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The digital push

The digital push emanates from a universal drive for continuity and urgency to recover from this punishing pandemic. Digital technology in all its permutations has become an accessible tool to cope with the disruptions of lockdown measures, economic survival, and managing political stability.

Digitalization is playing an increasing role in the daily lives of the Filipinos as attested by the latest Pulse Asia survey (November 2020), which said 64% of Filipinos use the internet, indicating a general increase in internet usage induced by stay-at-home quarantine policies and the shift to work-from-home mode in both government and private offices.

In assessing digital competitiveness, the IMD World Competitiveness Center uses the subfactors of regulatory framework, capital, and technological framework to gauge digital capacity.

According to the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2020, our country ranked 57th — 7th from the last place — among 63 countries. Ranked at 62nd under Regulatory Framework, our country placed very low in the categories of Starting a Business (62nd) and Enforcing contracts (61st). In terms of Technological Framework, our country ranked 49th; 62nd in Communications Technology; and 61st in internet bandwidth speed.

But there is a bright spot. The top ten ranking given by the World Bank in telecommunications investment recognizes the performance of the aggressive infrastructure spending of the two dominant telcos, Globe Telecom and Smart, to upgrade their digital facilities.

Globe Telecom has announced big modernization efforts in Luzon and the upgrading of its signal to high-speed LTE signal in Visayas and Mindanao. The company is increasing 2021 investments by 250%, or an estimated P70 billion, to build new cell towers and expansion of its 5G network.

Smart Communications will likewise be spending heavily, projecting P88 billion to P92 billion capital expenditure to further expand services to the underserved and unserved parts of the country. More consumers will be enjoying high speed connectivity with 5G signals in more urban centers this year.

Despite a 500% spike in internet usage reported by telcos, The Ookla Speedtest Global Index Report for November 2020 measured a 148.52% for mobile broadband and 262.20% improvement on the country’s internet average download speed for fixed broadband compared to 2016.

Responding to the pandemic-stricken world, the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) — The Davos Agenda 2021 will be tackling the theme, “How governments and other stakeholders approach technological change will play an important role in “resetting” society, the economy and the business environment.”

Prompting this agenda was the new World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey (Dec. 23, 2020 – Jan. 8, 2021) involving 28 countries and 23,004 online adult participants. The survey revealed that “most adults are uniquely optimistic about accessing technology, digital tools and training in the next 12 months.” Additionally, it states that: “There has been a palpable mindset shift when it comes to technology. Throughout the pandemic, technology has been a lifeline to survival — both personal and for businesses — and it is now seen to hold the key to recovery.” And for the current year, the most likely “Expected Change in 2021” points to the 25% increase in the “availability of digital tools and technology.” 

This means that both domestic and international factors converge to represent the so-called digital push. Certain necessary components, however, need to be present in order to capitalize digitalization and move forward with the digital push.

Good governance must be present. It is indispensable in providing a sensible regulatory environment that would enable our telecom companies to thrive and deliver the much-needed digital services to the Filipinos.

Attuned to digital competitiveness, a good regulatory and technological framework is equally important in upgrading and building the country’s digital infrastructure and facilities. Digitalization can only succeed if the national government possesses a sound digital mindset and will commit substantial budget allocations to build a nationwide broadband backbone that will integrate with private telco infrastructure assets. This can more than quadruple the pace of digital infrastructure building and bring the country up to par with global digital standards.

Also, good governance entails the leveraging of productive government-business collaboration toward the delivery of public digital services and the streamlining of related services in this time of pandemic.

Exhibited by the private sector’s performance during the pandemic, it is appropriate to emphasize how this sector bolstered investments and resource mobilization in the COVID-19 response. In this sense, a trusting and mutually respecting attitude, rather than predatory, should be imbibed by the government. Only with synergy of the public and private sector can the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic be mitigated and recovery achieved.

In so far as digitalization has become a reality of our everyday life, and in so far as the prospects of the new normal have changed how we live; the digital push could be reinforced and actualized into public benefits not only through public-private collaboration but with the participation of the whole population as well.

 

Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the President of the Stratbase ADR Institute.

Of course the boss cares what you say on Twitter

SHORTLY AFTER US President Joe Biden spoke of uniting the country last week, Will Wilkinson of the Niskanen Center think tank quipped on Twitter, “If Biden really wanted unity, he’d lynch Mike Pence.” The joke — in case it doesn’t sound funny to you — being that Pence is now hated on both the left and the right.

Wilkinson quickly lost his job. And the reaction was predictable: Fox News reported the tweet at face value. Reason magazine condemned “cancel culture.” And other public intellectuals on Twitter fretted that if it can happen to Wilkinson, “it can happen to any of us.”

That’s right. It can happen to anyone … who jokes on Twitter about lynching the vice-president.

This isn’t about free speech or cancel culture. It’s about employability. People who think they have unlimited free speech on social media are deluding themselves about how companies work. Just as you can’t joke about a bomb in an airport without expecting to hear from the Transportation Security Administration, you can’t say certain things on Twitter without expecting a call from HR.

Employers have made this clear for at least the past 10 years. Social media can be dangerous for those of us who rely on a paycheck. Google “waitress fired for Facebook” and you will find stories from Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio about servers getting axed for complaining about rude customers or stingy tips.

Sarcasm ratchets up the danger. This has been clear since at least 2014, when communications executive Justine Sacco lost her job after tweeting “Going to Africa, hope I don’t get AIDS!” — a comment she insisted was sarcastic.

When I tweet something even moderately controversial, I ask myself if it will cause me to lose my job — and consequently health insurance and the ability to pay my mortgage. Perhaps online caution is a generational thing. Social media predates my arrival into the workforce; as soon as I had a cubicle, I was friending bosses and colleagues on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This means coworkers get a peek at my personal life, and also that I self-censor, a lot. And I’m an oversharing millennial; Gen Z often eschews Facebook altogether and keeps other accounts private.

It’s not that different from other kinds of self-questioning at work, especially among employees outside the dominant demographic: How direct can I be? Will someone take offense if I say this? Is this too personal?

More than a century ago, the essayist John Jay Chapman described the link between employability and self-censorship in a commencement address to the graduating class of Hobart College. It’s short — you should read the whole thing — but here’s the crucial point: “Try to raise a voice from here to Albany and watch what comes forward to shut off the sound. It is not a German sergeant, nor a Russian officer of the precinct. It is a note from a friend of your father’s, offering you a place in his office. This is your warning from the secret police.”

Chapman goes on to advise the graduates to “make a bonfire of your reputations, and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well. … Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don’t be gagged.” It’s a rousing, backbone-strengthening defense of bold speech. Often, when I’m deciding to speak up about something important, I’ve re-read these lines for courage. And often I’ve wondered how Chapman paid his bills.

But the risk is worth it only when you’ve got something important to say. It’s one thing to speak up against unsafe working conditions, inadequate pay, discrimination. It’s another to risk your reputation for an online bon mot.

Firing people for social media posts, whether they are waitresses or writers, isn’t fair because it isn’t proportional. The reputational damage to a company from an employee who tweets tastelessly is small; the reputational damage to the worker from getting publicly sacked is large. And companies do sometimes terminate people for imaginary infractions, such as when Sherwin Williams fired an employee last year for making unauthorized — and wildly popular — paint-mixing videos on TikTok. (He soon had offers from several competitors.)

Employees have always had to watch their words on the job. Professionalism is a mask, and online personas aren’t people’s “real selves,” either. Both at the office and online, we’re expected to put on our most palatable faces. The safest motto is: Tweet in haste; repent at leisure.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Xi warns against new Cold War

PRESIDENT Xi Jinping called on the world to abandon “ideological prejudice” and shun an “outdated Cold-War mentality” as he signaled that China will continue to forge its own path regardless of western criticism.

It’s vital to stay committed to international law and international rules “instead of staying committed to supremacy,” Mr. Xi told the Davos Agenda event on Monday, in his first address since Joe Biden entered the White House. “Confrontation will lead us to a dead end,” he said, and urged a return to mutual respect to help the recovery from the pandemic.

“To build small circles and start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to willfully impose decoupling, supply disruptions, or sanctions, or to create isolation or estrangement, will only push the world into division and even confrontation,” he said.

Mr. Xi’s speech had been widely anticipated for the tone it would set for relations between the world’s biggest economies over the next four years. Though Mr. Xi did not name Mr. Biden by name, many of his comments were clearly targeted at the new US administration.

Mr. Xi repeated many of the same talking points about multilateralism and “win-win” outcomes that he deployed in his last address to Davos four years ago, days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, but he also signaled that he does not intend to change course in the face of US pressure.

“Each country is unique with its own history, culture and social system, and none is superior to the other,” Mr. Xi said, warning against imposing a “hierarchy on human civilization” or forcing one’s own systems onto others.

China’s leaders have long embraced Davos as a forum to showcase economic reforms while sidestepping difficult questions about politics. Former Premier Li Peng visited in 1992 as China sought to attract foreign investors in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Mr. Xi signaled his desire to put aside political issues which have helped drive a deterioration in ties with Western countries, including his abolition of term limits and use of “re-education” camps in the far western region of Xinjiang. “No two leaves are identical,” Mr. Xi told his online audience.

Mr. Xi’s desire to set aside political differences won’t be an easy sell. On the campaign trail, Mr. Biden said China’s policies in Xinjiang were “unconscionable” and even branded Mr. Xi a “thug.” The European Union (EU) also officially labeled China as a “systemic rival” in 2019, although it went on to sign an investment deal with the Asian nation in the final days of 2020.

“Xi’s efforts to pitch China as a force for multilateralism is likely received with more skepticism today than perhaps it was in 2017,” Patricia Kim, a Wilson Center global fellow, told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Ms. Kim cited China’s initial handling of Covid-19 and resistance to global investigation of the virus’s origins, along with its behavior toward Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Taiwan.

“Global context has dramatically changed for China,” she said. “Since 2017, China’s global image has really plummeted.”

WHITE HOUSE REACTION
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that Mr. Xi’s remarks “don’t change anything” about how the administration is approaching the relationship with Beijing.

Ms. Psaki said Mr. Biden’s view is that the US needs to “play a better defense” when it comes to protecting American technology and said the administration will continue to review key issues such as the investments by Chinese companies and the blacklisting of Chinese telecommunications companies.

“Those complex reviews are just starting, and I noted, they will need to go through the interagency so the State Department, the Treasury Department, a number of others who will review how we move forward,” Ms. Psaki said. “We’re starting from an approach of patience as it relates to our relationship with China.”

During his speech, Mr. Xi hinted at his desire to reestablish high-level dialogue with the incoming administration, calling for countries to “enhance political trust through strategic communication.” The Chinese leader succeeded in building a cordial personal relationship with Mr. Trump even as the two powers descended into a trade war. That effort began with a trip to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in April 2017 and led to the development of official dialogue tracks which eventually disintegrated over the course of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

By the time Mr. Biden was sworn-in, more than 100 officially organized exchange forums had been disbanded, companies like Huawei Technologies have been hit with export curbs and tariffs imposed on almost $500 billion of products. While Mr. Biden hasn’t given many specifics on how he’ll deal with these and other flashpoints, he has signaled a shift from confrontation to competition.

In his speech, Mr. Xi steered clear of the triumphal tone evident in some of his domestic addresses in recent years. In a speech last September, Mr. Xi said China’s pandemic response demonstrated the “superiority” of China’s political system. In others, he has argued that “China is moving closer to the center of the world stage.”

Still, the president spoke from a position of strength: China has been the only major economy to report growth amid the pandemic last year, and economists are forecasting an expansion of 8.3% this year, compared with 4.1% in the US — Bloomberg

House Democrats deliver article of impeachment against Trump to Senate

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives delivered to the Senate on Monday a charge that former President Donald Trump incited insurrection in a speech to supporters before the deadly attack on the Capitol, setting in motion his second impeachment trial.

Nine House Democrats who will serve as prosecutors in Mr. Trump’s trial, accompanied by the clerk of the House and the acting sergeant at arms, carried the charge against Mr. Trump to the Senate in a solemn procession across the Capitol.

Wearing masks to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), they filed through the ornate Capitol Rotunda and into the Senate chamber, following the path that a mob of Trump supporters took on Jan. 6 as they clashed with police.

On arrival in the Senate, the lead House impeachment manager, Representative Jamie Raskin, read out the charge. “Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States,” he said.

Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Mr. Trump on Jan. 13. But Senate Democrats will need the support of 17 Republicans to convict him in the evenly divided chamber, a steep climb given the continued allegiance to Mr. Trump among the Republican Party’s conservative base of voters.

President Joe Biden said on Monday he did not believe there would be enough votes to convict Mr. Trump, according to CNN, citing a brief interview with Mr. Trump’s Democratic successor.

Over 30 Democrats were present to hear Mr. Raskin’s remarks, but just three Republicans: Senate party leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Mitt Romney and Senator Roger Marshall, who was just elected in November.

Capitol Police were scattered along the lawmakers’ route from the House to the Senate, and security around the Capitol remained tight, with roads closed off and barbed wire-topped fencing. Many of the National Guard troops deployed after Jan. 6 had been sent home, but thousands remained.

FEB. 9 START DATE
Mr. Trump, a Republican, is the only US president to have been impeached by the House twice and is set to become the first to face trial after leaving office. His term ended last Wednesday.

The Senate is expected to start a trial on Feb. 9 on the article of impeachment against Mr. Trump. The 100 senators are due to serve as jurors in proceedings that could result in Mr. Trump’s disqualification from ever again serving as president.

Democrat Patrick Leahy, the Senate’s longest-serving member, said on Monday he would preside over the trial.

Although the Constitution calls on the US chief justice to preside over presidential impeachments, a senator presides when the impeached is not the current president, a Senate source said. First elected to the chamber in 1974, Mr. Leahy, 80, holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

Chief Justice John Roberts presided over the impeachment trial when the Senate, then controlled by Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans, acquitted Mr. Trump in February 2020 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his request that Ukraine investigate Mr. Biden and his son.

Mr. Leahy will still be able to vote in the trial, an aide said, noting that senators still vote on all matters when presiding over the chamber.

A number of Republican lawmakers have objected to the impeachment, some arguing that it would be a violation of the Constitution to hold a trial now because Mr. Trump no longer serves as president.

“I still have concerns about the constitutionality of this, and then the precedent it sets in trying to convict a private citizen,” Republican Senator Joni Ernst told reporters. “So in the future, can this be used against (former) President (Barack) Obama?” she asked. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, rejected that argument on Monday.

“The theory that the Senate can’t try former officials would amount to a constitutional get-out-of-jail-free card for any president,” Mr. Schumer told the Senate.

The Senate is divided 50-50, with Democrats holding a majority because of the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. Senate leaders agreed on Friday to put off the trial for two weeks to give Mr. Trump more time to prepare a defense and let the chamber focus on Mr. Biden’s early priorities, including Cabinet appointments.

The impeachment focuses on Mr. Trump’s speech to supporters on a grassy expanse near the White House shortly before a mob stormed the Capitol, disrupted the formal certification of Mr. Biden’s victory over Mr. Trump in the Nov. 3 election, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five people dead, including a police officer.

During his speech, Mr. Trump repeated his false claims that the election was rigged against him with widespread voting fraud and irregularities. He exhorted his supporters to march on the Capitol, telling them to “stop the steal,” “show strength,” “fight much harder” and use “very different rules.” — Reuters

Canadian CEO resigns after being accused of vaccine queue-jumping

VANCOUVER — Great Canadian Gaming Corp. CEO Rod Baker has resigned, the company said on Monday, after he and his wife were charged with traveling to northern Canada and misleading authorities in order to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The North York, Ontario-based company said in a statement that it received the chief executive officer’s resignation on Sunday but offered no details, stating that it did not comment on personnel matters.

Mr. Baker did not immediately return a request for comment.

Great Canadian Gaming Corp. is in the process of being bought by Apollo Global Management, Inc. for C$2.52 billion ($1.98 billion).

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., which first reported the incident, said Mr. Baker, 55, and his wife Ekaterina Baker, 32, had traveled from Vancouver to the Yukon territory and posed as local workers in the remote community of Beaver Creek in order to receive a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

The sparsely populated territory, home to a high proportion of indigenous people, is situated in northwestern Canada, where government data shows a faster vaccination rate than in the rest of Canada. It covers almost 500,000 km (310,685 miles) with just under 36,000 residents.

Documents filed in the Yukon court registry show the pair were charged on Thursday with having failed to behave in a manner “consistent with (their) declaration.”

They also were charged with failing to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Yukon and each was fined C$1,150 ($902.60), according to the tickets.

“We are deeply concerned by the actions of individuals who put our elders and vulnerable people at risk to jump the line for selfish purposes,” White River First Nation Chief Angela Demit, leader of the local indigenous nation, wrote on Facebook.

Yukon’s Community Services Minister John Streicker said in a statement he was “outraged” and found it “disturbing that people would choose to put fellow Canadians at risk in this manner.”

A spokesman for the Yukon government said it would implement new requirements for proving residency in the territory.

Last month Apollo sweetened its bid for Great Canadian Gaming Corp., helping the private equity firm to win support of shareholders who had opposed the initial offer. — Reuters

Tokyo revises contact tracing strategy, narrows to higher-risk cases

TOKYO — Tokyo has revised its contact-tracing strategy to prioritise outreach to higher-risk individuals affected by coronavirus, according to a letter sent by the metropolitan government to public health authorities last week.

The change comes as a third wave of the pandemic overwhelms Japan’s public health centres, which handle everything from tests and tracing to finding hospital beds.

Despite its early success, experts have warned that the country’s strategy to trace clusters of cases rather than conduct mass tests could face limits as virus cases surge nationwide.

Public health officials and doctors have lobbied for months for authorities to increase testing to ensure early detection and contain the spread of the virus.

Since infection cases began to rise in November, public health centre officials have asked to further narrow their contact-tracing efforts due to staffing shortages.

“Regarding epidemiological investigations, each public health centre will focus on finding out places and groups that contain people with higher risks,” said the Tokyo metropolitan government’s letter dated Jan. 22 seen by Reuters, referring to the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

Asked about concerns over scaling back efforts to trace the contacts of every person, Naomi Seki, an official at Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s health bureau, told Reuters the new policy would help public health workers cope with the rising number of coronavirus cases. — Reuters

PBA draft pool gets deeper

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

JANUARY 27 marks the deadline for aspirants to submit their application for the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft, which now boasts of a fortified pool after a number of quality players added their names to the list.

From collegiate and amateur/pro-am standouts to all-around Fil-foreigners, this year’s roster of rookie hopefuls is viewed by many as one of the deeper in years in the local pro league.

Among the players who made themselves available for the draft recently are Larry Muyang, Will Navarro, James Laput, Jamie Malonzo, David Murrell, Jun Manzo, and Jaydee Tungcab.

Mr. Muyang is a champion collegiate player out of Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

The Pampanga native is one of the more successful players to come out of the Knights’ program, having won the rookie of the year award in Season 94 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) then a year later helping Letran win the NCAA title.

It is this same success the 6’5” bruiser wants to achieve in the pro ranks where he hopes he could be of help to teams wanting to shore up their front court.

Mr. Muyang, 25, also played for the Pampanga Delta in the National Basketball League and Pampanga Giant Lanterns and the San Juan Knight-Go For Gold in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

In applying for the draft, one of the motivations for Mr. Muyang is to begin providing a good life for his family.

Mr. Navarro, meanwhile, is coming off a successful collegiate career with University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) champions Ateneo Blue Eagles.

While he still has one year of eligibility to play in the UAAP, he decided to try his luck in the draft to also help his family.

In Ateneo, Mr. Navarro worked his way up before finding a steady place in the rotation of the Blue Eagles where he excelled.

His development and work did not go unnoticed, with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas including him in the Gilas cadet pool of players.

He saw action in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in November in Manama, Bahrain, and is now in the running for a roster spot in the upcoming ACQ window in February here.

Mr. Navarro is currently at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, where Gilas is holding a training “bubble” in preparation for next month’s competition.

Messrs. Laput and Malonzo, for their part, were a couple of one-and-done players for the De La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP and showcased their wares in the PBA D-League.

Big man Laput unfortunately was not able to show what he is capable of in the UAAP because of an injury he suffered in practice, limiting him to just seven games for La Salle.

He recently played in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup and did well for the Big Boss Cement-Porac.

“I just want to be with a team that sorely needs a big man. Maybe a team like Meralco or Magnolia. I think it would be fun to be able to play with those teams and learn from the veterans, and at the same time do what I need to do to help the team,” Mr. Laput was quoted as saying by the official PBA website of his draft aspirations.

Mr. Malonzo is highly touted entering the draft and considered a top three prospect, if not the number one selection.

In his lone season for La Salle, he averaged 15.77 points, 9.92 rebounds, 1.62 assists, and 1.08 steals per game, earning him a spot in the UAAP Season 82 Mythical Team.

Messrs. Manzo, Murrell, and Tungcab, meanwhile, were key players in the impressive showing of the University of the Philippines in the UAAP in the last couple of years.

They played their respective roles for the Fighting Maroons effectively, with Mr. Manzo the top floor general, Mr. Murrell a defensive presence, and Mr. Tungcab a do-it-all wing player.

Other players in the draft pool include top 3×3 players Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Santi Santillan and Troy Rike, Fil-foreigners Franky Johnson, Taylor Statham and Mickey Williams, and collegiate standouts Andrei Caracut and Ben Adamos.

The PBA Rookie Draft happens on March 14, but to adapt to the prevailing conditions with the coronavirus pandemic, it will be done virtually.

It is still being determined if just like last time around there will be a special draft for Gilas as the PBA is still awaiting word from the SBP.

Also, in place of a traditional draft combine, where the aspirants have their skills tested, the PBA may ask the aspirants to submit videos of themselves doing skills tests and drills for the teams to pore over as they make the decision on which players to take.

Set to pick first for the third straight season are Terrafirma Dyip, who finished last in the lone tournament in the coronavirus pandemic-hit PBA season in 2020.

FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier window in Clark canceled

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Philippines’ hosting of the third and final window of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ) next month is not pushing through because of the ongoing travel ban on incoming foreigners from countries with known cases of the new variants of the coronavirus.

In an announcement released on Tuesday, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio said they regret to inform of the cancellation of the tournament window, which was supposed to take place from Feb. 18 to 22 at Clark City in Angeles City, Pampanga, as current government protocols for the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to stage.

“We’ve exerted a lot of effort into our hosting of the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and this is why it is with great sadness that we announce it is no longer going to happen,” Mr. Panlilio said in a release.

“We’ve constantly communicated with our partners from the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and they have informed us that there would be no exemptions from the current travel restrictions announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he added.

The SBP offered the country as host of the final window of the FIBA ACQ late last year to do its share in further pushing for the return of international basketball amid the pandemic.

FIBA accepted the offer with Clark City serving as host not only for games in Group A, where the Philippines plays along with Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, but also those for Group C, which has New Zealand, Australia, Guam, and Hong Kong.

But the still-ongoing concern over the pandemic, made worse by the discovery of new strains of the coronavirus, rendered it impossible for them to push through, Mr. Panlilio said.

The SBP is currently coordinating with FIBA on the next action to take following the Clark cancellation just as it expressed its willingness to step up to the plate to host events when conditions allow it.

“We are working with FIBA to look for possible solutions to this situation. We look forward to the day that the SBP welcomes FIBA basketball to our shores again,” said Mr. Panlilio.

Apart from the Philippines, also begging off from hosting the qualifier window next month because of coronavirus concerns was Japan.

Tokyo was to host Group B matches. Qatar has since offered to host games in the grouping in Doha.

The Philippines was supposed to play three games in the third window of the FIBA ACQ in Clark — two against Korea (Feb. 18 and 22) and one versus Indonesia (Feb. 20).

Gilas Pilipinas is currently in a training “bubble” at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Laguna in preparation for the window.

LeBron James pours in 46 as LA Lakers top Cavaliers

LEBRON James scored a season-high 46 points, including 22 in the fourth quarter, to lift the visiting Los Angeles (LA) Lakers to a 115-108 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

James scored 13 points in the final 4:41 to help the Lakers pull away and improve to 10-0 on the road this season.

Anthony Davis had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, and Montrezl Harrell scored 15 off the bench.

Andre Drummond had 25 points and 17 rebounds, Cedi Osman scored 20 points and Collin Sexton finished with 17 for the Cavaliers.

The Lakers led 100-98 when James began his late surge with a 3-pointer from the edge of the mid-court logo. He sank another trey to make it 108-100 with 3:36 left, and yet another for six-point edge with 1:34 to go. His 17-footer with 58.9 seconds remaining stretched the lead to 115-107.

James shot 19 of 26 from the field, including seven of 11 from 3-point distance, and added eight rebounds and six assists.

James shot nine of 10 in the first half and scored 23 points to help Los Angeles to a 65-58 lead, but the Cavaliers opened the second half with a 12-4 run to move ahead 70-69.

The teams continued to trade leads during the third quarter before the Cavaliers took an 89-87 edge into the fourth after holding James to two points in the third.

The Cavaliers also built an early six-point lead, but the Lakers surged ahead later in the first quarter behind James, who scored 17 points in the period on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-5 success from 3-point range.

James, who was playing in Cleveland for the second time since leading the Cavaliers to the 2016 National Basketball Association (NBA) title, closed the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to push the lead to 34-23.

The Lakers led by as many as 14 in the second quarter, but Cleveland cut the deficit back to single digits when Osman made a running hook-shot 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the gap to 65-58 at the break. — Reuters

Three-phased PSC national sports summit gets under way

THE virtual national summit of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) gets under way on Wednesday with the end view of determining the present status of sports in the country and then charting the path to achieve excellence.

Titled “Sports Conversations,” the summit takes the form of a series of weekly conference-type online sessions to be hosted by the PSC via Zoom, running until May this year.

Originally scheduled for February last year at the Philippine International Convention Center, the 2021 national sports summit has been readjusted as a three-phased project.

It is aimed at taking insights of different sports stakeholders and using those as foundations in crafting a sustainable and workable short to long-term plan for Philippine sports.

The PSC said all data gathered from the Sports Conversations series will be processed and studied to create a new set of resolutions to be presented to sports leaders for action.

First to hold a session is United States Sports Academy (USSA) President T.J. Rosandich, who will talk about “Sports Success from a First World Perspective.”

He will be drawing from his experience as part of the academy, which is home to the likes of American-Israeli Olympic figure skater Aimee Buchanan and two-time national coach of the year Mike Leach. 

Also part of the first batch of session speakers are DAVNOR Sports Development Head Giovanni Gulanes, who will share his expertise on sports development programs in local government units (LGUs) on Feb. 4; Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) Dean of Philippine Sports Henry Daut, who played a role in PSC’s Sports Mapping Action Research Talent Identification (Smart ID) program and is to explore the topic as well as grassroots development on Feb. 11; and University of the Philippines professor Tessa Jazmines, who will lecture on the value of sports marketing on Feb. 28.

Mr. Rosandich’s session runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The PSC said Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports Representative John Marvin “Yul Servo” Nieto will grace the opening ceremonies of the national sports summit. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Mimosa Plus Golf Course in Pampanga now open daily

GOLF aficionados out to have their steady fix of tee-off action can have that at the newly-renovated 18-hole Mountainview Course of Mimosa Plus Golf Course at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, which is now open daily.

In a recent announcement, Mimosa Plus Golf said its Nelson and Haworth-designed 18-hole course is now in operation for a full week just as it assured that strict safety protocols are in place to ensure the health and wellness of players.

The services have also been shored up to further provide an enjoyable experience for golfers of various levels, with booking of tee time now can be done online as well by way of the Mimosa Plus Golf app available on Google Play and Apple Store.

Players can also ride a GPS-enabled golf cart with a Visage system to enable them to monitor their game’s progress.

Off the course, golfers, too, can savor the signature breakfast and lunch dishes at Q by Mimosa restaurant before and after the game.

The Mountainview Course is one of the two scenic 18-hole courses of the 175-hectare Mimosa Plus Golf Course.

The other world-class course is the par 72 Acacia Lakeview, which is currently undergoing renovation, along with the Driving Range, which are expected to reopen this year.

Both courses have the stunning greeneries and vistas of Clark as backdrop.

For more information, log on to www.mimosagolf.com or e-mail reservations@mimosagolf.com, or follow Mimosa Plus Golf on Facebook or Instagram. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Brady vs Mahomes

So it has come to pass. The Buccaneers will be the first in National Football League history to compete for the title at home. They booked a ticket to the final game of the season via a gutsy stand over the Packers, their third playoff win and second straight against favored opponents. And given their record of futility dating back to their 2007 campaign, their progression has been nothing short of remarkable. Forget head coach Bruce Arians’ insistence that it’s the championship or bust for them. Regardless of how they do against the Chiefs a week and a half from now, they will have exceeded expectations.

To be sure, having Tom Brady under center does enable the Buccaneers to dream big. The winningest quarterback in the annals of the sport simply knows how to, well, win, and his mere presence has energized those around him to exceed themselves and, more importantly, make up a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Never mind that he’s all of 43 and occasionally looking his age. In the conference championship, for instance, he offset a transcendent first half with an atrocious second; he threw picks in three consecutive drives to allow the Packers to mount a comeback.

A win is a win, though, and there can be no going around the fact that Brady is making his record 10th Super Bowl appearance — which is to say he has done so in more than half his campaigns as a starter. To underscore just how mind-boggling his achievement is, fans need only note that no other player has more than five. It’s why the Buccaneers have managed to repeatedly claim best-case scenarios. And for all the stats he has accumulated to make 2020 a bounceback season for him, he earns his keep off the field as well. As Arians argued, he “gave everybody in the organization [the belief] that it could be done. It only took one man.”

Perhaps there’s no small measure of hyperbole to the statement. After all, Brady has been decidedly mortal at times, his vastly expanded array of targets on offense notwithstanding. And against both the Saints and the Packers, he needed the Buccaneers’ sterling defense to save him. Nonetheless, the numbers don’t lie, and they highlight his invaluable contributions to creating a culture of success. He brings with him a singular skill set that includes intangibles that instill unshakable confidence. He oozes experience; he has been there and done that, and he gives off an unmistakable vibe that nothing can faze him.

On Feb. 8, the Buccaneers will be decided underdogs against the Chiefs, who aren’t defending champions for nothing. They will not be parading the best quarterback at Raymond James Stadium; the distinction belongs to heir apparent Patrick Mahomes. Then again, Arians and Company couldn’t care less. They have Brady, and, as far as they’re concerned, it’s what matters most.

 

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

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