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More than 200 join DSCPI midyear ranking tilt

MORE than 200 participants all over the country joined the DanceSport Council of the Philippines (DSCPI) 2018 Midyear Ranking and Competition at the Ballroom Hall of Valle Verde Country Club, Pasig City yesterday.
World DanceSport Federation licensed adjudicators Katarina Baluchova of Slovakia, Peter Chen of Chinese-Taipei, Simon Mok Chi Keung of Hong Kong, Hyun Ok Oh of Korea, Chu Tan Duc of Vietnam, Glen Tierney of Australia, Liwei Xu of China and George Tan of Malaysia were present in the competition.
The competition organized by DSCPI President Becky Garcia is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Flawless, Like-FM 105.9, Studio AK and The Greenery Bulacan.
The DSCPI Board of Directors are Chairman Atty. Noel Laman, Secretary-General Atty. Andy Fornier, assistant Emma Nieto and Sports Director Gloria Alcala, Treasurer and Directors Marvie Cojuangco-Yulo, Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo, Edward Hayco, Alejandro Herrera, Chona Mercado, Nanette Mendoza, Rebecca Jose, Girme Gutierrez, Luis Morales and Miguel Antonio “Mike” Ozaeta.

Britain’s Thomas virtually secures ‘incredible’ Tour de France crown

ESPELETTE, FRANCE — Britain’s Geraint Thomas virtually secured his maiden Tour de France triumph after finishing third in the penultimate stage time trial in the Basque country on Saturday.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s just overwhelming,” said Thomas, who finished 14 sec behind stage winner Tom Dumoulin of Sunweb on the last real test of the race before Sunday’s final stage to Paris.
“I didn’t think about winning the Tour de France for the whole race and suddenly… I’ve won the Tour, man!
“I can’t speak. It’s just incredible.”
“It was stressful. I believed I could beat the guys here,” he added. “It was the biggest stage of all over three weeks. It’s wonderful!”
Thomas, of Team Sky, held a 2 min 5 sec overnight lead on Dutch rival Dumoulin (Sunweb) ahead of the 31-km. race against the clock from Saint-Pee-Sur-Nivelle to Espelette.
Dumoulin is the world time trial champion, and he stayed true to form by powering over the technical course in a time of 40 min 50 sec to leave Thomas 14 sec in arrears.
But it was only enough to secure his virtual runner-up place in the race, Dumoulin’s second in a Grand Tour this year after he finished runner-up to Chris Froome at the Giro d’Italia in May, but his first on the Tour.
SKINSUIT DRAMA
He initially thought he had lost by a second, before being told the contrary.
“I first heard that I was second by one second but it’s the other way round and it’s crazy,” said Dumoulin, who suffered a mishap when he lost his aerodynamic skinsuit.
“I was so nervous this morning. We found out that we lost the skinsuit. Luckily our clothing sponsor is from the Basque country on the Spanish side and they made a new one this morning so I could wear it for racing.
“Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to ride in the rainbow colors (for the world champion).
“It’s hard to believe that I’ve won this time trial. But it’s fantastic to finish the Tour this way and make the final podium for the first time.”
Froome, the defending and four-time Tour de France champion, produced the second best performance of the day, finishing just one second behind Dumoulin to move back up to third place overall.
Froome had been pushed down to fourth, and off the podium, when Primoz Roglic’s attack and consequent stage win in the final day in the mountains Friday left the Kenyan-born Briton struggling.
But Slovenian Roglic, of Lotto-Jumbo, failed to follow up his feat on the time trial. He finished seventh at 1:12 behind Dumoulin.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Froome.
“After yesterday (Friday) I thought it wouldn’t be possible. To be on the podium alongside Geraint is a dream.”
Thomas, who has helped Froome win several of his six Grand Tour titles, celebrated at the end of the stage by jumping into the arms of his wife.
“The last time I cried is when I got married,” said Thomas.
Barring catastrophe on Sunday, when the peloton rides from Houilles to Paris in festive spirit before the sprinters take over for a battle on the Champs Elysees, Thomas will win Team Sky’s sixth yellow jersey from the last seven editions of the race.
Bradley Wiggins won their first, in 2012, while Froome won the race in 2013 and 2015-2017. — AFP

Hamilton dances in the rain to take pole in Mercedes lockout

BUDAPEST — Lewis Hamilton danced in the rain on his way to a memorable pole Saturday ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes secured a front row lockout for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The championship leading Briton, who is battling with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for a fifth drivers’ world title, delivered another master class in wet-weather driving and perfect timing.
He chose to go for his final flying lap in the dying seconds of the session and grabbed pole with a lap that produced his team’s fourth lockout of the season.
Six days after his epic drive from 14th on the grid to win the rain-hit German Grand Prix last Sunday, he claimed his sixth pole in Hungary, his fifth this year and the 77th of his career.
“Are we good?” Hamilton asked his team over the radio. “We’re good,” came the reply.
“It’s great for the team to have a one-two,” added Hamilton. “Jeez. We couldn’t have expected this. The heavens opened and it was fair game…”
Bottas was second ahead of fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen and his Ferrari teammate Vettel, Carlos Sainz of Renault and Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso.
Max Verstappen was seventh for Red Bull ahead of New Zealander Brendon Hartley, who made the top 10 for the first time in his Toro Rosso, Kevin Magnussen and his Haas teammate Romain Grosjean.
Hamilton leads Vettel by 17 points in the world championship. After Hungary, F1 takes its mid-summer breather, returning at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August. — AFP

Munti-Navotas MPBL game halted due to broken rim

LOOKS like Muntinlupa had to wait for a long time again before it could see its game settled.
After seeing their previous game against the Pasig Pirates reset due to continuous heavy downpour and flooding in the metropolis more than a week ago, the Angelis Resort-backed Cagers will have to wait until the final day of the elimination round before determining the outcome of their game against the Navotas Clutch in the MPBL Datu Cup Saturday at the Navotas Sports Complex.
The game, which went to overtime, was halted in the last 1:35 of the first OT, when a three-point shot by Navotas hit the back of the rim and got broken. Michole Sorela’s putback and was contented by a Muntinlupa player, who partially held onto the net, caused more damage to the rim and the MPBL officials decided that the Navotas Sports Complex gym is not completely playable.
“We’re rescheduling the game to the final day of the elimination round. If by the final day the game won’t have any bearing on their respective standings, we will not continue the game. But if there’s a bearing, say teams are vying for a quotient, then we will proceed with the game with the remaining time left and the score being upheld,” said MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.
The game was halted with 1:35 left in the first overtime with Muntinlupa leading, 98-95.
Duremdes also encouraged the management of the Navotas Clutch to improve its playing facility.
“If we continue to see a substandard playing venue in the coming days, we will not hold any more games here,” added Mr. Duremdes. “We see players sprawling to the floor because it was slippery. Safety of the players should be given more importance.”
Earlier, Bataan continued its streak, winning its fourth straight game by whipping the Imus Bandera, 95-85.
Byron Villarias, who had a brief stint playing for the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA, finished with 25 points on a steady five-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc.
The win enabled the Zetapro-supported Risers to improve their win-loss record to 4-1 while dealing the GLC Truck and Equipment-sponsored Bandera their third loss in four matches. — Rey Joble

Whatever happened to Cadets?

So there will be no Philippine men’s basketball team competing in this year’s Asian Games, the first time we won’t be sending a quintet since the country got suspended from participating in all FIBA-sanctioned events in 2005.
In 2005, FIBA suspended the Philippines due to conflict between warring groups inside the Basketball Association of the Philippines, then the governing body of basketball in the country. The suspension prevented us from fielding a basketball team in the Southeast Asian Games, which we hosted. One could imagine the frustration of every Filipino watching the biennial meet without basketball being played right in front of our basketball-loving countrymen.
The following year, the suspension cost us participation in the basketball event of the Doha Asian Games.
Call it deja vu 12 years later, the Philippines is not sending a basketball team either in the coming Asiad in Jakarta and you could imagine the uproar from the nation considered as the craziest when it comes to basketball. We take pride being labeled as basketball-crazy, yet we couldn’t send a team to the quadrennial meet.
What led to the non-inclusion of men’s basketball?
Unlike the women’s team which was simply not included as officials perceived the squad is not capable of winning medals, our men’s squad couldn’t join because the governing body in basketball, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, decided to pull put participation at the last minute even though there’s a team already willing to take over and represent the country in the Asian Games.
That team was Rain or Shine, which was tasked to take over the spot of the TNT Ka Tropa, whose key players figured in a free-for-all early this month in a FIBA Asia Cup qualifier to the World Cup against Australia.
All’s well as the Elasto Painters put up a team even naming their former coach, Yeng Guiao, who is now calling the shots for the NLEX Road Warriors, to rejoin his previous squad. He asked for additional players from the other PBA squads and got one in Stanley Pringle, who was agreed to be loaned by GlobalPort management.
But a midnight decision shocked the whole nation, the basketball sector in particular, as the SBP issued a statement it will no longer send a team to the Asian Games.
It was like a dagger struck to the hearts of the basketball-loving Filipinos, who were not hoping for a medal and managing expectations for the hastily put up squad, but at least wanting to see a representative out there in the event which we usually give importance.
Gone were the days when Philippine basketball prioritizes the Asian Games it even led us to creating the first ever all-professional team in 1990. The Filipinos had not won a gold medal since 1962, yet it should be more of a challenge for our basketball leaders to come up with a solid program aimed at reclaiming Asian glory via the Asiad basketball.
Yet we decided to become more ambitious, focusing our attention more in the World Cup and the Olympics.
But shouldn’t there be a program designed for the Asian Games, the SEA Games and other events that will not be participated by the PBA? Realistically, the PBA cannot accommodate all lined up in basketball calendar, hence the SBP should have come up with a more concrete program.
Which led me to asking? Whatever happened to the Gilas Cadets team?
The objective of creating a Gilas Cadets team is to ensure that there would always be a standby squad in case we’ll be participating in the Asian Games and SEA Games since the PBA players are more concentrated in more elite tournaments like the FIBA Asia qualifier for the World Cup and Olympics.
But do we really have a program for the Gilas Cadets? It looks like every time we’re participating, PBA players are the ones being bothered and the pro league had to scramble for time, trying to help out SBP like a big brother coming to the aid of the aggrieved sibling.
Where are the Gilas Cadets when they are needed the most?
 
Rey Joble has been covering the PBA games for more than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association.
reyjoble09@gmail.com

Great fit

The second most important off-season signing for the Rockets finally happened over the weekend. It may have been late in coming; no doubt, Clint Capela found himself wondering in three-plus weeks of waiting if the red and white valued him as much as he thought they did. Nonetheless, it was clear to all and sundry that neither side would be ending up anywhere else but together. They’re a good fit. Actually, they’re a great fit, and as relatively limited as his skill set seems, it blends perfectly with those of resident top dogs James Harden and Chris Paul.
Granted, the center position has little by little gone the way of the Dodo in the pace-and-space era. And, granted, Capela has no touch to speak of; his range doesn’t extend beyond the shaded area, and he’s more likely to clog the lane than open it up with his shooting. On the other hand, he has no peer when it comes to setting picks and rolling to the hoop. Screen-play action pieces, from where most of the Rockets’ offense emanate, meet with considerable success precisely because he knows how to position his body in order to set ball handlers — or, just as importantly, himself — free.
Make no mistake. Were Capela easy to replace, the Rockets would have done so in a heartbeat and thus avoided carrying the fourth highest payroll in the National Basketball Association. As a restricted free agent, he would have been left to accept a qualifying offer of $4.3 million as a prelude to his certain departure next year. Instead, they handed him a five-year extension worth a whopping $90 million. And even as the aggregate figure falls somewhere in the middle of comparable deals for slotmen, his take-home pay signifies his employers’ acknowledgment of his importance.
The numbers don’t lie, and not for nothing did the Rockets go a remarkable 42 and three in the regular season when Capela suited up alongside Harden and Paul. And if they then went on to come two quarters short of a Finals berth, it’s in no small measure due to his capacity to likewise anchor a suffocating defense. They’re projected to be worse on that end in the coming season, what with versatile wings Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute gone and net-negative defender Carmelo Anthony slated to join them, but for as long as he’s around, they’ll be closer to respectable than poor.
Perhaps the Rockets will come to rue Capela’s contract on the back end. If they do, however, it won’t be because he didn’t earn his keep. Rather, it’s because their investment in him is tied to their capacity to legitimately cast moist eyes on the hardware. And this depends for the most part on Harden and Paul, with the latter their biggest risk at an old 33. Their championship window is closing, and fast. It’s why they pulled the trigger on retaining him, and why he’s no longer “#JustAKidFromGeneva,” his Instagram post notwithstanding.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Comelec a ‘co-conspirator’ in Robredo fraud, Marcos camp says

Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, spokesperson of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., has accused the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as a “co-conspirator” in the alleged electoral fraud committed by the camp of Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo to secure her vice presidency win in the 2016 national elections.
These remarks were made in response to Comelec’s decision to back an appeal by Ms. Robredo’s camp, citing that the 25% shading threshold was applied in the 2016 general elections.
“We are not at all surprised with the Comelec’s position. The conspiracy is so clear and the co-conspirator is not expected to admit it,” Mr. Rodriguez said in a statement on Friday, July 27. “The purpose of the election protest is primarily to question how the Comelec, then under the tutelage of the disgraced and impeached Andres Bautista, have misconducted the election, undertaken a false canvassing and manipulated the transmission of results in favor of Mrs. Robredo.”
Mr. Rodriguez also said that “(b)y Comelec’s own admission that it is only the Supreme Court, sitting as the Electoral Tribunal, that has sole and exclusive jurisdiction to try and decide cases involving the qualification, election and returns for the position of Vice President, it had effectively divested itself of any legal standing to rule on any matter pending before the PET (Presidential Electoral Tribunal).”
“As it was made suspiciously four months after the May 2016 elections and as an after thought in support of Robredo’s belated assertions, Comelec’s position on the threshold percentage is not only patently illegal but at best meant to justify the cheating done to favor Mrs. Robredo and sway the public opinion to generate support on her continuing attempt to cheat even more,” the lawyer said further.
Ms. Robredo’s camp, through lawyer Ibarra “Barry” M. Gutierrez III, said: “There is no such conspiracy with the Comelec, and Mr. Rodriguez is again pulling stories out of thin air.”
“Mr. Rodriguez is found lying once again, when he claimed that the threshold was lowered after the elections, ‘as an after thought (sic) in support of’ VP Leni’s defense. News reports, dating back to February 2016, belie this baseless allegation, however: the Comelec decided to adopt a 25% threshold for the vote counting machines to lessen disenfranchisement and give fuller effect to the intention of each voter,” Mr. Gutierrez added.
He said the Sep. 2016 resolution that Mr. Rodriguez was referring to “merely affirmed that the VCMs (vote-counting machines) read the votes correctly, as found by the Random Manual Audit conducted after the elections.”
“It’s insulting that they continue these attempts to fool the Filipino electorate this way, but perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mr. Marcos and his spokesperson could come up with such wild accusations. After all, they seem well-versed in the art of deception,” Ms. Robredo’s camp also said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

BSP simplifies rules for banks’ bond floats

Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.
BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr.

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE CENTRAL BANK has simplified rules for lenders issuing bonds to raise additional capital, its chief said, which is expected to replace long-term note offerings.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said the Monetary Board has approved simpler rules for bank fundraising via bond float.
“We (approved) the rules that will facilitate banks to issue bonds into the market. As a way of raising long-term money, they can consider issuing bonds to support their growth,” Mr. Espenilla told reporters on Friday.
“Down the road, that should replace LTNCDs,” he added, referring to long-term negotiable certificates of deposit.
LTNCDs, like the regular time deposits, offer higher interest rates but cannot be pre-terminated. Instead, these can be sold at the secondary market. Several banks have offered long-term notes in tranches to shore up fresh investments, beef up their capital bases and manage existing debts.
“It can be costlier to do LTNCDs down the road,” Mr. Espenilla said.
He added that the latest issuance seeks to streamline the rules for corporate bond issuances which have made this option tricky for banks in raising additional capital.
Compared to LTNCDs which are deposits, bonds are capital instruments that will also help deepen the local bond market. The BSP chief added that they have coordinated with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in crafting the regulations.
“The bottom line is like a non-financial corporate, a bond can be issued by a bank following basically the SEC bonds issuance rules… We sort it out within the context of the existing law,” Mr. Espenilla said, noting that the circular will be issued soon.
Central bank officials have said that the industry trend for capital-raising represents the banks’ steps towards the full implementation of tighter standards imposed by the regulator.
Starting Jan. 1, 2019, big banks are expected to be fully compliant with capital and liquidity standards set under the international Basel 3 framework, a set of prudential measures meant to improve risk management that ensures a solid footing for banks.
These standards ensure that banks will not collapse even during a financial crisis.

Central bank eyes ‘national QR code’ for retail payments

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) will require financial firms to use a standard design for quick response (QR) codes to allow simpler transactions across service providers.
BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said they are looking to issue the guidelines for a “national QR code” within the year, which is expected to allow inter-operable retail payments in the country.
“The approach is we will issue a circular that will require the industry basically to come together and come up with a unified code and there are certain principles,” Mr. Espenilla told reporters on the sidelines of a payments and settlements conference on Friday.
QR codes are computer-generated images which are used for payments or fund transfers. The black-and-white square is usually scanned via a smartphone camera, which will then bring the user to a computer link or online payment portal to complete the transaction.
As regulator, the central bank will mandate players to sit down and agree on one QR design to be used by all. However, execution and compliance will have to go through the Philippine Payments Management, Inc., an industry-led body expected to police their own ranks.
Discussions are still ongoing, Mr. Espenilla said. Among the issues being resolved is whether or not QR payments will need their own automated clearing house (ACH) or if the technology will simply be used with a barcode reader of sorts to fast-track payment procedures using existing channels.
“There’s a live discussion right now: if it is merely an instrument for reading information, we can tap it on to Instapay. But if it is going to be a different business scheme, say, with a different fees structure, it might warrant a separate ACH,” the BSP chief said.
Launched in April, InstaPay clears electronic fund transfers worth up to P50,000 per transaction and without a daily limit. The platform is available 24/7, with the funds to be made available to receiving accounts almost immediately.
Looking ahead, Mr. Espenilla also plans to connect the QR payment platforms used here with those rolled out in Singapore and Thailand, which would be convenient for tourists and cross-border transactions.
This forms part of the BSP’s National Retail Payment System framework that seeks to spur digital payments. The goal is to raise to share of e-payments to 20% of all transactions by 2020 coming from a mere 1% share in 2013. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Lorenzana apologizes for saying Hague ruling was an ‘empty victory’

DEFENSE Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana on Friday issued an apology to former foreign affairs secretary Albert F. del Rosario and Acting Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio for saying that The Hague’s 2016 ruling favoring the Philippines in a maritime dispute with China is “an empty victory.”
Both gentlemen have his “highest regard for being true patriots” for spending “enormous efforts and time to vigorously and successfully argue our case” before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Mr. Lorenzana said in an apology statement.
“I sincerely apologize to these two great gentlemen for ruffling their feelings when I said that the PCA ruling in our favor is an empty victory. Both have reasons to be miffed for they worked hard to win our case before the PCA. It was not my intention to denigrate their achievement,” he said.
He clarified that his “empty victory” remark “does not pertain to the efforts of Mssrs. Carpio and del Rosario in successfully winning our case in the PCA but rather, to the outcome of the ruling.”
“With the realities on the ground, the victory being claimed is premature and incomplete since the ruling has no enforcement mechanism. How can victory be claimed over an arbitration case that proceeded even if the other party declined to participate, having stated from the beginning that it will not abide by the arbitration’s outcome? If it is a victory, then why is the West Philippines Sea (WPS) not under our complete control? If we are victorious, why are the Chinese still in the WPS?” Mr. Lorenzana said.
“Lest we forget, the Malaysians and Vietnamese are also within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), occupying many islands which they have improved through the years. Until we regain complete control of our EEZ, and until the PCA ruling is fully enforced, it remains just a piece of paper. It pains me to say this but it is the fact. Not telling the people the real situation on the ground vis-a-vis the PCA ruling and pretending that it is a victory is grossly misleading, and gives our people false hopes,” he also explained. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Transpacific Broadband seeks franchise renewal to join race to be third telco player

TRANSPACIFIC Broadband Group International, Inc. (TBGI) said it is seeking to renew its congressional franchise to boost its efforts to join the government’s search for a so-called “third telco” player, among other telecommunication opportunities.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday, the company said its board has “authorized and empowered (the company) to apply for renewal (of) its congressional Franchise under Republic Act 8657 for another 25 years covering periods of year 2023 to 2048.”
It added, the effort is ultimately to “support government initiative for a 3rd Telco to serve the public interest.”
“TBGI has signified its interest to participate in various DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) opportunities in the telecommunication market, given the urgent 2018 directive of the government to have a 3rd Telco in the Philippines.”
Besides intending to participate in the government’s efforts to find a new major player in the telco industry, the listed company also expressed interest to join a consortium in building 50,000 common towers in the country and to join a Chinese consortium to open a representative office in China.
The China unit, it said, is supposed to “bring in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative, Block Chain Technology, Asset-backed Initial Coin Offering (ICO), and Internet of Things technology” to the Philippines.
“The China representative office will complement the PEZA Ecozone of ATN Group, by orienting possible host locators including AI / technology companies,” TBGI added.
At present, the Arsenio T. Ng-led firm operates satellite operations for Uplink Services, VSAT Services and Internet over Satellite Services. — Denise A. Valdez

Gov’t issues rules for one-year duty-free extension of equipment imports

THE Board of Investments (BoI) on Friday issued rules for an executive order (EO) that extended duty-free privileges of equipment and spare parts importers for another year.
Enterprises qualified to avail “of zero percent (0%) duty importation of capital equipment, spare parts and accessories shall submit an application with the BOI,” the agency said on its website.
EO No. 57 or the “Reducing the Rates of Duty on Capital Equipment, Spare Parts, and Accessories Imported by Board of Investments — Registered New and Expanding Enterprises” was signed by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in June.
For companies to qualify for the incentive, the products it will be importing must not be “manufactured domestically in sufficient quantity, of comparable quality and at reasonable prices,” and are “reasonably needed and will be used exclusively by the qualified enterprise in its registered activity.”
Reasonability of prices will be determined by the BoI according to import cost of the imported capital equipment, spare parts and accessories, taking into consideration “all applicable taxes and duties to be paid thereon, and a fifteen percent (15%) mark-up.”
A certificate of authority (CA) valid will be given by the BoI to qualified enterprises that will benefit from duty-free importations.
The enterprises are also required to communicate with the Department of Finance (DoF) for official import documents and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) for an import entry declaration.
The new policy is set to take effect for one year after complete publication of the IRR in a newspaper. — Denise A. Valdez

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