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Best performance ever

AS the Tokyo Olympics drew to a close on Sunday, the Philippines was still inside the top 50 in total medals hauled, thanks to (clockwise from top left) the gold of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, silver of boxer Carlo Paalam, silver from female boxer Nesthy Petecio, and bronze of middleweight fighter Eumir Felix Marcial. — TOKYO 2020 AND REUTERS

PHL wins one gold, two silvers, a bronze at Tokyo Olympics

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Tokyo Olympic Games came to an end on Sunday with the Philippines ending up with its best performance ever in nearly a century of participation.

After the competition smoke cleared, the country stood at 50th place in the medal tally on the strength of winning one gold, two silvers and a bronze during the 16-day competition.

It was the first multi-medal showing for the Philippines since 1932 when the country bagged three bronze medals in the Games held in Los Angeles.

But Tokyo 2020 was made all the more significant with the elusive first-ever gold medal finally won.

Hidilyn F. Diaz, 30, bannered what sports officials dubbed as the “Golden Olympics,” when on July 26 she won the top prize in the 55-kg division of women’s weightlifting and ended the long wait of the Philippines for an Olympic gold.

She did it in record-setting fashion, establishing an Olympic-best 127kgs in the clean and jerk for a total lift of 224 kgs, also a Games record. She lifted 97 kgs in the snatch.

Her victory served as inspiration for the rest of Team Philippines as it went on to continue the country’s campaign.

Together with the silver she won in the 2016 Rio Games, Ms. Diaz is now widely recognized as the best Olympian the Philippines has produced.

The boxing team also stood out in the just-concluded edition of the Summer Games, with three boxers out of four landing podium finishes.

Women’s featherweight Nesthy A. Petecio was the first to win a silver on Aug. 3 followed by flyweight Carlo Paalam four days later.

Interestingly, Ms. Petecio, 29, and Mr. Paalam, 23, almost did not make it to the Tokyo Games, having qualified because of their standings in their respective weight categories after the boxing task force of the International Olympic Committee decided to use the standings to fill up the remaining slots for the Tokyo Games because of the pandemic.

Their teammate, 25-year-old Eumir Felix D. Marcial (middleweight), settled for the bronze medal but not after making noise with dominant victories in his early fights and narrowly losing in a close fight in the semifinals.

Women’s flyweight Irish Magno, 30, was the other Filipino boxer who competed and made it to the Round of 16.

Rower Cris Nievarez, 21, was the first athlete from the Philippines to see action and advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s single sculls event. He eventually finished 23rd overall out of 32 competitors.

Taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, 22, and shooter Jayson Valdez, 25, competed in the opening weekend of the Tokyo Games and put up a gallant showing.

And so did Filipino-foreign athletes Kristina Marie C. Knott (athletics), Luke Gebbie and Remedy Rule (swimming).

While he did not advance to the semifinals of the 100m men’s freestyle, Mr. Gebbie, 24, set a new national record with a swim of 49.64 seconds.

Gymnast Carlos H. Yulo, 21, had it rough in artistic gymnastics, failing to qualify in six out of seven events. But he came back stronger and managed to finish fourth in the vault final.

Weightlifter Elreen Ann Ando, 22, finished seventh in the women’s 64kg division but turned a lot of heads with her strength, further solidifying her standing as the heir apparent to Ms. Diaz.

Ernest John Obiena, 25, and Margielyn A. Didal, 22, both competed in the finals of the men’s vault and women’s street skateboarding, respectively, and were praised for the way they showed top-class talent and sportsmanship amid the competition.

Judoka Kiyomi Watanabe, 24, struggled in her debut Olympics but vowed to continue working on her game.

In golf, Filipino bets made an impression at various stages of the four-round tournament.

US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso, 20, did not have a good start to her campaign, finishing at 47th place after the first round, but made a spirited charge back as the competition progressed, eventually landing tied for ninth overall.

Juvic Pagunsan, 43, and Bianca Pagdanganan, 23, for their part, were inside the top 10 early in the competition in their respective divisions.

“This is the best Olympics for the Philippines. We exceeded our expectations and we’re just proud of the athletes and what they have done,” said Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham N. Tolentino.

“And it’s not only those who won medals. Everybody showed up and gave their all.”

The POC official went on to say that hopefully, the gains in the Tokyo Games will be sustained moving forward just as he underscored the Filipino athletes are capable of competing with the best in the world.

“Tokyo showed that the Filipinos can compete on the big stage and provided they get the support they need for training, anything is possible,” Mr. Tolentino said.

Philippines’ Olympic medal haul through the years

Philippine boxing team in Tokyo providing a blueprint

THE four-man Philippine boxing team for the Tokyo Olympics. (From left) Carlo Paalam, Irish Magno, Eumir Felix Marcial and Nesthy Petecio. — NESTHY PETECIO TWITTER PAGE

HANDING two silver medals and a bronze to the Philippines in the just-concluded Tokyo Olympic Games, the national boxing team did well and provided a glimpse of how bright the future of the sport in the country can be.

“Though we fell short in our bid to win the gold, our boxers achieved something that had never been done before. Like I mentioned before, this group is special and what they did in Tokyo will stand the test of time, a testament that nothing is impossible,” said boxing analyst Nissi Icasiano in an online interview with BusinessWorld.

Filipino boxers landed on the podium three times out of a possible four, led by the silver-medal finishes of women’s featherweight Nesthy A. Petecio and men’s flyweight Carlo Paalam.

Ms. Petecio, 29, settled for a silver medal at the Olympics after bowing to Japanese Sena Irie by unanimous decision in the finals of the women’s featherweight boxing tournament at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo on Aug. 3.

Many pundits and observers felt Davao native Ms. Petecio did enough to win the gold over Ms. Irie, who employed much holding and clinching throughout the contest, but in the end just could not get the nod of the judges, losing, 5-0.

Four days later, Mr. Paalam, 23, duplicated the feat of Ms. Petecio, bagging the silver in a gallant stand against Olympic veteran Galal Yafai of Great Britain.

Mr. Paalam lost to Mr. Yafai by split decision, 4-1,

Despite suffering a knockdown in the first round, the Filipino fighter ended the fight strong, landing solid shots to narrow the gap.

Mr. Yafai moved to win the contest, with four judges scoring the fight, 29-28, for him while one went with Mr. Paalam, 29-28.

The silver medals from Tokyo were the fourth for Philippine boxing in the Olympics, in addition to those won by Anthony Villanueva (1964) and Mansueto Velasco (1996).

Eumir Felix D. Marcial took home bronze in the middleweight division but not after making noise with dominant victories in his early fights and narrowly losing in a close and action-filled fight in the semifinals against Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine.

Women’s flyweight Irish Magno, 30, was the other Filipino boxer who competed and made it to the Round of 16.

“It’s the first time since 2004 that we had four boxers representing our country. To make it more special, two of them are women. This feat alone just assures us that the future is bright. These men and women just provided the future generation a blueprint to success,” said Mr. Icasiano.

The analyst went on to say that following the national boxing team’s campaign at the Tokyo Games, any notion that Filipino boxers cannot win a gold should be cast aside.

“We shouldn’t think of the notion that the gold medal is elusive. It’s actually doable. It took us 89 years to get to this moment. It just makes me excited for things to come,” Mr. Icasiano said.

Next for the Philippine boxers are the Southeast Games and Asian Games next year while Mr. Marcial looks to grow his career as a professional fighter as well. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Brazil back-to-back Olympic champions

GOLD medalists Brazil celebrate during the medal ceremony. — REUTERS

YOKOHAMA — Brazil retained their Olympic football title with substitute Malcom scoring an extra-time winner in a 2-1 victory over Spain in the men’s gold medal match on Saturday.

After the game ended 1-1 in normal time, Malcom raced onto a diagonal ball from Antony and got the better of Jesus Vallejo before driving the winner into the far corner in the 108th minute to ensure Brazil repeated their Rio 2016 triumph.

“This was the most important goal of my life,” a beaming Malcom told reporters, “It is such a unique moment”.

Dani Alves, Brazil’s 38-year-old captain, who had led the team as an overage player in a bid to win a major global tournament with his country, collapsed to his knees at the final whistle and buried his face in his hands.

“My captain Dani, he’s unbelievable, he helps everyone. He lifts us up, He’s unbelievable, I don’t have words for him,” Brazil’s other goalscorer Matheus Cunha said.

The Brazilian players made up for the absence of fans in the 65,000 Yokohama stadium by going through the full repertoire of celebratory songs after the final whistle.

An Olympic gold in football will never match a World Cup title, but for 120 minutes, there was no doubt that this match meant plenty to both sides.

Brazil were awarded a penalty in the 39th minute when Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon came out to punch clear a cross but crashed into Cunha, only for Richarlison to blast the spot-kick high over the bar.

The South Americans grabbed the lead on the stroke of half time, however, when a deep Claudinho cross was hooked back across the area by Dani Alves and Cunha brought the ball down to slot home.

Spain threatened little but got on level terms in the 61st minute when substitute Carlos Soler broke down the right and whipped a cross to the back post where Mikel Oyarzabal connected with a sweet left-foot volley that whistled past Santos.

With Brazil looking to break on the counter and Spain moving the ball well, the game was tightly balanced in the latter stages, but the Spaniards came closest to grabbing a win in normal time.

Oscar Gil’s cross shot from the right caught out Santos and struck the top of the bar in the 86th minute and two minutes later Bryan Gil’s thundering shot from outside the box blasted against the bar.

That meant extra time and the introduction of Malcom by Brazil coach Andre Jardine, which proved to be crucial as the Zenit St. Petersburg winger wrote his name into Brazilian football folklore. — Reuters

Japan to douse Olympic flame of Games transformed by pandemic and drama

TOKYO — Japan will douse its more than year-old Olympic flame on Sunday, closing out a Tokyo Games that were upended by the pandemic and transformed by the drama of politics, dazzling sport and deeply personal turmoil.

For the host nation, the Olympics fell short of the global triumph and financial blockbuster it once sought. Still, organizers appear to have prevented the Games from spiraling into a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) superspreader event, a remarkable achievement given that some 50,000 people came together amid the pandemic.

While the bubble — the set of venues and hotels to which Olympic visitors were largely confined — appeared to hold, elsewhere some things fell apart. Fueled by the Delta variant of the virus, daily infections spiked to more than 5,000 for the first time in Tokyo, threatening to overwhelm its hospitals.

Normally one of the world’s most electric cities, Tokyo is under a state of emergency, depriving it of the manic buzz of an Olympic host or the fervent crowds of its last Olympics in 1964.

While opinion polls showed most Japanese opposed the Games, would-be spectators still came out in force, defying authorities to peek in from overpasses as they tried to catch a glimpse of outdoor events such as the triathlon or new sports such as skateboarding.

Their numbers appeared to be bolstered by enthusiasm over Japan’s medal haul — 20.

China were on top of the tally with 38 golds as of late on Saturday, with the United States at 36 and Japan at 27. There are 13 golds up for grabs on Sunday before the closing ceremony, including in the men’s marathon.

Japan is due to hand over the Olympic baton to the next host city, Paris, at a ceremony that starts at 8:00 p.m. JST (1100 GMT).

After a year’s delay and often against the backdrop of cavernous, nearly empty venues, the Games themselves provided plenty of high drama.

COLD WAR AND ‘TWISTIES’
The drama culminated with the defection of Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya who, in a moment more reminiscent of the Cold War, refused to board a flight home after she was taken to the airport against her wishes.

She has since sought refugee status in Poland.

US superstar gymnast Simone Biles shocked the world when she pulled out of five of her six events, including abruptly abandoning the women’s team final after attempting just one vault, citing concerns for her mental and physical health.

The 24-year-old spoke with candor about struggling to deal with the weight of expectation placed on her and made the world aware of the “twisties,” a type of mental block that prevents gymnasts from performing their gravity-defying skills.

Biles ultimately came back to win the bronze on the balance beam in the final event of the women’s gymnastics program, a moment of triumph that crystallized her transformation from Olympic champion to advocate for mental health.

In athletics, Italy provided a different kind of shock with their amazing run. Their victories included a stunning gold in the men’s sprint relay, taking their athletics gold tally to five.

In swimming, the United States were without 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps for the first time since the Atlanta Games in 1996, and while their gold count slipped, they still ended the meet on top of the medal table with 30 in total.

But they were pushed close by the Australian team who achieved their best ever haul of nine golds and 21 medals overall, eight of their titles won by their astonishing women’s team.

As the Games wind up, Japan will now be left to count the cost. The bill for the Olympics and Paralympics is expected to be ¥1.64 trillion, 22% higher than it was before the Games were delayed in 2020, and twice as much as the ¥800-billion estimate Tokyo submitted in its host bid. — Reuters

Houses and lots, added cash incentives for silver medal winner Paalam

CARLO PAALAM — REUTERS

Tokyo Olympic Games silver medallist Carlo Paalam stands to get added incentives for his efforts.

In separate announcements at the weekend, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), Phoenix Petroleum and VisMin Cebu Landmasters, Inc (CLI) said they will reward 23-year-old Paalam for his impressive run in the just-concluded Summer Games and for bringing pride and honor to the country.

POC President Abraham N. Tolentino in a virtual press conference from Japan on Sunday said that just like gold medallist Hidilyn F. Diaz, Mr. Paalam and the two other Olympic medal winners – boxers Nesthy A. Petecio (silver) and Eumir Felix D. Marcial (bronze) – will also get a house and lot in Tagaytay City in Cavite.

The properties, courtesy of Mr. Tolentino, will go alongside the additional cash incentives to be given by the POC, amounting to P3 million for gold, P2 million for silver and P1 million for bronze.

Phoenix, through the Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Foundation, will also give a P3-million financial incentive to Mr. Paalam.

“Carlo put up a magnificent fight, and we are proud of his overall performance as a Filipino Olympic boxer. His win inspires us to continue supporting Filipino athletes because they give honor to our country, and prove that we are truly world-class. This year’s Olympics has been a great opportunity to display Filipino supremacy in sports,” said Phoenix Petroleum Senior Vice President Raymond Zorrilla in a statement.

Phoenix’s reward takes Mr. Paalam’s total cash incentives to date from both the government and private sector to at least P22 million.

CLI, meanwhile, announced it is giving Mr. Paalam a P3.6-million house and lot (townhouse) in its subdivision project Velmiro Uptown CDO, located in the Upper Canitoan Cagayan de Oro area.

“We are very proud of Carlo’s achievement, and want to take part in uplifting his quality of life especially when it comes to housing. He deserves to live well, and we hope his family will enjoy their new home in our Velmiro Heights community in CDO. We look forward to welcoming him home,” said Jose Soberano III, CLI chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Mr. Paalam was born in Bukidnon but is currently based in Cagayan de Oro. – Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Creamline one win away from Open Conference finals

Alyssa Valdez and the Creamline Cool Smashers took Game One of their PVL Open Conference best-of-three semifinal series over the Petro Gazz Angels in five sets on Sunday. (PVL Media Bureau)

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

The Creamline Cool Smashers moved a win away from booking a spot in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference finals after taking Game One of their best-of-three semifinals series with the Petro Gazz Angels in five hard-fought sets at the Bacarra Socio-Civic & Cultural Center on Sunday.

Towed by the game-long brilliance of Alyssa Valdez and stepped-up play of Tots Carlos, the Cool Smashers bucked being a set down, 1-2, to charge back and complete their comeback for the win, 27-29, 25-23, 16-25, 25-17, 16-14.

Both teams competed hard, looking to claim the early advantage in the series and move a step closer to the best-of-three finals.

The count stood at 10-all late in the fifth set when Jeanette Panaga and Ms. Carlos scored back-to-back to give Creamline a two-point cushion, 12-10.

Petro Gazz got to pull even at 12-all after a service error by Cool Smashers setter Jia Morado and a defensive stop on Ms. Valdez in the ensuing play.

But Ms. Carlos was not to let her team lose, scoring three of the next four points of Creamline as they went on to outlast Petro Gazz.

Ms. Valdez top-scored for the Cool Smashers with 25 points, with Ms. Carlos adding 23.

Jema Galanza and Michelle Gumabao also scored in double digits for Creamline with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

“It’s really a game of adjustments,” said Ms. Valdez after their win. “There were some adjustments in the middle of the game towards the latter part of the third set and fourth set and we’re happy that we were able to apply them.”

“Thanks to Tots as well for stepping up the way she did,” the Creamline star added.

For Petro Gazz it was Myla Pablo who led with a game-high 26 points, 25 coming off attacks. Ces Molina added 17 points.

Creamline tries to close the series out in Game Two on Monday at 5 p.m.

Messi on verge of joining PSG, reports L’Equipe

LIONEL Messi is set to join Paris St.- Germain (PSG) after Barcelona were forced to let their Argentine talisman go as they could not afford to give him a new contract under La Liga’s salary limit rules, L’Equipe reported on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino said Messi was an “option” that was being evaluated by the Ligue 1 club.

A move to PSG would reunite Messi, who has officially been a free agent since July 1, with his former Barcelona teammate Neymar.

On Thursday, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner left Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of the deal.

The 34-year-old was expected to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, which would have included a salary reduction of 50%.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday that the club was forced to let Messi leave because his high wages coupled with strict La Liga financial rules could have jeopardized its future.

Messi had tried to leave Barcelona in August 2020, making a formal request for an exit after a breakdown in his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu but successor Laporta, who presided over the Argentine’s rise to greatness, convinced him to stay.

Messi has spent his entire professional career at Barcelona, having joined the club’s youth setup aged 13, and went on to score 672 goals in 778 games across all competitions since making his debut in 2003.

PSG have been busy in the off-season, having already brought in Gianluigi Donnarumma from AC Milan, Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid and Georginio Wijnaldum from Liverpool, all on free transfers. Full back Achraf Hakimi was signed from Inter Milan.

They will begin their new Ligue 1 campaign at newly promoted Troyes on Saturday. — Reuters

NBA anti-tampering rules

In late September 2019, about a month before the new season of the National Basketball Association began, the Board of Governors approved a set of measures giving the league more teeth to enforce anti-tampering rules that had long been in place. Considering the increased player mobility in recent memory, honchos were concerned with developments that indicated provisions in the constitution designed to prevent personalities from influencing players still under contract were being followed in the breach. Among the weapons at the regulators’ disposal was the capacity to audit communications between front offices and player agents.

The decision of the Board of Governors was not made lightly. Principals became alarmed not just with the movements the summer just past had engendered, but with how they came to pass. The seeming speed in which they were executed lifted the curtains on de facto dealings well before the start of free agency. And, to signal that it meant business, the front office took the Bucks to task a mere week after, fining them $50,000 in violation of rules “governing the timing of discussions regarding future player contracts and permissible commitments to players.” The subject of the penalty was a public pronouncement from general manager Jon Horst that underscored the obvious: They would be offering two-time Most Valuable Player awardee Giannis Antetokounmpo a supermax extension.

Significantly, the Bucks again found themselves in hot water the next offseason for trying to put together a sign-and-trade deal (with the Kings that would net them Bogdan Bogdanović) even before free agency began. For the transgression, they were docked their 2022 second-round pick. It was a stiff penalty, but still a lighter one had the league not taken into consideration their “cooperation with the investigation, the absence of evidence of any impermissible early agreement on the terms of a contract between the Bucks and Bogdanović, and the fact that the team ultimately did not sign Bogdanović.”

Fast forward another year, and, this time, the NBA is setting its sights on the Bulls and Heat for their supposed machinations in claiming Alonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry, respectively, through sign-and-trade accords. It will be looking for traces of unsanctioned discussions among teams and players prior to the start of free agency. Needless to say, the league’s intent is to send a clear message that it will brook no transgressions, targeting arrangements that are easier to probe. Unlike free-agency acquisitions, trades are more complex, involving more quarters and needing a longer time to consummate — and, therefore, theoretically impossible to complete when they became public knowledge.

In truth, the league is scratching the surface. Talks of transfers happen all the time, and especially among players. A full two weeks before the Lakers acquired nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook, for instance, he discussed the opportunity to don the purple and gold with resident top dogs Anthony Davis and LeBron James, and in the latter’s home to boot. Even as existing rules also cover players, however, the NBA has understandably been loath to target them. After all, they drive the product, and hitting them hits the product. Moreover, the news they create and amplify serve to keep the spotlight on the pro scene.

It must be noted that the NBA is swimming against the tide. That said, it cannot but follow through on the September 2019 action of the Board of Governors. Never mind that there is little to no chance of it invalidating the Ball and Lowry accords given the even more damaging effects of such a decision. No matter what happens, though, this much is clear: even those who want to stick to the rules will be compelled to walk the fine line considering that the benefits far outweigh the costs.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Rocked by sexual assault allegation, Alibaba launches investigation, suspends several staff

SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Sunday it has suspended several staff following an employee’s allegations on the company’s intranet that she was sexually assaulted by her boss and a client.

The woman’s account, published via an eleven-page PDF that went on to circulate widely online, prompted a social media storm on China’s Twitter-like microblogging website Weibo. Police in the city of Jinan said on Sunday morning that they were investigating the incident.

“Alibaba Group has a zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct, and ensuring a safe workplace for all our employees is Alibaba’s top priority,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“We have suspended relevant parties suspected of violating our policies and values, and have established a special internal task force to investigate the issue and support the ongoing police investigation.”

Late on Saturday, a female Alibaba staffer’s account of an incident she said took place while on a business trip went viral on Chinese social media, with responses to her account figuring among the top-trending items on Weibo as of Sunday morning.

The woman, who did not reveal her identity, alleged that her boss coerced her into going on a business trip with him to meet one of her team’s clients in the city of Jinan, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) from Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou.

According to the woman, on the evening of July 27, the client kissed her. After consuming alcohol, she woke up in a hotel room the following day with her clothes removed and no memory of what happened the evening before.

CCTV footage she obtained from the hotel showed that her boss entered the room four times over the course of the evening, she added.

Upon returning to Hangzhou, she said she reported the incident to human resources and upper management on Aug. 2, asking her boss be fired and for time off. While human resources initially agreed, ultimately they did not follow through, she said.

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang responded to the uproar late on Saturday on the company’s internal message board, according to a person who saw the post, though the company did not officially disclose the material posted on its intranet .

“It is not just Human Resources who should apologize. The related business department managers also hold responsibility and should apologize for their silence and failure to respond in a timely manner,” Zhang wrote.

“Starting from me, starting from management, starting from human resources, everyone at Alibaba must empathize, reflect, and take action.”

Alibaba announced on its intranet that the woman’s supervisor, her contact at human resources, and direct management of those individuals had been placed on suspension, according to the person who saw the posts.

Last month another sex scandal rocked China when Chinese-Canadian pop singer Kris Wu was publicly accused by an 18-year-old Chinese student of inducing her and other girls, some of them under the age of 18, to have intercourse with him.

The incident revived discussions of the #MeToo movement in China, and police in Beijing subsequently arrested Wu, who has denied the allegations. – Reuters

Australia’s east coast continues to struggle with Delta outbreaks

MELBOURNE – Australia’s three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland reported a total of 282 COVID-19 new locally acquired infections on Sunday, with authorities struggling to quell outbreaks of the Delta variant.

NSW reported 262 fresh cases, down from the pandemic high of 319 seen on Saturday, with more than five million people in Sydney regions along the coastline under a lockdown for six weeks already.

“I urge everybody to please stick to the rules, the health advice, and only leave home if you absolutely have to,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

One woman in her 80s has died overnight bringing the total number of deaths in the current outbreak to 28.

There are 362 people in hospital in NSW, with 58 in intensive care. Of the people in intensive care, 54 were unvaccinated.

Neighbouring Victoria reported 11 new locally acquired coronavirus cases, as the state remains under a seven-day strict lockdown imposed earlier this week.

Queensland recorded nine new local cases, with parts of the state to come out of a lockdown on Sunday, but a fresh three-day lcodown was imposed on the city of Cairns after a report of a case with unknown origin.

With the highly transmissible Delta variant plaguing Australia’s east coast, states have applied the “go hard, go early” snap lockdown approach, suggested by the federal government last week until at least 70% of the population gets vaccinated.

Only about a fifth of people aged over 16 have been fully vaccinated so far, mainly due to scarce supply of Pfizer shots and public unease about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday the first million doses of the Moderna vaccine is expected in September. – Reuters

Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam to receive a House and Lot from Cebu Landmasters

Leading developer in VisMin Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) announced it is gifting Olympic Silver Medalist boxer Carlo Paalam a Php 3.6M house and lot (townhouse) in its subdivision project Velmiro Uptown CDO, located in the prime Upper Canitoan Cagayan de Oro area.

The listed company joins the rest of the country in the celebration of Paalam’s extraordinary achievement at the Tokyo Olympics bringing honor to every Filipino especially Mindanaoans. Cagayan de Oro’s adopted son from Talakag, Bukidnon was a scavenger turned olympic silver medalist boxer and is an inspiration to millions of Filipinos all over the world. Since the age of 12, Carlo has been part of CDO’s grassroots boxing program under the leadership of Mayor Oca Moreno.

“We are very proud of Carlo’s achievement, and want to take part in uplifting his quality of life especially when it comes to housing. He deserves to live well, and we hope his family will enjoy their new home in our Velmiro Heights community in CDO. We look forward to welcoming him home.” says Jose Soberano III, chairman and CEO of Cebu Landmasters Inc.

Velmiro Uptown CDO is a beautiful community located at a prime spot in Upper Canitoan in Cagayan de Oro City, and CLI’s third residential project in CDO . The community offers impressive views, efficiently designed homes with generous space and premier amenities for a serene family life.

U.S. Senate advances infrastructure bill, inches slowly toward passage

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate voted to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure package on Saturday but remained on a slow path toward passage with two Republicans openly opposing behind-the-scenes efforts to wrap up work on one of President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

In a 67-27 vote demonstrating broad support, senators agreed to limit debate on the legislation, the biggest investment in decades in America’s roads, bridges, airports and waterways.

Eighteen of 50 Senate Republicans voted to move the legislation forward, with Senators John Cornyn and Deb Fischer backing the package for the first time.

But on Saturday evening, progress stalled on an agreement on amendments that could have allowed the Senate to speed up consideration of the legislation.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would convene at noon ET (1600 GMT) on Sunday to resume consideration of the infrastructure bill. “Hopefully we can come to some agreement tomorrow,” he said on the Senate floor.

Without that agreement, the Senate will hold a next procedural vote on Sunday evening, a Senate Democratic aide said.

Republican Senator Bill Hagerty took to the Senate floor to underscore his opposition to expediting the process, saying the legislation would add to the national debt and set the stage for Democrats to move forward with a separate $3.5 trillion spending package which Republicans vehemently oppose.

“There’s absolutely no reason for rushing this,” Mr. Hagerty, a freshman senator who was former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Japan, said in a floor speech. “While I believe in hard infrastructure, I cannot participate in doing it this way.”

With the consent of all 100 senators, the chamber could have moved through amendments to passage later on Saturday. Otherwise, passage could take until Monday or Tuesday.

Mr. Hagerty, who voted against Saturday’s measure, first registered opposition to an expedited path after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday the legislation would increase federal budget deficits by $256 billion over 10 years.

The CBO analysis https://www.reuters.com/article/biden-infrastructure-costs/factbox-cbo-estimate-leaves-u-s-budget-shortfall-for-infrastructure-bill-backers-idUSL1N2PC30J did not include $57 billion in added revenue that senators estimate Washington would collect over the long term from the economic growth benefits of infrastructure projects. It also did not count $53 billion in unused federal supplemental unemployment funds to be returned from states.

Multiple bipartisan groups of senators on Saturday could be seen clustered around Hagerty, at times gesticulating. They included Republicans Rob Portman and Lisa Murkowski, Democrats Joe Manchin and Chris Murphy and staffers for top Republican Mitch McConnell.

“Part of the conversation is senators saying to Hagerty, you realize that what you’re doing is making it impossible for me to get my amendment, because if you insist on the whole thing and you don’t compromise on timing, then nobody gets an amendment. And we pass the bill,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a Biden ally, told reporters.

 

OVERDUE INVESTMENTS

Passage would be a major victory for Mr. Schumer, Mr. Biden and a bipartisan group of senators who spent months crafting the package, and would send the bill on to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mr. Biden tweeted his support ahead of the vote, saying the “once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure” would create good-paying jobs refurbishing America’s roads, bridges, water systems and electrical grid.

“We can’t afford not to do it,” the president said. “We can’t just build back to the way things were before COVID-19, we have to build back better.”

Mr. McConnell also signaled his support before voting for the bill.

“Republicans and Democrats have radically different visions these days, but both those visions include physical infrastructure that works for all of our citizens,” Mr. McConnell said in a speech. “The investments this bill will make are not just necessary, in many cases, they are overdue. Our country has real needs in this area.”

As he left the Capitol, Mr. McConnell told Reuters, “We’ll be back at it tomorrow.” – Reuters

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