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Malaysians probed for match-fixing

KUALA LUMPUR — Two Malaysian badminton players are being investigated for suspected match-fixing by the sport’s governing body and could be banned for life if found guilty, a sports official said Wednesday.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is probing the pair over alleged fixing that happened about two years ago, said Norza Zakaria, president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia.

He refused to disclose their identities but Malaysia’s The Star newspaper reported one used to be a top junior player and the other had taken part in the Thomas Cup, a prestigious team event. — AFP

Tasting Room returns to the City of Dreams

THERE IS NO need to travel far to experience sumptuous French cuisine, not since The Tasting Room reopened at the NÜWA (formerly Crown Towers) at the City of Dreams in Parañaque City.

A contemporary take on haute French cuisine with Asian influences is now offered by the restaurant’s new chef de cuisine Frederic Thevenet, in collaboration with restaurant manager Stephen Maroney.

Mssrs. Thevenet and Maroney have work together since 2015, most recently at Pierre Gagnaire’s La Maison 1888 at the DaNang Sun Peninsula Resort in Vietnam.

Mr. Thevenet told BusinessWorld during a media preview on Feb. 8 that the challenge of figuring out Filipino diners was what made him decide to come to Manila. “The thing, first of all, is try to think of what the customer will like, because I cannot arrive and just make my French food. I know that probably not all customers will appreciate it. You always have to do a mix following the country where you are.

“You (Filipinos) are quite open… You are eager to discover new flavors and a new style of cooking,” Mr. Thevenet said of his observations on Filipino diners.

Guests are now welcomed to the restaurant’s neutral colored yet rich interior which seats 56, this includes the main dining area for 40 guests, a semi-private area, and a bar for eight people.

The new Tasting Room offers a choice between a four-course and six-course menu showcasing dishes by Mr. Thevenet which change according to what is in season. A four-course menu is priced at P4,588++ per person and a six-course menu is P5,088++. Wine pairing is offered at an additional P2,000++ and P2,800++, respectively.

The dishes offered on the current menus include sea bass carpaccio; porcini and king prawns ravioli with green curry, endives and coconut; lobster bisque with ginger and espelette pepper; pollock (from France) with choucroute, smoked bacon, tofu, and juniper berries; and grade 7 Australian wagyu beef. The meal ends with the Chocolate Success cake complemented with lychee veloute.

To help simmer down after a filling dinner, a selection of fresh herbs — parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme — is cut, prepared in front of the guest, and served in cup of warm water.

“What we want to do is just to keep the taste of the produce as much as we can. We are not going to go with several propositions of taste in a plate. We try to stay focused with the produce because the produce is the star. If you have good produce, you have good food. If you have bad produce — bad food,” Mr. Thevenet said.

“It’s an experience — to give the guest a feel of a Michelin dining experience received in Europe,” Mr. Maroney said about dining at the Tasting Room.

Mr. Thevenet follows a simple philosophy, “Make it good. Simple,” Mr. Thevenet said. “Make it the best you can every day.”

The Tasting Room is open from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. A special five-course Valentines menu (P4,900++) with wine pairing (P2,500++) is available until Feb. 16. For inquiries and reservations, call 800-8080, e-mail guestreservations@cod-manila.com, or visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com/thetastingroom. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Philippine Airlines seeks to bring back fuel surcharge

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) is seeking the government’s go-signal to impose a fuel surcharge on its tickets to recover costs from the sharp rise in oil prices.

PAL President Jaime J. Bautista said the flag carrier filed a petition with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) in December, and hopes it will be granted this year.

“We have filed a petition for fuel surcharge, it’s being acted by the CAB,” Mr. Bautista told reporters on Feb. 13.

He did not disclose the amount, but noted the company is spending more than $80 per barrel of fuel.

“It’s not very high, just to allow us to recover a portion of the additional costs of fuel,” Mr. Bautista said of the fuel surcharge requested.

The PAL chief noted jet fuel prices have steadily gone up since 2016. For airlines, fuel is the one of the biggest operating expenses.

Mr. Bautista said PAL flight tickets sold out of Hong Kong and the United States, for example, have fuel surcharge, as other carriers in those countries charge an additional fee for fuel costs.

PAL Holdings, Inc., the listed operator of the flag carrier, recorded P3.47-billion net loss attributable to parent in the January to September period last year, with fuel costs adding on to expenses of the company.

The company is also expecting further losses as it paid P6 billion of dues to the government last year.

Aviation intelligence services firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation earlier said airfares are poised to increase globally this year due to rising oil prices.

PAL is expecting the delivery this year of four Airbus A350-900s, six A321neos, and five Bombardier Q400s, cumulatively worth $2 billion, as it aims to secure a five-star rating by 2020.

It is also in ongoing talks with a strategic investor which may get a minority stake in the airline. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

London warned it is unready for robot taxis and drone deliveries

EUROPE’s largest city is a hotbed of ideas to make getting around the metropolis that little bit easier — but it isn’t ready for them on the streets.

London’s regulators are unprepared for the introduction of autonomous vehicles, delivery by drone and demand-responsive buses — all of which are on the horizon — the transport committee of the London Assembly said in a report on Tuesday. The group advising the mayor on policy compared the situation to the ongoing trouble the city has in integrating car-hailing apps like the one from Uber Technologies, Inc. with its existing taxi fleet.

“The opportunity to improve mobility for millions of Londoners is here, but it will require proper planning, transparency and accountability, as well as cooperation with government, boroughs and development companies,” said Keith Prince, chairman of the London Assembly Transport Committee.

London is just one of many of the world’s megacities coping with a technological revolution on the roads. Electric cars are poised to spread quickly as urban air pollution worsens, forcing authorities to clamp down on cars fueled by gasoline and diesel. Buses running on batteries may make up 47% of the world’s fleet by 2025, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The Chinese city of Shenzhen has already switched its entire bus system to run on electricity.

This breakneck speed of change pushed by technology companies is rubbing up against regulators everywhere. Uber is one of the most infamous cases. When it didn’t comply with local laws on taxis on the grounds that it was a technology company instead of a taxi operator, France and Germany banned some of the app’s services. London pulled Uber’s license to operate last year, and the issue remains unresolved.

The government body responsible for the transport system known as TfL, was “caught napping on the technology front, and it’s time to wake up,” Mr. Prince said. “Uber, then oBike are two examples of a poorly prepared regulator which seems to be making it up as they go along.”

Londoners will increasingly be looking for new ways to get from point A to B as traditional transport from the roads to the Underground get more crowded and sluggish. Some options that may emerge:

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Having a computer at the wheel instead of a human could lead to less traffic accidents. But adding more cars on London’s roads would lead to even more congestion, the report said. Car sharing or autonomous buses would be a better addition than simply replacing human-driven cars with autonomous vehicles, the committee recommends. It expects to see widespread use of robot-driven cars and buses by the 2030s.

APPS TO HAIL A BUS
Putting demand-responsive buses on the roads could further reduce car use, especially if they were used to plug gaps in the current transport network. This would require the creation and implementation of a new digital infrastructure to analyze demand, plan routes and connect to commuters.

DRONES
Delivery machines that can both fly and navigate roads are under development. They could cut congestion as less trucks are used. Airborne drones in particular would need some kind of control system in place that would also try to reduce noise pollution, the report said. — Bloomberg

Why Champagne is the best Valentine’s gift

POPPING open a bottle of champagne on Feb. 14 to share with your special someone is to me easily the best Valentine’s gift of all time. This could be in the comfort of your home, at a hotel, or a fine dining restaurant.

Champagne is considered the world’s most glamorous beverage, and perhaps the most romantic as well. Champagne is very much part of the French lifestyle of swagger, luxury and snobbery that we all love.

CHAMPAGNE THE WINE REGION
Champagne is more than just a sparkling wine, it is a place of origin that the French have been protecting since the historical Treaty of Paris in 1891, and further re-affirmed post-World War I in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as one of the trade provisions. Cavas, Proseccos, Spumantes and New World sparkling wines are therefore not Champagnes. Champagne, just like other European appellation names — Port, Sherry etc. — are legally protected demarcated wine regions.

In 1994, The European Union (EU) further enhanced its claim to the Champagne name by forbidding the term Methode Champenoise (or Champagne Method — “in-bottle secondary fermentation”) to be used for sparkling wines made outside of Champagne. But just like Port, Burgundy, Chablis, and other well known EU properties, it had little enforcement in North America and other New World wine-producing countries for the longest time, especially on these countries’ domestic fronts. It is, however, still politically incorrect to say American and Australian champagnes when referring to sparkling wines made in California and Australia or for other wine producing countries outside of Champagne, France — though we may still see the name “Champagne” arbitrarily used on wine list referring to sparkling wines all over the country.

Below are five compelling arguments on why Champagne is best for a Valentine celebration:

1. Champagne is the most prestigious beverage in the world. Not to mention, the most pricey beverage too. In the Philippines, this is actually more true than in other countries. Our wine taxes are extremely biased against sparkling wines, with sparkling wines, especially in the Champagne price range, being taxed close to 23 times more than still wines. The excise tax alone for a Champagne is over P500/bottle, so there is no champagne out in the market that retails less than P2,000 per bottle! While you could always get non-champagne sparkling wines at much lower prices, like those from Spain (Cava), Italy (Prosecco and Asti Spumanti), Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and even from France (called “Cremant de” followed by the regional name, notably from Loire, Burgundy, or Languedoc-Roussillon), none still can approximate the cache of a real Champagne. Valentine’s Day is not the time to skimp on one’s budget for a love one.

2. Truly alluring bubbles. Champagne comes with bubbles, millions of tiny bubbles that never cease to stop in every pour. The bubbles can be seen as multiple streams, or a single stream, but are always fine. Use a crystal flute glass to be able to appreciate the inherent aesthetics of a poured champagne. The effervescence of Champagne comes from its process known as Methode Champenoise, which, in simple terms, mean around 18 months of secondary yeast fermentation inside a bottle. The trapped carbon dioxide multiplies exponentially during this gestation period, waiting to escape upon opening. It is very easy to see how fine, long, and relentless the effervescence of Champagnes are versus other sparkling wines like Proseccos or Asti Spumantes, which will have courser, shorter-lived bubbles. Finer and more delicate bubbles are definitely not only pleasing to the eye, but are actually more delectable when tasted.

3. The faster intoxicating effect. Not only have I read about this, but I actually experienced it. It seems that blood-alcohol levels zoom up, or get one inebriated faster when one is drinking Champagne as against still wine. This is even regardless of actual alcohol content of the liquids. As we all know, red wines, especially given global warming, are flagging at the 13.5% to 14.5% alcohol by volume levels, as against Champagnes that are more consistently in the 12% range. Yet a glass of Champagne always seems to do the trick faster than a glass of hearty red wine. Science suggests that the presence of carbon dioxide accelerates the absorption of alcohol into our bloodstream. While over time, the higher alcohol red wine may get you more drunk, Champagnes get you loose and less inhibited earlier. I believe this is a good recipe on a Valentine’s Day date.

4. Champagne as aphrodisiac. The late Dr. Max Lake, a US-born surgeon, wine maker, author, researcher, and best known in Australia as the “father of the Australian boutique wine industry” for being the first to open a boutique winery in all of Australia (Lake’s Folly winery in the Hunter Valley in 1963), had a fascination for this subject. Dr. Max had written after much research that the scent of Champagne, particularly of the blanc de blancs (those made from 100% Chardonnay) resembles the aroma of the female pheromone. There was not much follow-up on this theory from other scientific experts, but it is nevertheless extremely intriguing. But whether Champagne alone is an aphrodisiac or not, the two foods most associated with being proven aphrodisiacs — oysters and chocolates — are perfect pairs with Champagnes!

5. Champagne as depicted in the big and small screen.

Champagne’s biggest promoter has to be Hollywood, both the movies and TV shows. While James Bond prefers to drink his dry martini shaken not stirred when he drinks alone, his drink of choice when in the company of a beautiful woman is always Champagne. Champagne Bollinger in fact in most cases. This is almost a constant in all 24 Bond movies over the last 56 years, whether it be Sean Connery’s initial portrayal of the British super agent 007 in 1962’s Doctor No, to the most recent Daniel Craig starred, 2015’s Spectre. Who also can forget the Champagne ordered by Richard Gere’s character to be sent to his hotel penthouse room along with strawberries for Julia Roberts in the 1990 blockbuster Pretty Woman? There is so much more exposure in movies, including The Great Gatsby, where Moet Chandon champagnes were flaunted shamelessly. On the small screen, we see Champagnes in the long-running Emmy award-winning shows Frasier, Will & Grace, and, more recently, the Dynasty reboot of 2017. What we see larger than life makes Champagne the ultimate aspirational beverage. Champagnes are always referenced not only for celebration, but also for romance, courtship and seduction — all Valentine’s Day possibilities.

Let the bubbles speak love this Valentine’s Day!

The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.

Gibraltar Masters 2018

Gibraltar Masters 2018
Caleta, England
Jan. 22-Feb. 1, 2018

Final Top Standings

1-7. GM Hikaru Nakamura USA 2781, GM Richard Rapport HUN 2700, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2793, Levon Aronian ARM 2797, GM Nikita Vitiugov RUS 2732, GM Michael Adams ENG 2709, GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2737, 7.5/10

8-25. GM David Howell ENG 2682, GM Abhijeet Gupta IND 2610, GM Debashis Das IND 2501, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda POL 2724, GM Grigoriy Oparin RUS 2607, GM Wang Hao CHN 2711, GM Daniele Vocaturo ITA 2609, GM Boris Gelfand ISR 2697, GM S.P. Sethuraman IND 2646, GM Emil Sutovsky ISR 2673, GM Daniil Dubov RUS 2696, Lance Henderson dela Fuente ESP 2429, GM Ori Kobo ISR 2477, GM Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2699, GM Alexander Motylev RUS 2673, GM S.L. Narayanan IND 2573, GM Vladimir Epishin RUS 2536, GM Falko Bindrich GER 2605, 7.0/10

Total of 276 players

Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves then 15 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.

Gibraltar is a very small, narrow peninsula covering 2.5 square miles located at the southern edge of Spain. It overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar and the northern coastal areas of Africa. If you look that up in the map you will note that it is thousands of miles away from England, and yet it is British Crown Colony. When asked, at the referendum in 2002, whether Spain and the UK should share sovereignty of Gibraltar, more than 98% of Gibraltarians said it should remain British.

Apparently it was captured by a Dutch force from Spain in 1704 and ceded in perpetuity to Great Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar at the foot of which is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.

It is a financial haven, with a maximum of £30,000 (approximately P2.1 million) in income tax regardless of how much earnings you have and there is also no inheritance tax, no VAT, no capital gains tax and low income and corporate tax.

Some trivia: In March 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono flew to Gibraltar, where they were married in a 10-minute ceremony at the British consulate by registrar Cecil Wheeler. It was the only place that could marry them at such short notice. Within an hour they headed for Amsterdam, and the Hilton hotel, where they spent their honeymoon in bed, accompanied by the world’s press, to call for world peace.

As for chess, Gibraltar every year hosts one of the strongest international chess opens in the world with huge prizes and they exert every effort to make chessplayers feel at home. There was an unfortunate conflict of schedules this year between the Tata Steel tournament and the Gibraltar Masters and so Magnus Carlsen et al could not compete in the latter tournament, but anyway there were enough big stars to go around and elite players Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura showed up in the island to do battle.

At the end there was a seven way tie on 7.5/10. The top four on tie-break went into a playoff for the title (time control: 10 minutes play-to-finish with a 5-second increment per move. If the score is still tied then two blitz games will be played with 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment).

Semifinals
Levon Aronian beat Richard Rapport 2-0
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave beat Hikaru Nakamura 2.5-1.5

Finals
Levon Aronian defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2.5-1.5

Levon Aronian got £25,000 (around P1.7 million) for finishing first, the other six players tied for 2nd-7th got £10,500 (P750,000) each.

For Levon Aronian this is yet another super-win following his tremendous victory in the FIDE World Cup last September followed by another big win in the Palma de Mallorca Grand Prix in November. Even more than ever he affirms his standing as the top favorite to win the Candidates Tournament in March 2018. If he wins that too then it is on to a match for all the marbles — a world title confrontation with Magnus Carlsen.

Let us take a look at the chess he played in Gibraltar. First, a lightning attack which is surprisingly virulent.

Aronian, Levon (2797) — Hoolt, Sarah (2400) [A80]
Gibraltar Masters 2018 Catalan Bay GIB (3.18), 25.01.2018

1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bd3 Ne4 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Ne2 c5 10.b3 Nd7 11.c4 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nd6 13.Qc2 Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Re8 [Conventional wisdom is that in such formations once Black manages to advance her e-pawn to e5 it should more or less equalize, but it is so simple to achieve that.]

15.Nf4 cxd4 16.exd4 Qd6 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.Rfe1 Qf6 20.Rad1 Qf7 21.Qb5 a6 22.Qb6 a5 [Not yet time for 22…e5, which is met by 23.Nd5 (threatening a fork on c7) 23…Rb8 24.Nc7 Rf8 (where else? 24…Re7 25.Rd8+) 25.Rxe5 and the e5 pawn is lost for nothing]

23.Nd3 Ra6 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qc5 Qb7 26.Ne5 Qb6 27.Qc1 [Sarah has been concentrating on the queenside but now she sees that Qg5 is very strong.]

27…Ra7 28.Qg5 Rae7 29.Rd3 Qc7 30.Qe3 Bb7 31.Rc1 Qb8 32.Nd7 Qa8 33.Qg5 Kh8? <D>

POSITION AFTER 33…KH8

Black should have played 33…h6. Now White’s attack begins.

34.Nf6! Rc8

[34…gxf6 35.Qxf6+ Rg7 36.Rc7 Reg8 37.Rdd7 Qf8 38.Rxg7 Qxg7 39.Rxg7 Rxg7 40.Qxe6 White is clearly winning]

35.Rcd1 Rf7

The knight is still immune: 35…gxf6 36.Qxf6+ Rg7 37.Rd8+.

36.Nd7 Rg8 37.Rh3

With the idea of Rxh7+, Kxh7, Qh5 mate.

37…h6 38.Ne5 Rf6 39.Rxh6+! Rxh6 40.Nf7+ Kh7 41.Nxh6 Bf3

[41…gxh6 42.Rd7+]

42.Nf7

Threatening Qh4+, Kg6, Ne5 mate.

42…Rf8 43.Qh4+ 1–0

Black chooses to resign rather than 43…Kg6 44.Ne5 mate, or 43…Kg8 Ng5 and a massacre.

And now we have another example of Aronian’s queen meandering all over the board, but once it gets to the kingside the attack is hard to defend.

Aronian, Levon (2797) — Sethuraman, S.P. (2646) [A13]
Gibraltar Masters 2018 Catalan Bay GIB (9.3), 31.01.2018

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5

To be followed by …Bc6. Aronian prevents that right away.

7.Ne5 Qc8 8.Qd3 Nc6 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Qb5 a6 12.Qa4 Nd4 13.0–0 0–0 14.d3 Nb6 15.Qd1 Rd8 16.Bd2 Qd7 17.Rc1 Rac8 18.b3 h6 19.Kh1!

Would you believe this is an attacking move? Watch.

19…Nd5 20.Nxd5 exd5 21.e3 Nc6 22.Qh5 Qd6 23.f4 a5 24.a4 Rb8 25.e4 dxe4 26.Bxe4 b6 27.g4

With Bc3, Rg1 and Rcf1 to follow.

27…Nd4 28.Bc3 f5

Taking the b3 pawn accelerates White’s attack. There will follow 28…Nxb3 29.Be5 Qe6 30.Rce1 and it is already looking very scary for Black.

29.gxf5 Bf6 30.Rg1 Re8

Did Black slip up here? Let us take a look at the alternatives.

30…Kh7 31.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 (Or 31…Bxg7 32.f6+) 32.Rg1+ Kf8 33.Qxh6+ Ke8 34.Bxd4 Bxd4 (34…Qxd4 is hopeless after 35.Qh7) 35.Bc6+ followed by mate;

30…Kf8 31.Rg6 Qe7 32.Rcg1 Rd6 33.Bxd4 Bxd4 (33…Rxd4? 34.Rxf6+! Qxf6 35.Rg6 Qe7 36.f6 gxf6 37.Qxh6+ Ke8 38.Rg7 and wins) 34.f6! Bxf6 35.Bd5 Rbd8 36.Rxh6! and wins;

Best defense appears to be 30…Kh8 31.Rg6 Qf8 32.Re1 when there is no immediate win for White in sight.

31.Qxh6 Rbd8 32.Rce1 Re7 33.Re3 1–0

Sethuraman resigns because of 33.Re3 Kf8 (33…Nxf5 34.Bxf5 Rxe3 35.Rxg7+! followed by mate) 34.Qh8+ Kf7 35.Qh5+ Kf8 36.Reg3 threat is Qh8+ followed by Rxg7+. Black can still wriggle around a bit but sooner or later the king will get caught.

The 2018 Chess Calendar has the Aeroflot Open (Moscow, Russia) to start Feb. 20-March 1. This is the world’s toughest open tournament with only players rated 2550 and above automatically allowed entry.

March 6-14 is the Reykjavik Open in Reykjavik, Iceland. This year it has been named as the Bobby Fischer Memorial in honor of Fischer who would have turned 75.

I don’t imagine though any of the eight (8) candidates (Sergey Karjakin, Levon Aronian, Ding Liren, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Vladimir Kramnik) participating in these events. It looks like the next time we will be seeing any of them in action will be the Candidates Tournament in Berlin, Germany from March 10-28. This should be a real humdinger of an event.

 

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, 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

Google releases version of Instagram’s ‘Stories’

PARIS — Google launched its own “Stories” format Tuesday to compete with Snapchat and Instagram with image-driven news articles aimed at mobile phone and tablet users.

Content for its “AMP stories” initially comes from outlets like CNN, The Washington Post, Conde Nast, Wired and US People magazine, and is designed to load much faster on mobile devices than conventional articles and videos.

“On mobile devices, users browse lots of articles, but engage with few in-depth,” said Rudy Galfi, who is heading the drive at Google.

“Images, videos and graphics help get readers’ attention as quickly as possible and keep them engaged through immersive and easily consumable visual information,” he added.

“AMP stories” articles fill the screen and are image and video led. Users can tap on the home screen to read further or simply swipe to the next article.

Google claims the format, which it is opening up to software developers, gives “novel ways to tell immersive stories” without the “prohibitively high start-up costs, particularly for small publishers.”

It was developed with major US media outlets and can also be read on a computer.

“AMP stories aim to make the production of stories as easy as possible from a technical perspective,” Google said.

“The mobile web is great for distributing and sharing content, but mastering performance can be tricky,” it added.

But AMP Stories “gives great editorial freedom to content creators,” it claimed.

Snapchat, Instagram and particularly Facebook have all heavily used their own stories formats for full-screen displays of content.

Google said it eventually plans to bring “AMP stories to more products across Google, and expand the ways they appear in Google Search.” — AFP

Globe Telecom launches SD-WAN technology

GLOBE TELECOM, Inc. on Tuesday launched its Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), a cloud-based technology aimed at businesses with multiple locations.

The Ayala-led telco said in a statement that SD-WAN utilizes a plug-and-play device using cloud-based technology that can be easily installed and configured as long as there is fixed broadband connectivity.

Globe SD-WAN complements a company’s existing Wide Area Network (WAN) and Internet Protocol — Virtual Private Network (IP-VPN) connections. Companies can also apply automated rerouting of traffic across the most efficient routes and connections.

“This is best suited for companies that have multiple locations. It facilitates the way you provide and manage connectivity to different locations,” Albert M. de Larrazabal, Globe chief commercial officer, told reporters during the launch event.

With the new technology, Globe said banks can run real-time applications and transactions on multiple connections to their branches and ATMs that leverage on an intelligent system. If a link fails, applications on bank transactions and operations will continue to run using available bandwidth in the other connections.

Companies can also re-route to SD-WAN non-mission critical activities including video conferencing calls, and e-mails.

Globe Senior Vice-President for Enterprise Group Peter Maquera is optimistic on the appetite of clients for the technology.

“We’re expecting a pretty good take up because it’s a proven technology,” Mr. Maquera told reporters.     

Globe recorded P15.08 billion in net income last year, down 5% from 2016. — P.P.C. Marcelo

DoT banks on farm tourism to expand visitor arrivals

By Maya M. Padillo,
Correspondent

DAVAO CITY — The Department of Tourism (DoT) is making a push for more farm tourism destinations around the country to help bring in its target eight million arrivals this year.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Eden Josephine L. David told reporters that the department’s campaigns and programs for this year aim to strengthen partnerships with the agriculture sector.

“It’s really tripartite partnerships and the private sector is part of this, such as the tour operators, farm tourism operators, commerce cooperatives — and  we are also being assisted by the academe,” Ms. David said.

There are currently 34 accredited farm tourism facilities around the country, she said, and the DoT wants to increase the number by helping potential sites by holding training programs to improve facilities and promotion.

In Davao operators are offering “fruit tours,” highlighting the region’s produce such as banana and durian.

The DoT is also working with Malagos Agri-Ventures Corp., which has a mountain-garden resort in Davao City and is a leading producer of cocoa as well as its own brand of chocolate.

“When you think of Davao you think of durian, chocolate or pomelo. When we think of Baguio, we think of strawberry; Calabarzon coffee; GenSan (General Santos City) tuna. So this is destination marketing,” she said.

The DoT official also said that boosting farm tourism will contribute to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) food security initiatives.

Republic Act 10816, or the Farm Tourism Development Act, designates the DoT secretary as chair of the Farm Tourism Development Board while the DA head is vice-chair.

Ms. David said farm tourism also makes agriculture attractive to younger generations.

“To engage the young generation, we present a sexy aspect of farming like farm tourism,” she said.

Ms. David said marketing programs should be supported by measures improving connectivity within the archipelago. “If we’re not interconnected, like air and land connectivity, that is a challenge.”

The DoT set a target of at least 6.7 million tourists in 2017. As of the first 10 months last year, the DoT reported 5.47 million arrivals.

Palace vows to take out red tape in SALN disclosures

By Arjay L. Balinbin

THE PRESIDENTIAL Communications Operations Office (PCOO) vowed on Wednesday, Feb. 14, that it would recommend to the Office of the President (OP) the immediate public disclosure of the statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALNs) of government officials.

“We will recommend to proactively disclose the SALN of officials. The recommendation will include a manifestation that SALN is one of the most frequently requested documents,” PCOO Assistant Secretary and Freedom of Information (FoI) Program Director Kristian R. Ablan said in a press briefing at Malacañang.

Mr. Ablan made this pronouncement when questioned why the current administration is imposing another level of bureaucracy on the distribution of SALN copies to the media.

Palace reporters noted that SALN documents were automatically distributed to them without an FoI directive in the previous administration.

Meanwhile, the PCOO also announced that it is considering organizing an FoI Advisory Committee, which will be tasked to provide “strategic policy direction and oversee the implementation of the FoI Program.”

The Committee “will be composed of government representatives and nongovernment representatives,” Mr. Ablan said.

He added: “From the government: PCOO as Chair; the Department of Justice; the Department of Budget and Management; the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the National Privacy Commission; the National Archives of the Philippines; one representative from the Senate; and, one representative from the House of Representatives.”

Mr. Ablan said representatives from the business sector, the academe, civil society, and the media will constitute the nongovernment members of the committee.

Mr. Ablan said the PCOO is focusing on “expanding the program to local government units (LGUs) with the help of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) through the promotion of local FoI Ordinances.”

On Feb. 28, the PCOO will conduct “an in-depth orientation for the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) to provide more details on how to access government information.”

Mr. Ablan reported that the PCOO’s “FoI portal, www.foi.gov.ph, now has 3,253 online requests for information lodged for 218 national government agencies (NGAs) and government-owned and/or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) currently onboard the platform. Out of these requests, 32% have been facilitated successfully and 37% are currently being processed.”

“[W]e remain hopeful that the FoI Bill will be passed to further strengthen this administration’s efforts in promoting transparency, accountability, and citizen participation,” he added.

Top 5 Philippine market players: International air passenger transport, by gross revenue

Kerr (not) coaching

It’s easy to see why the Suns balked at the idea of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr handing over his clipboard to his players for the duration of their match the other day. For all their lack of competitiveness, they have pride, and the sight of the opponents taking turns on the hot seat while playing them no doubt gnawed at it. To them, the implication was clear: They aren’t good enough to be taken seriously, so much so that even those with absolutely no experience whatsoever can do what’s supposed to be the most difficult job in the sport.

For the record, Kerr informed counterpart Jay Triano that he was going to make the unprecedented move because, as he explained in the aftermath, “I have not reached them for the last month. They’re tired of my voice.” Nonetheless, the Suns didn’t appreciate the development, with veteran Jared Dudley arguing it reflected “a lack of respect for an opponent” and guard Troy Daniels taking the opportunity to throw shade at the 2016 National Basketball Association Coach of the Year. “I don’t think it’s hard to coach those guys. I think anybody can do it.”

Regardless, what Kerr termed an “experiment” worked. The Warriors found themselves engaged from start to finish. As two-time Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry explained, “It was a collective effort. We were just trying to stay locked in and enjoy the process of getting focused and knowing our sets, being thoughtful about what lineups are out there, what we’re trying to accomplish and execute.” Added general manager Bob Myers, “I thought it was great!”

Needless to say, the Warriors received significant backlash for what numerous quarters deemed to be a “stunt” they wouldn’t pull against better competition. And if Kerr “didn’t have four All-Stars, he wouldn’t be doing that, added the Suns’ 2015 first-round pick Devin Booker. Still, he stuck to his guns, ruing the fact that “whether it’s a controversy or not, it has to become one… [in] the world we live in.” Moreover, he disclosed that he intends to employ the same method again. “It’s a good exercise,” he said, “so I can see [us] doing it again one time, a couple of times.”

In the final analysis, Dudley’s right. The Suns wouldn’t have been patsies for Kerr were they simply better on the court. “Maybe right now, we don’t deserve respect. When you keep getting beat[en] by 40, teams won’t respect you.” Which is why it won’t happen anytime soon, and why other bench tacticians can make light of it in retrospect. It may or may not be a show of arrogance, but unless and until the Warriors are knocked off their perch, they should be free to employ it as they wish.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

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