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Melee at the Arena

It was a chippy game no doubt but little did I expect that it would escalate the way it did.
I am talking, of course, of the melee that happened on Monday night between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australian Boomers in their key match in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
As we all know by now, a bench-clearing marred said game in the third period, leading to players from both teams — four for Australia and nine for the Philippines — being ejected from the contest that eventually led to the match prematurely ending at the 1:57 mark of the third period after Gilas was left with only one player on the court — Baser Amer — following the intentional fouling out of the two other players — June Mar Fajardo and Gabe Norwood — who were not kicked out of the court following the fracas.
The abrupt ending gave the Australians by default the 89-53 victory that allowed them to seize solo Group B leadership heading into the next round of the tournament.
A series of events seemingly led to the unfortunate outcome.
There was the “peeling” incident involving the Australian team a day before where in a closed-door practice it took liberty in peeling off FIBA-approved decals on the floor over “safety concerns” for its players.
The move did not sit well in particular with the local organizing committee, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the management of the Philippine Arena, describing the act as “uncalled for” and could have been handled more appropriately.
Then there was the incident between some Gilas players and Australian player Daniel Kickert in the warm-ups where the latter reportedly hit the Filipinos during the layup line that caused a commotion.
During the game itself, there was a lot of physical play and trash-talking which further brewed animosity between the two teams, culminating in Roger Pogoy being decked by Kickert with an elbow that practically ignited the whole melee at the 4:01 mark of the third period.
As I sat down in the media room of the Philippine Arena moments after the incident, I could not help but feel disappointed with what happened, simply because I believe it was something that could have been avoided had those concerned exercise better judgment as far as the action they would take.
Gilas, while I understand the pride that runs through it and the brotherhood it has, should have known better than running after the Australians like crazy after the Pogoy incident, especially those who left the bench which only furthered the flame.
The team could have taken a stand against it without necessarily resorting to what was akin to a mass brawl.
The Australians, too, had their fault.
Kickert played well in said game but he had no business roughing up their Filipino hosts no end.
His antics during warm-ups and the blow he threw at Pogoy were uncalled for. They might have been a form of psych war from his and the team’s part but just the same these only opened the game to violence as what eventually happened.
The Boomers could have eased up as well since the game was pretty much under wraps as early as midway of the third canto.
Talking trash, while part of the game, could have been done without at that point of the match for the 31-point advantage, 79-48, Australia had was already more than enough statement.
But yet the verbal back-and-forth continued and it just did not help.
Then there were the officials, both local and FIBA as well as the referees, who could have handled the situation better.
They should have recognized the physical and emotionally charged atmosphere that the game took much earlier and could have extinguished it by talking to both teams to temper the heat.
Security, particularly concerning separation of the “fighting” teams, also left much to be desired, leaving the free-for-all to cascade.
What happened at the Philippine Arena on Monday was truly a black eye for the sport of basketball. It was very lamentable and I just hope nothing of such kind happens in the tournament moving forward.
Let the penalties be meted to those who deserve them and may the basketball community learn from this.
 
Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.
msmurillo@www.bworldonline.com

Time to be happy

Heading into the offseason, critics had a field day lambasting LeBron James for his desire to see where he could best land in free agency. Even a seemingly proper move as assessing his options — which everybody else in his position has sought to do — was viewed through lenses that fit the “He’s chasing rings” narrative. He’s supposedly getting in touch with other marquee names and convincing them to form a superteam with him. Forget about the absence of corroboration and confirmation; rumors were being spread as verified news. And forget about the fact that, even if true, he would simply have been exercising his right as a free agent.
Well, guess what? James chose the Lakers. Was he really desperate for hardware, as naysayers insist, he should have opted in and forced a trade to the Rockets, or even opted out and moved to the Sixers. Instead, he’s prepping to wear the purple and gold, the one jersey that will most guarantee intense scrutiny. Win, and he’ll just be accomplished enough to emerge from the shadows cast by the franchise’s greats. Lose, and he’ll be a bust.
As currently constructed, the Lakers are little better than the Cavaliers James left in his wake. They’re younger, yes, and boast of more potential. The flipside is that they’re in the West, where competition is much stiffer and they’re pegged to last until the second round. And they’ll ultimately be up against the powerhouse Warriors, overwhelming favorites following the return of newly minted Finals Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant and the arrival of four-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins.
Clearly, James is no longer running after ghosts he cannot catch. He knows his legacy is secure. He has gone to nine Finals in 15 years, the last eight consecutively. His squads were favored in a mere two of those nine appearances, and only once (against the Mavericks in 2011) did he fail to meet expectations. He gave Cleveland its first championship in any sport over the last half century, and against the 2016 Warriors, identified by advanced analytics as the best-constructed team of all time by far; to top it off, he did so in dramatic fashion, leading a comeback never before seen in he annals of pro hoops.
James is now after more important matters outside the court. Sure, he’ll still aim to succeed; there are, after all, no limits to excellence. Nonetheless, he is setting up his pursuits in the here and now for the there and then. It’s why he agreed to a four-year contract with the Lakers. No more one-and-one or two-and-one deals that marked his second stint with the Cavaliers. He’s keen on playing the long game, and it’s no coincidence that when he becomes a free agent anew, he will have the opportunity to play alongside his son.
The critics will never be silenced. James has long been aware of the fact that he cuts a polarizing figure, and it doesn’t help that he occasionally places himself in avoidable situations that feed the beast. There was once a time when he fretted over all the negative feedback. That time is long past. He already realizes his place in history, and figures it’s about time for him to be, well, simply happy.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Stocks inch up ahead of inflation report

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
Shares firmed up on Tuesday amid thin trading, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the release of June inflation data.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 0.55% or 39.38 points to 7,267.34, marking the third consecutive uptick for the market. The broader all shares index also rose 0.27% or 11.68 points to 4,409.83.
“Philippine markets continued to remain positive in July albeit the weaker trading volumes as US indices also kicked off the beginning of the third quarter on a positive note,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
Four sectoral indices moved to positive territory, led by holding firms which jumped 0.92% or 65.43 points to 7,181.17. Industrial followed with an increase of 0.59% or 61.56 points to 10,447.47, while financials climbed 0.34% or 6.09 points to 1,787.61. Property added 0.31% or 11.10 points to 3,563.
On the other hand, services lost 0.54% or 7.57 points to 1,391.44, while mining and oil gave up 0.38% or 36.60 points to 9,711.80.
The market saw some 539.76 million issues switch hands, valued at P4.78 billion, flat from the previous session’s turnover of P4.8 billion.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 97 to 88, while 50 names remained unchanged. Net foreign outflows slimmed to P424.86 million, slightly lower than Monday’s net sales of P457.75 million.
The most heavily traded stocks for the day included Universal Robina Corp., which rallied 2.3% to P124.80 each, Ayala Land, Inc. with flat shares at P38 each, and SM Investments Corp that jumped 1.67% to 915 each.

Washington moves to block China Mobile from US market

The US Commerce Department recommended against approval of China Mobile’s seven year old application to enter the domestic market on Monday, citing national security concerns.
The move marked the latest blast from the US under President Donald Trump in its growing trade dispute with China.
US tariffs against billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods are set to kick in on Friday and China has vowed to retaliate.
“After significant engagement with China Mobile, concerns about increased risks to US law enforcement and national security interests were unable to be resolved,” Commerce Department assistant secretary David Redl said in a Monday statement.
He added the department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration recommended the Federal Communications Commission turn down China Mobile’s application to offer voice traffic between the US and other countries.
The Trump administration has also moved to punish Chinese telecoms firm ZTE, banning US companies from selling crucial hardware and software components to the company for seven years.
US officials imposed the ban because of what they said were false statements by the firm regarding the illegal sale of goods to Iran and North Korea.
ZTE pleaded guilty to those charges in March last year and was hit with $1.2 billion in fines.
Last month the Trump administration gave ZTE a lifeline by easing sanctions against the firm in exchange for a further $1.4 billion in penalties, although the US Senate has defied Trump by voting to reimpose the ban. — AFP

Mexican peso, stocks fall as leftist wins presidency

The Mexican peso and stock market both fell Monday after the country elected the anti-establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as its next president.
After the fiery candidate known as “AMLO” swept to a landslide victory, the Mexican stock market’s key index lost 2.12 percent, while the peso closed down 0.9 percent against the dollar.
Lopez Obrador has promised radical change for Latin America’s second-largest economy — though he went to great lengths Sunday night to reassure his many critics in the business world that he would pursue market-friendly policies.
“We will respect the central bank’s autonomy. The new government will maintain financial and fiscal discipline. State obligations with domestic and foreign companies and banks will be respected,” he said in his victory speech.
He maintained his vow to review the contracts signed with foreign oil firms under outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto’s landmark privatization of the energy sector, but pledged to act only if he found evidence of corruption, and then only in Congress or the courts.
“We will not act arbitrarily, nor will there be confiscations or expropriations of property,” he said.
The National Hydrocarbons Commission, which is overseeing the oil auctions, said it welcomed the planned review and that the privatization was being carried out with “maximum transparency.”
Still, there are lingering market jitters over a candidate who clashed openly with the business sector during the campaign.
“We still have little clarity on AMLO’s economic policies,” the consultancy Capital Economics said in a note.
“We’ll be looking in the coming weeks for indications of the size and nature of any fiscal stimulus or signs of a more interventionist energy policy.” — AFP

I.Coast studies first cocoa-fired power station

Abidjan wants to build the world’s first biomass power station fired by cocoa production waste, Ivory Coast and US officials said Monday.
If the 235-million-euro (273-million-dollar) scheme gets the go-ahead, Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower, could go on to construct nine more power stations burning cocao waste.
The first plant could be up and running in 2023, said Yapi Ogou, the head of the Société des énergies nouvelles (Soden or New Energies Company) which is in charge of the project.
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has financed a million dollars of feasibility studies which should be completed by next April.
Ivory Coast cocoa production waste amounts to 26 million tonnes, mainly pods from which the beans have been extracted, Ogou said.
The plant would be built in the centre of the west African nation at Divo and generate 60-70 megawatts, he added.
Ivory Coast currently generates 2,200 MW but strong economic growth has put a strain on supplies.
The new cocoa waste plant would also save the equivalent of 250,000 tonnes of carbon di-oxide emissions, Ogou said.
A US trade delegation led by under secretary of commerce Gilbert Kaplan is visiting Ivory Coast and USTDA has re-opened an office in Abidjan after a 16-year gap.
Abidjan’s commerce minister Souleymane Diarrassouba said trade between the two countries had expanded 55 percent from 2012-2017 to reach 1.8 billion dollars.
Setting a target of three billion dollars by 2025, he urged US business “to invest massively in Ivory Coast”. — AFP

Lyft pushes into bikes with new acquisition

US ridesharing giant Lyft said Monday it was acquiring bikesharing operator Motivate as it ramps up efforts against rival Uber in alternative forms of transportation.
Terms of the deal were not announced for Motivate, which operates bike programs in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington and elsewhere.
“Lyft and Motivate have both been committed for years to the same goal of reducing the need for personal car ownership by providing reliable and affordable ways to move around our cities,” said John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president.
“Bringing together Lyft and Motivate will accelerate our collaboration with cities and deliver even better experiences to our passengers and riders.”
Although Motivate operates traditional bike operations with docking stations, the statement said Lyft would be moving into the newer “dockless” bike programs and pedal-assist electric bikes.
Lyft’s move follows that of Uber, which recently acquired the electric bike startup Jump to allow users of its mobile app to use two-wheelers instead of cars, and comes amid growing interest in dockless bikes, which can be rented and dropped off anywhere.
Lyft last week announced it is raising $600 million in a funding round that values the San Francisco group at $15.1 billion — well below that of Uber but still among the most highly valued venture-backed startups.
The Motivate name will remain and it will continue to operate bike programs across the United States, the statement said. — AFP

Russia challenges Washington at WTO over tariffs

Russia has started fighting back at the World Trade Organization against steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the United States, a document circulated to WTO members Monday showed.
In the document dated June 29, Moscow accused Washington of multiple violations of international trade rules, and formally asked the US for “consultations” over tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.
“The measures at issue, separately or together, appear to be inconsistent with the obligations of the United States” under a long line of international trade agreements, the text said.
Consultations constitute the first step in a full-blown legal challenge before the global trade body.
The move means Russia has joined other powerful WTO members — including the European Union, China, India, Mexico and Canada — in fighting back against President Donald Trump’s controversial trade policies.
Marking a departure from a decades-long US-led drive for open and free trade, Trump has justified the steep tariffs with claims that massive flows of imports to the United States threaten national security.
Moscow warned in May that it would retaliate against American products to the tune of nearly $540 million, an amount it said was equivalent to the damage likely to be caused to its domestic industry by the US moves.
Under WTO rules, if 60 days pass without consultations resolving the dispute, Russia can ask the WTO to set up dispute panel, triggering a long and likely costly legal battle that will almost certainly take years to resolve.
But Trump’s moves have also complicated the WTO’s dispute process itself.
His trade envoys have refused to sign off on any new judges to the crucial appellate branch of the Dispute Settlement Body.
If the blockage cannot resolved, the appellate court may be fully paralysed by the end of next year. — AFP

Meralco looking at Isla Verde to set up first microgrid

Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is looking at Isla Verde, an island within its franchise area, as its first venture in putting up a microgrid system, its president said.
“We are working with the local government to energize [the island], to meet their requirements,” Meralco President and Chief Executive Officer Oscar S. Reyes told reporters in an interview.
Asked whether the electrification of Isla Verde can be classified as a self-contained system similar to a microgrid, Mr. Reyes said: “Medyo microgrid.” He added that should the project push through, it would be Meralco’s first venture into that system.
Apart from Isla Verde, he said Meralco continues to look for possible areas to build a microgrid.
“Siguro (Maybe) that will be something that we’ll pay attention to in 2019,” Mr. Reyes.
He declined to classify the company’s electrification of Cagbalete, another island within its franchise as a microgrid.
“They’re really more for, I think, bringing power to those who have no electricity. This is not highly commercially profitable but I think it’s part of our mandate to bring electricity to unelectrified communities. We’re doing that with schools,” he said. — Victor V. Saulon

Boeing and Embraer in ‘advanced’ talks over merger

Brasília, Brazil — US aerospace giant Boeing and Embraer are in “advanced negotiations” over a much-anticipated tie-up, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer said on Monday.
The proposed merger, which would need the go-ahead from the Brazilian government, would leave Boeing as the majority partner, according to Brazilian newspaper Valor.
Embraer would however keep sole control of its military activities.
Valor said the two aircraft manufacturers had “already prepared the memorandums of understanding and requested a meeting to present” their project to the Brazilian government.
Embraer told AFP that it was in “advanced negotiations” over the deal but refused to comment on details.
Embraer was founded as a state group in 1969 before being privatized in 1994, although the Brazilian government retained the right to make strategic decisions for the company.
Valor said the two companies expect the meeting to take place “in the next two weeks.”
Boeing and Embraer are two of the three biggest aircraft manufacturers in the world, alongside European giant Airbus. — AFP

Merkel dodges political bullet with controversial migrant deal

Berlin, Germany — German Chancellor Angela Merkel survived a bruising challenge to her authority with a compromise deal on immigration but faced charges Tuesday that it spelt a final farewell to her welcoming stance toward refugees.
In high-stakes crisis talks overnight, Merkel had put to rest for now a dangerous row with her hardline Interior Minister Horst Seehofer that had threatened the survival of her fragile coalition government.
In separate statements, Merkel praised the “very good compromise” that she said spelt a European solution, while Seehofer withdrew a resignation threat and gloated that “it’s worth fighting for your convictions”.
In a pact both sides hailed as a victory, Merkel and Seehofer agreed to tighten border controls and set up closed holding centres to allow the speedy processing of asylum seekers and the repatriations of those who are rejected.
They would either be sent back to EU countries that previously registered them or, in case arrival countries reject this — likely including frontline state Italy — be sent back to Austria, pending an agreement with Vienna.
CSU general secretary called the hardening policy proposal the last building block “in a turn-around on asylum policy” after a mass influx brought over one million migrants and refugees.
But criticism and doubts were voiced quickly by other parties and groups, suggesting Merkel may only have won a temporary respite.
Refugee support group Pro Asyl slammed what it labelled “detention centres in no-man’s land” and charged that German power politics were being played out “on the backs of those in need of protection”.
Bernd Riexinger of the opposition far-left Die Linke party spoke of “mass internment camps” as proof that “humanity got lost along the way” and urged Merkel’s other coalition ally, the Social Democrats (SPD), to reject the plan.
SPD leader Andrea Nahles voiced cautious support but said her party needed to discuss “many questions” on the plan with its experts before holding a joint party meeting with the CDU/CSU bloc at 1600 GMT Tuesday.
One of the SPD’s migration experts, Aziz Bozkurt, was withering, charging that the proposed holding centres would be “impractical and fully on track with the AfD” — the far-right party that has railed most loudly against immigrants.
‘Toxic mood’
The deal announced overnight ended Merkel’s worst crisis for now after she faced down an unprecedented mutiny by Seehofer, head of her party’s traditional Bavarian allies the CSU.
A failure to defuse the open conflict would have threatened an end to their 70-year party alliance, a scenario which would have forced Merkel to find new partners or call fresh elections.
Top-circulation Bild daily — which had called the weeks-long battle “Merkel’s endgame” after 12 years in power — gave a lukewarm welcome to the face-saving agreement.
“The CDU and CSU have now struck a deal they could have reached three years ago,” it said, referring to the peak of the mass migrant influx in mid-2015.
“It’s possible that this solution will work,” Bild said in its commentary. “But it’s certain that the mood in a coalition has never been as toxic as in this one.”
The opposition pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) said they supported steps against such migration within the EU but also took a snipe, saying the deal’s effectiveness remained “completely open”.
The main problem was that it relies on pacts with other EU states that “remain to be agreed at a future stage,” said FDP parliamentary chief Marco Buschmann.
A question mark hovered over Merkel’s hopes that Austria will willingly take back some of the rejected asylum seekers.
Austria’s former defence minister Hans Peter Doskozil told Bild that he expected the government to reject an agreement that was “bad for the EU and bad for Austria”.
Austria’s Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom Party warned last week that on the day Germany sends back migrants “we will be ready and secure our own borders”. — AFP

Government rejects all tenders for reissued 10-year Treasury bonds

The government decided to reject all bids on the reissued 10-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) it offered on Tuesday, July 3, as investors demanded higher rates ahead of the June inflation print.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) opted to reject all tenders for its P15-billion offer of reissued 10-year bonds on Tuesday, as bids placed by banks amounted to P14.84 billion, slightly below the amount the Treasury wanted to borrow.
Has the BTr decided to accept all bids, the papers — which will mature in nine years and eight months — would have fetched an average rate of 6.842%, 49.2 basis points higher than the 6.35% tallied in the previous auction.
The 10-year papers carry a 6.25% coupon.
At the secondary market prior to the auction, the debt notes were quoted at 6.9304%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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