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Bulacan posts 4th win in row; Parañaque picks up home victory

PBA LEGEND Marlou Aquino has been proving to become the most seasoned “Kuya” among the members of the Bulacan quintet, which continued to roll in the ongoing MPBL-Anta Rajah Cup.

The Ligo Sardines-backed Bulacan Kuyas walloped the Valenzuela Classic-Yulz, 92-83, to extend their winning streak to four on Saturday night at the Olivarez Sports Complex in Parañaque City.

Now the hottest team in the tournament put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with former PBA MVP Kenneth Duremdes serving as commissioner, Bulacan’s four straight wins catapulted the squad in a three-way tie for second places along with its victim and the Quezon City Capitals-Royal Manila, all carrying 5-3 win-loss records.

“We’re now rediscovering our winning attitude,” said Bulacan coach Chris Baluyot, who guided the Kuyas to the preseason championship. “It would be difficult to have a losing skid, but our winning mentality in the preseason is back.”

JR Taganas and Stephen Siruma both played a career game in leading the Kuyas to their latest triumph.

The hard working, beefy front-liner finished with 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Mr. Siruma contributed 17 markers.

Mr. Aquino, the 6-foot-9, former Rookie of the Year, played quality minutes anew, scoring six points and blocking two shots.

Bulacan’s victory overshadowed Parañaque’s second win in a row.

The Gamboa Coffee-backed Patriots edged the Imus Bandera-GLC Truck and Services, 79-77, for their first home win.

The breathtaking, down-the-wire encounter that saw both teams exchanging leads six times had to be decided until the final buzzer sounded.

Orly Daroya’s tip-in had to be reviewed by game officials, but in the end, decided to nullified the basket as it came a split second late, allowing the Patriots to escape with the win. The loss was the sixth in eight games for the Bandera, who are now on the brink of elimination.

The Patriots got a big lift from ex-PBA players Harold Arboleda and Juneric Baloria in snapping the Bandera’s two-game run.

Mr. Arboleda, who played briefly for the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA, came away with a double-double performance of 12 points and 15 rebounds, allowing the Patriots to notch their second consecutive win to forge a tie for sixth to seventh places with the Navotas Clutch-Big J Sports with the same 4-4 win-loss record.

Mr. Baloria, who played alongside Mr. Arboleda with the Perpetual Help Altas in the NCAA, contributed only five markers, but his go-ahead three-pointer in the 1:42 mark of the final period put the Patriots on top, 78-77.

Parañaque head coach Aric del Rosario, who used to handle Messrs. Arboleda and Baloria in the NCAA, was happy to see his old wards stepping up big.

The two hard-fought wins of Parañaque, according to Mr. Del Rosario, was a product of hardwork. — Rey Joble

300 entries join DanceSports 1st quarter ranking, competition

AROUND 300 entries all over the country joined the 2018 DanceSports Council of the Philippines, Inc.’s (DSCPI) first quarter ranking and competition organized by DSCPI President Becky Garcia at the Ballroom Hall of Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City on Saturday.

World DanceSport Federation licensed adjudicators Cristian Gheorghe Parnescu from Romania, Marcel Keijzer from Netherland, Yen-Ming Peng from Chinese Taipei, Tin Hung Po from Hong Kong, Peck Hoon Sim from Singapore, Sow Yeng Loo from Malaysia and Keiji Ukai from Japan presided over the competition.

The competition was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Board, GNK Ballroom, C+H Multimedia Solutions, Inc., Flawless, Retro DCG-FM 105.9, Studio AK and The Greenery Bulacan.

The DSCPI Board of Directors are Chairman Atty. Noel Laman, Secretary-General Atty. Andy Fornier, Deputy Secretary-General and Sports Director Emma Nieto, Treasurer Gloria Alcala 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.

Southwoods wins anew, nears Interclub record streak

BACOLOD — Never letting up until the very end, Manila Southwoods yesterday ran away with the Regular Men’s title in the PAL Interclub to take another step towards duplicating a feat done just once before.

Comfortably ahead going into the final day at Marapara here with a 20-point lead, the Carmona-based squad didn’t leave any room for anyone to stage a comeback and amassed a closing 146 for a 72-hole 551 tally for a fourth straight title, just one shy of the record.

Southwoods, which became just the third team to win four consecutive times, prevailed by an astounding 41 points over Luisita, which nipped Canlubang by eight.

The margin of victory is one of the biggest and downplayed Southwoods’ dominance of the field, and, more importantly, it moved the squad within another title of matching a five-year run by Canlubang from 2006-2010.

“This only goes to show that our grassroots program continues to work,” an elated Thirdy Escaño, Southwoods’ non-playing skipper, said of the victory, which came just over a month after tournament host PAL was given a four-star rating by Skytrax, the global body that rates airlines and airports all over the world.

The Sugar Barons actually had two four-year championship streaks, counting its victories from 2000-2003.

Luisita carded its worst score for the week, a 125, but clung on to runner-up position even after Cangolf charged with its best round in four days, a 133, for 502 overall.

Taisei Shimizu reprised his opening round brilliance by shooting a three-under-par 67 worth 39 points, with Chepe Dulay firing 38 and Yuto Katsuragawa assembling a 37 to make up for the bulk of Southwoods’ closing round.

The veteran Jun Jun Plana’s 32 was the fourth-best score for Southwoods, which got a measly 25 from pro-bound Jama Reyes.

Southwoods is also set to lose Tom Kim, last year’s individual champion, to the pro ranks, but Escaño believes that his squad if good for championship runs at least for the next three years.

“We have young, brilliant players still waiting for their chance to shine,” Escaño said. “Southwoods is committed to giving these players the break they need. We are simply giving back what the game of golf has given to us.”

Rodel Mangulabnan fired 33, Don Petil and Dan Cruz added 31 each and either 30s of Jingy Tuason and Leandro Bagtas counted for Luisita, which has also started building the core of its team with young talents the last three years. Jolo Magcalayo matched par for 36 points and Luis Castro added 35 for Canlubang, which hasn’t won this event since 2010.

This year’s Interclub’s Platinum sponsors this year are RMN and Manila Times, while major sponsors are MasterCard, The Philippine Manila Standard, Rolls Royce, Bombardier, TV5, Primax, BusinessWorld, Crossover and Fox.

Navy-Standard dominates Stage Eight of Ronda

TARLAC — Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance ruled the Stage Eight Team Time Trial in dominating fashion yesterday to continue to blow away the field in the Ronda Pilipinas 2018 presented by LBC that started at the provincial capitol and ended at the Tarlac Recreational Park here.

Towed by red LBC leader’s jersey holder Ronald Oranza and defending back-to-back champion Jan Paul Morales, the flying Navymen blazed their way to topping the 42.1-kilometer (km.) lap in 56.17 minutes, or about three minutes clear of closest pursuer Go for Gold Developmental team.

Army-Bicycology, skippered by Cris Joven, finished third in 1:00:10 in this race presented by LBC and supported by MVP Sports Foundation, Filinvest, Philippine Rabbit, CCN, Petron, Versa.ph, 3Q Sports Event Management, Inc., Boy Kanin, Franzia, Standard Insurance, Bike Xtreme, SH+, Guerciotti, Prolite, Green Planet, Maynilad, NLEX Sports, Lightwater, LBC Foundation and PhilCycling.

After eight grueling stages and with four more to go, Navy is untouchable at the helm with an aggregate time of 82:19:52 ahead of Go for Gold Developmental team with 82:52:24 and Army-Bicycology with 82:52:24.

And for Morales, who is also the team skipper, it’s all over but the shouting.

Navy, however, encountered some problems as they ended up with only four riders at the finish line — Oranza, Morales, Junrey Navarra and Archie Cardana.

Ronald Lomotos was already out after he was disqualified in the Stage Seven Individual Time Trial the day before for drafting while John Mark Camingao, Rudy Roque and El Joshua Cariño were all left behind.

It was enough though to seal the deal.

“Since only the fourth rider’s time will count in the TTT we had to drag Cardana near the finish line,” said Morales.

The race, which staked P1 million to the individual champion, will take a three-day breather and will resume on Thursday with the 207.2-km. Silang-Tagaytay Stage Nine.

It will wind up with the 147.8-km. Tagaytay-Calaca Stage 10 Friday, 92.72-km. Calaca-Calaca Stage 11 Saturday and the Stage 12 Filinvest criterium on Palm Sunday.

Born winner

Kiefer Ravena has built a reputation as a winner.

From high school to college, to the national team all the way to the pro ranks, the second generation cager has established himself as a winner.

That mentality is something he would like to bring to the NLEX Road Warriors and even in his rookie year, head coach Yeng Guiao had seen this on Ravena.

Never mind if he’s taking bigger responsibilities. That’s how the young player is built, taking the leadership role even though he is a newcomer. He may be taking the leadership mantle but he made sure he’ll get his teammates involved and have them on his back.

At times, his coach, Yeng Guiao, would think Ravena is biting more than what he can chew, but Ravena is eager to prove that he can swallow it and digest whatever he had taken.

In the quarterfinals series against Alaska, Ravena showed to everyone the making of a big-time performer.

With the PBA now serving as his stage, Ravena proved to all and sundry what he can showcase. On the court, he had become a master showman.

His big baskets down the stretch in Game 1 of their best-of-three series against the Aces keyed the Road Warriors’ victory.

In Game 2’s series-clinching win, Ravena would dish out another all-around game, finishing with 11 points, seven assists and two steals.

But when the time comes for him to take over the scoring mantle, the Phenom would rise to the occasion as in the case in Game 1 of their semifinals series against the Magnolia Hotshots. There, Ravena would become offensive-minded, scoring 16 markers, but his decision making down the stretch made him a certified go-to-guy.

He dished out a well-executed play to Alex Mallari, who hit the go-ahead three-point shot that propelled the Road Warriors in taking the head start over the Hotshots.

There would be more pressure-packed games in the days to come, but expect Ravena to be ready. He’s built to win games because he’s a born winner.

 

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

In his element

Don’t say you expected it all along. Don’t say you knew Tiger Woods would be battling for the hardware in just his fourth tournament of 2018 and fifth overall since he went under the knife 11 months ago. Don’t say you predicted he would be in contention this early on the comeback trail. Don’t say all these, because you’d be lying through your teeth and effectively taking the luster off his accomplishment. The thickness of his resume notwithstanding, he had been up against time, so much so that even his most ardent fans, and he himself, saw fit to temper projections on his performance.

Certainly, Woods understood the long odds on crowding the leaderboard, let alone carving victory, so soon after subjecting his ailing back to a fourth surgery since 2014. There was no denying the effects of his advancing age and brittle body to his competitiveness. He did appear to be getting better and better, with his 12th-place finish at the Honda Classic, his last stop, underscoring his progress. At the same time, it highlighted the handicaps he carried; whether from lack of reps or of advice, his swing mechanics were at best disjointed, and sound adjustments coupled with repetition under challenging situations were keys to development.

Which, in a nutshell, was why Woods saw fit to add the Valspar Championship to his schedule. Never mind that he had played at Copperhead only once before in his career. Forget that he would effectively be cramming his preparations for the Masters, with his stop at Innisbrook to be immediately followed by an appearance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He needed the pressure, and he needed to see how he would hold up physically and mentally.

In retrospect, perhaps Woods’ presence in today’s penultimate pairing is simply a natural offshoot of his efforts. After all, he is who he is, proud holder of 79 tour titles, 14 major championships included. Last September, he didn’t even know if he could still wield a club in his hands. Last December, he was just glad to be teeing off in earnest. Last week, he looked forward to building on his work. And last night, he relished a round that evoked memories of his extended reign as king of the sport; from the teeming crowds to the electric atmosphere to the spectacular shots to the clutch putts, he was decidedly in his element.

Will Woods succeed in hoisting the trophy today? Will his Sunday-red exertions lead to his desired outcome? Considering his condition this time last year, it’s fair to treat the answers as bonuses. On the other hand, he will be a fool not to pounce on the opportunity; as he noted in the aftermath of an outstanding four-un, “I know what it’s like to be one back.” Up next: Reminding the world he also knows what it’s like to win.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

T-bills seen to fetch higher rates

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal

YIELDS on Treasury bills (T-bills) on auction today will likely rise amid continued market uncertainty over possible interest rate hikes at home and in the United States.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) plans to raise as much as P20 billion from short-dated securities today.

Broken down, the government will auction off P9 billion in three-month debt papers, P6 billion in six-month T-bills, and P5 billion worth of one-year papers.

A trader said in an interview on Friday that investors will likely park their funds on the shorter end of the curve.

“For the [three-month] papers, I’m expecting [its yields] to settle at 2.9-2.95%, 20 basis points from the last successful auction, while yields of the six-month and one-year bills will likely land at [3.1% and 3.3%, respectively],” the trader said.

During the last successful T-bills auction on Feb. 12, the government only borrowed P14.17 billion out of the P20-billion program after total tenders reached P22.96 billion.

Yields of the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day papers fetched 2.67%, 2.854% and 3.04%, respectively.

However, the Treasury rejected all bids during the Feb. 26 auction as banks sought higher returns.

Asked why market players will seek higher yields, the trader interviewed on Friday said: “It’s still uncertainty with the trajectory of the yields.”

Chicago Federal Reserve (Fed) President Charles L. Evans earlier said he would prefer to “wait a little longer” than raising interest rates during this month’s meeting on the back of continued low inflation.

“My own preference would be to wait a little bit longer, let the March anomalous inflation rate from a year ago fall out,” Mr. Evans said in a CNBC interview, adding that the trajectory of the rates is more important than the number of rate increases this year.

Two weeks ago, Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell vowed to stick with the central bank’s plan to gradually hike interest rates, prompting investors to increase bets on four rate increases this year.

“We all know that interest rates of Federal Reserve is going to pick up this year, but there’s no certainty on the number of hikes,” the trader said, adding three rate hikes are expected from the Fed this year.

Peter Lundgreen, chief executive officer at Lundgreen’s Capital, also sees the Fed raising rates three times this year, adding the Philippines needs to hike its rates as soon as possible.

“It will be a minimum of three rate hikes from the US this year. So what happens is if the Philippine central bank is not following suit with the Fed, the Philippine peso will also drop further in value,” Mr. Lundgreen told BusinessWorld.

The Treasury said it plans to auction off P120 billion worth of Treasury bills and another P120 billion worth of Treasury bonds during the January to March period.

The total amount the government intends to borrow from the local market is higher than the P200 billion it offered in the last quarter of 2017.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which for this year is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.

The government targets a P888.23 billion gross borrowing plan this year.

Yields on gov’t debt flat over inflation results

By Christine Joyce S. Castañeda
Senior Researcher

YIELDS on government securities (GS) traded in the secondary market were flat last week amid concerns over February inflation results and the central bank’s dovish comments.

On average, GS yields — which move opposite to prices — fell by 6.95 basis points (bps), data from the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. as of March 9 showed.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), said local bond yields were higher at the start of the week ahead of the release of the inflation data.

“However, it seemed that the market was a little unsure how to react initially with two inflation figures released by the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) resulting to yields moving sideways with a bit of upward bias,” he said.

“Towards the end of the week, the market was quiet indicating cautiousness keeping investors on the sidelines. The market is waiting for leads ahead of the US Fed (Federal Reserve) FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) Monetary Board meetings [this] week, with the Fed widely expected to raise rates by 25 bps and the BSP largely expected not to raise rates based on dovish comments [last] week,” he added.

Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist at the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), said: “Yields fell [last] week, as the BSP calmed investors by affirming the appropriateness of its current policy settings despite the uptick in domestic inflation.”

“Despite the overall downward bias, yields jumped significantly on Friday after the ECB (European Central Bank) became more hawkish during its policy meeting [last] week. The ECB dropped its pledge to increase its bond buying program if needed, sending a signal that it may already start tightening its monetary policy soon,” he added.

Mr. Dumalagan also noted that there was some upward correction on Friday ahead of the release of US labor reports.

A bond trader interviewed last Friday shared their views, saying: “Yields dipped during the week as market players reacted to strong dovish comments from the DoF (Department of Finance) and BSP, indicating that rate settings were appropriate despite inflation spiking at 4.5%.”

Last Tuesday, the PSA reported that using the new rebased index under 2012 prices, headline inflation stood at 3.9% last month. This was faster than the 3.4% posted in January and the 3.1% recorded in 2017’s comparable period. This was the fastest reading since September 2014’s 3.9%.

Year-to-date inflation was 3.7%, still within the central bank’s 2-4% target for the year.

Using 2006-based prices, February inflation was at 4.5%.

Meanwhile, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said last week that inflation’s continued pickup will not necessarily push the BSP to tighten its monetary policy setting later this month.

At the secondary market on Friday, in the short end of the curve, the 91-, and 182-day Treasury bills (T-bills) inched up by 2.76 bps and 0.71 bps to yield 3.4390% and 3.6821%, respectively. The 364-day paper went down by 27.28 bps to 3.6629%.

In the belly, yields on the two-, three-, four-, and five-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) increased by 3.70 bps (4.3328%), 54.11 bps (5.1964), 2.94 bps (5.1755%) and 18.89 bps (5.4701%). Meanwhile, yield on the seven-year bond lost 2.53 bps to 6.6286%.

In the long end, the 10-, and 20-year T-bonds saw their yields go down by 85.21 bps and 37.59 bps to 5.9390% and 6.6562%.

For this week, Landbank’s Mr. Dumalagan said yields may continue their upward trajectory this week, “fuelled by potentially firm US inflation data and likely firm US labor reports on nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, and average hourly earnings.”

Unionbank’s Mr. Asuncion said the market is expected to be quiet while waiting for leads “as the US Fed will probably raise rates and the BSP seemingly will stay with current rates.”

The bond trader noted market players will seek direction from inflation reports from major markets, as well as speeches from major central bankers.

Peso likely to weaken against US dollar this week

THE PESO is expected to weaken against the dollar this week, after the latest US labor report showed the continued strengthening of the US economy.

The local currency ended flat against the greenback to close at P52.03 on Friday, following the release of government data showing a wider but lower-than-expected trade deficit in January.

Week-on-week, the peso weakened from its P51.90-per-dollar finish on March 2.

“The dollar might again appreciate as a trend this week following generally upbeat US labor reports in February 2018 and amid expectations of firm US data on inflation and retail sales,” Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist at Land Bank of the Philippines said in an e-mail on Saturday.

“These reports reinforce views of another US rate hike on March 22 even as they might temper hawkish bets of four US rate adjustments in 2018.”

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to begin its two-day meeting on interest rates on March 20, with an announcement expected on March 21.

According to the US Labor Department on Friday, the economy added 310,000 jobs in February, far from the 200,000 consensus among economists in a Reuters poll. However, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% last month, its lowest since December 2000 although higher than 4% rate in the Reuters poll.

Mr. Dumalagan said the mixed US jobs data will prompt the dollar to “show a slight upward bias against the peso” in the first two days of the week, although “the greenback might not surge dramatically, as growth in US average hourly earnings slowed, tempering speculations of four US rate hikes this year.”

The dollar’s upward trend might continue on Wednesday and Thursday, Mr. Dumalagan said, as the currency might be supported by firm US data on inflation and retail sales.

“US inflation data on both the consumer and producer sides are expected to show stronger readings in February 2018, keeping the US Federal Reserve on track to hike rates again on March 22,” Landbank’s market economist said, adding that the foreign currency might shed some of its strength on Friday due to profit taking and heightened market caution.

“Prior to important events, such as the US monetary policy meeting, some investors may opt to stay on the sidelines and refuse to take large bets.”

Meanwhile, a trader interviewed over the phone on Friday said concerns over the imposition of tariffs on metal may continue to “create a risk-off sentiment and affect the movement of the US dollar in general.”

On Thursday, President Donald J. Trump signed measure imposing 25% tariff on steel and 10% tariff on aluminum, seen as a protectionist policy in favor of US manufacturers.

A day before the signing, 107 House Republicans signed a position urging Mr. Trump to reconsider his decision.

“We urge you to reconsider the idea of broad tariffs to avoid unintended negative consequences to the U.S. economy and its workers,” the Republican lawmakers said in the letter.

For this week, Mr. Dumalagan expects the peso to move between P51.70 and P52.40, while a trader sees the pair to trade from P51.90 to P52.10 today.

“The factors that could reverse the dollar’s projected upward bias include weaker-than-expected US inflation, surprising hawkish remarks from the BSP, and renewed concerns over the protectionist policies of the US,” Mr. Dumalagan noted. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Goldman Sachs uses data to help improve bank’s diversity, Cooper says

DURING the decade Edith Cooper, one of Wall Street’s most powerful black women, led human resources at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the firm focused more on data to help increase diversity.

“For us, a real game changer was to pause and step back and say, ‘What have we done and how are we doing to measure impact?’” Cooper, who was in Goldman Sachs’s human resources department and a member of the bank’s management team, said on a panel Thursday. “We really started to understand that we really had to get under the hood and look at the data.”

Goldman Sachs, like other financial-services companies, has said publicly that having a diverse work force is a priority. A lack of diversity at the bank shows the challenge businesses are facing in hiring and retaining a base of employees that more closely resembles the US population.

Women at Goldman Sachs made up 38% of US workers in 2016, according to data from the company. That’s up from 36% in 2011. None of the nation’s largest banks has ever had a female chief executive officer.

Black employment among the firm’s US work force rose slightly to 5.3% in 2016 from 5% in 2011. The percentage of Hispanic employees rose to 7.4% in 2016 from 5% in 2011, according to Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs puts an emphasis on data that show how white managers and leaders impact the experiences of minority employees, Cooper said at the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Millennials are also helping top management make changes by “holding us accountable,” she said.

Cooper stepped down as head of human resources at yearend and joined the board of Slack Technologies Inc. last month.

“We also have to be really honest with ourselves about the cultural things that make it harder for us or easier for others,” Cooper said to an audience of mostly African-American attendees. “That’s how we’re really moving the needle to make progress.” — Bloomberg

Japan tsunami, nuclear tragedy remembered seven years on

TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led a somber ceremony Sunday as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of a deadly earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

The magnitude 9.0 quake — which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011 — and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and took the lives of thousands of people.

The killer tsunami also swamped the emergency power supply at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, sending its reactors into meltdown as cooling systems failed in what was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Mr. Abe, lawmakers and family members who lost their loved ones in the disaster bowed their heads in silent prayer at a ceremony in Tokyo at 2:46 p.m. (0546 GMT) — the exact moment the quake struck.

Japanese private broadcasters also showed residents in the affected areas offering a moment of silence.

“I offer my condolences to those who lost their beloved family members and friends,” said Mr. Abe, dressed in formal mourning attire.

Hideko Igarashi, one of the three residents from the disaster-hit region who spoke at the ceremony, said Japan should “never forget what we learned from the disaster.”

The 70-year-old woman from Fukushima was hit by tsunami waves right after she began preparing to leave the area with her husband and uncle.

“I grabbed a pine tree but I was swamped by the tsunami… My husband got away from me and he shouted ‘Hideko’ three times,” she said.

Ms. Igarashi survived and was later rescued by an emergency team.

“I wish I had told him to run away much earlier.”

Japan’s ageing Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko did not attend the ceremony this year again, but were represented by their son Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko.

The total of dead or missing from the earthquake and the tsunami stood at 18,434 people, according to the National Police Agency.

In addition, more than 3,600 people — most of them from Fukushima — died from causes such as illness and suicide linked to the aftermath of the tragedy, government data shows.

More than 73,000 people still remain displaced, while no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear catastrophe.

The government lifted evacuation orders of some areas in Iitate village and the towns of Namie, Kawamata and Tomioka last spring, except for no-go zones with high radiation levels.

Authorities are encouraging evacuees to return, but a government survey released earlier this month showed that about half the residents of Namie and Tomioka are not willing to return.

Around 12,000 people who fled their homes for fear of radiation have filed dozens of lawsuits against the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken nuclear plant. — AFP

Hong Kong goes to polls in crunch vote for democrats

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp will try to claw back lost seats as polls opened early Sunday in controversial by-elections that have exposed the heart of the city’s political divide.

The vote comes as China signals a harder line against any challenges to its sovereignty, with high-profile young candidate Agnes Chow barred from standing because her party promotes self-determination for the semi-autonomous city.

Beijing has become increasingly incensed at the emergence of activists advocating independence and sees calls for self-determination as part of a splittist push.

The by-election was triggered after Beijing forced the disqualification of six rebel lawmakers who had swept to victory in citywide elections in 2016.

Some were former protest leaders, others openly advocated independence. All were ousted from their posts for inserting protests into their oaths of office.

Four of the six vacant seats will be contested Sunday.

“The election is not just about selecting me as a candidate, it is also about voting for justice,” said Au Nok-hin, who stepped in to contest the Hong Kong Island seat after Agnes Chow was disallowed.

The seat was originally held by Nathan Law, one of the leaders of 2014’s mass pro-democracy Umbrella Movement rallies, who was among the six thrown out of office.

But pro-establishment politician Judy Chan, standing against Au, cast the opposition as provoking “violence and resistance.”

“The by-election is a chance for the silent majority, who are tired of a politicized Hong Kong, who detest those who humiliate the country, to come out and tell those politicians that Hong Kong has no room for them,” Ms. Chan told AFP.

The six lawmakers were retrospectively barred from office by Hong Kong’s high court after Beijing issued a special “interpretation” of the city’s mini-constitution stipulating legislators had to take their oath “solemnly and sincerely” or face being banned.

Pro-independence lawmakers had inserted expletives and waved “Hong Kong is not China” banners during their swearing in. Others added phrases supporting the democracy movement.

The pro-democracy camp has come up against increasing pressure since the failure of the Umbrella Movement to win political reform, with some leading activists jailed on protest-related charges.

Political analyst Dixon Sing says losing any one of the four by-election seats would be a further blow.

“It would only add to the disappointment and the loss of faith,” he told AFP.

Only half the legislature is elected, with the rest selected by traditionally pro-establishment interest groups.

Of 70 seats, the democracy camp currently holds 24, only just clinging on to the one-third needed to veto important bills.

It has also been curbed by new rules against filibustering, long a favoured tactic.

Nevertheless, veteran democrats are urging residents to go out and vote.

“It is not just a by-election,” said pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo.

“It’s a fight between good and evil.” — AFP

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