% or 4.04 points to 4,814.01.
“Market went on profit taking today after IMF (International Monetary Fund) revised global growth downwards as China growth slows due to trade war (with the US),” Diversified Securities, Inc. trader Aniceto K. Pangan said via text on Wednesday.
The IMF this week cut its global growth outlook by 0.2% to 3.5% in 2019 and by 0.1% to 3.5% in 2020. Among the factors for the weaker outlook is the trade war between the US and China, which has yet to be resolved.
In addition, the US is currently on the 32nd day of its partial government shutdown, as Congress refuses to submit to US President Donald J. Trump’s demand of funding a $5.7-billion wall that would keep immigrants out of the country.
Eagle Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun noted that the index could have gone lower if not for last-minute buying at the run-off period.
“Nonetheless, our market still did better than equities markets in the west and even here in Asia,” Mr. Mangun said in an e-mail.
Wall Street indices bled overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1.22% or 301.87 points to close at 24,404.48. The S&P 500 index plummeted 1.42% or 37.81 points to 2,632.90, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.91% or 136.87 points to 7,020.36.
Asian markets, meanwhile, ended mixed due to uncertainties over the US-China trade war.
All sectoral indices moved to negative territory back home, led by the mining and oil counter, which fell 0.89% or 78.13 points to 8,698.33.
Property shed 0.39% or 15.94 points to 3,985.28; industrials dipped 0.35% or 41.75 points to 11,618.43; holding firms retreated 0.3% or 24.13 points to 7,932.22; services went down 0.27% or 4.30 points to 1,546.41; while financials slipped 0.21% or 3.81 points to 1,805.43.
Some 1.22 billion issues valued at P6.66 billion switched hands, slightly higher than Tuesday’s P6.47-billion turnover.
Decliners swamped advancers, 120 to 77, while 57 names were unchanged.
Net foreign buying persisted for the fifth straight day at P219.66 million, albeit lower than the previous session’s P908.64 million.
“The market continues to trade sideways, and with the release of GDP numbers tomorrow, we may see it gain some momentum as better numbers are expected than the previous quarters,” Eagle Equities’ Mr. Mangun said on Wednesday.

New IBM mentorship program readies students for a tech-powered future

From AI to blockchain, conversations around adopting new technologies have saturated the past few years, with firms both private and public scrambling to future-proof their systems. But the reality is that most firms are nowhere near ready for the future of work.
Take cloud computing. According to a new global study by McKinsey, a consultancy, only 18 to 19 percent of firms in Asia have moved their critical workloads to the cloud. There’s no question about the benefits of leveraging latest tech to power today’s workflows. But the transition towards better structures has been painfully slow. The development bottleneck: A lack of skilled workers to manage that transition.
As with the rest of the world, the Philippines suffers from a yawning skill gap brewing around tech. Unable to leverage its rich labor force to take advantage of massive opportunities opening up across the globe, how is a developing economy to keep up?
Last week, IBM announced a tripartite partnership with Taguig City and Taguig City University to launch the local leg of its global P-TECH school model.
“There is a massive skills shortage in the world and we feel a responsibility as one of the creators of many of these amazing new technologies that we fill that skills gap,” said Harriet Green, CEO of IBM Asia-Pacific. “The Philippines needs more of these skills if the trajectory of six to seven percent growth is going to continue.”

From blue collar to new collar

Created in 2011, P-TECH draws a direct path through high school, college, and career, uniting expertise across sectors to strengthen education and reinvigorate local economies.
All this is designed to ready the future of the Philippine workforce to cash in on “new collar jobs” opening up across various industries affected by advances in tech.
New collar jobs refer to the roles opening up in tech’s fastest growing fields. From cybersecurity to cloud computing, these are positions that require more specialization than a high school education provides, but not necessarily a college degree.
These constitute a “potential upside for roughly 654,000 net new jobs to be created by 2022, from a baseline of 1.15 million jobs in 2016”, according to the Philippine IT-BPM Accelerate PH Future Ready Roadmap 2022.
When P-TECH kicks off later this year in June, the Philippines will be the second country to adopt the model in Southeast Asia (after Singapore later this year) and only the tenth in the world, following 110 P-TECH schools across the United States, Morocco, Australia, and Taiwan.
Enrollment in the program is designed to be entirely free and specifically targeted towards the underprivileged to get them competitive not only locally but also globally.
In the United States, where the program was conceived, IBM has seen massive progress with P-TECH, with scholars graduating four times faster than the average US community college graduate. And speaking to the program’s drive towards inclusive growth, scholars from lower income groups graduate up to five times faster.
“These P-TECH scholars graduating, every single one of them, within a matter of weeks gets work,” said Harriet Green.
In the Philippines, P-TECH will span grades 11 to 12, with students participating in a paid internship program, culminating in an associate’s degree in computer technology. Over the course of their senior high school, these scholars will benefit from mentorships, worksite visits, and project days.
“Most people still put focus on getting a four-year college degree, so we end up with a lot of people with these diplomas that are unable to find jobs because their degrees don’t match the requirements of the marketplace,” said IBM Philippines’ Chief Technologist Lope A. Doromal, Jr.
“We’re not going to make any changes to the existing curriculum, but we will be supplementing it,” he said. “As the students goes through their normal education, they will have interactions with IBM-ers and our corporate partners so they have real life experience of what it’s like being in a working environment.”

Future-proofing the workforce

“Our outcome-based curriculum hasn’t been very successful in terms of the employability of our graduates,” said Taguig City University President Dr. Juan C. Birion, referring to the current K-12 educational framework. “In senior high school, the graduates are not yet that acceptable when it comes to employment. P-TECH is the right answer to that problem.”
As the country’s first P-TECH school partner, Taguig City University will be joining an ecosystem of more than 200 schools by the end of 2019, and 550 industry partners across technology, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. IBM says they’re hoping to continue building that community of school and industry partners in the months to come.
“We’re very aware of the urgent need for skilled STEM talent,” said Harriet Green. According to her, partnerships among government agencies, educational institutions, and private partners looking to invest in the future are the best path towards building a strong workforce.
“P-TECH is a direct response by IBM to the global skills crisis and is very much in line with the needs and strategy of the Philippines as a nation,” she said.
 

Traders to import 1.19M MT of rice

THE National Food Authority (NFA) has 180 applicants from the private sector to import 1.19 million metric tons (MT) of rice under the out-quota scheme as the government prepares to lift a cap on purchases, with its tariffication law for the staple expected to be in force “soon.”
The applications are for the importation of white rice at 5% and 25% brokens, fragrant rice at 5% brokens and glutinous rice at 10% brokens.
The NFA said this number of applications from rice traders as of Jan. 21 is still safe for now.
“Until this time, [this is] still okay. While there are 180 applicants, most of them have not actually imported yet,” Tomas R. Escarez, NFA Officer-in-Charge Administrator, said in a mobile message on Tuesday.
Asked what is the cut-off for applicants, Mr. Escarez replied, “That has not been discussed at the NFA Council yet.”
Out of the 180, 18 have been given permits to import previously, according to NFA data as of Jan. 18.
Last year, the NFA awarded five private firms from Southeast Asia contracts to import 500,000 MT of rice from Thailand and Vietnam.
It also sealed the importation of 250,000 MT of rice via government-to-government deals with Thailand and Vietnam, which will be its last purchase as the state moves to liberalize rice imports.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte in October ordered the “unimpeded” importation of rice after the country’s inflation rate shot up to 6.7% in September and October, the highest in nearly a decade, partly due to food prices.
Importers are allowed to bring in rice from any country, but grains from Southeast Asian suppliers will be charged a tariff of 35% while those from elsewhere will face a 50% charge.
Lawmakers have approved the bill removing the import cap on rice imports and replacing it with tariffs. Mr. Duterte will “most likely” sign it into law “soon,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said on Tuesday.
Inflation eased in November and December, and the rice tariffication law could help curb it this year by as much as 0.7 percentage point, the central bank has said. Rice is the biggest food item in the country’s consumer price index.
Under the rice tariffication measure, the NFA will focus solely on procuring rice from local farmers for buffer stocking while importation duties will be left to private firms. The tariffs collected from the importation will go to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund which will help Filipino rice farmers boost productivity by providing education, seeds, and technology among others.
In a joint statement, business groups said they support the government’s move to liberalize the economy via the tariffication measure and urged Mr. Duterte to enact the bill soon.
These groups are the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Investment House Association of the Philippines, Judicial Reform Initiative, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines, Inc., Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Philippine Investment Funds Association, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. and Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines, Inc.
“The bill is now with Malacañang and we urge the President to sign it into law. Upon enactment, the financial resources, management expertise, logistics support and extensive nationwide distribution system of the private sector will be harnessed to ensure food security, particularly of the most important food staple — rice,” the joint statement read.
The groups said the measure will help address via “free and open competition” the supply concerns that stoked inflation last year.
“We urge the sustained provision of essential support services and facilities — irrigation, better seedlings, modern growing and efficient harvesting technology, safe agricultural chemicals and post-harvest facilities — by the government to further assist the farm sector to be more productive and increase rural income,” they added. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio with Reuters

BSP looks into data breach at Cebuana Lhuillier

THE CENTRAL bank said it is looking into the data breach which hit Cebuana Lhuillier, with an official pointing out that pawnshop firms are mandated to keep tight cybersecurity protocols in place.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier told reporters that officials of Cebuana Lhuillier (CL) informed the regulator “over the weekend” about the data leak, which is said to have affected roughly 900,000 customers.
Cebuana Lhuillier said over the weekend that a breach was detected in an e-mail server used “for marketing purposes,” which included clients’ personal data such as birthdays, addresses, and source of income.
The pawnshop, which has a network of close to 2,500 branches in the Philippines, said its main servers were not affected and transaction details are safe.
“The BSP is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the concerned officers of CL to ensure timely remediation and that such exposed information will not be used for fraudulent transactions,” the central bank said in the statement issued late Monday.
Ms. Fonacier said the case falls under a circular which places cybersecurity as a board-level concern among financial firms.
Issued in November 2017, BSP Circular 982 requires all financial players to set up internal systems to identify and counter a wide array of digital attacks through an information security program “commensurate” to the complexity of a firm’s reliance on digital tools.
Last year, the central bank also implemented new rules requiring supervised firms to report digital breaches and cyber-attacks within two hours from discovery, while a more detailed report should follow the next day.
Ms. Fonacier said managing information security risks should be the concern of top management for banks as well as non-bank financial institutions providing services to the public.
Apart from the BSP, the National Privacy Commission is also investigating the Cebuana Lhuillier data breach.
NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY
Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is preparing guidelines for the implementation of the National CyberSecurity Plan (NCSP) as it acknowledged the recent rise in cyber threats.
“The MCs (memorandum circulars) are already there. But the monitoring, the guidelines will be soon to follow,” DICT Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity Allan S. Cabanlong said in a briefing on Tuesday.
The NCSP identified 12 critical information infrastructure or “infostructure” as the government; land, sea, and air transportation; energy; water; health; emergency services; banking and finance; business process outsourcing (BPO); telecommunications; and media sectors.
“Our appeal to the 12 critical infostructure is to fast-track their identification of (points of contact) so that we can streamline processes in the National Cyber-Intelligence Platform… (They) should be ready by this year. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated every second, every minute, every hour of the day. So we need to be adaptive, we need to be proactive,” Mr. Cabanlong added.
The DICT is currently developing a cybersecurity management system with concessionaire Integrated Computer Systems, Inc. (ICS) and Israel-based Verint Systems, Inc. The centralized monitoring system is expected to be completed within 10 and a half months, but Mr. Cabanlong said they are requesting ICS-Verint to expedite the process.
“The contract is 10.5 months starting the kickoff. But we are requesting ICS if they can deliver the VAPT (vulnerability assessment and penetration testing) tool and the web intelligence before 10.5 months, maybe next month, so that we can use it already. Why? Because of these attacks,” he said.
Over the weekend, the DICT detected malware on a downloadable file from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website. The attack has been contained, but the vulnerability assessment is still ongoing.
Mr. Cabanlong said the SEC attack only shows the heightened need for the government to improve its defenses against cyber threats.
He said the DICT plans to propose a law creating a separate agency focusing on cybersecurity.
“We are proposing a law that would separate the cybersecurity bureau to the department, maging line agency na siya [to become a line agency]. It will become a Cybersecurity Agency of the Philippines. Pero ginagawa pa lang namin [But we’re still working on it],” Mr. Cabanlong said. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez and Denise A. Valdez

Mindanao seen to grow by 7%-8% this year

DAVAO CITY — The economy of Mindanao is forecast to grow by up to 8% this year with projects boosting agricultural output, investments in urban areas, and improved business confidence arising from the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, an official of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said.
Assistant Secretary Romeo M. Montenegro, MinDA deputy executive director, said the”7-8%” growth projection for this year would likely be higher than the expected “6.9-7.5%” in 2018.
“This is against the backdrop of martial law being imposed in Mindanao,” Mr. Montenegro said in an interview last week.
In 2017, when martial law was first declared on May 23 as fighting broke out in Marawi City between extremist groups allied with the Islamic State and government forces, “Mindanao posted a robust growth of 7.1% … higher than its 6.4% growth” in 2016, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“Mindanao was able to demonstrate strongly last year,” Mr. Montenegro said, with key cities showing “notable growth… in real estate development, business process outsourcing, export-oriented agricultural products and the surge in construction activities.”
This year’s projected growth is in part anchored on Mindanao “performing strongly in agriculture output” given government interventions lined up, including projects under the Department of Agriculture-implemented Philippine Rural Development Project.
Mindanao produces eight of the country’s 10 agricultural export commodities, among these fresh and processed fruits, coconut products, aquaculture products, and rubber.
In the urban areas, Mr. Montenegro cited government infrastructure projects and the continued entry of real estate developers, particularly for high-rise buildings, which would prompt demand for power supply.
Mr. Montenegro said Mindanao’s growth also hinges on the implementation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which would create a new autonomous region that would be given higher funding support from the national government and expanded fiscal share from local resources.
In 2017, three of the Mindanao regions registered robust growth in their gross regional domestic product (GRDP), higher than the national gross domestic product of 6.7%, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) at 7.3%, Davao at 10.9%, and SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos City) at 8.2%. The three other Mindanao regions’ GRDP growth rates were: Northern Mindanao, 5.9; Caraga, 4.3%; and Zamboanga Peninsula, 2.3%. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

IMF, CEOs sound warnings as leaders gather in Davos

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecasts on Monday and a survey showed increasing pessimism among business chiefs as trade tensions and uncertainty loomed over the world’s biggest annual gathering of the rich and powerful.
The gloomy IMF forecasts, released on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, highlighted the challenges facing policy makers as they tackle an array of actual or potential crises, from the US-China trade war to Brexit.
“After two years of solid expansion, the world economy is growing more slowly than expected and risks are rising,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told reporters.
“Does that mean a global recession is around the corner? No. But the risk of a sharper decline in global growth has certainly increased,” she said, urging policy makers to brace for a “serious slowdown.”
In its World Economic Outlook report released on Monday, the IMF predicted the global economy will grow at 3.5% in 2019 and 3.6% in 2020, down 0.2 and 0.1 percentage point respectively from last October’s forecasts.
“There are so many variables and so much uncertainty globally, from the trade tension to geopolitical changes, so a lot of market activity and market sentiment are out of our control,” Laura Cha, chair of the Hong Kong stock exchange, told Reuters Television.
The IMF downgrades mainly reflected signs of weakness in Europe, with its export powerhouse Germany hurt by new fuel emission standards for cars and with Italy under market pressure due to Rome’s recent budget standoff with the European Union.
The global lender also cited a bigger-than-expected slowdown in China’s economy and a possible “No Deal” Brexit as risks to its outlook, saying these could worsen market turbulence.
A survey by auditing and accounting giant PwC of nearly 1,400 chief executives found that 29% believe global economic growth will decline over the next 12 months, the highest percentage since 2012.
While the most pronounced shift was among business leaders in the United States, the share of CEOs who expected growth to slow increased significantly across every region, it showed.
“It’s quite a reversal from last year and the gloomier mood cuts across just about everywhere in the world,” said Bob Moritz, global chairman at PwC.
“With the rise of trade tension and protectionism, it stands to reason that confidence is waning.”
Tim Ryan, US Chairman at PwC, told Reuters: “We were a little bit spoiled by the environment the past six to eight years after the financial crisis,” describing an uncertain economy as the new normal.
“People are getting used to the volatility.”
CHINA GLOOM WIDENS
Fears of a global slowdown have jolted markets and forced the US Federal Reserve Bank to signal a pause in its interest rate hike cycle, as investors fret about increasing weak signs in China and the fallout from Sino-US trade frictions.
Data released on Monday showed China’s economy cooled in the fourth quarter on faltering domestic demand and bruising US tariffs, dragging 2018 growth to the lowest in nearly three decades.
“Sometimes we spook ourselves, so it remains to be seen how slow is slow, how bad is bad, let’s see how the first quarter looks,” said Cha.
Analysts polled by Reuters also saw a higher chance Japan will slide into a recession, keeping the country’s central bank under pressure to maintain its massive stimulus.
The IMF cut its growth projections for the euro zone and developing countries, while maintaining its forecast for a 2.5% expansion in the United States this year.
It also kept its China growth forecast at 6.2% in both 2019 and 2020, but said economic activity could miss expectations if trade tensions persist, even with state efforts to spur growth by boosting fiscal spending and bank lending.
“As seen in 2015–16, concerns about the health of China’s economy can trigger abrupt, wide-reaching sell-offs in financial and commodity markets that place its trading partners, commodity exporters, and other emerging markets under pressure,” it said.
Britain is expected to achieve 1.5% growth this year though there is uncertainty over the projection, which is based on the assumption of an orderly exit from the EU, it said. — Reuters

10 (or more) reasons to live

THE NARRATOR enters and walks to audience members around the room as she gives out strips of paper. From the aisle, she walks to the third row on the left side and hands this writer one strip of paper on which was written “5. Things with stripes” in cursive letters. “Hold on it. I’ll explain later,” she says.
The narrator is actress Teresa Herrera who stars in the interactive one-person play, Every Brilliant Thing, which will be presented at the BGC Arts Center in February.
Duncan Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing follows the narrator as she tells the story and recalls her perspective as a child dealing with her mother’s depression and attempts at suicide. Hoping to convince her mother to choose life, she writes a list of things that make life worth living.
“Suicide is a social contagion that’s particularly contagious. And so there’s a huge responsibility,” said the playwright in a 2015 interview filmed at the National Theatre in London. “So, one of our big guiding principles as we were devising this show was ‘How do we responsibly make a show about suicide which doesn’t ignore the complex realities but also doesn’t… make people want to kill themselves?’ that was one of the big impulses behind wanting to make it a comedy,” Mr. Macmillan said.
“It’s not a philosophy for living. It’s not a solution to depression. It’s just a way of talking about it and talking about strategies you can implement in order to try and combat it in your own life,” he added.
The Sandbox Collective and 9 Works Theatrical will be staging the one-woman interactive play, starring Ms. Herrera and directed by Jenny Jamora, from Feb. 2 to 24 at the Zobel de Ayala Recital Hall, BGC Arts Center in Taguig city.
“I think it’s such a serious issue. It’s not something that we can ignore. So, I think now would be a good time to start the discussion, opening it up and start normalizing it and taking away the stigma that causes a lot of people to go further in their depression,” said Ms. Herrera, who said she experienced mental health issues in her 20s, about the importance of the discussions at a press conference last week at the Privato Hotel in Pasig City.
The comedic play’s format involves audience participation as the story play’s out.
“We want people to know and see and acknowledge each other,” said Ms. Herrera. “When we do those improv skits with Mrs. Patterson, the vet, [and] my dad, automatically, the audience is engaged and [you] connect. You connect because you don’t know what to do when you’re in that position which is also part of the fun because I don’t know what they’re about to do.”
Likewise, Ms. Jamora said that the interactive play is immediate shared experience.
“Everybody in the room has an immediate sense of responsibility, as well as an immediate contribution in the creation of the story. Plus, it’s really fun.”
The producers will also conduct post-show discussions with the audience involving mental health experts from partner organizations such as Mental Health PH, The Spring Foundation, and the Philippine Psychiatric Society. The experts will also discuss support groups, suicide hotlines, mental health consultations, and coping mechanisms.
For show tickets, visit www.ticketworld.com.ph or call 0956-200-4909. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

It all begins with jazz


AT 2 p.m., artist Gerry Baguio sits alone in his studio surrounded by pieces of cogon paper. To kickstart his creativity, he sets his iPod on the speakers and plays the album In a Silent Way (1969) by Miles Davis. At 4 p.m., he takes a break. And at 7 p.m., he resumes working.
Listening to the jazz album led the artist to name his first exhibit for 2019 after it. Mr. Baguio said that the exhibit title, In a Silent Way, describes the creative process his works went through for a year.
“Habang nagwo-work ako, ’yan ang pinapakingan ko. Tahimik yung lugar ko tapos ibon lang ang maririnig ko (While I’m working, that’s what I only listen to. The place is quiet and it is only birds that I hear),” Mr. Baguio told BusinessWorld at the exhibit opening on Jan. 19 at the Avellana Art Gallery in Pasay City.
The 18 collages in the exhibit are done on handmade paper made with cogon grass. Having had experience in the paper-making process in his hometown of Bacolod, the artist described the process: the pulp is boiled in water, rinsed five times, bleach is then added, and the paper is dyed with the desired color. Then, it is placed on a silkscreen molder and flattened on plywood.
The details on the collages are achieved with the use of magazine cutouts, ballpen drawings, and acrylic paint in bold magenta, cobalt blue, emerald green, vermillion, and hansa yellow.
The works represent the indigenous culture of Bacolod.
“When I get bored, pinabayaan ko siya muna (I leave the works for a while). Then, lilipat ako sa iba (Then I transfer my attention to other things),” Mr. Baguio said about his working process. “I just play music and when I turn to my works and visualize a figure, that’s when I work on it.”
The collage that inspired the rest of the works — and was also titled after Davis’ album — is a representation of a child’s birth until his growth, evident through the human-like figures in the piece.
As for what he wants every viewer to see, he said: “I want them to see that my works are hairsplitting and colorful.”
In a Silent Way is on view until Feb. 16 at the Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 F.B. Harrison St., Pasay City. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Israeli museum to drop McJesus sculpture after violent protests

A SCULPTURE by Finnish artist Jani Leononen, entitles McJesus, is seen on display at the Haifa Museum of Art in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Jan. 15.

HAIFA, ISRAEL — An Israeli museum plans to withdraw a sculpture depicting the McDonald’s mascot as the crucified Jesus following protests which briefly united the country’s Christian minority, its populist culture minister, and the pro-Palestinian artist.
The life-sized sculpture showing the Ronald McDonald clown on a cross has been at the center of an exhibition about consumerism and religion. Other pieces depict Jesus and the Virgin Mary as Ken and Barbie children’s dolls.
Protests became violent on Friday. Police said they arrested one man on suspicion of assault and were searching for two others people who threw firebombs at the Haifa Museum of Art.
Three police officers were hurt as dozens of protesters tried to forcibly enter the museum, police said. Panes of glass along its entrance were smashed. Protests continued on Saturday.
“I object to this disgraceful sculpture,” said Nicola Abdo, a Haifa resident and protester. “As a Christian person… I take deep offense to this depiction of our symbols.”
The mayor of the Jewish-Arab city of Haifa said on Thursday the sculpture would be taken out of the exhibition following consultations with church leaders.
“The sculpture will be removed and returned as soon as possible,” Einat Kalish Rotem tweeted. “We regret the aggravation the Christian community experienced… and the physical injury and violence that surrounded it.”
She did not say when it would be removed, but it had been due to be returned to the Finnish museum that loaned it last year at the end of the month.
Christian Arabs, who make up around 2% of the Jewish majority country’s population, found a champion for their anger in Miri Regev, the culture minister whose censure of art deemed pro-Palestinian has made her a darling of the Israeli right.
Citing the injury to religious sensitivities, Ms. Regev had threatened to cut state funds to the museum. Israel’s Justice Ministry slapped her down, arguing she had no such authority.
The McJesus sculptor, Jani Leinonen, from Finland, had also demanded that the exhibit be removed as he was boycotting Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Others saw in Thursday’s decision a chance for reconciliation.
“The winner today is the people of Haifa,” said Wadie Abu Nassar, an adviser to local church leaders. “The removal of this sculpture is a reflection our desire to coexist in the city.” — Reuters

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