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Columbian Dyip inflict Rain or Shine first loss

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Columbian Dyip are back on the winning track in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup and they did so by bringing down one of the early top teams in tournament in the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 104-96, yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Fell in their previous game, the Dyip made sure not to lose in consecutive times, holding tight in what was a competitive fight to improve to 3-2 while sending the E-Painters (3-1) to their first defeat.
Import John Fields and guard Reden Celda steered Columbian to early control of the match, with the team establishing a nine-point cushion, 23-14, with a little over four minutes left in the opening quarter.
But Rain or Shine would pick up its game as the frame wore on, narrowing its deficit to just three points, 31-28, after the first 12 minutes.
To open the second quarter the Dyip would go on a 15-10 run to create more separation, 46-38, with six minutes lapsing.
It was a spurt that Columbian capitalized on as it maintained the upper hand as the first half drew to a close, 58-53.
Making up for lost ground, Rain or Shine jump-started things in the third canto, going on a 6-0 blast, led by Ed Daquioag and Chris Tiu, in the opening minute to overtake Columbian, 59-58.
The E-Painters tried to pull away after that, extending their lead to as much as six points, 67-61.
But the Dyip would adjust their footing to stay within striking distance, 71-68, halfway into the quarter.
Their resilience paid off as the proceedings moved along, finding themselves on top anew, 78-73, with four minutes remaining with Jerramy King and Carlo Lastimosa providing the spark.
When the quarter smoke cleared, the Dyip continued to hold sway, 82-80.
With the outcome of the contest far from settled, the two squads jockeyed hard to take early control to start the payoff quarter.
The count was at 88-85 with Columbian ahead with eight minutes to go.
Columbian stretched its lead some more, 93-87, minutes later.
Rain or Shine tried to claw its way back, but Columbian would find ways to keep the former at bay.
The Dyip held a 99-94 lead with 1:57 to go before Mr. Fields made it a seven-point advantage, 101-94, with two free throws 30 seconds later.
It was a cushion that proved enough to stand on for Columbian as it went for the closeout and the win after.
Mr. Fields finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds and five assists with Rashawn McCarthy adding 23 and Mr. King 13 points.
Reggie Johnson led Rain or Shine with 30 points followed by Mr. Daquioag with 17 and Raymond Almazan with 16 points.
“This is the way to bounce back. After that horrible loss to Alaska last time around, we really talked about it and worked to correct our mistakes and this was the result,” said Columbian coach Ricky Dandan after their win, alluding to their 134-103 loss to Alaska previously.
Columbian returns to action on May 16 against the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok while Rain or Shine next plays on May 13 versus the San Miguel Beermen.

Presidential son and former vice-mayor facing Ombudsman cases

OMBUDSMAN CONCHITA Carpio-Morales said former Davao City vice-mayor Paolo Z. Duterte, a son of the President, is facing “cases pending investigation” at the Office of the Ombudsman. Ms. Carpo-Morales was not able to disclose any more details about the charges as she had long inhibited herself from cases involving the Duterte family, with whom she is related by affinity. But, a document obtained by reporters showed that Mr. Duterte is facing cases for graft, perjury, forfeiture, violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards, and administrative charges for grave misconduct and serious dishonesty, which are under preliminary investigation stage as of January 12, as reported by DZMM. Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, in a briefing, acknowledged the Ombudsman’s “power to investigate on its own and initiate proper action against public officers.” He said, “We see this as part of the Ombudsman’s constitutional mandate to ensure public accountability.” Mr. Duterte resigned from his post in late-December 2017. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Davao City plans sisterhood agreement with another Chinese city

THE DAVAO city government is planning to forge a sisterhood agreement with another city in China to further expand trade and cultural ties. The Davao City International Relations Board, in a statement Tuesday, said it is preparing the proposal for a deal with Qinhuangdao City to be submitted to the city council for approval. The city already has an agreement with Nanning City, while the sisterhood with Jinjiang City is already being processed. The board is part of the local government’s promotional system, together with the Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC). Lemuel G. Ortonio, DCIPC head, said the sisterhood agreements would strengthen links in “tourism and culture, trade and commerce, and education and technology.” City Planning and Development Office head Ivan C. Cortez, for his part, said these agreements would attract investments and trade, as well as encourage airlines to consider direct flights to and from Davao. “We need to explore the possibilities for us to be able to cash in on the interests that the Chinese investors have on us,” Mr. Cortez said. Early this month, Chinese Consul General Li Lin, who will be posted at the soon-to-be opened consulate in the city, said China is looking at the possible areas of cooperation between its investors and those in the city. Arturo M. Milan, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., told BusinessWorld that the Chinese are planning a trade mission to the city to assess possible joint venture projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, among other areas. “We just need to prepare our local investors, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises so that they will able to take advantage of the interest of these Chinese traders,” Mr. Milan said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

CA junks Ampatuan petition for bail

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has upheld a Quezon City Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) decision denying the bail petition of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy U. Ampatuan for his involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, where 58 people, including 32 journalists, were murdered.
CA Special Eight Division Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, in a 23-page decision promulgated on April 18, dismissed for lack of merit Mr. Ampatuan’s plea to reverse the rulings of QC-RTC Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes on Sept. 15 and Nov. 15 in 2015.
The orders denied Mr. Ampatuan’s petition for bail based on strong evidence against him.
Mr. Ampatuan took it to the higher court, accusing Ms. Solis-Reyes of “gravely abusing its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” the CA decision read.
“(Mr. Ampatuan) contended that the prosecution failed to present any credible evidence in support of its allegation that (he) was in conspiracy with 196 other accused in accomplishing the massacre,” it read further.
The CA, however, was not persuaded: “(H)istory will never forget the atrocities perpetrated on 23 November 2009, when 57 (sic) innocent civilians were massacred in Sitio Masalay, Municipality of Ampatuan, Maguindanao Province.”
“The tenor of (the) testimonies (against Mr. Ampatuan) appeared to be uniform and has consistently shown that (he) joined various discussions on the execution of the crimes,” the CA said.
The CA explained, “when the grant of bail is discretionary, the prosecution has the burden of showing that the evidence of guilt against the accused is strong. On this score, the determination of whether or not the evidence of guilt is strong, being a matter of judicial discretion, remains with the judge.”
“In the instant case, the evidence on record would suggest that, while there may be doubts as to (Mr. Ampatuan’s) overt act that may result in his criminal liability by reason of conspiracy, the presumption is great that he is probably guilty of the charges, therefore, bail should be refused,” the CA ruled.
Several members of the Ampatuan clan were accused of plotting the massacre, intended to thwart the political plans of their rival, incumbent Maguindanao Governor Esmael G. Mangudadatu, in the 2010 elections. Mr. Mangudadatu’s wife was among those killed in the massacre.
Out of the 197 accused, 15 were from the Ampatuan clan. Of the suspects, 115 have already been arrested, while 103 are still awaiting trial. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Another civilian freed, 2 cops still held by Abu Sayyaf

ANOTHER CIVILIAN hostage of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was rescued on May 8 by the Marine Battalion Landing Team 3 led by Lieutenant Colonel Ramil DC. Holgado in Panglima Estino, Sulu. Blas Jackosalim Ahamad was recovered by the military based on the information relayed by the other civilian held captive, Faizal Ahidji, who was left blindfolded by the ASG in a forested area in Bangkal Village last May 5. Mr. Ahamad received medical examination and underwent custodial debriefing. As this developed, the military reported that two ASG members were killed on Wednesday as the 4th Special Forces Battalion conducted pursuit and rescue operations for the two police officers, Police Officer 2 (PO2) Benierose Alvarez and PO1 Dinah Gumahad, who are still with the abductors. High powered firearms were also recovered, including two M14, one R4 assault rifle, and one M203 grenade launcher. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

Nation at a Glance — (05/10/18)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Bitcoin’s biggest rival faces overhaul as computing power rises

A fight is on for the soul of Ether.
With a market capitalization of $73 billion, the biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin has been hailed as the future of digital finance because of its ability to layer software applications on top of transactions. But as Ether rises in price and importance, powerful players within the virtual currency world such as equipment maker Bitmain are angling for greater control and profit.
What’s at stake is domination of the process known as mining, where scores of computers solve complex mathematical riddles to win newly minted coins in exchange for processing the transactions that allow the network function.
Ethereum developers have always wanted the project to be “a world computer,” in which millions of people’s PCs and graphics card-based machines run the digital ledger. Such a wide web of participants “gives Ethereum extreme levels of fault tolerance, ensures zero downtime, and makes data stored on the blockchain forever unchangeable and censorship-resistant,” according to Ethereum’s documents.
The range of participants could be about to shrink, as Bitmain and others move in with a new type of computing hardware that could give them disproportionate power when it comes to confirming transactions. The new hardware, which should become available in July or sooner, could push out smaller miners and is “a nightmare for decentralization,” said Lucas Nuzzi, a senior analyst at Digital Asset Research.
Ethereum developers are rushing to stop the invasion. During a call last month, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the risk will go away once the community deploys Casper — software that will get rid of miners altogether and confirm transactions in a different way, which would expand the number of people involved in the process. But the date of Casper’s deployment is uncertain, with the project having already been delayed for months.
Members of the community have also debated capping Ether supply or changing algorithms to combat miners using the so-called ASIC-based hardware.
ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit-based computers, are more efficient than traditional PCs, phones or graphics cards in running specific algorithms used in confirming transactions — so they can earn tokens more cheaply and faster. They have long been used to mine Bitcoin. Later, they spread into Litecoin and Dash. Bitmain announced the first-ever ASIC computer able to mine Zcash in May, and an ASIC miner for Ether last month.
“That could have a negative impact on the Ethereum community and therefore on Ethereum price,” said Sam Doctor, managing director at Fundstrat Global Advisors who holds some Ether. The coin “may underperform the space,” though that may be short-lived, he said.
The greater mining power could let Bitmain — or other large miners that buys its gear — to gain control over the network in what is known as a 51-percent attack, in which they could falsify transactions and make away with other users’ coins.
“If Bitmain miners became so large that it would present a 51-percent attack risk, this could undermine prices,” Susquehanna Investment Group’s Christopher Rolland said.
Bitmain said the company has specifically made an effort to avert reaching the transaction processing threshold. Such a move “would not be in the economic best interests of any participant in a cryptocurrency ecosystem as it would weaken faith in the currency, causing its value to fall,” according to an emailed statement. “Further, in selling its Ethereum mining devices to its customers, Bitmain worked to ensure that no one participant received an undue allocation of units. This further reduces the possibility of any one party controlling the network.”
It’s not just Bitmain that looks to disrupt this market. At least three other companies are working on Ethereum ASIC miners as well, Rolland said in a recent note. And some of the makers may be deploying ASICs for mining Ether already.
“There’s a concern in the community that a lot of the ASIC manufacturers are hoarding a lot of chips and doing their own mining,” said Timothy Tam, co-founder of market intelligence platform CoinFi.
Bitmain’s $800 Ether miner will ship in July, according to the company’s website. It can deliver a hash, or processing, rate of 180 megahashes a second. By comparison, Bitmain’s own GPU-based machine used to mine Ether at 220 megahashes is for sale online for about $4,000. So the new gear is many times cheaper and more efficient than anything that current Ether miners use.
“These are the conservative estimates,” the company said on its website. “We expect the miners to deliver higher performance and efficiency when they are ready to ship.”
Many investors say ASICs are just something they may have to live with, as mining equipment makers grow more powerful.
“ASICs & Mining (and Bitmain) is certainly a reality in today’s market,” said Dave Balter, partner at Flipside Crypto, which runs investment vehicles for cryptocurrencies. “These things tend to create a lot of noise and news, but we tend to stay focused on the fundamentals. Ethereum is a great project, it will continue to be one, regardless of how fast it gets mined.” — Bloomberg

Stronger dollar hurts ICTSI first-quarter earnings

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) earnings fell 15% on the first three months of 2018 at US$44.1 million from US$51.7 million in the same period the previous year.
“[ICTSI] operates in a number of jurisdictions other than the Philippines and collects revenues in various currencies. Continued appreciation of the US dollar relative to other major currencies, particularly the Philippine peso, Brazilian Reais, Mexican peso and the Euro, may have a negative impact on the Group’s reported levels of revenues and profits,” the Razon-led company said in regulatory filing released on Wednesday, May 9.
ICTSI opened new terminals in Melbourne, Australia and Motukea Island, Papua New Guinea. These also pumped up the company’s cash operating expenses to US$129.1 million, 24% more than US$103.9 million in 2017. — Denise A. Valdez

Damaged property from Cebu fire drags Metro Retail profit down 6%

Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. reported a 6% decline in net profit at P90 million for the first quarter of 2018, a result of a fire that hit Ayala Center Cebu in January which lasted more than two days.
The listed company’s net sales also dropped 12.0% at P6.968 billion, from P7.92 billion in the same period the previous year, according to a quarterly report submitted to regulators.
“While we have encountered difficulties as the year opened, we are committed to rebuilding and recovering, maximizing the opportunities brought about by the booming retail industry,” Metro Retail Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank S. Gaisano was quoted in a separate statement as saying.
But the company said it is working on rebuilding the ravaged parts of its properties. Its first phase is the opening of a 900-square meter Metro Supermarket in the city’s central business district.
“We remain focused on our plans on sales and margin improvement efficiencies, and we are seeing encouraging results in our retail sales as we continue to strengthen our wholesale business,” Metro Retail President and Chief Operating Officer Arthur Emmanuel was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

Chelsea Logistics reports three-fold jump in Q1 profit

Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) reported that its net income for the first quarter of 2018 reached P115 million, an increase by 326% from the P27 million it earned in the same period last year.
Its revenue also grew by 91.30% at P1.179 billion, from P616 million in the same period the previous year.
In a regulatory filing, the shipping company said its acquisition of Worklink Services, Inc. and Starlite Ferries, Inc. in November 2017 propelled its profitability.
“MV Archer – one of Starlite’s 14 RoPax (roll-on, roll-off passenger) vessels, recently started servicing the Matnog, Sorsogon – Allen, Northern Samar route in the South. As of end March 31, 2018, Starlite saw 33% higher contribution to the Group’s revenue at P241 million,” CLC said in a statement on Wednesday, May 9.
It added that Worklink has been providing logistics solutions to known dermatological clinics, generating P58 million revenue.
CLC’s tankers and tugs subsidiary, Chelsea Shipping Corp., added P522 million to the company’s overall revenue with its 60% increase on the first three months of 2018. It currently has 12 tankers and 4 barges.
It’s passenger and cargo subsidiary, Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, meanwhile contributed P370 million in revenue, up by 28% than in 2017, with its fleet of eight roll-on, roll-off passenger vehicles and seven cargo vessels.
“[W]ith the anticipated influx of passengers during the summer season and increase in cargo movements towards the end of the year in preparation for the Christmas holidays, we are confident that we can sustain the growth in revenues and earnings of the Group during the succeeding quarters,” CLC President and Chief Executive Officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

AI-powered tool helps PHL companies build customer communities

By Janina C. Lim, Reporter
Telco firms said a marketing platform powered by artificial intelligence helped improve their business decisions, in turn, boosting their revenues and performance in bringing customer satisfaction — all, while cutting down on cost.
Vision Critical, a company based in Vancouver, has developed a cloud-based platform that helps companies obtain real-time feedback and insights from their customers.
The platform, named Sparq 3, has a so-called relationship memory feature which connects existing customer data with intelligence collected from insight communities.
“We know so much about our customers we can start predicting their responses,” Peter Harris, EVP and Managing Director, for Vision Critical’s APAC region, told BusinessWorld on Wednesday, May 9.
The platform has been adopted by more than 700 companies around the world including Yahoo, Allure, LinkedIn, Discovery Communications and ESPN. Most clients, however, engage in the finance, banking, insurance, airline and telco industries.
On the local front, six firms have so far been making use of the system. These are namely Smart Communications, Inc., PLDT, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., AXA Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines), Jollibee Corp., and Cebu Air, Inc.
Emerson ‘Sandy’ Roque, AVP and Head of PLDT’d Enterprise Analytics said the firm’s adoption of Vision Critical’s products made a “big” impact on the company’s revenues.
“It’s really scaling our marketing research and making sure that we have higher response rates through our surveys and limiting our budgets because we used to spend a lot on market research,” Mr. Roque said in an interview with BusinessWorld at the New World Makati Hotel Wednesday.
After adopting the software in late-2016, PLDT was able to cut the practice of hiring third party companies that gather data.
This enabled the firm’s Enterprise Analytics division to trim by half its annual operating cost while survey results are delivered three times faster, according to Mr. Roque.
“We’re looking at renewing this moving forward,” Mr. Roque said in an interview on Wednesday in Makati City, noting that PLDT has renewed its one-year contract with the firm late last year.
For her part, Jennifer Jane G. Echevarria, Vice-President of Globe Telecom’s Analytics, Market Research, and Portfolio Management, said since partnering with Vision Critical, the division has cut down its annual cost on marketing surveys by 20%.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, parang consistent na whenever they ask how engaged you are, do you like it, the score has always been 8.2, higher than the normal average of 7,” Ms. Echevarria.
Compared to the previous practice wherein they can only view market insights months after customer responses are collated, the telco firms said Vision Critical has allowed them to view these consolidated results real time.
Companies conduct surveys to measure their satisfaction of their customers toward their products and services, seeing these as a way to improve their offering and make customer-centric decisions.
For his part, the firm is looking “to do more business” with its current clients.
“We look for markets where technologies work really well. In the Philippines, technology works well. It is very mobile and oriented platform,” he said in an interview in Makati City yesterday.
Mr. Harris said the firm continues to explore ways to expand its machine-learning system in its software, seeing AI as “a lot more powerful in the future.”
“By using AI to our platform, we will be able to answer more important questions,” he noted.
“We will improve our knowledge, quickly and predict more. So we might have to ask less questions because more will be known about customers based on integrating other information,” Mr. Harris added.

Unilever opens new facility in Laguna

Unilever Philippines had inaugurated a new facility in Cabuyao, Laguna, its largest distribution center in the Philippines.
The company said the growing market demand drove it to expand in order to “accelerate delivery of goods, create economies of scale, and generate local jobs across the whole supply chain.”
“It serves as the distribution and transport hub for products from all its manufacturing sites potentially generating more than 10,000 jobs nationwide,” it said in a statement.
Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever President for Southeast Asia and Australasia, was quoted in the statement as saying that the facility is “not only a future-ready infrastructure to facilitate delivery of goods, but a story of well-loved brands with a deeper societal purpose.”
The fast-moving consumer goods giant claimed that Cabuyao City Mayor Rommel A. Gecolea is in full support of the company, and is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways to construct roads to accommodate trucks coming to and from the facility. It also said, the local government is looking into the possibility of opening a direct road leading to the Silangan exit of the South Luzon Expressway.
“We want to ensure that this new relationship can benefit not just the people of Cabuyao but the entire business of Unilever for the long haul,” Mr. Gecolea was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

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