Phoenix Suns installed as NBA Finals early betting favorites over Milwaukee Bucks

July 5, 2021 | 7:22 pm

THE Phoenix Suns are the early betting favorites to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks and win the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

The Suns opened at -175 at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill, with the Bucks at +150. PointsBet (-180), DraftKings (-177) and BetMGM (-165) all concurred that Phoenix should be installed as the favorite.

In an NBA postseason characterized by injuries to one of nearly every team’s top players, the Suns have reached the Finals relatively unscathed, save for two games that Chris Paul missed due to COVID-19 protocols.

The Suns’ status as favorites can be seen at least in part as a reflection of the uncertainty surrounding Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed Games 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference finals with a hyperextended left knee suffered in Game 4.

The two-time league MVP watched from the sideline as Khris Middleton, Jrue Holliday and Brook Lopez led Milwaukee to a 4-2 series win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Bucks are playing in their first NBA Finals since 1974 and seek the franchise’s second NBA title after winning in 1971. The Suns, led by Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, are in search of their first title in franchise history; it’s their first appearance in the Finals since 1993.

The series tips off in Phoenix on Tuesday, with Antetokounmpo’s status still unknown. — Reuters

Italy, Germany and Slovenia clinch three of last 4 Tokyo Olympic basketball berths

July 5, 2021 | 7:22 pm

BELGRADE — Italy, Slovenia and Germany took three of the last four available spots in the men’s Olympic basketball tournament at the July 23-Aug. 8 games in Tokyo after winning their respective qualifying events on Sunday.

The Italians stunned 2016 silver medalists Serbia (102-95), European champions Slovenia beat Lithuania (96-85), and Germany overpowered Brazil (75-64). Greece and the Czech Republic clash later on Sunday to decide the last available berth.

Serbia was without the NBA regular season’s most valuable player Nikola Jokić, who pulled out of the six-team qualifying tournament due to fatigue — and the home side sorely missed the Denver Nuggets center.

The Italians carved out a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter after nailing nine three-pointers in the first half and then held off a late Serbia rally to reach their first Olympics since Athens 2004, when they won the silver medal.

Guard Nicolo Mannion led the Italians with 24 points, Achille Polonara added 22, and Simone Fontecchio chipped in with 21 as Serbia’s porous defense failed to deal with their rivals’ long-range shooting and offensive rebounds.

Having won the European title in 2017, Slovenia advanced to the Olympics for the first time as an independent nation on the back of an effervescent performance from Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić, who racked up 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds.

After a balanced first half, Slovenia pulled away in the second and silenced the home Lithuanian fans in Kaunas as 22-year-old Dončić pulled all the strings to win the tournament’s most valuable player award.

“I don’t care about the MVP award because what matters is that we won the tournament and reached the Olympics for the first time,” a delighted Dončić said in a courtside interview.

“Like every child in Slovenia, I too dreamed all my life of being in the Olympic games. We are a small nation, but we have a lot of potential and we’ve made history here.”

Germany knocked out hosts Croatia in Split on Saturday and followed up with a superb defensive performance against Brazil as they led throughout the low-scoring contest.

Moritz Wagner stood out with a game-high 28 points for the Germans, while Brazil guard Vitor Benite scored only nine at the other end after he was confined to making a mere three of 18 shots from the field.

The Czechs, who edged hosts Canada (103-101) in Saturday’s thrilling semifinal, take on Greece in Victoria at 2305 GMT for the last available berth.

Holders the United States, France, Iran, Australia, Nigeria, Argentina and Spain all qualified earlier along with hosts Japan, who were given an automatic berth. — Reuters

Teenagers Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu to light up Wimbledon’s last Manic Monday

July 5, 2021 | 7:22 pm

LONDON — Some intriguing last-16 clashes in the women’s singles promise to make Wimbledon’s last-ever Manic Monday a memorable one with teenagers Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu topping the bill.

Seventeen-year-old American Gauff’s progress to the fourth round is no surprise, seeing that two years ago she made a sensational debut, reaching the same stage as a qualifier.

Her return as 20^th seed has been impressive with three straight-sets victories setting up a clash of the generations against the 33-year-old 2018 champion Angelique Kerber.

The pair have never played against each other but the impressively-mature Gauff said that will not be a problem.

“I’m just so early in my career that pretty much everyone I play is a first-timer,” Gauff told reporters.

“You don’t know how they’re going to play you. How they play someone else may be different on how they play you. You just kind of have to feel it out in the match.”

Second Monday at Wimbledon is always one of the most eagerly-anticipated as its is unique amongst the slams with all the men’s and women’s fourth round singles taking place.

The decision from next year to scrap the middle Sunday rest day will mean the schedule will change — a decision that has not been universally popular with fans.

But the last one should at least be a bit special with the emergence of new home star Raducanu.

Like Gauff, 18-year-old wild card Raducanu, ranked 338, has not dropped a set and is the unlikely last British player standing in the singles draws.

She will be third match on No. 1 Court against experienced Australian Ajla Tomljanović when she will be guaranteed staunch home support from the crowd who have taken her to their hearts.

“I’m just trying to stay here as long as possible. I’m just having such a blast,” Raducanu, the youngest British woman to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon in the professional era, told reporters after her stunning win over Romanian Sorana Cîrstea.

In another intriguing last-16 showdown, top seed Ash Barty will take on the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková in a battle between the 2019 and 2021 French Open champions.

Barty has looked solid so far if not firing on all cylinders but will need to be tuned in against Krejčíková who is enjoying a stupendous run, racking up 15 successive singles wins and winning the French despite a reputation as a doubles specialist.

“I have played her plenty of times in the doubles court. Never on the singles court,” Barty said. “I’m looking forward to that challenge. I’m looking forward to trying to figure out her game, kind of piece together the puzzle that she presents.”

Poland’s Iga Świątek will also need to do some puzzle-solving against Ons Jabeur, the first Arab woman to reach the last-16 at Wimbledon after stunning Garbine Muguruza on Friday.

Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a gentle route to the last 16 as he chases a record-equaling 20^thGrand Slam title and he will be a big favorite to beat Chile’s Cristian Garin in Monday’s Centre Court opener.

Claycourter Garin, the 17^th seed, is something of a surprise name in the fourth round having suffered first-round exits at his previous three Wimbledons.

Second Monday would not feel authentic without eight-time champion Roger Federer and the Swiss maestro, approaching his 40^th birthday, has clicked smoothly onto gear after a torrid opening match against Adrian Mannarino.

Federer will face 23^rd seed Lorenzo Sonego, one of two Italians in the last 16. The other one, dark horse Matteo Berrettini, has looked supremely confident so far, and should have too much firepower for Belarussian Ilya Ivashka.

Three Russian men have also reached the last 16 — a first in Wimbledon history — with second seed Daniil Medvedev up against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev playing Hungary’s Márton Fucsovics and Karen Khachanov facing American Sebastian Korda, who is enjoying a superb Wimbledon debut. — Reuters

Jin Young Ko captures Volunteers of America

July 5, 2021 | 7:21 pm

JIN Young Ko made a two-foot par putt on the 18^th hole to seal a one-shot victory over Matilda Castren on Sunday at the Volunteers of America Classic at The Colony, Texas.

Ko, from South Korea, shot a final-round 2-under 69 to finish with a 16-under 268 while recording her eighth career victory.

The win came in Ko’s first tournament since dropping to No. 2 behind Nelly Korda in the world rankings.

Ko said she wasn’t motivated by her drop out of the No. 1 spot. But she did allow her final round that consisted of four birdies and two bogeys at Old American Golf Course was a bit of a fight. — Reuters

Luka Dončić leads Slovenia to first Olympic basketball berth

July 5, 2021 | 7:21 pm

DALLAS Mavericks star Luka Dončić scored 31 points Sunday to lead Slovenia to a 96-85 win over Lithuania, propelling his home nation to its first-ever Olympics basketball tournament.

Dončić, 22, also had 11 rebounds and 13 assists to register a triple-double. He was named the MVP of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, held in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Because Slovenia didn’t qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the country had to enter the last-chance tournament to earn a berth in the 2020 Tokyo Games, which will begin later this month.

Dončić’s boss, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, was among the first people to congratulate him and all of Slovenia on the “great win.”

Slovenia’s win had to be a stunner in Lithuania. The national team has been an international power since the country split from the Soviet Union and first competed as an independent nation in the Barcelona Games in 1992.

The nearly 30-year streak in the Olympics for Lithuania was the longest of any European nation. Lithuania joined the United States as the only men’s basketball teams to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics since Barcelona.

Team Lithuania won the bronze medal in 1992, its first of three-place finishes in a row.

The Lithuanian roster included Dončić’s NBA peers Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valančiūnas. — Reuters

Stereotypes fade with mixed styles of Euro 2020’s final four

July 5, 2021 | 7:20 pm

MANCHESTER, England — Four teams head to London for the final week of Euro 2020 and as well as promising close battles, the two semifinals present a fascinating clash of football styles and tactical approaches.

While football has its ideologues, who insist that a particular approach is the right way to play the game, the ‘final four’ are proof that there really is no single formula to success.

The quartet also illustrate, in differing ways, how national teams can escape from their typecasting, the stereotypes that linger around them and reappear in commentary around major tournaments.

Italy have evolved under Roberto Mancini into a team that play high-energy, pressing football, looking to attack in numbers as soon as they win the ball.

Lazy cliches about ‘catenaccio’, which refer back to a defensive style from over half a century ago, have long been out of date, but really are completely irrelevant when looking at Mancini’s team.

The Italian relish for defending is still displayed in the performances of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci but the system is built around a high-energy approach with over-lapping fullbacks and clever use of the inside channels, where Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa connect so well with center forward Ciro Immobile.

It is a fast, positive and entertaining brand of football and it has been helped by Italy’s players looking the freshest and fittest in the tournament.

In contrast, Tuesday’s opponent Spain is closer to their trademark national style, established during the tiki-taka era when they won the Euros in 2008 and 2012 with their 2010 World Cup success sandwiched in between.

But while possession remains at the core of their philosophy, their manner of play has changed significantly under Luis Enrique.

His Spain still monopolize the ball, including posting a tournament record 917 passes against Sweden while keeping 85% possession, but his side are more intense than their predecessors and quicker going forward, with the coach often talking of the need for ‘verticilidad’, direct attacks.

He plays with the same 4-3-3 formation he used when in charge of Barcelona and favors a more attacking setup than former boss Vicente del Bosque, who famously played without a striker for most of Euro 2012.

Energetic, hard-working forwards, stretching defences, are key to Luis Enrique’s approach, which explains his persistence with the often wasteful Alvaro Morata.

CREATIVE FOOTBALL
On the continent, the stereotype of English football has always focused on commitment and work-rate and a direct, physical style, but that view is also well out of date.

Indeed, the Three Lions went into this tournament with an array of skilful attacking midfielders and wide players and the potential to play high-speed, flowing, creative football.

Manager Gareth Southgate has, for the most part, been cautious and pragmatic, playing with two holding midfielders in Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips behind a three-pronged attack with Raheem Sterling on the left, Harry Kane in the middle and a rotating cast on the right wing.

The 4-0 win over Ukraine in Sunday’s quarterfinal in Rome, saw England play with freedom and panache once they had established a two-goal lead and it will be interesting to see if they carry that approach over into Wednesday’s semi with Denmark or if they revert to the careful control they showed against Germany in the previous round.

England’s style is perhaps best described as the fusion of a solid defensive structure, a priority on possession with the creativity largely left to the front three.

The Danes have always produced more progressive football than their more rudimentary Scandinavian neighbors and Kasper Hjulmand’s team owe much of their success to their front three.

Martin Braithwaite creates the spaces which Mikkel Damsgaard and Kasper Dolberg have exploited well and wing backs Jens Stryger Larsen and Joakim Maehle get forward to add width.

As with England, there is a solid two in central midfield with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney providing the anchor.

Whoever emerges on top in next Sunday’s final, be wary of anyone declaring that the outcome shows a particular style of football is now the way to follow.

Euro 2020 has already shown that there is no dominant tactical model for success. — Reuters

Czechs show they are a team on the rise after deep Euro 2020 run

July 5, 2021 | 7:19 pm

PRAGUE — The Czech Republic showed they are team ready to compete with the heavyweights of European football after a run to the quarterfinals at Euro 2020 that ended in a 2-1 defeat to an exciting Denmark side.

Boosted by a core of the Slavia Prague team that reached the Europa League quarterfinals, knocking out Leicester City and Scottish champions Rangers on the way, the Czechs used an energetic high press to create turnovers and launch quick counter-attacks.

These tactics were on display in a 2-0 win over the Netherlands in a last-16 match in which a well-organised Czech squad stymied the Dutch attack before capitalizing on a red card to upset their more-fancied opponents.

Yet the determined Danes, who scored two first-half goals, proved too strong for the Czechs, ending their hopes of reaching a first European Championship semi-final since 2004 and a first final since 1996.

Midfielder Antonin Barak said their run at Euro 2020 gave them something to build on as the team eye the next World Cup and sent a message that smaller countries like the Czech Republic, Denmark and Switzerland could make their mark at big tournaments.

“We have to try to get there, it will be another very important step,” Barak said. “The team has great individual quality and can be worked with well. And everything can happen in the tournament, look at us, the Danes or the Swiss.”

Under coach Jaroslav Silhavy, the Czechs regrouped after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and began to rely on younger players such as Bayer Leverkusen forward Patrik Schick, whose stunning effort from near the halfway line in their opening 2-0 win over Scotland is perhaps the goal of the tournament so far.

Schick also netted against the Danes to give the Czechs a glimmer of hope and ended the tournament as the team’s leading scorer with five goals.

The Czechs made a solid start to the tournament, with the victory over Scotland and a 1-1 draw with Croatia, but failed to produce a similar performance in a 1-0 loss to eventual group winners England at Wembley.

They were tactically superb in their last-16 win over the Netherlands to set up the encounter with Denmark.

Since 1996, the Czechs have qualified for every European Championship and progressed past the group phase four times, but have not made much of an impact on the international stage since reaching the last eight at Euro 2012.

That began to change under the guidance of former defender Silhavy, who has forged a team with a core of Slavia Prague’s current and former players, including West Ham United duo Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal.

During qualifying the Czechs beat England 2-1 at home yet still doubts lingered as to whether the squad had what it took to emerge from a group that also included 2018 World Cup runners up Croatia and a Scotland side playing at home.

In doing so, the Czechs showed they will be a team to watch in the future and, with their mix of experience and youth — including 18-year-old Sparta Prague forward Adam Hlozek who earned valuable tournament experience — they will be a tough opponent for whoever they face.

“I am proud of the team, as well as all the people around me,” said goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik. “After such a tournament and this second half, we can leave with our heads held high and a clear conscience that we have done our best.” — Reuters

Proven safe and effective

July 5, 2021 | 7:11 pm

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance has been a critical concern over the past few months. To address hesitancy and to encourage uptake, FDA-approved vaccines have repeatedly been described to be safe and effective. Some understand “safety” in this context as a guarantee that no vaccine shot would cause death in a recipient while others have set greater expectations that often pertain to the avoidance of certain adverse effects. Despite variances in the desired outcomes, the communicated standard for safety from the authorities is clear: you will not die from vaccination alone. However, such a standard for effectiveness has not been clearly established.

In management, “effectiveness” is defined as the degree to which something succeeds in producing a desired result. This is in stark contrast with perceiving effectiveness merely as the presence of causal effects. From a managerial standpoint, defining the desired results is a necessary step in evaluating the effectiveness of a product or endeavor. When it comes to vaccines, the desired results may vary greatly from person to person. Given the vast amounts of knowledge on the various vaccines that have been generated so far, we have several bases for defining our desired outcomes and for guiding our vaccination-related decisions. For instance, some would prioritize avoiding specific adverse effects that occur frequently for some vaccines. Others would consider their medical histories and other vulnerabilities including but not limited to past allergic reactions, immunodeficiencies, and mental health considerations. Some would consider non-medical factors such as potential work and travel implications, while others would just want to get the vaccination over with by using any vaccine brand that is already available. With such a wide variety of factors to consider and with clear differences in the actual effects of the different options, it is easy to appreciate that effectiveness should not simply be dictated to us by the authorities. Rather, we ourselves need to assess effectiveness based on our own desired results.

No matter which factors we choose to value for our own assessments of effectiveness, authorities should have communicated a minimum standard clearly and consistently from the start: that an approved vaccine will not by itself kill you and will decrease your chances of infection, transmission, hospitalization, and death. Sadly, one of the many factors that have affected vaccine acceptance is the inability of authorities to stay consistent with their communication. Instead of presenting a consistent set of reasonable expectations, they took a reactive approach and dealt with each unfavorable event as it happened.

Many people started with the expectation that vaccines would allow us to go back to the way things used to be. When persons who got one shot either tested positive or died, authorities emphasized that a second shot was needed. When persons who got two shots still tested positive, authorities emphasized that full protection only comes two to three weeks after the second shot, and that although infection can still occur, hospitalization and death could be avoided. Recently, several fully vaccinated persons died of COVID-19. All these outcomes should have been expected, and we should realistically expect more of such outcomes because no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing infection, transmission, hospitalization, and death. Instead, a series of broken expectations resulted in the incremental degradation of the perceived value of some vaccines. Such degradation could have been avoided through clear, consistent, and honest communication, which authorities should work towards moving forward.

Today, my 91-year-old grandmother will get her second vaccine shot. Tomorrow, I will get mine. In a few weeks, we will be among less than 3 million fully vaccinated people in the Philippines, which is sadly less than 4% of the 70 million target population for herd immunity. My desired vaccination result of minimizing our risks of infection, transmission, hospitalization, and death, and the path leading towards it has always been clear to me no matter how little control I have over it.

Can I still get infected by COVID-19, transmit it, and get hospitalized or die due to it after getting fully vaccinated? The answer is still “yes.” However, the chances of each of those undesirable events occurring should be significantly reduced after my second shot, enabling me to protect myself and the people around me. Due to decisions made based on my desired results, vaccine effectiveness will have been achieved.

Rafael Gerardo S. Tensuan, an engineer, is a lecturer at the Management and Organization Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University.

rstensuan@gmail.com

1Sambayan needs to find out what wins elections

July 5, 2021 | 7:10 pm

“We need to understand why many are attracted to President Duterte and to politicians like him.” That is what Vice-President Leni Robredo said in her radio talk show the day after 1Sambayan announced she was one of those the political coalition is considering nominating for president in the general elections in 2022. She implies that to win in 2022, candidates need to know what makes people attracted to Mr. Duterte.

I assume the basis of her saying that many are attracted to the President is his high rating in public opinion polls. In Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) nationwide surveys, President Duterte’s satisfaction rating has been in the 70s. However, she probably finds it hard to reconcile the high satisfaction rating of the President with the various issues surrounding the administration that should be damaging to President Duterte’s political standing.

After all, the President himself admitted that he had failed to fulfill his campaign promises of eliminating the illegal drug trade, eradicating corruption in his administration, and controlling criminality. He had also become defeatist when faced with the challenges to his administration. Fed up with the unsuccessful attempts to solve the traffic gridlock on EDSA, he blurted, “Let EDSA rot.” About the Pasig River, he said, “That Pasig, you can no longer clean it.” Most alienating was his message to jeepney operators or owners. The President angrily told them: “If you can’t modernize that, leave. You’re poor? Son of a bitch, go ahead, suffer in poverty and hunger, I don’t care.”

Yet, the President, in the words of Vice-President Robredo, remains attractive to many people. No, the people do not turn a blind eye to those human rights abuses, they just don’t set their eyes on those extra judicial killings, just as they don’t set their eyes on other issues that impact on their daily lives.

The respondents in surveys are asked to give their opinion on the performance of the President. The usual wording of the question asked in surveys about the President’s performance is as follows:

“Please tell me how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the performance of Rodrigo Duterte as President of the Philippines. Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if satisfied or dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, or you have not ever heard or read anything about Rodrigo Duterte?”

We cannot tell what those who find the President’s performance satisfactory base their assessment on as they are not asked why they are satisfied with President Duterte’s performance. Each respondent interprets the question from his own viewpoint. One respondent’s understanding of the word “performance” may be different from another respondent’s understanding of the same word, and much more so from that of political commentators.

SWS draws its sample from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) population figures. According to the PSA, the Philippine population breaks down into 1% AB, 9% C, 60% D, and 30% E socio-economic classes. If the sample of 1,500 respondents is representative of the voting population, as it should be, then only 15 respondents come from the socio-economic class AB and 135 come from Class C. The bulk of the interviews therefore is conducted among the lower socio-economic classes — 900 from among those belonging to the socio-economic class D and 450 to class E.

I wonder, therefore, if the great majority of the respondents know what the responsibilities of the president are. So, when adult Filipinos are asked if they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the President, their frame of reference could be the performance of something unrelated to governance, like his long speeches spiced with racy adlibs or his expletive-laden tirades against his detractors and Catholic Church dignitaries. Respondents could also be referring to the President’s abandonment of the formalities, traditions, and protocol long established in Malacañang in favor of the ways of the common tao.

To extract more accurate information about the people’s opinion of the performance of the President, a number of questions should be asked of respondents of public opinion polls. In addition to the first question on the degree of satisfaction about the president’s performance, the following open questions (not multiple choice) should be asked:

1. What makes you feel the way you do about the president’s performance?

2. Can you cite the act of the president you are most satisfied with?

Perhaps looking back at the 2016 campaign period may also provide some understanding of the initial attractiveness of politicians and their eventual fallout. In 2016, presidential candidate Jojo Binay projected himself as the person who could raise the people from the depths of poverty. “Life will improve with Binay” said his slogan, citing his governance of the financial capital of the Philippines as basis of that claim.

The slogan seemed to have worked for he topped the polls for a long time until his political enemies twisted the slogan into something like “Life improved for the Binays when they ruled over Makati.” His campaign staff changed the slogan to “competence and experience.” Senator Grace Poe asked rhetorically “Experience and competence in anomalous transactions?”

While having had only modest accomplishments as a senator, Ms. Poe topped the polls on presidential candidates as she projected herself as the one to carry on what FPJ (her father, actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr.) had started. When stumped by the question of what FPJ had started, she adopted the slogan “Walang iwanan (We don’t leave anyone behind).” But her detractors countered by accusing her of having turned her back on her countrymen when she migrated to the United States and renounced her Filipino citizenship so she could get a job.

Mar Roxas’ campaign staff created for him the image of “PNoy’s anointed” and the “Toll patrol of the Straight Path.” His rivals for the presidency did not bother demolishing or distorting that image as it never catapulted him to the top spot in the polls anyway.

When Mr. Duterte joined the presidential race, his persona of the “Fearless crimebuster,” a Filipino and a real-life version of the Hollywood movie character Dirty Harry (from which DU30 was derived) placed him at the top of the polls. His opponents tried to put him down as only a mayor of a city at the southern tip of the country and therefore not knowledgeable of issues of national and international implications. That putdown only made him attractive to people who had been wanting to rid the top echelons of government of traditional politicians.

I chose the word “persona” over “personality” because “persona” is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as “the type of character that a person seems to have that is often different from his real character.” When President Duterte backed out of his own challenge for a debate with retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, his detractors flooded social media with his image above which was the word in bold capital letters “Duwag (Coward).”

The label “Coward” must have disturbed President Duterte immensely as his underlings took on a massive effort to justify his withdrawal from the debate. The excuse that it was below the dignity of President Duterte to debate with a private citizen, though a Supreme Court justice he may have been, did not wash. It was the President himself who challenged Mr. Carpio to a debate. President Duterte’s retreat totally destroyed his “Fearless” persona and proved his “macho” image a myth.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a politicized citizen since his college days in the late 1950s.

Corporate governance principles of transparency and accountability: Duty to maintain and report on key corporate records

July 5, 2021 | 7:10 pm

One of the significant corporate governance (CG) reforms introduced under the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines (RCCP) was the formally institution of the “fiduciary duty to maintain records and to report on significant corporate information.” Section 161 of the RCCP, under the title “Violation of Duty to Maintain Records, to Allow Their Inspection and Reproduction,” expressly subjects to a specified range of criminal fines, “The unjustified failure or refusal by the corporation, or by those responsible for keeping and maintaining corporate records, to comply with” the following sections, thus:

(a) SECTION 45: Bylaws shall be signed by the stockholders or members voting for them and shall be kept in the principal office of the corporation, subject to the inspection of the stockholders or members during office hours.

(b) SECTION 73: Every corporation shall keep and carefully preserve at its principal office all information relating to the corporation including, but not limited to:

(1) Articles of incorporation and bylaws and all their amendments;

(2) Current ownership structure and voting rights of the corporation, including lists of shareholders or members, group structures, intra-group relations, ownership data, and beneficial ownership;

(3) Names and addresses of all the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Officers;

(4) Record of the resolutions of the Board of Directors and of the shareholders or members;

(5) Record of all business transactions;

(6) Copies of the latest reportorial requirements submitted to the SEC; and,

(7) Minutes of all meetings of shareholders or members, or of the Board of Directors, setting forth in detail, among others;

(i) Time and place of the meeting held;

(ii) How it was authorized, the notice given, the agenda therefor;

(iii) Whether the meeting was regular or special, its object if special;

(iv) Those present and absent, and every act done or ordered done at the meeting;

(v) The following must be noted in the minutes upon the demand of a director or trustee, shareholder or member:

• Time when any director or trustee, shareholder or member entered or left the meeting;

• The yeas and nays on any motion or proposition, and a record thereof carefully made; or,

• The protest of a director or trustee, shareholder or member on any action or proposed action.

(vi) Stock and Transfer Book (STB) containing:

• Record of all stocks in the names of the shareholders alphabetically arranged;

• The installments paid and unpaid on all stocks for which subscription has been made, and the date of payment of any installment;

• A statement of every alienation, sale or transfer of stock made, the date thereof, by and to whom made; and,

• Such other entries as the bylaws may prescribe.

The STB, which shall be kept in the principal office or in the office of the stock transfer agent, shall be open for inspection by any director or shareholder at reasonable hours on business days.

(c) SECTION 92: Non-stock corporation shall, at all times, keep a list of its members and their proxies in the form the SEC may require, which shall be updated to reflect the members and proxies of record 20 days prior to any scheduled election;

(d) SECTION 128: For One-Person Corporation, when action is needed of any matter, it shall be sufficient to prepare a written resolution, signed and dated by the Single Stockholder, and recorded in the Minutes Book.

(e) SECTION 177: Every corporation, domestic or foreign, doing business in the Philippines, shall submit to the SEC: (a) Annual Audited Financial Statements certified under oath by the Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer; and (b) the General Information Sheet (GIS);

Corporations Vested with Public Interests Must Submit in Addition:

(1) A compensation report for each of the directors or trustees; and,

(2) An appraisal or performance report for each director or trustee, and the standards or criteria used to assess each director or trustee.

(f) “Other pertinent rules and provisions of this code on inspection and reproduction of records,” into which may fall the following:

(1) SECTION 58: Providing that voting trust agreement filed with the corporation shall be subject to examination by any shareholder in the same manner as other corporate book or record;

(2) SECTION 74: Provides that —

(i) A corporation shall furnish a shareholder or member, within 10 days from receipt of their written request, its most recent financial statement, in the form and substance of the financial reporting required by the SEC;

(ii) At the regular meeting of shareholders or members, the Board of Directors shall present a financial report of the operations of the corporation for the preceding year, which shall include financial statements duly signed and certified in accordance with the RCCP and the rules prescribed by SEC.

Under the old Corporation Code, only a denial of the right of inspection and/or reproduction of corporate records was subjected to criminal penalty. The RCCP not only retains the separate criminal penalty for violation of the right of inspection and/or reproduction, but has provided under Section 161 for a criminal penalty for the foregoing violations of the “duty to maintain records and to allow their inspection or reproduction.”

Under Section 73 of the RCCP, any officer or agent of the corporation who shall refuse to allow the inspection and/or reproduction of corporate records shall be liable under Section 161; provided, that if such refusal is made pursuant to a resolution or order of the Board of Directors, the liability shall be imposed upon the directors or trustees who voted for such refusal. Section 73 also provides that “If the corporation denies or does not act on a demand for inspection and/or reproduction, the aggrieved party may report such denial or inaction to the [SEC]. Within five days from receipt of such report, the [SEC] shall conduct a summary investigation and issue an order directing the inspection or reproduction of the requested records.”

Falling within the “Duty to Report” are the following provisions of the RCCP:

(a) Section 25: Provides that —

(1) Within 30 days after the election of the directors or trustees and officers, the Corporate Secretary, or any other officer, shall submit to the SEC, the names, nationalities, shareholdings, and residence addresses of directors or trustees and officers elected;

(2) Within 30 days from the date of the schedule election, shall be reported to the SEC, which report shall specific a new date for the election, which shall not be later than 60 days from the schedule date; and,

(3) Within seven days from knowledge thereof, a report in writing shall be made to the SEC of the death, resignation or in any manner ceasing to hold office of a director or trustee or officer.

(b) SECTION 28: The corporation must notify the SEC within three days from the creation of an Emergency Board, stating therein the reason for its creation;

(c) SECTION 29: Providing that corporation vested with public interest shall submit to their shareholders and the SEC, an annual report of the total compensation of each of their directors or trustees.

(d) SECTION 49: Providing that at each regular meeting of shareholders or members, the Board of Directors shall endeavor to present the following:

(1) The minutes of the most recent regular meeting which shall include, among others:

(i) A description of the voting and vote tabulation procedures used in the previous meeting;

(ii) A description of the opportunity given to shareholders or members to ask questions and a record of the questions asked and answers given;

(iii) The matters discussed and resolutions reached;

(iv) A record of the voting results for each agenda item;

(v) A list of the directors or trustees, officers and shareholders or members who attended the meeting; and,

(vi) Such other items that the Commission may require in the interest of good corporate governance and the protection of minority shareholders;

(2) A members’ list for nonstock corporations and, for stock corporations, material information on the current shareholders, and their voting rights;

(3) A detailed, descriptive, balanced and comprehensible assessment of the corporation’s performance, which shall include information on any material change in the corporation’s business, strategy, and other affairs;

(4) A financial report for the preceding year, which shall include financial statements duly signed and certified in accordance with this Code and the rules the Commission may prescribe, a statement on the adequacy of the corporation’s internal controls or risk management systems, and a statement of all external audit and non-audit fees;

(5) An explanation of the dividend policy, the fact of payment of dividends or reasons for nonpayment;

(6) Director or trustee profiles which shall include, among others, their qualifications and relevant experience, length of service in the corporation, trainings and continuing education attended, and their board representations in other corporations;

(7) A director or trustee attendance report, indicating the attendance of each director or trustee at each of the meetings of the board and its committees and in regular or special shareholder meetings;

(8) Appraisals and performance reports for the board and the criteria and procedure for assessment;

(9) A director or trustee compensation report prepared in accordance with this Code and the rules of the Commission may prescribe;

(10) Director disclosures on self-dealings and related party transactions; and/or

(11) The profiles of directors nominated or seeking election or reelection.

It must be noted that there is no specific provision under the RCCP that specifically imposes criminal penalties for violation of the “duty to report” under Sections 25, 29 and 49. The issue therefore that most confront directors or trustees and reporting officers is whether they can be punished under the general sanction clause of Section 170 of the RCCP. It should also be noted that nothing prevents the SEC from adopting the reportorial provisions of Sections 25, 29, and 49 and imposing administrative sanctions under Section 158 of the RCCP.

This article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the MAP.

Attorney Cesar L. Villanueva is Chair of MAP Corporate Governance Committee, trustee of the Institute of Corporate Directors, former Chair of Governance Commission for GOCCs (August 2011 to June 2016), Dean of the Ateneo Law School (April 2004 to September 2011), author of the book The Law and Practice in Philippine Corporate Governance and the National Book Board Award-winning Profession, and founding partner of the Villanueva Gabionza & Dy Law Offices.

map@map.org.ph

cvillanueva@vgslaw.com

http://map.org.ph

High growth under PNoy Aquino and tax cuts under Duterte

July 5, 2021 | 7:10 pm

This is a follow up to last week’s piece, “The economic and energy legacy of PNoy Aquino” (June 28). Also good opinion pieces on the late President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino’s administration here in BusinessWorld are “PNoy and inclusion” (June 27) by Dr. Raul Fabella, and “PNoy’s unsung contribution: Rapid industrialization” (July 4) by Andrew Masigan.

A friend and Cabinet Secretary asked if 2020 can be separated in assessing Philippines economic performance. So here I disaggregated the averages from six years to three years under former Presidents Gloria Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III, and current President Rodrigo Duterte.

For comparison and additional context, I included data (as of 2020) on the Philippines’ four neighbors with big populations: Indonesia, which has a population of 270.2 million, Vietnam with 97.4 million, Thailand with 69.8 million, and Myanmar with 53.2 million. The population of the Philippines is 108.8 million.

I used four sources in constructing Table 1: the IMF, World Economic Outlook (WEO) database April 2021 for GDP growth; ADB, Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2020 for unemployment rate and labor force participation rate until 2019; Trading Economics for labor data 2020; and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for the Philippines labor force survey October 2020.

The numbers in Table 1 show the following:

1. GDP growth: The 6.6% growth in 2014-2016 — PNoy’s last three years — would be the highest economic achievement for the past four decades or more in the Philippines. The 6.4% in 2017-2019 (the Duterte administration) was also high, but growth momentum has been reversed. The -9.6% contraction in 2020 was the worst since post WWII records.

Myanmar is the most dynamic economy in the ASEAN and perhaps in the world today. It was growing 12% to 15% a year from 2000 to 2007, and managed to grow 3.2% in 2020.

2. Unemployment rate: PNoy significantly reduced joblessness, from 7.4% of the labor force in 2010 to 5.4% in 2016. President Duterte has continued the unemployment decline to 5.1% in 2019, but this quickly jumped to 8.7% in October 2020 due to indefinite lockdowns and many business and school closures.

3. Labor force participation rate (LFPR): This is an indicator of job optimism or pessimism. If many people, the younger ones especially, think that there are no jobs available anyway, they stop looking for a job and pursue additional studies and are not counted as unemployed. LFPR declines as an indicator of job pessimism, and this is evident under the Duterte administration starting 2017. For the first time since the 1990s and perhaps the 1970s and ’80s, the LFPR is below 62%. Then it further worsened to 59% in 2020.

Filipinos and Philippine-based businesses have much to thank in the administration of PNoy Aquino.

The Duterte administration, however, should be credited for one important achievement — reducing the Philippines’ high corporate income tax (CIT) as a response to continuing tax competition in the ASEAN.

The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act of 2021 (RA 11534) has reduced the CIT, retroactive to July 2020, to 25% for big corporations and 20% for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with net taxable income of P5 million or lower, and total assets of P100 million or lower excluding land.

Until the first half of 2020, the Philippines had the highest CIT at 30% while Singapore had the lowest with only 17%, followed by Brunei with 18.5%. Five neighbors have 20% CIT — Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Malaysia and Myanmar have 24% and 25%, respectively (see Table 2).

Recently, Finance Ministers and Treasury Secretaries in the US and Europe have pushed for a global minimum tax (GMT) of 15%, tax harmonization, and killing tax competition worldwide. Their plan is to impose the GMT on companies where they do most business, not on where they are based or headquartered.

Global tax competition is dynamic. See these countries and economies with low CIT or even zero CIT:

• Zero CIT: Bahamas, Bahrain, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Vanuatu.

• 3-9% CIT: Micronesia 3%, Barbados 5.5%, Uzbekistan 7.5%, and Hungary and Montenegro 9%.

• 10% flat CIT: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, Paraguay, and Qatar.

• 12-12.5% CIT: Macau, Moldova, Cyprus, Ireland, and Liechtenstein.

Small countries have few natural resources and small land area, or they may have big resources like oil and gas but they lack highly technical people to develop and extract those resources, they attract businesses and professionals via low or zero CIT. Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE are doing this.

The move to a GMT of 15% is not good. We should see more tax competition, not tax harmonization and higher taxes.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the Director for Communication and Corporate Affairs, Alas Oplas & Co. CPAs

nonoyoplas@alasoplascpas.com

China’s Xi, Europe leaders said to plan talks as tensions flare

July 5, 2021 | 6:01 pm

CHINA’s Xi Jinping is expected to speak this week with Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron, people with knowledge of the matter said, as they attempt to keep human rights disputes from scuttling efforts at cooperation.

The agenda for the joint video call between the leaders isn’t yet known, according to the people, who asked not to be named since the information isn’t public. The French and German leaders have held similar discussions with Mr. Xi in the past, including a Dec. 30 call with top European Union (EU) officials that resulted in a now-stalled investment agreement.

China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Officials with the French and German governments didn’t confirm that the call would go ahead.

China-EU ties have frayed this year amid an upsurge in negative views toward Beijing in Europe and US President Joseph R. Biden’s effort to press traditional American allies to make a united defense of democracy and human rights. China’s crackdown on its Uyghur minority in Xinjiang has emerged as a key point of tension, with the two sides sanctioning each other’s officials and EU lawmakers in May halting ratification of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment.

The two sides have also clashed over Group of Seven (G7) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization statements expressing concern about China’s challenge to the established global order. Ms. Merkel and Mr. Macron have advocated a middle ground with China, whose cooperation is vital to global efforts to fight climate change and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Mr. Macron hosted a climate-focused call with Ms. Merkel and Mr. Xi in April, days before a wider climate summit hosted by Mr. Biden. At the time, the European leaders welcomed Mr. Xi’s renewed commitment for China to achieve CO2 neutrality by 2060. The trio also discussed the coronavirus pandemic and global vaccine availability.

China accounted for almost $700 billion of trade with the European Union last year, and Mr. Macron is said to be keen to give a new push to the interests of the aviation company Airbus SE. The Europeans also want China to ease travel restrictions into China for EU citizens, especially business people.

Last month, the G7, which includes France and Germany, joined the EU and the US in pushing for a fresh World Health Organization probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese diplomats have lashed out against such calls, which Beijing has dismissed as a US-led effort to shift the blame for its own struggle to contain the virus last year.

Still, the Uyghur issue has been the most contentious, with China denying claims it forced ethnic Muslims into internment camps, work programs and birth-control initiatives. A French prosecutor’s office has launched a probe into whether Claudie Pierlot parent SMCP SA, Zara owner Inditex SA, Skechers and Uniqlo profited from exploiting forced labor in China to manufacture fashion products.

Mr. Xi has signaled a defiant stance toward what Beijing views as foreign interference, saying in a nationally televised speech to mark the 100^th anniversary of the Communist Party that China would no longer listen to “sanctimonious preaching.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi echoed that sentiment Saturday at a forum in Beijing, in which he accused the US and its allies of holding onto a “Cold War mentality.”

“Today’s China is no longer the same country of 100 years ago,” Mr. Wang told the World Peace Forum, which was organized by Tsinghua University and the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, a government-run policy group. “No individual or force should underestimate the determination and capacity of the Chinese people to uphold the country’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”

During a panel discussion at the same forum, leading European diplomats called on China to listen to international concerns. Caroline Wilson, the UK’s ambassador to China, told the panel Sunday that human rights issues were “foundational matters” and not tools in a geopolitical game.

Nicolas Chapuis, the European Union’s ambassador, expressed “dismay” in China’s more aggressive approach. “Effective multilateralism implies that all nations, big and small, sit at the same table with the same rights, and most importantly, accept peer review in a tolerant and constructive manner,” Mr. Chapuis said.

The Italian ambassador to China, Luca Ferrari, said on the Sunday panel that the sanctions have been the “main shadow” on the relationship between Beijing and the EU. He called on China to relook at the sanctions to “come out of this conundrum.” — Bloomberg

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