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Business
Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@manilastandard.net
EXPERTS DISCUSS SONA OF DUTERTE
MINDANAO BANK GOES INTO THE CLOUD
WO former air force generals are bringing a Mindanao-based rural bank into the cloud, paving the way for the first bank in the Philippines that fully runs on a paperless, Internetbased core-banking platform. Cantilan Bank Inc., one of the largest rural banks in southern Philippines with 42 branches and extension offices, is switching to Instafin, the corebanking software of Croatia-based financial technology company Oradian, with the help of a $150,000 grant from the Asian Development Bank. “With this technology, you just need an Internet connection. You don’t have to maintain your data center. Everything will be in the cloud. All you have to do when you open a branch is bring a laptop, as long as you have a facility ready,” Cantilan Bank Inc. president Charles Hotchkiss, a retired brigadier general and commander of the 600th Air Base Wing of the Philippine Air Force, says in an interview in Makati City. All financial records and transactions of Cantilan Bank will be in the cloud, or the Internet, stored in the European servers of Oradian. Every transaction will be transparent and an instant report can be generated anytime and anywhere through Instafin, says Julian Oerhlein, the chief operating officer of Oradian. Charles’ elder brother, retired Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss, a former commanding general of the Philippine Air Force and ex-director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, is the chairman of Cantilan Bank, while William’s daughter, Harvard-educated Tanya Hotchkiss is the bank’s executive vice president. Cantilan Bank, which started in 1980 as one brick-and-mortar rural bank in the second-class town of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur where the Hotchkiss brothers were born, is now one of the largest in Mindanao. It now has 42 branches and offices with 24 automated teller machines located across Caraga Region, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao provinces, Davao City and Southern Leyte. It had total assets of P2.4 billion as of December 2016. It was the first rural bank in Surigao to offer an ATM service and provided mobile phone banking through GCash as early as 2006. “The bank started in 1980 and our father was an incorporator. My brother [William], Tanya’s dad, retired from the Air Force in 1989. He went back to Cantilan and he was offered to join the bank as chairman and president. At that time, our bank had only three branches. My brother expanded the bank. When I retired [from the Air Force] in 2005, I also joined the bank. We continued with expansion. Now, we have 25 branches and 18 extension offices,” Charles Hotchkiss says. “We have around 400 employees. We have branches that have seven to eight people, while there are branches with 20 people. An extension office has three or four,” he says. He says at present, the rural bank spends nearly half a million pesos monthly for connectivity of the branches and extension offices, an amount that he hopes will be substantially reduced with the switch to the cloud. The Asian Development Bank provided a $150,000 grant to launch the cloud-based core banking technology in the Philippines, with Catilan Bank as the pilot institution. Cantilan Bank will use Oradian’s subscription-based banking platform to demonstrate how digital services can unlock financial opportunities for the unbanked and underserved segments of the population. “Right now we are reviewing our strategic plan, because of this technology. We are going to expand definitely in Leyte because the banks there are small,” says Hotchkiss. “We want to serve the unserved.” The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2014 Consumer Finance Survey shows that 86 percent of Filipino households were unbanked in that year. About 582 of the 1,634 cities and municipalities nationwide had no banks. Charles Hotchkiss says with the cloud technology, opening a branch will be faster and less costly. “Where we are now, we have to deepen it. We want to reach more people,” says Hotchkiss. Oerhlein, a German national who co-founded Oradian in 2012, says Instafin—the flagship core-banking platform product—is an all-in-one software which enables microfinance institutions, cooperatives and rural banks to manage their day-to-day operations more effectively and serve their clients more efficiently. Oerhlein says Instafin will replace Cantilan Bank’s existing system. “Our system has everything integrated—loans, savings, accounting and business intelligence. On a click of a button, if someone enters a transaction in some branch, and you click the system to see a report, instantly you see what is going on. It really increases transparency and it allows them to be fully in control of what is happening,” he says. “The integration depends on the customers requirements. We can integrate ATM cards, we can integrate bank transfers, we can integrate remittance, we can integrate directly with credit bureau. It really goes just a week or two, so it is really fast,” says Oerhlein. Tanya Hotckiss says the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas supports the project and waits for the result of Cantilan Bank’s migration to the cloud. “They want to see how this affects operation efficiency, so that they can see the impact when it comes to scale. It is very helpful for us to be partners of organizations like ADB as they provide financial support. More importantly, they provide the monitoring and evaluation aspect,” she says. “We are required by regulation to have a pilot that is running in parallel with our current system. So you can imagine the financial cost. This is why we looked for financial help [from ADB]. We knew that the impact of this project does not affect just Cantilan. It may affect the entire industry. So
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Cantilan Bank Inc. president Charles Hotchkiss (left) and executive vice president Tanya Hotchkiss
Oradian business development manager Kcaper Marcinowski (left) and chief operating officer Julian Oerhlein
TOP policy experts and members of civil society discussed President Rodrigo Duterte’s state of the nation address affecting the country’s economic development in a forum organized by an independent international think tank in Makati City. “The promise of deep-seated change could not come at a more opportune time. It is obvious to all of us that the government needs to address urgent economic issues and promote a strong flow of investment,” said Dindo Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute. “It’s clear that the president needs to work with both the legislature and the judiciary to ensure that his projects see the light of day within his term,” he said. Dr. Alvin Ang, director of the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development, discussed how President Duterte recognized the massive coordination failure he is facing. “Despite political will and resources, he is facing the same problems that hampered the infrastructure projects of the Aquino Administration,” Ang said. He cited as an example the Skyway 3 project that remained only 24-percent completed. “ The frustration comes out in that regard. There is need for coordination among equal branches of government,” said Ang. “We need jobs that are quality jobs and not short-term. We can call for patriotic business. Many of the businesses run in this country are not able to produce enough jobs for the rest of the population,” Ang said. Ang linked government capacities to the challenge of federalism. “The frustration of the president mirrors the ordinar y people’s frustration on gover nmental capacities. You cannot solve traffic or do this or do that because there are silos that rules them. Until institutional alignments are understood in terms of capacities, I guess we’ll go back to the same issues regardless of the new structures in place,” said Ang. The West Philippine Sea and Duterte’s pivot to China was cited as critical and could not be put on the side for a long time. “People already know that it is ours in the context of economic zones and the naming of the area. With China as the biggest trading partner of the Philippines now and courting it for foreign direct investments, it is a high wire walk, how to attract investments of China and to give up the West Philippine Sea control or at least postpone it,” Ang said.
we wanted to ensure that a third party [ADB] is watching this. Basically, this is the first rural bank for them here in the Philippines,” says Tanya. Tanya hopes that the full transition to the cloud will be accomplished in three to four months. Oradian, a software-as-a-service provider founded in May 2012, has three servers in Europe. Established by experts in microfinance technology, it now has more than 40 clients in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi and the Turn to C2
TECH EXPERT PREDICTS THE FUTURE OF PH BANKING AN EXECUTIVE of global software company Amdocs believes that agent banking is the future of banking in the Philippines. Amdocs vice president for mobile financial services Justin Ho defines agent banking as a network of banking agents s e r v i n g a s p hy s i c a l b a n k branches. “With 60 percent of Philippines’ adult population still unbanked, especially in very remote unreachable rural areas, where banking services penetration is low due to lack
of physical infrastructure, agent banking can help fill this gap,” Ho says in an email interview. Ho, who helped establish and served as co-chief executive of Utiba Pte Ltd., a pioneer in the field of mobile commerce, before he joined Amdocs, is a strong advocate of financial inclusion and branchless banking. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Melbourne University. “Agent bank ing can aid traditional banking by adding another channel to it to make
banking services accessible to unbanked people at a cost point that matches the banks potential revenue and profit targets for these segments,” he says. Ho says setting up a network of banking agents can serve as a physical backbone and help banks and mobile financial services providers extend their reach in a cost effective and agile manner. “ With increasing mobile connectivity and smartphone usage, and innovation in financial technologies, agent banking can be used to deliver full-fledged
banking services such as saving accounts loans, insurance products, personal finance management and others to this extended population,” he says. “The ubiquity and agnostic nature of the mobile channel – is a perfect way to spread the benefit of agent banking to more Filipinos – anyone with a smartphone or even a simpler, USSD based phone can utilize the technology and also benefit from increased convenience and often lower fees. The lack of overhead [since a physical branch isn’t
required] and lower variable costs involved also means that banks often waive fees normally associated with transactions for an agent’s customers,” he says. Ho says telcos have recently led the recent development of mobile money products with great success. “This is a great opportunity for banks to act on the prospect to increase the proportion of digital or mobile customers in the region,” he says. In agent banking, agents can assist with new customer onboarding for the bank, thereby
Amdocs vice president for mobile financial services Justin Ho
extending and accelerating the bank’s reach, he says. As agent banking technology advances, banks will be able to offer more services such as loans, mortgages and savings accounts – without having to invest in ‘bricks and mortar’ bank branch infrastructure, Ho says. Roderick T. dela Cruz
Business
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SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017 business@manilastandard.net
MINDANAO...
From C1
Philippines who are using Instafin to serve 1 million microfinance clients. It has 13 clients in the Philippines, including cooperatives and microinsurance companies. “We have 13 other clients up and running in the Philippines, which have been using it for several months. I am sure they will be happy to share their success stories of what it did for their business, just having access to real-time information, and without having the need to rely on their old, expensive hardware which was usually very unreliable,” says Oerhlein. He says the core-banking platform was designed in such a way that new modules can be easily integrated into the system. “Maybe in the next years, someone will have a big innovation in payments channels, we can instantly integrate that into this core banking system. It is really agnostic of channels. This is the beauty of it. They can just pick whatever works, and they can pilot it. And we don’t charge for this integration,” he says. “It is subscription model, with no upfront cost. It is roughly based on the number of end clients, so when you grow, you pay a bit more. If you have less clients, you pay a bit less. It directly aligns our incentives with the incentives from our customers. Our customers grow and increase their reach and we help them to become more efficient,” he says. “One part of this is the tool—the software. The other part is introducing best practices, allowing them to add other channels, new business model. We help them grow, and they will help us grow,” says Oerhlein. Oerhlein says Instafin software is easy to use. “We always say that in terms of user interface, if someone is able to use facebook, they should be able to use our system. And we have a whole team responsible for customers,” he says. Lotte Schou-Zibell, a technical advisor for finance at ADB, says financial technology is revolutionizing finance. “Recent innovations in digital and mobile phone technology have made it easier to expand access to financial services to peopleand small businesses in hard-to-reach areas,”says Schou-Zibell. “These services have the potential to serve as a pathway for the poor and underserved to leap over traditional barriers to financial inclusion.” Tanya Hotckiss agrees, saying with Oradian’s SaaS model, Cantilan Bank can spend less annually for a faster, real-time system with best in class data security. “This will give Cantilan more capacity to focus on our core business and financial inclusion mission,” says Tanya. The cloud-based core banking technology pilot project will be implemented in five stages including the full migration of Cantilan Bank’s data and information to the cloud infrastructure; mobility enhancement of loan officers in the field through mobile applications linked to the core system; integration with third parties including payments and remittance services; enabling clients to have direct digital access of their finances; and measuring impact on financial access. Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. says the introduction of cloud banking in the Philippines is a key moment in resolving the challenges of financial inclusion. “Cloud technology can upgrade the competitiveness of rural banks and enable them to provide affordable, high-quality financial services,” says Espenilla. Oerhlein believes that all banks, including big commercial banks, will migrate to the cloud in the future. “I don’t think any financial institution will survive in the long run if they don’t move to the cloud. It might come in different flavors but many other industries have already shown that cloud is the way to go and I think the financial industry is in the middle of it,” he says. “They will have to if they want to stay competitive. I don’t think they have another option,” says Oerhlein. Roderick T. dela Cruz
PILMICO, MAX’S BACK MILLENNIAL BAKERS
From left: Max’s Corner Bakery chief operating officer Ariel Fermin, Pilmico brand and quality manager Pamela Liwag, 2016 Tinapay Natin Pinoy Bread Baking Competition national champions Greegy Cabarrubias and Roy Tabocolde, Pilmico Foods Corp. vice president and chief operating officer Tristan Aboitiz and other executives of Pilmico and Max’s Group.
By Marielle Franchesca Santiago
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WO companies have teamed up to promote baking among millennials, by holding the second Tinapay Natin Pinoy Bread Baking Competition. The competition is an initiative of flour mining company Pilmico Foods Corp., together with Max’s Group Inc. In its second year, the competition was expanded to accommodate a more diverse pool of participants including all non-professional home bakers who want to share their bread stories. “The passion and dedication that we saw to the different teams [last year] showcased their bread baking skills; and their local delicacies gave [the organizers] comfort that the future of [the] baking industry of this country is in good hands,” says Pilmico vice president and chief operating officer
Tristan Aboitiz. Max’s Corner Bakery chief operating officer Ariel Fermin says the organizers hope that through the competition, young participants will be able to share the inspiration, struggle and the hard work involved in bread making. Last year’s winners, Roy Tabocolde and Greegy Cabarrubias, who received full scholarship from their school St. Therese MTC College, say they did their best in honor of their school despite the pressure in competing at the national level. “We were nervous when we reached the national finals. We were afraid that we would not be able to perfect the bread, as we did in the elimination round. We didn’t want to disappoint our school,” the champions say. Tabocolde and Cabarrubias’ creations— cream cheese ensaymada, caramel sesame roll and Cagayan de oro pastel—were sold exclusively nationwide in all Max’s Corner Bakery starting July 23.
“We hope that with this competition, we are able to encourage the public to keep the bread-making tradition alive, promote creativity and innovation among Filipino bakers, and of course support the local bread industry just as we and Max’s Corner Bakery do,” Aboitiz says. The competition invites bread enthusiasts ages 18 and above to create a regional bread recipe and a traditional bread recipe with a modern twist. Out of those who will submit their online entries together with their bread stories, only 12 teams will be selected to join the live bake-offs that will happen on Sept. 30 in Davao City, Oct. 6 in Bacolod City and Oct. 14 in Baguio City. The top two teams out of the regional bake-offs will then move on to the grand finals to be held in Manila on Nov. 16, 2017. The winners will receive cash prizes, trophies, medals and the honor of having their breads sold nationwide on Max’s Corner Bakery.
WORLD’S FIRST FULLY AUTOMATED INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc.’s Victoria International Container Terminal at the Por t of Melbourne in Australia is the first fully automated international container terminal in the world. “VICT was designed, and is now fully equipped, to be fully automated, and the most advanced container terminal in the world,” says ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. “Most of the $450 million invested in VICT went to cutting-edge technology and equipment, and the highest standards of port safety. So we can rightly claim that VICT is the very first terminal in Australia that can accommodate the largest Neo-Panamax container ships. For the time being, we can rightly claim that our Melbourne terminal is the most automated terminal in the world,” Razon says. M e l b o u r n e’s n e we s t co nt a i n e r terminal, VICT, came about as part of the Port of Melbourne’s Port Capacity Project, a Victorian state government initiative to redevelop the Webb Dock East area, and meet increasing trade
volumes in Melbourne, Australia’s largest maritime hub for containerized cargo. A public-private partnership for a 26-year concession between ICTSI / VICT and the Port of Melbourne Corp. was signed in May 2014. “VICT was completed below budget and four months ahead of schedule. This has never been achieved in the por t industr y for 100-percent automated terminal. It is especially notewor thy when considering the unprecedented complexity of the civil works requirements, along with the level of pioneering automation built right into the design,” says Razon. In delivering Australia’s first fully automated container facility, ICTSI tapped leading suppliers and service providers. It features cutting edge and top of the line port equipment and technology. “VICT has selected leading technology from around the world for every step in its operations. For the first time anywhere in the world, a terminal has been created that seamlessly uses automated operations from ship to shore. Integration was key to this innovation—putting all these
technologies together. That’s why VICT is the most advanced contained terminal in the world,” says Christian Gonzalez, ICTSI senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific region. “Everything about VICT, from its technology to its location and layout, has been designed to deliver unprecedented efficiency, safety, sustainability and
security,” Gonzales says. As part of the PPP, VICT has committed to good corporate citizenship in the city of Melbourne, state of Victoria, and the nation of Australia; but more importantly, a strategic local partner of the Webb Dock community. Thus, technologies rolled out complement the sustainability of the terminal.
Further establishing ICTSI’s Melbourne terminal as the first of its kind, VICT, together with its contractor BMD Constructions, and terminal designer AECOM, was recognized by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. In an awards gala held last April, VICT was awarded the Smart Infrastructure Project Award at the 2017 National Infrastructure Awards in Sydney. Last year, VICT received a design rating of “leading” from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia. The terminal is currently pursuing the permanent and ultimate rating of “as-built” from ISCA. Aside from full automation, VICT envisions to become the leading sustainable container terminal in Australia, and among the most sustainable ports in the world. “These recognitions are proof that we are changing the game not only in Australia but in the world. VICT exists to serve the world’s leading shipping lines. We operate with their customers in mind, with a terminal that’s designed to add value throughout the supply chain,” says Gonzalez.
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SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017 reuelvidal@yahoo.com
INSPIRED PLAY MERITS AWARD
Adamson’s May Permentilla (8) dives on the floor as she and teammate Ann Caole try to keep the ball in play during their PVL Open Conference duel against BaliPure. Looking on is teammate libero Jellie Tempiatura.
PVL COMPETITION ENTERS HOMESTRETCH
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HE unbeaten Creamline Cool Smashers (6 wins, 0 loss) and the Pocari Sweat Lady Warriors (5-1) are safely through to the semifinals of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference. Three teams: Hairy Fairy Air Force (4-2), Perlas-BanKo (3-3) and the BaliPure Water Defenders (3-3) are fighting to stay alive. As of press time Saturday the Hair Fairy Air Force hope to bounce back from a straightset loss to the Lady Warriors when they take on AdamsonAkari. A victory sends Air Force safely through to the semifinals leading the Power Smashers and BaliPure to fight it out for the last berth. Air Force hopes to rebound from its straight-set setback to Pocari Sweat in its last game as it shoots for the third semifinal berth against ousted Adamson-Akari. Pocari sweat booked its own semifinal ticket after grounding Air Force, 25-19, 2520, 29-27, to take second place behind unbeaten Creamline. BaliPure stayed in the running for seat in the playoffs after it snapped a two-game skid with a 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 2520 romp over Adamson-Akari. Save for a listless third set stint, the Water Defenders dominated the Lady Falcons, wresting control early and cruising in the first set, quelling off their rivals’ gritty stand in the next before pouncing on Adamson’s miscues in the fourth to fashion out the victory. The Lady Falcons saved one match point at 19-24 on a BaliPure service error but Chiara Permentilla’s attack error and
Eli Soyud’s weak serve that slammed into the net enabled the Water Defenders to claim the set and the match. “We need to win our last two games to have a chance of making the semis and I’m glad the girls responded to the challenge,” said BaliPure coach Roger Gorayeb. It was only BaliPure’s third win against three losses but it proved enough to tie the Water Defenders with the idle Perlas-BanKo Spikers at fourth heading to their last elimi-
nation round assignments against the two of the league’s top teams. Adamson, UP and the Power Smashers, with 1-5 slates, have been eliminated. After a runner-up finish to Pocari Sweat in the past PVL conference the Water Defenders are struggling this conference. The Water Defenders were off to a good 2-1 start this conference though. They then lost two consecutive matches which pushed them on the brink of elimination. Fatigue seems to be the biggest factor against BaliPure. Star player Grethcel Soltones is not about to point any fingers but even she admitted they are not playing like the team which almost annexed the crown during
BaliPure’s Iris Oliveros (12) elevates as she squares herself to spike the ball past Adamson’s Ann Caole during their PVL Open Conference duel with Adamson.
Jocemer Tapic of Air Force tips the volleyball over the outstretched arms of the Power Smashers blocker Jovelyn Prado (18) during their PVL Open Conference matchup at the Filoil Center.
the PVL’s past conference. The former three-time NCAA MVP is playing as well as anybody in the league but some of her teammates seem tired, a step slow and a split second late to react to game situations. This is understandable because some of her teammates are still in college and have a twice-a-day practice. One with BaliPure and another with their school teams. Jerrili Malabanan is still with Far Eastern University. Risa Sato, Jorelle Singh, Aiko Urdas and Jasmine Nabor also
THE Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps took notice not just of the strong start by the NLEX Road Warriors but by the outstanding play of their young point guard Kevin Alas. Serving as the catalyst in NLEX’s strong start, young guard Kevin Alas emerged as the first PBA Press Corps Player of the Week behind his inspired plays in the opening week of the Governors’ Cup. The six-foot guard kicked off NLEX’s campaign by banging in 20 points, hauling down eight rebounds and issuing four assists to lead the Road Warriors past Alaska, 112-104 in the opening game of the season-ending conference. Alas then submitted another allaround stats line of 13 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block as NLEX stopped KIA, 100-93. No doubt Alas is inspired in large part by his girlfriend Selina Dagdag, the lovely PBA courtside reporter who even got to interview him after he won player of the game honors. The former Letran star easily beat Phoenix guard RJ Jazul, Meralco’s Chris Newsome, Rain or Shine’s Maverick Ahanmisi and Star veteran PJ Simon for the weekly citation. The recognition seemed to fire up Alas who then played arguably his best game this conference as he led the Road Warriors past Rain or Shine, 122-114, in double overtime to remain unbeaten in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the SmartAraneta Coliseum. Alas has emerged this conference and is taking on a leadership role with the Road Warriors. He is averaging 19 points on 57 percent shooting from the field, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists after three games. And while the love of his life no doubt brings an extra bounce to his step Alas also credited new teammate Larry Fonacier for making him aware of the need to step up and play a bigger role in his team. Alas said the veteran Fonacier took him aside to stress the need to contribute more. Fonacier told Alas he needed to mature and take a leadership role in the team. While the advice is well placed it was still up to Alas to respond positively to the challenge. Alas admits, he and the rest of his teammates have a long way to go. They have a new coach. A new system. And many new players who need to adjust to a new situation. Three consecutive victories is a good start for Alas and his teammates though.
attend practices with National University. Despite this the Water Defenders bounced back with the needed victory and could advance to the semifinals depending on the results of the games today, Sunday. Perlas will play unbeaten Creamline at 4 p.m. while BaliPure will take on defending champion Pocari Sweat at 6:30 p.m. If BaliPure and Perlas prevail, they will most likely dispute the last Final Four seat in the mid-season conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.
Kevin Alas
‘TATLUHAN’ GAINS SPOTLIGHT THROUGH NBA 3X PHILIPPINES By Reuel Vidal
Managing Director for NBA Philippines Carlo Singson (right), NBA player Steven Adams and former Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus (center, back) and the Laker Girls join Boys U18 Division Champions, Escuela de Sophia, at NBA 3X Philippines 2017 presented by AXA.
BASKETBALL is undoubtedly the most popular spectator sport in the country. But “tatluhan” or three-on-three basketball is far and away the most played. Everyone plays this game. Gyms and private basketball courts are not even needed because “tatluhan” is played in street corners, vacant lots, driveways, backyards and every available space where you can put up a ring and a backboard for players to fling a basketball at. Recognizing this AXA Philippines presented NBA 3X Philippines 2017. The competition reached an all-time high in popularity this year with
increased participation from Metro Manila and provincial teams joining the various age group categories of the seven-year old 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Fifty-six out of 176 participating teams survived the qualifiers held at Don Bosco Makati. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals matches of the Boys Under-13, Under-16, and Under-18, Girls Under-18, Men’s Open and Women’s Open were staged at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall last weekend. Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams, former Sacramento Kings head coach Reggie Theus—now more popularly known as Kobe Paras’ coach at Cal State
Northridge in the US NCAA— and the Laker Girls added glitz and glamor to the event by awarding all winning individuals and teams their medals and trophies. Participants came from a virtual cross section of society. The Men’s Open division was won by Team Rocan from Valenzuela, Bulacan. The Women’s Open Division was won by National UniversityA over NU-B squad. Players of both teams play for the NU women’s basketball team which has dominated UAAP women’s basketball the past three seasons. The Celebrity Division was won by Team Uy, Uy, Uy which had sports analyst Dominic Uy, PBA legend and coach
Vince Hizon and sports analyst Charles Tiu. Their finals opponents were Mongrel Mob which had ex-PBA player and now commercial talent Mark Andaya, TV host Bobby Yan and actor Neil Sese. The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association and the NBA G League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.
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Sports
SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017 Riera U. Mallari, Editor / Reuel Vidal, Issue Editor / Randy Caluag, Issue Editor
sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
PH LADY SPIKERS BOW TO KOBE U The kids join their volunteer coaches after the football clinic
‘SPORTS IS MORE THAN JUST WINNING MEDALS’
By Randy Caluag
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LIAH Dimaporo Cimafranca kept herself busy taking photos of Marawi children, who were playing football, volleyball and parlor games under the care of teachers-volunteers from Mindanao State University. Later in the day, she joined in distributing gift packs for hundreds of kids, who are temporarily sheltered, along with their family, at a school in Iligan City. “This is so very different. It’s a relief operation with activities,” said Aliah, trying to hold her tears. Aliah, as consultant for development programs for the Philippines Sports Commission, flew in to Iligan to observe the Children’s Games held for children evacuees, who were displaced by the fighting between the Maute terrorists and the military. “I was tasked to help develop development programs that are sustainable and objective centered.” The Children’s Games is one of centerpiece programs under the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) headed by Mark Velasco as director of training. It’s becoming very clear that under the young administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, the PSC is veering away from its traditional role of providing more focus on elite sports and putting more its efforts and resources to community sports. PSC chairman William Ramirez had made himself clear that the agency’s mandate is not just to help a few, particularly the National Sports Associations, which send athletes to international competitions, but “we are bound to promote and make sports accessible to every Filipino.” Duterte made himself clear when he dropped the bomb by withdrawing the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. The government is expected to spend at least a billion pesos for the construction and rehabilitation of facilities to stage the biennial games.
Traditionally, the host emerges as overall champions. The Philippines was overall king when it hosted the Games in 1991 and 2011. PSC chairman Ramirez said the budget for the hosting will be re-routed to helping rehabilitate the war-devastated city of Marawi in Mindanao. The PSC is also changing the game and putting more emphasis on going to the provinces for its community games through the Children’s Games. “The mantra of the president is to make the sports ac-
Happiness is painted all over the faces of the children after playing games conducted by volunteers from the Mindanao State University
Aside from sports, kids also play in parlor games
cessible to the community. Sports is all about human development, not (just) about winning medals.” The Children’s Games has a lot of faces. In northern provinces, the PSC brought the Children’s Games to promote Filipino indigenous games and street games like sack race relay, kadang-kadang—simple games that teach discipline and team spirit. When the Children’s Games was held in Davao City in May, most of those who participated were street children. Then in the next stop in Benguet, local
players showcased their skills in tribal games like traditional wrestling. Sergio Opena, PSC consultant in Davao City, said the Children’s Games are offered for adoption by the communities in Davao to promote peace among children. There’s a plan to put children from different faiths and cultures like the Lumads, Christians and Muslims under one house where they can develop both their social and sports skills. “WE can use sport as a universal tool, because whatever language they speak, sport
speak a universal language that can be understood by everyone. Children still have less biases so it’s better to start the program with them.” The Games’ unique features of holding games while providing life-changing results to children, was noticed by the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and invited the PSC to share the program in its recent Ministerial Sports meeting in Kazan, Russia. But for now, the children of Marawi are the PSC’s priority in Mindanao. Henry Daut, a former pro-
fessor at MSU, has been tasked by Ramirez to conduct follow-up programs. “The first Games held for them was successful and we’re actually making the project a full-blown rehabilitation scheme for the children,” said Daut, who was the chief facilitator of first Children’s Games with the help of his former students and colleagues from MSU, led by Nenita Samung, Dean of College of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation. She was also from Marawi and has been staying in Iligan until the situation normalizes at MSU campus, which is situated atop a hill, three kilometers from the Marawi City proper. She said the Children’s games provided a therapeutic psychological experience for the children affected by the conflict. “The children need more than just material things. With this activity, we were able to develop friendship among them.” Daut is also making a coffee-table book to raise more global awareness and attract private donors for the needs of the children still living far from their homes.
OSAKA, Japan—The national women`s volleyball team gained a neat lesson in toughness and composure as it absorbed a fiveset loss to Kobe Shinwa Women`s University, 25-19, 17-25, 25-18, 2325, 8-15, in another friendly match late Friday here. The Nationals gamely challenged the home squad early on before head coach Francis Vicente expertly shuffled his players to identify the weak and strong rotations in the squad that is preparing for the 19th Asian Senior Women`s Championship and the 29th Southeast Asian Games next month. Vicente said the friendly match ultimately served its purpose as he was able to experiment and apply the lessons they learned from noted Japanese mentor Akiyoshi Kawamoto and the elite Okayama City Seagulls in the first leg of this grueling 17-day training camp. Jaja Santiago had another remarkable offensive effort as she delivered 16 kills and a block for 17 points while Alyssa Valdez chipped in 13 kills and two blocks for 15 markers for the Nationals, who showed traces of improvement in their blocking, floor defense and chemistry on the floor. Veteran Jovelyn Gonzaga also played well, finishing with 12 kills while Kim Fajardo had five kills, an ace and 37 excellent sets. “We may have lost the match, but I still like what I saw,” said Vicente, noting that his wards managed to keep the match close despite the solid performance of the Japanese and his decision to tinker with his rotation late in the game.” “We know that Kobe Shinwa is a very tough team. It plays fast and aggressive. The mere fact that we were able to match their speed and discipline is already a positive development.” Kobe Shinwa coach Kiyokazu Yamamoto said the Filipinos are already improving. Yamamoto is no stranger to Philippine volleyball after his wards battled some top flight club in the Philippine Superliga (PSL) Invitational Conference last April. Kobe Shinwa copped the crown after winning of all of its matches in the most prestigious women`s club league in the county. “Your team played really well,” Yamamoto told Vicente during the dinner hosted by Japanese coaches. “You must have learned a lot from coach Kawamoto because I see improvement in your blocking and defense. There are only some minor lapses, but you can work it out as you go along with the program.” The Nationals resumed training with Kobe Shinwa University Saturday morning before engaging in another friendly battle. They are set to face a couple of university and club teams in the next few days before flying back to Manila on Wednesday next week.
CEBU CAGERS JOIN STEPHEN CURRY TOUR IN SEOUL With its mission to empower athletes and making athletes better, Under Armour gave two lucky ballers a chance of a lifetime when University of Cebu’s John BrylCuyos and Virlou Orquez traveled to Seoul to witness Stephen Curry in his Asia Tour. Cuyos and Orquez gained a chance to see 2x MVP, Under Armour ambassador in person after winning Under Armour 3x3 Under-18 Philippines title recently. The two were members of the victorious UC squad that captured the Under Ar-
mour 3x3 Southeast Asia Cebu crown and the Under Armour 3x3 Southeast Asia Philippines title in Manila. The two ballers from Cebu traveled to see Curry in the flesh at the event held at the Jungchang Gymnasium in Seoul Korea. They got a chance to interact with the NBA champion and learned new drills and tricks from the Golden State Warriors star during the all-expense paid trip by Under Armour Southeast Asia. They also received limited edition gears from Under Armour.
The two cagers are now back in the country, bringing with them once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Curry’s visit in Asia came following the launch of Curry3ZERO, the latest Under Armour shoe line for the NBA superstar. The Curry3ZERO made its formal launch in the Philippines a few weeks ago with Alaska Aces point guard Chris Banchero, Barangay GinebrafowardJervy Cruz, San Beda standout Robert Bolick, actor JC De Verea, Letran star Rey Nambatac, Ms. Earth 2015 Angelica GabrenaOng,
coach Christian Luanzon, and UA’s newest ambassador Kali Huff attending the ceremony at The City Club Alphaland Makati Place. Under Armour also treated the media with a unique basketball experience as they played 3x3 basketball, competed in a three-point shootout, and taught new drills to improve their basketball skills and physical condition. Get a chance to win an authographed gear from the Steph Curry by checking out IG underarmouph page for more details.
University of Cebu’s John BrylCuyos and Virlou Orquez at Stephen Curry Asia Tour in Seoul, South Korea