Australia limits use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people over 60

June 17, 2021 | 6:24 pm

SYDNEY/CANBERRA — Australia will recommend only people over 60 receive AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, the country’s minister for Health Greg Hunt said on Thursday, following a spate of blood clots in those who have received the inoculation.

Australia has administered 3.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and it has been linked to 60 cases of blood clots, the government has said. So far, two people have died, which Mr. Hunt said has driven the policy shift.

“The government places safety above all else,” Mr. Hunt told reporters in Canberra.

“This updated advice received today is based on new evidence demonstrating a higher risk for the very rare (thrombocytopenia syndrome) condition in the 50-59 year-old age group.”

Australia in April moved to limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 50 years old.

Several European Union member states have stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people below a certain age, usually ranging from 50 to 65, restricting its use to older people, due to very rare cases of blood clotting, mainly among young people.

Mr. Hunt said the recommendation would not delay its inoculation timetable, which has a target of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose to every Australian before the end of 2021.

Australia in April expanded its order of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to 40 million doses, while it has also ordered 25 million shots from Moderna. Australia’s amended vaccine policy comes as the country’s most populous state battles to contain a cluster of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

New South Wales (NSW) said it now recorded four local cases of COVID-19, with the source of the outbreak still unclear.

“At this stage, we are all on high alert,” NSW state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

A man in his 60s, who works as a driver for international airline crews, was detected with the virus on Wednesday, the state’s first case in more than a month, and his wife has since tested positive. Genetic tests found the man has the Delta virus strain, officials said.

The Delta variant, which has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as among the four COVID-19 variants of concern due to evidence that they spread more easily, likely caused the latest devastating outbreak in India.

Nearly a dozen venues in Sydney including a cinema in a shopping center in the popular tourist spot of Bondi and a supermarket have been listed as virus hotspots.

Australia has successfully suppressed past outbreaks through snap lockdowns, swift contact tracing and tough social distancing rules. It has reported just under 30,300 cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began. — Reuters

Apple Daily newsroom raided by 500 HK police

June 17, 2021 | 6:23 pm

HONG KONG — Five hundred Hong Kong police officers sifted through reporters’ computers and notebooks at pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily on Thursday, the first case in which authorities have cited media articles as potentially violating the national security law.

Around dawn, police arrested five executives of the newspaper, and officers were later seen sitting at computers in the newsroom after entering with a warrant to seize journalistic materials.

The raid is the latest blow to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the tabloid’s owner and a staunch Beijing critic, whose assets have been seized under the security law and who is serving prison sentences for taking part in illegal assemblies.

Police said the warrant was aimed at gathering evidence, including from reporters’ phones and computers, raising alarm about media freedoms.

It said the tabloid published dozens of reports dating back to 2019 that may have breached the security law, without saying when the most recent articles in question were. The legislation is not retrospective but prosecutors can use actions from before its implementation as evidence.

“The nature of the articles is very simple: inciting, requesting foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China. Very straightforward,” senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah told reporters outside the paper’s headquarters.

Mr. Li said police have also frozen HK$18 million ($2.32 million) of assets owned by three companies linked to Apple Daily and that the raid was not targeted at the media industry as a whole.

“This is a blatant attack on the editorial side of Apple Daily,” Mark Simon, an adviser to Mr. Lai who is outside Hong Kong, told Reuters. “They’re arresting the top editorial folks.”

It was the second time police have raided the Apple Daily headquarters; 200 officers went in last year to arrest Mr. Lai on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces.

Mr. Lai has been in detention since December, denied bail under the security law and serving several sentences for taking part in some unauthorized rallies, including during the global financial hub’s mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The security law was Beijing’s first major move to set China’s most restive city on an authoritarian path. It punishes anything Beijing deems as subversion, secessionism, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

National security police said in a statement that five directors of a company had been arrested on suspicion of collusion with a foreign country or with external elements. Hong Kong police do not name arrestees.

Apple Daily said editor-in-chief Ryan Law, chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung, Chief Operating Officer Chow Tat-kuen, Deputy Chief Editor Chan Puiman and Chief Executive Editor Cheung Chi-wai had all been arrested in morning raids.

Pictures published by Apple Daily showed police sitting at reporters’ desks and using their computers. A person streaming a live feed for Apple Daily’s Facebook page said reporters were prevented from accessing certain floors or getting their equipment or notebooks.

Chief editor Mr. Law was seen walking in handcuffs, flanked by police officers. The Apple Daily paper’s general news desk told reporters in a text message seen by Reuters to carry on with their assignments outside the building for the time being.

The move is the latest blow to Apple Daily after authorities last month directed jailed tycoon Mr. Lai’s shares in Next Digital, publisher of the newspaper, to be frozen.

Asked how long he thinks the newspaper can survive, Simon said: “It’s not up to us. It’s up to them. There’s 100 police officers in our newsroom. They decide, not us.”

Apple Daily is an unapologetic tabloid that mixes pro-democracy discourse with celebrity gossip and investigations of those in power and is popular in Hong Kong.

In May, Reuters reported that Hong Kong’s security chief sent letters to Mr. Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening up to seven years in jail for any dealings with the billionaire’s accounts in the city.

Mr. Lai’s assets were also frozen under the same law. — Reuters

China disease expert says COVID-19 origins probe should shift to US

June 17, 2021 | 6:23 pm

SHANGHAI — A senior Chinese epidemiologist said the United States should be the priority in the next phase of investigations into the origin of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after a study showed the disease could have been circulating there as early as Dec. 2019, state media said on Thursday.

The study, published this week by the US National Institutes for Health (NIH), showed that at least seven people in five US states were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, weeks before the United States reported its first official cases.

A China-World Health Organization (WHO) joint study published in March said COVID-19 most likely originated in the country’s wildlife trade, with the virus passing into humans from bats via an intermediary species.

But Beijing has promoted the theory that COVID-19 entered China from overseas via contaminated frozen food, while a number of foreign politicians are also calling for more investigations into the possibility it leaked from a laboratory.

Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told state-owned tabloid the Global Times that attention should shift to the United States, which was slow to test people in the early stages of the outbreak, and is also the home of many biological laboratories.

“All bio-weapons related subjects that the country has should be subject to scrutiny,” he was quoted as saying.

Commenting on the US study on Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was now “obvious” the COVID-19 outbreak had “multiple origins” and that other countries should co-operate with the WHO.

The origin of the pandemic has become a source of political tension between China and the United States, with much of the recent focus on the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), located in Wuhan where the outbreak was first identified in late 2019.

China has been criticized for its lack of transparency when it comes to disclosing data about early cases as well as the viruses studied at WIV.

A report by a US government national laboratory concluded that it was plausible that the virus had leaked from the Wuhan lab, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

A previous study has raised the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could have been circulating in Europe as early as September, but experts said this didn’t necessarily mean it did not originate in China, where many SARS-like coronaviruses have been found in the wild. — Reuters

Heuristics and sober thought: What to expect in 2021

June 17, 2021 | 6:11 pm

economic-recovery — STUDIOGSTOCK-FREEPIK

There was little doubt that the reimposition of strict community quarantine in the transition from Q1 to Q2 2021 dashed our hope for a quicker economic recovery this year. This was confirmed by the 4.2% decline of the country’s real GDP in Q1. As we indicated in our previous columns, the headwinds are rather strong as we work hard to move closer even to the lower end of the downgraded National Government growth target of 6 to 7 percent.

But some hopes seemed to glimmer during the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines forum last Tuesday. That semblance of optimism laced the assessment of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as reported by one broadsheet: “The Philippine economy is expected to turn in a strong second quarter performance, but sustaining such growth hinges on the reopening of economic activities to bring back consumption and boost business confidence.”

NEDA Secretary Karl Chua anchored his optimistic take on the fact that the Philippines did not completely close down the economy. Most sectors were allowed to operate, public transport was resumed while curfew was lifted for workers. Combined fiscal, monetary, and financial support was also stepped up including the two Bayanihan packages, tax holidays, and targeted, performance-based incentives. Macropolicy-wise, we could not ask for more.

The Department of Finance stressed on Government efforts to meet the health emergency, recognizing that economic bounce back is a function of good pandemic mitigation. Finance claimed that millions of test kits were procured, and cash support was delivered to most vulnerable sectors of society to cushion the pandemic’s impact on their consumption and quality of life.

Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez maintained that despite the expansion of the fiscal deficit to 9.3% of GDP and the corresponding borrowing requirement equivalent to 58.7% of GDP in 2021, “our prudent debt management gave us the fiscal headroom to deal with the pandemic.” He clarified that despite the temporary rise in debt, we remain within the prescribed bounds of fiscal viability.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) focused on the divergent economic recoveries across countries and the risks to the Philippines’ economic revival including the surge of the pandemic, renewed lockdowns and the slow rollout of the vaccines.

BSP Governor Ben Diokno encouraged everyone to be ready, underlining the need for “robust institutions and sustained policy discipline to see us through COVID-19 fog.” He assured that the BSP would remain attentive to inflationary pressures and support economic growth.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM), for its part, announced the release of government funds to various agencies in the fight against the pandemic. Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado declared that some P661 billion has been released, of which nearly 90% or P487 billion has been spent on public projects. He also cited a trillion pesos as having been earmarked for pandemic management including medical assistance to poor patients.

Next year’s budget, for obvious reason, would prioritize funding for coronavirus booster shots, support to poor local government units, National ID integration, and a proposed Virology Institute, among others.

How then do we assess our economic outlook?

First, it was correct for the economic managers to hedge their forecast of economic recovery this year on the massive rollout of vaccines. Failure to quickly arrest the further spread of the virus and its variants will make strict lockdowns unavoidable again. If business activities are suppressed and people are literally locked at home, economic recession will be protracted. Our concern about possible divergent growth paths, in the words of IMF economist Ruchir Agarwal, could indeed be a likely, but exacerbated, scenario.

It’s important for the health authorities never to drop the ball again. A good mantra in this fight against the unseen enemy is Buy, Buy, Buy. It is better to invest in more vaccines than in less vaccines. A more systematic coordination with LGUs, public and private hospitals, clinics, and even drug stores for devolving the administration of the vaccines will accelerate massive protection against any further outbreak. This was done elsewhere, perhaps we can also do it here.

At the very least, this should be our contribution to the global efforts now championed by some quarters at the IMF to vaccinate at least 40% by end-2021 and 60% by end-2022. Insurance schemes can be made available to cover downside risks including more deadly mutations and the need for booster shots. In the transition, we need to sustain scaling up testing, and tracing; rolling out more therapeutics; and accelerating internal distribution of vaccines.

Second, it is by all means relevant to talk about the pandemic’s long-lasting economic scars. Economic scars are long-lasting because they heal just too slowly. Unlike in previous crises in Asia and the globe, output contraction was rather rapid and deep in this pandemic era. Some IMF staff in a March blog estimated that, using quarterly data, global output shrank about three times as much as in the Global Financial Crisis in half the time.

Business closed down and investment spending was also cut back because of uncertainty due to the health issues. Disruptions to schooling have weakened labor growth. Workers who were displaced by the virus could be rendered irrelevant because their skills might be dulled by inactivity. High-contact sector workers could also be giving way to more innovative digitalization in production, service delivery, and distribution.

Our economic managers may need to outline for the Filipino public how to deal with the dynamics of economic scarring. Output losses are a direct effect of the pandemic. But reduced productivity would require official support and resource reallocation for the workforce and firms to work out better modalities to adapt to a new normal. Retooling and promoting job mobility is one possible route.

Economic scars are in many ways no different from the ravages of war; rehabilitation efforts could not decide where to begin. It’s like building all over again.

And, third, it is about time that we kept our eye on the ground so we also see the parts rather than just the whole. To avoid being blindsided is one big challenge. In one of our previous columns, we cited the BSP’s Financial Stability Report in 2020 that indicated the creeping corporate distress among those sampled in terms of their earnings before taxes and other expenses. Interest coverage ratios have also declined. These emergent risks are also reflected in the banks’ non-performing loan ratios which have been consistently going north. With pandemic-induced rise in corporate and public sector debt, coupled with the sea changes in demand patterns, it is good to be prepared for some bankruptcies.

Globally, markets and the major credit rating agencies have begun the inevitable marking down of major banks and conglomerates. Only herd resiliency can reverse the tide because the pandemic has actually lasted longer than initially expected. Without the massive rollout, as the Fund is afraid of, mutations could happen, another upsurge could be triggered, and a round of lockdown could very well seal our economy’s destiny.

More heavy lifting by the fiscal authorities is necessary. Monetary policy can remain accommodative, but not more because price pressures and financial stability risks have started to build up. Instead, the central bank may wish to initiate balance sheet repairs of banks through prompt recognition of losses. Restructuring is the next order of business.

It is good to have heuristics — mental shortcuts that may be convenient to use than rigorous rational thought. But our economic journey this pandemic era is more complex and therefore more sober reflection, greater circumspection would be necessary.

So, a good summing up of what to expect this year and the next comes from the IMF. Concluding its mission for the annual Article IV consultation, the IMF Mission Head Thomas Helbling, announced yesterday that “We reduced our growth forecasts for this year (to 5.4%). Some of the strong rebound that we expected to be earlier in our previous forecast has just been delayed so there will be still a relatively strong growth rebound. If the economy starts from a lower base, that then will lead to higher growth.”

Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former Deputy Governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.

A country to win

June 17, 2021 | 6:11 pm

The ongoing theatrics between President Rodrigo Duterte and his PDP-Laban underlings is most probably scripted and directed by the same public relations operators who advised Mr. Duterte from 2014 to 2016 to pretend to be uninterested in running for President and to announce his candidacy almost at the very last minute. It’s a replay of that tactic, but seems to have escaped the attention of much of the media and the population.

Mr. Duterte has been saying that he plans to retire when his term ends, and that he is discouraging his daughter from running for President next year. But his PDP-Laban underlings are nevertheless insisting that he should run for Vice-President in a Duterte-Duterte team-up. His spokesperson has also announced that he has yet to make up his mind about 2022. Mr. Duterte may yet run — or he may not. But maybe he will — or maybe he won’t.

It isn’t solely Mr. Duterte’s equivocation in 2014-2016 that should be reminding everyone to take what he’s saying today with more than a sackful of salt. Part of the context of this theater of the absurd is that no one, not even his spokesperson, can really tell when his statements, threats, and other issuances are seriously meant, when he’s just joking, or when he’s run out of profanities and is just filling dead air.

During the 2016 campaign, for example, he said he would jet ski to the Spratlys and plant the Philippine flag there. Some thought he was speaking literally, while others thought that statement was merely figurative and his way of saying that he would defend the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea. But five years later he labeled those who believed him then as “stupid,” and said he was just joking.

He has since made numerous statements that his spokesperson and other hirelings have either had to modify, explain, or even deny altogether. He has said one thing today only to contradict it tomorrow, such as when he denied ordering the police to kill suspected drug pushers and addicts despite his saying so innumerable times, and on many occasions.

However, his conflicting statements not only confuse the public and even his own officials. They also enable him to wash his hands of any responsibility for the sorry state of the country. He and his underlings have had to edit his policy declarations once they lead to such abuses as the police and military’s killing activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and other unarmed civilians, for example.

There is reason in this seeming madness. It is currently most evident in Mr. Duterte and company’s keeping everyone guessing as to his intentions in 2022. Without knowing whom they will face in next year’s elections, some would-be candidates are postponing their own decision on whether to run or not. Those already determined to contest the Presidency, on the other hand, will have to wait until later to craft their campaign strategies, much of which depends on who their opponents will be.

Mr. Duterte and company can thus bide their time until a few months before May 11, 2022, while their keyboard army of trolls and print and broadcast media hucksters keep their names in the public mind by orchestrating a supposed “clamor” for them to remain in power. Mr. Duterte only has to announce that in response to that “clamor” he has changed his mind about retiring and will run for Vice-President with his daughter.

In addition to the edge over their possible rivals a reprise of 2016 will give them — plus the usual incumbent perks of access to government funding, facilities, and organization — is one other advantage. There is also the way the media usually report electoral campaigns, with which public relations tricksters are only too familiar, and which they have been exploiting every election time.

Not only are there the usual media mercenaries who, even in-between elections, use print, broadcast, and online media to paint their patrons in the brightest colors and their rivals in the blackest. Every campaign is also an opportunity for their equally unethical cohorts to pad their bank accounts by serving as the temporary publicists of this or that politician while, despite an obvious conflict of interest, they continue to report or comment on the elections in the news and opinion sections of their media organizations. They and the pols’ full-time publicists also generate articles in favor of their bosses that some newspapers, broadcast networks, and online news sites are only too willing to publish, air, or upload.

Part of the reason for this is that because of their accustomed way of covering election campaigns, sooner or later most media groups’ reporting becomes repetitive, tedious, and boring. Spin doctors and their fellow mercenaries in the media generate articles that, while slanted for or against a candidate, are either more interesting or novel enough to overwhelm the usual coverage of campaign sorties that often consists of reporting over and over again what a candidate said in this or that town or city.

The practice puts the candidates with the biggest war chests at an obvious advantage. It adds to their unlimited capacity to take out political ads, pay for poll watchers and observers, hire the usual thugs to intimidate voters, dispense bribes, and recruit into their private armies’ police and military personnel.

Under these circumstances, and because of what is at stake, the media can help level the playing field by, to begin with, recalling to their audiences how the “I’m-not-running” playbook is again being used to replicate what happened in 2016.

Although the elections are 11 months away, the press also needs to report extensively on the platforms of the contending candidates once it becomes clear who will contest the Presidency and Vice-Presidency against the Duterte combine.

To offset the regime’s advantage in resources, the independent press and media must provide preferential time and space to the pro-democracy opposition forces given the edge in advertising and online reach of the Duterte camp.

Equally important, they must be critical and discerning enough to recognize and reject the deceitful handiwork of the public relations hustlers that, disguised as legitimate news and analyses, manipulate the public into believing even the most outrageous claims.

The bottom line is that under the rule of the current oligarchy, things have so deteriorated as to imperil not only the very lives of millions but also this country’s future. To be of any service to the Filipino people, the press and media must abandon their old ways of covering elections and provide their audiences the information and analysis they need to prevent 2022 from reprising the 2016 disaster.

The more cynical might well ask what the press and media stand to gain from it. The answer is: everything.

With regime change can come the restoration of the rule of law and the democratic space that have been eroded and restricted by the provincial despotism that has been despoiling this country and its people since 2016. The return of some measure of civility in politics and governance is another possibility. There are as well the increased chances of ending the pandemic and reviving the economy. And, most of all, is the likely recovery of the rights to free expression and press freedom on which true journalism thrives, and without which authentic change is next to impossible.

The independent press and media have a country to win and rescue — for their own sake, and for everyone else’s.

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

These Olympics will be about doctors, not athletes

June 17, 2021 | 6:11 pm

EACH ITERATION of the Olympic Games serves as a global spotlight for athletes who have spent their lives becoming the best in a chosen sport. In Tokyo next month, however, it will be doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and thousands of other medical personnel who will determine the success of this international display of health and vigor.

Despite increasing vaccinations against COVID-19, host nation Japan lags well behind many rich-world peers. If the Tokyo Olympics were to be canceled in the final weeks before the July 23 opening ceremony — an increasingly unlikely prospect — the decision would have to be taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), following a growing band of medical professionals warning of the dangers.

So far, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Last month, the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents over 6,000 doctors, asked that the IOC be convinced to cancel the games. Hospitals “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” it warned.

The IOC says that “no one can be in any doubt” that thorough COVID-19 countermeasures will be in place. Faced with little choice but to proceed, the government regularly repeats the mantra that it is “working to make sure the games will be safe and secure by taking all possible measures to prevent infections.”

This week, the respected British medical journal The Lancet weighed in with an editorial on the topic, saying, “There needs to be a global conversation about the Games, and it needs to happen now.” The editors stopped short of calling for the event to be canceled, but noted the lack of attention given to the issue by major public health bodies like the World Health Organization, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There is precedent for such organizations to speak up. The Lancet noted, for example, that in 2016 amid the Zika virus the CDC declared there was no public health reason to halt or delay the games in Rio de Janeiro. This time, “Global health organizations have been largely silent on whether the Games should proceed,” the Lancet said. “This silence is a deflection of responsibility.”

The Olympics are not a democracy. They’re run by a committee of more than 100 administrators and former athletes who represent the Olympic Movement rather than the nations that attend. The upside is supposed to be that political considerations take a back seat to sport. The pandemic makes this an extraordinary era, but even so, Japan has only limited power over a risky event on its own soil because Tokyo faces massive financial penalties from the IOC should it unilaterally call off the event. The widespread opposition of Japanese people to continuing with the games — already postponed since last year — has made plowing ahead with them feel out of touch.

If any more disconnect was needed, the Group of Seven nations took the extraordinary step last weekend of standing by Japan’s unpopular Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and adding to its communique that we “reiterate our support for the holding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.”

That the G-7 even had an opinion amplifies the fact that the most important bodies in international medicine have so far failed to step up. But even if they continue to avoid responsibility, as The Lancet asserts, the medical staff at the Olympics will have no such choice.

Less-than-universal vaccination coverage and the inherently intimate nature of physical competition makes the spread of COVID in the games village likely. Even with a strict rulebook on COVID protocols for athletes and officials to follow, backed by threats of severe penalties for any breach, local experts still see a chance of a virus emergency. That fear is understandable. Although foreign visitors are barred from traveling to Japan for the games — after almost 1 million tickets were sold to overseas spectators for the Olympic and Paralympic events — an estimated 80,000 athletes and officials are still expected to pour into Tokyo, down from an original 180,000.

That doesn’t mean the whole thing should be called off. If anything, the world could use a large-scale morale booster. Sport is often seen as a unifier, and the Olympic opening ceremony is a global roll-call of nations (with even some non-nation contingents). After all the disruptions of last year, sport may be one of the easier “returns to normalcy” to deliver this summer.

The 2020 European Football Championship, or the Euros, is now being played a year late among 24 teams in 11 cities, with crowds generally being capped between 20% and 50% of stadium capacity to minimize the COVID risk. The three-week Tour de France cycling race starts June 26, following a successful Giro d’Italia last month.

In Tokyo, spectator participation could be a major factor determining success, putting finances and public health at odds with each other. Officials, who had been leaning toward a no-crowd option as the safest, on Wednesday said that each event would likely be limited to no more than 10,000 spectators. Organizers are on the hook for 118.3 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for advance ticket payments, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing a balance sheet published last week.

Although US broadcaster NBC Universal predicts that this could be the most profitable Olympics ever for the entertainment division of Comcast Corp., that calculation is at risk if the lack of raucous crowds at the first week’s swimming events, or the blue-ribbon men’s 100-meters sprint in the second, result in TV audiences losing interest.

Yet for medical personnel, eliminating spectators could mean the difference between controlling the pandemic at the doorstep or being overrun by a fresh outbreak. The athletes will get to compete for their medals. But, especially given how little say they have in the running of this event, the healthcare staff should be crowned the heroes.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Gilas looks to stay unscathed in FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers

June 17, 2021 | 6:05 pm

Belangel — SJ BELANGEL and Gilas Pilipinas look to keep their unblemished record in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers intact when they collide with Indonesia on Friday. — FIBA

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

GROUP A-leading Gilas Pilipinas looks to keep its unblemished record in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ) intact when it takes on the Indonesian national team on Friday at the Angeles University Foundation gym in Pampanga.

Currently sporting a 4-0 record in the grouping, the nationals try to defend home turf anew in their scheduled 6 p.m. contest.

Gilas is coming off a huge and impressive 81-78 victory over rival South Korea on Wednesday that saw spunky guard SJ Belangel drain the game-winning triple as time expired.

The win put Philippines on solid ground to land direct qualification to the FIBA Asia Cup happening in Jakarta in August.

The young Gilas squad struggled early against the physical play of the Koreans, trailing for most of the first half (by 17 at one point) and staring at an eight-point deficit, 44-36, at the break.

It, however, would storm back in the third canto, led by Dwight Ramos and Kai Sotto, to narrow the gap, 57-56, heading into the final frame.

In the payoff quarter, Gilas sustained the momentum it got, building a 63-59 advantage with seven minutes to go in the contest.

The two teams went back and forth until the Koreans got some more breathing space, 75-70, following Seonghyen Jeon’s three-pointer with 2:27 to play.

But Gilas was not deterred and fashioned a chargeback, paced by Messrs. Ramos and Belangel, Carl Tamayo and naturalized player Angelo Kouame, taking a three-point lead, 78-75, with 10 seconds remaining.

Then Hyunjung Lee hit a triple to level the count at 78-all with two seconds left to play.

BELANGEL HEROICS
That set up Mr. Belangel’s heroics.

Off a broken play, Mr. Ramos inbounded the ball to Mr. Belangel who managed to find an opening away from his defender to hit a banked shot three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Philippines to the win. Hero Belangel finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists while Mr. Ramos top-scored for Gilas with 16 points.

Korea was led by former Philippine Basketball Association import Ra Guna (Ricardo Ratliffe) with 24 points and 15 rebounds.

“It’s a great moment for Filipino basketball,” said Gilas program director and head coach Tab Baldwin after the game.

“I think it’s just a reward for the work that these young fellas have put in. It was a great game of basketball.”

It is the same performance that Gilas wants to have against Indonesia, who will be bannered by naturalized player Lester Prosper, also a former PBA import, and coached by one-time Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

For Friday’s game, Gilas will insert Filipino-Australian Jordan Heading, Lebron Lopez and Geo Chiu in place of Javi Gomez De Liaño, Jaydee Tungcab and Mike Nieto.

Gilas defeated Indonesia, 100-70, in their first meeting in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in February last year.

Thirdy Ravena paced the Philippines in said game with 24 points while for Indonesia it was Andara Prastawa Dhyaksa who showed the way with 23.

The Gilas-Indonesia game can be seen over TV5, One Sports+, Cignal and Gigafest.Smart.

Huge career boost in store for Dasmariñas in Inoue fight

June 17, 2021 | 6:04 pm

FILIPINO bantamweight boxer Michael “Hot and Spicy” Dasmariñas returns to action this weekend in a fight that could provide a major boost to his career especially in the event of a victory.

The Camarines Sur native fighter will take on undefeated Japanese champion “Monster” Naoya Inoue on Sunday (Manila time) at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas for the latter’s World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight and International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight world titles.

It will be the biggest fight to date for Mr. Dasmariñas (30-2-1), who is the International Boxing Organization champion, in nearly a decade in the professional ranks.

For local fight analyst Nissi Icasiano, the Inoue fight presents a huge opportunity for the Philippine bet to bring his name forth in the global boxing arena and that Mr. Dasmariñas must take full advantage of it.

“First, he is fighting for the very first time in the US. It’s an opportunity that he has waited for a long time since turning pro in 2012. Add to that, the American audience will get to see him slug it out through ESPN. Second, he is vying for a major world title against perhaps the best bantamweight today. And not only that, two belts are up for grabs,” said Mr. Icasiano in an online interview with BusinessWorld.

“Though we know that Michael Dasmariñas will have his work cut out in this fight, imagine if he could pull off the upset. It’s going to be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. It’s all served on the table for him. Now, it’s up to him if he will turn that opportunity into gold,” he added.

While steadily winning and establishing himself as a quality fighter, Mr. Dasmariñas has not enjoyed the high-profile stature that other Filipino boxing champions has had, and Mr. Icasiano said that makes his narrative more compelling heading into the Inoue fight.

“Dasmariñas is the best example of a boxer who took the long but honest route. He never turned down a fight and took it one fight at a time to get to where he is at. Michael shares the same story with other boxers who just utilized what they have in terms of budget and support. If he wins, it’s just a culmination of all the hard work and sacrifice that ordinary people don’t see in a regular training camp,” the analyst said.

So how will Mr. Dasmariñas fare against undefeated champion Inoue (20-0)?

Mr. Icasiano said it will be no easy fight for the Filipino but if Mr. Dasmariñas fully uses what he has as a boxer and takes advantage of the openings he gets during the fight, then he gives his cause a stronger chance.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle for Michael Dasmariñas, and there is no need to exaggerate it because he is facing a boxer who has been bred differently. Yes, Donaire exposed and proved to the world that Inoue is human like everyone else. But that’s Nonito Donaire. Michael Dasmariñas is Michael Dasmariñas. He can take notes from that fight, but he has to rely on what he possesses as a fighter,” said Mr. Icasiano, referring to Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who took Mr. Inoue to the limits in their 2019 fight before losing by unanimous decision.

“The talent is there and Dasmariñas has done enough to deserve a shot here. However, Dasmariñas does have a questionable at best resume, as you’d argue Lwandile Sityatha or Manyo Plange are his best competition. This will easily be the biggest test for Dasmariñas.” — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Local volleyball federation, Rebisco seal partnership

June 17, 2021 | 6:04 pm

Volleyball-beach — THE PNVF-Rebisco agreement covers Rebisco’s support for PNVF’s national teams — including the beach volleyball men’s and women’s teams which are currently in Thailand for the Asian Volleyball Confederation Continental Cup semifinals — and grassroots programs. — PNVF

THE Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and Republic Biscuit Corp. (Rebisco) took their common vision to further grow the sport in the country to a new level by recently agreeing to a three-year sponsorship agreement.

In a virtual signing ceremony held on Tuesday, officials of PNVF and Rebisco formalize their linkup to support the national sports association’s programs.

The agreement covers Rebisco’s support for PNVF’s national teams — which has already begun with the beach volleyball men’s and women’s teams which are currently in Thailand for the Asian Volleyball Confederation Continental Cup semifinals which is Tokyo Olympics qualifier — and programs at the grassroots level.

“This is indeed a momentous occasion not only for the volleyball community, but for the whole of Philippine sports,” said PNVF President Ramon Suzara during the press conference that followed the formal signing of their agreement with Rebisco. “I’m glad that volleyball is alive under these circumstances.”

For Rebisco, which is also active in the local circuit, both volleyball and beach volleyball, with the Premier Volleyball League and Beach Volleyball Republic, it hopes to extend its push for the sport among the Filipinos.

“Volleyball has been close to Rebisco’s heart and we are committed to pursue our passion for volleyball,” said Rebisco Business Unit Head Noric Ng. “We are here for the long haul.”

Also present during the signing were Rebisco President Jonathan Ng, Philippine Olympic Committee Secretary General Atty. Edwin Gastanes and Philippine Sports Commission Commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Paul George (37 points) carries Clippers past Jazz for 3-2 edge

June 17, 2021 | 6:03 pm

PAUL George scored 37 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers, playing without injured Kawhi Leonard, to a surprising 119-111 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night in Game 5 of a Western Conference semifinal series.

Marcus Morris, Sr. added 25 points and Reggie Jackson fired in 22 points to help Los Angeles take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. The fourth-seeded Clippers can eliminate the top-seeded Jazz in Los Angeles in Game 6 on Friday.

Despite the absence of Leonard, who was sidelined due to a sprained right knee, the Clippers withstood a blistering first-half shooting performance by the Jazz to win their third consecutive game after falling behind 0-2 in the series.

George grabbed a playoff-career-high 16 rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists.

Bojan Bogdanović hit nine 3-pointers and scored 32 points to lead the Jazz. Donovan Mitchell, limited by a sprained ankle, added 21 points, five assists and five rebounds for Utah.

The Jazz again played without Mike Conley, who has yet to appear in the series because of a strained right hamstring.

The Jazz hit 17 of 30 3-point attempts in the first half but only took a 65-60 lead into the locker room. Bogdanović hit his first six long-distance attempts in the first quarter and had 18 points in the opening period and 23 by half time. The Clippers scored 17 points off the Jazz’s 11 first-half turnovers to neutralize Utah’s early hot shooting.

The third quarter was the turning point for Los Angeles.

The Clippers outscored the Jazz (17-5) to open the second half and eventually established a 10-point lead in the third quarter. Utah missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts in the period and was outscored 32-18 as Los Angeles turned a five-point half time deficit into a 92-83 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Rudy Gobert, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, kept the Jazz within striking distance with three consecutive inside buckets.

Utah pulled within three midway through the fourth quarter after a Mitchell layup and free throw, but Jackson responded with a clutch 3-pointer and a layup.

The Jazz kept fighting and were within four before the Clippers’ Terance Mann exploded toward the basket and slammed the ball over Gobert. He added a free throw after the highlight-reel play to give the Clippers a 110-103 lead with 2:39 to go.

After a Mitchell drive brought Utah within four once, George responded with another three-point play, putting the Clippers up 113-106 with 1:48 to go.

The Clippers ended up shooting 51.2 percent from the field including a 40 percent performance (16 of 40) from 3-point range. The Jazz shot 45 percent overall and hit just 20 of 54 deep shots (37 percent) despite the red-hot start. — Reuters

Eala, Andorran partner bow out in quarters of W25 Madrid doubles

June 17, 2021 | 6:03 pm

FILIPINO ALEX EALA and her doubles partner Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva of Andorra saw their International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour W25 Madrid campaign stop in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The Filipino-Andorran pair bowed in three sets to American Ashley Lahey and Australian Olivia Tjandramulia, (5-7, 6-4, 6-10) in the doubles competition held at the Ciudad de la Raqueta in Spain.

The defeat came on the heels of 16-year-old Eala’s ouster also in the quarterfinals of the singles event earlier in the day where she lost to No. 5 seed and hometown bet Andrea Lazaro Garcia (2-6, 6-4, 6-4).

Rafa Nadal Academy scholar and long-time Globe ambassador Eala and Ms. Jiménez Kasintseva had a strong start, racing to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set.

But the Lahey-Tjandramulia tandem eventually found its footing, racking up four straight games to overtake its opponent, 4-3.

The pairs were tied at 5-5 before Mses. Lahey and Tjandramulia broke Mses. Eala and Jiménez Kasintseva’s serve to go up, 6-5, and then, held their serve to win the first set, 7-5.

In the second set, Mses. Eala and Jiménez Kasintseva had the tables turned against them, falling behind, 1-3, in the early goings. But they were able to regroup to capture the second set, 6-4, and force a deciding set.

In the race-to-10 decider, the Eala-Jiménez Kasintseva pair immediately went to a 3-0 lead but could not sustain its momentum, committing two double faults to trail, 4-5. The Lahey-Tjandramulia duo eventually cruised to the 10-6 win to secure the match and a place in the semifinals.

Ms. Eala, the number three-ranked juniors player in the world, was able to qualify for the main draw of the Madrid event by way of the ITF junior exempt program.

Prior to competing in the W25 Madrid tournament, Ms. Eala was on a high, having won the French Open girls doubles title with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva early this month. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Locatelli brace sends dominant Italy into Euro 2020 knockouts

June 17, 2021 | 6:03 pm

ROME — Manuel Locatelli bagged a brace of goals for the first time in his career as imperious Italy defeated Switzerland (3-0) at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday to become the first side into the last-16 of Euro 2020.

Midfielder Locatelli started and finished the move from which he opened the scoring, netting from close range following Sassuolo team mate Domenico Berardi’s excellent run down the right wing. He then rifled a shot into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box early in the second half.

Ciro Immobile added a late third to secure back-to-back 3-0 wins for Italy in the tournament, which extends their unbeaten run to 29 games, the last 10 of which have been victories where they have scored 31 goals and conceded none.

Italy, who beat Turkey in their opener, lead Group A with six points after two rounds of matches and are ahead of Wales (four), Switzerland (one) and Turkey (zero). They can seal top spot with a draw in their final group game against Wales on Sunday when the Swiss face Turkey.

“We won the game thinking we wanted to win it at all costs,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said. “It was a very tough match. We could have scored a second goal a bit earlier. We suffered when we had to suffer but in the end, it’s a well-deserved victory.”

“It was the second game in five days and the boys have worked a lot. We could have sealed it earlier but we stayed patient.”

The Italians outclassed their opponents and delighted the home crowd who have now seen their side score three times in a European Championship match for the second game in a row having never done so previously.

‘GREAT MATCH’
Italy skipper Giorgio Chiellini, making his 14^th European Championship appearance, more than any other outfield player for Italy, thought he had scored when he powered past two defenders to fire in from close range only for his effort to be ruled out for handball.

The Italians were not to be denied, however, even after Chiellini went off injured, with Locatelli launching a move with a brilliant pass and then finishing it off after Berardi had cut in from the right in the 26^th minute.

The Swiss pressed high after the break in search of an equalizer, but it was Italy who scored again with Locatelli rifling in from the edge of the box for his second goal of the evening.

“Two goals for a midfielder are not easy at all and not a given,” Mancini said. “Manuel played a great match. His action in the first goal was great.”

Italy keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma stopped a double effort from Steven Zuber in the 64^th minute to protect their flawless record over the last 10 games, before Immobile twice fired narrowly wide.

The Italy striker did get onto the scoresheet in the 89^th minute, however, thumping in his shot from 20 meters to beat keeper Yann Sommer.

Switzerland have now won none of their last nine matches against Italy and last beat their neighbours 28 years ago. — Reuters

1...6,4836,4846,485...12,801 Page 6,484 of 12,801