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Security forces on alert for retaliation in Cotabato after IS-linked group members killed  

SECURITY forces are bracing for potential retaliation by local terrorists over the deaths of five associates tagged in high-profile crimes who were killed Wednesday in Tulunan, Cotabato during a shootout with policemen serving arrest warrants.    

Local leaders, police and military intelligence officials told reporters Thursday that the criminal group’s leader known as Danny Cabakungan and his four henchmen had links with both the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.  

Both groups, fashioned from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, have been linked to deadly bombings since 2014 in central parts of Mindanao, the southern Philippine islands.  

In a statement Thursday, Police Soccsksargen Regional Director Jimili L. Macaraeg said police units in Cotabato province had been alerted about possible attacks by sympathizers of Mr. Cabakungan, who was wanted for stockpiling of high-powered guns and explosives.  

The Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division is also monitoring potential attacks. “Tulunan is not under our jurisdiction but there are towns nearby that are covered by the 602nd Brigade,” 6th ID Commander Alex S. Rillera said.  

Local leaders had confirmed that Cabakungan’s group collected “protection money” on a monthly basis from farmers in remote villages and from owners of public transport vehicles operating in the town. — John M. Unson

House bill filed on comprehensive penalties vs illegal recruitment schemes

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

A LAWMAKER has filed a bill that provides comprehensive definitions and penalties against illegal recruitment activities for overseas workers. 

“Illegal recruiters employ various deceptive schemes to prey on the need and desires of migrant workers lured by the promise of higher-paying jobs,” OFW Party-list Rep Marissa P. Magsino is quoted in House Bill No. 7865. 

“One of the identified gaps contributing to the evolving problem of illegal recruitment is the absence of a single penal law,” she added. 

Under the bill, anyone found guilty of illegal recruitment will be imprisoned for up to 20 years and pay a fine of up to P4 million.

Illegal recruitment as economic sabotage, or when a group of three or more persons conspire with each other, is punishable by up to P10 million and lifetime imprisonment. 

Those guilty of other prohibited acts like requiring an overseas Filipino worker to avail of a loan, training, or undergo health examinations from specific persons, entities, or clinics, among others, will be jailed for up to 12 years and be fined up to P2 million. 

A law enforcement officer or internet intermediary and service provider who fails to provide data needed to investigate cases of illegal recruits will also face imprisonment of up to six years and pay up to P500,000. 

If the person illegally recruited is younger than 18 years, maximum penalties will be imposed. An offender who is not a Filipino citizen will be deported.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) last month rescued six Filipinos from crypto-scam syndicates who offered jobs supposedly in e-gaming companies and business process outsourcing firms. They were promised a monthly salary of $800 to $1,000 on the condition that they leave the country disguised as tourists. 

According to an investigation by Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, syndicates pay BI agents as much as P100,000 for every trafficked Filipino. 

“This bill seeks to consolidate all existing laws on illegal recruitment into a single penal law to facilitate a more effective and efficient enforcement and implementation to combat the inimical practice,” Ms. Magsino said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

  

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CSB Lady Blazers gun for second title sweep against Lady Pirates

COLLEGE OF SAINT BENILDE LADY BLAZERS — NCAA/SYNERGY-GMA NETWORK

Games Today
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
10 a.m. — Awarding ceremony
12 p.m. — San Beda vs UPHSD (men)
2 p.m. — LPU vs CSB (women)

COLLEGE of St. Benilde (CSB) will try to accomplish what hasn’t been done in a long while in the NCAA as it shoots for a second straight title sweep against Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) today (April 14) in the Season 98 Volleyball at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The fabulous Lady Blazers were nothing short of exceptional when they manhandled the Lady Pirates, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19, in last Tuesday’s opener that positioned them closer from sweeping their way to the crown for the second straight season.

CSB coach Jerry Yee said there was no special formula when his charges dominated Game One except that they just needed to stay calm.

“My job was just to calm them down,” said Mr. Yee, who is one triumph closer to handing the school its third league championship.

Game time is at 2 p.m.

A decider, assuming LPU’s prayer for a miracle happens in Game Two, is on Sunday.

But just by looking at how Mr. Yee was farseeing, it may just not reach that far.

“We expect them to make adjustments so we just have to be ready to adjust on our own during the game,” said Mr. Yee.

Mr. Yee also went deep with his rotation as he utilized 12 players, including Jhasmin Gayle Pascual who fired a match-high 15 points, with 10 of them chipping in at least a point. It included Ma. Camill Avila and Weilyn Estoque, who scored late in the decisive third set in sealing the deal.

In men’s action, University of Perpetual Help (UPHSD) shoots for a title sweep of its own as it tangles with San Beda College at 12 p.m. — Joey Villar

Ginebra Gin Kings, TNT Tropang Giga battle for control of PBA Governors’ Cup Finals

RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON — PHILIPPINE STAR/JUN MENDOZA

Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5:45 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT
*Series tied, 1-1

THE CHESS match between Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT counterpart Jojo Lastimosa continues.

In a stalemate after two games, Mr. Cone’s Gin Kings and Mr. Lastimosa’s Tropang Giga ready their next moves and counter-moves as they battle for control of the PBA Governors’ Cup today (April 14) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Game 3 tiebreaker is set at 5:45 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the protagonists looking for more stability after a blow-hot, blow-cold — or vice versa — type of opening.

Defending champion Ginebra, outgunning their blanks-firing challengers, took Game 1, 102-90, last Easter Sunday. And in a swift reversal Wednesday, the Tropang Giga summoned both their shooting touch and defensive spunk back for a retaliatory 95-82 equalizer versus a low-scoring Ginebra side.

“They flipped the switch on us and they did everything they wanted to do and we didn’t get anything done (in Game 2). So now it’s 1-1 and we’ll see what happens in Game 3,” said Mr. Cone.

“We got to play with a little more discipline and a little more fire than we did (last time). It was actually disappointing but it’s a series and it’s not one game so we got to move on to the next one at this point.”

Mr. Cone braces for a “back-and-forth” against the team of Mr. Lastimosa, his former player and assistant coach. “We’ll see what we can do coming back,” he said.

Mr. Lastimosa’s do-it-all import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has been spearheading the fight against the three-peat-seeking Gin Kings. In Game 2, he put the cuffs on the usually efficient Justin Brownlee (12 points on a horrible three-of-16 field goal) while flirting with a triple-double (23-19-9).

“Rondae is giving it his everything but I know there’s a lot left in his tank,” said Mr. Lastimosa.

Though primed for a possible long-drawn battle, Mr. Hollis-Jefferson is taking it one at a time.

“We may have the mindset of it will be a long series but Nick Saban, the Alabama football coach, always talks about breaking the game in increments. So next game is Game 3, we’re going to break that down, taking it quarter by quarter. That’s our focus,” he said.

Mr. Brownlee owned up to his “subpar” play and vowed to bounce back.

“I feel like I kinda let my team down as the import. I had good moments in other areas (10 rebounds, eight assists) but three-of-16, I got to be better in that field,” said the resident reinforcement, while also giving due credit to TNT and Mr. Hollis-Jefferson for their defensive schemes against him.

“We’re going to look at the video and try to figure out how to get Justin open and we’ll go from there. But we’re not worried about Justin at all. He’s had tough nights before and he’s always responded really well,” said Mr. Cone.

Meanwhile, TNT is expecting big man Kelly Williams back after getting sidelined by calf strain for most of the tournament. Williams’ return is a welcome development with frontliner Justin Chua already out for the season after sustaining an ACL tear in Game 1. — Olmin Leyba

Women’s volleyball team flies to Japan for training camp

PHILIPPINE women’s volleyball team for Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games — PHILIPPINE STAR/JOEY VILLAR

IN a mad rush to prepare for next month’s Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games, the Philippine women’s volleyball team flew to Osaka, Japan yesterday for a training camp that will last until April 28.

Skippered by Alyssa Valdez and coached by Brazilian Jorge Souza de Brito, the 14-strong squad will have practically three weeks left to prepare for the event that is scheduled to start on May 3 at the Indoor Main Hall of the Olympic Complex located in the Cambodian capital.

The team will feature Jia de Guzman, Tots Carlos, Jema Galanza, Michele Gumabao, Ced Domingo and Kyla Atienza from reigning PVL All-Filipino Conference champion Creamline, Gel Cayuna and Glaudine Troncoso of Cignal, Kat Tolentino and Cherry Nunag of Choco Mucho, Dell Palomata of PLDT and Mylene Paat of Chery Tiggo.

Libero Bang Pineda of Akari was a late addition as she replaced Kath Arado of PLDT, who begged off in the last-minute due to injury.

Also joining the squad to Osaka were triumphant Creamline mentor Sherwin Meneses, who was tapped as a Mr. De Brito assistant, and Tonyboy Liao, the national team commission chair.

The squad is eyeing nothing less than a podium finish after failing to make it that far in last year’s Hanoi Games.

The men’s team, for its part, left the country a few days back also for Japan while the beach volley squads are headed for Brazil to likewise undergo rigid training for the rest of the month. — Joey Villar

Benzema strikes again as Real Madrid beats 10-man Chelsea 2-0

MADRID — A tap-in by Karim Benzema and a powerful strike by substitute Marco Asensio earned European champions Real Madrid a 2-0 win over 10-man Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg in the Spanish capital on Wednesday.

Mr. Benzema, the scourge of Chelsea at the same stage of the competition last season, converted from point blank range in the 21st minute when Kepa Arrizabalaga saved from Vinicius Junior but could only touch the ball in the direction of the Frenchman.

It was Mr. Benzema’s 90th Champions League goal with the last 11 all coming against English clubs.

Chelsea — under caretaker coach Frank Lampard after a dismal season so far — went close to scoring in the first half but Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling were thwarted by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois playing against his former club.

The Londoners’ chances of getting back into the game suffered a major setback in the 59th minute when Ben Chilwell was shown a straight red card for bringing down Rodrygo with a tug of the Brazilian’s shirt when he was bearing down on goal.

Asensio had been on the field for just three minutes when he was fed by Mr. Vinicius on the edge of the box and the Spain international drilled in a low shot that went through the legs of Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana and beyond Mr. Kepa’s dive.

The win at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium puts the 14-time European champions in the driver’s seat ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge on April 18.

Mr. Benzema, who scored a hat-trick in London last year before getting another in Madrid in a 5-4 aggregate thriller, could have effectively seen off Chelsea in added time at the end of the second half when he headed over with the goal at his mercy after Mr. Kepa could only punch the ball as far as him.

Chelsea substitute Mason Mount then came close to a crucial goal for the Blues when he turned and shot in the penalty area but former team mate Antonio Rudiger, also on off the bench, raced in to block.

In the end, the Londoners failed to scored for a fourth match in a row — three of them in the Premier League — their longest barren run since 1993.

Lampard — Chelsea’s top goalscorer who returned to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as coach until the end of the season after Graham Potter was fired this month — embraced Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, himself an ex-Chelsea manager, at the final whistle. — Reuters

Finland’s Zilliacus drops out of Man United bidding

FINNISH businessman Thomas Zilliacus has dropped out of the bidding for Manchester United, saying delays in the sale process will make it difficult for a new owner to build a winning team.

United’s American owners, the Glazer family, launched a formal sale process late last year, with several bids received in February and March.

“I have declined participation in a third bidding round for United,” Mr. Zilliacus said on social media.

“The delays will make it very difficult for any new owner to build a winning team for next season.”

Mr. Zilliacus was among several bidders including British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals producer INEOS, and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the son of Qatar’s former prime minister.

Sports industry news site Sportico reported this week that Manchester United would accept a third round of bids from prospective buyers at the end of the month.

United are the fourth-richest football club in the world, according to Deloitte. — Reuters

Bulls rally past Raptors, earn shot at Heat for playoff bid

ZACH LaVine scored a game-high 39 points and DeMar DeRozan added 23 to boost the visiting Chicago Bulls to a come-from-behind, 109-105 victory against the Toronto Raptors in an Eastern Conference play-in game on Wednesday night.

Chicago advances to face the Miami Heat on Friday. The winner of the game, to be played in Miami, will move on to meet the Milwaukee Bucks, the East’s top seed, in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bulls overcame a 19-point, third-quarter deficit against the Raptors. A 29-28 lead early in the second quarter, which lasted all of 19 seconds, was Chicago’s only advantage until the stretch run.

Patrick Beverley’s trey with 5:07 remaining put the Bulls ahead 96-93, a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Still, it wasn’t easy. A Pascal Siakam dunk with 19.7 seconds left brought the Raptors within 105-104. Mr. LaVine followed with a pair of free throws, and Siakam hit 1 of 3 at the line before Nikola Vucevic hit two free throws for the Bulls with 11.1 seconds left for a 109-105 lead.

An 18-for-36 effort from the free-throw line took a toll on Toronto, which shot 43.7 percent from the floor compared to 48.8 percent for Chicago.

Mr. Siakam had 32 points for the Raptors, who got double-doubles from Fred VanVleet (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Scottie Barnes (19 points, 10 rebounds).

O.G. Anunoby chipped in 13 points.

Mr. Vucevic posted 14 points and 13 rebounds for Chicago. Patrick Williams chipped in 10 points and Coby White had nine points and five assists.

Chicago went 3-0 against Miami, with each game decided by at least eight points. — Reuters

Mark Llemit, Jun Melecio the new recruits of UST

UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) is not to be left behind in the collegiate recruitment wars ahead of the UAAP Season 86 by securing two promising rookies in Mark Llemit and Jun Melecio.

The 6-foot-3 Mr. Llemit, who anchored the Tiger Cubs’ Final Four finish in the UAAP juniors, committed to climb to the seniors level while dazzling guard Mr. Melecio took a jump from De La Salle-Zobel.

Mr. Llemit, from Laak, Davao de Oro, also led UST to the semifinals of the Smart-NBTC National Finals Division I as the 19th ranked high school player in the country with averages of 16.27 points, 8.27 rebounds, 2.73 assists, and 2.53 steals.

The Valencia City, Bukidnon pride Mr. Melecio, brother of Converge FiberXers guard Aljun who’s also from Taft, for his part averaged 8.46 points, 2.85 rebounds, 2.15 assists, and 1.23 steals in 20 minutes for De La Salle-Zobel last season.

The two guards straight from high school are eligible to play in Season 86 later this year with five full playing years.

They will join SJ Moore from Arellano, Fil-Canadian shooter Gabriel Obusan, and Season 87 recruits Rhayyan Amsali and James Una as the Growling Tigers seek to climb the UAAP ladder from a dismal 1-13 finish last season. — John Bryan Ulanday

Tabuena a stroke off leader in International Series Vietnam

FILIPINO star Miguel Tabuena fired a bogey-free six-under 66 to go within striking distance of the clubhouse leaders in the opening round of the International Series Vietnam at the KN Golf Links in Cam Ranh yesterday.

Mr. Tabuena gunned down consecutive birdies from Nos. 14 to 18 then added two more on the fourth and eighth to complete a fiery start that put him a stroke off

Korean Taehee Lee, Indian Honey Baisoya and Taiwanese Lee Chieh-po.

Mr. Lee shot two eagles in the last five holes for a 65 and a share of the early pace with Mr. Baisoya and Lee after the morning sessions of the $2-million Asian Tour event.

Mr. Tabuena, who came off a stirring victory in The DGC Open in India last month and joint fourth in the World City Championship in Hong Kong, shared No. 4 with South African Jaco Ahlers.

One shot adrift Mr. Tabuena was Justin Quiban, who mixed eight birdies against a bogey and a double bogey for 67 while two back was Lloyd Jefferson Go, who also had a fine start at 68.

Meanwhile, Pinay ace Bianca Pagdanganan opened her bid in the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship with a two-over 74 Wednesday at the Hoakalei Country Club in Honolulu.

Ms. Pagdanganan had three late bogeys to find herself in a tie for 76th place, eight off Thai rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap and Swedish Frida Kinhult’s leading 66.

Dottie Ardina struggled with a 79 in a birdie-less round marred by five bogeys and a double bogey. — Olmin Leyba

Eala exits early in W60 Chiasso singles

ALEX Eala absorbed a similar fate in the W60 Chiasso singles tournament after a first-round exit at the hands of Romania’s Alexandra Ignatik, 6-0, 6-2, late Wednesday night in Switzerland.

Just hours after her elimination in the opening round of the doubles tourney, Ms. Eala played flat and off target in a lackluster straight-sets defeat against the 32-year-old Romanian, who’s No. 217 in the WTA rankings.

The 17-year-old Filipina prodigy is slightly ranked ahead at No. 215 but it hardly mattered against Ms. Ignatik as the seasoned Romanian only needed one hour and 12 minutes to score the victory behind her crisp service game.

Ms. Ignatik, winner of 11 pro titles compared to Ms. Eala’s two in her budding career, will face Ukraine’s Elina Svtolina in the Round of 16.

Ms. Eala and Czech partner Barbora Palicova the other day also bowed out early in the Swiss doubles tourney against the pair of Indonesian Beatrice Gumulya and another Czech bet Anna Siskova, 3-6, 6-4, 11-13.

The W60 Chiasso is part of Ms. Eala’s preparations in a bid to qualify for the prestigious French Open next month.

Ms. Eala is fresh from a brief stint in the Miami Open last month after winning the US Open junior championships to become the first Filipina junior singles Grand Slam champion. — John Bryan Ulanday

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