Senate to look into Bangsamoro education

February 6, 2023 | 8:03 pm

SENATOR Sherwin T. Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the quality of education in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) amid low enrollment rates.

“It is important that we assess the challenges facing our countrymen in BARMM when it comes to education,” he said in a statement in Filipino on Monday. “We want to make sure that when it comes to quality education and opportunities for a bright future, our countrymen in the region will not be left behind.”

Senate Resolution 455 seeks to review the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro and Bangsamoro Education Code of 2021.

Mr. Gatchalian said low enrollment rates have been a persistent issue in the region, with only about 36% of minors aged 12 to 15 enrolled in junior high school and 10% of minors aged 16 to 17 enrolled in senior high school.

Nonattendance in schools was mostly due to the high cost of education, accessibility problems and lack of personal interest, he said, citing a government survey in 2020.

“Several decades of armed conflict and civil unrest have greatly affected the quality of basic education, which is evident in the performance of Bangsamoro in several education indicators,” Mr. Gatchalian said.

The senator noted that in the past seven national achievement tests in the region, students had subpar performance in English, Science and Mathematics.

Only 17 of 100 children enrolled from Grade 1 graduated from senior high school in 2022, substantially lower than the national average of 57 senior high graduates, he added. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Kuwait deployment ban sought

February 6, 2023 | 8:02 pm

Jullebee Ranara cascet — THE CASKET containing the body of slain OFW Jullebee Ranara arrived in Pasay City on Friday night. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

SENATOR Rafael “Raffy” T. Tulfo has reiterated his call for the Philippines to ban the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait after reports of another domestic worker who was allegedly abused by his employer.

A 34-year-old overseas Filipino worker in Kuwait named Myla Balbag was paralyzed after jumping from a third-floor window to escape from her abusive employer.

The senator, who heads the Senate migrant workers committee, is coordinating with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to check on the condition and safety of the worker.

Ms. Balbag earlier said her female employer became mad at her after discovering that she had been using the TikTok app. She allegedly seized her gadgets and hurt her physically, forcing her to try to escape.

The incident came two weeks after the murder of Jullebee C. Ranara, whose remains were found in a desert after reportedly being abused and killed brutally by the 17-year-old son of her employer.

The Philippines should ask Kuwait to adhere to the terms set by the Philippines, including a public apology to the Filipinos, Mr. Tulfo said.

Kuwaiti employers might have to attend orientation seminars before being allowed to hire overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), he added. They should be briefed about the importance of respect for Philippine culture and traditions, he added.

Agencies should set up a tighter screening process for foreign employers to avoid abuse and maltreatment of Filipino workers, the senator said. These include requiring them to submit a police record and pass a neuro-psychiatric exam.

He also proposed the creation of associations for OFWs and their employers, where meetings will be held regularly to address issues faced by both parties.

Mr. Tulfo also proposed that a regular Filipino festival be held in Kuwait to showcase Filipino talent, culture and tradition.

The lawmaker earlier filed Senate Resolution 448, which seeks to review the standard employment contract governing OFWs in Kuwait. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Ex-prison chief faces plunder charge

February 6, 2023 | 8:02 pm

THE BUREAU of Corrections has filed several complaints including for plunder and malversation against suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald T. Bantag.

Acting prison chief Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, the complainant, also accused his predecessor of graft before the Department of Justice. Mr. Bantag allegedly conspired with other officials to pocket public funds.

Mr. Bantag did not immediately reply to a message on Facebook Messenger seeking comment.

Under the six-page complaint filed on Feb. 3, Mr. Bantag’s supposed misappropriation of public funds started when he created a separate bidding and awards committee for three regional prison projects worth P300 million each and bid out in September 2020.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. suspended Mr. Bantag last year after he was accused of ordering the murder of a 63-year-old radio journalist critical of his administration and an inmate at the national penitentiary. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

Bridging and building a progressive future

February 6, 2023 | 6:27 pm

Let me first extend the gratitude of the 2023 Board of Governors for the confidence in entrusting to us the stewardship of the Management Association of the Philippines or MAP. I convey my personal thanks for giving me this opportunity to be MAP’s 75^th president — the fifth woman to lead this organization – with high hopes that during our watch, we can rise to the challenge of leaving a significant mark in the 73-year history of this organization.

We thank the past leaders whose decades of stewardship had brought MAP to where it is today — a premier, independent, professional and prestigious association of business leaders whose insights are listened to, in both the private and public sectors. That includes Fred Pascual and Babes Singson, who jointly headed MAP in 2022. I wish to thank both of them, and their respective teams, for their contributions.

MAP today has a strong membership base of 1,074 leaders who are significant influencers in their respective fields. Its members cut across many industries and their outputs can be felt in employment generation, in sharing gains through corporate social responsibility initiatives and in economic development. Certainly, one of MAP’s biggest contributions is leadership excellence. From among its ranks came many of those who are called for public service and shared their expertise to benefit the country and Filipinos.

CHALLENGING TIMES
The year 2023 will still be challenging — a continuation of the transition years as we try to put our pandemic experience in the rear-view mirror. Now, we must set our sights to what’s ahead with cautious optimism, even as the fight with COVID continues.

The bigger challenge before us will be RECOVERY — not just on the economic front but also in the structural rebuilding of the fundamentals needed to address the impact of the digital transformation and the changing business dynamics in our government on our respective organizations. The growing expectation that business should integrate social responsibility as success indicator places an enormous burden on our shoulders that will need new, transformational ideas and a high degree of collaboration across industries and sectors.

The Management Association of the Philippines can be that lynchpin, the hub if you will, to generate ideas and help make that cooperation happen. MAP today has solidified its standing as a professional, impartial and independent organization, whose advocacies extend beyond its mission to achieve management excellence. We are a voice that is listened to in many socially relevant issues we initiate, support and reinforce in multiple platforms to influence changes for the better.

Preserving these gains is foremost in the minds of your 2023 Board. During its strategic meeting in November, we committed to work on crafting and implementing a two-pronged strategy to significantly contribute to this objective: by bridging and enhancing the internal fundamentals and harnessing our collective strengths to help in building a national future in shared prosperity.

The two-pronged strategy is captured in our 2023 theme, “Bridging and Building a Progressive Future.” This will guide our directions and activities for the year. To give flesh and substance to the theme, we mapped out six priority programs aptly embodied in the acronym B R I D G E.

• We keep Bridging our internal strengths

• Focus on Resilience and recovery

• Initiate and welcome Innovation

• Advocate Diversity, equity and inclusion

• Make a strong push for Growth and people development

• Base our actions on what can contribute to the Environment, social and governance goals

These priority programs integrate the major concerns of our members gathered from the responses in a quick survey in November. The results identified the Top 10 issues ranked according to priority and we duly noted that ease of doing business remains to be the top concern, followed by the economy, energy, climate change, competitiveness of local industries, education, agriculture, infrastructure, environment, social and governance goals and dealing with local governments.

GETTING INTO ACTION
With the identified key directions of MAP for the year, the Board will work with 30 MAP committees grouped into six clusters. Together with their respective governors-in-charge, they will be responsible for the plans and actions to best deliver results. The programs will be harmonized, tracked and calibrated to maximize resources and generate quick wins.

INTERNAL STRENGTHS
The first Cluster is tasked to bridge the internal strengths. A strong MAP organization will capacitate us to deliver our mandate. Our collective strengths will enable MAP to lead, be the voice for management excellence, the hub of new ideas and solutions, that can effectively push our advocacies forward.

Today’s MAP is a diverse group in age, gender and professional background. It is the very first time in the history of MAP that four of the nine members of the MAP Board are women. This alone sets a tone.

We have a relatively young Board that can potentially cement what MAP has been desiring to do for years — to create and institutionalize an environment that would bridge and connect the wisdom and wealth of experience of seasoned CEOs, with the new thinking, new ideas, innovations in doing business and new paradigm of the next generation of CEOs. This combined force will enable us to foster thought leadership and collect a wealth of ideas, solutions and business opportunities that are adaptive, transformative, relevant and sustainable.

We will focus on narrowing the generational divide and create an environment of real inclusiveness, true to our management discipline of succession planning. The perspectives between the present and the next generation may differ, but I believe that this is not because we have different challenges, but because we have differing approaches. We have to bridge the gap of understanding, listen without judgment and impatience, and open our hearts and minds to meaningful collaboration.

Our first act, therefore, was to assign next-generation members to be co-vice chairpersons in most committees to give them the opportunity to lead, participate and be immersed in the organization. As of today, 23 next-gen members have risen to the challenge. That translates to 27% or almost a third of the total leadership posts in committees represented by those whom we hope will eventually take over the reins in the future. We also keep making strides in achieving gender balance. For this year, we are gratified to note that we are at 44% female to 56% male gender mix of leaders in our various committees.

Building internal strength also mean that we can provide support to our members through timely information that can increase the confidence level in their business planning. We will establish a data map that will make available relevant statistics, facts, figures, policy papers and other research materials that we may all need from time to time.

We will strengthen our linkages with data repositories like NEDA, PSA, DTI and other research organizations that can share their studies with us. I believe that business intuition is a spark that can be ignited when backed by solid indicators. MAP can better serve the members when we can help manage business risks through informed data points.

Because these are core components of our programs, I shall personally head this Cluster. Armed with a strengthened MAP, we shall do our share in Building a Progressive Future.

The Cluster on Resilience and Recovery is headed by Ciel Habito, the former secretary of NEDA under the Ramos administration. His group will persistently pursue the eight-point MAP recommendations that MAP submitted in 2022 to the then incoming administration.

To provide inputs to our members on the business horizon, we will hold an economic briefing on Feb. 8. However, we feel that we can enrich the context of economic prospects if we can identify investment opportunities we can take advantage of, to expand our markets. This year, therefore, we will be introducing an innovation of twinning the briefing on the economy with an investment campaign to be scheduled within the first quarter of the year.

This initiative will be undertaken in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, and solidified through the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

The importance of innovation cannot be overemphasized. Digital marketing expert Donald Lim is a natural choice to oversee this cluster tasked to implement programs to help scale up tech start-ups. It will also provide support to students to turn their technological ideas into actual products and services that will benefit farmers, fisherfolk and the rest of our population.

The Diversity, Equity And Inclusion cluster assigned to cluster head Karen Batungbacal is expected to conduct the third round of the SGV-MAP NextGen CEO Transformative Leadership Program as one of its major undertakings.

This cluster will continue to encourage our next-gen members and leaders to engage through the “4^th MAP NextGen CEO Conference.” This is the learning platform where they can discuss the most pressing challenges being faced by their generation and provide an avenue for them to learn from one another.

The Growth and People Development Cluster is headed by Chito Salazar, whose forte is education. Their task is to undertake initiatives and pursue critical reforms to address our education crisis and promote life-long learning.

And fittingly, the Environment, Social and Governance Cluster, which will be headed by Alex Cabrera, the ESG leader of PwC Philippines, will keep us focused on the advocacy and social responsibility dimension of what we all do.

The highlight will be a major mid-year activity we plan to initiate — and that is to bring together the decision-makers in government, business leaders, the academe and NGOs, and other interest groups to connect and collaborate.

In this whole-day event, we have high hopes that the multisectoral discussions will catalyze our common vision to contribute in national recovery and nation building. The output will be a blueprint for shared prosperity.

CLOSING
Friends, we are in for a busy, busy 2023. It may seem to be lofty goals that we set for ourselves but we have a lot of catching up to do, and we can do no less. What gives us confidence is knowing that we have one another’s backs and we have the valuable support and active participation of the MAP community and our partners in government and other business organizations, especially those who are with us today.

I will end by sharing a timely gem of wisdom from one of the world’s famous neuroscientists and an untiring advocate of global harmony and peace, Abhijit Naskar, who said and I quote:

“The holy trinity of tackling crisis is unity, faith and sacrifice. We must stay united as humans above all else, we must have faith in ourselves and in each other, and we must sacrifice our self-obsession.”

In other words, we should think not only in terms of what serves our own interests, but more importantly, in what will serve the greater good. Let us cross the bridge together. I look forward to an interesting and dynamic 2023 chapter with all of you.

This was lifted from the inaugural address delivered on Jan. 31 by the author as the 2023 president of the Management Association of the Philippines.

Dick Du Baladad is the founding partner and CEO of Du-Baladad and Associates.

map@map.org.ph

dick.du-baladad@bdblaw.com.ph

Love insights for management

February 6, 2023 | 6:25 pm

Every February, we are reminded of love — the kind usually associated with romance and kilig. However, for me, this year’s month of love is special but different. In the past, I would reminisce about moments when I first met my wife and how she made me fall for her. This time, though, the nostalgia is replaced by the excitement and anxiety of anticipation. In the next few weeks, we are expecting our baby boy!

My journey to fatherhood has allowed me to appreciate love in ways I have never experienced before. When my wife finally became pregnant, our baby boy made me realize that it was possible to love someone before he existed.

Even before my wife became pregnant, we consulted the doctor and got treatments. When we finally succeeded, we still had monthly checkups. We planned changes in our house, work arrangements and family gatherings. The things we went through before and during pregnancy made me understand that love can exist before life.

Imagine: What if this kind of love, even a fraction of it, can be applied to management and entrepreneurship?

What if managers design their organizations for new employees the same way excited parents organize their homes for their babies? What if entrepreneurs conceive products and services they love and are proud of, the same way parents are proud of their babies? What if supervisors take care of their subordinates the same way grandparents treat their grandchildren?

The classic lenses of management and entrepreneurship view people as resources and products as generators of financial value. Don’t pamper your employees, they say, for they will leave anyway. Don’t fall in love with your products, they say, for what’s more important is for the market to buy and the capitalists to invest. From a purely logical and rational perspective, these may make sense. However, isn’t it time for us to put our humanity and love at the forefront?

A parent’s love is not a love that shackles and dictates; it is a kind of love that nourishes. Sometimes, there needs to be tough love, but the goal is for children to grow into the best version of themselves. Managers need not spoil employees but set employees up for success. Entrepreneurs need not give up their artistry for product-market fit; there could be a dialogue between themselves and the prospective customer or investor.

Management and entrepreneurship can learn from a kind of love that does not exploit people and products as resources but, rather, a kind of love that is enabling and co-creative. This kind of love means treating stakeholders not as mere tools to achieve financial gain but as partners in creating value. Instead of exploiting and extracting the maximum amount of work from them, leaders should strive to empower and uplift stakeholders. By fostering this kind of love, managers and entrepreneurs can tap into their organization’s full potential and effect not only innovative but also meaningful outcomes.

In the coming days, my wife and I will celebrate our last Valentine’s day as a couple. Next year, our date will have a third wheel, but a welcome one. And I pray that this love we discovered — the kind that loved before our baby even existed — continues to grow. Hopefully, it becomes the love that enables our child to be the best version of himself.

Hopefully, this love can turn management and entrepreneurship into authentic vocations.

Patrick Adriel H. Aure, PhD (Patch) is vice-chairman and associate professor at the Department of Management and Organization, Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University. He advocates humanistic and sustainability-oriented management research as president of the Philippine Academy of Management.

patrick.aure@dlsu.edu.ph

Ten trends in global and Philippine energy

February 6, 2023 | 6:22 pm

Some developments on the energy front in early 2023, both global and national.

1. Oil and gas prices are now lower than during pre-war Ukraine. Comparing prices last week with Feb. 23, 2022 or a day before Russia invaded Ukraine, Dubai crude is $11/barrel cheaper and WTI crude is $17 cheaper. It’s the same trend for EU gas and US natural gas prices.

2. Coal prices have significantly cooled down. From a peak of $458/ton in 2022, it was down to only $245 last week. Since about 58% of total power generation in the Philippines is from coal, this is good news.

3. E-vehicle prices are rising and charging them is more expensive than using gasoline. The price of lithium, the main material in producing batteries, is higher than the pre-invasion period, twice the peak price in 2021 and six times the peak price in 2019. Electricity prices in Europe last week were about twice the peak prices in 2019. Peak prices in 2022 were 6-20 times higher than peak prices in 2019 (table 1).

4. Continuing threats of blackout, spot market price control. It has now been 32 years since the big blackouts of 1990 to 1991 in the Philippines and the possibility of occasional blackout remains. See these recent reports in BusinessWorld: “DoE expects 12 yellow alerts in Luzon grid” (Jan. 10), “Still no agreement on Ilijan gas supply — DoE” (Jan. 12), “ERC reviewing secondary price cap after DoE cites potential to unlock investment” (Feb. 1).

Government price control in the electricity spot market is wrong and should be removed. Frequent price spikes are indicators of thin reserves, and power distributors and consumers are willing to pay higher just to avoid blackouts. When price control kicks in too often, it will discourage investment in more peaking plants. The most expensive electricity is no electricity. Candles and more expensive generator sets are bad alternatives.

5. Rise in subsidies to off-grid islands and provinces. Island-provinces like Palawan, Mindoro, Masbate, Marinduque, Batanes, etc. rely on big gensets by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) small power utilities group (SPUG) and private producers. Since generation via oil gensets is expensive, off-grid consumers are subsidized by on-grid consumers through the universal charge for missionary electrification (UC-ME) in our monthly electricity bill. See these recent stories in BusinessWorld: “Napocor to cut service to SPUG areas due to high diesel prices” (Jan. 19), “Universal charge hike proposed to sustain off-grid power services” (Jan. 30).

Current UC-ME is P0.178/kWh and Napocor is asking for P0.15 more. If approved, it will become P0.328/kWh. The UC-ME should go, off-grid provinces should use small coal or gas plants or small modular reactors to have cheaper electricity and will not need subsidy. Note also in table 2 below, Napocor is earning P2-3 billion a year.

6. Obstinate San Miguel petition at ERC and CA. San Miguel Corp. units South Premiere Power Corp. and San Miguel Energy Corp., the administrators of the gas plant in Ilijan, Batangas, and the coal plant in Sual, Pangasinan, respectively, sought a rate hike at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in August. ERC rejected the petition in September. San Miguel went to the Court of Appeals (CA) the following month. Last month, the appellate court’s 13^th Division gave South Premiere a writ of preliminary injunction, suspended the power supply agreement between South Premiere and Manila Electric Co. to allow them to negotiate. But the court’s 16^thDivision rejected a similar injunction motion from San Miguel Energy. Both cases will be consolidated at the 13^thDivision, and if South Premiere and Meralco agree to increase the price, it will go back to the ERC again. Terminating the power supply agreement does not seem to be the least cost for the public.

See these reports in BusinessWorld: “Meralco to start sourcing 670 MW from spot market” (Jan. 26), “ERC says court denied hold order vs its ruling in Sept.” (Jan. 27), “Competitive power rates sought after court move on supply deal” (Jan. 30) and “ERC looks to high court amid suspended power supply deal” (Feb. 6).

7. San Miguel Energy and South Premiere earned, not lost, in 2021. San Miguel said it had losses of P15 billion from units South Premiere and San Miguel Energy. Data from BusinessWorld’s Top 1000 Corporations in the Philippines 2022 showed they earned P5.34 billion and P4.5 billion, respectively (table 2).

Meanwhile, South Premiere or the Ilijan gas plant is on economic shutdown. So far, there seems to be no investigation for anti-competitive behavior. Ilijan must run on liquid fuel, expensive diesel and generation companies have to obey the must-offer rule in the spot market. The plants have to run.

8. NGCP was the most profitable among energy players, perhaps in the whole country. Its net income over gross revenue ratio from 2017 to 2020 averaged 45.7% (table 3). Two things here — high profitability while the country suffers from persistent yellow-red alerts yearly, up to now, and NGCP is the sole private nationwide monopoly system and network operator.

NGCP has a big asset base but must do certain investments stipulated in its franchise. The high profitability possibly comes from not investing in the committed asset base, which was the basis for its transmission rates. It’s like not having a firm contract for ancillary services that should significantly augment power reserves, and long-delayed transmission lines to avoid power congestion in certain areas and where supply is available to areas where they are needed.

There is an ongoing fourth regular review and fifth regulatory reset of NGCP at the ERC. ERC should look at these profitability figures.

9. Nuclear energy is becoming more acceptable in the Philippines. See these recent reports in BusinessWorld: “Energy dep’t designates RE, nuclear as 2023 priorities” (Jan. 2), “Philippines in nuclear push as power crisis looms” (Jan. 24). Uranium prices in the table above show they don’t swing wild unlike Europe electricity prices that rely increasingly on intermittent wind and solar power.

10. Persistent calls for expensive electricity via carbon pricing and taxation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is tone-deaf to the plight of Philippine businesses and households as it continues its irresponsible and corrupt lobby to impose carbon pricing and taxation in the Philippines. See this report in BusinessWorld: “IMF says carbon pricing may raise $7-B revenues” (Jan. 4).

In this period of high inflation, more expensive electricity, transportation and other commodities are the least that we should aspire for. People can’t be serious if they blame CO2 — the gas that we humans and animals exhale, the gas that plants and crops use to produce their own food via photosynthesis — as causing less and more rain, less and more flood, less and more cold, fewer and more dogs.

Meanwhile, the Ruperto P. Alonzo lecture series will kick off at 3 p.m. this Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the UP School of Economics. It is free and open to the public. The topic is “29 years of BoT law and the way forward.” The speaker will be Cynthia Hernandez, executive director of the PPP Center. The three discussants/reactors are Roderick Planta, assistant secretary for investment programming at the National Economic and Development Authority; Vaughn Montes, director at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.; and Paul Imperial, vice-president for Structuring and Regulatory Affairs at Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. Research Consultancy Services, and Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

China must repair damage from its burst balloon

February 6, 2023 | 6:18 pm

AFTER US JET FIGHTERS took out a Chinese “spy balloon” that had slowly traversed the country last week, the idea of stabilizing relations between the two superpowers might seem naive and quixotic. Yet the two sides still need to try — and China must take the first step.

The bizarre incident has undoubtedly made any rapprochement harder. Republicans have blasted US President Joe Biden for not shooting down the balloon immediately. The atrocious optics forced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a long-awaited trip to Beijing. Chinese officials professed to be outraged by the downing of what they claimed was a “civilian airship.”

Blinken’s visit would have offered a rare and much-needed opportunity for high-level dialogue between US and Chinese officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping. The prospect of talks now looks distant again.

At the same time, the brouhaha shows exactly why the US and China must find some new equilibrium in their relationship. Their strategic competition has become dangerously militarized, as illustrated by the accelerated expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, the recent agreement for the Pentagon to position US military assets in the Philippines, and a US Air Force general’s alarming prediction of war in 2025.

The risk of an accidental clash is growing. In recent years, as the US has increased the frequency of its “freedom of navigation operations” and reconnaissance flights in the South China Sea, the Chinese military has responded with aggressive and unsafe intercepts. Meanwhile, Chinese attempts to intimidate Taiwan, including by sending a large number of fighters and bombers across the median line separating the island from the mainland, could easily spark a shooting war that could drag in the US.

Even if the two countries are lucky enough to avoid an accident, the actions they are taking to counter or deter each other — including blocking critical technology exports, cutting off trade ties, and pouring billions into modernizing their militaries — are pushing them toward a conflict neither wants. Hawks in both countries will surely exploit the balloon incident as evidence of the futility of seeking peaceful co-existence.

To avoid a catastrophic conflict, more pragmatic leaders on both sides must push back. And, as its actions caused this diplomatic crisis, China must move first.

China’s initial expressions of regret, not to mention its claim that the balloon was conducting climate research and was blown off course by strong winds, are scarcely believable. If that had been the case, Chinese officials could have notified the US and Canadian governments as soon as the balloon supposedly went astray. At a minimum, Chinese leaders must conduct a credible investigation into the incident and punish those responsible for the balloon’s course, as well as those who should have informed the US in a timely fashion.

China also should issue a stronger apology to the US and Canada, either publicly or through high-level diplomatic channels. If Xi is sincere in his regrets, he should call President Joe Biden to underscore his commitment to a more stable relationship with the US.

And he shouldn’t stop there. With China’s economy reeling and relations with neighbors and countries in Europe strained, restraint and prudence are in its own interests.

The least China can do is avoid causing further damage. It should scale back its gray-zone coercion against Taiwan and tone down its bellicose rhetoric about a potential visit by Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to the island. It should clamp down on exports designed to aid the Russian war machine in Ukraine.

China could also earn goodwill by unilaterally announcing actions that it may have planned to undertake following the Blinken visit. Cracking down on the export of precursor chemicals for producing fentanyl, which is causing a wave of deadly overdoses in the US, would give the Biden administration more room to maneuver in its relations with Beijing.

If Chinese leaders bridle at such concessions, they should remember what the alternative might be. A Cold War parallel — the U-2 incident in May 1960 — is instructive.

On May 1, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, attempted to exploit the incident and humiliate the US, while President Dwight Eisenhower initially failed to acknowledge US culpability. The clumsy handling of the incident led to the collapse of a summit between Khrushchev and Eisenhower in Paris in mid-May, where the two leaders had intended to negotiate a nuclear arms-control deal.

The Berlin Wall, the defining symbol of the Cold War, went up 15 months after the U-2 fiasco. In October 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Finding a way past this latest crisis is a necessity, not a choice.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

GM Darwin Laylo a game away from being national champion

February 6, 2023 | 6:14 pm

FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Darwin Laylo is rekindling the fire that made him national champion twice almost two decades ago.

With a round to go in the National Chess Championships, the 42-year-old Mr. Laylo is a game away from claiming his first national crown in 17 years and third overall as he leads the annual meet at the PACE in Quezon City.

The Army man from Marikina split the point with International Master (IM) Jan Emmanuel Garcia, his closest combatant, in a 36-move standoff of a timid English encounter in the eighth and penultimate round yesterday that kept his iron grip of the solo lead with six points.

Mr. Garcia remained half a point behind with 5.5 points.

Their fates will be decided in the final round as Mr. Laylo was battling IM Daniel Quizon, who won the last edition of this tilt two years back in Lapu Lapu, Cebu, while Mr. Garcia was tackling Woman GM Janelle Mae Frayna at press time.

Mr. Laylo’s re-emergence was evident last year when he made it to the national team that saw action in the World Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India and snared the silver in team rapid of the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games with IM Paulo Bersamina.

And Mr. Laylo will not be thinking of just the bragging rights as the national chess king but also the top prize amounting to P100,000 courtesy of Malolos City Mayor Atty. Christian Natividad.

That will be worth the 17-year wait. — Joey Villar

PLDT High Speed Hitters and F2 Cargo Movers clash

February 6, 2023 | 6:13 pm

Games Today
(PhilSports Arena)
4 p.m. — PLDT vs F2
6 p.m. — Chery Tiggo vs Cignal

PLDT and F2 Logistics parade their new coaches when they clash today even as Chery Tiggo will have an old mentor back against a relatively intact Cignal at the resumption of the Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

The High Speed Hitters will have Rald Ricafort, formerly from Petro Gazz, as their new mentor while the Cargo Movers tapped Regine Diego to handle the reins as the pro league’s first female bench tactician when they face off at 4 p.m.

“Hopefully, a woman can be the last man standing,” said Ms. Diego, who made her way into the pro ranks by coaching champion Palarong Pambansa high school teams.

Ms. Diego will have in her disposal a talented crew that included Kianna Dy, Ivy Lacsina, Abi Marano, Kim Fajardo, Iris Tolenada, Dawn Macandili, Majoy Baron, Ara Galang and newly hired Myla Pablo, a former league MVP who last suited up for Petro Gazz.

For Mr. Ricafort, he hopes to turn PLDT into a titled team the same way he did with Petro Gazz when he steered the latter to the Reinforced Conference champion late last year.

The team also gave the captainship to Mika Reyes, who is expected to lead a group composed of fast-rising Jules Samonte, Jovielyn Prado, Kat Arado and fresh recruits Rachel Anne Austero from Chery Tiggo and Michelle Morente from Army Black Mamba.

Cherry Tiggo, meanwhile, has reinstated Aaron Velez as coach, hoping he could weave the same magic like he did when he coached the Crossovers to the 2021 Open Conference crown in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

“We just want to take it step by step and compete each game,” said Mr. Velez, who is also team’s manager.

Chery Tiggo likewise made drastic changes in its personnel as it let go of Dindin Manabat to Akari while hauling in Ponggay Gaston from Choco Mucho to beef up a roster comprising of Reinforced Conference MVP Mylene Paat, Jasmine Nabor, Shaya Adorador, EJ Laure, Cza Carandang and Buding Duremdes among others.

Mr. Velez and the Crossovers will be up against a Cignal squad which practically kept the same coach in Shaq delos Santos and the core of the team that finished second in the Reinforced Conference and third in the Open and Invitational a year ago.

In the forefront of the HD Spikers’ campaign are skipper Rachel Anne Daquis, Ces Molina, Gel Cayuna, Roselyn Doria, Riri Meneses and newly acquired Toni Rose Basa from PLDT. — Joey Villar

Irving’s blockbuster trade trims Mavs’ NBA title odds

February 6, 2023 | 6:13 pm

WHETHER the Dallas Mavericks’ bold move to acquire Kyrie Irving will pay off in a deep playoff run will be one of the more intriguing storylines down the stretch of the NBA season, but the blockbuster deal made an immediate impact on oddsmakers.

The Mavericks are 28-26 and sitting in the bubble of the play-in tournament while star Luka Doncic deals with a heel injury. However, shortly after news of the reported Irving trade broke on Sunday, their NBA title odds were slashed in half by DraftKings.

A +3000 longshot to win the NBA title to begin Sunday, Dallas now has the eighth-shortest odds at +1500. The Mavericks are also eighth at BetMGM, where they have even shorter title odds at +1200.

The Mavericks also moved from +1300 to win the Western Conference to +700 at DraftKings, putting them behind only the Denver Nuggets (+340), Los Angeles Clippers (+380), Memphis Grizzlies (+475) and Golden State Warriors (+650).

Mr. Irving requested to be traded on Friday and two days later the Mavericks were able to pull of the deal ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

The Nets will receive guard Spencer Dinwiddie, forward Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick, according to The Athletic. The Mavericks also will receive forward Markieff Morris in the deal.

Brooklyn’s futures odds have taken a significant hit with Mr. Irving heading out of town. Despite being fourth in the Eastern Conference at 32-20, the Nets moved from +320 to win the conference to +650 and their NBA title odds lengthened from +1500 to +2000.

The Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers were also believed to be in the running to acquire Irving, an eight-time All-Star who teamed with LeBron James to bring an NBA title to Cleveland with the Cavaliers in 2016.

The Lakers were installed as the early favorites to acquire Mr. Irving on Friday by SportsBetting.ag, but their Western Conference odds are now +1500 while their title odds are +3500 at DraftKings. — Reuters

Lady Macbeth Riots top Manila Hustle 3×3 Women’s Invitational

February 6, 2023 | 6:13 pm

LADY Macbeth Riots ruled the Manila Hustle 3×3 Philippine Women’s 3×3 International Invitational, exacting sweet vengeance on Army Altama with a 21-11 victory in the finals over the weekend at the Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City.

Ateneo pride and UAAP Rookie of the Year Kacey Dela Rosa led the way for Lady Macbeth en route to a Finals MVP citation of the Uratex-backed tilt after her dominant showing inside the paint.

Ms. Dela Rosa, who torched the UAAP with monstrous averages of 16.4 points, 14.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks, got ample contribution from Gilas Pilipinas women veterans Janine Pontejos, Khate Castillo and Trina Guytingco.

Lady Macbeth actually had a flat start, trailing 3-6, before Ms. Dela Rosa and company stamped their class in a searing 18-5 turnaround punctuated by her game-winning freebie.

It proved as a satisfying payback for Lady Macbeth — which drubbed Thailand’s Shoot It Dragons in the quarters, 19-17, and Discovery Perlas, 21-18 in the semis– after bowing to Army Altama in the Pool D prelims, 17-16.

Chack Cabinbin, Camille Sambile, Soc Borja and Mar Prado, nevertheless, had a commendable campaign at second place in an all-Filipina championship duel.

Ms. Prado also gained recognition by joining Ms. Dela Rosa and Dunarang Kim of South Korea’s 1EYEHANSOL in the Mythical Three.

The Korean squad completed the podium of the historic 12-team joust also supported by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas after a 21-11 win over Discovery Perlas in the bronze medal match.

Japan’s Owls.Exe Kujukuri, Angelis Resort, another Japanese squaad Zoos Tokyo, Shoot It Dragons, Uratex Tibay, Uratex Dream, South Korea’s G2L2 and Singapore’s Jumpshot finished in order. — John Bryan Ulanday

Super Bowl a showcase for next generation of quarterback talent

February 6, 2023 | 6:12 pm

NFL-NEW-YORK-GIANTS-AT-PHILADELPHIA-EAGLES — Jalen Hurts of Eagles — ERIC HARTLINE-USA TODAY SPORTS

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IT’S OUT with the old and in with the new as the Philadelphia Eagles’ Gen-Z talent Jalen Hurts takes on 27-year-old Kansas City Chiefs leader Patrick Mahomes on Sunday in a Super Bowl battle of fresh-faced quarterbacks.

With a combined age of 51 and 337 days — just six years older than newly retired Tom Brady — they are the first two quarterbacks under the age of 28 to face off for the Lombardi Trophy in roughly a quarter-century.

The next-youngest quarterback duo was Joe Montana and Dan Marino, who faced off at Super Bowl 19 at a combined age of 51 years and 350 days, according to ESPN, in 1985.

In a league where elder statesmen once dominated, the young guns are ready to shine.

“There’s a brand new generation of really gifted quarterbacks,” agent Leigh Steinberg, often credited as the real-life inspiration behind “Jerry Maguire,” told Reuters.

Whereas fresh talent used to need time to take hold, Mr. Steinberg said the new generation has a “different progression than their forebears,” meeting with quarterback coaches and becoming masters of their craft long before they begin studying for their SATs.

“Generally, what holds back a quarterback at younger age is the ability to see the field clearly,” he said. “Normally, the first couple of years of a quarterback are bad interceptions, calling time out inappropriately, lining up over guard instead of center.

“But this new group that we have… (is) much more ready to play than their predecessors.”

Mr. Hurts will become the first member of Gen-Z to start in a Super Bowl, with Pew Research Center defining his generation as those born in 1997 or later.

He has plenty of company among high-achieving young quarterbacks.

With Mr. Hurts, Mr. Mahomes, Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and San Francisco 49ers “Mr. Irrelevant” Brock Purdy, it was the first time quarterbacks all aged under 28 started the AFC and NFC championship games last month.

And after 39-year-old Aaron Rodgers picked up back-to-back MVP honors in 2020 and 2021, the four quarterbacks among this year’s Most Valuable Player finalists were all 27 or younger.

It is a pattern that’s bound to favor budget-minded franchises in a league where established household names demand top dollar.

“To find some stability in that position is like finding a massive gold nugget,” ESPN analyst and retired twice Super Bowl champion Rob Ninkovich told Reuters.

“With the current contract status, you have to make a choice: do we pay $50 million annually to a quarterback and then lose other pieces? Or, like a lot of these teams right now, we have somebody under a rookie contract that expands our available money to go to other places?”

The Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 on Feb. 12. — Reuters