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‘Solar Para sa Politika’

Among the promises of the Solar Para sa Bayan Corp. (SPBC) franchise bill now awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature are 24/7 electricity in far away villages, and cheaper electricity because the sun’s rays are free.

True, the sun’s rays are free, but the solar panels, the power conditioning unit, main panel, AC and DC disconnect, other components are not free. Transportation and installation in far away areas and connection to the grid are not.

Add to that the cost of a battery to extend the power for few hours at night, plus the cost of backup diesel gensets since solar does not generate power at night and hardly produces power on days with thick clouds and rain. Solar components plus battery plus gensets cannot be cheap and power stability is not assured.

In a site inspection by the Philippine and Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. of some barangays in Occidental Mindoro served by SPBC in November 2018, they found that residents experienced an average of two- to three-hour brownouts plus frequent on-and-off power outages every day, resulting in damaged appliances, and that the rate charged started at a low P2.34/kilowatt hour (kWh) which later rose to around P11/kWh.

Instead of favoring one particular energy firm, we need more big conventional power plants. Compared to more stable economies in Asia, the Philippines has among the lowest installed power capacity and, by extension, among the lowest electricity generation. Our capacity in 2016 was just one-half of that in Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan (see table).

People who want “green energy” and do not want to use electricity from fossil fuels without putting up a rooftop solar system (and cut or murder nearby tall trees that provide shade and reduce solar output) can actually get their wish via the retail competition and open access (RCOA) provision of the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) of 2001 (RA 9136). Contestable customers can choose their own licensed retail electricity suppliers (RES) and specify that they should be provided only renewable energy like hydro, geothermal, biomass, solar, or wind. The price might be higher but they get what they want. This will also send a signal to power investors to develop more renewables because customers are willing to pay the higher price without the need for subsidies from all electricity consumers nationwide, without need for new legislation.

We need more market competition in power generation and retail supply. We need more big power plants, conventional and renewables, more gencos and let them compete for customers.

We should not have enacted a law that gives a guaranteed price for renewables for 20 years via feed in tariff (FIT) as this violates market competition and disempowers consumers — they cannot say “No” to additional charges like the FIT-Allowance slapped into their monthly electricity bill for 20 or 25 years.

The law is there — RE Act of 2008 (RA 9513) — and it resulted in the upward price distortion in energy prices.

We should not add more energy distortions by having that “Solar para sa Politika” franchise bill become a law. President Duterte should veto it.

Finally, the Supreme Court should lift its TRO on the Energy Regulatory Commission resolutions on RCOA’s implementation. The threshold for contestable customers should have been down to 500 kilowatts or lower by now. The number of competing RES should be plentier by now. And the choices of consumers for their power generators and suppliers should be many, not few and restricted.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Seeking justice beyond The Hague

July 12, 2019 marked the third anniversary of the Philippine’s victory in its arbitration case against China over the South China Sea. Three years ago, the Philippines received the arbitral award from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that favored Manila’s maritime claims over the West Philippine Sea and legally discredited China’s nine-dash line claims to the South China (which later became a “10-dash line” then “11-dash line”). The award upheld the Philippines’ rights to a full 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea.

Three years ago, too, no less than the President of the Philippines “unilaterally” decided to shelve the arbitral ruling — at first, to restore bilateral relations with China that has been severed when the Philippines brought China to the international court, and later, for “friendly” relations with China. The Filipino public was made to believe that it was necessary and urgent. But three years have passed and what was initially a stop-gap diplomatic measure or strategy became, over time, the Philippines’ pivot to China.

The President’s pivot to China produced confusing claims. Did it just aim to revivify relations with China? Or did it seek to be independent from the US? Or both? The Filipino public was confused, especially when the government declared to pursue these as essential to the pursuit of an independent foreign policy. But how can we pursue an independent foreign policy when we cannot even uphold the arbitral ruling! How can it be an independent foreign policy when we cannot uphold our own national interests?

What may be clear though is that the pivot quashed the country’s legal leverage against China over the highly disputed South China Sea. Without undermining the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program of the government care of China, the pivot sabotaged what could have been the country’s powerful legal and legitimate ammunition against China.

As a consequence, China became more aggressive, not only with its continuous and massive reclamation activities and military installations in the South China Sea — unmindful of international law and the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines. On June 9, a Filipino fishing boat was rammed by a Chinese ship, sinking it in Recto Bank (Reed Bank) in the West Philippine Sea. The President called it “a little maritime accident,” only to retract the statement after he received flak from the public. To add insult to injury, the President declared that the Chinese can fish in Philippine waters while speaking at the anniversary of the Presidential Security Group on June 26.

Taking up the challenge of the President about looking for a “formula to enforce the arbitral award without going to war with China,” Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio proposed nine ways to do so at the Ateneo Law School’s graduation ceremony on July 14.

First, the Philippines and Vietnam can enter into a sea boundary agreement on their overlapping extended continental shelves beyond the Spratlys area.

Second, the Philippines can enter into a similar sea boundary agreement with Malaysia on the adjoining EEZs between Borneo and Palawan.

PCA-CPA.ORG

Third, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei can enter into a Convention declaring that, as ruled by the arbitral tribunal, no geologic feature in the Spratlys generates an EEZ and there are only territorial seas from the geologic features that are above water at high-tide.

Fourth, the Philippines can file an extended continental shelf claim in the West Philippine Sea beyond our 200-nautical mile EEZ off the coast of Luzon, where China is the only opposite coastal state.

Fifth, the Philippines can send on patrol its 10 new 44-meter multi-role response vessels that were donated by Japan for use by the Philippine Coast Guard.

Sixth, the Philippines can welcome and encourage the Freedom of Navigation and Overflight Operations of the US, UK, France, Australia, Japan, India, and Canada in the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

Seventh, the Philippines can send its own Navy to join the Freedom of Navigation and Overflight Operations of these foreign naval powers to assert, on behalf of the Philippines, that there is an EEZ in the West Philippine Sea belonging to the Philippines as ruled by the arbitral tribunal.

Eighth, the Philippines can invite Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei to conduct joint freedom of navigation operations in their respective EEZ facing the South China Sea.

Ninth, the Philippine Government can support private sector initiatives to enforce the arbitral award.

Obviously, war is not an option! These nine proposals, if and when pursued, can help enforce the arbitral award. More importantly, these nine proposals can provide legal and legitimate means beyond and outside of war in seeking justice beyond The Hague’s arbitral ruling. As the title of Justice Carpio’s speech to the Ateneo Law Schools’ graduating batch of 2019 says — “Follow the Rule of Law, But Aspire for the Rule of Justice” — we must follow the rule of law but we must also aspire for the rule of justice.

There can be one more other way to seek justice beyond The Hague — one that will require the support of the international community and one where the goal is to strengthen the national justice system so the “actions” of China can be checked-and-balanced and Chinese government can be made accountable for its “atrocities.” If the 18th Philippine Congress is serious about charter change, then this must be the right direction.

 

Diana J Mendoza, PhD, is Chair of the Department of Political Science at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Promoting Corporate Governance under the Revised Corporation Code

(First of three parts)

This is an abridged version of the talk I recently gave to the MAP Corporate Governance Committee officers and members on the Revised Corporation Code which was enacted into law on Feb. 20, 2019.

It had been almost 40 years since the old Corporation Code was enacted thus it became inevitable and imperative that the Philippines align with the rest of the world by updating its general law on corporations. Each amendment in the Code may fall under one or more of these objectives:

1. the adoption of international best practices on Corporate Governance (CG);

2. the use of technology for more ease of doing business;

3. the protection of minority stockholders rights;

4. the management and reduction of corporate risks; and

5. the inclusion of specific and effective enforcement provisions to:

a. enhance compliance; and

b. avoid regulatory capture.

I will deal with amendments under the first, third and fifth objectives as they relate to CG and how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can promote and enforce it. At the outset, the Code is replete with references to CG. For example:

In Sec 46 Contents of By-laws, private corporations are encouraged to include in their bylaws “(k) such other matters as may be necessary for the proper or convenient transaction of its corporate affairs for the promotion of good governance and anti-graft and corruption measures.” In Sec 179 (d) among the powers and functions of the SEC is precisely to “Promote corporate governance and the protection of minority investors, through among others, the issuance of rules and regulations consistent with international best practices.”

CORPORATIONS VESTED WITH PUBLIC INTEREST
The first major amendment concerning CG is in Sec. 22 where the term “corporations vested with public interest” first appears followed by this enumeration:

1. corporations covered by the Securities Regulation Code in Sec. 17.2:

a. whose securities are registered with SEC (publicly listed companies or those that have registered/issued shares/bonds to the public),

b. with assets of at least P50 million and having 200 or more holders of shares with 100 shares at least each (public companies);

2. banks and quasi-banks, non-stock savings and loan associations, pawnshops, money service business, pre-need trust and insurance and other financial intermediaries; and

3. other corporations engaged in businesses vested with public interest similar to the above, as may be determined by the SEC after taking into account relevant factors which are germane to the objective and purpose of requiring the election of an independent director.

Some provisions in the Code particularly apply to “corporations vested with public interest”: 1. Sec. 22 seeks to reinforce the meaningful presence of independent directors by requiring the “corporations vested with public interest” (to) “have independent directors constituting at least 20% percent.” Take note that in Sec. 179 (m), the SEC shall “(m) prescribe the number of independent directors and minimum criteria in determining the independence of a director.” Further, Sec. 22 elaborates that “independent directors shall be subject to rules and regulations governing their qualifications, disqualifications, voting requirements, duration of term and term limit, maximum number of board memberships and others requirements that the Commission will prescribe to strengthen their independence and align with international best practices.” Relatedly, Sec. 46 (f) states that bylaws may prescribe “the maximum number of other board representations that an independent director or trustee may have which shall, in no case, be more than the number prescribed by the Commission.”

2. Sec. 24 on Corporate Officers requires that “if the corporation is vested with public interest, the board shall also elect a compliance officer.”

3. Sec. 29 requires that corporations vested with public interest shall submit to their shareholders and the SEC, an annual report of the total compensation of each of their directors or trustees.

4. Sec. 31 provides that in case of a corporation vested with public interest, material contracts or related party transactions involving a self dealing director must be approved by at least two-thirds of the entire membership of the board, with at least a majority of the independent directors voting to approve.

5. Sec. 23 on Election of Directors or Trustees provides for voting through remote communication or in absentia in corporations vested with pubic interest notwithstanding the absence of a provision in the bylaws.

6. In Sec. 177, corporations vested with public interest shall submit to the SEC in addition, a director or trustee compensation report and a director or trustee appraisal or performance report and the standards or criteria used to assess each director or trustee.

7. Under Sec. 73, the SEC may require stock corporations which transfer and/or trade stocks in secondary markets to have an independent transfer agent.

DISQUALIFICATION, COMPENSATION AND OTHER PROVISIONS AFFECTING DIRECTORS OR TRUSTEES
Corporate Governance is essentially about the board of directors or trustees as the governing body of a corporation. Among the amendments to raise its level of performance is the expansion of Sec. 26 with more grounds for the disqualification of a director or trustee. In the old Code (Sec. 27), the grounds were limited to having been convicted by final judgment of an offense punishable by imprisonment exceeding six years, or a violation of the Code committed within five years prior to date of election or appointment. Retaining the five year-period, but changing the reckoning to date of conviction or administrative judgment, the grounds are:

a. Convicted by final judgment: of (1) an offense punishable by imprisonment for a period more than six years, (2) violation of the Revised Corporation Code, (3) violation of the SRC;

b. Found administratively liable for any offense involving fraudulent acts; and,

c. By a foreign court or equivalent foreign regulatory authority for acts, violations or misconduct similar to those enumerated in paragraphs (a) and (b).

Further, the last paragraph of Sec. 26 says — “The foregoing is without prejudice to qualifications or other disqualifications, which the Commission, the primary regulatory agency, or the Philippine Competition Commission may impose in its promotion of good corporate governance or as a sanction in its administrative proceedings.” Notably, Sec. 27 provides that “The Commission shall, motu proprio or upon verified complaint, and after due notice and hearing, order the removal of a director or trustee elected despite the disqualification, or whose disqualification arose or is discovered subsequent to an election. The removal of a disqualified director shall be without prejudice to other sanctions that the Commission may impose on the board of directors or trustees who, with knowledge of the disqualification failed to remove such director or trustee.”

Moreover, Sec. 160 makes Violation of Disqualification Provision; (Penalties) a criminal offense punishable by a fine ranging from P10,000 to P200,000 at the discretion of the court, and permanent disqualification from being a director, trustee or officer of any corporation. When the violation is injurious or detrimental to the public, its from P20,000 to P400,000.

In order not to disrupt board actions, Sec. 28, second paragraph, fixes a definite period or date when replacement of an end of term, removed, resigned or departed director should take place.

Regarding compensation, initially the by-laws should fix directors or trustees compensation. Otherwise, only stockholders representing the majority of outstanding capital stock or the majority of the members can fix the compensation of directors or trustees, at the meeting for this purpose, not exceeding 10% of net income before income tax. However, under Sec. 29, the directors or trustees cannot take part in the determination of their own per diems or compensation. Sec. 34 which allows the board, even without any by-law provision, to create special committees may offer a solution. Since the board is empowered to determine whether the committee is permanent or temporary in nature as well as its composition, a special committee composed of directors who are no longer up for reelection and top officers may be created to make the proper recommendation (directly to the stockholders) on per diems and compensation to be applied prospectively.

The Code modified Sec. 31 regarding self-dealing directors, trustees or officers.

Spouses and relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity of any director, trustee or officer who may be involved in any transaction with the latter’s corporation, qualify said director, trustee or officer as self-dealing.

Moreover, Sec. 52 mandates that “A director or trustee who has a potential interest in any related party transaction must recuse from voting in the approval of the related party transaction without prejudice to compliance with the requirements of Sec. 31.” My view is that a director who does not recuse himself or herself may be subject to a sanction but the transaction would still be valid if compliant with all the conditions therefore.

To be continued

The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the MAP

 

Atty. Teresita “Tess” J. Herbosa is of Counsel of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW) and former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

tjherbosa@accralaw.com.ph

map@map.org.ph

http://map.org.ph

How much do we know about 21st century warfare?

For today’s column, I abridged an article entitled “A New Generation of Unrestricted Warfare” by David Barno and Nora Bensahel. Lt. General David W. Barno, USA (Ret.) is a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, and Dr. Nora Bensahel is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence, at the School of International Service at American University. Both also serve as non-resident Senior Fellows at the Atlantic Council.

Unrestricted warfare is today’s warfare. We need to know what it is so we can better defend ourselves against those who use it against us. Our knowledge of warfare is at best limited to conventional battles in the air, on the ground, and out at sea that could ultimately result in the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Well, that has since evolved.

“In 1999, two Chinese colonels wrote a book called Unrestricted Warfare, about warfare in the age of globalization. Their main argument: Warfare in the modern world will no longer be primarily a struggle defined by military means — or even involve the military at all.

“They were about a decade and a half before their time.

“Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui argued that war was no longer about ‘using armed forces to compel the enemy to submit to one’s will” in the classic Clausewitzian sense. Rather, they asserted that war had evolved to ‘using all means, including armed force or non-armed force, military and non-military, and lethal and non-lethal means to compel the enemy to accept one’s interests.’…. Qiao argued in a subsequent interview that ‘the first rule of unrestricted warfare is that there are no rules, with nothing forbidden.’ That vision clearly transcends any traditional notions of war,” wrote Bensahel and Barno.

“The barrier between soldiers and civilians would fundamentally be erased, because the battle would be everywhere. The number of new battlefields would be ‘virtually infinite,’ and could include environmental warfare, financial warfare, trade warfare, cultural warfare, and legal warfare, to name just a few. They wrote of assassinating financial speculators to safeguard a nation’s financial security, setting up slush funds to influence opponents’ legislatures and governments, and buying controlling shares of stocks to convert an adversary’s major television and newspapers outlets into tools of media warfare,” wrote Bensahel and Barno.

“…Qiao and Wang argued that the battlefield had fundamentally changed. It was no longer a place where militaries met and fought; instead, society itself was now the battlefield. Future wars would inevitably encompass attacks on all elements of society without limits. Military battles resembling those of 1991 might become secondary elements of conflict — if they even occurred at all.

“A lot has changed in the past 17 years…. But perhaps the most fundamental change to the way we live has been the explosive growth of the internet and our utter dependence on the cyber domain. When Qiao and Wang wrote their book, today’s cyber world was barely imaginable, and then only in the minds of visionaries and the most imaginative computer geeks…. “Today… the world, thoroughly depends on web connections built in cyberspace. The internet dominates all aspects of global trade, economics, communications, and even societies. And that makes Unrestricted Warfare even more relevant today than when it was published — because waging war without limits is now simpler and easier than even its authors could have envisioned. In 1999, the ability to assault all elements of an opponent’s society seemed to require the resources or sponsorship of a powerful nation state. Now, an increasingly interconnected world allows adversaries at keyboards — from states to terrorist groups to disgruntled citizens — to instantly vault oceans and continents to strike at any element of another nation and society without ever having to encounter defending military forces. A basement hacker in Sarajevo can target the City of London’s financial networks one moment and a Brazilian municipal power grid the next — and never change out of her pajamas.

“The nation will always need military forces to defend against foreign military threats. But the US armed forces… provide virtually no defense against the cyber vulnerabilities that affect every American business and household. And the ever-expanding Internet of things (IoT) only increases those vulnerabilities.

“These deep national and global vulnerabilities require us to think about conflict and warfare in a much more holistic way than ever before. We still think of warfare as primarily military in nature, channeling our 20th-century experience. But our adversaries can now bypass the military domain completely and can directly attack how we live our lives. And now, unlike in 1999, nearly anyone with a smart phone or laptop can join that fight.

“In an age of unrestricted warfare, how will we protect our country and our increasingly cyber-centric way of life at home from those same adversaries who can attack and disrupt us without firing a shot? Against those who realize that they no longer need to build an army, navy, or air force to wage a potentially catastrophic war…?

“Qiao and Wang warned us that these myriad new forms of non-military warfare were coming. Today we all now live on that battlefield — an unlimited zone of conflict that can reach each one of us in every aspect of our lives and work. The unconstrained notions of modern war articulated in Unrestricted Warfare have now arrived. Boundaries between soldiers and civilians, combatants and bystanders have all but disappeared…

Providing effective national security in this unprecedented environment of mass exposure requires our policymakers to plan for unrestricted warfare. This growing and nearly boundless threat requires us to develop better policies, better deterrent capabilities, and far more developed defenses. We can’t wait for the first big attack of the next war to throw society into chaos — rethinking what war now means in our interconnected world demands the attention of our civilian and military leaders today.”

The government should now sustainably apply what it wrote in its National Security Strategy to fund and obtain the means to properly defend ourselves. That needs, first and foremost, for our decision-makers to have the proper mindsets, cohesion and sense of urgency to get it done.

 

Rafael M. Alunan III currently chairs the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association. He is an Eminent Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines, and a former Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government.

rmalunan@gmail.com

map@map.org.ph

http://map.org.ph

San Sebastian shoots for win number two in NCAA

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

ONE of the teams which had a winning debut in Season 95 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the San Sebastian Stags look to build on the momentum from it and win their second straight game when they take on the Mapua Cardinals in the middle game today at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

The Stags (1-0), one of the teams touted by many to be Final Four-bound this season, are to face the Cardinals (0-1) at 2 p.m. with an eye to keep their record spotless in the early goings of the brand-new season of the country’s oldest collegiate league.

Playing in the opener at 12 noon are the Letran Knights (1-1) against the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers (0-2) while the Perpetual Help Altas (1-0) battle the College of Saint Benilde Blazers (1-0) at 4 p.m.

San Sebastian is coming off a 31-point shellacking of JRU, 82-51, in its first game on July 9 where it dominated right from the get-go.

The Stags steadily built on the lead the rest of the way, punctuated by a 47-29 second half, to book their first victory in this year’s edition of the tournament.

Veteran guard RK Ilagan led the charge for San Sebastian, finishing with 25 points, boosted by five triples, to go along with five assists and two steals.

Alvin Capobres backstopped him with 16 points and six rebounds.

Allyn Bulanadi, who is still nursing an injured shoulder, was able to squeeze in some minutes in the game and finished with seven points.

With the rousing debut they had, San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya said he welcomed and was proud of the effort that his players gave just as he expressed hope that they could maintain such high level of play and live up to the billing as one of the tournament favorites.

“Each player contributed in this game and hopefully we can continue that. It is nice to see our motion offense is clicking,” said Mr. Macaraya said post-game.

Meanwhile, out to stop the Stags are the Cardinals, who narrowly lost to Perpetual Help, 80-78, also on July 9.

Mapua was in the game in the fourth period, levelled with Perpetual Help at 69-all before the Altas made a ferocious 8-0 run to make it 77-69 with four minutes left in the game.

The Cardinals were able to come within a point, 79-78, with 8.2 seconds remaining but they would not able to go over the hump and salvage the win.

Center Warren Bonifacio paced Mapua with 15 points, followed by Cyril Gonzales with 14.

In other news, Jethro Mendoza of Emilio Aguinaldo College was named the first player to earn player of the week honors in NCAA 95 after helping the Generals to as 1-1 record last week.

The graduating guard drained the game-winning layup with 1.5 seconds to edge Lyceum on July 12.

He also played solid in their debut game against Saint Benilde on July 9 where they came close to completing a come-from-behind win before bowing down, 69-66.

Djokovic outlasts Federer in epic Wimbledon finale

LONDON — Novak Djokovic again proved the toughest nut for Roger Federer to crack, repelling all the Swiss threw at him in an epic duel to win a fifth Wimbledon crown in the longest singles final in the tournament’s 133-year history on Sunday.

The indefatigable 32-year-old withstood almost five hours of Federer brilliance, dredging his tank of mental and physical fortitude to prevail 7-6(5) 1-6 7-6(4) 4-6 13-12(3) in the first Wimbledon singles final decided by a tiebreak.

Serving for the match at 8-7 in a cliffhanger fifth set, Federer, three weeks before his 38th birthday, seemed poised to become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in the professional era and avenge back-to-back losses to Djokovic in the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon finals.

But it was a case of so near yet so far as defending champion Djokovic, who must have felt he was playing most of the 15,000 fans as well as the 20-time Grand Slam champion over the net, fought off two match points before going on to snatch a 16th Grand Slam title.

Djokovic, who now leads Federer 26-22 head-to-head, is the first player since Bob Falkenburg in 1948 to win a Wimbledon men’s singles final having saved a match point and he described his victory as the “most mentally demanding” match he had ever been involved in.

Quite a statement for the sport’s ultimate warrior.

Nothing could separate the players in an intoxicating climax played in a soccer-like atmosphere and the match was already longer than Federer’s 2008 epic defeat by Rafael Nadal when Wimbledon’s new rule stipulating a deciding-set tiebreak at 12-12 kicked in.

Both players looked out on their feet but, as he did in the day’s two other tiebreaks, top seed Djokovic proved more steadfast.

A sublime backhand left Federer swishing at air to put the Serbian 6-3 ahead. There was confusion as Djokovic’s first match point was replayed after a Hawkeye intervention.

But there was no escape for a weary Federer who framed a forehand so badly the ball almost ended in Row Z, ending four hours 57 minutes of unforgettable drama.

It was a crushing blow for Federer who struck 94 winners to Djokovic’s 54 but did not take his chances. As well as the match points he also had a set point in the third.

Djokovic is now level with Bjorn Borg in fourth spot on the all-time list of men’s winners at Wimbledon and is only four Slams behind Federer, and two shy of Nadal.

“You have to keep reminding yourself that you’re there for a reason and that you are better than the other guy,” Djokovic said, when asked how he had pulled victory out of the fire.

“I’m just obviously thrilled and overjoyed to be sitting here as a winner. I was one shot away from losing the match. This match had everything. It could have gone easily his way.

“I think this was the most exciting and thrilling final I have ever been part of.”

FOREHAND MISTAKE
Federer held serve to stay alive seven times in the decider.

Djokovic’s nerve failed him at 7-7 when he double-faulted on his way to dropping serve.

Victory was in the palm of Federer’s hand at 40-15 and the frenzied crowd were preparing their salute.

But Federer hit an edgy forehand out on his first matchpoint, then left the door ajar on his second and Djokovic whipped a forehand past him at the net.

Eight service holds then sent the match into the tiebreaker which, almost inevitably, Djokovic dominated.

“It was a great match, it was long, it had everything. Novak, congratulations, man, that was crazy,” Federer said on court, disguising the heartache he must have felt.

Federer was the more threatening player in the sizzling opening set but failed to convert the one break point on offer when he missed a bread-and-butter forehand in the fourth game.

He then led 5-3 in the tiebreak but a succession of loose strokes allowed Djokovic to snatch it.

After the intensity of the first set, the second was a let-down as Djokovic went flat, winning only 12 points.

He re-focussed but with Federer winning around 80% of first-serve points it felt like Djokovic was hanging on.

Federer had a set point when Djokovic served at 4-5 but again his failure to convert came back to bite him.

Djokovic led 5-1 in the ensuing tiebreak and although Federer hit back to 5-4, the top seed capitalized on more errors by the Swiss to restore his one-set lead.

Federer finally dropped serve after nearly three hours of perfection on his delivery but it did not matter as he had more or less wrapped up the fourth set by then. — Reuters

Strycova, Hsieh take Wimbledon women’s doubles

LONDON — Czech Barbora Strycova completed a memorable Wimbledon as she partnered Hsieh Su-wei to the women’s doubles title on Sunday, beating Canada/China duo Gabriela Dabrowski and Xu Yifan 6-2 6-4.

After the spine-tingling drama of the earlier men’s singles final — the longest in the tournament’s history — Strycova and her Taiwanese partner finally got on court to bring the curtain down on the fortnight with a straightforward victory.

They became the first team to lift the doubles crown at Wimbledon without dropping a set since Serena and Venus Williams in 2009.

Strycova, 33, had also become the oldest Wimbledon singles semifinal debutant when she lost to Serena on Thursday.

It was great day for Taiwanese players with Latisha Chan teaming up with Croatian Ivan Dodig to win the mixed doubles, beating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and 42-year-old Swede Robert Lindstedt 6-2 6-3 in the final. — Reuters

Green Archers climb the PFL ladder with big win over Global

GREEN ARCHERS United FC climbed to third spot in the standings of the Philippines Football League (PFL) following its big 9-0 victory over Global Cebu FC on Sunday at the Philippine Football Federation National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.

At fourth place in the race entering the match, the Archers padded their push with a dominant showing versus Global to earn the full three points that pushed them to 14 points off four wins, two draws and two losses, overtaking Stallion Laguna FC (3-2-2) and 11 points.

John Celiz scored four goals to lead GAU to the win. All of his goals — 13’, 18’, 39’ and 45’ — came in the first half to help his team to practically put the game away at that point.

Marvin Angeles (52’ and 62’) and Roy Kent Bedia (80’ and 90’) had a brace each while Fredy Lobe Mbang (55’) accounted for the other goal.

The defeat sent Global to back-to-back losses and a record of 1-0-5 and three points, good for sixth place in the seven-team field.

Defending champion Ceres-Negros FC leads the pack with 19 points and a record of 6-1-0, followed by Kaya FC-Iloilo at 6-1-1 (19 points), Stallion is at fourth, Mendiola FC 1991 (1-1-4) at fifth with four points and Philippine Air Force FC (0-1-7) at seventh with a point. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Klean Athlete seeks to raise the bar of sports nutrition

TODAY’S athletes are more sophisticated in their buying and selecting behavior than ever before. The age of information has pushed the envelope in ways that athletes know exactly what they want, what to look out for, and where to get it. Consumer insight has evolved tremendously. Brands are now churning out products engineered to the exact specifications of athletes. The world of sports nutrition has kept pace.

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THE KLEAN ATHLETE TEAM
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Wesley in Zagreb

Croatia Grand Chess Tour
Zagreb, Croatia
June 26-July 8, 2019

Final Standings

1. Magnus Carlsen NOR 2875, 8.0/11

2. Wesley So USA 2754, 7.0/11

3-4. Levon Aronian ARM 2752, Fabiano Caruana USA 2819, 6.0/11

5-7. Anish Giri NED 2779, Ding Liren CHN 2805, Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2775, 5.5/11

8. Sergey Karjakin RUS 2748, 5.0/11

9-11. Viswanathan Anand IND 2767, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2774, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2779, 4.5/11

12. Hikaru Nakamura USA 2754, 4.0/11

Average Rating 2782 Category 22

Time Control: 130 minutes play-to-finish with 30 second delay before the clock starts on every move

Last Thursday we talked about World Champion Magnus Carlsen’s wonderful performance in the Croatia leg of the Grand Chess Tour. Second-placer Wesley So did quite well himself.

He had three wins (against Ding Liren, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura) and eight draws with no losses.

Second place in Zagreb was financially rewarding. Prize money was not peanuts: $60,000, roughly P3.12 million. This, combined with his $15,000 for 4th place in the Ivory Coast leg, means that he has earned $75,000 (around P3.9 million) so far from the Grand Chess Tour. And he still has two Rapid/Blitz events and one Classical tournament to go, to say nothing of the London Chess Classic in December should he qualify. Life is looking good.

In terms of rating points the result was worth an additional 18.7 ELO rating points. Last March 2017 Wesley So was ranked no. 2 in the world with an ELO of 2822. This also made him the fifth highest rated player in chess history. After his below-par performance though in last year’s Berlin Candidates’ Tournament where he lost three of his first seven games Wesley’s rating and world rank has been steadily going down. In the June 2019 list for example he was already down to 14th place overall. After Zagreb he had a big rating boost and is no. 4th overall with ELO 2781.7, behind Magnus Carlsen (2881.7), Fabiano Caruana (2817.8), and Ding Liren (2808.2).

While talking to GM Maurice Ashley after the game Wesley expressed his happiness for having finished in second place:

“Obviously the way Magnus is playing in recent months we don’t want to break his streak of winning all tournaments this year, so we just let him win it! But it feels like second place is already a victory whenever he’s playing right now, because it’s like Bobby Fischer, back in the 70s or 60s — when he was playing the US Championship and others are just playing for second place.”

Compatriot Fabiano Caruana had this to say about Wesley:

“He did great. He played well throughout and he was very consistent. The games that he won were excellent quality. Against Mamedyarov was an excellent game, also the game he won against Hikaru, besides some minor slip in the endgame seemed like an excellent game as well, so he played very well throughout, and maybe with a bit more luck could have fought for first.”

What was the slip he was talking about? Well, let us see.

So, Wesley (2754) — Nakamura, Hikaru (2754) [C67]
GCT Zagreb 2019 Zagreb (8.2), 04.07.2019

GM Alireza Firouzja: The way he (Wesley) outplayed Nakamura in a Berlin typically known as a boring draw was impressive.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.Re1

The usual continuation here is 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8, the so-called “Berlin Wall.” The position after the text move might look familiar to the BW reader, because I had just written about it in a 2–part series last June 4 and 6 entitled “Attacking the Berlin”! I will point out where the deviation is in the coming notes.

5…Nd6 6.Nxe5

Of course Black can’t play 6…Nxb5 because of 7.Nxc6+

6…Be7

The game we took up last June 6th continued 6…Nxe5 7.Rxe5+ Be7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.Nc3 Bf6 10.Re3 g6 (10…b6 11.Bxh7+ Kxh7 12.Qh5+ Kg8 13.Rh3 etc) 11.Qf3! Bg7 12.b3 Ne8 13.Ba3 d6 14.Rae1 Nf6 15.h3 Nd7 16.Nd5! f5 17.Nxc7! Qxc7 18.Qd5+ Kh8 19.Re8 Nf6 20.Rxf8+ Bxf8 21.Bb2 Bg7 22.Bc4 Bd7 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Qf7 Qd8 25.Re8+! Black resigns. This is Nezhmetdinov, R — Kotkov, Y Russian ch 1957.

7.Bf1 Nf5

Wesley and Nakamura had gotten this position before, but Nakamura continued here 7…Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0–0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Rxe8+ Nxe8 12.d5 b6 13.Nd2 Bb7 14.Ne4 Be7 15.c3 Nd6 16.Ng3 Bg5 17.c4 Rc8 18.b3 Qf6 19.Bxg5 Qxg5 20.Qd4 Re8 21.Rd1 Nf5 22.Nxf5 Qxf5 23.Bd3 Qe5 agreed drawn. So, W (2765)-Nakamura, H (2746) Kolkata 2018.

8.Nf3 d5 9.d4 0–0 10.Nc3 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.Bb5

Previously played here are 12.Bf4, 12.Be3 and 12.Ne2. This is a new move but clearly not a game changer. Surprisingly though Nakamura started taking his time between moves while Wesley was blitzing out his replies.

12…Ne7 13.Bd3 Bf6 14.Qh5 g6 15.Qf3 Bg7 16.Bg5 f6 17.Bd2 c6 18.Ne2 Nf5 19.g3 Nh6 20.c4 Bg4 21.Qg2

White is threatening to pile up pressure against d5 with 22.cxd5 Qxd5 23.Qxd5+ cxd5 24.Nf4 Rad8 25.Rac1 and 26.Rc5. Black has to watch out also for exchanges on d5 followed by Bc4.

21…dxc4 22.Bxc4+ Kh8 23.d5 Nf7 24.Nf4 Ne5 25.Be2 Bd7 26.Rad1 cxd5 27.Bc3 Bc6 28.Nxd5 f5 29.f4 Nd7 30.Bxg7+ Kxg7 31.Bf3 Nf6 32.Nxf6 Qxf6 33.Bxc6 bxc6 34.Rd7+ Rf7 35.Qd2

Threatening to win the black queen with Rd6.

35…Rxd7 36.Qxd7+ Kf8

Some commentators pointed out that 36…Kh6! would have been a tougher nut to crack, but that is counter-intuitive as it looks very dangerous to tuck the king in the edge of the board.

37.Re5!

The obvious move 37.Re6 would allow 37…Qxb2 with various threats of perpetual check.

37…Rd8 38.Qxh7 Re8 39.Qh6+ Kf7 40.Qh7+ Kf8 41.Qc7! Rxe5 42.Qxe5!

[42.fxe5?! Qe7 holds]

42…Qxe5

This is really an impressive demonstration by Wesley of endgame mastery. He allows the queen exchange and the Black king to capture his e5–pawn, but he sees (either through calculation or intuition) that he will triumph in the K+P ending.

43.fxe5 Kf7 44.h4 Ke6 45.Kf2 Kxe5 46.Kf3?

Wesley had seen that after the most logical move 46.Ke3 Black plays 46…c5 and now 47.Kf3 wins:

In a straight race Black is clearly lost: 47…Kd4 48.Kf4 Kd3 49.Kg5 Kc2 50.Kxg6 Kxb2 51.h5 it is significant that the king is now on b2, because once white’s pawn queens it will be with check. 51…c4 52.h6 c3 53.h7 c2 54.h8Q+ White wins easily; so

47…a5 48.a4 c4 looks dangerous, but White wins just the same: 49.Ke3 Kd5 50.Kf4 Kd4 51.Kg5 Kd3 52.Kxg6 Kc2 53.h5 Kxb2 54.h6 c3 55.h7 c2 56.h8Q+ once again an easy win.

Having seen all of that the devil came into his head: so why doesn’t he play his king to f3 right away and save a tempo? Turns out it is not that simple.

46…c5

No choice as once again in a straight race Black loses: 46…Kd4 47.Kf4 Kd3 48.Kg5 Kc2 49.Kxg6 Kxb2 50.h5 c5 51.h6 c4 52.h7 c3 53.h8Q and this time Black is even worse than in the previous variation. There at least Black’s pawn was on c2, just one square from queening.

47.b3! Ke6?

This is where Nakamura slips up. 47…a6! draws. Let’s see … 48.Ke3 a5 49.Kf3 Kd4 50.Kf4 a4! 51.Kg5 Kc3 52.Kxg6 axb3 53.axb3 Kxb3 54.h5 c4 55.h6 c3 56.h7 c2 57.h8Q Black king is on b3 instead of b2, this time no check. 57…c1Q the position is equal.

48.Kf4 Kf6 49.a3 a6 50.b4!

I think this is what Nakamura overlooked. Otherwise 50.a4 a5 is a draw. Neither king can enter into the other’s side of the board. For example, after 51.g4 fxg4 52.Kxg4 Kf7! 53.Kg5 Kg7 54.Kf4 Kf6 55.Ke4 Ke6 etc.

50…c4 51.a4 Ke6 <D>

POSITION AFTER 51…KE6

52.Ke3!

According to the “Chess24” website, from the body language of the players, it was only after this move that Nakamura realized he was lost.

52…Kd5 53.Kd2! Kd4 54.Kc2! c3 55.b5 1–0

Let’s just continue White’s idea: 55.b5 axb5 (of course not 55…Kc5 56.bxa6 Kb6 57.Kxc3 Kxa6 58.Kd4) 56.axb5 Kc5 57.Kxc3 Kxb5 58.Kd4 Kc6 59.Ke5 Kd7 60.Kf6 there is no more doubt. You know, playing over a game like this fills me with sadness, for I know I can never play this well.

As usual there are those detractors of Wesley who point to his 8 draws and complain that he did not fight hard to win every game. In answer to this let me paraphrase Vishay Anand back from many years ago in a similar situation when the Spanish press grumbled about his 5 straight draws at the start of a big tournament. A certain journalist even went so far as to suggest that Vishay was treating the tournament like a vacation. The response? It goes something like this: why don’t you go play Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri and Sergey Karjakin, and see if you can get five draws.

 

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

Record contest

The men’s singles final of the 133rd edition of The Championships in Wimbledon established a handful of firsts that won’t likely be eclipsed anytime soon. Yet, even as the epic Sunday match didn’t appear to have an end if not for a newly instituted rule change that mandated a tiebreak on the fifth set after a 12-12 score, it figures to go down in tennis annals as one of the best ever because of who won, and how he did so. Indeed, just about every warm body on Centre Court outside of the box of defending titleholder Novak Djokovic cheered for his opponent, and to a degree that stretched the boundaries of what should be deemed allowable in a so-called gentleman’s sport.

That most of the 14,979 who witnessed the superb set-to sided with Roger Federer is no surprise. After all, he’s the acknowledged best of the best of all time, with 20 major championships to his name and a full two-fifths of those courtesy of his exquisite play at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. That they actively rooted against Djokovic, however, is. It’s not as if he’s a journeyman player out for an upset. In fact, he headed into the final as the proud owner of four replicas of the silver gilt cup winners hold aloft at the end of the tournament. And since he claimed his first in 2011, he had amassed an unparalleled 50-3 slate at Wimbledon, better than their favorite’s 46-7 record over that same span.

In any case, both Federer and Djokovic came prepared. From the get-go, they showed that they deserved to do battle for the hardware. And they left nothing in the tank throughout their determined effort to emerge victorious. In a record contest for the ages that lasted just two minutes short of five hours, momentum shifted constantly. One didn’t for a second look 37 years old and closer to a date with the rocking chair than with destiny. The other didn’t seem fazed by an otherwise overwhelming me-against-any-and-all-takers condition. One was an irresistible force, claiming a whopping 40 more winners than the competition. The other was an immovable object, winding up with 10 less unforced errors.

When the battlesmoke cleared, Djokovic was left standing only because he proved steadier under pressure. All three sets he won were via tiebreaks, during which he produced clutch shots that underscored his mental fortitude. Meanwhile, Federer was decidedly better on the whole, but faltered with the biggest points on the line. Every time he seemed on the cusp of winning, he was turned back in equal measure by his opponent’s resolve and by his own missteps. He even had two match points at 8-7 in the final set (and while he was serving, to boot), only to be denied.

Considering how tightly fought the final was, Djokovic’s reaction to the point that brought him triumph was quite subdued. He merely smiled and walked to the net, greeting Federer with a handshake and a pat on the chest, and then pointing to the skies and his team of backers. No jumps for joy, no fist pumps, no raised arms. Perhaps it was his way of saying he expected the outcome. The negative vibes directed his way notwithstanding, he showed all and sundry that he needed but one positive to bank on. He needed himself, period. As he noted in his post-mortem, “when the crowd is chanting ‘Roger,’ I hear ‘Novak.’”

Clearly, Djokovic’s mental toughness is what separates him from his peers. It also helps that he’s younger than Federer and, yes, Rafael Nadal, now just two ahead of him in the tally of Grand Slam titles. When all is said and done, he may yet have the highest number; his fitness regimen and dedication to his health makes age irrelevant. First things first, though: the United States Open next month, and if he’s deemed the man to beat at Flushing Meadows, it isn’t simply because the crown is his to retain. Rather, it’s because he believes in himself enough to take on the world.

 

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.

Peso climbs to new high as markets eye rate cuts

THE PESO rose to a fresh peak on bets of a rate cut by the US central bank. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE PESO strengthened against the dollar to hit a fresh high on the back of continued bets of monetary policy easing by the US Federal Reserve.

The local unit closed at P51 versus the greenback on Monday, 13 centavos higher than its P51.13-per-dollar finish last Friday.

This was the peso’s best showing in nearly one-and-a-half years or since it closed at P50.84 against the dollar on Jan. 26, 2018.

The peso opened the session at its worst showing of P51.155 per dollar, while it closed yesterday’s session at its intraday high.

Dollars traded thinned to $744.96 million from the $910.96 million that changed hands the previous session.

A trader said the peso moved in line with other currencies yesterday as the dollar was mostly weaker due to positioning ahead of a possible rate cut by the Fed.

Last Wednesday, Fed chair Jerome Powell hinted on a cut in benchmark rates in a prepared speech to the US Congress, strengthening the case for an easing move when the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets again later this month.

In his testimony, he said the central bank will “act as appropriate” to sustain expansion as “crosscurrents” such as trade tensions and concern on global growth are weighing on the economy.

“Even though an aggressive rate cut is unlikely, more or less there will be a cut by the FOMC, the first trader said, adding that the greenback is still trading at the low end of its recent range.

“The peso appreciated amid heightened global dovish sentiment after the Chinese economy grew at a slower annual pace in the second quarter of 2019,” another trader said in an e-mail.

China’s statistics bureau reported on Monday that its gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.2% in the second quarter, its slowest pace in 27 years, dragged by the effects of its trade war with the US.

“The GDP data was in line with market expectations, but the industrial production and retail sales were better. That brought a slight spillover of risk-on sentiment,” the first trader said.

The trader added that the upbeat domestic remittances data also boosted the risk appetite of the market.

Cash sent home by Filipinos in May stood at $2.6 billion, 5.7% higher from the $2.5 billion booked in the same month last year. This brought cash remittances in the five months ended May to $12.3 billion, up 4.5% year-on-year.

For today, the second trader expects the peso to move between P50.85 and P51.15 versus the dollar. The other gave a P51-P51.15 range but noted the local unit might breach the support level. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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