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Letran, Arellano out to get back lost ground

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter

GOT tripped in their previous assignments, the Letran Knights and Arellano Chiefs look to get back some lost ground and give their struggling campaign in Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a jolt when they collide against one another in league action today at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Set to get tangled at 4 p.m., both the Knights and Chiefs, middling teams halfway into the ongoing season of the country’s longest-standing collegiate league, are out to get back to their winning ways after suffering losses last time around that stymied their tournament progress.

Letran (5-6), in joint fourth place along with two other teams, lost to the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers, 77-68, last Thursday.

In said game the Knights played catch-up throughout the contest and were never really allowed by their opponents to gain much headway.

JP Calvo led the way for Letran with 21 points in the loss.

Rey Nambatac had 14 points while Bong Quinto had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The loss was the second for the Knights in as many games in the second round and pushed them in the red after finishing the opening round of the eliminations at 5-4.

ARELLANO
On the part of Arellano (4-7), the losing finalist last season, it is coming off a defeat at the hands of the still-undefeated and league-leaders Lyceum Pirates, 94-92, last Friday, a game that the Chiefs had a very good shot at winning but just could not finish things.

Led by guard by Kent Salado, Arellano had Lyceum in the ropes for much of the contest only to falter in the end, allowing the Pirates to come back in the payoff period from as much as 13 points down before completing the come-from-behind victory.

The loss had the Chiefs very embarrassed and disappointed, seeing how they blew a good opportunity to notch a big win as well as deal the Pirates their first defeat of the season.

“It was a tough loss for us. It was embarrassing. We were already in a position to win but just could complete it,” said Salado in the vernacular after the loss.

Salado had 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds while big man Lervin Flores finished with 15 points, 11 boards and six blocks.

Preceding the Letran-Arellano clash is the battle between JRU (7-4) and the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals (5-6) at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, Lyceum skipper MJ Ayaay is the reigning NCAA Player of the Week on the strength of his solid performance in their win over Arellano recently.

With the Pirates risking losing for the first time this season when they fell behind the Chiefs late in the contest, Ayaay led the charge back, punctuated by scoring the go-ahead basket with seven seconds to go which paved the way for the team salvaging the win.

Ayaay finished the game with a double-double of 20 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds for Lyceum, which played the closing moments of the game sans do-it-all forward CJ Perez after fouling out.

“We just listened to one another. We were down big at one point but we just stayed positive and worked our way back,” said Ayaay of the big win they had.

ASEAN Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs: Teaching, cooking, and farming in Mindanao

By Maya M. Padillo
Correspondent

DAVAO CITY — Three of the ASEAN Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs awarded this year by the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Network (AWEN) have established themselves in different fields from their shared hometown Davao City, but the common thread among them is their pursuit of community involvement and the promotion of Mindanao, it’s people and products.

Joji Ilagan Bian, Mary Ann M. Montemayor, and Charita P. Puentespina are all locally recognized for their work, each having previously brought home various awards, but they see the AWEN conferment as an opportunity for reaching out to the bigger arena of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Networking and access to market, among others, are now open channels for us. Many new doors are now open for women entrepreneurs like us to thrive regionally,” said Ms. Montemayor, president and general manager of Villa Margarita Catering Services and president and chief executive officer of the Davao Ecocrafts Association, Inc.

For the food industry, Ms. Montemayor has contributed recipes in the Spice of Life cookbook of Brunei, to help promote Mindanao’s culinary offerings within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area.

Before the establishment of the Ecocrafts group, Ms. Montemayor was already doing volunteer work with the T’boli and Bagobo indigenous peoples groups, giving small-scale trainings on organization and beading to help them set up livelihood activities.

“I hope that the AWEN business networking platform would further boost the credibility of our advocacies and businesses,” she said, referring to her fellow awardees from Davao.

Ms. Montemayor is also the Mindanao coordinator for GO Negosyo, the program for assisting micro, small and medium enterprises.

EDUCATION
Ms. Bian, in a separate interview with BusinessWorld, said their award “is an indication that in today’s borderless economy, our own city is home to many successful women entrepreneurs. That the women entrepreneurs are also an integral backbone of our city’s economic growth and prosperity.”

Ms. Bian, who previously chaired the Mindanao Business Council, is involved in the education business and has set up a foundation that rolls out learning programs for those who have limited financial capacity.

Among these projects is the Sunday School Program, targeted for individuals who cannot afford the transportation cost and the time to go to school everyday. Most of the beneficiaries have been housewives and household helpers. She also opened a “mobile” welding school in response to the big demand for skilled workers, bringing teachers and equipment directly to the barangays to train those who do not have enough money for transportation.

She has received the Patnubay Award in nongovernment organization work for education in recognition of her programs on free skills trainings and scholarships at the grassroots level.

Ms. Bian was also the youngest recipient of the Datu Bago Award in Business and Education, an annual recognition given to Davao’s City’s outstanding citizens.

ASEAN Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs: Teaching, cooking, and farming in Mindanao
Charita P. Puentespina with a harvest of cacao. — PHOTO COURTESY OF MALAGOS AGRI-VENTURES, INC.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized in the ASEAN level,” she said, and intends to use this to network and reach out to more women in the region.

FARMER
Ms. Puentespina, who was on medical leave from her tasks, is the founder of the Malagos Chocolate Group under the Puentespina Farms and Malagos Agri-Ventures, Inc.

Recognized as a pioneering cacao exporter, Ms. Puentespina said in an interview in 2014 that she “started exporting eight tons inside a 20-footer van, and from then on, I never had a refusal from my buyers.”

In August this year, cacao from the Puentespina Farm was recognized as one of the Best 50 Bean Samples out of the 166 samples received from 40 countries at the 2017 Edition of the Cocoa Excellence Programme in France.

The best samples will be processed into chocolates by the international technical committee and will be celebrated at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris on Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.

Ms. Puentespina’s son, Rex, carries the job title of “Chocolate maker” in their company and has been at the forefront of the growth of Malagos,

In a statement, Mr. Puentespina narrates how the family’s venture into cacao started in 2003 when his parents leased a cacao farm in Malagos, Davao City.

“A farmer at heart, Charita Puentespina rehabilitated the trees and soon after harvested the cacao pods. We now operate a 70-hectare cacao farm and employ around 50 in-house farmers. In addition to our own harvest, we also source wet cacao beans from more than 80 small growers in the area to promote sustainability in the community. We also built a training facility on the farm to teach farmers good cacao growing practices,” the Puentespina son said.

The Malagos chocolate products have so far earned nine international and two local awards, something that Mr. Puentespina said they credit and dedicate to the farmers.

Ms. Puentespina was also among those that established the Cacao Industry Development Association of Mindanao, Inc. (CIDAMI), which has been instrumental in getting government and public attention on the potential of cacao farming. With the Philippine Cacao Industry Road Map, which she helped push, now in place, Ms. Puentespina is hopeful that the sector would continue to be an avenue for poverty alleviation in the countryside.

The AWEN Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs were recognized during a ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) last Aug. 31.

Farewell to PBA’s ‘lucky charm’ Cris ‘Gentle Giant’ Bolado

CRIS BOLADO, once acknowledged as one of the PBA’s gentle giants, is gone.

Philippine basketball lost another one of its renowned big men as the burly 6-foot-7 player died in a tragic motorcycle accident in Cambodia.

The PBA family, including the former coaches he played for in his championship teams, extended their condolences to the man, who built a reputation as a “lucky charm” to almost all the teams he practically played for.

“Oh no. He’s the second friend we have who had died in a motorcycle accident this year,” wrote Tim Cone in a text message sent by BusinessWorld. “Cris was such a great person and a gentle giant. He was always one of my favorite guys that I coached through the years.”

Mr. Cone’s long-time assistant at Alaska, Joel Banal, witnessed how Mr. Bolado’s toughness helped carry the usually finesse to winning more championship.

“He’s a gentle giant in general, but once you field him inside, he’s as tough as nail,” added Mr. Banal. “He doesn’t back down.”

Mr. Bolado burst onto the PBA scene in 1994 and immediately, he won a championship with Alaska, then being handled by Cone, in just his first year in the league.

He won six championships with Alaska, including a rare grand slam in 1996.

When he transferred to Purefoods the following season in a trade with Rodney Santos, Mr. Bolado brought his winning ways to the then Ayala-owned squad coached by a rookie mentor named Eric Altamirano, who guided the Corned Beef Cowboys to the All-Filipino championship.

“He will be remembered as he was part of many championships and I will remember him as well because he was part of my first champion team in the PBA,” Mr. Altamirano added. “I remember him as a gentle giant. He was a great teammate and everybody loved him.”

But after playing for just a conference, Mr. Bolado was shipped to the Gordon’s Gin Boars, then the team being carried by the old Ginebra franchise, and quickly won a title for the Robert Jaworski-mentored squad.

Mr. Bolado would also win championships for Coca-Cola and Red Bull before deciding to hang his sneakers for good.

JB Baylon, long-time team manager and board governor of Coca-Cola, would recall how Mr. Bolado instantly brought his winning ways to a young Tigers team in 2002 and 2003.

“Jumbo (Bolado) was true to his moniker “lucky charm.” He brought the Coke franchise our first championship in 2002. He was a gentle giant off the court and on the court, he was our Great Wall. He’s an example of an ideal player for any team manager and governor and for a coach, I am sure. He knows his role well,” said Mr. Baylon.

Lately, he played along several members of the PBA Legends to keep himself fit until that tragic accident happened Sunday.

“He seems to be fit, strong. I could imagine because of his wide body and he’s still playing along with the Legends,” Yeng Guiao, his former coach at Red Bull said. “What I remember most about Bolado is during that time, it’s rare to find a big man as big as him who is not clumsy. He’s strong and a bit athletic. But what I like about him is he never backs down. At one time, I remember he came to the aid of a teammate who was getting it from the receiving end. It was kinda reassuring that somebody as big as Bolado would come to the rescue to back a teammate.” — Rey Joble

Three Billboards wins coveted Toronto film festival prize

TORONTO – Martin McDonagh’s darkly hilarious drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won the Toronto film festival’s audience prize for best picture on Sunday, giving it a leg up in the race for the Oscars.

The rage-fueled film stars Frances McDormand as a frustrated and grieving mother, Mildred, who antagonizes police (Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell) while trying to call attention to a lack of progress in the hunt for her daughter’s killer.

Months have passed without an arrest in the murder case, so she commissions three signs with controversial messages for police along a road leading into the fictional Missouri town.

But a backlash ensues. Mildred’s friends and the freckle-faced and cocky young agent (Caleb Landry Jones) who rents her the billboard space are targeted by the chief’s intellectually and emotionally stunted deputy, in violent reprisals that cost him his badge.

Australia’s Abbie Cornish and Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage also star in the film, which is McDonagh’s third after In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths.

In a statement, McDonagh called the win “thrilling.”

“You never really know if a story as heartfelt but also as outrageous and funny and unusual as ours has really connected to, you know, real people,” he said.

“So it’s brilliant to hear that it has.”

‘THE FILM WROTE ITSELF’
In Venice, where the film premiered, the British-Irish playwright said he wrote the script specifically for McDormand based on an idea that began to germinate 20 years ago when he was traveling across America by bus.

A decade later, as he pondered a hard-to-explain billboard that had stuck in his mind – involving a mother whose daughter was raped and murdered – he began to flesh out a back story.

“Once I had decided it was a mother, the film wrote itself,” he said. “And picturing Frances in my mind helped me write it.”

Runners-up for the festival’s audience prize were Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya about disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding, and the coming-of-age drama Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino.

More than 300 feature and short films from 74 countries were screened at the Toronto festival, the biggest in North America.

The event is often seen as a way for Oscar-conscious studios to generate buzz about their movies, with hundreds of filmmakers and actors walking the red carpet in Canada’s largest city.

In past years, films such as Spotlight, 12 Years a Slave, and Slumdog Millionaire have gone on from winning the audience prize in Toronto to taking top honors at the Oscars.

Last year, the musical La La Land won the Toronto prize and then took home six Oscars, including best actress and best director – but not the top prize, despite the shocking mix-up with Moonlight at the end of the gala.

MORE WINNERS
Other accolades at the Toronto festival on Sunday went to Wayne Wapeemukwa for Luk’ Luk’l and Robin Aubert for Les Affame, as well as to Huang Hsin-Yao for The Great Buddha+ and Warwick Thornton for Sweet Country.

The International Federation of Film Critics awarded prizes to Sadaf Foroughi for Ava, about a rebellious girl in Iran who fights repression by her parents and society, and to Manuel Martin Cuenca for The Motive (El Autor).

Mahour Jabbari, who played the titular Ava and her co-star Shayesteh Sajadi had been denied entry into Canada to attend the festival.

Audiences also chose Joseph Kahn’s satirical look at the brutal sport of battle rapping in Bodied over runners-up Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 and James Franco’s The Disaster Artist for a Midnight Madness prize.

Their pick for best documentary was Faces Places by Agnes Varda and street artist JR, which beat out Morgan Spurlock sequel’s Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! and Long Time Running, directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas De Pencier. – AFP

DoF flags legal pitfalls of Senate tax proposals

THE Department of Finance (DoF) said the Senate’s proposed taxes on passive income will be difficult to implement without thoroughly considering their legal implications, signaling the department’s reluctance to accept the chamber’s amendments to the tax reform program.

Senate ways and means committee chairman Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara has said that measures to compensate for the foregone revenue due to the amendments include higher taxes on interest income from foreign currency deposits, higher taxes on dividend income, as well as an excise tax on cosmetic products, and levies on plastic bags. Mr. Angara made these proposals to make up for the dilution of the Finance department’s originally proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion program.

“With regard to taxes on dividends and capital income, that is going to be part of our package in the future. Actually it is a rather complicated issue because its not only on dividends, it’s on basically passive income,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters on Friday at the Finance department headquarters.

Mr. Dominguez said that the tax on passive income — which the department plans to propose as part of the fourth of the five tax reform packages — must consider numerous complex provisions in the National Internal Revenue Code, and requires more study before a “rational proposal” can be put forward.

“The capital taxes are really complex… we didn’t realize how complex they were. All those different laws are affecting it so it’s really quite complex. We are trying to simplify (our proposals) so that lawyers would have less to do. Because the more complex it is the more you need lawyers,” he added.

“At this point in time we are trying to study the issue and trying to consult with experts to come up with a rational proposal for that.”

As for the tax on cosmetics, Mr. Dominguez said: “We have actually not really studied anything with regard to cosmetics so we cannot really comment on it.”

The Senate’s proposed measures modify a first package centered on lowering the personal income tax rates, the removal of some value-added tax exemptions, an increase in excise taxes on petroleum and automobiles, the harmonization of estate and donor’s tax rates, and a number of tax administration measures, among others.

Key features of the fourth package, the DoF said earlier, include reducing the tax on interest income on peso deposits and investment, increasing the tax rates for dollar deposit and investment earnings, dividends, equity, fixed income, and other investments, as well as raising the tax on stocks traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange while rationalizing documentary stamp taxes.

Moreover, Mr. Dominguez said that the DoF will continue to push for the House-approved bill, following Mr. Angara’s statement that its version under Senate Bill No. 1408 would maintain up to 70% of the DoF’s proposals.

“You know we respect the Senate, the legislature, that is you know obviously what they perceive their function to be, we respect that. Of course we will continue trying to convince them that what is required is a bit more than that,” Mr. Dominguez said.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said that the Senate should stick to the House-approved version, as it is more well-studied.

“They have introduced the very recent [measures], which lack study. The package one, we went through very detailed consultations and research, so we are sure,” he said.

The House-approved version of the tax reform program is estimated to generate P133.8 billion.

The Senate committee and the Finance department currently have no revenue estimate for the Senate version of the tax reform package. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Sta. Lucia allots P15 billion for capex

STA. LUCIA Land, Inc. (SLI) is strengthening its presence nationwide as it plans to spend P15 billion in the next three to five years to develop its existing properties.

In a statement issued Monday, the listed real estate developer said the capital expenditure will cover the development of retail, commercial, and tourism-related projects that would complement its residential communities.

“SLI intends to tap both the debt and equity markets to partially finance this growth,” the company said.

In the last two years, SLI has already raised over P8 billion in unsecured long term debt.

The company has been beefing up its land bank since 2015 through the acquisition of around 658 hectares of land, and joint venture deals covering 991 hectares. This covers properties in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig City, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon province, Palawan, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Cebu, Zamboanga City, General Santos City, and Davao.

To date, SLI and its parent company Sta. Lucia Realty & Development, Inc. have 220 developments spanning around 10,000 hectares of land across the country.

SLI recently poured in P400 million to P500 million for the development of a 67-hectare master planned lake residential community in Silay, Negros Occidental.

The property developer’s net income attributable to the parent climbed 15% to P276 million in the second quarter of 2017, amid a 2.76% decline in revenues to P1.02 billion for the period. This brought the company’s first half earnings to P477 million, 11% up year on year from revenues of P1.8 billion.

Shares in SLI were unchanged at P1.03 at the close of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

60 hostages still held captive as Maute terror group takes last stand

UP TO 60 hostages are still being held by the Islamic State (IS)-inspired Maute terror group, according to the military, some of whom continue to be forced to fight with the militants.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brigadier-General Restituto F. Padilla, Jr. yesterday said there were up to 80 fighters remaining on the IS side, likely including some of the hostages, as soldiers close in following Saturday’s overrunning of the Bato mosque and another building that had been used by the militants.

“Hostages are believed to be still at about 40 to 60. And the enemy’s strength per the last validation seemed to have increased from 60 to 80. Because of news and information that indicated that perhaps some of the hostages previously held have been forced to join the ranks,” Mr. Padilla said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

At the same time, the military official said they are still confirming reported surrender feelers coming from the extremists.

“There were unofficial and raw information that came to the attention of Joint Task Force Marawi that indicated the desire of some armed elements of the Maute group to lay down their arms and surrender,” Mr. Padilla said.

Mr. Padilla said they have yet to validate whether these are really coming from the Maute members, but gave assurance that those who will surrender will be treated fairly and granted due process.

“We know the rules of engagement. We know the rules of war. And if there’s a white flag flying out there for an individual, o isang tao man lang na nagnanais sumuko, rerespetuhin po ang karapatan niya at siya po ay tatratuhin nang maayos (even if it is just one person who wants to surrender, we will respect the rights and give fair treatment),” he added.

As of Sunday, Mr. Padilla said 673 militants, 47 civilians, and 149 soldiers had been killed in the fighting that started May 23 when hundreds of the militants went on a rampage and sieged Marawi, considered as the main Islamic city in the Philippines.

Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, in a separate briefing, said the fighting that is on its 120th day today is nearing its end.

“It is close, our soldiers on the ground are saying that we are near to finishing,” he said.

Nevertheless, officials conceded many obstacles remain, including improvised explosive devices and secret tunnels where the militants were hiding other hostages.

“The Bato mosque, underneath there are a lot of intricate tunnels and secret chambers so we are actually clearing those chambers and there are hostages in there,” said AFP chief Eduardo M. Año.

‘STRONG AND HANDSOME’
Among those taken hostage on day 1, Father Teresito Suganob, a Catholic priest, yesterday smiled and declared himself “strong” to the media upon his arrival at the military headquarters in Metro Manila following his Sept. 16 rescue.

In a jocular mood despite his ordeal, the heavily bearded but apparently well-fed Mr. Suganob said at a press conference: “I am physically strong and handsome. That’s it for now.”

The 51-year-old priest also called for prayers as he smiled and waved to reporters.

Mr. Suganob, commonly known as “Father Chito” and is the Marawi vicar general, was taken hostage along with about 13 parishioners from the local cathedral on the first day of the fighting.

The militants later released a video showing themselves vandalizing the cathedral.

Another video released by his captors in late May showed Mr. Suganob standing in the rubble of buildings in Marawi asking President Rodrigo R. Duterte to withdraw troops and stop the military offensive.

The priest said at the time that the gunmen were holding 240 “prisoners of war,” including teachers, carpenters, and household workers. They were mostly Christians and local tribespeople.

“We want to live another day. We want to live another month,” Mr. Suganob said in the video as gunfire was heard in the distance.

One hostage who escaped in early July told authorities that the priest had been forced to serve as a cook for the militants, according to Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman for the army division involved in the Marawi fighting.

This was one of many reports that the militants were forcing their hostages to work as slaves.

Authorities said the hostages’ roles included carrying the gunmen’s food and ammunition, serving as stretcher-bearers for their wounded, collecting munitions and even acting as human shields. — Rosemarie A. Zamora and AFP

DoTr: No guarantees for SMC Bulacan airport proposal

By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it will be “ready to talk” with San Miguel Corporation (SMC) regarding its proposal to build an international airport in Bulacan province provided that there are no government guarantees or subsidies involved.

“There should be no government sovereignty, or government guarantee, or subsidy. There should be no contract that would say that, for example, airplanes that fly through an airport be transferred to the [new airport]…If that is okay, then we are ready to talk,” DoTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade told reporters in a mix of English and Filipino in a recent interview.

Mr. Tugade said DoTr has received “a letter” from SMC, adding the agency is ready for talks, “subject to existing laws and regulations.”

He added that the unsolicited proposal will undergo the regular process of being submitted to the Investments Coordination Committee (ICC) of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), subject to approval of the President and Swiss challenge.

Under public-private partnership (PPP) rules, unsolicited proposals should not burden the government with commitments on providing subsidies or sovereign guarantees to projects.

The proposed airport in Bulacan has an estimated cost of $14 billion and involves a 2,500-hectare property that can accommodate up to six runways.

It is one of at least two unsolicited proposals for a new airport outside Metro Manila but within surrounding provinces, as the government looks into establishing another gateway to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The other proposal is by All-Asia Resources & Reclamation Corp., the Tieng family’s team-up with the Sy family’s Belle Corp., for a $50-billion airport and economic zone at Sangley Point in Cavite.

The government is currently accepting bids for the Clark International Airport Phase 1 upgrade. Construction of the project is expected by December.

After ending drought, Kaya tries to build win streak anew

THE string of winless games came to an end for Kaya FC-Makati on Sunday when it was able to hold off Ilocos United FC, 1-0, in their weekend Philippines Football League (PFL) encounter at the Quirino Stadium in Ilocos Sur.

Not able to hack out a win in its previous six matches in the last two months, producing three draws and three losses, Kaya finally barged back into the win column with their victory over Ilocos and improved to a 10-5-6 record with 35 points, six behind PFL leader FC Meralco Manila (12-5-2) and a point higher than third-running Global Cebu FC (9-7-4).

Incidentally, the last win of Kaya came at the expense of Ilocos, 2-1, on July 23.

In its victory last Sunday, Kaya scored the win on the goal of Jordan Mintah in the 34th minute.

Kaya had a number of chances to add to it but the lone goal in the end proved enough to merit the long-sought win.

Now back on the winning track, Kaya said it hopes to build on it so as to fortify its place in the top four and for the team to shape up for bigger battles ahead.

“We needed this win, we needed these three points. It’s the buildup for us to get back into the winning momentum,” said Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida following their win.

“I think Kaya FC played well from start to finish. But the game looked tough because we kept on missing goal-scoring opportunities. I think we could’ve finished the game as early as the first half if we finished all our chances,” he added as he underscored that they still needed to fine-tune their game some more.

He went on to say that despite some kinks here and there, they believe they are achieving the goals they have set in the first season of the PFL and are on track of accomplishing more.

“I think the outlook is positive. The main objective at the start of the league was to finish in the top four, so I think we’re still on the right track. We just keep moving on and keep improving,” Mr. Marcaida said.

In the PFL, the top four teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the finals series where teams play home and away matches and the winners advancing to the finals.

Meanwhile, PFL games tomorrow will see Ceres-Negros FC (9-1-3) visiting Davao Aguilas FC (0-6-9) in Tagum at 4 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Horror on a shoestring: the Blum Manifesto

LOS ANGELES – Veteran movie producer Jason Blum has turned filmmaking on its head – delighting investors and annoying competitors – with his innovative “micro-budget” approach to the craft.

By saving on every aspect of the process and keeping an iron grip on the bottom line, his Blumhouse Productions company has managed to make some of the most profitable movies in history.

From Paranormal Activity in 2007 to this year’s critically acclaimed Get Out, the 48-year-old producer has made many of the defining horror films of the last decade – always on a shoestring.

“The most important part to making a successful low-budget horror movie is the story and acting has to be great. Not the scares – the scares are less important than the story and the acting,” he tells AFP.

Paying actors peanuts, but working with studios that ensure that his films get worldwide distribution, he has recouped some $3 billion at the box office from a portfolio made for less than a 20th of that amount.

Of his most recent work, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, M Night Shyamalan’s Split, James DeMonaco’s The Purge: Election Year, and Mike Flanagan’s Ouija: Origin of Evil have grossed $664 million on a combined budget of $27.5 million.

An executive working for Harvey and Bob Weinstein at Miramax, Blum was briefly an independent producer at Warner Brothers before striking out on his own with Blumhouse Productions in 2000.

Blum’s career-defining – and life-changing – moment came when he saw an early cut of Paranormal Activity, which had been put together for $15,000.

When no one else would touch it, he saw its potential and came on board as a producer, steering it to a worldwide gross $193 million and making it the most profitable movie of all time.

He analyzed the success of the film and realized he had a revolutionary formula that he has since repeated over dozens of low-cost titles including the Insidious and The Purge franchises.

Paranormal Activity taught Blum not only that low budget meant more chance of making money, but also that keeping a tight grip on the purse strings often makes for an artistically more accomplished movie.

This is how he does it:

1. NONNEGOTIABLE BUDGETS
With very few exceptions, Blum’s original movies are given production budgets stretching no further than $5 million.

Sequels can go up to $10 million but the producer is not in the business of allowing directors extra cash, no matter how much they insist the boost will improve the movie.

2. LOW-PAID CREATIVES
The most important thing, Blum says, is that his “above the line” team, the creatives, work for almost nothing, or as close to it as unions will allow.

Even well-known actors don’t get the star treatment: for the first The Purge movie, Ethan Hawke, who has four Oscar nominations, recalls having slept on Blum’s couch every night of the film shoot.

Actors are told most of their money will come through profit-sharing, while directors are often persuaded to come on board because of the creative freedom Blum allows them that they wouldn’t get from big studio productions.

3. EXPERIENCED DIRECTORS ONLY
Blum only works with directors who have established track records, never first-timers.

He likes people at the helm who have experience in finding innovative solutions while working on tight budgets. First-time filmmakers need not apply.

4. NO THEATRICAL RELEASE GUARANTEE
Blumhouse’s original projects are invariably made without a release date in mind, and it’s not until the finished product is screened that Blum decides how to play it.

Actors and directors are never promised a wide theatrical release, and around half of his movies end up on iTunes, Netflix, or various video on-demand services.

This way, Blum can guarantee a movie will break even, no matter how well (or poorly) it is received.

5. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
Looking to shoot your sweeping historical epic on five continents, with grand panoramas across desert, tundra, grasslands and oceans? Forget it.

Most of Blum’s movies are made within a few miles of his apartment in downtown Los Angeles. You’ll be lucky if he allows you to shoot your entire movie in more than three locations.

Often, you’ll be confined to a few rooms in a single house.

6. SMOKE AND SCREAMS
Computer-generated imagery is a no-no. If you want a plane crash in your movie, you’ll probably have to represent it with an interior shot of passengers screaming and a bit of mangled metal smouldering in a field.

The full CGI plunge into the San Francisco Bay is just too expensive and time-consuming for Blum to countenance.

7. KEEP IT ZIPPED
Blum knows the union rates for speaking roles in movies; he prefers having as few actors as possible do the talking.

Extras hoping for a line of dialogue should probably try for a job on a Michael Bay movie set instead. – AFP

BIMP-EAGA bats for direct trade, investment agreements with China

THE Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines (BIMP) sub-regional grouping within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is looking at direct trade with China to cash in on Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative.

Representatives of the BIMP-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) attended the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Seminar held at Nanning, Guangxi in mid-September, the first time that the sub-grouping participated in a trade and investment dialogue with China.

“I hope that we can start exploring new partnerships that are now more inclined on business ventures with mutual benefits,” said Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, the Philippines’ BIMP-EAGA signing minister and chair of the Mindanao Development Authority.

GOVERNMENT OF BRUNEI

BIMP-EAGA covers Brunei Darussalam; the Indonesian islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, as well as Irian Jaya, the Indonesian portion of the island of New Guinea; the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and territory of Labuan; and Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines.

Mr. Alonto, in a statement, said China has been one of the development partners of BIMP-EAGA since 2009, through a Framework of Economic Cooperation, which has paved the way for various technical assistance and learning exchanges, such as in the Sub-marine Terrestrial Cable System project.

The Philippine official said the sub-region’s members now want to expand that partnership with China towards investment and trade.

“You have the technology here, but we have the natural resources,” Mr. Alonto said at the forum, citing that BIMP-EAGA is being positioned as ASEAN’s food basket.

Ties with China, he added, will help BIMP-EAGA achieve “the long-term goal of a Pan-Asian connectivity.”

China’s “Belt and Road” policy, launched in 2013, involves investing in and underwriting billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects along the old Silk Road linking the country with Europe via land and sea.

Mr. Alonto said he is looking forward to seeing Chinese missions to EAGA member-countries in the coming months.

“I am proud to say that the strong and sustained private and public partnership has been one of the strengths of this economic cooperation. With this… potential investment partners here in China can be assured of a conducive business environment within the sub-region.”

GMA Regional TV on track to hit P120 million in sales this year

GMA Regional TV, the regional arm of GMA Network, Inc., is targeting to generate P120 million in revenues this year, as focuses on Mindanao-wide news programming. 

In a briefing on Monday, GMA Vice-President and Head of Regional TV Department Oliver Victor B. Amoroso said the unit has already recorded between P71 million and P75 million from local advertising in the first half of 2017.

“[We’re confident] we can achieve P120 million [from local sales] despite [this year] not being an election year,” Mr. Amoroso said. This year’s target is 16% higher than the P103 million recorded in 2016.

Mr. Amoroso said it can still exceed the P120 million target, as sales from advertising by companies that operate nationally and negotiated by the sales and marketing group of GMA Network, will be added on to the final amount.

“We make sure we deliver our numbers with or without national sales contribution,” he said.

Mr. Amoroso is confident GMA Regional TV can sustain its 15% annual growth since 2012, with its recently launched One Mindanao program. One Mindanao is a 30-minute news program airing Mindanao-wide news content in the provinces of Davao and Bukidnon and the cities of Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Jolo, Zamboanga, Cotabato, Tandag, Surigao, Butuan, Dipolog, Pagadian, Ozamiz, and Iligan.

He expressed confidence that One Mindanao, which was borne out of the 24 Oras Davao version and from consultations with customers, can strengthen the presence of GMA Regional TV in the region.

“We have had good outcome, good feedback… What makes this a milestone for regional TV is that this is the first time that any network has unified local newscasts in the island of Mindanao,” Mr. Amoroso said.

He noted momentum is currently with GMA Regional TV, with the network being just “1% behind competition,” which is an improvement from the 8-12% gap in ratings last year.

Mr. Amoroso also said they will “continue to strengthen” operations in the nine regional offices and stations of GMA. GMA has offices in Ilocos, Dagupan in Pangasinan, Bicol, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod in Negros, Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental, Davao, and General Santos in Cotabato. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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