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Dallas Cowboys gallop past New York Giants, stay atop NFC East

NEW YORK — Dak Prescott threw two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter Monday night as the Dallas Cowboys finally pulled away for a 37-18 win over the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J.

Prescott, who completed 22 of 35 passes for 257 yards with an interception, broke the game open with a 45-yard scoring strike to Amari Cooper with 7:56 left. The third-and-12 connection was Cooper’s second big play of the drive. He drew a 26-yard pass interference penalty on third-and-6 from the Dallas 15 to get the drive started.

Ezekiel Elliott added 139 yards on 23 carries for the Cowboys (5-3), who maintained a half-game lead on Philadelphia in the NFC East. Dallas tacked on a 63-yard fumble-return score from Jourdan Lewis with six seconds remaining as it swept the season series from its division rival.

New York rookie quarterback Daniel Jones hit on 26 of 41 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Jones also lost two fumbles, upping his NFL-co-leading turnover total to 16, as New York (2-7) lost its fifth straight game.

Aldrick Rosas’ 21-yard field goal gave the Giants a lead less than two minutes into the game but also started a game-long trend that ultimately doomed the hosts. New York managed just one touchdown in five trips inside the Dallas 20-yard line.

That came when Jones found Cody Latimer on a 1-yard scoring strike with 11:55 left in the first half for a 9-3 lead. Rosas’ 25-yard field goal made it 12-3 at the 2:52 mark, but Dallas rallied to grab a 13-12 edge at intermission.

Prescott hit backup tight end Blake Jarwin on a 42-yard touchdown pass, and Brett Maher converted a 52-yard field goal with three seconds left, four plays after Jones tossed an interception.

The teams exchanged third-quarter field goals, and the Cowboys upped the margin to 23-15 when Michael Gallup soared over Janoris Jenkins for a 15-yard touchdown catch with 12:40 remaining. Rosas’ fourth field goal with 11:52 left, a 29-yarder, cut the deficit to five. — Reuters

Recent trades

The last few weeks have been a busy one in the Philippine Basketball Association for trades with a number of players finding themselves in new homes as the ongoing season hits the homestretch.

The most recent of the player deals consummated came just before the league went on a short holiday break for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day last weekend.

The swaps involved that of Ray Parks Jr. going to the TNT KaTropa from the Blackwater Elite in exchange for Don Trollano, Anthony Semerad and two future first-round picks.

Also being consummated was that between the Alaska Aces and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok with All-Star guard Chris Banchero moving to the Hotshots from the Aces in return for role players Robbie Herndon and Rodney Brondial.

Much speculation has been thrown around as to the reasons behind these recent trades — with some saying these served to favor the “bigger” teams — which this space would not attempt to argue with in this piece and leaving for a discussion for another time.

Looking at the merits of the deal, however, I believe that the recent trades completed and approved by the league office were fair and would help all the parties involved.

Parks is definitely a huge loss for Blackwater.

He only played a conference and half for the Elite but it was enough to see the impact his skills set can have.

In his lone full conference with Blackwater in the Commissioner’s Cup, Parks helped the team to a quarterfinal finish and could have easily gone to the semifinals if not for import woes and had breaks in the playoffs went their way.

The finish came on the heels of the team’s dead-last finish in the season-opening Philippine Cup where Parks was not part of as he was still honoring his commitment with Alab Pilipinas in the ASEAN Basketball League.

In the ongoing Governors’ Cup, while the Elite have struggled to a 2-7 record before his departure, Parks still stayed steady, averaging 20.1 points, five rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals.

Despite this, Parks’ tenure with Blackwater was rendered “suspect” as he only signed a one-year deal with the team after a back-and-forth between the parties.

Was he committed with the Elite for the long term or not? Maybe. Or maybe not.

Given such a situation, I would not blame the Dioceldo Sy-bankrolled team for giving the go-ahead to the deal.

Could the Elite have gotten a better deal than what they received from TNT? Possibly.

But what they received was hardly a token as used properly the assets they got in return could have much impact.

The two future draft picks would go a long way in repositioning themselves for the direction they want to take moving forward. They can use them to draft quality players from the amateur ranks or trade for a player that could have an outright return.

In Trollano and Semerad, too, they have functioning pieces who would not have any trouble finding their place in their system.

Now Parks in TNT has an upside that is very promising.

TNT has been solid in the Governors’ Cup and the addition of Parks gives the KaTropa boosted ammo.

Alaska letting go of Banchero, meanwhile, also has a lot of sense to it considering how things have gone for the Aces in the last few conferences.

They have been competing but not as consistent as they wanted it to be.

New Alaska coach Jeffrey Coach has been pushing for the milk masters to have the “right mix” and trading Banchero, the most tradable player they had, he said, was part of it.

While they lost the leadership and big-game mentality of Banchero in the trade, they, however, further shored up their frontline with Herndon and Brondial.

Herndon has the ability to create shots for himself and his teammates when given the opportunity to play. He is no Calvin Abueva but he make things happen on both ends which should help the Aces moving forward.

Brondial is a tough big man and approaches the game with a no-nonsense attitude, providing added muscle for the Alaska attack.

On the other side, Banchero provides added stability to the Magnolia backcourt, which already has Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, Paul Lee and Justin Melton.

It is going to be interesting how coach Chito Victolero will use all the guards at his disposal but it is very reassuring no doubt for the Hotshots to have a guy with the abilities of Banchero in their fold.

With how the competition has shaped up in the PBA, it is little wonder that we get to see trade spurts right the one we have right now.

And the thing about it all, it is seemingly not yet done.

 

Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.

msmurillo@bworldonline.com

Patriots’ first loss

Disappointment was evident in coach Bill Belichick’s words even though they registered in a whisper. In fact, the dismay with which he met the Patriots’ loss the other day was underscored precisely by his soft delivery. “We did a lot of things we need to do better [in],” he told the assembled media. It wasn’t simply that they suffered their first setback in 13 outings spanning parts of two seasons and including Super Bowl LIII. It was how they did so, never mind that they faced the highly regarded Ravens on the road. They looked sluggish and out of sorts from the get-go, and even through a spirited second-half run that briefly made the set-to competitive.

To be sure, the Ravens came prepared and all too ready to defend the M&T Bank Stadium. With the 71,157-strong crowd providing added motivation, they hit the ground running to score on each of their first three series. They were, simply put, superb, keeping the Patriots’ vaunted defense — hitherto solid in limiting opponents to an anemic 7.6 points per game — guessing with well-designed and — disguised plays that highlighted quarterback Lamar Jackson’s strengths. By the time their sixth victory of the year became history, the sophomore managed to put up on-air and on-the-ground lines of 17-of-23 for 163 yards and a touchdown and 61 yards and two touchdowns, respectively.

Considering the numbers, Jackson would have had cause to argue that he deserved the game ball in the aftermath, anyway. That said, the reflection of the Ravens’ dominance in the outcome likewise stems from end-to-end ascendancy. The Patriots struggled to produce points, with usually dependable Tom Brady harassed into a forgettable 30-of-46 endeavor that included two sacks and an interception; their first three forays resulted in punts, and they got on board only after the second quarter was a fifth gone. They fell behind early, leading to a predisposition for play calls that favored the pass, but it’s also fair to argue that they didn’t have much of a running game to turn to in any case.

If there’s any silver lining for the Patriots, it’s that they can bank on their experience to improve moving forward. They’ve been there and done that too many times to count, and Belichick is, if nothing else, a master in getting his charges to bounce back, and fast. They have Week 10 to rest and then prepare for their meeting with the Eagles. And they will more likely than not be good — make that very good — when they next trek to the field. After all, they’re the reigning champions, and there’s another winning streak to put together.

 

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

DoLE confirms abduction of 2 Filipino seamen

TWO OF 11 Filipino seafarers who have been reported abducted in two separate incidents in the West African countries of Benin and Togo have been verified, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) reported on Tuesday.

DoLE said their employment agency, Eastern Ocean Maritime Corp., confirmed that the Greek-flagged vessel MT Elka Aristotle was boarded by pirates.

The two, identified as Second Officer Elmer L. Padecio and Seaman Rene M. Lazaga, were on board the oil tanker in Togo along with two others, a Greek and a Georgian.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday that it is still confirming reports of the two incidents.

On the other incident, “The Philippine Government is actively monitoring the reported piracy incident that occurred somewhere in Benin that led to the kidnapping of nine Filipino seafarers,” the DFA said in a statement.

Reuters on Monday reported that nine crew members aboard a Norwegian-flagged vessel were abducted by pirates in Benin.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eduardo Martin R. Meñez told reporters that the DFA is monitoring the incident through the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria.

“In both cases, we don’t have an embassy in the countries where the incidents happened so we have to work through our embassy in Abuja, Nigeria and their network,” Mr. Meñez said in a message sent by phone.

“There are also special considerations to follow in cases of abductions of our nationals abroad,” he added.

The DFA also said it has already communicated with the crewmen’s employment agencies.

The Philippines accounts for more than a third of some 1.5 million seafarers worldwide, according to DoLE’s data as of 2015. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Maguindanao massacre victims’ lawyer hopeful of conviction soon

AS THE 10th year anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre nears, a lawyer representing the families of the victims is hopeful that the principal suspects in the case, members of the Ampatuan political clan, will soon be convicted.

“We are hoping that a promulgation of judgment will be this November in time for the 10th year anniversary of the Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre, (which happened on November 23, 2009),” Legal counsel Nena Santos said in a media briefing Tuesday.

Justice Chief Menardo I. Guevarra said in August that he expects a decision on the gruesome case to come out by November “and that justice will finally be served.”

Ms. Santos said they do not expect all of the 197 respondents in the case to get a conviction, but they expect a guilty verdict against the sons of the alleged mastermind, Andal Ampatuan Sr., who passed away in 2015.

His two sons who are also among the main suspects, Andal Jr. and Zaldy, are in jail.

“We are not sure of the 100% (conviction) but we are sure that the principal accused will be convicted,” she said.

“We are the prosecution and we know our evidence and we know that we have submitted to the Honorable Court the evidence to convict the accused,” she added.

The Maguindanao Massacre, where 58 people were killed including 32 members of the media, is considered one of the worst cases of violence in journalism history and the worst election-related violence in the Philippines.

“If there will be no conviction, I am sorry to say that press freedom in the Philippines is dead,” she said. — Gillian M. Cortez

Iloilo students invent devices that can help rural communities

ILOILO CITY — Two groups of high school students from Iloilo have created devices that would be useful to rural communities, and they have made it the global judging round of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Apps Challenge.

One group from the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Western Visayas Campus developed “S-Light,” an electricity storage system that converts sound waves into storable energy.

Kirsten Dianne G. Delmo, one of the inventors, said their goal is help provide light to people living in remote areas.

“So what it does, it converts sound to electricity which can be able to power a light,” she said in an interview during last month’s the NASA Space Apps Challenge here, which served as a special pre-event for the Iloilo Innovation Expo 2019.

Her fellow inventors are Nico Andrei R. Serrato, Joecile Faith C. Monana, Frelean Faith M. Engallado and Raphael Francis E. Dequil. They explained that noise or sound waves will be picked up by the device’s speaker, causing the magnet to vibrate in the coil. This generates electricity, which is stored in the power box.

The S-Light received a silver award during the recent Young Inventors Challenge 2019 in Malaysia. The other group, coming from Iloilo National High School (INHS), have developed a plant monitoring robot, which has so far been tested on rice crops.

The ‘Short Message Service(SMS)-Based Plant Growth Monitoring Robot’ was created by Vincent Joshua L. Bendo, Alvin Alexander C. Buelos, and Robert Kobe T. Garcia.

“It monitors environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, moisture of the plants. It alerts in two ways. First, it alarms the user via SMS (short messaging system on mobile phone) and it has also a buzzer which emits a very high frequency, if the phone is not available,” Mr. Garcia explained. He said the device is currently limited to small-scale crop farming and nurseries, but they aim to improve it so it can cover bigger areas, especially in far-flung communities.

Xavier Romy O. Braña, the adviser of the PSHS students, said he hopes that the group would inspire other Filipino youth to be creative and work on innovations.

He said, “I am very proud of them. I hope they will become inspiration to the youth that if they have opportunities like this to develop their inventions, they will grab it. If they have an idea, they should pursue it and work hard and be creative.”

US Embassy Cultural Attaché Matt T. Keener said the Innovate Iloilo movement gave the perfect opportunity for the holding of the NASA Space Apps Challenge.

“The reason we chose Iloilo this year as a city because we know that Iloilo is invested in becoming a Smart City by investing on its youth, in its science and technology, and education. It’s part of the reason why we worked closely with CPU (Central Philippine University in Iloilo City). Government agencies are already demonstrating their commitment with events like Innovate Iloilo,”

Mr. Keener said. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

Tetangco receives recognition from Japanese government

FORMER BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Armando M. Tetangco Jr. has been recognized by the Japanese government for his role in liberalizing the entry of foreign banks in the Philippines. Mr. Tetangco has been conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold, and Silver Star, an award given for exemplary civil and military service. A statement from the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) says Mr. Tetangco has contributed to the “strengthening of the relations between Japan and the Philippines in the financial sector.” It added, “Mr. Tetangco also helped in regional finance stabilization by promoting both regional and bilateral financial cooperation led by Japan in order to overcome the global financial crisis that occurred in 2008.” Mr. Tetangco, who joined the BSP in 1974, served as the central bank’s head for two terms covering 12 years under the Arroyo and Aquino administrations. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Over 300 illegal Chinese workers deported

MORE THAN 300 undocumented Chinese workers, including seven minors, were deported on Tuesday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported. In a statement, BI said “it has deported 294 Chinese nationals in two chartered flights earlier today at the Puerto Princesa International Airport.” They were arrested last Sept. 16 for working without permit in eight hotels and restaurants. The seven minors were nabbed on the same day. BI Intelligence Division Chief Fortunato C. Manahan said they were arrested for “violating the conditions of their stay by working in the country without the necessary permits and visas.” — Gillian M. Cortez

Ormoc remembers 1991 flash flood

ORMOC CITY commemorated on Tuesday the Nov. 5, 1991 flash flood, brought about by typhoon Uring (international name: Thelma), where over 8,000 people died, including some 3,000 whose bodies were never found. Mayor Richard I. Gomez, in a simple ceremony at the Anilao Bridge, stressed the importance of planting trees and environmental protection as well as following disaster preparedness protocols. “Let us not experience that tragedy again.”

Homes, schools damaged by tornado in Marawi City, no casualty reported

TWO HOUSES and seven classrooms were totally destroyed when a tornado struck Marawi City at around 2:10 p.m. on Nov. 4, but no casualties were reported, the local disaster management office said in its rapid damage assessment report released Tuesday. An auditorium was also knocked down while partial damage were recorded in at least 42 houses and public infrastructure, including some buildings at the Marawi City government compound. The tornado, which lasted for about 10 minutes, affected the five villages of Sagonsongan, Barrion Fort, Bangon, Green, and Saber.

Cotabato appeals to residents to stop begging for relief goods along highways, says it’s unfair to emergency workers

COTABATO ACTING Governor Emmylou Talino-Mendoza appealed to residents, whether they have been affected or not by last month’s triple earthquakes, to stop begging for relief goods along the national highway, stressing that both the local government and national agencies have been working 24/7 for the emergency operations. Ms. Mendoza said while they are free to do such acts, it is unfair to the emergency workers who have been doing their best. “Hindi nagkulang ang national at local governments sa pagtulong sa kanila (We have not been remiss in the emergency response),” Ms. Mendoza said in a telephone interview, noting that evacuation areas were immediately set up, and relief goods distribution and rescue operations have been continuing. She also said the province — which was the epicenter of the magnitude 6.4, 6.6, and 6.5 earthquakes — fully supports the directive of Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to set up checkpoints in quake-affected areas in Mindanao to properly monitor the movement of relief goods and workers as well as ensure peace and security. “My position is to maintain the security and the orderliness by supporting the directive of (Mr.) Lorenzana for an orderly flow of the distribution of the relief goods.” Meanwhile, Cotabato Police Chief Maximo C. Layugan has reported incidents of looting in Barangay Batasan. — Maya M. Padillo

Mt. Apo trails temporarily closed

ENTRY POINTS to Mt. Apo, the country’s highest peak, from towns in Davao del Sur have been temporarily closed following the three earthquakes that hit parts of south-central Mindanao last month, including the province. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office said the local governments of Sta. Cruz, Bansalan, and Digos City have made their trails off limits for now to avoid risks to climbers. Landslides triggered by the earthquakes occurred in some areas at the foot of Mt. Apo. “The safety of the climbers is of utmost priority,” DENR said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), in an announcement posted Nov. 3, has stressed that the earthquakes are “tectonic,” which means these were due to movements in faults, and not arising from volcanic activity. Nonetheless, PHIVOLCS said it continues to closely monitor the two active volcanoes near the earthquakes’ epicenter, Mt. Matutum and Mt. Parker, and the “potentially active Mt. Apo.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco

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