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Online communication with government agencies

Last week seemed like a bad case of déjà vu with parts of Metro Manila being under water again, some 11 years ago after the last serious flood. TV stations broadcast  images of people trapped on their roofs waiting for rescue, pets being rescued by their humans, and government resources stretched to the limit in responding to the needs of those devastated by the typhoon.

As if the COVID-19 pandemic were not enough to test our mettle, the typhoons wreaking havoc on parts of the country seemed designed to test just how resilient we really are.

Even so, life goes on. Businesses and citizens have found ways to adapt to new practices and policies. Without the new practices, their ability to get through this trying period is compromised. The same is true for government agencies. The strict quarantine rules at the start of the pandemic forced a lot of government employees to work from home. Even with the easing of quarantine, some government agencies were still operating with a skeleton force and alternative work arrangements. These resulted in delays to some government services or some taxpayer requests being left unattended.

Notably, most government agencies had e-filing and e-payment systems in place even before the lockdown. However, a lot of them do not have procedures allowing for online communication with taxpayers and applicants in lieu of face-to-face meetings.

Prior to the lockdown, taxpayers could go to government agencies and discuss their concerns with officers. In some cases, a phone call to a government agency yielded the needed information. However, with the health precautions in place at most government offices, face-to-face discussions and submissions of documents have not been allowed. Even a phone call is not an option as the handling examiner or case officer may not be in the office to answer the inquiry.

The inability to communicate with government officers handling an inquiry or application is immensely frustrating. In some cases, the application or request is not acted on because additional requirements were not communicated to the taxpayer or applicant in time. On the side of the applicant or taxpayer, there is always an element of uncertainty whether documents couriered or left in a drop box have, in fact, reached the handling officer.

Thus, it is encouraging to see that some government agencies have put systems and procedures in place to ensure effective communication with taxpayers or applicants despite the lockdown and alternative work arrangements. These systems assure us that the government is also keeping pace with the need to adapt to the new normal in ensuring that government services are not delayed.

For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) now requires the submission of official e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers by all entities under their jurisdiction. On the one hand, the SEC will also use such official contact details for sending orders, decisions, replies and other notices to the corporation, association, partnership or individual. On the other hand, the official e-mail addresses and phone numbers must be used by the corporations and associations for online filing and submission of letters, requests or other applications to the SEC. 

The submission is required under Memorandum Circular No. 28-2020 posted on the SEC website on Oct. 27. The compliance deadline is not later than 60 days from the effectivity of the memorandum circular.

Likewise, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has made available the eAppointment system for large taxpayers who want to schedule an online/virtual meeting with revenue officials from the Large Taxpayers Service (LT Audit Divisions and LT Field Operations Division). While the system is available only for large taxpayers for now, we hope all other offices of the BIR will also discover the convenience of virtual meetings and use them as the default mode for meeting with taxpayers.

Of course, systems have to be in place to make virtual meetings with government officers viable. Most importantly, the government has to make a serious investment in capacitating their offices with fast and reliable internet connections. Every government employee dealing directly with applicants must have an official e-mail address through which applicants can directly communicate with them.

It is disappointing that some government employees do not even have official e-mail addresses and have to rely on their personal Yahoo or Gmail addresses in communicating with taxpayers and applicants. In some cases where they have official e-mail addresses, the restrictions on use do not allow for any sort of document to be sent as an attachment, making them virtually useless.

With the BIR recognizing virtual conferences as an acceptable mode of meeting with taxpayers, we hope other government agencies and local government units will follow. With business permit renewals due in January, taxpayers are expected to crowd the city halls to submit documents. There must be an efficient e-submission, e-payment and e-meeting system in place to allow taxpayers to efficiently renew their business permits and pay their taxes without having to queue. 

Indeed, we are all forced to adapt, and the government must keep up with the changing modes of delivering services if they are to thrive in this new normal.

Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.

 

Eleanor Lucas Roque is a principal of the Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

pagrantthornton@ph.gt.com

The social dilemma: What’s the first thing you do upon waking up?

Some would answer, “I pray and say THANK YOU for having been awakened out of my sleep.” Okay that’s good. What’s the next thing you do? You reach for your phone and check your messages. Or maybe check Facebook. Yes, an average person checks his or her phone 150 times a day or more.

Two former executives of Google and Facebook/Pinterest left the Big Tech companies to found the Center for Humane Technology and Moment — two companies which are now the conscience of social media. I am talking about Tristan Harris and Tim Kendall. Google them. Harris had been a design ethicist for Google while Kendall used to be the Facebook Head for Monetization. I saw them on Bloomberg TV being interviewed by Emily Chang and it got me thinking. I also saw them in the Netflix movie, The Social Dilemma. You have to watch the documentary and decide if you will get out of social media, control your children’s exposure to it, or be the big force in making society and governments change how Big Tech is shaping our lives. It’s something we need to be concerned about and I wish I could articulate how Harris explains it using psychology and persuasive psychology.

Kendall has also removed access to gadgets from his kids, making them learn under the trees and stars instead. You could say they are probably at the other end of the spectrum now — they are concerned that social media will ruin society’s moral fiber. It’s logical. Harris says “it’s a race to the bottom of the brain” and it’s about who gains more of your attention and time. “So, think how fossil fuels are now being replaced by electric,” Kendall says. It needs the state or all states of the world to bear down on Big Tech and use them for good rather than to incite outrage and rebellion, hate, and depression. Truly the governments must bear down on these behemoths and have them change their business model.

Harris continues, “They say they mirror society,” and he explains that the social media platforms give you a distorted view of reality — made up of Likes and Comments — because as the hate is fueled, people are fed more hateful feeds! “It is a distorted view,” he says, like a funhouse mirror that gives you a society that social media created. People react because of what they see on Facebook, like fake news and “bandwagon mentality” making them outraged at an event or a social poll or a presidential candidate. It sows fear, hate, and even violence.

So, do we just opt out and turn our backs on social media? Or has it become the only way to do our marketing and we have no choice now? Do we pay for sponsored ads and boost ads and feed the very people who are destroying our society? I got to thinking, what does a business need to do now? Influence the government to take a stand. Bear down on Big Tech to be more responsible.

And this is why China’s rules make sense. They do not have Facebook or Instagram. So their society is shaped by their own rules and societal norms — even if they differ from the rest of the world. Do you know that China will be the only country with a positive GDP by 3rd quarter among all the nations in the world? Because they have their own rules and laws — they attended to infrastructure first during COVID-19 and made consumption their last concern. They concentrated on their strength (infrastructure) in construction. They made domestic consumption resume only last August — unlike everyone else that was wavering between health and commerce. But that’s why it’s China. They make the rules. They don’t bend with anyone’s rules.

So, although social media is what we have left due to quarantine protocols preventing real life socializing, we need to be careful about how it consumes us. Are you confused yet? I was and am still thinking of how business can go on without it. Even if we are interested only in news and current events, we still get it via Social media!!

What to do to be enlightened about this:

1. Watch the Social Dilemma on Netflix.

2. Catch Tristan Harris and Tim Kendall on TED Talks and other interviews.

3. Think about how we can control social media, rather than it controlling us.

4. Advocate for a change in the business model of these Big Tech firms.

It is not a solution to just OPT OUT of social media. We need to control and manage what it is doing to society. Harris says we cannot wait 10 years, because it may even explode in a year or so.

If you can find time to open Facebook, find time to see how responsible they can be. We are all part of the damage we are causing ourselves.

It is indeed a social dilemma.

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.

 

Chit U. Juan is a member of the MAP Communications Committee and the MAP Inclusive Growth Committee. She is the President of the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. and runs a social enterprise called ECHOstore.

map@map.org.ph

pujuan29@gmail.com

http://map.org.ph

Welcome to the might-is-right global trade era

IF YOU WANTED a demonstration of how the world’s largest free trade area is likely to fall short of expectations, you could do worse than look at the customs sheds at Shanghai’s Pudong airport.

As final preparations for signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership pact, or RCEP, were being made earlier this month, several metric tons of Australian lobster were being delayed at the Chinese border for several days — far longer than the six-hour time frame for perishable goods under RCEP rules. That was owing to an unofficial order from Beijing to hold up seven categories of products from the country. Diplomatic relations between the two have been fraying and China’s foreign ministry this month told Australians to “reflect upon their deeds” if they wanted a better economic relationship.

To engage in economic coercion of your trading partners while simultaneously joining them in a new trading bloc is an appropriate emblem of our times. Attempts to build a rules-based global order after the fall of the Soviet Union have given way to a new era of might-is-right diplomacy. The trend is so pervasive that even touted free-trade deals are being shaped in its image.

To be sure, the final texts to emerge from the RCEP look surprisingly positive. India’s decision to pull out last year probably made it easier for the remaining countries to come to agreement. Possibly as a result, the wording on sticky issues like investment, services, and agriculture looks stronger than anticipated, according to an analysis by Deborah Elms, executive director of the Singapore-based Asian Trade Center.

Even so, the bloc will fall short of the sort of comprehensive agreement seen in the European Economic Area or even the reformed Trans-Pacific Partnership, known as the CPTPP, which now binds key RCEP members including Australia, Japan, and Vietnam after the US dropped out.

From one perspective, that doesn’t really matter. The agreement will lift China’s gross domestic product by 0.5% over the period to 2030, according to Bloomberg Intelligence economist Yuki Masujima. South Korea, which hasn’t hitherto joined a major trade bloc, will see a 1.4% benefit, while the uplift for Japan will be 1.3%.

The trouble is that those gains, while real, are so modest. The vision that drove the founding of the World Trade Organization saw nations across the world reducing their tariffs, harmonizing their rules, and agreeing to a common dispute and enforcement mechanism to encourage more commerce and investment across borders.

The RCEP and CPTPP revert to an older vision of trading blocs, where deepening integration within the zone is matched by fraying ties with outsiders. An outgrowth of the Association of Southeast Asian nations, the RCEP is increasingly now seen as a sort of Pax Sinica, binding the region into a China-led global order. CPTPP, for its part, was explicitly sold as an American attempt to restrain China’s global ambitions before Washington itself quit the grouping.

That feels less like free trade and more like imperial preference, which prevailed across much of the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Under that system, Europe’s powers ran trade surpluses with their empires while erecting barriers externally. The withering of intra-European economic ties ultimately contributed to the disaster of the First World War.

As authors Matthew Klein and Michael Pettis have written, the uneven balance of payments also impoverished the colonies on which the system depended. That pattern is being repeated now, as inequality within major trading nations and the imbalances between them feed off each other in a deepening spiral that’s driving dissatisfaction, unrest, and nationalist populism.

On their own, neither the RCEP or CPTPP are going to take us down that road. As we’ve written, four years of fiery rhetoric between Beijing and Washington haven’t stopped China becoming ever more integrated with the world economy. Still, the World Trade Organization has been turned into a toothless tiger, and even its current diminished form is under attack, with the US vetoing Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s bid to take over as director-general. Despite a recovery from the depths of coronavirus, world trade volumes are still running at their lowest levels in four years. We shouldn’t let the signing of a new deal blind us to the parlous state of global commerce.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Social unrest is the inevitable legacy of the COVID pandemic

“SO WHEN OUR SICKNESS, and our Poverty Had greater wants than we could well supply; Strict Orders did but more enrage our grief, And hinder in accomplishing relief.”

That’s how the British poet George Wither explained a spreading rebellion against social-distancing rules. Seeing quarantines and lockdowns as unfair and tyrannical punishments, people were taking to the streets. The year was 1625, the place was London, and the disease was plague.

The same psychology brought some 20,000 people out on the streets of Leipzig last Saturday. Flouting all rules, about 90% of the marchers refused to wear masks, according to police estimates. They represented a motley spectrum of conspiracy theorists and freedom lovers, of right-wing extremists and those simply nostalgic for East Germany’s peaceful revolution 31 years ago.

And this was only the latest of many such demonstrations this year, in Germany and dozens of other countries. People have marched, rioted, or protested from Trafalgar Square to the Michigan Statehouse, sometimes armed with guns. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has counted more than 30 major protests in 26 countries between March and October just against coronavirus restrictions.

But the protests in Leipzig or Michigan, Britain or Australia, only represent one category of unrest, reckon Carnegie’s Thomas Carothers and Benjamin Press. These rallies vent the frustrations of relatively well-off people living in prosperous and functional democracies.

In a different category, there are the many protests against governments or leaders suspected of being corrupt (Bulgaria, say), incompetent (Brazil) or demagogic, illiberal, and even undemocratic.

Israelis, for example, protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he shut down courts, adjourned parliament and demanded digital surveillance, all in the name of fighting the pandemic. Serbians took to the streets against their president, Aleksandar Vucic. He had lifted a lockdown to allow an election that was in his interest but ultimately contributed to a resurgence of the virus. He then imposed a second lockdown, which Serbs interpreted as a crackdown on dissent.

A third type of protest is more common in poor countries. It mobilizes people not so much because they worry about the virus or democracy but because they fear for their livelihood. In Malawi, street vendors have marched with signs saying “We’d rather die of corona than of hunger.” The citizens of Ecuador have rioted against coronavirus policies that threaten to impoverish them, including the shutdown of state-owned companies and salary cuts.

And then there are the many protests that ostensibly have little to do with COVID-19 but probably became more urgent or bitter in the pandemic’s context. Black Lives Matter is an uprising against racial injustice that re-started in the US after the murder of George Floyd. It then spread to at least 16 other countries, from France and Britain to Brazil and South Africa. In history books, the iconography of mask-clad crowds will forever invite associations with the outbreak.

In April I predicted that “this pandemic will lead to social revolutions.” What we’ve seen so far is only the start. Despite new hopes for a vaccine, COVID-19 will now enter its deadliest phase in many regions entering winter. Even after we defeat the virus, many of its effects will linger for years.

Like turpentine on flames, COVID-19 has rekindled older divisions, resentments, and inequities across the world. In the US, Black Americans suffer disproportionately from police brutality, but also from the coronavirus — now these traumas merge. And everywhere, the poor fare worse than the rich.

In March, still early in the pandemic, think tankers were already noticing that we were entering an “age of mass protests” — the number of uprisings globally has been increasing by an average of 11.5% a year since 2009. COVID-19, like so many other plagues before, will now act as the fire accelerant.

Some upheavals will topple governments, others will be repressed. Some will flare up soon, others will smolder for years. In 1381, the rural poor of England rose up in the so-called Peasants’ Revolt, killing, looting, and burning. They did so because their lives had become unlivable since the Black Death first came ashore 33 years earlier. And the elites had done nothing in that time to make things better.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Asia reaches crossroads in fight vs coronavirus

In South Korea, officials reported more than 200 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day on Monday. — REUTERS/KIM HONG-JI

SYDNEY —  Countries across the Asia-Pacific region reported record new coronavirus numbers and fresh outbreaks on Monday, with Japan facing mounting pressure to reimpose a state of emergency and South Korea warning it was at a “critical crossroads”.

The resurgence of the virus in Asia comes as travel restrictions are gradually being eased in the region and it will dampen prospects for broader reopening that would boost the recovery underway in economies such as Japan.

New daily cases in Japan reached a record 1,722 on Saturday, with hot spots in the northern island of Hokkaido and the western prefectures of Hyogo and Osaka. In Tokyo, cases have neared 400 in recent days, levels not seen since early August.

Analysts expect rising infections to slow the recovery in the world’s third-biggest economy, which grew at the fastest pace on record in the third quarter.

Desperate to maintain the economic momentum, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday the situation did not warrant the reimposition of a state of emergency or a halt to the government’s campaign to encourage domestic travel and tourism.

Japan first adopted a state of emergency in April and lifted it the following month. Since then, Tokyo has eased restrictions to boost the economy and prepare for next year’s postponed Olympic Games.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met Mr. Suga on Monday and said he was “very, very confident” that spectators would be able to safely watch the Games in stadiums.

News of a potentially successful vaccine from Pfizer, Inc has fuelled optimism that the Games can go ahead as planned next year.

In South Korea, officials reported more than 200 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day on Monday, as the government considers tightening social distancing.

“We are at a critical crossroads where we might have to readjust distancing,” South Korean Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said.

“The current situation is taking a very dangerous turn considering the rising infections from daily lives and the unrelenting pace of the spread.”

REMINDER
In Australia, 14 new cases were reported in South Australia on Monday after a months-long streak of no infections in the state ended on the weekend. One official said the cluster was likely connected to a hotel for quarantined travellers.

Several other states imposed new border restrictions as the outbreak threatened Australia’s strong record of controlling the disease, with several days of no new infections reported nationally this month.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new cases were “a reminder, even after a lockdown, even after all this time, the virus hasn’t gone anywhere.”

India said on Sunday it would fly doctors from other regions into the capital, New Delhi, and double testing rates to contain record case numbers in the city of 20 million people.

While India’s daily increase in cases has been under the 50,000 mark for eight straight days, about half the peak, Delhi has recorded more than 7,000 daily infections in recent days – a record level.

Indonesia, which has the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia, has reported new spikes after signs infection rates were plateauing in recent weeks. It announced a record daily jump of 5,444 infections on Friday.

Mainland China, where the pandemic began late last year, reported eight new infections on Sunday, down from 13 a day earlier. China’s last significant outbreak died down this month.

Beijing is ramping up testing of frozen food after repeatedly detecting the virus on imported products, even though the World Health Organization (WHO) says the risk of catching COVID-19 from frozen food is low.

Taiwan, which has kept the pandemic well under control, is expected to announce tougher measures this week after a rise in positive cases imported from abroad.

Taiwan reported eight new cases on Friday, all imported, the highest in a single day since April 19. — Reuters

J&J starts two-dose trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate

LONDON — Johnson & Johnson (J&J) launched a new large-scale late-stage trial on Monday to test a two-dose regimen of its experimental coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine and evaluate potential incremental benefits for the duration of protection with a second dose.

The US drugmaker plans to enrol up to 30,000 participants for the study and run it in parallel with a one-dose trial with as many as 60,000 volunteers that began in September.

The UK arm of the study is aiming to recruit 6,000 participants and the rest will join from other countries with a high incidence of COVID-19 cases such as the United States, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain, it said.

They will be given a first dose of either a placebo or the experimental shot, currently called Ad26COV2, followed by a second dose or placebo 57 days later, said Saul Faust, a professor of pediatric immunology and infectious diseases who is co-leading the trial at University Hospital Southampton.

The trial follows positive interim results from the company’s ongoing early to mid stage clinical study that showed a single dose of its vaccine candidate induced a robust immune response and was generally well-tolerated.

“The study will assess efficacy of the investigational vaccine after both the first and second dose to evaluate protection against the virus and potential incremental benefits for duration of protection with a second dose,” J&J said in a statement.

Rival drugmakers Pfizer and BioNtech said last week that their potential COVID-19 shot showed more than 90% efficacy in interim data from a late-stage trial, boosting hopes that vaccines against the pandemic disease may be ready for use soon.

While the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine uses a new technology known as messenger RNA, J&J’s uses a cold virus to deliver genetic material from the coronavirus into the body to prompt an immune response.

The platform, called AdVac, is also used in an Ebola vaccine that was approved earlier this year.

“It’s really important that we pursue trials of many different vaccines from many different manufacturers and be able then to ensure the supply both to the UK and global population,” Mr. Faust told reporters at a briefing.

Recruitment into the study will complete in March 2021 and the trial will last for 12 months. — Reuters

‘One heck of a ride’: Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches four astronauts into space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA’s first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately owned spacecraft.

SpaceX’s newly designed Crew Dragon capsule, which the crew has dubbed Resilience, lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7:27 p.m. eastern time (0027 GMT on Monday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“That was one heck of a ride,” astronaut Mike Hopkins said from Crew Dragon to SpaceX mission control about an hour after liftoff. “There was a lot of smiles.”

Crew Dragon will gradually raise its orbit for the next 27 hours through a series of onboard thruster firings, aiming to dock at the International Space Station at 11 p.m. eastern time on Monday.

An air leak caused an unexpected drop in capsule pressure less than two hours before launch, NASA officials said. But technicians said they conducted a successful leak check, and the scheduled launch was still on.

The 27-hour ride to the space station, an orbiting laboratory some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, was originally scheduled to begin on Saturday. But the launch was postponed for a day due to forecasts of gusty winds — remnants of Tropical Storm Eta — that would have made a return landing for the Falcon 9’s reusable booster stage difficult, NASA officials said.

The astronauts donned their custom white flight suits and arrived at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad on schedule at 4:30 p.m. in three white Tesla SUVs, flanked by NASA and SpaceX personnel.

SpaceX mission operator Jay Aranha, speaking from the company’s Hawthorne, California headquarters, told the crew to “have an amazing trip, and know that we are all for one.”

Mission commander Mike Hopkins responded, saying “to all the people at NASA and SpaceX, by working together through these difficult times, you’ve inspired the nation the world.”

“And now it’s time for us to do our part, Crew 1 for all,” Mr. Hopkins said.

Vice-President Mike Pence attended the launch and said beforehand that under President Donald Trump, America had “renewed our commitment to lead in human space exploration.”

President-elect Joe Biden Tweeted his congratulations, saying the launch was “a testament to the power of science.”

FIRST PRIVATE MISSION
NASA is calling the flight its first “operational” mission for a rocket and crew-vehicle system that was 10 years in the making. It represents a new era of commercially developed spacecraft — owned and operated by a private entity rather than NASA — for sending Americans into orbit.

A trial flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon in August, carrying just two astronauts to and from the space station, marked NASA’s first human space mission to be launched from US soil in nine years, following the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. In the intervening years, US astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

The Resilience crew includes commander Mike Hopkins and two fellow NASA astronauts, mission pilot Victor Glover and physicist Shannon Walker. They were joined by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, making his third trip to space after previously flying on the US shuttle in 2005 and Soyuz in 2009. 

Musk, the billionaire SpaceX chief executive who is also CEO of electric carmaker and battery manufacturer Tesla Inc , will likely not have watched the liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center launch control room, NASA officials said. Musk said on Saturday he “most likely” has a moderate case of COVID-19.

SpaceX and NASA have conducted contact-tracing and determined Musk had not come into contact with anyone who interacted with the astronauts.

“Our astronauts have been in quarantine for weeks, and they should not have had contact with anybody,” NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said on Friday. “They should be in good shape.”

NASA contracted SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 to develop competing space capsules aimed at replacing its shuttle program and weaning the United States from dependence on Russian rockets to send astronauts to space. — Reuters

Meralco Bolts bracing for another tough battle against Gin Kings

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Meralco Bolts booked their place in the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup for the first time in franchise history. But while they are happy with it, they know the job is not done yet and bound to get tougher as waiting for them in the next round are familiar tormentors, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.

On Sunday, the Bolts completed the upset of erstwhile five-time defending champions San Miguel Beermen in their quarterfinal series, overcoming a twice-to-win disadvantage and capping it off with a 90-68 victory in the rubber match.

It was a total domination by Meralco of San Miguel, controlling the match throughout, thanks to a balanced attack on both ends of the court.

Cliff Hodge and Baser Amer top-scored for the Bolts in the win, with the duo also combining for 13 rebounds and six assists.

Veteran big man Reynel Hugnatan had 12 while Allein Maliksi finished with 11 for Meralco.

The victory set the Bolts up for another high-stakes collision with Barangay Ginebra, whom they have faced three times in the last four years in the finals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, with the Kings taking home the title in each of them.

“They have been getting the better of the matchup and it hasn’t changed this conference,” said Meralco coach Norman Black of their reengagement with the Kings.

“They are well coached and they have the best player in the league I think in Stanley Pringle. They are good at moving the basketball around. We have a big challenge ahead of us,” he added.

Barangay Ginebra took its lone game in the eliminations against Meralco, 105-91, on Oct. 18, with Japeth Aguilar and Mr. Pringle leading the way.

But despite the Kings having them at bay so far, Mr. Black said they are not being deterred by it, vowing to give their all and compete.  

“I have to sit down and study Ginebra. I haven’t really studied them because we played them early in the conference, but we are a better team now than when we started and hopefully we can give them a run for their money,” said Mr. Black, the third winningest coach in the PBA with 11 titles.

“The goal is to make it to the championship but, of course, to be able to do that, we have to go through Ginebra. We know they are going to be the favorites because they have a good team, quality players, but we will be competing,” he added.

Game One of the best-of-five semifinal series of Barangay Ginebra and Meralco is on Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Angeles University Foundation Arena in Pampanga.

WRIGHT LEADS IN SPS
Meanwhile, Matthew Wright of the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters led the league in the statistical points (SPs) at the end of the elimination round.

The sweet-shooting Wright, who helped the Fuel Masters to the second seed in the playoffs with an 8-3 record, had 39.5 SPs.

He had the second-best scoring average after 11 games of 22.8 ppg, to go along with 6 apg, 5.4 rpg and 1.4 spg, to boost his push to the statistical point summit, a key component in winning individual awards.

Finishing second was Terrafirma Dyip’s and league scoring leader CJ Perez (35.7 SPs), followed by Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (35.5) at third.

TNT Tropang Giga’s Ray Parks Jr. (35.2) was fourth and fifth was Northport Batang Pier’s Christian Standhardinger (34.6).

Complementing the top 10 were TNT’s Roger Pogoy (34.3) and Jayson Castro (33.6), Barangay Ginebra’s Pringle (33.3) and Scottie Thompson (33.2), and San Miguel’s Mo Tautuaa (33).

The PBA, however, has yet to issue details on the individual awards, particularly the most valuable player award, for its coronavirus pandemic-hit season.

Dustin Johnson finally clinches Masters with record-low score

AUGUSTA, GA — Dustin Johnson finally clinched an elusive second major title with a five-stroke victory at the Masters on Sunday, staving off self-doubt as he overcame a shaky start to his final round to end with a tournament-record low score at Augusta National.

American Johnson led throughout, though only by one stroke early, and did not drop a shot in the final 13 holes on his way to a four-under-par 68 and an unprecedented 20-under-par 268 total.

Australian Cameron Smith and South Korean Im Sung-jae kept Johnson honest after starting four shots back.

They both shot 69 to tie for second on 15-under, but in the end they had no answer to the champion, who played the final 13 holes bogey-free.

“It was a very difficult day,” an emotional Johnson said after having a famous Green Jacket draped over his shoulders by last year’s champion Tiger Woods.

“I was nervous all day, but I felt like I controlled myself very well, controlled the golf ball very well in difficult conditions.”

World number one Johnson, from nearby Columbia, South Carolina, did not get to enjoy what would have been a magnificent reception from the gallery at the 18th green.

Instead, he received polite applauses from the several hundred people allowed on-site, with paying patrons absent this year due to coronavirus restrictions.

The victory, however, will go a long way to cementing the 36-year-old Johnson’s reputation as a pre-eminent player of his generation.

He previously won the 2016 US Open, but before Sunday was 0-4 when leading into the final round at majors and had a reputation of frequently not rising to the occasion in the biggest moments.

Among his near misses was a tie for second behind Woods at last year’s Masters.

The final margin did not reflect the fact that the result seemed on a knife edge early in the round, after Johnson made two straight bogeys and a meltdown loomed large.

A majestic hawk soared overhead as the 36-year-old walked to the sixth tee with a one-shot lead.

If the bird of prey was looking to swoop, it might have had an eye on the metaphorically wounded Johnson, who looked as calm as ever on the outside.

Inside, however, his stomach was churning and his mind racing at the suddenly real prospect that he was losing his grip on the Green Jacket.

Yet his nerves were steadied in style. At the 180-yard par-three sixth, he took dead aim with an eight-iron from on top of the hill, and his ball never looked like ending anywhere but near the pin. — Reuters

Visayan skater wins nationwide Red Bull DIY solo competition

VISAYAN SKATER JOHNPAUL HORTEZA of Lapu Lapu City in the Visayas topped the recently held Red Bull DIY Solo Competition. (Red Bull)

VISAYAN skater Johnpaul Horteza topped the recently held Red Bull DIY Solo Competition, beating four others from different parts of the country for the top prize.

Horteza, 18, from Lapu Lapu City, became the first winner of the Red Bull Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Solo Competition, where participants were asked to create their own skate spots to showcase their skills and creativity.

In winning the top prize, Hortaleza, who has been skating as an amateur for seven years now, beat out Trunks Manalo (second place), also of Lapu Lapu City, Marvin Pescador (third) of Cebu City, Cesar Mancera (fourth) and Kim Bonifacio (fifth) Kidapawan, Mindanao.

“I always love skateboarding. It’s a tough sport, but when you get the hang of it, everything is worth it. Rain or shine, I always skate. Of all the sports, this is what I enjoy the most,” said Horteza in Filipino.

Adding, “I did not expect Red Bull would be holding a competition like this. But when I heard of it, I grabbed on the opportunity and I’m happy I won.”

Red Bull DIY Solo Competition was an extension of the Team Competition held in September.

The competitions were something the local skateboarding community welcomed, seeing them as a good platform to further the development of the sport in the country.

“Red Bull DIY goes hand-in-hand with skating, from building something to skate on to doing tricks. For Red Bull DIY, to shell out support not just to build one spot, but to spread the love for skateboarding around the nation is mind-blowing,” said pro skateboarder Demit Cuevas, who was part of the panel that selected the finalists.

“There’s something for everyone who’s down to do it and it has brought so much exposure to different areas while bringing people together. Everyone is hyped for the much-needed support. It brought the sport closer to home,” he added.

Announcing the winner was national athlete and veteran skateboarder Margielyn Didal.

As an added incentive, all five finalists in the Solo Competition were awarded with additional resources to fully develop their DIY skate setups. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

E-Gilas settles for runner-up finish at FIBA Esports Open II

THE Philippines fell short in its quest to make it back-to-back championships in the Southeast Asia/Oceania conference of the FIBA Esports Open after being swept by Australia in their best-of-three finals on Sunday.

Took the first edition of the Open earlier this year, E-Gilas, as the national team is referred to, tried to keep its standing in the second iteration of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) tournament but found a stiffer opposition in the shored-up conference that included Oceania this time around as represented by the E-Boomers.

Team Philippines actually topped elimination play from Nov. 14 to 15, finishing with a 5-1 record with 11 points, one up over Australia (4-2). The third team in the conference, Indonesia (0-6), went winless.

In the finals, however, E-Gilas found the going tough and saw the E-Boomers, who they defeated twice in the elimination round, turn the tables on them.

Australia elevated its game, taking the opener of the series, 62-54, on the lead of Kyle “Vassallo” Vassallo and Jonte “AnkleTv” Burns, who combined for 34 points.

E-Gilas tried to extend the finals series to a rubber match, but slick shooting from beyond the arc by Australia made it tougher for Team Philippines to soar.

The Filipinos trailed early in the second game and could not recover from it, eventually bowing to the 69-54 defeat.

Eighteen-year-old Benjamin “Waurk” Klobas took the most valuable player honors for Australia having posted back-to-back double-doubles in the Finals.

It was the second title for Australia in the FIBA Esports Open after topping the Oceania conference back in June.

Joining it among the winners in the FIBA Esports Open II were Saudi Arabia (Middle East) and Cote D’Ivore (Africa).

Angelico “Shintarou” Cruzin, Aminolah “Rial” Polog Jr., Custer “Custer” Galas, Philippe “IzzoIV” Herrero IV, and Clark “Clark” Banzon, and reserves Arnie ”El Chapo” Sison and Rocky “Rak” Braña represented Team Philippines in the tournament. They were coached by Nite Alparas.

For the tournament, games were played remotely on NBA 2K using the Pro-AM mode and allowing full customization of player avatars, uniforms and arena designs.

The FIBA Esports Open 2020 was angled by the world basketball governing body to add further dimension to it as an organization while also affording the basketball community some action after activities were halted by the coronavirus pandemic. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Five Filipinos who may compete at Brave CF’s first event in Russia

SINCE its inception in late 2016, Brave Combat Federation (CF) has grown from a mere upstart with dreams of bringing its own brand of mixed martial arts to the mainstream, into a combat sports powerhouse taking key markets by storm.

The Bahrain-headquartered promotion has staged nearly 50 live events and has visited 20 different countries, including United Arab Emirates, India, Mexico, Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines.

To further cement its position as the fastest-growing MMA organization in the world, the prominent Brave Arena will land in the beautiful city of Sochi to host the company’s first-ever event in Russia on Jan. 16 next year.

In spite of the public confirmation of BRAVE CF’s maiden venture on Russian shores, no matches were announced. Questions arose as mystery shrouds the identities of the athletes who will strut their wares on the aforementioned card.

Brave CF president Mohammed Shahid hinted at the possibility that Filipino fight fans may see the best and brightest talents from the Philippines as part of the landmark affair.

“The Philippines has been a focus for Brave Combat Federation from the very beginning,” he stated. “From time to time, warriors from the Philippines prove that they have not only the skill to compete at the international level, but also the heart that matters when it comes to combat sports.”

Here are the five Filipino fighters who may end up donning the country’s colors in Brave CF’s inaugural trip to Russia.

STEPHEN LOMAN
Team Lakay’s Stephen Loman (14-2) seems to be the best choice to be one of the feature attractions, if not the extravaganza’s main event. He has been a top draw for Brave CF, headlining three high-profile cards that included the outfit’s first foray into the Philippines in March 2019.

Since becoming the first Brave CF bantamweight world champion, Loman has been on a tear, beating opposition after opposition. Now, he is the longest-reigning titleholder in the promotion’s fledgling history.

Loman was last seen in action when he routed Canadian challenger Louie Sanoudakis at Brave CF 30 in November 2019 by way of unanimous decision.

ROLANDO DY
Rolando Dy (14-9), the son of Filipino boxing legend Rolando Navarrete, has competed in several notable international organizations and has been a member of the Brave CF roster as early as 2017.

Dy is best remembered for his promotional return at Brave CF 22 when he scored a highlight-reel knockout victory over Mehmosh Raza.

Most recently, Dy eked out a unanimous decision win against John Brewin in a lightweight title eliminator at Brave CF 44 last Nov. 5, earning a future date with newly minted division kingpin Amin Ayoub, which could happen in Sochi next year.

JEREMY PACATIW
Another Team Lakay standout in Jeremy Pacatiw (10-4) has been turning heads lately. He owns the record of most bouts under the Brave CF banner and holds exciting victories over the likes of Thiago Dela Coleta, Keith Lee, Uloomi Karim and compatriot Mark Alcoba.

In his last Brave Arena outing, he thwarted former title contender Felipe Efrain in the very first round at Brave 33 in December 2019.

HAROLD BANARIO
Harold Banario (5-2), the young brother of former world champion Honorio Banario, took a four-year hiatus from the sport in order to earn a college degree.

But when he made his return to active competition, it was nothing short of spectacular. Banario compelled fellow Filipino Ariel Oliveros to wave the white flag with a kneebar submission in the opening salvo of their Brave CF 22 clash.

Though Banario failed to follow up it up another win, he vowed to redeem himself come his next fight.

JOMAR PA-AC
Jomar Pa-ac (6-2) has been a diamond in the rough among Team Lakay representatives in Brave CF, acing three of his four assignments since arriving in December 2016.

He has yet to reenter the Brave Arena after outpointing Satya Behuria via unanimous decision at Brave CF 22.

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