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Index rebounds as investors pick up bargains

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX ended its three-day losing streak on Thursday, lifted by activity from bargain hunters, but still failed to break into the 7,000 level.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) picked up 58 points or 0.83% to 6,967.84 yesterday, while the broader all shares index added 20.30 points or 0.49% to 4,149.67.

“Local shares held onto earlier gains even as investors braced for potentially another day of losses on Wall Street sparked by the spread of the coronavirus epidemic outside of China,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads to more countries and infects more people, the US Food and Drug Administration has warned the country is “on the cusp of the pandemic,” Bloomberg reported yesterday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indices closed 0.46% and 0.38% lower on Wednesday, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.17%.

“Investors are starting to dismiss the possibility of a global economic recovery from easing US-China trade tensions as the virus remains out of control,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail.

For Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar, the growth in the local bourse is attributable to bargain hunting.

“PSEi had a technical rebound…as bargain hunters positioned in the market after the selloff in the last three trading days,” she said in a text message. “Investors participation is still decent, with value turnover of P8.45 billion, much higher than year-to-date average of around P6.00 billion, showing conviction of buyers to pick up some shares at a bargain level.”

Some 682.76 million issues valued at P8.45 billion switched hands yesterday, down from Wednesday’s 1.35 billion issues worth P10.06 billion.

Most sectoral indices ended in green territory. Financials rose 20.95 points or 1.27% to 1,670.51; property climbed 40.29 points or 1.09% to 3,737.10; services added 11.27 points or 0.82% to 1,381.55; holding firms went up 29.44 points or 0.43% to 6,790.83; and industrials increased 14.95 points or 0.17% 8,431.17. Mining and oil was the sole decliner, losing 16.75 points or 0.24% to 6,753.57 at the close of Thursday’s session.

Decliners edged out advancers, 95 against 91, while 45 names ended unchanged.

Net foreign selling was trimmed to P1.40 billion yesterday from P3.08 billion on Wednesday.

“The PSEi is currently down 3.2% for the week despite today’s gains. Markets across the globe remain weak and we expect our local bourse to reflect the same sentiment,” AAA Southeast Equities’ Mr. Mangun said.

“We may see it continue lower in the medium term and lean against the 6,800 support level,” he added.

What is to be done

By Benjamin R. Punongbayan

(First of Three Parts)

FROM THE END of the World War II to the early 1970s, the Philippines was commonly reported to be in a pole position economically among the neighboring countries constituting the present Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Since then, however, we have sharply lagged behind. We are now near the bottom of the pack.

Fortunately, in recent years, the country’s economy has grown at a comparatively high rate.

As shown on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) website (statistical information in this commentary is from this source, unless otherwise indicated), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annual growth from 2012 to 2018 has been higher than 6%, but there was a clear deceleration from 6.9% in 2016 to 6.7% in 2017 and 6.2% in 2018. The growth went down further to 5.9% in 2019, as reported in January 2020. The growth is good, although the deceleration is worrisome.

In terms of per capita GDP, the annual growth rate is slower than the total GDP growth, because of the effect of our ever-increasing population, which is currently estimated at 108 million. GDP per capita is a measure of how our economy translates to the economic welfare of the individual Filipino and how we compare with the citizens of other countries. Our per capita GDP in 2018 of $3,095 (from the International Monetary Fund, at current prices) is low and, as such, we are still not a middle-income country. Compared with our Asean neighbors, we have a lower per capita GDP than Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Clearly, this comparison portrays a lamentable reversal of position of several decades ago. Our per capita GDP in 2018 surpasses only those of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. In sum, it is not an exaggeration to say that we have lost several decades of economic development potential. This is the reason the current relatively high rate of growth must be sustained and further increased to enable us to catch up with our neighbors.

Our slower growth per capita GDP indicates the widespread poverty that persists in the country. The latest available information from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that the poverty incidence for 2018 is 16.6%, which translates to about 17.6 million Filipinos or around 3 million families who lived below the poverty line in 2018. This statistic is computed based on a monthly income of P10,727 for a family of five. Whether this measure of poverty is a reasonable basis is, of course, debatable. However, one thing is sure. If one raises that threshold to P12,000 for a family of five (an increase of 11.8% from the official threshold), which is not unreasonable, that will include many more millions of Filipinos living in poverty.

In terms of self-rated poverty, which is regularly surveyed by Social Weather Stations, it was reported at 54% for December 2019. Whatever is the reasonable number, Filipinos numbering from 17.6 million to 58 million are living in poverty. I view any number towards the end of that range to be the number indicator that reasonably reconciles with the extent of physical poverty that we see around us — the slums in the cities and the picture of poverty in the countryside. Indeed, tens of millions of Filipinos are suffering from poverty!

When analyzing the components of our GDP (all at constant prices), as shown in BSP data, a number of things stand out that we need to be concerned about. On the supply side of the economy, agriculture has continuously lagged behind. Its growth has been really low. For the period mentioned, the growth rate never reached 3%, except in 2017 at 4%; there was even a negative growth — in 2016 of 1.2%. Although agriculture is a small chunk of the economy — only 8.1% of GDP in 2018 — it is the sector where most of our poor citizens earn their living.

On the demand side, external trade is a big worry. We have been in a trade deficit for the entire period of this analysis, except in 2012, when there was a surplus of very slightly more than zero. In 2018, the trade deficit was 10.5% of GDP. It does not require much imagination to see that, if we can overturn this chronic trade deficit by increasing our exports, we can boost our economy quite a bit.

There is a peculiar characteristic of our exports. More than a quarter of our exports, specifically during Q3 2019, are electronics products. This is an illusion, however. Most of the value included in these exports are electronics parts that we import. The Philippine value added to these exports is practically just Philippine labor. If we deduct the import components from the value of these exported electronics products, our total exports are actually small.

On the demand side, the largest component of GDP is household consumption, which represents 68.5% of GDP in 2018. This proportion has not changed much over the years since 2012, when it was 70.5%. There is no doubt that much of the contribution to this portion of the pie comes from cash remittances from our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the earnings of Filipino residents employed in activities outsourced from other countries, particularly from the United States, to Philippine shores. While these two income sources are welcome, we need to keep in mind that, with the advent and increasing development of robotics and artificial intelligence, we would gradually lose much of these income sources sooner than later, particularly from jobs outsourced to the Philippines.

Moreover, while OFW money is now very important to our economy, it carries with it a huge social cost. A recently published book, A Good Provider is One Who Leaves by Jason DeParle, which centrally focuses on Filipino migrants, narrates these social costs very well. Moreover, the fact that we ourselves cannot provide work for our own people creates a bad image for us.

In sum, a great number of our people are still living in poverty, of which a substantial proportion are homeless or living in slums. Our economic foundations are weak such that these may not be able to sustain our economic growth. We have lost several decades of economic growth potential that we need to recover to put us, at least, at par with our stronger neighbors. We, therefore, should not be lulled by the current relatively good economic growth.

What is to be done? We need to leapfrog.

(To be continued next Friday.)

 

Benjamin R. Punongbayan is the founder of Punongbayan & Araullo, one of the Philippines’ leading auditing firms.

ben.buklod@yahoo.com

How sweet it is

To most Filipinos who have become only too, too familiar with dishonesty in government, it may look like just another symptom of the corruption that is still metastasizing throughout the civilian and military bureaucracy that then candidate for president Rodrigo Duterte promised to end in 2016.

But the “pastillas” scheme in which visitors from China receive special treatment once they pay immigration personnel and their travel agencies P10,000 is more than that. It is also one more indication of how the Duterte regime’s “pivot to China” that, among others, allows, and in fact encourages, Chinese nationals to enter the country, is worsening and bringing in its wake a host of problems to this already troubled land.

Some two million Chinese nationals are estimated to have entered the country over the last three years, with 2,000 arriving daily to work in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) and other enterprises. Only when the COVID-19 crisis forced the Duterte regime to restrict the entry of Chinese visitors to the country early this month was the practice of granting such visitors visas-on-arrival stopped, presumably together with allowing those with tourist visas to work here. As several Congressional hearings found out, this far from rigorous monitoring has led to the high visibility of Chinese visitors in the Philippines, many of whom end up working in high paying jobs and buying or leasing condominiums and posh residences, while Filipinos scramble for scarce jobs and leave for other countries in search of employment. Most Filipinos thus welcomed the promise of tighter controls on the entry of all foreign visitors including those from China.

But suspicions abound that exemptions are still being made, and that despite Mr. Duterte’s ban on visitors from China, some are still entering the country. Two weeks ago, for example, a Philippine Daily Inquirer report by journalist Nestor Burgos found that hundreds of tourists from China and its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau had managed to enter Boracay and nearby municipalities in Panay. It could not have happened without either lapses in the implementation of the ban, or Bureau of Immigration (BI) and other personnel’s deliberately allowing them in, for, of course, the usual “considerations.” The latter possibility now seems more likely in the context of the exposure at the Senate of the “pastillas” racket at the country’s airports and other ports of entry.

Named after the milk and sugar sweet that’s a favorite token of thanks for welcomers among arriving travelers, this latest brainchild by personnel of one of the most scandal-ridden agencies of government meshes perfectly with the current government policy of looking the other way when it is China or Chinese nationals who are involved in any enterprise or wrong-doing such as online gaming, entering the country illegally, ramming a Filipino fishing boat, or destroying coral reefs in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

The scheme is apparently well-planned and executed, and seems to have been going on for some time, so organized and efficient has it become. A video from the whistleblower who exposed it shows an immigration officer escorting arriving Chinese nationals into an office where their identities and flight numbers, and whether they have paid the bribes required, are verified. It is apparently no secret among BI personnel and cannot be dismissed as merely the doing of a few lower-bracket employees. It is likely to be part of a system-wide conspiracy among BI and other airport and dock personnel the perpetrators felt they could get away with. There is, after all, the undeclared but de facto policy of relaxing visa and other entry requirements for the citizens of imperialist China, whose interests Mr. Duterte has been protecting even at the expense of the country of his birth. Not only has the Duterte China policy had among its consequences the surge in the number of prostitution dens, restaurants, and amusement centers that cater solely to Chinese visitors and workers, and in the incidents of violence such as kidnappings amongst themselves. The irony is that rather than foster closer relations based on people-to-people friendships, it has fed the anti-Chinese racism that despite the Philippines’ long history of trade and other relations with China is still latent among many Filipinos.

What is unfortunate is that among most of the Southeast Asian countries, such as, say, Indonesia, where anti-Chinese sentiment has often found expression in violence, the Philippines has been one of the least discriminatory against Chinese people despite its long history of anti-Chinese isolation, pogroms, and suppression when it was a colony of Spain.

The other side of the anti-Chinese racism his China policy has helped awaken, is the hardening of most Filipinos’ faith and trust in the United States despite Mr. Duterte’s fulminations against that country. That form of reverse racism is in fact likely to erode Mr. Duterte’s support due to his abrogation of the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). The US is still the country most trusted by Filipinos while China, to which many had been benignly indifferent, has become the least trustworthy.

Some may think Filipino racism against non-Whites less dangerous than the misogyny, homophobia, hate speech, intolerance, disinformation, anti-intellectualism, and worship of violence that social media trolls, the government media system and its hacks in the tabloids, broadsheets, and broadcast networks, and various Duterte regime accomplices in and out of government have implanted into the psyches of the clueless millions.

They are grievously mistaken. The Filipino brand of racism is part of the same brain-rot and anti-reason syndrome that can’t understand but nevertheless despises human rights, applauds the use of State violence against protesters and government critics, equates criticism of government with subversion, and echoes the Duterte mantra of “kill, kill, kill.” The long and the short of it is that the same benighted constituencies on whom the current regime depends for support are turning against the country and the people it is counting on to protect and advance its political and economic interests, and the BI “pastillas” scheme isn’t helping any.

But Mr. Duterte is quite typically hardly doing anything about it. He has expressed confidence in and declared the head of BI innocent of any involvement in the scheme while he once more goes through the motions of “relieving” unnamed BI personnel for unspecified reasons. Neither has he gone beyond telling Filipinos not to succumb to “xenophobia” (the fear or hatred of anything foreign) in response to the COVID-19 threat. He has done nothing to dispel fears that under his watch the country is turning into a Chinese province and protectorate, in the belief that his constituencies will remain mindlessly supportive of what he is doing to the country.

It is apparently too much to expect him to do anything meaningful even about the racist drift of the growing cynicism over the major plank of his foreign policy, as busy as he is with resting in his Davao lair in-between hurling profanities at and threatening the independent press, free expression, the opposition, the Church, and anyone else who doesn’t agree with him, and turning parts of rural Philippines into local versions of Cambodia’s killing fields. As Filipinos and the media are distracted by other issues, expect the “pastillas” scheme to persist — and to morph into something even sweeter for every one of the crooks involved, including, as the whistleblower revealed, “a high government official.”

 

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

www.luisteodoro.com

Restraint

Moderation and restraint are alien concepts in a consumer society. People are calibrated (by others) according to a status rating scale. Material things in glittering packages are impressive. Form over substance. Everything is quantified according to a price index.

The mindset of the aspiring nouveaux riches and arrivistes is fixated primarily on carat value and the quantity of acquisitions. They are obsessed with impressing the impressionable.

The mantra is money. If you’ve got, flaunt it. The louder, the better.

Society gossip, scandal, and frivolous trivia, the glamorous and superficial lifestyle attract media mileage. Positive or negative, it provides a form of “entertainment” for the “have not’s.” This is the modern version of the bread-and-circuses of the ancient Romans. (We could learn some vital lessons from history or be doomed to repeat all those mistakes.)

Marketing mavens proclaim that luxe and deluxe are “in.” The “A list” of what’s hot and what’s hotter always trigger a mad stampede to buy. The “must haves” are the elite designer brands — clothes, accessories, cars, homes, exotic pets, safaris, Antarctica and chasing the northern lights trips. The recent addition to the list is a trip to outer space. That would be the ultimate luxury. All these belong to the conspicuous consumption category.

The high profile (but sometimes irrelevant) “civic” activities could be self-promotional gimmicks disguised as charitable fundraisers. They could be used to show off the frivolous frou-frou, feathers, and frippery.

Philanthropy and charity used to be more relevant and meaningful when they were done privately, anonymously. Too much exposure somehow diminishes the act of giving. However, things have changed in this new era of social media and the selfie phenomenon. Anything goes.

For the self-important VIPs, it is never enough to have wealth. Some individuals go the extra mile to make the huge spurge and splash.

To illustrate, a young tycoon throws a lobster-caviar-and-champagne party on a ship docked near a popular resort. The blinding lights and blaring music upset the nature lovers and scare away the fish. The “TH” (trying hard) matron entertains her trophy guests in a new showcase mansion. There are fireworks, a live band, and local and foreign multi-media coverage (plus IG and FB). The hosts present dazzling, enviable perfection to their newly acquired set of friends. Everyone is entitled to “15 minutes of fame,” to paraphrase artist Andy Warhol. After that, the novelty wears off.

What an exciting life!

The game of one-upmanship and keeping up with the Joneses is anxiety provoking and expensive.

One wonders whether or not living on a grandiose scale is appropriate or politically correct in the current environment of tension. The mood on the spectrum is somber gray.

We live in interesting times. People are anxious, restless. Agitated. We worry about the practical and essential things for our families — survival, security, stability, peace and order, health, education and jobs. Now the global issue is the pandemic.

It is not “PC” to show off the status symbols of success — the yacht, jet, helicopter, and sports cars. Flashy behavior rubs people the wrong way and gives the wrong signals. It is like waving a red flag at a raging bull.

In contrast, the true-blue well-bred individual is low-key, elegant, low profile. He is a subtle presence and she speaks in a whisper. (The louder the voice, the lower the class. Volume of noise is inversely proportional to social rank.)

In the rarefied circles, certain things are not done. For example, one does not talk about money, flaunt possessions, flout the rules, or upstage one another. Civilized and genteel individuals are always poised, polite, courteous, well mannered, proper, considerate, gracious, and soft-spoken.

No one needs to prove a point. No one needs anything.

One is born, bred, and belongs. One simply is.

The amount of one’s wealth does not matter as much as one’s breeding lineage or pedigree, education, and background. Family and old friendships are precious and carefully protected. Delicadeza, honor, discretion, and propriety are the qualities of class — the old school.

The mode of behavior has radically changed over the past years. The young Turks and the social mountaineers scoff at the gentleman and lady as archaic relics of the past century.

The new set (with the exception of a few well-bred members from the old families) tends to be brash, abrasive, self-indulgent, more materialistic, and hedonistic.

Too much hype, overexposure can exacerbate the simmering situation.

Luxury, per se, is not bad. In small, tasteful doses, it is the well-deserved treat, the little indulgence and reward for hard work. People should earn that privilege.

Feeling entitled, being insensitive to others, and having many luxuries are considered capricious.

During a crisis or a disaster, one needs restraint.

The Lenten season has begun.

 

Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.

mavrufino@gmail.com

Don’t believe them: getting old is horrible

Don’t believe what they say: 50 is not the new 40. Fifty is just 50. It sucks. Sucky. Just downright pure suckage.

One tries convincing oneself by remembering that George Clooney is in his 50s (58). So is Tom Cruise (57), Robert Downey, Jr. (54), and even Keanu Reeves (55). But so what? They’re gazillionaires who can afford all the medication and physical trainers and therapists to hide the fact they’re well past middle age.

Reading Leslie Weatherhead’s table regarding a person’s age. The theme was what would your age be if your life was just one day. So, if your age is:

15, the time is 10:25 a.m.

20, the time is 11:34 a.m.

25, the time is 12:42 p.m.

30, the time is 1:51 p.m.

35, the time is 3:00 p.m.

40, the time is 4:08 p.m.

45, the time is 5:16 p.m.

50, the time is 6:25 p.m.

55, the time is 7:34 p.m.

60, the time is 8:42 p.m.

65, the time is 9:51 p.m.

70, the time is 11:00 p.m.

I’m at 6:25 p.m., which means that most of my life is behind me. What’s left are the remains of the day. Which is a poetic way of saying it. It’s also stolen from Kashiguro. Mine is more like the remains of the dregs.

The average life expectancy of a Filipino male is 66 years, which means that I have — if am lucky (or unlucky) — 16 years left or 5,840 days. I celebrated my birthday more than a week ago so make that 5,832 days.

Apparently at this age one has most of the freedom to do one wants. But at this age, what’s the point? It’s like finally getting a car, tank filled, spending money in the wallet. But really with nowhere to go. Or nowhere you want to go.

You can finally order in a restaurant without bothering to look at the prices in the menu. But it doesn’t matter because any food that’s delicious will most likely kill you. So the doctor says.

At 50, everything really feels like it’s on borrowed time. Drink wine, you know you’ll pay for it; puff a cigar, you know you’ll answer for it one day.

Going out has no appeal anymore. Not that I have the energy for it. By 9 p.m., I am happily ensconced in my bed, watching cat videos on YouTube. And if I do go out, all I can think of is wanting to go home.

The bars are too loud, cocktail parties are too boring, conferences are inutile. I don’t even understand the music anymore: it’s either all “toog toog toog” or in Korean. Nothing wrong with Korean but I don’t understand the language. Which leaves me with the melody, but as I said, they all sound like “toog toog toog” to me.

Drunken conversations are not as fun as they used to. Nowadays, it’s just a matter of exchanging notes on who’s more miserable with what ailments treated by the more expensive drug. A world away from when talk was about Matchboxes or trading Game and Watches.

Perhaps it’s apt that the recent Oscar winner is the Korean movie Parasite, which has [Spoiler alert! Do not read this sentence. Proceed to next paragraph.] a crazy old man living in the basement. I sympathize with that old man.

Nothing seems worth getting out of the house anymore. Particularly when you have streaming services, food delivery, and two happy dogs.

Depleted energy is a consolation, really. At least one doesn’t have the restlessness to go out and do something idiotic. But it also means not doing the things needing to be done: like retirement planning, organizing one’s own funeral service, or digging one’s own grave. That takes energy. Just thinking about it makes me want to take a nap.

The incredibly annoying thing about being 50 is that everybody considers you old but apparently not old enough to have a senior citizen’s card. With today’s rising prices, having a 20% discount would be a treat.

And having a 20% discount is the only treat one gets while eating out as the food doesn’t taste as good as before. Is it the cooking or the ingredients? Likely it’s just me as everyone seems happily wolfing their food down. I gain 10 pounds just staring at a picture of a plate of pasta.

Now Jonathan Rauch, citing research, says being 50 makes you wiser and happier. I don’t know about that. Some say it’s probably because you know yourself more. But even likelier is Kyle Smith’s point, which is “you’ve given up on improving yourself.”

“Things they do look awful cold, hope I die before I get old,” said Pete Townsend.

Neil Young’s was better: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

Failing all that, then TS Eliot: “I grow old… I grow old… I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.”

 

Jemy Gatdula is a Senior Fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence.

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter @jemygatdula

Don’t blame Capitalism for shrinking airline legroom

By Noah Smith

A VIRAL VIDEO of a man punching the back of a women’s reclined airline seat got Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian’s attention. But he made things worse, when he asked flyers to be polite and check with the passengers behind them before hitting the recline button. This angered many people who have watched seats shrink over the years, as airlines try to raise profit margins by packing ever-more paying customers onto their planes.

Why, observers asked, should flyers be forced into a vicious zero-sum battle over physical comfort just to fatten the coffers of companies that already earn billions of dollars a year? Some blamed the capitalist system itself.

Defenders of the system will tend to retort that airlines are just giving people what they want; smaller seats, they argue, are simply the price consumers have chosen in exchange for cheaper airfares. It’s hard to tell how airfares have changed over time, because just looking at ticket prices isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison; the average flight distance changes, and customers nowadays pay fees for things such as checked baggage and meals that once were included in fares. But the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tries to account for all of these factors, suggest that flying has indeed gotten cheaper during the past 20 years.

This decline has happened in spite of a slight rise in real oil prices.

What’s more, air travel today offers consumers a bigger menu of choices. They can go with a discount airline and less leg room in exchange for a cheaper ticket. They can upgrade to premium seats with more space. In 2016, each extra inch of legroom in the North Atlantic region cost about $33.

There are still some customers who will fall through the cracks in this system — if you want just a little more legroom than coach provides, for just a little more money, you might not be able to find a seat. But overall, for customers who are willing to do a little shopping, today’s free-market air-travel system makes it easier for people to optimize their own personal mix of legroom and ticket price.

And as always when discussing the short-comings of capitalism, it’s important to think about what the alternative would be. In this case, that would mean nationalization of the industry. That’s not as crazy a notion as it might sound; Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines, rated the top two carriers in the world in 2019 by consulting firm Skytrax, are both state-owned.

But it’s far from clear that American Airlines or United Airlines could match the performance of those champions under state ownership. Very high US infrastructure costs suggest that the federal government may have problems in its decision-making processes that make cost control difficult.

In most developed nations, the trend has been toward privatization. Most European airlines, once owned by national governments, have been privatized; Korean Air was privatized in 1969 and Japan Airlines in 1987. This was generally a result of financial distress. Meanwhile, the vast majority of remaining state-owned carriers are in developing countries, with Singapore and Qatar being the exceptions.

Proponents of nationalization might argue that without the need to make a profit, airlines could reduce fares or increase leg room while holding fares constant. A wave of big airline mergers has increased the industry’s profitability since 2005, and common ownership may also be reducing competition. But airlines were operating on the edge of bankruptcy before the consolidation wave; now, their margins are merely up to the normal level for a US business. So there’s not a lot of profit to be squeezed out of the system — perhaps only $20 per flight, or less than one inch worth of leg room.

Nationalized airlines could also be run at a loss, subsidized by tax money, but this would likely lead to the airlines becoming a political bone of contention, with eventual privatization as the result. Or salaries could be cut and the savings passed on to flyers, but this would likely degrade operational efficiency and quality.

So although no one likes having to choose between paying an upgrade fee and being shoe-horned into a tiny seat, it’s unlikely that nationalization would improve matters.

With only limited scope to increase comfort while also keeping costs low, airlines should try to improve the flying experience by making it more egalitarian. That makes being told how to behave while flying by a man who makes a multimillion-dollar salary by packing more people onto planes particularly galling. So, yes, airline CEOs should avoid seeming like they’re talking down to passengers.

Meanwhile, it might be a good idea to offer flights with identical seats — no premium economy, business class and so on — as well as no preferred boarding. Eliminating those visible inequalities might make flyers feel better about the air-travel experience. Who knows — they might even be willing to pay a little more for the pleasure.

 

BLOOMBERG OPINION

Coaches welcome efforts to give men’s volleyball more exposure

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WHEN the volleyball tournament of Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines finally fires off on the rescheduled date of March 3, one conspicuous facet of the offering will be more exposure for the men’s competition.

Inspired by the success and good showing of the national team in the 30th Southeast Asian Games and the interest that men’s play has gotten of late, league officials have deemed it fit to give the men’s tournament a fair share of the spotlight with that of the women’s side.

As per the approved program format of the UAAP, men’s and women’s games will be alternately played in the morning and afternoon sessions in three scheduled play dates — Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays — per week.

The program format is different from past seasons where men’s play was confined to the morning sessions.

For the first round, the teams facing off for the men’s side will also be the same paring in the women’s game.

“With the success of the men’s volleyball team in the last SEA Games, it is about time that we put men’s volleyball side by side with the women’s volleyball,” said UAAP President Emmanuel Fernandez as he talked about the program change.

In the SEA Games, which the country hosted in December, the men’s national team turned heads on its way to the silver medal finish, something the country had not done since 1977.

The concerted effort of the UAAP to give the men’s side its due recognition is welcomed by the league coaches even as they expressed their gratitude to UAAP officials for the move.

“I’m happy because the men and women can now be watched alternately. It’s good for the game of volleyball and it surely benefits the men’s play,” said University of Santo Tomas men’s coach Ogie Mamon as he underscored how giving the men more exposure would further enhance the popularity of volleyball in the country which the women’s game helped elevate.

He was seconded by Arnold Laniog, coach of De La Salle University, who said, “We are thankful for the opportunity given to men’s volleyball. Through it we can entice younger players to play the game. We have seen that the men’s game here can level up and this will help that.”

Even coaches of the women’s teams support the move of the UAAP.

“It’s good to promote both the men’s and women’s game. It’s still the same game and I commend the organizers,” said University of the Philippines women’s coach Godfrey Okumu.

“This is the UAAP levelling up,” Oliver Almadro of the defending women’s champion Ateneo de Manila University, for his part, said.

Defending UAAP men’s champion is National University, which defeated Far Eastern University, 2-0, in the finals in Season 81 to claim back-to-back titles.

“We’ve lost some key players from last season to graduation. But even before they graduated, we were already preparing. We are ready to defend the title,” said NU men’s coach Dante Alinsunurin while also expressing gratitude for the focus being given by the UAAP on men’s volleyball.

TUESDAY GAMES
Meanwhile, with the start of the tournament delayed over concerns on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), UAAP volleyball will have Tuesday matches — one each for men and women.

The volleyball tournament was supposed to start on Feb. 15 until league officials heeded the advice of health officials against the holding of large gatherings like sporting events to prevent the further spread of the communicable disease which has hit the sports scene not only in the country but in different parts of the world as well.

The first Tuesday matches will have FEU versus UE at 2 p.m. (men’s) and 3:30 p.m. (women’s) on opening day at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Esports gains ground in the country with new school-based program

INTERSCHOOL esports in the country is getting a big boost with an agreement that looks to engage more than one thousand teams from over 200 schools with the opportunity to train, compete, be coached, win scholarships and eventually become medal-winning esports athletes.

Fresh from its organizing stint in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games esports competition, Mineski Global has set its sights on developing the school esports landscape.

The premier esports organization in Southeast Asia, and the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) have partnered to transform esports into a world-class, big-league competitive sport in schools nationwide.

Mineski and PCCL will not only manage and organize the new National Interschool Cyber League (NICL) but will also create a sustainable and multi-pronged esports program nationwide under the banner of the Youth Esports Program (YEP).

“The continued growth and development of esports in the country presents us with another avenue for excellence, sportsmanship, and inclusion. Esports advances not just skills but also values of hard work and determination among all players,” said Mineski Global CEO and founder Ronald Robins.

For its part, PCCL will offer member schools a chance to participate in the new league and develop their own comprehensive esports programs in collaboration with Mineski.

PCCL has a long track record in national collegiate basketball championships and has recently recalibrated its program to include a wider list of activities to help spur participation among students and institutions.

“This is the future of sports and competition. Esports is more inclusive than other sports and will help lead even more of our new generation to play competitively and responsibly in tournaments and engage in activities at par with the rest of the world,” said Rey Gamboa, PCCL Chairman.

PCCL is best known for bringing together leagues such as the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI).

In 2019, PCCL hosted the Digital Games Championship, its maiden foray into esports which saw 108 teams from various schools participate. A team from the University of the East won the championship.

For this year, Mineski has drawn up a comprehensive schedule of activities to engage students not just in competition but also in training, coaching, and even development of full careers in esports.

In addition to tournaments, Mineski has drawn up plans for on-campus activities that will help promote careers in esports, responsible gaming and other esports-related topics for students.

Already, the First Asian Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) Colleges, based in Tanuan, Batangas has been among the pioneers in offering an esports curriculum to its students.

“We’ll be exploring ways of training and motivating athletes for careers in esports. This program will also promote esports as a legitimate part of the school curriculum and reveal the positives it can bring to the table,” said PCCL Esports President Chot Reyes.

“The same way basketball grew from the grassroots level, we’re now excited to promote and grow esports in the country,” he added. The five-time PBA Coach of the Year and basketball coaching legend is expected to bring esports to new heights.

A Filipino champion gamer, Mr. Robins established Mineski Global and its related business units from an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. He hopes to cultivate this as well among young Filipino gamers.

“There will be a platform for eventual careers as esports athletes or within the esports ecosystems like game designers, content creators, product managers, event managers, and business developers, to name a few,” he said.

Esports took the limelight in last year’s Southeast Asian Games, as it was included as a medal sport in the regional event for the first time. Filipinos like Caviar “Enderr” Acampado from team Liyab, and co-trained by Mineski, led the national esports team to several victories. Acampado is the lone Filipino gold medal individual winner at the games while Team Philippines won the overall esports title.

PCCL-member schools and esports teams looking to participate in this year’s program can visit the Mineski Events Team — MET Events Facebook page.

GM Laylo replaces GM Sadorra in PHL team for Chess Olympiad

THE NATIONAL Chess Federation of the Philippines has tapped GM Darwin Laylo to replace GM Julio Catalino “Ino” Sadorra in the national team competing in the 44th World Chess Olympiad set August 5 to 18 in Moscow, Russia.

“GM Julio Catalino “Ino” Sadorra will be replaced by GM Darwin Laylo, who placed second to International Master Haridas Pascua in the 4-man elimination tournament held recently, in the Olympic team.” said Atty. Cliburn Anthony Orbe, newly-appointed executive director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

The final line-up according to Mr. Orbe, Laylo, reigning Philippine National Chess Champion GM Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr., GM John Paul Gomez, IM Paulo Bersamina and IM Haridas Pascua.

Mr. Laylo, is one of the top players of multi-titled Philippine Army chess team, expressed readiness to take part in his Olympiad quest, saying that he’ll begin intensive training Saturday.

“Special thanks to our NCFP chairman/president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. and executive director Atty. Cliburn Anthony Orbe for this opportunity,” Mr. Laylo said.

Coming off a winning performance at the Hong Bao Rating Tournament 2020 (Open division), the San Roque, Marikina City-based Laylo is looking to follow-up the victory in the Singapore Chess Federation High Performance Enrichment (HPE) in Bishan, Singapore. — Marlon Bernardino

Maria Sharapova, 32, says goodbye to tennis

BERLIN — Maria Sharapova, the Russian five-time Grand Slam champion who became one of the highest paid sportswomen in the world, announced the end of her career at the age of 32 on Wednesday.

Siberia-born Sharapova, whose Wimbledon victory over Serena Williams in 2004, aged 17, propelled her to superstardom and riches, broke the news in an article for magazine Vanity Fair.

“I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis — I’m saying goodbye,” Sharapova, whose rags to riches story captivated the sporting world but turned sour when she was banned for doping, wrote in a farewell article.

Her decision to quit is hardly a major surprise as she has been a pale imitation of her former self since returning in 2017 from the 15-month ban for taking prohibited heart drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

The former world number one has played only two matches this year, losing in the first round of the Australian Open, with her ranking sliding to 373.

“Looking back now, I realize that tennis has been my mountain. My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible,” she said.

“After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain, to compete on a different type of terrain.”

Sharapova, whose trademarks were her ferocious intensity and pounding groundstrokes, completed her career Grand Slam when she won the French Open in 2012. She also won at Roland Garros again in 2014, her last major title.

She became the first Russian woman to reach number one in the rankings in 2005 and claimed the US Open title in 2006. She also won the Australian Open in 2008.

“It’s a shame, of course, because Maria was a role model for everyone,” Shamil Tarpischev, president of Russia’s Tennis Federation, told RIA news agency.

WTA Tour chairman Steve Simon added: “She will be greatly missed by her millions of fans around the world.”

INJURY PROBLEMS
Sharapova, who grew up in Sochi, was spotted playing at a tennis camp in Moscow by former great Martina Navratilova and moved with father Yuri to Florida with little money and no English, claimed 36 titles.

But injuries, especially her shoulder, blighted her career.

A torn rotator cuff in 2008 required surgery and she was out for six months, dropping her outside the top 100.

Showing the tenacity that marked her career, she battled back though and her two French Open titles on a claycourt surface she once loathed earned Sharapova admiration.

Her career took a dark turn in 2016. After an 18th consecutive defeat by Serena Williams, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Sharapova failed an anti-doping test and was initially banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Sharapova claimed she had not realized that meldonium, which she said she had taken for health issues throughout her career, had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list.

Her ban was eventually reduced to 15 months and she returned to action in April 2017 after being handed wildcards at several events, which drew criticism from some fellow players.

Later that year she won the Tianjin Open, the last title of a storied career that earned her $38.7 million in prize money — a figure dwarfed by off-court earnings that according to Forbes made her the highest-paid female athlete for 11 years in a row.

The all-too-frequent career breaks, gave Sharapova time to establish a confectionary company called Sugarpova, from which some of the proceeds go to the Maria Sharapova Foundation — a charity set up to help victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident from which her parents fled.

While that will keep her busy, Sharapova said the thrill of competition will be missed. — Reuters

Kaya rues missed chances in nil-nil draw with Tampines

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WHILE RECOGNIZING its opponent dominated the game, Kaya FC-Iloilo said it had its opportunities to win in its Group H match against Singapore’s Tampines Rovers in the AFC Cup at the Rizal Memorial Stadium but just could not capitalize on them.

It is something Kaya is pondering upon as it turns its attention to its next game in the tournament.

The home team held tough as visiting Tampines tried to snatch a win on Philippine soil but goalkeeper Louie Casas and the rest of Kaya would stand their ground.

“We played well in the first half but football is not won in the first half. Despite Tampines dominating the game, we had our chances but we did convert them. We were just unlucky not to score a goal but we had a lot of chances,” said Kaya coach Oliver Colina as he reflected on their performance.

The Kaya coach said they will go back on the drawing board in preparation for their next match, an away fixture, against Indonesian club PSM Makassar on March 10.

“We wanted to win but just did not get it. That’s football and we prepare for our next game,” said Mr. Colina.

Adding, “We’re still on top of the table despite the result.”

After two matches to date, Kaya (1-1-0) leads its grouping with four points, followed by Tampines (1-1-0) also with four points.

Third-running is PSM Makassar (1-0-1) with three points and Shan United FC of Myanmar (0-0-2) with no points to show for so far.

Kaya’s victory came at the expense of Shan United, 2-0, in Yangon on Feb. 12, with Jovin Bedic and Eric Giganto providing the goals.

In the AFC Cup, leader on the board after group play books a spot in the zonal semifinals.

Doncic’s triple-double powers Mavericks past Spurs, 109-103

ALAMO CITY — Luka Doncic scored 26 points, distributed 14 assists and took 10 rebounds as the visiting Dallas Mavericks made the plays needed in the final three minutes to hold off the San Antonio Spurs 109-103 on Wednesday in the Alamo City.

The Mavericks led by 10 points at the half and by 11 after three before San Antonio rallied in the final period. The game was tied at 96 on a Lonnie Walker IV 3-pointer with 4:01 to play before Dallas got a three-point play and a 3-pointer by Porzingis and a 3-pointer from Seth Curry to move back in front for good at 105-96.

Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 17 points and Dorian Finney-Smith hit for 14 for the Mavericks.

DeMar DeRozan led San Antonio with 27 points, with Marco Belinelli scoring 14 points and Walker IV and Bryn Forbes and 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Spurs have lost two straight and seven of their past nine games.

The game was the first at home for the Spurs since Feb. 1 and came after San Antonio went 2-6 on its annual Rodeo Road Trip. San Antonio forward LaMarcus Aldridge missed the contest due to right shoulder soreness on his own bobblehead night.

The Mavericks set the pace early on, driving to as much as a 19-point lead early in the second quarter before settling for a 59-49 advantage at halftime.

Porzingis paced Dallas with 16 points and Hardaway added 10, the final of which came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the second quarter.

DeRozan led San Antonio with 15 points in the first half but also was assessed a technical foul for arguing a non-foul call late in the second.

The Mavericks could not shake San Antonio in the third quarter despite 12 points and four assists in the period from Doncic. Dallas led 88-77 heading into the final quarter.

San Antonio fashioned a 13-1 run to start the fourth quarter to jump in front at 90-89. Dorian Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer at the 5:32 mark of the final period was Dallas’ first field goal of the quarter and pushed the Mavericks back to the lead. — Reuters

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