Fighting Maroons going for sustainability in their program

August 11, 2020 | 5:08 pm

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

NO longer the perennial whipping boys at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the UP Fighting Maroons are aware of the need to have things sustained for now and the future so as not to let their efforts go to waste.

Speaking at the Power & Play radio program of former Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Noli Eala last Saturday, University of the Philippines men’s basketball coach Bo Perasol shared that he is happy to see their vision of having State U be competitive anew at the UAAP steadily bearing fruit and that he hopes they get to stay the course.

“The renewed basketball program of UP started five years ago. Prior to that there was not really a solid program to speak of. At the onset what we were talking about is how to have a sustainable program, which extends up to this day now that we are doing well,” said Mr. Perasol, who is the coach of the Fighting Maroons since 2016.

“We wanted to emulate what others were doing, like Ateneo, La Salle and FEU (Far Eastern University) which are not personality-based. Meaning, let’s say a particular coach leaves, the program continues. It was [not the case] for UP in years past. We’re just trying to make it sustainable and for the team not to revert to the days when it cannot win games. Instead we want to give ourselves a chance to compete at a high level each season,” he added.

The coach, who also played for UP in college, went on to say that the formation and the coming on board of nowhere to go but UP Foundation, Inc. have done wonders to the school’s sports programs, paving the way for the school to be considered by potential recruits as a destination to showcase their wares.

“This system we are having in UP is a very unique model. We are a public school with very little funding, if at all, for our varsity teams. What we did in the last few seasons is get as a model what Ateneo and La Salle were doing where their funding comes mostly from their alumni. But what we did differently was institutionalize the sponsorship,” Mr. Perasol said.

“Nowhere to go but UP is a pioneering group of people who just want to help UP. Through it we are assured that we stay with one program to follow and it’s not going to be different people or groups supporting each time,” he added.

Given the situation they are in right now as an organization, Mr. Perasol said he believes that they are in firm position to compete but was quick to say that work has to be put in to be in a better position to make everything fall into place.

“I’m excited for the season (Season 83) whenever it will start. I think we can compete and it’s very reassuring that we have new blood in our fold now,” he said.

UP has been busy in the offseason, welcoming new players in preparation for the future when their current stalwarts move on.

Recently the Fighting Maroons secured commitments from “super juniors” Carl Tamayo and Gerry Abadiano from the Nazareth School of National University, who Mr. Perasol is very high on.

“They (Tamayo and Abadiano) have the experience, championship experience. We were able to play against them and their bodies are ready for the seniors. But of course they have to continue working to fulfil their potential,” the UP coach said of their latest recruits.

Apart from Tamayo and Abadiano, UP also now has Xavier School’s Miguel Tan, Fil-Canadians Alonso Tan and Anton Eusebio, Fil-Australian center Ethan Kirkness, Fil-Am guard Sam Dowd, and Gilas Youth cadet RC Calimag as well as transferees Joel Cagulangan and Malick Diouf.

The last two UAAP seasons have an eventful one for the Diliman-based school, barging into the finals after a three-decade absence in Season 81 and last year making it to the Final Four for the second straight season.

Tuason Racing, partners lend support to health frontliners

August 11, 2020 | 5:07 pm

RECOGNIZING that continuous help goes a long way during this time of the coronavirus pandemic, Tuason Racing, long-time pro racing school in the country, and its partners came to the aid of health frontliners in different barangays.

Tuason Racing, Phoenix Fuels, Family Mart Philippines and STET-VIP recently provided personal protective equipment (PPE), health and food supplies to their partner communities to sustain the latter in their fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The pro racing school, one of the top proponents of the sport of motor racing locally, used the money raised from its virtual Race for Frontliners event to buy the PPEs and medical supplies such as masks, gloves, sanitizing agents, and gowns for the healthcare workers.

Race for Frontliners was able to raise P408,906. The virtual competition was staged as a way for Tuason Racing to keep the excitement and interest in motor sports alive among enthusiasts during the time of the pandemic and do its share in the fight against COVID-19, which has at least 136,000 confirmed cases in the Philippines as of this writing.

Among the partner beneficiaries of Tuason Racing’s Race for Frontliners were Brgy. Valencia, Quezon City; Brgy. Caa, Las Piñas City; Brgy. Tatalon Dos, Las Piñas City; Brgy. Malagasang II-B in Imus, Cavite; Brgy. Tunasan, Muntinlupa City; Brgy. Western Bicutan, Taguig City; Brgy. San Antonio in Sucat, Parañaque; Brgy. San Isidro, Las Piñas Cty; Philippine General Hospital, Armed Forces of the Philippines, PNP Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard, and Ospital ng Muntinlupa.

As COVID-19 remains a concern in the country, Tuason Racing said it is tapping on the digital platform, holding virtual races, seeing its potential thriving among the Filipinos. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Kuzma’s trey carries Lakers past Nuggets

August 11, 2020 | 5:06 pm

KYLE KUZMA’S 3-pointer with 0.4 second left lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 124-121 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night near Orlando.

LeBron James had 29 points and 12 assists for the Lakers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Anthony Davis finished with 27 points, and Kuzma contributed 25.

Reserve guard PJ Dozier had 18 points to lead the Nuggets, who had eight players reach double figures. Michael Porter, Jr. had 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 on 3-pointers. Jamal Murray had 14 points, Paul Millsap scored 13 and Nikola Jokic chipped in 12 for Denver.

The Nuggets rested their starters for much of the fourth quarter, and the loss left them 1 1/2 games back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference with two games remaining. The two teams meet Wednesday.

RAPTORS 114 – BUCKS 106
Chris Boucher had a career-best 25 points to go with 11 rebounds, and Toronto defeated Milwaukee for the first time this season as both teams played without key players.

Matt Thomas added a career-best 22 points for the Raptors and Norman Powell had 21 points and eight rebounds. Pascal Siakam added 14 points for Toronto.

Kyle Korver scored 19 points for Milwaukee, Khris Middleton had 17, and George Hill netted 14.

SUNS 128 – THUNDER 101
Devin Booker scored 35 points and Phoenix continued its surprising undefeated run through the NBA bubble, cruising past short-handed Oklahoma City.

Booker, who sat out the fourth quarter, notched his 90^th career 30-point game and tied Suns legend Walter Davis for most 30-point games in franchise history. Mikal Bridges and rookie Cameron Johnson added 18 points each for the Suns, who have won all six seeding games in the bubble and remain in the thick of the race for a postseason berth.

Darius Bazley’s 22 points and 10 rebounds led the Thunder. Oklahoma City, which lost a 15-point lead in the first half, has already clinched a playoff spot and is 3-3 in the bubble.

MAVERICKS 122 – JAZZ 114
Tim Hardaway, Jr. led Dallas with 27 points and Seth Curry added 22 to lead the Mavericks to a victory over Utah.

Boban Marjanovic added 20 points and nine rebounds and J.J. Barea chipped in 18 for the Mavericks, who rallied from a 22-point deficit.

Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points to lead Utah. Rayjon Tucker added a career-high 17 points while Emmanuel Mudiay added 14 and Georges Niang chipped in 13 for the Jazz, who blew a late double-digit lead for a second straight game.

HEAT 114 – PACERS 92
Jimmy Butler, returning from a three-game injury absence, had game highs with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals to lead Miami past Indiana and into sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Butler, who also had five assists in 29 minutes, had been out with a sore right foot. The teams were tied at halftime, but the Heat led by as many as 18 points in an explosive third quarter and cruised from there, cooling off Pacers star T.J. Warren along the way.

Warren entered Monday as the league’s top scorer in the restart, averaging an impressive 34.8 points on 60.5% shooting from the floor and 55.6% on 3-point attempts. However, Miami held him to 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting, including 2-for-6 on 3-point attempts. Victor Oladipo led Indiana with 14 points. — Reuters

Kang captures LPGA Marathon Classic crown

August 11, 2020 | 5:06 pm

DANIELLE KANG profited from a late Lydia Ko collapse to win the Marathon Classic by one shot on Sunday and become the first player to win back-to-back events on the LPGA Tour since Shanshan Feng in 2017.

Kang, who won last week’s Drive On Championship, looked out of contention as she trailed New Zealander Ko by five shots with six holes to play but a few words of encouragement from her caddie turned things around.

“My caddie looked at me and said, ‘You’re right in it,’” the 27-year-old American said.

Her final round of three-under-par 68 saw her finish at 15-under 269, one stroke better than Ko (73) and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (67).

Ko led by four heading into Sunday’s finale and looked on course to end her two-year wait for a title before bogeys at 14 and 16 and a double-bogey at the 18^th tripped her up. — Reuters

Jump rope association making case for activity as a sport

August 11, 2020 | 5:05 pm

MORE than just a cardio tool for one’s fitness regimen and a fun physical activity, jump rope is an exciting and intricate pursuit worthy to be considered a sport where Filipinos can excel in.

This is what the newly organized Philippine Jump Rope Association (PJRA) wants to highlight in making a case for the activity as a legitimate sports discipline and sharing the passion for it.

Noel Agra, PJRA president, shared during his session at the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday that doing jump rope is a worthwhile activity to pick up by anybody who wants to have an all-around body workout, especially now the country is in under various forms of lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The PJRA built this association during the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) period and we want to share our love for doing jump rope. I have been doing this for the past five years and it has been life-changing for me. Actually I lost 50 pounds doing it. Through the federation we want to share the love for jump rope both as a lifestyle and as a sport,” Mr. Agra said.

Currently the newly formed association has 148 members nationwide and it is continuously accepting members and working with other groups to steadily build the legs for jump rope in the country.

Mr. Agra said they are in the process of preparing to hold different online events for now to foster the jump rope community locally and introduce the activity to more people.

The PJRA, too, is bent on legitimizing jump rope as a sport and it has already applied for membership with the International Jump Rope Union (IJRU), the international federation for competitive jump rope or rope skipping.

Mr. Agra shared that from their going around, he is very confident that Filipinos can excel in jump rope and that push for it just needs to be enhanced.

“We are in the process of finding jump rope athletes. It is a challenging sport which needs a lot of commitment and hard work. We actually have a lot of athletes who have not been exposed or highlighted,” the PJRA president said.

Despite the limitations presented by the pandemic, Mr. Agra said they at the PJRA are determined to see what they want to achieve for jump rope through.

“The quarantine lockdown is really a challenge because we are limited in what we can do. But the potential is there and there is progress,” he said.

PJRA is looking at staging a series of online events beginning in September.

For more information on jump roping and PJRA, follow the group on Facebook @jump.pjra. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Livewire Lukaku leads Inter to Europa League semi-finals

August 11, 2020 | 5:04 pm

DUSSELDORF, Germany — Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen as he tormented the Germans to lead his side into the Europa League semi-finals on Monday.

Nicolo Barella put Inter ahead after 15 minutes, driving the ball home after Lukaku’s shot was blocked, and six minutes later the Belgian got on the scoresheet when he displayed his strength by holding off defender Edmond Tapsoba before firing home.

Leverkusen winger Kai Havertz, reported to be a transfer target of Premier League club Chelsea, pulled a goal back for the Germans but it was goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky who kept them in the game with a string of fine saves.

The win sets up a semi-final against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk or FC Basel of Switzerland, who meet on Tuesday

After scoring what proved to be the winner, Lukaku could have had a second goal when Inter were awarded a penalty for handball, but that harsh decision against Leverkusen was overturned by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Tapsoba struggled all night to contain the physicality of 27-year-old Lukaku, who set a record by scoring in nine straight Europa League games, and in the second half the centre-back resorted to hacking the striker down on a number of occasions.

Seeking their first trophy since a 2011 Coppa Italia triumph, Inter sent on Alexis Sanchez in the second half and he had two excellent efforts blocked by last-ditch defending.

Lukaku was again denied a spot kick by VAR after an Inter player was discovered to have handled just before Christian Eriksen was bundled over in the box, and he fired a late shot wide under pressure from Tapsoba as Inter held on for victory.

Lukaku showed plenty of humility after his dominant performance, saying: “To me, the man of the match is Nicolo Barella. The way he plays football is simply incredible — maturity, quality. He is truly a great player.” — Reuters

Extra-time Fernandes penalty sends United into Europa semis

August 11, 2020 | 5:04 pm

COLOGNE, Germany — Manchester United were forced to dig deep to reach the Europa League semi-finals as Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes converted a 95th-minute penalty to secure a 1-0 win over a stubborn FC Copenhagen side after extra time on Monday.

United, who won Europe’s second-tier competition in 2017, will meet Sevilla or Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday for a berth in the final after grinding down the Danes and their inspired goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson in an entertaining game.

Sevilla, who have lifted the Europa League trophy a record five times, face Wolves in Duisburg on Tuesday while 2009 winners Shakhtar Donetsk take on FC Basel in Gelsenkirchen.

Inter Milan also booked a semi-final berth by beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in Monday’s other tie as the mini-tournament played across Germany on a one-off knockout basis got underway.

Copenhagen dominated the opening half and missed several chances, with United’s defence looking all at sea in the opening 20 minutes as they made several desperate clearances to deny Mohamed Daramy and Jonas Wind.

United thought they had taken the lead on the stroke of halftime but Mason Greenwood’s precise shot into the far corner was correctly ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

Being on the back foot in the opening half spurred United into action though and they created a flurry of chances after the break, although Wind also came close at the other end.

Fernandes and Greenwood hit the woodwork and Marcus Rashford had an effort ruled out for offside while Copenhagen’s Johnsson produced a string of superb saves to force extra time.

Fernandes settled the contest when he drilled his spot-kick past Johnsson after Anthony Martial, who saw several sitters thwarted by the keeper, was fouled by Andreas Bjelland.

Johnsson then pulled off several stunning stops to keep out shots by Martial and Mata, racking up a total of 13 saves, the most by a keeper in a single Europa League game since 2009.

Copenhagen pushed forward in search of an equaliser in the last 15 minutes of extra time but United’s defence held out as the Old Trafford side booked their third semi-final spot this season after losing out in the League Cup and FA Cup.

Spanish playmaker Mata acknowledged that United were exhausted by a demanding season prolonged by the COVID-19 pandemic but was confident they would finish on a high note.

“The team is quite tired physically,” he told BT Sport.

“At this stage of this season it is important to win games like today and we go through. We stay in Germany for quite some time and hopefully we can win (the trophy).

“We scored one goal, of course we are happier when we score more but now it is time to recover and wait and find out who we get in the next round.” — Reuters

Morikawa faces major expectations after PGA Championship win

August 11, 2020 | 5:03 pm

COLLIN Morikawa displayed nerves of steel in the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday where the young American fended off a slew of big names to grab his first major and ensure he will no longer fly under the radar.

In only his second career major start, the 23-year-old Morikawa was a model of precision at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco where he finally pulled away from a tight leaderboard with a remarkable drive that set up a late eagle.

“In the strokes-gained era, this is the first time a player has ever led in fairways hit, proximity to the hole and strokes-gained putting,” said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee.

“You put all that together and it’s just not fair that somebody after 29 events on the PGA Tour has all of those skills and has their whole career in front of them.”

Morikawa, who last month picked up his second career PGA Tour win, was not on anyone’s radar at the year’s first major until firing a 65 in the third round that left him two shots back of the leader.

In the final round he delivered the drive of his life at the par-four 16th which led to an eagle that all but clinched the Wanamaker Trophy and cemented his place among the cast of young standouts in the golfing world.

“There’s a maturity there that at 23, it shouldn’t exist,” former British Open champion Justin Leonard said of Morikawa. “The skillset that he has is a little different than what we see in a modern young player.”

PGA Championship runner-up Paul Casey, who finished two shots back, praised Morikawa’s maturity and said the previously unheralded American will remain a force.

“There’s always a lot of — there’s always kind of a new wave,” English Ryder Cup veteran Casey said.

“There’s always a bunch of guys that rock up on the scene, and he didn’t necessarily get the most publicity out of the group he was in, but you know, I can consider myself veteran; I’ve been around the block, so I know talent when I see it.”

Morikawa, who was 65th in the rankings at the end of 2019, shot up seven places to world number five after his win, is eager to relish the spotlight and anything but complacent after the biggest win of his career.

“When I woke up (on Sunday), I was like, this is meant to be. This is where I feel very comfortable. This is where I want to be, and I’m not scared from it,” said Morikawa.

“I think if I was scared from it, the last few holes would have been a little different, but you want to be in this position.

“It doesn’t stop here. I’ve got a very good taste of what this is like, what a major championship is like.” — Reuters

Handed chances

August 11, 2020 | 5:03 pm

When plans for the National Basketball Association’s campus environment were being formulated, not a few quarters criticized the Suns’ inclusion in the mix. The concerns weren’t unfounded, to be sure; when the 2019-20 season was suspended in mid-March, stalwarts of the purple and orange were fresh off losses in five of their last seven contests. And, at 26 and 39, they faced the near-Sisyphean task of winning every single one of their eight seeding games just to move up from 13^th in the conference and force sudden death for the last spot in the playoffs.

Fast forward a month into the league’s restart, and the Suns have clearly underscored that they belong in the bubble. They’re a perfect six of six heading into today’s match against the Sixers, with their run of success catapulting them past the now-eliminated Pelicans and Kings and putting them smack dab in the middle of a four-way battle for the final postseason berth. And, for all their failings prior to the shutdown, their recent string of triumphs is no fluke. They’ve been the best by far of the 22 teams quartered in Walt Disney World, no easy feat in light of the odds and the ease with which they could have instead coasted.

Considering the Suns’ scorching-hot showing, its no surprise that the naysayers have come and gone. Conventional wisdom pegged them as mere fodder, and an unnecessary one at worst — avoidable threats to health and safety protocols for a setup perennially in danger of being breached. Instead, they’ve emerged as first among equals of the tournament within a tournament. And, significantly, they remain as grounded as they were in the beginning. “We haven’t accomplished anything,” insisted head coach Monty Williams in the aftermath of their victory against the Thunder yesterday. “Everybody is trying to get to the playoffs, and we’ve just said we’re going to take it one step at a time.”

In short, the Suns are being smart first and foremost, pushing themselves to excel at factors they can control and not wasting time on those they can’t. Else, they would have been overwhelmed by the extent of the work facing them. Even now, there’s no guarantee they’ll be part of the play-in series; the Grizzlies, Blazers, and Spurs are lockstep with them in battle, bent on giving no quarters en route. Which is why they’re fine with any outcome for as long as they managed to do their best; there’s nothing else they can do but make the most of the opportunities given them.

Indeed, doing so has been a crucial ingredient to the Suns’ ascent. They’ve prevailed against handicapped opposition: the Wizards without Bradley Beal and Davis Bertrand; the Clippers without Montrezl Harrell; the Heat without Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic; and the Thunder without Dennis Shroder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams. And, today, they’ll be taking to the court versus the Joel Embiid- and Ben Simmons-less Sixers. Of course, being handed chances is one thing, and taking advantage of them is quite another.

At this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to where the Suns will be at the end of their 2019-20 campaign. How they’re finishing it is clear, in any case: with their heads held high and all too aware of their bright future.

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.

US, China lead number of unicorns in Global Unicorn Index 2020

August 11, 2020 | 4:17 pm

By Patricia B. Mirasol

The world has 586 known unicorns—startups valued at more than US$1 billion—and the US and China account for 79% of them, according to Hurun Research Institute’s Global Unicorn Index 2020 released this August. The 586 unicorns are based in 29 countries and 145 cities. The total value of all known unicorns is US$1.9 trillion, close to Italy’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The US and China continue to dominate… despite representing only 40 percent of the world’s GDP and a quarter of the world’s population,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, a luxury publishing group based in Shanghai, China. “The rest of the world needs to wake up to providing an ecosystem that allows unicorns to flourish.”

The Hurun Global Unicorn Index ranks the world’s startups founded in the 2000s, that are worth at least a billion dollars and are not yet listed on a public exchange. The valuations are a snapshot of March 31, 2020.

WHERE UNICORNS RESIDE
The US leads China 233 to 227 in terms of number of unicorns per country, but China is home to four of the top five unicorns:

1. Alipay operator Ant Group, the digital financial services arm of Alibaba Group Holding, valued at US $150 billion

2. ByteDance, owner of video-sharing platform TikTok, valued at US$80 billion

3. Didi Chuxing, China’s biggest ride-hailing services provider, valued at US$55 billion

4. Lufax Holding, which runs an online wealth management and peer-to-peer lending platform, valued at US $38billion

5. Space Exploration Technologies Corp, also known as SpaceX, valued at US$36 billion—SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, is the lone unicorn in the top five that is based outside China (its headquarters are located in Hawthorne, California)

The UK placed third with 24 unicorns, while India was fourth with 21, and South Korea fifth with 11.

By city, Beijing is the world’s unicorn capital with 93, ahead of San Francisco’s 68 and followed by Shanghai (47), New York (33), Shenzhen (20), and Hangzhou (20). Nine of the top ten cities with unicorns are in China and the USA. London is the only other city in that top ten. “China and the USA dominating the world’s unicorn cities is significant because these unicorns create an ecosystem of talent and investors,” Mr. Hoogewerf said.

By region, Silicon Valley takes top spot as home to 122 or 21% of the world’s unicorns.

By continent, Asia leads North America (278 versus 236) as the continent creating the most unicorns in the world, both in terms of number of unicorns and in terms of total valuations of unicorns.

NUMBERS BY SECTOR
Eighty percent of the world’s unicorns sell software and services, led by e-commerce and followed by fintech, artificial intelligence (AI), and Software as a Service (or SaaS, a licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted). Twenty percent have a physical product as a core business offering, led by consumer goods, e-cars, and AI.

E-commerce was the sector with the most number of unicorns (89), followed by AI and fintech with 63 each. Others include SaaS (53), shared economy (33), and health tech (28).

The sectors most disrupted by unicorns are financial services, retail, media and entertainment, business management solutions, and healthcare. “Unicorns create value mostly by disrupting existing industries,” said Mr. Hoogewerf.

On the investor side, US-based Sequoia was the world’s most successful, investing in one in five of the world’s unicorns. Also successful at finding and investing in unicorns were China’s Tencent, Japan’s Softbank, and IDG (another US firm).

Suntrust Ecotown Tanza: Enabling progress amid the pandemic

August 11, 2020 | 4:14 pm

In spite of the big impact the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had on the economy, the development of Suntrust Properties in Tanza, Cavite continues to serve as a vehicle of economic growth, constantly meeting the needs of its locators and sustaining its workforce.

Suntrust Ecotown Tanza (SET) is the first foray of holding company Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI) and parent company Megaworld in industrial park development. The biggest component of the township will be the industrial park, while the rest will be devoted to residential, commercial, office, entertainment and institutional components including government offices, school and hospital, among others.

It was launched in 2014 as a way of actively helping the government in nation-building, specifically in terms of generating around 120,000 direct jobs and 600,000 indirect jobs. The industrial project is registered under Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), offering fiscal and non-fiscal incentives while ensuring both foreign and local investors the “ease of doing business” as they invest here in the Philippines.

Suntrust Ecotown standard factory building

Strategically located right at the heart of the town of Tanza, SET takes full advantage of its location due to its close proximity to the Export Processing Zone in the neighboring town of Rosario, as well as major airports, seaports, and business districts in Manila.

The industrial hub is also at a place where various infrastructure projects have been thriving, creating more advantage to Suntrust’s booming development. These projects include the Cavite Gateway Terminal, a barge port just seven kilometers away from SET; LRT Line 1 Extension; Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX); Sangley Point Airport; and the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge.

For such perks, Suntrust Ecotown Tanza is seen to be the biggest investment generator in Cavite, as well as the biggest job generator for the province in the coming years.

The first phase of the development measures about 111.4 ha and has 109 industrial lots. At present, this phase is already sold-out, compelling Suntrust to open the second phase of development with a total of 41.51 ha. Currently, a total inventory of 20 ha remains available.

Pioneering locators for Suntrust Ecotown Tanza are both Japanese manufacturing companies. The first locator at Suntrust Ecotown Tanza was Philippine Toei Chemical Corp., which produces industrial rubber parts for the automotive industry since 2015. This was followed by Oakwave Philippines Corp., a wiring harness manufacturer.

At present, other facilities providers and manufacturing companies have joined the roster of operational businesses in the development. These facilities providers are CCMC Land, Inc., Marnaco Inc., Dyco Yang Jeong Realty Inc., ZhongYao, and Orient Goldcrest Realty. The manufacturing firms, meanwhile, include Korean companies Daegyoung Apparel Inc., VCTP Inc., and BLD Electronics Inc.; and Chinese companies Huading Industries Corp., Huadi Dress Philippines, and D and S Industries Philippines Corp.

Other manufacturing firms include Japanese companies Glory Facilities and Development Corp., Subiendo Corporation, O.M. Daizen Enterprises Corp., and N.T. Philippines Inc.; Chinese company South Tanvite Management Corp.; Taiwanese companies Rosario Fasteners and Contour Optik; and Filipino companies Ecopack Manufacturing, JBC Food Corp., Armak Holdings & Development Inc. and Emperador Distillers, Inc. Other facilities providers include Centereach Resources, Panorama Property Ventures, Inc., Atlantica Industrial Resources, Interzone Property Management Corp., and Ironcon Builders.

Active amid COVID-19

While Suntrust Ecotown Tanza has experienced a slowdown in terms of site development amid the COVID-19 crisis, its full service to operating locators and contractors never ceased during the lockdown period.

As the industrial park retains the jobs of its workforce during these trying times, security personnel, site maintenance, site engineers, and estate admin personnel gave their full time and dedication to retain smooth operations inside the park and to ensure all concerns of all its locators and contractors are immediately addressed.

As the economy gradually proceeds into the ‘new normal’, Suntrust Ecotown Tanza is now back to business and on the upswing in terms of construction and land development, focusing further on the expansion area.

Moreover, Suntrust Ecotown Tanza, its operating companies, and its contractors have cooperatively assumed initiative and full responsibility in curbing the spread of COVID-19 through strict and proper implementation of health and safety protocols such as social distancing and wearing face shield/mask, to name a few.

Safety officers are also assigned to ensure strict compliance of health and safety protocols and to closely monitor health conditions of employees. The industrial hub, as well as each company there, have allocated areas as testing and isolation facilities.

All these measures are diligently implemented by Suntrust Ecotown Tanza to safeguard the health of all the employees, other personnel, and guests, as well as to keep the economic zone COVID-free.

A place for well-balanced lifestyles

Aside from being an economic driver, Suntrust Ecotown Tanza is a sustainable township development that aims to serve as a live-work-play-learn community, as envisioned by AGI Chairman Dr. Andrew L. Tan.

From the name itself, Suntrust Ecotown Tanza has ecology-friendly-themed features that make it a fitting place for living a well-balanced lifestyle. To lessen carbon footprint within the premises, the industrial park only requires its operating companies to use electronic or Euro-4 compliant vehicles as a shuttle service to its employees. To maintain a lush of green spaces around the area, tree planting activities have been organized by the park.

Furthermore, the ecozone has a centralized Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) built for wastewater treatment. It intends to recycle water for irrigation, and it complies with Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ standards for environment-friendly water discharge.

Other amenities in SET would include 24/7 security, PEZA and Customs office, shuttle terminal, fire station, materials recovery facility, driving range and mini-golf, badminton and basketball courts, park, hotel, and chapel, among others.

Philippines unlikely to keep lockdown despite surging infections

August 11, 2020 | 2:52 pm

The Philippines will unlikely keep its capital and nearby areas under strict lockdown despite coronavirus infections rising by another daily record to over 136,000.

The government has run out of resources for aid to poor families, and has to allow people to go back to work, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Tuesday. The two-week lockdown ending August 18 was declared to accommodate health workers who said hospitals were already getting overwhelmed, he said.

The Philippines is battling a virus outbreak that’s already the worst in the region, while trying to boost its economy that plunged into recession last quarter. — Bloomberg

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