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Karateka Tsukii determined to make it to the Olympics

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WHILE a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, is not yet guaranteed for her, Filipino-Japanese karateka Junna Tsukii is in no way deterred by it and still very much focused on seeing her push completed.

Speaking to reporters at the launch last week of sports nutrition brand AminoVital, which she is one of the ambassadors, Ms. Tsukii shared that she is still in the thick of her Olympic push and touted that she has a strong chance of making it to the global sporting spectacle provided things go her way.

“There is a strong chance of me qualifying. I still have to go through the qualifiers but with hard work and determination we will get there,” said Ms. Tsukii, 29.

It will be a busy stretch for the bemedalled karateka beginning this month till April with Olympic qualifying tournaments coming in succession.

Ms. Tsukii, ranked 10th in the World Karatedo Federation list, is to see action in Karate 1 Premier League tournaments in Dubai (Feb. 14–16), Austria (Feb. 29–March 1), Morocco (March 13–15) and Spain (April–19).

Through these tournaments she hopes to gain valuable points to emerge on top of her division in Asia and earn a spot in the Olympic Games. Currently she is number four in Asia.

She is also preparing for the last Olympic qualifier in Paris, France, in May if ever she falls short in her quest to emerge on top in the continent in the prior qualifying tournaments.

Ms. Tsukii recently won two bronze medals in a Premier League competition in Paris.

Prior to that, she won gold at the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

The Philippine Sports Commission has vowed to support her in her mission to make it to the Olympic Games.

Stephen Loman named Brave fighter of the year

BOOSTED BY two quality victories in 2019, bantamweight champion Stephen “The Sniper” Loman of Team Lakay was adjudged “fighter of the year” in Brave Combat Federation for the second year in a row.

Won the Brave bantamweight title in 2017, Mr. Loman (13-2) fortified his position in the division by winning his two fights last year on his way to becoming the longest-reigning champion in the promotion.

The Sniper took on former featherweight champion Elias Boudegzdame and ran through the French-Algerian fighter in their title clash in Brave’s first-ever live event in the Philippines on March 15.

Mr. Loman stopped his opponent in the fourth round with a violent TKO that sent shockwaves through the division.

He then travelled to India in November and came away with a unanimous decision victory over Canadian Louie Sanoudakis.

To date he is the only champion in bantamweight the promotion has seen with no signs of slowing down.

Mr. Loman said after his fight with Mr. Sanoudakis that he has no immediate plans to move up in weight, saying that he will stay in bantamweight and battle whoever is lined up for him.

“Right now, I have a lot of people to fight still [in the division], maybe one day [I’ll go up in weight],” he said. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Caruana wins Tata Steel Masters

82nd Tata Steel Masters
Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
Jan. 10–26, 2020

Final Standings:

1. Fabiano Caruana USA 2822, 10.0/13

2. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2872, 8.0/13

3. Wesley So USA 2765, 7.5/13

4.–5. Jorden Van Foreest NED 2644, Daniil Dubov RUS 2683, 7.0/13

6–9. Anish Giri NED 2768, Viswanathan Anand IND 2758, Jan-Krzysztof Duda POL 2758, Alireza Firouzja FIDE 2723, 6.5/13

10–11. Jeffery Xiong USA 2712, Vladislav Artemiev RUS 2731, 6.0/13

12. Nikita Vitiugov RUS 2747, 5.0/13

13. Yu Yangyi CHN 2726, 4.5/13

14. Vladislav Kovalev BLR 2660, 4.0/13

Average Rating: 2740 Category 20

Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1

The chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands is traditionally the first Super GM (Grandmaster) event of the year. The main sponsor of the chess festival, which started in 1938, remains the steel factory in Ijmuiden, which is now part of the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest business empires with subsidiaries involved in steel, power, chemicals, communications, beverages, motor vehicles, hotels, and many more.

There is the Masters’ Tournament where the world no. 1 (Magnus Carlsen) and no. 2 (Fabiano Caruana) will be taking part, a Challengers’ event which will qualify the winner to next year’s Masters’ Tournament, several Qualifier’s events to determine the participants in next year’s Challengers’ tournament, and several other opens for amateurs, club players and top professionals to compete in.

All these events are held in the giant De Moriaan sports hall in the center of town. You can walk around the tournament hall during playing time and maybe even bump into Magnus Carlsen or other members of the chess elite similarly wandering around the hall.

This is a great attraction of the annual Wijk aan Zee event — almost without exception chess players welcome each other in a close-knit chess brotherhood and in no time you might be chatting with Vishy Anand or drinking coffee with Svidler, elbow-to-elbow with other chessplayers talking about anything under the sun.

This year, aside of course from world champion Magnus Carlsen, two players are under the microscope — Fabiano Caruana, the world no. 2, and Anish Giri. These two will be playing in the March Candidates’ Tournament in Yekaterinburg. As BW readers know whoever wins the Candidates’ will then challenge world champion Magnus later this year for the world title. Most people did not expect Fabiano Caruana or Anish Giri to be showing their best. Normally the soon-to-be competitors in such an important tournament as the Candidates’ would hide the openings and the special developing schemes that they would use and instead resort to safe and solid openings just so as to avoid loss.

It started out that way too. Caruana had a pretty normal first half of the tournament with two wins (against a totally out-of-form Yu Yangyi and Daniil Dubov) but then came his game with Viswanathan Anand.

Caruana, Fabiano (2822) — Anand, Viswanathan (2758) [D38]
Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (8.6), 19.01.2020

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4

Queen’s Gambit Declined + Bb4 = Ragozin’s Defense. I mention this because a lot of us were brought up in the Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev generation of chess books in the 60s when the Ragozin Opening did not exist. Ragozin is the Russian GM who sacrificed his career to serve as full-time second to world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. He was also the 2nd World Correspondence Chess Champion.

5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 0–0 7.e3 Bf5 8.Qb3 Nc6 9.Bg5 a5

Can’t White win the d5–pawn?

10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.a3

Timing is not right yet. If 11.Qxd5 right away Black has 11…Rfd8 12.Qc4 (12.Qb3? a4 13.Qd1 a3 Black will win material; 12.Qb5 Nxd4! followed by …c7–c5 whichever way White recaptures on d4) 12…b5! 13.Qxb5 Nxd4! 14.Nxd4 c5 White’s weakness on the long diagonal a1–h8 will cost him. 15.Nf3 Bxc3+ 16.bxc3 Qxc3+ etc.

11…a4 12.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Na5 14.Qe5 Qc6! 15.c4 Nb3

The threat to the rook is not so easy to parry. If 16.Rd1? then simply 16…Bc2. This, plus the fact that obviously Anand is still within his preparation made Caruana look for something more complicated. After half an hour’s thought he decides to give up the exchange.

16.Qxf5!? Nxa1 17.Bd3 g6 18.Qf4

For the exchange Fabi gets to castle his king into safety and go on the attack.

18…Nb3 19.0–0 Qd6 20.Qh6 Qf6 21.c5 b6 22.cxb6 cxb6 23.Ne5

White’s plan is now Bd3–c4 followed by f2–f4–f5. Anand eases the tension a bit by forcing an exchange of rooks.

23…Rfc8 24.f4 Rc1! 25.Rxc1 Nxc1 26.Bc4 Ra7 27.Ng4 Qd6 28.Qg5 Qe7

Taking the pawn on a3 would clear the way for his passed a-pawn, but at this time it is not feasible: 28…Qxa3 29.Qd8+

29…Kg7? 30.Qf6+ Kf8 31.Qh8+ Ke7 32.Qe5+ Kd7 (the king has to stick to the 7th rank otherwise Qb8 is check and the rook on a7 is lost) 33.Qb8 Rc7 34.Ne5+ followed by mate).

29…Qf8 30.Qxb6 Ra8 31.Qf6 Ra7 (31…a3 is met by 32.Bxf7+ Qxf7 33.Nh6+) 32.f5 Qg7 33.Qd8+ Qf8 34.Nh6+ Kg7 35.f6+ wins the black queen.

29.Qb5 Kg7 30.f5 f6 31.Qd5 Qf8 32.fxg6 hxg6 33.e4

With everything defended Anand is the one who can play for the win.

33…Qc8 34.h3 Rd7 35.Qe6 Qd8 36.e5 [36.d5? Rd6 traps the queen]

36…f5 37.Qf6+?

After the game Fabi remarked that this move was a mistake. He should have played 37.Nf6 On the surface 37…Re7 looks safer but it fails because of some spectacular chess: 38.Qd6! Qxd6 39.exd6 Rb7 40.Ne8+ Kf8 41.Nc7 (this is really impressive — the Black king cannot approach white’s passed pawn because all squares are covered by the white knight and bishop) 41…Rb8 42.Ne6+ Ke8 43.Bb5+ Kf7 44.d5 Nb3 45.d7 Ke7 46.Kf2 Nc5 47.d8Q+ Rxd8 48.Nxd8 Kxd8 49.Ke3 White is clearly better, if not winning;

37…Rxd4 38.Bd5 Ne2+ 39.Kf2 Nc3 40.Qf7+ Kh6 41.Qh7+ Kg5 42.g3 Rd2+ 43.Kf1 Rd1+ 44.Kf2 Rd2+ with a draw. If White tries to avoid the repetition then 45.Ke3? Nxd5+ 46.Kxd2 Nxf6+ with a horrible death.

37…Qxf6 38.exf6+ Kh7

Not 38…Kf8? 39.Ne5 Rc7 40.Nxg6+ Ke8 41.Ne5 Black has to give up his rook for the bishop.

39.Ne5 Rd6

[39…Rxd4 40.f7 Rd8 41.Nd7 Kg7 42.f8Q+ Rxf8 43.Nxf8 Kxf8 44.Bb5 followed by Bb5+ and equalizes material by taking the a4–pawn.]

40.f7 Kg7 41.Nf3 Nb3! 42.Ng5 Nd2! 43.Be6

Only move. If 43.Ba2 Nb3! the bishop’s all-important diagonal is blocked.

43…Rd8 44.Kf2 Kf6? <D>

Anand had to neutralize white’s passed d-pawn with 44…Nb3! 45.d5 (45.Bxf5 intending Ne6+ is refuted by 45…Rd5) 45…b5 46.d6 Nc5! Black is clearly winning.

POSITION AFTER 44…KF6

45.Bd7!

Perhaps Anand had counted on 45.f8Q+? Rxf8 46.Nh7+ Kxe6 47.Nxf8+ Kf7 48.Nd7 Nc4 49.Ke2 b5 50.Kd3 Nxa3 with a win.

45…Ne4+

[45…Kxg5 46.Be8 the pawn queens]

46.Nxe4+ fxe4?

[46…Kxf7!! 47.Bxa4 fxe4 48.Ke3 Ra8 Black is playing for a win]

47.Be8 Ke7 48.Ke3 Rb8 49.Bxa4 b5?

I don’t understand why Viswanathan Anand did not take the f7 pawn. Now he will pay.

50.Bb3 Ra8 51.Kxe4 Rxa3 52.Be6 Ra1 53.d5 Rd1 54.Ke5 Rf1 55.d6+ Kf8 56.Kd5 Rf6 57.d7 Ke7 58.Kc6! Rf2

[58…Rxe6+ 59.Kc7 Rd6 60.f8Q+ Kxf8 61.Kxd6]

59.Kxb5 Rb2+ 60.Kc6 Rb8 61.Kc7 1–0

The finish after 61.Kc7 would have been 61…Ra8 (61…Rf8 62.h4 Rd8 [62…Kxe6? 63.d8Q Rxd8 64.Kxd8 Kxf7 65.g4 White wins] 63.g4 Rf8 64.g5 Rd8 65.h5 gxh5 66.g6 h4 67.f8Q+ Rxf8 68.g7 Ra8 69.g8Q) 62.Bd5 Rd8 63.Kc6 g5 64.g4 Ra8 65.h4 gxh4 66.g5 h3 67.g6 h2 68.g7 h1Q 69.f8Q+ Rxf8 70.gxf8Q+ Kxf8 71.d8Q+ Kg7 72.Bxh1.

After this very satisfying win Fabi took a short draw with Vitiugov and then, completely revived, won his four remaining games (against Alireza Firouzja, versus Kovalev, vs. Duda, and against Artemiev) to run away with the tournament. He tied Magnus Carlsen (2013) and Garry Kasparov (1999) with a dominating final winning score of 10/13, 2 full points ahead of runner-up Magnus Carlsen.

The Tata Steel Masters victorious Fabiano Caruana’s final tally of seven wins and six draws in a category 20 tournament equals an awesome performing rating of 2943. Mr. Caruana is starting to resemble Caruana of 2014 where he started off with 7-0 in the Sinquefield Cup and finally finished with 8.5/10, a performance rating of 3080, possibly the best tournament result of all time. It looks like he is on target for the March candidates.

 

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Comeback masters

The Chiefs headed into Super Bowl LIV as the favorites, however slight, backed by a solid defense and an offense that had hitherto proven its capacity to score in bunches. In fact, their road to yesterday’s winner-take-all affair was marked by a couple of improbable from-behind triumphs. They won the divisional round 51-31 after spotting the Texans 23 points, and then the AFC championship 35-24 despite having been down by double digits. For much of yesterday, though, it appeared as if they finally ran out of luck. And behind by 10 with 11:57 left in the final period, they looked just about ready to fold after yet another interception gave the Niners the ball.

And then the Chiefs got a new lease on life. For some reason, the Niners, otherwise solid with head coach Kyle Shanahan keeping coverages guessing on the strength of egalitarian production, became tentative as the end drew near. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, a model of efficiency through three quarters, tightened up, able to keep the ball for only five possessions that included a poor throw landing nowhere near any receiver down the middle. Instead of using the clock (a decided must against competition with a reputation for producing quickly), they wound up burning only three minutes and four seconds.

Enter Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes, who buckled down to work and did exactly what fans believed him capable of when given another chance. Of 10 lightning-fast plays, four without a huddle, he connected on half of the eight times he went on the air; of particular note were a superb pass under pressure to an open Tyreek Hill for 44 yards and a short throw while on the move to Travis Kelce for a touchdown. Just like that, a mere possession separated them from the Niners. And he wasn’t done. A punt off the minimum three plays had him with the ball anew, and, again, he led a touchdown drive on seven connections off seven plays.

By this time, the Chiefs knew the Super Bowl was theirs. The 49ers still had ample time to recover, but collapsed instead; Garoppolo followed up a completed 16-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne on the initial play with two failed gambles to intended receivers, a bum throw, and a sack on fourth down. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Damien Williams’ subsequent 38-yard run proved to be icing on the cake. Mahomes once again went through the wringer with aplomb, and, in the process, handed head coach Andy Reid the only achievement missing from an outstanding resume.

Needless to say, the Chiefs celebrated in the aftermath, with Mahomes paying due respect to the Niners’ gallant stand, but arguing all the same that the outcome was as it should be. “We never lost faith,” the Most Valuable Player argued. “No one [on the team] had their head down. We believed in each other.” Most tellingly, he believed in himself. Once again, he gave notice that no lead is safe for as long as he’s under center with time on his hands. And, once again, he delivered.

 

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.

PSEi sinks to 7,100 level on increasing concern

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX sank to the 7,100 level on Monday as it continued to take a hit from the novel coronavirus scare.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 63.76 points or 0.88% to retreat at 7,137.03 on Monday. The broader all shares index also gave up 35.38 points or 0.82% to end at 4,256.83.

“Philippine stocks fell sharply as investors grew increasingly worried about the potential economic impact of China’s fast-spreading coronavirus,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a mobile message.

The Health department said yesterday it was studying 80 persons for possible infection to the novel coronavirus, a day after it announced the death of a Chinese man in Manila who tested positive for the disease.

Of the 80 cases, it said two already tested positive, 30 tested negative and 48 were pending results. The two that tested positive are the 44-year-old Chinese man reported dead on Sunday and the 38-year-old Chinese woman reported as the first confirmed coronavirus case in country last week.

Across the globe, the virus has killed more than 360 people and infected 17,384 people as of Monday, where 361 of the deaths and 17,205 of the confirmed cases are in mainland China, CNN reported yesterday.

In China, some local authorities decided to defer the resumption of work yesterday after an extended Lunar Holiday break to help limit the spread of the virus. China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai SE Composite indices, which both reopened after more than a week-long break on Monday, dropped 7.88% and 7.72%, respectively.

Back home, five of six sectoral indices ended lower on Monday. Mining and oil erased 332.15 points or 4.33% to 7,331.11; financials lost 36.12 points or 2.09% to 1,688.81; property shaved off 45.52 points or 1.18% to 3,793.22; services dropped 5.84 points or 0.39% to 1,469.32; and holding firms decreased 25.57 points or 0.37% to 6,874.74.

The only gaining sub-sector was industrials, which added 44.78 points or 0.50% to 8,966.22.

“While index heavyweights dragged the market today, a few non-index stocks gained double digits as market participants focused on second and third liner issues,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren T. Pangan said in a text message on Monday.

Some of the top gainers yesterday were SFA Semicon Philippines Corp. (+50%), Ionics, Inc. (+42.37%), Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. (+23.60%), Alliance Select Foods International, Inc. (+13.73%) and Jackstones, Inc. (+13.64%).

Value turnover on Monday stood at P5.87 billion with 833.36 million issues changing hands. This is lower than previous session’s P8.30 billion worth of 2.89 billion issues.

Decliners beat advancers, 129 to 73, while 39 names ended unchanged.

Foreign investors remained sellers on Monday, but net selling was trimmed to P289.06 million from Friday’s P1.70 billion.

Peso ends higher ahead of inflation, BSP

THE PESO ended stronger against the dollar on Monday as the market expects a strong inflation reading and a possible rate cut from the central bank on Wednesday.

The local unit ended trading at P50.80 versus the greenback, appreciating by three centavos from its P50.83-to-a-dollar close on Friday, according to data from the website of the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines.

The local currency opened at P50.95 against the greenback. Its weakest was at P51.05 while its strongest showing was at its close of P50.80 against the dollar.

Dollars traded rose to $1.073 billion from $956.8 million on Jan. 31.

A trader attributed the local currency’s strength to market expectations of “stronger inflation” for the previous month.

“The peso appreciated today as market players anticipated the release of stronger Philippine inflation report for January 2020 due to be released on Wednesday,” a trader said in an e-mail.

A BusinessWorld poll of 13 analysts yielded a median estimate of 2.7% for January inflation mainly due to uptick in food prices and some supply side shocks from the eruption of the Taal Volcano.

If realized, the estimate will fall close to the lower end of the 2.5% to 3.3% estimate range given by the BSP last week.

Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said that Monday’s trading shows the peso’s “resiliency amid market scares due to the coronavirus.”

“The peso is showing some resilience despite the colossal rout in markets all day as China markets opened since the coronavirus outbreak,” Mr. Asuncion said.

Reuters reported that the Shanghai Composite index fell by nearly 8%, its biggest daily decline in more than four years. With market fears about the spread of the coronavirus and its impact, $393 billion from the benchmark stock index was lost on Monday.

Deaths in China due to the virus have risen to 361 as of Sunday from the 17 on Jan. 23, the previous trading day before the Lunar New Year holidays.

Meanwhile, the offshore yuan began trade at its weakest for 2019 and was down by 1.2% by afternoon, going below the seven-per-dollar level to 7.0155.

“Market is [also] largely expecting a rate cut from the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) this week as the potential easing may just be a much needed sigh of relief as most markets were negative,” Mr. Asuncion added.

BusinessWorld’s poll showed 10 out of 13 economists were of the view that the Monetary Board (MB) will opt to cut rates on its first policy meeting for the year this Feb. 6.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said they are still looking to cut rates by 50 basis points (bps) in 2020, with a 25-bp reduction possible as early as Feb. 6.

Key policy rates currently stand at four percent for the central bank’s overnight reverse repurchase facility, while overnight deposit and lending rates are at 3.5% and 4.5%, respectively.

For today, the trader gave a forecast range of P50.70-50.90, while Mr. Asuncion expects the local unit to play around the P50.70-50.90 levels. — L.W.T. Noble with Reuters

Philippines containing coronavirus; no outbreak yet

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Reporter
Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter
and Genshen L. Espedido

THE Philippines is at the “containment stage” in its fight against a deadly coronavirus strain that has killed hundreds in China and sickened thousands more, health authorities said on Monday.

The virus had not been transmitted in communities and the government was trying to isolate cases of infection, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) said at a briefing at the presidential palace.

“We are trying to prevent the virus from spreading to the community by identifying cases who can possibly have been infected,” RITM Director Celia C. Carlos said.

Ms. Carlos urged people who have recently traveled to China to follow quarantine procedures. “If you start experiencing symptoms, report to the hospital authorities for evaluation.”

About 80 people in the Philippines were under investigation for the novel coronavirus, while one of two confirmed people — both Chinese nationals from Hubei province where the virus had first been detected — had died, the Department of Health said.

The death of the 44-year-old Chinese man, who died of severe pneumonia in the Philippines, was the first coronavirus-related death outside China.

Health authorities said 67 of the 80 have been isolated, while 10 have been discharged but were still being monitored.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III traced the increase in the number people under investigation to the agencies improved efforts and expanded coverage.

“It means surveillance has been improved,” he said at a televised briefing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency as the new deadly coronavirus strain that came from China spread to more than 20 countries, including the Philippines.

WHO cited the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.

‘DON’T PANIC’
There were more than 17,000 confirmed cases worldwide, and at least 362 people in China have died, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of the cases are in China.

Rabindra R. Abeyasinghe, WHO’s representative in the Philippines, said WHO was confident that the coronavirus outbreak could be contained.

He urged the public to practice proper hygiene, wear face masks and take precautions if they show signs of respiratory infection.

“We need the public to act rationally. It is important that we don’t panic unnecessarily,” Mr. Abeyasinghe said.

The Health department is seeking P1 billion in supplemental budget to fight the virus, said Quezon Rep. Angelina D.L. Tan, who heads the health committee.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano said the short and medium-term impacts of the novel coronavirus on the tourism and travel industry should be cushioned.

“We still have to prepare a plan to lessen its impact,” he said in a statement, referring to the travel ban imposed by the Philippines.

He said he had asked House tourism and economic affairs committees to work with the Department of Tourism “to ensure that tourism growth will not be derailed in the next few months.”

“The government must pool its resources to prevent this public health issue from becoming an economic crisis,” Mr. Cayetano said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ernesto C. Abella said 42 Filipinos from Hubei province have expressed a desire to come home. No Filipino in China has been confirmed to have contracted the virus, he added.

An aircraft may leave for China this week, Mr. Abella said. He added that more than 295,000 Filipinos are in mainland China.

Immigration spokesman Krizia Dana M. Sandoval said about 300 Chinese nationals bound for China and its special administrative regions had been stranded at the Manila airport.

The government was coordinating with the Chinese embassy for their departure, he said.

“They have pledged to send an aircraft to fetch their citizens who are stranded in the country,” she said at the same briefing in Malacañang.

The government has imposed a travel ban for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau amid the outbreak. Local airlines have also canceled flights to China.

The Labor department ordered the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to give P10,000 in aid to stranded overseas Filipino Workers affected by the travel ban.

Review VFA first before ending it, Duterte told

SENATORS urged President Rodrigo R. Duterte to reconsider a plan before to end an agreement with the US on the deployment of troops and equipment for war games.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and Senators Franklin M. Drilon and Senator Panfilo M. Lacson filed a resolution asking the President to instead review several military deals.

They said the Senate should be allowed to review the repercussions of the Philippines’ unilateral withdrawal from the agreement, even as it recognizes the President as the “sole organ and authority in the external affairs of the country.”

“A careful deliberation of these matters must be taken into account before finally arriving at a decision which will ultimately affect not only the security and economy of the Philippines but also that of our neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific region,” according to the resolution.

The Senate wants to review intelligence information sharing, military aid and financing, and technical assistance extended by the United States, the senators said.

Aside from the visiting forces agreement, the Mutual Defense Treaty and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement should also be reviewed, they said.

Mr. Duterte earlier ordered the Justice department to study a plan to end the VFA after the US government canceled a Senate ally’s visa. He also ordered Cabinet members to boycott trips to the US.

The Cabinet cluster will submit a report this week, but other agencies may opt to submit their own impact assessment separately, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Sunday.

Senators earlier said Mr. Duterte should end the VFA for reasons “weightier” than the cancelation of Senator Ronald M. de la Rosa’s US visa.

Mr. dela Rosa, a political ally, earlier said the US embassy had canceled his visa. Mr. Duterte’s former police chief led the government’s deadly war on drugs that has killed thousands before he became a senator.

He was also considered to be among those responsible for the detention of Senator Leila M. de Lima, a staunch critic of Mr. Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

Mr. Duterte has also said he would skip the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Nevada this March.

The presidential palace has said Mr. Duterte had been trying to cut Philippine reliance in the US.

The VFA allows the US government to retain jurisdiction over American soldiers accused of committing crimes in the Philippines, unless the crimes are “of particular importance” to the Southeast Asian nation.

The US Senate last year passed a resolution asking the Philippine government to release Ms. de Lima. It also sought to block the entry and freeze the US assets of officials behind drug-related killings and Ms. de Lima’s “wrongful detention.”

US President Donald Trump also signed into law last year the nation’s 2020 budget, which includes a clause allowing the US secretary of state to ban the entry of Philippine officials behind Ms. de Lima’s detention.

Ms. de Lima has been in jail since February 2017 for drug trafficking.

The Senate foreign relations committee will start reviewing the three defense pacts on Thursday. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

NLEx, San Fernando City update traffic management agreement

NLEX Corp. and the city government of San Fernando, capital of Pampanga province, have signed a new traffic management agreement to keep up with developments at the interchange, one of the busiest along the North Luzon Expressway. In a statement on Monday, NLEx Corp. said the agreement is an updated version of the first one signed in 2009 in consideration of infrastructure changes such as the expansion of the interchange bridge and additional lanes toll lanes. “Both parties will establish measures for efficient traffic management to further improve the safety and security of the public. The agreement includes the management of traffic flow, enforcement of traffic rules, and security control within the San Fernando Interchange. It also involves regular consultation between the two parties on projects and programs that may affect the area,” the company said. NLEx Corp. is under Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group.

LGUs told to equip local workforce for Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridges construction

THE NATIONAL Economic and Development and Authority (NEDA)- Western Visayas regional office has called on local governments to build up a workforce that can be tapped for the anticipated construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros interisland bridges. “Hopefully, this will be a time for our LGUs to prepare its citizens, because this project will be needing a lot of workers, of course we don’t want people from the outside, we would like our people to really benefit from this development,” NEDA-Western Visayas Regional Director Ro-Ann A. Bacal said on Friday. Ms. Bacal said they are optimistic that the Department of Finance will be able to finalize the funding contract for the project this year and construction can start by early 2021. “We have had information that the Chinese government is interested in the project as part of its commitment to assist the government’s Build Build Build project,” she said. The P189.53-billion project was among those given final approval by the NEDA Board last week. The bridges will connect Panay Island to the provinces of Guimaras and Negros Occidental. The Panay-Guimaras segment will stretch 13.1-kilometers (km), including a 4.8-km bridge spanning from Barangay Gua-an in Leganes, Iloilo, to Barangay Getulio in Buenavista Guimaras. The Guimaras-Negros segment will be 17.4 km, with a 12.5-km bridge linking Barangay M. Chavez in San Lorenzo, Guimaras, and Barangay Canjusa in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

Cebu hotels suffer up to 20% occupancy rate drop amid nCoV

HOTELS IN Cebu City and its surrounding metro area are feeling the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as occupancy rates drop by up to 20% in the past week. Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) President Carlo B. Suarez said aside from the obvious cancellations from Chinese groups and other foreign nationalities, there are local guests who have also dropped their bookings. Mr. Suarez said the HRRAC is continuously coordinating closely with the Department of Health in terms of guest monitoring, precautionary measures that hotels should implement, and other updates. He also said that while the 10% to 20% percent drop in bookings had been noted in the past days, they are still gathering more updates on the effects of the 2019-nCoV to the hospitality sector, and to the Cebu tourism industry in general. “As much as possible we don’t want to see more cancellations in the next days. But, we also understand the extent of the virus scare,” he added. — The Freeman

Davao Occidental ready to augment DA’s ASF fund for culled pigs

DAVAO OCCIDENTAL Governor Claude P. Bautista said on Monday that the provincial government is ready to buy pigs from farmers as another measure to prevent the further spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak that started in Don Marcelino town. In an interview in Davao City, Mr. Bautista said the Department of Agriculture (DA) has funds to compensate farmers with confirmed ASF-affected hogs, while the local government will pay for those voluntarily surrendered by raisers. “Ang bayad depende sa kilo ng baboy at depende sa laki. ‘Yung mga affected na mga baboy ang DA na ang magbabayad sa kanila (The price will depend on the weight and size of the pig. For affected pigs, the DA will pay the farmers),” he said. The governor added that barangay officials will be tapped to help immediately identify and map all hog raisers and inform them of the available compensation. “If they don’t know that they will be paid for their pigs, they might try to hide these because that is their livelihood. We would be thinking that there are no more affected hogs, then the outbreak will suddenly recur,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.

‘TRACE’
Meanwhile, quarantine officers will start tracing the trade pattern of Don Marcelino and neighboring areas as part of the containment and control response to the first ASF cases in the southern island of Mindanao. In a statement, the Department of Agriculture- (DA) Davao Region office said the Bureau of Animal Industry will be conducting “trace-back” and “trace-forward” investigations in Davao Occidental as well as in the neighboring municipality of Sulop under Davao Del Sur. Apart from Don Marcelino, the DA team has also reported ASF incidence in several villages of Malita, the capital town of Davao Occidental. Quarantine checkpoints have been set up on 24/7 operations. The Davao del Sur provincial government as well as Davao City have also issued directives banning the entry of all pork and pork products from Davao Occidental. DA Davao Regional Director Ricardo M. Onate, Jr. said another multi-agency coordination meeting was set Monday “to identify the disposal sites for culled hogs and conduct an inventory of the total swine population in affected areas.” The hog industry in the small coastal town is composed of backyard farmers who also practice group rearing, locally known as the Pagalam system, without biosecurity measures. Quarantine measures have been in place at entry points in Mindanao since the ASF outbreak in the northern island of Luzon was confirmed in September last year.

SWILL FEEDING
Meanwhile, Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry President John Carlo B. Tria expressed confidence that the government can manage the outbreak, but also called for the implementation of long-term policies to avoid a recurrence. “I believe the government agencies will do their best to contain ASF infected pork. What is more important moving forward is to discourage swill feeding, or pigs eating recycled food, which may contain ASF infected pork, the virus of which can survive processing and cooking,” he said in a statement on Monday. The ASF, while not harmful to humans, is fatal to pigs. “These have been dealt with before,” Mr. Tria said, also referring to the recent bird flu outbreak in Hunan, China, “With collective efforts we can beat these outbreaks again.” — Maya M. Padillo

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