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GM Gonzales, WGM Frayna and IM Miciano turn back respective foes

GRANDMASTER (GM) Jayson Gonzales destroyed Anusha Narava Lakshmi of India to re-enter the top 10 even as Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna and International Master (IM) John Marvin Miciano turned back their respective foes to stay in the hunt after six rounds of the Burgse Meesters in Burges, Belgium Tuesday night.
Gonzales, who drew with FIDE Master Georgi Tomov of Bulgaria in the fifth round early in the day, thus hiked his total to 4.5 points, which was good for a place in the 13-player logjam at seventh spot or a full point behind solo leader GM Wan Yunguo of China.
The 49-year-old Gonzales was playing top seed GM Nikolov Momchil of Russia in the seventh round at press time.
Frayna, 22, bounced back from a fifth-round defeat to Dutch IM Lucas Van Foreest with a sixth-round win over German Maximilian Ponomarev while Miciano, 17, blasted Belgians Guillaume Chauvon and Nando De Blende to barge into the top 20 with four points each.
Frayna, whose trip here is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and The Philippine STAR president and chief executive officer Miguel Belmonte, and Miciano hope to move further the standings with wins over Belgium’s Gert Van Vooren and Sweden’s Joachim Bergre, respectively.

22nd Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament

 

22nd Hogeschool Zeeland
Tournament
Vlissingen, the Netherlands
August 4-11, 2018

Final Top Standings
1-3. GM Sandro Mareco ARG 2643, GM Eduard Iturrizaga Bonelli VEN 2640, GM Roeland Pruijssers NED 2606, 7.5/9
4-10. GM Wan Yunguo CHN 2500, GM Vyacheslav Ikonnikov RUS 2546, GM Zeng Chongsheng CHN 2539, IM T homas Beerdsen NED 2469, GM Daniel Hausrath GER 2502, GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2553, IM Liam Vrolijk NED 2430, 7.0/911-20 IM Antonio Dcunha Viani IND 2414, IM John Marvin Miciano PHI 2381, GM Jorden Van Foreest NED 2636, GM Jayson Gonzales PHI 2383, IM Max Warmerdam NED 2421, IM Casper Schoppen NED 2394, IM Migchiel De Jong NED 2339, GM Oleg Romanishin UKR 2441, FM Sief Rijnaarts NED 2339, IM Mark Timmermans NED 2383, 6.5/9
Total Participants: 242
Time Control: 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game with 30 seconds added to your time after every move starting move 1.
The Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament (or HZ Tournament) is an annual international chess tournament which takes place in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. It is hosted by the HZ University of Applied Sciences.
The triumvirate of Argentinian GM Sandro Mareco, Venezuelan GM Eduard Iturrizaga and home crowd favorite GM Roeland Pruijssers finished in a tie for first place. All three of them were undefeated with six wins and three draws but after the application of tie-breaks it was GM Sandro Mareco who got the nod.
GM Sandro is one of the most active players in the world and has been playing continuously this year, always finishing high in the tournament table. Last March he won the 8th HD Bank Cup (the biggest international tournament in Vietnam) in Hanoi, Vietnam and this is his second big win.
Remember GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (b. Jan 15, 1963, d. July 14, 2006)? He was a frequent visitor to the Philippines. The last 8 years of his life was spent in the United States and he spent those years playing continuously. He won or tied for first place in more than 240 tournaments, averaging over 30 tournament victories a year — or nearly three per month making him arguably the most successful tournament player in the United States.
You will note though that “Wojo’s” highest rating ever was 2595 and he was never considered among the top players of the world, so how did he achieve so much success? Well, he had a “system” for winning chess tournaments and oftentimes would be on auto-pilot for the whole game. And this “system” was anchored around the Catalan.
If you want to know more about his “system” you should go and buy the series of books on “Wojo’s Weapons” by Jonathan Hilton.
Anyway, perhaps one player who has been over those books is GM Sandro Mareco. His main weapon for White is the Catalan Opening with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 and with it he has scored 75% in his career.
Here is one of them.

Mareco,Sandro (2643) —
Beerdsen,Thomas (2469) [A14]
22nd Hogeschool Zeeland 2018
Vlissingen (4), 06.08.2018

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.b3 c6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Qe2 e5 11.d4 e4 12.Nh4 Re8
From this quiet position Mareco builds up a strong attack down the f-file.]
13.f3 exf3 14.Qxf3
Intending e3–e4.
14…Bb4 15.Nd1 Rb8 16.g4
This time threatening g4–g5.
16…h6 17.Nf5 Bf8 18.Nf2
White will follow-up with Ng3 and then e3–e4.
18…c5 19.Rad1 g6
[19…dxc4 20.d5 cxb3 21.axb3 g6 22.Ng3 does not accomplish anything. Black is temporarily a pawn up but the pressure down the a1–h8 diagonal, the f-file, and the possibility of a central pawn advance with e3–e4–e5 give White more than enough compensation]
20.Ng3 cxd4 21.Bxd4 Qe7
[21…dxc4 22.Nfe4 the hidden attack along the f-file aimed at f7 is problematic for Black]
22.cxd5 Nxd5 23.Nfe4 Bg7 24.Bxg7 Kxg7
POSITION AFTER 24…KXG7
25.Nd6! Qxd6
With perfect hindsight Black should have just given up the exchange with 25…Ne5.
26.Qxf7+ Kh8
Black is counting on the counterblow …Ne5.
27.Bxd5 Ne5 28.Qf4! Bxd5
Black doesn’t see Mareco’s threat.
29.Qxh6+ Kg8 30.Nh5! 1–0
Threatening mate on g7 and Nf6+
Those knight moves to the side of the board are easy to miss, because they are usually bad (“a knight on the rim is dim”, remember?). Brings back memories of the Philippines vs Argentina match in 2000 Istanbul.

Hoffman,Alejandro (2491) —
Villamayor,Bong (2495) [A07]
34th Olympiad Istanbul TUR (13),
10.11.2000

The crucial 13th round, and this was the opponent Bong wanted to meet — he had a score to settle with Hoffman. Remember the sensational performance of Bong in the 1998 Elista Olympiad? And how his quest for an outright IM title was jeopardized by a 7th round loss to an Argentinian opponent? It was Hoffman.
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.0–0 Bf5 5.d3 e6 6.Nfd2 e5 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Bg4 9.Qe1 Nbd7 10.h3 Bh5 11.a4 Be7 12.Nc4 0–0 13.b3 Qc7 14.Bb2 Rfe8 15.Nbd2 b5 16.Ne3 a6 17.Nf5 Bf8
Most people would have preferred 17…Bc5. I don’t know why Black chose to retreat the bishop.
18.Kh1 Nc5 19.Qe3 Rad8
Both sides were expending huge chunks of time at this point — Black to find a way to increase his slight advantage, White to counter.
20.Bc3 Qb8 21.axb5 axb5 22.g4 Bg6 23.Rfd1 Bxf5 24.gxf5 Ncd7?!
This has a nice idea, to post his bishop on c5, but Black does not take into consideration Hoffman’s bishop sally. Perhaps more accurate would be 24…Nb7 with the same idea, and the knight can go to d6 later on.
25.Ba5! Bc5 26.Qe2 Rc8 27.b4 Bf8 28.Bf1
Obviously intending to follow-up with c2–c4, targeting Black’s b-pawn
28…Nb6 29.c4 Na4
Both players had less than five minutes to make the mandatory 40 move time control. True, there were 30 seconds increment added after every move, but still the atmosphere was becoming very tense.
30.Rdc1
A mistake is 30.cxb5? Nc3 31.Qd3 Nxd1 32.Rxd1 cxb5. After the text move White’s clever play has shut out one of Bong’s knights from the center and weakened the b5–pawn — how is Bong going to save it now?
30…Qd6 31.Nf3
[31.cxb5 cxb5 32.Qxb5?? Rxc1 33.Rxc1 Qxd2 wins for Black.]
31…g6 32.fxg6 hxg6 33.Ra3
[33.cxb5? cxb5 34.Qxb5 Nc3 35.Qd3 Nfxe4]
33…Qe6 34.Ng5 Qe7 35.cxb5
Finally.
35…cxb5 36.Rxc8 Rxc8 37.Qxb5 Nc3?
A mistake, the refutation of which is 38.Qa6 Nb1 39.Rf3! And White is winning. The panic time conditions under which both players were under pressure Hoffman into a bad mistake.
38.Qd3
And the knight is trapped, or so White thought. In reality there is a deep plan by Bong here.
38…Nh5 39.Nf3 Nf4 40.Qc2
This was the last move Hoffman had to make to reach the time control. He was fully confident of winning the knight, and he showed this by smoothly sliding over his queen to c2. Now, with 4 seconds remaining, Bong uncorks …
40…Qa7!
White is confident that he had taken into consideration all the tactics in the position. With a contented look on his face GM Hoffman got up to fetch a cup of coffee, chat with his team captain. When he went back to the board the following moves came rapidly.
41.Rxc3 Rxc3 42.Qxc3 Qxf2 43.Nh2
He smiled at Bong, thinking that Black had no alternative but to resign here, but now comes …
43…Nh5! 0–1
After which Hoffman lets out an “augh!,” his jaw drops, and then he resigns with a violent shaking of head. He has to give up the queen to prevent mate. His comment at the end of the game says it all: “I had no idea …”
Next week Tuesday we will write about our European campaigners (IM John Marvin Miciano, GM Jayson Gonzales and WGM Janelle Mae Frayna) and how they did in Vlissingen.
 
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

Woods now at peace

LAST week’s broadcast ratings are out, and, as expected, the final round of the PGA Championship got a major — pun wholly intended — boost when Tiger Woods played himself into contention and became the prime focus of CBS’ Sunday coverage of the final Grand Slam event of the year. Even as the rock-star atmosphere he engendered at Bellerive highlighted his pull among the sport’s avid followers, the myriad eyeballs he attracted on the small screen served as proof of his unparalleled crossover appeal.
Certainly, there was a definite charm to seeing the best player of the previous decade, and perhaps of all time, contend in a premier stop when, not too long ago, he wasn’t physically able to swing a club. And, to be sure, his questionable fitness as a surgical veteran wound up to be just one hurdle. The other, and likely more significant, involved his recovery from one public humiliation after another. Between his exposure as a serial adulterer and as an apparent painkiller dependent, he had to endure a fall from grace unlike any other athlete with his sterling resume.
That Woods just reminded longtime habitues of the wonders he could do on the course and, more importantly, endeared himself to casual observers in a way he never did before his challenges in life. From his trials emerged a more sympathetic figure, humbled and intent on not merely restoring the luster on a name once synonymous to dominance, but on cementing a legacy with a human touch.
Indeed, the Woods that came close at the British Open and finished second at the PGA Championship was far easier to cheer for and empathize with. In his early march towards greatness, he witnessed respect. In his frailties of late, he found adulation. Only time will tell whether he can generate both from a new swath of followers, but it’s clear that he’s already at peace no matter what happens.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Traveloka rounds up the 75 best hotels in the Philippines

When it comes to traveling, one of the biggest and perhaps most difficult decisions you have to make is picking a hotel. Apart from budget considerations, you also have to check if the place is clean, safe, and has access to necessities like water and dining options. This might take a while, especially if you’re meticulous. The wide array of accommodations available might also add to the challenge of honing in on that one hotel that meets all your requirements.
For those with a limited budget, the difficulty usually stems from finding an affordable place that also isn’t “kuripot” or worse, has substandard facilities. For those who can splurge a bit more, the problem may lie in the service; there are establishments that have a five-star rating but have poor customer reviews.
To help make things easier for travelers, online flight and hotel booking platform Traveloka has compiled a list of the top hotels in 26 tourist destinations in the Philippines. The list includes three hotels per destination: budget (up to P2,000/night), midrange (up to P5,000/night), and luxury (P5,000 above/night).
The round-up includes hotels in locations like Baguio, Subic,Tagaytay, Makati, Manila, Cebu,Boracay, Iloilo, Coron, Vigan, Davao, Panglao Island, and 14 other tourist hotspots in the country. Places like New Orleans Auberge Hotel in Tagaytay and Lub d Philippines in Makati are listed in the budget hotel category; Montebello Villa in Cebu and Best Western Plus in Subic are in the midrange category; and South Palms Resort in Panglao Island and Richmonde Hotel in Iloilo are in the luxury category.
Traveloka crafted the list based on the popularity of the destinations, price points, and customer reviews. The last one is especially important because Traveloka wants to ensure that every traveler experiences only the best, from the beginning until the end of their trip.
Have you finally decided where your next trip is going to be? Let Traveloka help you have an enjoyable and hassle-free vacation! Visit https://www.traveloka.com/en-ph/hotel and book your hotel today.

Fitch: Rate hikes could weigh on growth

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE CENTRAL BANK’s stronger tightening step last week could initially dampen growth, a Fitch Ratings analyst said, although robust domestic demand should continue to support expansion.
Stephen Schwartz, head of sovereign ratings for Asia Pacific at Fitch, said gross domestic product (GDP) growth could take a hit following an aggressive rate hike from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) at its Aug. 10 policy meeting.
This comes after a disappointing six percent GDP expansion in the second quarter.
“As you note, the Q2 GDP outturn was below expectations, and [Thursday’s] 50bp rate hike by the BSP could put some further downward pressure on growth for the remainder of the year,” Mr. Schwartz said in an e-mail interview when sought for comment.
Economic expansion eased to its weakest pace in three years due to slower growth in consumer spending, even as this was offset by a surge in state spending.
By industry, exports contracted from a year ago while farm output stood flat, the Philippine Statistics Authority announced Thursday last week.
That same day, the BSP tightened rates by 50 basis points in a bid to temper inflation expectations, even as it acknowledged that supply pressures — which are beyond the central bank’s scope — have been driving prices higher.
Despite this, the Philippines will remain a growth leader in Asia Pacific even though the government’s 7-8% target may be missed this year.
“Nevertheless we still expect the Philippines to be a strong growth performer this year and next, due to a combination of strong domestic demand and a still-resilient external environment despite rising risks from the escalation in trade tensions between China and the US,” the credit analyst added.
As of its last review, Fitch expected the Philippine economy to grow by 6.8% this year, faster than 2017’s 6.7% pace.
Actual GDP growth averaged 6.3% last semester, as the first-quarter place was revised lower to 6.6%.
In December, Fitch upgraded the Philippines’ credit rating to “BBB” — or one notch above minimum investment grade — with a “stable” outlook. This was affirmed early July in the face of strong growth prospects, although the debt watcher flagged rising inflation, rapid bank lending and a wider trade gap as key risks to the outlook.
Fitch analysts had then flagged that the Philippine economy is facing “overheating” risks, but said the BSP’s policy tightening moves may help contain such risks.
The BSP introduced back-to-back rate hikes in May and June of 25bp each, before whipping up a tougher response last week as inflation continues to surge. Prices of widely used goods jumped by 5.7% in July to mark a fresh multiyear high, which pulled the year-to-date average increase to 4.5% against the central bank’s 2-4% full-year target range.
The BSP now sees full-year inflation averaging 4.9% this year and 3.7% next year.
BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. has said that the Philippine economy is robust enough to “accommodate a further tightening” in interest rates.
SEEKING A ‘DELICATE BALANCE’
In a separate statement issued yesterday, the inter-agency Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC) said its members were working to “strengthen” long-term finance through various policies geared to ensure the country’s resilience amid “volatile” times.
“Financial markets are extraordinarily volatile this year and the FSCC continues to assess the possible impact to the Philippines of changing macro-financial conditions,” said Mr. Espenilla, who heads the FSCC as chairman.
“The challenge is to intervene early enough so that systemic risks do not build up but not too early that they derail our own growth momentum. We continue to be cognizant of this delicate balance, nurturing innovations and ideas while providing appropriate prudential oversight.”
The FSCC held its quarterly meeting yesterday. It is composed of the BSP, the Department of Finance, Bureau of the Treasury, Insurance Commission, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DoF says 7.7% GDP expansion this semester ‘still possible’

Capital formation was a silver lining in the latest economic growth data.

A BLISTERING 7.7% gross domestic product (GDP) expansion this semester — needed for the economy to hit the bottom of an official full-year target for 2018 — may still be “possible” on the back of strong capital formation, according to a senior official of the Department of Finance (DoF).
“While the [second-quarter’s six percent] growth rate was disappointing to us because it’s slower than what we thought we will achieve, there is that silver lining in the growth performance. The fastest growing sector is capital formation. It’s more than 20% and, because of that, we believe that in the future quarters we will be able to perform better,” Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, the DoF’s chief economist, told reporters on Monday.
“Once the factories… the machines that were purchased in the second quarter will be operational, we expect that the growth will accelerate in the future quarters.”
Philippine Statistics Authority data show that gross capital formation grew 20.7% in the second quarter.
The 6.6% and six percent first- and second-quarter GDP growth rates, respectively, fueled a 6.3% first-half expansion that compares to the government’s 7-8% target for 2018.
“Still possible but difficult. If we get 30-40% increase in capital formation in the third or fourth quarter,” he said when asked if 7.7% overall economic expansion is doable.
Mr. Beltran said that an above-seven percent growth rate “is not new,” noting that it was reached during the presidency of Gloria M. Macapagal-Arroyo, how speaker at the House of Representatives.
“We have to push capital formation further because during those years that we achieved 7.7-7.8% growth, we had a 30-40% increase in capital formation. So we will need to work harder,” he said, adding this should offset agriculture’s marginal growth.
Asked whether overall price spikes could pull down economic growth, Mr. Beltran said inflation’s recent surge made a marginal dent on household consumption in the second quarter.
“What was affected is just consumer spending. It’s a slowdown of 0.1 percentage points. First quarter household consumption: it was 5.7% in the first quarter and went down to 5.6% in the second quarter,” he recalled. “Actually we have grown at very high rates in the past even with a higher rate of inflation.”
Inflation clocked in at a fresh multi-year-high 5.7% in July, bringing the year-to-date pace to 4.5% against the central bank’s 2-4% full-year target range for 2018. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Executive-House budget impasse elevated to Duterte and Arroyo

harry-roque-pcoo2
‘I think the President needs an explanation — a very clear explanation — of why people who may be considered his closest allies have rejected it outright.’ — Presidential Spokesperson Herminio L. Roque, Jr.

IT may take a sitting President and a former president-turned Speaker to break the current deadlock between the Executive and the House of Representatives over the P3.757-trillion national spending plan proposed for next year.
“[T]here’s another meeting tonight… with the President (Rodrigo R. Duterte)… I think it will be attended by Speaker (Gloria M.) Arroyo,” House Appropriations committee Chairman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, noting that a meeting that he held that morning with Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno and Senate Finance committee chairman Loren B. Legarda failed to break the impasse.
The office of Ms. Arroyo — herself a former president whose term saw budgets reenacted after proposed spending plans failed to secure legislative approval or be signed into law — confirmed her appointment with Mr. Duterte. Mr. Duterte greeted Ms. Arroyo at the start of his keynote at an event with some business leaders in Malacañang yesterday evening.
Mr. Nograles opposes the Executive’s shift to a “cash-based” system for the proposed national budget — characterized by allocations for projects that can be auctioned off within a year — from the existing “obligation-based” framework that provides funds for projects that can be auctioned off over a two-year horizon, after noting that the proposal for 2019 is even less than this year’s P3.767-trillion spending plan.
But state economic managers have argued that, on a cash basis, this year’s national budget is less than what they submitted to Congress for 2019.
SENATE SUPPORTS PALACE
The Senate, meeting in a caucus anew on Tuesday afternoon, straddled the opposing camps, saying it supports the Executive’s cash-based system after announcing on Monday that the chamber will have to wait for the budget to emerge from the House, as required by law.
“The entire Senate, in caucus, have agreed to support the President’s budget re[garding] cash-based obligations,” Senate President Vicente C. Sotto told reporters in a mobile phone message yesterday evening, admitting that this position puts his chamber at odds with the House.
Saying “[t]he Senate supports a cash-based budgeting system that will help discipline the bureaucracy [and] address the problem of underspending,” Ms. Legarda said in a separate text that “[t]he Senate Committee on Finance will continue to conduct budget hearings based on the 2019 National Expenditure Program that was submitted to Congress and we will introduce amendments as necessary.”
Recalling his meeting with Mr. Diokno in the morning, Mr. Nograles said in Tuesday’s briefing: “Right now, parang ang dating is nagha-hardline sila (Right now, it seems the Executive has taken the hard line),” adding he was “hopeful na mabi-break pa rin ang impasse. I’m not closing my doors or any windows. I’m keeping my lines of communication open.”
Mr. Diokno has warned that Congress’ failure to approve the national budget in time for year-end enactment would trigger automatic reenactment of this year’s spending plan for use in 2019 —mid-term election year — with Malacañang calling the shots on allocations. Mr. Nograles has insisted there is still time to make amendments in the spending proposal, while a Senate caucus on Monday yielded a decision to await the outcome in the House.
On Tuesday, Mr. Nograles warned that a reenacted budget would be more costly, since it would require a supplemental budget for items — including succeeding tranches of salary standardization for state workers — not covered in 2018.
In a briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Herminio L. Roque, Jr. reminded Mr. Nograles that he was standing in the way of “the President’s budget… not the Secretary’s budget”.
“This is not the Secretary’s budget. This is the President’s budget. So I think the President needs an explanation, very clear explanation of why people who may be considered his closest allies have rejected it outright,” Mr. Roque said.
“[W]e’re also reminding them that there’s a concept of political allies and political enemies, and majority and minority. The concept of being in the majority is that you want to support the administration. And when you reject the project outright, it’s not something you expect from an administration party.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan, Arjay L. Balinbin and CAA

Kick-start your dream venture with a personal loan

Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the Philippines, with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) growing by the day as more Filipinos engage in the activity.
According to data from the Department of Trade and Industry, there were 911,768 MSMEs operating in 2016, accounting for 99.57% of all registered businesses. This figure was 1.7% higher than in 2015, when 896,839 MSMEs were recorded and constituted 99.5% of all commercial establishments.
Likewise, a 2017 survey of 106 chief executive officers and founders of start-ups by Isla Lipana & Co. (PricewaterhouseCoopers Philippines), QBO Innovation Hub and IdeaSpace Foundation Inc., noted that more start-ups were being established in recent years. More than half of the respondents opened their ventures between 2016 and 2017.
The road to entrepreneurship
According to an earlier survey of more than 2,500 adults by the members of the Philippine GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) National Team, necessity is what drives majority of entrepreneurs amidst few available job opportunities. Entrepreneurship, the survey pointed out, is seen by society as a reliable means of improving one’s lot.
Necessity alone is not enough, though. A key ingredient for entrepreneurial success is passion – passion to make a difference, passion to make the world a better place, passion to change the world. The findings of a 2011 study published in the Emerald Insight strongly suggest that the grounds for a globally successful creative venture require the passion of at least one inventor entrepreneur.
That passion can be so intense that salaried employees choose to quit their day jobs. Those who can’t afford to do so try a different tack – they transform their passion into a sideline, preserving the security of salaried employment and the joy of doing what they love.
But the road to entrepreneurship – as anyone who has dived into it can attest – is paved with daunting hindrances that prompt aspiring business owners to shelve the idea or entirely abandon the plan altogether  . The two aforementioned studies drew attention to what is perhaps the most daunting of them all – money.
An overwhelming majority of the start-up executives polled by Isla Lipana identified capital as the top challenge that they had to address when they were starting their businesses. One of the two top barriers to entrepreneurship among the youth, the GEM survey noted, is access to funds. (The other is lack of business skills.) Experts who were separately polled cited lack of financial support allowing access to capital as the leading obstacle to getting into entrepreneurship.
Seeking financial help
Using one’s personal savings is  a common practice among the newbies to the field. Others also seek financial support from family and friends. But more often than not, these sources are barely enough. This is where banks come in. They offer very useful loans that budding entrepreneurs can tap into with ease.
For instance, one of the most prominent banks in the country, Citi Philippines has made taking out personal loans a breeze. Loan approval can be processed in as fast as 24 hours, provided that the borrower submits the few required documents, including the filled-out application form, a pay slip or an income tax return, and a valid government-issued ID. It is important to mention that neither collateral nor a guarantor is necessary – things that, although critical in other transactions, may severely slow down the application process. The loanable amount is as high as P2 million, and paying the loan off can take one to five years.
To begin the process, one needs to fill out Citi’s online application form. The borrower will then receive a call from a sales officer to verify the application. Only after that will the borrower be asked to submit the documents.
Financial institutions like Citi are exactly what aspiring entrepreneurs need. The loans they provide remove the financial obstacle that can oftentimes feel too obstinate to overcome, allowing entrepreneurs to kick-start and grow their dream ventures.

AEV, Ayala submit unsolicited proposal for national ID system

A CONSORTIUM which includes the Ayala and Aboitiz groups submitted to the government an unsolicited proposal for the design and development of the national identification (ID) system.
In separate disclosures to the stock exchange on Tuesday, conglomerates Ayala Corp. (AC) and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. said they have partnered with Unisys Philippines for the “national identity infrastructure solution.”
“Please be informed that a consortium comprised of Unisys Philippines, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. has submitted an unsolicited proposal under RA 7718 (BOT Law) to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on August 13, 2018 for the design and development of a national identity infrastructure solution, which is intended to collect, store, maintain, manage, and authenticate identity information of individuals,” AC told the stock exchange.
Unisys Philippines is a global information technology company, which provides security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; among others. According to its website, it has worked with the PSA to “reduce service time and maintain document integrity.”
The PSA is the government’s primary implementing agency for the Philippine Identification System Act (PhilSys), which was signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Aug. 6.
“The 17-year proposal provides an expedient, comprehensive and long-term solution that will enable the government to realize the full potential of its strategic programs by providing a safe and secure identification and benefits payment mechanism for individuals transacting with the government,” AC said.
One of the goals in creating a national ID system is to “curtail bureaucratic red tape, promote the ease of doing business, (and) also avert fraudulent transactions,” Mr. Duterte earlier said.
The national ID is set to be fully implemented by next year.
The PSA is supposed to conduct test runs of the national ID in selected regions for the next months before 2019. It said in an earlier statement the pilot tests is intended to “lay down the registration process prior to the full 5-year implementation starting 2019.” — Denise A. Valdez

Jollibee Q2 income jumps 15% amid expansion

STRONG sales from its fastfood businesses in the Philippines and abroad helped lift Jollibee Foods Corp.’s (JFC) earnings 15% higher in the second quarter.
In a regulatory filing, JFC said its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company jumped 15% to P2.25 billion during the April to June period. This brought the first half figure to P4 billion, up 16% year-on-year.
Basic earnings per share for the second quarter rose 14.4% to P2.071 and by 15.1% to P3.728 for the first six months.
System-wide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers from both company-owned and franchised stores, added 27% to P53.93 billion in the second quarter.
For the first half, system-wide sales rose 23% to P99.91 billion, “driven by store network growth, continued strong same store sales growth, the consolidation of Smashburger and impact of currency exchange rate changes.”
JFC consolidated Smashburger, its US-based burger chain, starting April 17. Excluding Smashburger, system-wide sales increased by 18.1% in the second quarter, and by 19% in the first half.
System-wide sales in all regions were strong during the April to June period, led by the North America business which surged 195.6% due to Smashburger; and Europe, Middle East and Asia (excluding Philippines) which rose by 46%.
The foreign business now accounts for 26.8% of JFC’s global system-wide sales.
“Philippine brands reported a 15.8% growth in system-wide sales compared to the second quarter of 2017 from new stores which added 7.8% and continued strong same store sales, which grew by 8% driven by price adjustments implemented in July 2017 up to June 2018 and more products purchased by customers. JFC also attributes the strong same store sales growth to it continuous product improvement, new product introductions, marketing campaigns and restaurant renovations,” the company said.
JFC’s consolidated revenues, which include sales by company-owned stores, fees from stores operated by franchisees and commissary sales to stores operated by franchisees, increased by 24% to P40.3 billion in the second quarter, and by 21% to P75.1 billion in the first half.
Consolidated cost of sales went up 25% to P33 billion for the second quarter, while increasing 22% to P61.6 billion in the first half.
“In addition, the upward price adjustments implemented by the domestic brands in July 2017 to June 2018 helped mitigate the impact of high raw material prices caused by increase in commodity prices and depreciation of the Philippine peso. As a result, product gross profit margin of the Philippine business decreased only slightly in the second quarter and was flat in the first six months of 2018 compared to the same periods of 2017,” JFC said.
The fastfood giant opened 192 stores, comprising 115 in the Philippines and 77 overseas in the quarter ending June 30. It also closed 63 stores, including 33 in the Philippines, during the same period.
As of end-June, JFC had a total of 4,279 stores, 20% higher compared to the number of stores at the end of June 2017. Smashburger increased the JFC store network by 349 stores or 10%.
Aside from Jollibee, JFC’s brands include Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal and Burger King in the Philippines. In China, JFC operates Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan and Dunkin’ Donuts. — CRAG

DMCI profit hits P5 billion in Q2

DMCI Holdings, Inc. registered a net income of P5 billion in the second quarter, up by nearly 39% compared with the P3.6 billion posted a year ago, with most of its business segments performing well except for the power business.
Consolidated revenues during the quarter hit P23.9 billion, higher by 31% from P18.3 billion in the same three months last year, the Consunji-led firm said on Tuesday.
In the first half, net income reached P9.2 billion, an increase of 21% compared with the P7.6 billion in the same period last year due to the higher contributions from the firm’s coal and nickel mining, real estate, construction and water businesses.
“All of our businesses fared well except for our power subsidiaries,” said DMCI Holdings Chairman and President Isidro A. Consunji said in a statement.
He said the unplanned and prolonged outages of Sem-Calaca Power Corp. and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. “cut into the profitability” of parent firm Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC).
Consolidated revenues during the semester reached P44.2 billion, up 19% from P37.1 billion during the same period last year.
“DMCI Power [Corp.] continues to implement a lower provisional tariff for its Aborlan power plant because its motion for recomputation is still under review with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC),” Mr. Consunji said.
DMCI Holdings’ core net income during the first half rose by 10% to P8.6 billion from P7.8 billion a year ago. It excluded the P715-million one-time gain of the sale of an undeveloped lot by DMCI Homes, Inc. and a P69-million one-off refinancing cost of Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
For the second quarter alone, the firm’s core net income rose by 16% to P4.2 billion from P3.6 billion.
SMPC recorded a 3% rise in net income contributions to P4.6 billion from P4.5 billion because of higher coal sales and coal prices.
Excluding the one-time gain, DMCI Homes contributed P1.7 billion in earnings, up 7% from P1.6 billion in the previous year. The improvement was attributed to a 12% growth in revenues and a 4% rise in reservation sales.
Mr. Consunji identified the non-recurring gain as the sale of a 1.9-hectare property near the LRT Balintawak station. He said the asset was sold at a price more than three times the acquisition cost.
The net income contributions of affiliate Maynilad went up by 16% to slightly more than P1 billion from P877 million due to a 3.4% increase in billed volume and a 2.8% inflationary tariff adjustment.
Construction arm D.M. Consunji, Inc. booked a 36% increase in net income share to P676 million from P497 million after the “higher accomplishment in building projects and the realization of variation orders from projects nearing completion.”
Off-grid energy supplier DMCI Power contributed P214 million in net earnings, up 6% from P228 million last year.
“The decrease mainly resulted from the lower-than-expected provisional tariff granted to its Aborlan power plant in Palawan,” the company said.
Attributable net income from DMCI Mining Corp. jumped 309% to P221 million from P54 million, “fueled by higher shipments from the old stockpile and shipment of more high-grade nickel ore,” the holding firm said.
Other income during the first half more than doubled to P88 million from P27 million due to higher interest income.
On Tuesday, shares in DMCI Holdings fell by 3.52% to close at P11.50 each. SMPC also slumped by 1.88% to P31.30 each. — Victor V. Saulon

Robust sales boost SSI bottom line in Q2

EARNINGS of SSI Group, Inc. increased by 8% during the second quarter, fueled by a 13% growth in same-store sales.
In a regulatory filing, the listed specialty store retailer said its second quarter net income went up to P150.4 million year-on-year as strong sales growth and rationalized expenses helped offset the effects of a weaker peso.
This brought its first half net income 3% higher to P283.3 million.
Revenues increased by 14% to P4.67 billion during the April to June period, and by 11% to P9.3 billion for the first six months of 2018.
SSI said its same-store sales growth (SSSG) stood at 13.4% and 11.6% during the second quarter and the first half, respectively.
“SSI experienced robust growth in net sales during the first half of the year driven by strong consumer demand. This is reflected in the very strong performances of the Group’s brands under the luxury, bridge, and casual categories. This is despite the fact that the Group’s total selling space decreased by 7.4%,” the company said.
As of end-June, its store network stood at 616 covering 124,333 square meters, versus 665 stores covering 133,816 sq.m. a year ago. During the April to June period, SSI Group opened four stores and closed 14 stores.
Fast fashion accounted for the bulk of SSI’s first-half sales at P3.33 billion, up 5% year-on-year. This was followed by luxury & bridge lines at P2.23 billion, surging 24%.
SSI’s portfolio had 100 brands as of end-June, including Prada, Gucci, Zara, Gap, Old Navy, Burberry, Marks & Spencer, Lacoste, Muji and Payless.
Operating expenses rose 2% to P1.74 billion during the second quarter, bringing the first-half figure to P3.45 billion, up 0.7%.
“Operating expenses as a percentage of net sales significantly improved to 37.3% as compared to 40.9% in 2017. Operating expenses increased at a slower rate than sales as the Group continued to benefit from its store rationalization program and from its focus on maximizing scale and improving cost efficiencies,” SSI said.
SSI expects sales to peak during the fourth quarter, as consumers shop more ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“We saw double digit same store sales growth during the 2nd quarter of the year as our brand portfolio and store network continued to benefit from resilient mid and high end discretionary spending and we expect that margins will continue to firm up as the year progresses,” Anthony T. Huang, SSI Group president, was quoted as saying in a separate statement.
SSI is planning to open e-commerce sites for the brands Lush, Dune and Aeropostale as well as re-launch its marketplace ssilife.com.ph within the second half. — CRAG

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