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Undermanned UST brings down UP

THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers ended their first-round campaign in UAAP Season 81 on a high note, defeating the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 86-72, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Continued to play sans Cameroonian big man Steve Akomo, out indefinitely because of blood clots found in his head, UST played with a lot of spirit and drive to overpower UP and end their first-round assignment in the ongoing season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines with back-to-back wins.
The Tigers (3-4) defeated the University of the East Red Warriors in their previous game.
UST galloped to start the contest, building an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes of the opening quarter.
It was a leverage they would build on to establish a 14-6 advantage midway before extending it to a 15-point separation, 31-16, at the end of the opening frame.
Rookie CJ Cansino helped UST to another strong start in the second canto, stretching their lead to 23 points, 48-25, with 2:11 left in the half.
The Maroons tried to narrow the gap but only saw the Tigers pound on them and be buried some more, 53-29, at the break.
Veteran Paul Desiderio led a mini run by UP to start the third period.
But the Tigers would not relent on their attack, with Enrique Caunan at the helm of the charge, to hold a 62-37 advantage with 4:30 left in the quarter.
Cansino and Renzo Subido picked up from there and pulled UST even farther, 73-43, heading into the two-minute mark.
When the quarter dust settled, UST was in command, 76-46.
The Maroons opened the fourth period with a 13-3 run to cut their deficit, 79-59, with 5:31 left on the clock.
Four quick points though by UST after restored some order for the Tigers.
UP managed to come within 14 points, 83-69, with two minutes left in the match but it proved to be too late as UST went for the closeout from there.
Cansino paced the Tigers with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. He also had seven assists.
Subido had 13 points while Ken Zamora and Marvin Lee added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
UP, for its part, was led by Akhuetie with 18 points and 11 boards.
Javi Gomez de Liano finished with 12 points and Diego Dario 10 for the Maroons (3-4), who failed to finish the first round with a winning record.
“Everybody came to play today. We executed our game plan which helped a lot. Steve [Akomo], of course, is a rallying point for us. We are playing for him,” said UST coach Aldin Ayo after their win.
Meanwhile, UST continued to play without Akomo, who is in the hospital after blood clotting due to head trauma was found in his head.
Experienced dizziness and vomiting, Akomo was admitted to the UST Hospital on Monday and is now being observed.
Reports have it that he does not need to undergo surgery as the clots could be rid of through medication.
Akomo’s condition is being pointed to his collision with Adamson University’s Papi Sarr in their game on Sept. 22, giving rise to call for the UAAP to have a clear policy on concussion.
League officials said they would take up the matter in their next policy meeting. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

7’s Football League semis set

TAGUIG — Laro, Real Amigos, Super Eagles, and Ghana barged into the semifinals of the 7’s Football League after the final regular season games and the eventual quarterfinals that took place on Monday night at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig.
Laro and Real Amigos secured the outright semifinal berths after romping Futbol Fanatics and Western Bicutan, respectively, in their last elimination round assignments, while Super Eagles and Ghana needed to go through the quarterfinal stage to secure the other two semis berths.
Laro, led by former Kaya Ilo-ilo and Azkals skipper Aly Borromeo, tripped Futbol Fanatics, 5-0, in its elimination round outing to secure the top seed in the semifinals.
On the other hand, Real Amigos, made up of players of the Makati Football School, went on a first-half barrage to turn back Western Bicutan, 5-1, to seal the other semifinal berth and send Super Eagles, who beat Deportivo Matu in their last regular season outing, to the quarterfinals.
Super Eagles would book its own semifinal seat by beating Enderun, 3-1, in the quarterfinals.
In the other playoff match, Ghana mauled Deportivo Matu, 6-0, behind a four-goal showing from Emmanuel Donkor and a brace from Hassan Mohammed.
Laro will face Super Eagles, and Real Amigos battle Ghana in the semifinals on Oct. 15. Finals is for Oct. 22.
The 7’s Football League matches will be shown over ESPN5.

Aussie Open organizers working towards stand on coaching rule

MELBOURNE — Australian Open organizers are working to determine whether coaching will be allowed during the Grand Slam tournament in an effort to end the controversy that led to Serena Williams’ outburst over a code violation during the US Open final.
Coaching while the players are on court is not permitted in Grand Slam tournaments, although the WTA Tour allows it in other events at specified times. It is prohibited in all men’s matches.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said at the time that he would urge tennis officials to affirm its position on coaching during matches and said on Tuesday that they were working with the governing bodies to clarify the rules. — Reuters

Games from Batumi

43rd Chess Olympiad (Open Division)
Batumi, Georgia
Sept. 23 — Oct. 6, 2018

Final Standings
Country/Points TB1 TB2

1. China 18/22 372.5 28.5

2. USA 18/22 360.5 29.0

3. Russia 18/22 354.5 29.0

4. Poland 17/22 390.0 28.0

5. England 17/22 340.0 27.5

6. India 16/22 388.0 29.0

7. Vietnam 16/22 379.5 30.5

8. Armenia 16/22 371.0 27.5

9. France 16/22 366.0 28.5

10. Ukraine 16/22 337.0 26.0

Total of 185 teams from 183 countries. Georgia as the host country was allowed to field 3 teams.
Time Control is 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.
Individual Board Prizes:

Board 1. Gold: GM Ding Liren CHN 2804, 5.5/8. Silver: GM Fabiano Caruana USA 2827, 7.0/10. Bronze: GM Anish Giri NED 2780, 8.5/11.

Board 2. Gold: GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2620, 8.5/10. Silver: GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2768, 7.5/10. Bronze: GM Teimour Radjabov AZE 2751, 7.0/10.

Board 3. Gold: GM Jorge Cori PER 2664, 7.5/8. Silver: GM Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2779, 6.5/9. Bronze: GM Kacper Piorun POL 2612, 6.5/9.

Board 4. Gold: GM Daniel Fridman GER 2591, 7.5/9. Silver: GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2712, 7.5/10, Bronze: GM Rauf Mamedov AZE 2699, 6.5/9.

Board 5. Gold: GM Anton Korobov UKR 2685, 6.5/8. Silver: GM Ilia Smirin ISR 2594, 7.5/9. Bronze: GM Christian Bauer FRA 2629, 7.0/9

Best Rating Performances (Rp):

1. GM Jorge Cori PER 2664, Rp 2925

2. GM Ding Liren CHN 2804, Rp 2873

3. GM Fabiano Caruana USA 2827, Rp 2859

FABIANO CARUANA
All eyes were on Fabiano Caruana, board 1 of the USA, because of his coming world championship match with Magnus Carlsen next month in London. Would he be holding back his opening preparation? Would he be pulling his punches?
Answer to both questions is a big NO. Caruana was the leader of the United States team and fully aware of his responsibilities. He played 10 rounds out of 11, skipping only the first round when their opponent was Panama, one of the weaker teams. Over the course of 10 rounds Fabi defeated former world champion Vishy Anand, world championship challenger Boris Gelfand, GM Denis Kadric (BIH 2543) and the red-hot Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Caruana, Fabiano (2827) — Anand, Viswanathan (2771) [E03]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (4.1), 27.09.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Be3!?
A nice new idea, with the aim of preventing Black’s …c7–c5.
7…Bd6 8.Qc2 0–0 9.Nh3 e5 10.0–0 h6 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.Rad1 Re8 14.Nf4 c6 15.Bd4 g5?!
Played after 15 minutes’ thought, and it turns out to be a bad move.
16.Nd3 Nxd3 17.Rxd3!
This has to be carefully calculated as ideas connected to Black’s Bf5 abound.
17…Be5
[17…Bf5? 18.Bxf6! Qxf6 19.Rxd6! Qxd6 20.Qxf5 White is clearly better]
18.Qd2 Bf5 19.e4 Bg6 20.f4!
Precisely the move that White’s 18.Qd2 was aiming for.
20…gxf4?
Black didn’t like 20…Bxd4+ 21.Rxd4 Rad8 22.e5 Nh5 23.f5 (23.Rd6 gxf4) 23…Rxd4 24.Qxd4 Bh7 but it is better than what he actually got.
21.Bxe5! Qxe5 22.gxf4 Qc5+ 23.Kh1 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Rxe4
Capturing with the bishop loses: 24…Bxe4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4 26.Qg2+
25.Rg3! Rd4 26.Qe3! 1–0
Not 26.Qf2? because 26…Kh8 saves the piece. But now, after 26.Qe3! Kh8 (26…Kh7 27.f5 Bxf5 28.Rxf5 Qxf5 29.Qxd4) 27.f5 wins the bishop because the White queen has Qxh6+ in reserve]
At the conclusion of the Olympiad Caruana’s ELO rating has climbed up to 2832. This is only seven points behind reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen’s 2839. Anticipation for their match is climbing to a fever pitch as for the first time in a long while we have a match between, ratings-wise, the world no. 1 versus the world no. 2.
WESLEY SO
Anish Giri tweeted that the weak link in the USA team is GM Samuel Shankland, perhaps influenced by the reigning USA champion’s loss to Israel’s Emil Sutovsky. But Shankland turned around and showed that he was no weak link – he scored the decisive win in their victory over Azerbaijan (round 8) and Armenia (round 10).
Surprisingly enough the real weak link was Hikaru Nakamura. The top point-maker of previous Olympiads was surprisingly unable to pull in the wins in Batumi. After a round 1 win over a 2300+ player he had six straight draws and then lost to Poland’s Kacper Piorun in round 9. He was unceremoniously benched in round 10 and then came back in round 11 to draw with Bu Xiangzhi. It looks like his confidence had been affected. At one point during his game with Bu the Chinese GM offered to bring on complications with a pawn sacrifice. Nakamura usually accepts these gifts because he knows he can outplay anyone in tactics. However, he uncharacteristically turned down the pawn and later on had to defend an inferior position.
Wesley So started well with 6/7 but then he lost to Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov in round 8 and could not win another game.
This was more or less the same story as the USA’s performance in the Olympiad. A powerful start to go into the lead and then a nice win over their co-leader Azerbaijan in round 8. At this point many of us thought that the championship is in the bag for the Americans, and apparently they thought so to – but then came a sputtering finish with a loss (1.5-2.5 to Poland), a narrow victory over Armenia 2.5-1.5, then a fight less draw with China 2-2.
Here is one of Wesley’s wins in his “hot” phase.

So, Wesley (2776) — Bosiocic, Marin (2600) [B92]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (7.2), 01.10.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be2 Be7 9.h4!?
A new move in this position, but h4 and/or g4 pawn thrusts in the opening are nowadays very common.
9…h5 10.Nd5 Bxd5 11.exd5 Nbd7 12.c4 g6 13.g3 b6 14.Nd2 a5 15.f4!?
Still the same enterprising play. Wesley opens up the f-file and really pushes through with his attack there.
15…Qc8 16.0–0 Nc5 17.Kg2 Ra7 18.Qc2 Bd8?
Wesley’s aggressive play has discombobulated Black who plays unnecessarily passively. He could have countered with 18…exf4 19.Rxf4 Nfd7 20.Raf1 f5 and nothing is clear yet.
19.f5! Rg8 20.fxg6 Rxg6 21.Rf5 b5 22.Raf1 Rc7 23.Bxh5 Nxh5 24.Rxh5 Rg8 25.Qh7 Qg4 26.Rg5! Rxg5 27.Bxg5 1–0
[27.Bxg5 Kd7 (27…Bxg5 28.Qg8+ Kd7 29.Rxf7+ Be7 30.Qxg4+) 28.Bxd8 Kxd8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qf6+ Ke8 31.Qxd6 Qd7 32.Qxe5+ Qe7 33.Qd4 with an easy win]
IAN NEPOMNIACHTCHI
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won the very strong Dortmund Chess Meeting last July and brought his good form with him to Batumi. He scored 7.5/10, with five wins and five draws. Nepom plays fast, attacks hard, and is usually the first game to finish. In the crucial last round match Russia vs France for example he scored the decisive match win (all other games were drawn) and won the brilliancy prize for the round while the other games were still in the opening phase!

Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2768) — Bacrot, Etienne (2678) [A13]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (11.2), 05.10.2018

The early starting time for the last round (11 am instead of the usual 3 pm) seemed to affect GM Etienne Bacrot, who apparently had not yet woken up!
1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.b3 0–0 6.Bb2 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.h4!?
A new move and one that the Russian team studied in a training camp before the Olympiad. This is one of those “b3 secret weapons” that everyone is trying out these days.
8…b6 9.Qb1 h6 10.g4 Bb7 11.Rh3 Nd7 12.g5 h5 13.Bd3 Nb4 14.Bh7+ Kh8 15.Be4 Nd5 16.Ne2 f5?
POSITION AFTER 16…F5
The losing move. 16…Bd6 is simple and good. At this point Nepom said that he calculated everything to the end, which is an impressive feat considering that a review of game times show that he took only 1 minute on his next move!
17.gxf6 N7xf6 18.Ng5! Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Bxg5 20.hxg5 Nf4
[20…Qxg5 21.Rg3 followed by taking on g7]
21.Qxb7 Nd3+
[21…Nxh3 22.Qxg7#]
22.Kf1 Nxb2 23.Rxh5+ Kg8 24.g6! 1–0
White’s threat is 25.Rh8+ Kxh8 26.Qh1+ Kg8 27.Qh7 mate.
 
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

Preseason matches

Preseason games don’t normally matter. More than anything else, they provide opportunities for coaches to try out different personnel combinations, substitution patterns they wouldn’t otherwise employ, and plays seemingly more suited for the Globetrotters. Still, they’ve become must-see fare of late, showing fans glimpses of the coming campaign. And, needless to say, some stand to be more interesting than others, headlined as they are by marquee names who, even with controlled exposure, remain motivated by winning.
Today’s match between the Warriors and the Lakers is a prime example of a one transcending circumstance, never mind that there’s no rivalry to speak of. For all the storied history of the National Basketball Association’s premier glamour franchise, the focus has shifted to the Bay Area in recent memory; the dynastic predilections of Steve Kerr’s charges are no more apparent than in their three titles over the last four years, as well as in their preeminent position heading into the 2018-19 season.
Don’t tell that to the Lakers, though. Bolstered by their acquisition of acknowledged best of the best LeBron James in free agency, they’ve begun to look forward to not just making the playoffs for the first time in six years; they’re actually keen on going deep, their insistence on tempering expectations notwithstanding. Which is why they’re psyched for today’s contest with the Warriors. There’s nothing like going up against the National Basketball Association’s gold standard to gauge progress, or lack thereof.
Certainly, the outcome of an exhibition match in which as many as 26 players are bound to see action won’t matter in the long haul. Today, though, followers of the pro scene will be intent on minding the trees more than the forest. How well will James play with Lonzo Ball in the court, and vice versa? Will there be extra motivation for him to face the Warriors in purple and gold? Meanwhile, will the defending champions be moved to put him in his place? Bragging rights are, after all, important currency in the league.
Little wonder, then, that the Warriors-Lakers tiff has hogged headlines. The usual suspects have seen fit to provide the media with quotable quotes on the eve of the encounter, further fueling anticipation. Important to the bottom line? Nope. Far from worthless, though, as the stars themselves have shown.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

CA justice named to High Court

COURT OF APPEALS (CA) associate justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando — ATENEO.EDU

COURT OF APPEALS (CA) associate justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando was appointed Supreme Court associate justice by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Wednesday.
Born on Aug. 27, 1966, Mr. Hernando, 52, will be serving in the SC for eighteen years before turning 70 which is the mandatory retirement age.
Mr. Hernando has served as CA associate justice from Feb. 16, 2010. Before that, he was Presiding Judge of Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 93 from May 22, 2006 to Feb. 15, 2010.
He had also served as presiding judge of RTC Branch 29 of San Pablo City in Laguna from Oct. 29, 2003 to May 21, 2006 and as executive judge of the RTC from November 2004 to May 2006.
Mr. Hernando was State Prosecutor II at the Department of Justice from June 16, 1998 to Oct. 28, 2003 and Supreme Court Attorney V from July 1, 1995 to June 15, 1998.
Mr. Hernando obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in San Beda College in 1990.
He was among the nine shortlisted nominees set to replace Samuel R. Martires, who is now Ombudsman. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Senate approves universal health care bill on third reading

By Camille A. Aguinaldo, Reporter
THE SENATE on Wednesday passed on third and final reading the universal health care bill, which will provide automatic inclusion of all Filipinos in the National Health Insurance Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), including overseas Filipino workers.
Senate Bill No. 1896 was approved with 14 affirmative votes, no negative vote, and no abstention. It has been identified by the Legislative Executive Development Council (LEDAC) as among the priority measures of Congress.
If signed into law, all Filipino citizens will be automatically enrolled in PhilHealth whether as director contributor or indirect contributor (those sponsored by the government, such as indigents, senior citizens, among others). They can avail themselves of primary healthcare services even without the PhilHealth identification cards. PhilHealth services will be extended to free consultation fees, laboratory tests, and other diagnostic services.
According to Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, one of the authors of the bill, the funds collected from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCor), the incremental sin tax collections, and the sugar tax would be pooled for universal health care.
“There is no greater winning combination than using casino income for cure. It is better for our health institutions to direct where funds must go than for state gaming bodies to triage who will receive help or not,” Mr. Recto said in a statement.
The proposed measure will set up a healthcare provider network that will allow every Filipino to register and have his or her own primary care provider.
It will also provide an inventory of health professionals to determine the actual gap and needs for a specific health profession, and a mechanism for public health care providers to improve their facilities and equipment by means of financial subsidies to make them ready to shift into network-base health care delivery system.
The proposed measure also requires all graduates of health-related courses from state universities and colleges or government-funded scholarship programs to serve for at least three years in the public sector.
“Medical expenses will no longer be a problem because every Filipino will automatically be a member of PhilHealth,” said Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography.
“This is a giant step in our effort to equalize health care service delivery for all Filipinos. Its universal fulfillment is a step towards eradicating inequality,” said Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, co-sponsor and co-author of the bill, in a statement.
House passed its version of the bill on Sept. 6, 2017.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in part, “We thank the Senate for passing on third and final reading the landmark Universal Health Care Bill.”
He added: “On a personal level, the Universal Health Care Bill is close to me, for I was the principal author of the House version of the bill. I consider this measure ground-breaking because beneficiaries will be entitled to health coverage simply by virtue of their citizenship as Filipinos.”

House approves on 2nd reading expanded sexual harassment bill

By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter
THE BILL expanding the definition of sexual harassment in the workplace or educational institutions has hurdled second reading at the House of Representatives.
The chamber, via voice voting, approved House Bill 8244, Expanded Anti-Sexual Harassment Act, which will widen the scope of sexual harassment to include a single or a series of acts that may be physical, verbal or visual and may be committed through technology that could result in an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment.
The measure will repeal Republic Act 7877, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, which merely defines sexual harassment as being committed upon the demand or request of any sexual favor from a person having authority over another in the workplace.
The bill also provides that offenders may be imprisoned for one to six months, or be sanctioned with a fine of P50,000 to P200,000, or both.
The fine is much stiffer than the penalties currently provided by the law, which range only from P10,000 to P20,000.
The bill also stipulates that should the perpetrator be the employer or head of office, the maximum penalties shall be imposed.
Further, the measure proposes to sanction individuals who violate the right to privacy of a sexual harassment victim with a fine of P20,000 to P50,000.
The measure also ensures that the employer or head of the institution where the harassment was committed shall be held liable if proven to be neglectful of duty.
An employer or head of the institution is considered liable “if he/she has knowledge or is presumed to have knowledge of such acts or acts constituting sexual harassment and no immediate action is taken.”
Upon enactment, companies or educational institutions shall be required to create the Committee on Decorum and Investigation which shall be tasked to resolve sexual harassment complaints within 15 days from submission.

Palace releases report on narco-cops

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
MALACAÑANG on Wednesday made public its “Secret Special Report” on the alleged involvement of high-ranking law enforcement officials in drug trafficking in the country.
In a press conference last Tuesday, President Rodrigo R. Duterte told reporters that he has already “declassified” the report, copies of which he asked his special assistant, Christopher Lawrence T. Go, to distribute to the press.
Dated Sept. 12, 2018, the 15-page document titled “Secret Special Report” contains a link chart or matrix of involved personalities, significant information about their involvement in illegal drugs, and recommendations, among others.
The list includes two retired and two active Senior Superintendents, two Police Inspectors, and a Senior Police Officer 4.
This group, according to the said report, has “created a pool of agents and personnel who are mostly corrupt and have already created networks with different drug lords across the country and abroad.”
“The involved personalities belong to the defunct PNP (Philippine National Police) drug enforcement group, PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), and even the Bureau of Customs (BoC),” the report added.
The report, it said, “is an offshoot of what transpired during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Sept. 11, 2018 wherein Jimmy Guban, Custom’s intelligence agent, was cited for contempt for perjury and actual involvement in the P6.8-billion worth of smuggled shabu.”

Peso climbs vs dollar

peso remittance
THE PESO rose against the greenback on the back of local trade data. — PHILSTAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

THE PESO strengthened on Wednesday as the dollar’s ascent against the euro paused and as the local trade data came in stronger than expected.
The local currency closed Wednesday’s session at P54.18 versus the greenback, six centavos stronger than the P54.24-per-dollar finish on Tuesday.
The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P54.19 per greenback. Its best showing stood at P54.11, while its intraday low was at P54.22 versus the US currency.
Trading volume grew to $720.8 million from the $605 million that exchanged hands the previous day.
A foreign exchange trader said the local unit traded within a range similar to Tuesday’s.
“The peso was stronger compared to [Tuesday] since the dollar traded weaker overnight due to the Euro event wherein sterling and euro pushed the dollar lower,” the trader said in a phone interview.
The trader added that the “slightly better than expected” trade data slightly pushed the peso stronger.
The country posted a $3.513-billion trade deficit in August, wider than the $2.737-billion gap a year ago but was a tad narrower than the $3.546 billion in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.
Meanwhile, ING Bank N.V.-Manila branch senior economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said the recent strong rhetoric from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas “could help stem the currency’s (peso)weakness and prevent trade gap from widening further.”
“But exports will need to rebound in the coming months to truly make some headway,” Mr. Mapa added in a report.
For Thursday, the first trader expects the peso to move between P54.10 and P54.25, while the other gave a P54.10-P54.30 — K.A.N. Vidal

Local stocks slump as PHL growth prospects dim

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE MAIN INDEX weakened anew on Wednesday, nearing its record low for the year as the sluggish outlook on the country prompted more foreign investors to pull out their funds from the local market.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 0.82% or 58.24 points to close at 7,001.14 yesterday, managing to bounce back from an intraday low of 6,960.43, just a few points shy of its 52-week low of 6,923.67.
The broader all-shares index also slumped 0.85% or 36.95 points to 4,298.74.
“The PSEi ended negative today as worries on global growth keep market sentiment pessimistic. The IMF’s sluggish outlook for the Philippine economy is one of the reason why investors, especially the foreigners, are still selling their shares,” Timson Securities, Inc. Equities trader Jervin S. de Celis said in a mobile message on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently lowered its growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.5% from its previous projection of 6.7%, citing downside risks such as “rising inflation, continued rapid credit growth, higher US interest rates and US dollar, volatile capital flows, and trade tensions.”
Aside from the IMF, the World Bank also cut its growth forecast on the country to 6.5%, from the previous 6.7% forecast.
“Since we lack fresh leads to buoy the local market sentiment, market participants are either staying on the sidelines or they trade select second-liner stocks that have been rallying,” Mr. De Celis added.
Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez noted the day’s net foreign selling figure of P507.96 million once again pulled down the market, which swelled from Tuesday’s P158.01-million net outflow.
“With the index teetering and closing right on the 7,000 psychological level and also just a few points above its previous 2018 intraday low of 6,923, we should watch out if foreign selling once again proves to be the index’s bane tomorrow,” Mr. Perez said in an e-mail.
The bloodbath spilled over to the sectoral indices, led by financials which fell 0.98% or 15.44 points to 1,550.71.
Holding firms followed, declining 0.87% or 60.33 points to 6,845.76. Property shed 0.63% or 22.29 points to 3,497.32; industrials dropped 0.62% or 64.88 points to 10,362.38; services slipped 0.52% or 7.84 points to 1,489.30; while mining and oil dipped 0.14% or 12.66 points to 8,622.42.
Some 1.53 billion issues valued at P5.37 billion switched hands, climbing from the previous session’s P4-billion turnover.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 139 to 54, while 50 names ended flat.
“I think the 3Q GDP (gross domestic product) growth and corporate profit reports can improve market sentiment if they turn out better when they are released next month,” Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis said.

Davide, Puno face off on federalism

TWO retired chief justices (CJ) of the Philippines shared their thoughts, at a forum Wednesday, on constitutional amendments.
“It is not the constitution we must amend, but it is the 1991 Local Government Code, which implements, actually, the state policy that ensure local government….The synchronization, distribution of powers in order to improve, really, the status of our local government units.” retired chief justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. said at the forum organized by Colliers International.
He added: “Under the Local Government Code of 1991, Congress is mandated to review the Code, precisely, to see to it that every five years… to reflect on what is wrong and what more will be needed, but unfortunately, it had never been reviewed by Congress.”
Retired chief justice Reynato S. Puno, who heads the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution, said for his part, “Again, go back to the history of the Philippines….We tried every form of giving autonomy to our local government unit. Before, there was no grant of autonomy, and then we thought that this problem of no power on the part of our regions, on the part of our provinces, municipalities, and local government units can be solved by having this Local Government Code….The Local Government Code is not a solution to our problem.”
“In other words, pakitang tao lang na dine-devote yung powers,” he added. (The [distribution] of powers is just for show.)
Mr. Puno affirmed the need to shift toward federalism because the present system “has already brought us in hell.”
“Blame the system… In unitarianism, you have over centralization of powers, as what we have now….In federalism, we have non-centralization of powers, so the Local Government Code, it did not follow this principle of non-centralization of powers,” he said.
“If you have a correct division of governmental power written in the Constitution, not in the Local Government Code….Consider both factors, the system and the people. Precisely, federalism, we will change both,” Mr. Puno also said.
Mr. Davide answered, “We do not have to change our system. Our system is the best system….It’s because we had it since we gained independence….We have that unitary system….It’s not the system, but how it is supposed to be implemented, kulang ng implementation (implementation is lacking).” — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

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