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Business
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2016 Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@thestandard.com.ph
71-YEAR-OLD PRODUCES ELECTRIC VEHICLES
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OKYO—Osamu Masuko, the 67-year-old chairman, president and chief executive of Japanese automotive manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has high hopes for the Philippines.
Even as his company takes a new direction as it joins the NissanRenault alliance, Masuko says the Philippines will remain a strategic part of the group’s growth strategy. MMC is building a stamping plant in Laguna province to produce body panels for subcompact vehicle Mirage and its variant Mirage G4. “We would like to contribute to the development of the automotive industry in the Philippines through promotion of local production, expansion of local parts procurement and promotion of employment,”Masuko tells Filipino journalists who were invited to visit MMC’s headquarters in Tokyo and its world-class production facility in Okazaki. The Okazaki plant is highly automated, employing hundreds of workers and robots to produce nearly 1,000 vehicles a day, which undergo strict quality check and testing. MMC produces more than 1 million vehicles each year from its various production plants around the world. As excellent as the Japanese market is, Masuko is more excited about the Philippine market and what it can become by 2020. “The Philippines has a population of over 100 million and it has a very young population. It is stable politically and economically. There is room for economic growth and demand for automotive. I have high expectations for the Philippines,” he says. Masuko says as Japan, MMC’s home market, has an aging population, the growth in demand for vehicles will come from dynamic economies such as the Philippines. “English skill is another advantage for Filipinos. You have a big advantage in speaking in the global arena. You have a stable economy, even with the change in administration,” he says. Masuko says while sales volume of vehicles in the Philippines remains low, representing just a third of those in Thailand or Indonesia, this indicates a strong potential for growth. “That means we can grow more. Compared to Japan, you have a very bright future,” says Masuko. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., the local unit, is the first company to register in the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy or CARS—the Philippine government’s incentive program for the automotive industry. Masuko says MMPC has acquired an old facility of Ford Philippines in Sta. Rosa City in Laguna and developed the site into its own production base. “The annual production capacity of this plant is 50,000 units, but with additional investment, that capacity can be expanded to 100,000 units,” he says, adding that the plan also involves exporting Mirage (hatchback) and Mirage G4 (trunked version) from the Philippines. “MMPC first started the investment of about P4.3 billion, implemented the expansion of the passenger car production line as well as construction of a new stamping plant,” Masuko says. “The production of Mirage G4 will start in January 2017, followed by Mirage [in May 2017] and the new stamping plant is planned to be completed in January 2018. In addition, we would like to further make use of production capacity in the future and make further investment,” says Masuko. MMPC president and chief executive Yoshiaki Kato says the stamping plant in Laguna is already under construction and is expected to be completed by January 2018. The plant will enable MMPC to produce body panels for Mirage and Mirage G4 subcompact cars. “For the first time, we will have a stamping plant in the Philippines. It is a challenge we would like to take. We could increase capacity to 100,000 units,” says Masuko. Mitsubishi already enjoys a large market share in the Philippine automotive market, ranking seventh overall in the Asian region. Demand for vehicles in the Philip-
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Mitsubishi auto gallery in Okazaki
MITSUBISHI BOSS BETS ON FILIPINOS
CHAIRMAN. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. chairman, president and chief executive Osamu Masuko pines has been growing at a double-digit rate in the past few years, reaching a record 323,928 units in 2015. Mitsubishi alone sold nearly 55,000 vehicles in the country last year. In the first nine months of 2016, total vehicle sales in the Philippines jumped by another 20 percent. Mitsubishi accounted for 45,329 or 17.3 percent of total sales in the nine-month period. To support the expansion and start the local assembly of Mirage and Mirage G4, MMPC hired 400 new Filipino workers to bring the total workforce to 1,400. “Furthermore, when the stamping plant is completed, we are planning to increase headcount up to about 1,500,” says Masuko. “I hope that the government will keep
supporting the CARS program. If volume goes up, you can eventually export,” he says. “By 2020, you will need six times more cars than today.” “That is why we requested the government for incentives so that we can produce more. We requested and now it was realized [through the CARS program]. It is our responsibility to deliver,” says Masuko. Masuko says MMC’s expansion plan in the Philippines will not be affected by Nissan’s equity investment of 237 billion yen ($2.18 billion) equivalent to a 34-percent equity stake in the company. He says Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn wants to keep the brands separate and independent. The triple alliance between Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Groupe Renault
and MMC created one of the world’s top three automotive groups, with a goal to sell 10 million vehicles in 2016. Masuko says the alliance aims to become the leading producer of electric vehicles in the world. “The alliance has the basic spirit of respecting each other’s brand, history and management autonomy. The brand, marketing and sales network will be kept separate as in the past,” Masuko says. “On the other hand, we aim for greater synergy impact in the field of purchasing, vehicle platform, development of advanced technology, growing markets, joint plant utilization and financial services,” he says. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. executive officer, corporate general manager at business administration office Koichi Kitamura says aside from MMC, the whole Mitsubishi Group is big in the Philippines. Mitsubishi Group traces its roots to a shipping company established in 1870 by Yataro Iwasaki. Now, it is involved in automotive, mining, real estate, banking and insurance, construction, oil and gas, food and beverage, chemicals, steel, aviation telecom, electronics, energy and heavy industries. Kitamura says Mitsubishi Group includes 40 companies, including Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., Kirin Holdings Company Ltd., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd., Nikon Corp. and NYK Line (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha). Twenty-nine of the 40 companies form the so-called Mitsubishi Friday Club, with total employees of 762,000, total assets of 58 trillion yen (P126.8 trillion), net profit of 2.6 trillion yen (P1.2 trillion), total assets of 400 trillion yen (P185 billion) and market capitalization of 30.3 trillion yen (P14 trillion). “These 29 core companies with 760,000 employees worldwide and total sales of 58 trillion yen account for a little more than 10 percent of GDP of Japan,” Kitamura says. “Mitsubishi companies are covering most industries in Japan and worldwide. Out of those, some Mitsubishi Group companies have significant relations with the Philippines,” says Kitamura. These include Bank of TokyoMitsubishi UFJ which has a capital alliance with Security Bank Corp., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. which provides marine insurance in the Philippines, Mitsubishi Electric Co. which is involved in elevator business in the Philippines, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which is a main contractor of the government, Kirin Breweries which is working closely with San Miguel Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. which is developing power, water supply, transportation and construction projects, NYK Line (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha) which operates a maritime academy in the Philippines and Mitsubishi Motors. In the Philippines, Mitsubishi Motors Philippine Corp. is operating with business partner Sojitz Corp. “The Philippines is one of the most strategically important markets for Mitsibushi Group,” says Kitamura. Roderick T. dela Cruz
Septuagenarian entrepreneur Mariano “Jun” Nocom
THERE is a new kid on the block in the electric vehicle community—Le Guider International. This innovative company is guided by septuagenarian entrepreneur Mariano “Jun” Nocom and electric vehicle expert Youseff Ahmad. Le Guider and its products were recently featured and displayed at the Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit at the Meralco Compound early this year. Nocom, 71, says age has made him wiser and an advancing age has not stopped the creative juices from flowing in his veins. Using alternating current
We value the addition of Jun Nocom and Engineer Ahmad to the local EV scene and we hope that we see more of their innovative electric vehicles around the country soon. power with rechargeable batteries, he and Le Guider developed several models of electric vehicles including converting two cars to EV, several elec tric tric ycle models, an electric Jeepney and soon, even an electric bus which Ahmad made in China. Engineer Ahmad says Le Guider electric vehicles boast of being a better alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles. “It has less moving parts, less par ts to maintain, is fully automatic thus has no transmission and does not need any special charging station since it plugs right on to a regular 220-volt wall socket even at home. It is reliable and requires less maintenance as you only need to have your oil changed every six months,” he says. Nocom says that with these features, a Le Guider EV user can save thousands of pesos in fuel and maintenance costs, enjoys zero emissions and noise and has no exhaust and radiator cooling systems to worry about. R o m m e l J u a n , president of the Elec tric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, says EVAP is happy to have Le Guider as its newest innovative member. “We value the addition of Jun Nocom and Engineer Ahmad to the local EV scene and we hope that we see more of their innovative electric vehicles around the country soon.”
Business
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2016 business@thestandard.com.ph
GEORGINA WILSON EXPANDS BUSINESS McKinsey & Company partner Anders Bärlund
TRADITIONAL COMPANIES TRANSFORM By Jasmine Mira M. Dy and Aries F. Fallorina COMPANIES are transforming as digital technology takes over and millennials rise. Anders Bärlund, a partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, says ‘latency culture’is now a widely-used concept. “We see double-digit growth in things like Internet usage, social media usage and so forth even in this region where we do have challenges with digital readiness. They are changing so fast, that a lot of companies just quickly transform,” Bärlund says. According to World Economic Forum’s published ranking, as presented by Bärlund at the Anvil Business Summit 2016: Giants Level Up!, the Philippines stands at 107th place in terms of affordability for connectivity. “The first ones to bring it up are the innovative startup companies. At some point, this becomes such a threat or such an interesting opportunity that the first big companies start to pick it up. That is also where new category of this service, whatever it is, takes off and it starts to really grow,” Bärlund says. “And there comes a point where some industries are already past in some countries, which is the tipping point where the incumbents who managed to transform themselves, they will go bust and disappear. And the ones who are left are either the ones who manage to go through this transformation, or some of the startup companies that actually manage to turn themselves into mature, profitable, proper businesses,” Bärlund says. He says big companies are the ones who “naturally have the prerequisites for success as industries digitize” and yet, “it’s proven really, really difficult for many of them to compete.” “The expectations are often very, very high. Many companies expect a really big share of their revenue growth and cost deficiencies to come from digital transformation.They end up being disappointed,” Bärlund says. One of the reasons he says is that “digital is an experiment.” “That’s one part of how digital strategies are being built, how they’re different from the world we used to know. But they’re experimenting without commitment. There’s still 99.5 percent that is our traditional business. So what happens with the 0.5 percent, that is our new digital signature form business. Therefore, we call it the adjacency, or we should be saying this is about redefining the core to digitize the company,” says Bärlund. McKinsey uses four pillars to assess digital readiness. These are culture, strategy, capabilities and organization. “We’ve built an index based on these things. This is something that we’ve used now for a while to start to quantify and compare companies, and see how ready [companies] are for new digital growth. The companies who score high on this, the companies who manage to grow four pillars really well, they outperform both in terms of revenue growth and in terms of returns,” Bärlund says.
From left: Sunnies Cafe finance director Eric Dee Jr., creative director Martine Cajucom, operations director Bea Soriano-Dee and marketing director Georgina Wilson.
By Othel V. Campos
G
eorgina Wilson, the glamorous and beautiful commercial model and TV host, is also a successful businesswoman.
Sunnies Studios, the lifestyle brand she established with three other partners, has expanded rapidly in a span of two years, from sunglasses to optical lines to restaurants. The brand now carries three lifestyle concepts—Sunnies, the glamorous yet affordable sunglasses; the optical line Sunnies Specs; and recently Sunnies Cafe. Wilson, a co-founder, co-owner and brand ambassador is excited about Sunnies Cafe. “It’s like this was my first baby,” says Wilson who expects her first child with husband Arthur Burnand. “ This child,” she says, while holding her belly, “is going to be easy because Sunnies has consumed my life.” All four owners—Eric and Bea Dee, Martine Cajucom and Wilson—have hands-on participation in Sunnies Cafe, brewing up ideas to complete the menu, trying and retrying cafe fares until they are perfect and putting personal touches with the interiors and the furnishings. “I guess my fave thing on the menu is crispy eggs benedict,”Wilson says. “I love the salmon, crispy tacos, ricotta pancakes and white pasta.” Wilson says the menu represents the list of food that they would like to eat. “I don’t put anything on the menu that we don’t love. I know we all love these things. We all have inside jokes about it, like when we see the
granola. Each of the dish has special connection to us,” she says. “There was never a thing that I didn’t touch. Everything here has my personal touches. And if I may add, Bea and I super worked on the beverages. We add personal collections to that like the coffee cocktail. We actually did one of the cocktails and milkshakes,” says Wilsons. The menu, she says, was crafted with the millennials in mind. “But other generations will be happy as well, from grandmas to parents and aunts and uncles. We want all generations to be happy. That’s a challenge I guess for us,” she says. Wilson recommends crispy tacos, made of grated parmesan cheese melted and shaped into taco shells with fillings of minced steak (instead of the traditional ground beef ), arugula, cilantro with Aoili dressing and topped with quail eggs. Others include the shoestring potato fries “which is itsy bitsy spicy”, the pan-seared miso salmon and the veggie dish roasted cauliflower. Also on the menu are fillers, main dishes, pasta and sandwiches, coffee, cocktails and milkshakes. “We’ve always seen Sunnies as a lifestyle brand. Even the imagery is full of the look and feel of it. It was simple and straight forward. In the menu, every single detail was given the attention it deserved. Seeing this
in real life is a weird feeling and I’m not going to say it was the easiest process,” says Wilson. She says at first, the cafe was too daunting for her and her coowners to delve into, so they put up a partnership that will make the concept fly, creating synergy between Sunnies Cafe and the FooDee Global Brands, the operational genius behind Todd English and Tim Howan. “Our life is like great on Instagram but it’s a lot of hard work. We just make it look easy. But I swear the month before opening the cafe, none of us slept. But thanks we had a brilliant partner because everything is a lot of hard work. We’re so lucky we have partnered with people who know what they are doing. We don’t even have to handle any of the operational problems except it should look like Sunnies. It should feel like Sunnies,” she says. Eric Dee is running the cafe with his team of chefs and crew. His younger brother Eric Dee Jr., a coowner of Sunnies brand, travels the world for food, brings home new ideas, make them popular and create a frenzy out of them. “This [Sunnies] cafe has been thought of for a while by my brother and me. So one day, my brother and I said ‘why don’t we do a cafe?’. We’re one family, so we decided to do it together. This is the first project with me and my brother. He does retail, I do food. We saw that it made sense. For a lifestyle brand, it is in its own natural progression to have something to add to the brand, something relevant. That’s how the collaboration began,” says Dee. “This is about two brands coming
together, both power houses in their industry. We combined both strengths - the marketing genius of Sunnies and the genius of FooDee Global Concepts. It made sense for us to combine. Sunnies is becoming the supergood lifestyle brand and us being recognized for all the brands we brought in as food, and I think that the reason why we decided to do it,” he says. Sunnies Cafe had its first store at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City and the second on the bridgeway at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. The target is to have 10 cafes by 2017. The third cafe, now rising at Alabang Town Center, is likely to open by January next year. “We’ve had quite a menu. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that the first restaurant is always the most memorable. Now that we have two cafes, my partners will find every bit of the preparation worth it and and it nostalgic, looking back. They will be more confident in building up the brand,” says Dee. Sunnies Studios now focusies on the growing the three business lines in 2017, aiming for market leadership in all three categories. “We had three brands in three years. We want to grow the brand and be the market leader in all of them. We might not be opening up new concepts but surely we will be super busy in everything. We also just opened our optical line. We have Sunnies and we are working on being available worldwide. And it takes times to design a cafe. We want to make sure we put enough attention on all of that,” Wilson says.
FILIPINO INVENTORS UNITE TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURS FILIPINO inventors are now bonding together to become entrepreneurs. Francisco ‘Popoy’ Pagayon, president and chief executive of Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative, says inventors need to unify and promote their products to reach a larger market, as what entrepreneurs do. “We want to train our inventors to become inventrepreneurs,” says Pagayon. “FISPC pushes for the development and evolution of the striving Filipino inventor into an industrial entrepreneur,” he says, referring to the theme of the 23rd celebration of National Inventors Week this month. Pagayon, who is credited for ‘Probaton’, a truncheon which has armed more than 150,000 policemen and village watchmen across the country, says Filipino inventors will gather for a grand fellowship night and banquet celebration on Nov. 22 at 55 Events Place along Scout Ralios in Quezon City.
“What we aim for this year’s celebration is to promote camaraderie and unification among inventors nationwide. We would like to achieve a unity in purpose and pursue a common goal for our country,” he says. He says by helping one another, inventreprenuers will see more of their products reach the mass market, which is crucial if they are to become successful. “We want our inventions to reach not only Metro Manila, but also all regions of the country,” he says. Pagayon says FISPC was formed four years ago as a cooperative to provide a venue for entrepreneurs where they could meet and showcase their products. “Before FISPC was established, Filipino inventors could only showcase their products during exhibits organized by the Department of Trade Industry or Department of Science and Technology. Now, we have a place we can call home,” he says. FISPC has a showroom and business
center at Delta Building along Quezon Ave. corner West Ave. in Quezon City. “This venue showcases Filipino inventions,” he says. Pagayon says as a cooperative, FISPC is composed of inventors and entrepreneurs who can use the showroom to showcase their products. “It is where inventions meet entrepreneurship. We bring together inventors and entrepreneurs so that they can learn from each other,” he says. Pagayon says entrepreneurs can also be considered inventors, especially if they introduce new products in the market. “We can help them get intellectual property rights or patent for their products,” he says. He says the Cooperative Development Authority tapped FISPC to be in charge of information dissemination and campaign awareness on issues related to cooperativism. The DOST, he says, also intends to team up with FISPC to promote OneStore,
which puts on display the latest Filipino inventions. “This is a timely theme for the celebration of National Inventors Week this month,” he says. Pagayon says FISPC will continue to support inventors in their search for solutions to everyday needs of Filipinos. “Our main intention is to develop more technologies and product that are even superior to those coming from other countries,” he says. FISPC members are credited for a number of innovations, backed with patent. Among the group’s recent innovations are cannon-type electric firecracker; Probiotic for poultry and livestock; traffic cone overland emergency device, a multi-purpose road safety and trouble aid for motor vehicles; and D&G Black Seed Soap, which is made from blackseed oil and powder. “We hope to encourage and support more inventrepreneurs,” Pagayon says. Roderick T. dela Cruz
Filipino Inventors Society Producers Cooperative president Francisco ‘Popoy’ Pagayon.
Sports
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2016 reuelvidal@yahoo.com
GAVINA: MAHINDRA WILL SURPRISE PUBLIC By Reuel Vidal
W
hile other Philippine Basketball Association teams moved to strengthen their lineups for the coming PBA season the Mahindra Floodbuster seemed to have done the exact opposite.
A busy off season saw Mahindra trading away its best players including KG Canaleta, Aldrich Ramos, Paolo Taha, Bradwyn Guinto and promising talent Keith Agovida. Point guard LA Revilla and bruiser Mark Yee remain the only holdover of a core that powered the team to its first post-season appearance in the PBA during the Governors Cup. At first blush this looks like a recipe for disaster, but Mahindra head coach Chris Gavina retains faith in his players and is convinced that his team remains competitive this coming season. “We’ve got some dynamic guys in our roster now and it adds great dimension on our team. It allows you to be adventurous in the lineup, so we can see more exciting line-ups for Mahindra in the coming season,” Gavina said. He has reason to be optimistic. Mahindra newcomers Jeckster Apinan, Josan Nimes and rookie Reden Celda will not contribute much but the team did get quality veterans in Alex Mallari, Ryan Arana and big man Rob Reyes. Mahindra’s biggest name players may have left but its most important player in Revilla remains. For better or for worse Mahindra is now Revilla’s team to run. The 5’7” spitfire has made a career of being underestimated from high school to college and now the PBA. Playing for the De La Salle University Green
Archers underclassman Thomas Torres displaced him from the starting lineup. He only regained his starting job after Torres came down with an injury. Revilla then led La Salle to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines throne. Despite that achievement he was picked only in the third round as the 24th overall pick by the GlobalPort Batang Pier. He was released by the team and only clung on to a job as a professional basketball player after expansion team Kia (now Mahindra) joined the league in 2014. Revilla gets his chance to lead the new core of the Mahindra Floodbuster this coming 2017 PBA season. Mahindra also came away a big winner in the past PBA Rookie Draft by getting amateur standouts Russel Escoto and Joseph Eriobu. The two are easily among the best players coming into the PBA this year and are expected to make an immediate impact. Last conference, Gavina demonstrated his ability to coach by transforming Mahindra into a playoff contender in the season-ending Governors’ Cup. A lot of that hinged on their being able to field a big import in James White who was 6’9” while the higher ranked teams could only field imports who were 6’5” or shorter. White and Revilla
WATCH OUT FOR MMA’S OSENIO WOMEN have struck it big in Mixed Martial Arts the world over. MMA stars like Ronda Rousey, Chris Justino and Gina Carano are already household names. Filipinas are lagging a little behind. But that will soon change with emerging fighters like April Osenio stamping their class in ONE Championship the premier MMA organization in Asia. A veteran Wushu fighter Osenio is relatively new to MMA. She lost her initial bout when she was surprised with a submission. She has strung together two victories of her own and will fight again on December 2 at ONE: Age of Domination in her own backyard at the Mall of Asia Arena. Osenio is relatively new in the MMA fighting scene. She scored the biggest win of her MMA career with a shocking victory over Malaysian Ann “Athena” Osman in one of the main fights of ONE: Unbreakable Warriors at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia just last September. Osenio kept Osman at bay with her world-class wushu striking skills. Osman on the other hand countered with takedown attempts which brought down Osenio. Just a year ago, this would have been the end of the fight. But Osenio already had a year of grappling lessons under her belt and Osman was unable to completely dominate even from a superior position.
Mahindra coach Chris Gavina (left) gives last minute instructions to senator, boxing legend and Mahindra playing coach Manny Pacquiao (17) before he enters the fray.
dominated in their positions to lead Mahindra to fifth place after the eliminations. They eventually lost to Meralco in the quarterfinals but the team benefits from the confidence gained when they advanced to the playoffs. Mahindra tallied six wins that conference beating powerhouse squads San Miguel Beermen, Talk N Text KaTropa and the Alaska Aces as well as Star Hotshots, GlobalPort Batang Pier and Blackwater Elite. Mahindra won’t have that handicapping advantage this season because all the PBA teams will now have a uniform height limit of 6’10” for their imports in the Governors Cup. Gavina however remains optimistic. Last season Mahindra showed that it could compete on even terms even against powerhouse squads. Gavina promised to build on that past success and do even better this season. “It’s my job to form a competitive team regardless of who’s here. Hopefully, we’ll be able put up a team just like what we had last conference,” Gavina said. “As long as we stay committed to our level of excellence and everybody buys in to our culture of playing together and being selfless, we’ll be highly competitive once again.” The series of trades caught many by surprise but coach Gavina believes their new acquisitions will step up once they take the PBA stage. Mahindra may have gutted its lineup and sent its best players off to other teams but coach Gavina guarantees those remaining will play their best. Their team may not make the playoffs in any of the three conferences this coming season, but it won’t be for lack of trying. Mahindra point guard LA Revilla (2) takes it strong to the hoop against then Alaska Aces guard Cyrus Baguio (3). For better or for worse Mahindra is now Revilla’s team to run.
Filipina MMA fighter April Osenio (left) lashes out with a left foot front kick in her ONE Championship fight. ONE Championship
The fighters were quick, strong and able to defend holds by reversing the other’s attempts. Osenio locked in an armbar with Osman wriggling free and transitioning into a full mount. But she could not take advantage of her position with Osenio reversing and flipping into a guillotine choke. Probably winded from all the grappling on the ground Osman couldn’t wriggle free and had to tap out when Osenio tightened the guillotine on her neck. It was a surprising victory over the more experienced Osman who fought before a disappointed hometown crowd. It was the second consecutive victory for Osenio who improved to 2-1. Significantly, despite being known primarily as a striker, Osenio tallied both her victories by submission. After losing her first fight Osenio bounced back with a stunning second victory when she submitted Fil-British Natalie Gonzales Hills with an armbar at ONE: Global Rivals last April. Osenio didn’t know it at the time but she got the biggest break of her career when she substituted for an injured teammate to fight at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the undercard of Age of Champions last year. Reuel Vidal
SIM RUNNERS SUPPORT WORTHY CHARITIES THEY do more than just run for fun. Participants in the 12th edition of the Subic International Marathon (SIM) to be held today November 13 at Remy Field, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, on November 12 and 13 will not just run a marathon they will also do their share to support worthwhile charities. These runners commit themselves to make a difference in the lives of others through running with a portion of the registration fees to go directly to SIM’s beneficiaries. These include the Dilaab Foundation Inc. which is a non-profit organization working on reintegrating lost, abandoned and unloved street children to becoming positive citizens of society. The second is the Bless Our Cops Foundation which creates programs that reignites the passion, discipline and God-fearing productivity of our policemen. The third is the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community which is a Subic-based group that holds constant seminars and activities that create meaningful impact to the lives of the community. SIM is actually the longest running full marathon race in the country. Its premium full marathon and half marathon cat-
Hundreds of runners mass at the start of last year’s Subic International Marathon. The 12th edition of the race will be held today, November 13 at Remy Field, Subic Bay Freeport.
egories (42.195 km and 21km respectively) fired off late afternoon of Saturday, November 12, giving the runners a unique feel and experience while tackling the scenic and challenging course of Subic Bay Freeport Zone at night. The 10km, 7km, 5km and 3km, no-frills fun run, capped in the beautiful, chill and relaxed atmosphere of a Sunday morning in Subic Bay will be held today November 13. This is for everyone wanting a shorter, family friendly run. With the expected 5,000 runners, SIM continues on with its yearly commitment to support the beneficiaries: Dilaab Foundation, Inc., God Bless Our Cops Movement and the Subic Chapter of Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community. SIM is organized by eXtribe Inc., supported by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Tekton Manufacturing Corporation, makers of ProteinCare and Perfect Muscle, Salomon Philippines, Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Pacific Cross Health Care Inc., Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund Inc., Slimmers World Subic, Ambucore Ambulance Services, and Cycles & Brew by Hubble. For more details please visit www.facebook.com/subicinternationalmarathon or
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Sports
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2016 Riera U. Mallari, Editor / Reuel Vidal, Issue Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
MANILA STANDARD’S NATHANIELSZ PASSES AWAY
Filipino pride Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang mauls Asian MMA legend Shinya ‘Tobikan Judan’ Aoki en route to victory.
FOLAYANG CROWNED WORLD ONE CHAMP
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WO Filipino world champions in a week. Not bad for a country wanting in sports heroes to look up to.
Less than a week after Senator Manny Pacquiao regained his WBO welterweight crown, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang of Baguio City completed his journey through the ONE Championship’s lightweight ranks by stopping Asian MMA legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki by technical knockout within three rounds to clinch the ONE Lightweight World Championship. Aoki dominated the first round with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but Folayang came alive in the second round as he opened up his striking, showcasing his world-class wushu talent. In the third round, Folayang rocked Aoki against the cage fence and finished him off with ground-and-pound. In the co-main event of the evening, reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov of Russia successfully defended his title against challenger and top contender Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa of Mongolia. It was the champion’s second title defense, after lifting the belt from Jadambaa a year ago. After a brief exchange of strikes, action quickly went to the mat when Jadambaa missed a kick and fell to the canvas. Gafurov followed the Mongolian down and that’s where he worked on the submission. Jadambaa was able to defend for a few moments, but once Gafurov reestablished himself, the choke came effortlessly. Lightweight prospect Amir Khan of Singapore overcame a spirited effort from former Pan Asia BJJ Champion Vaughn “The Spawn” Donayre of the Philippines to win by submission in the third round. After spending the first half of the bout tagging each other with various striking combinations, the two fighters decided to take things to the mat. On the ground, Khan showcased his technical brilliance, threatening Donayre with multiple choke attempts, while dominating the grappling exchanges. Although Donayre had his moments, particularly catching Khan in a very deep kimura attempt, the younger fighter survived to win by rear naked choke in the third round. Eight-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Michelle Nicolini of Evolve MMA made a successful ONE Championship debut, finishing former Egyptian wrestling champion Mona Samir in one round via submission. Samir tried her best to keep from getting taken down, but Nicolini’s high-level grappling skills made that very
Eduard ‘Landslide’ Folayang displays his ONE Championship trophy.
difficult. Once on the mat, Nicolini worked her magic and effortlessly secured the choke. Lightweight veterans Roger “El Matador” Huerta of the United States and Adrian “The Hunter” Pang of Brisbane, Australia went toe-to-toe in an action-packed lightweight contest. The first round saw Huerta own the edge in accuracy and speed, plastering Pang with pinpoint punch combinations while going to work on the Australian’s legs. Pang countered with his straight right hand, which landed with tremendous force. While Huerta landed the cleaner blows, it was clear Pang owned the edge in power and sheer brute strength. Both fighters turned in great performances, but it was Huerta who did just enough to notch the hard-fought victory via split decision. Former ONE Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu Boku scored a technical knockout victory over Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in a highly-anticipated featherweight contest. Nastyukhin blasted Boku with power shots in the first couple of minutes as Boku tried his best to keep his distance. After moments of intense action however, Boku checked a kick and Nastyukhin hurt his leg, falling to the canvas writhing in pain but somehow surviving the round. Nastyukhin then failed to answer the call for the second round and Boku was awarded the TKO. Singaporean female mixed martial artist Tif-
fany “Soul Crusher” Teo made her ONE Championship promotional debut with a dominant performance to cheers from fans in attendance. Teo owned the advantage in striking exchanges but surprised everyone with her high-level grappling game, gaining full mount on multiple occasions while pounding away at Abbas who tried her best to defend. In the second round, Teo took Abbas’ back once more and converted on a rear naked choke, forcing her Egyptian opponent to tap out. Previously unbeaten Singaporean featherweight prospect Benedict Ang experienced the first loss of his career as he went to battle against Pakistani mixed martial artist Ahmed Mujtaba. Both fighters began the bout firing away at the center of the cage as they traded strikes to the roar of crowd. Mujtaba scored points for a near-finish towards the end of round two, taking Ang’s back and working on a rear naked choke. In round three, Mujtaba continued to work towards getting Ang to the ground, scoring on a few more takedowns to earn the unanimous decision victory. Singaporean fighter Niko Soe made his ONE Championship debut against Malaysian Muhamad Haidar to kick off ONE: DEFENDING HONOR. Both fighters started out aggressively, but it was Soe who showed a more capable set of grappling skills, winning by armbar in the first round to the roar of his hometown crowd.
MANILA Standard columnist and sportswriter Ronnie Nathanielsz passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. Nathanielsz, who was also a sports analyst and broadcaster, died in San Francisco, California early Saturday due to heart attack. Nathanielsz was scheduled to be part of a TV broadcast panel to cover Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Jessie Vargas on Nov. 6 (Manila time). However, while on his way to Las Vegas to cover the fight, he complained of chest pains and was taken to the hospital, where he was given life support for cardiac arrest. Nathanielz’s remains will be flown to Manila after his funeral service is arranged. Nathanielsz rose to prominence when he was named liaison officer during Muhammad Ali’s visit to the Philippines in 1975 for the “Thrilla in Manila.” His Manila Standard column had the title Inside Sports, describing his scoops on various sports topics, particularly boxing.
WORLD’S TOP NET STARS IN PH FIFTEEN local bets slug it out with foreign rivals for four berths in the main draw as the Phinma-PSC International Juniors Tennis Championships hold a two-day qualifier beginning Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. Michael Eala and Jerome Romualdez banner the Philippine contingent in the elims along with Jacob Martin, Cenon Gonzales Jr., Jan Godfrey Seno, Stephan Lhuillier, Jaime Chuidian, Jose Antonio Tria, Joaquin de Venecia, Joseph Tiamson, Kurt Mosqueda, Marcus del Rosario, Sebastien Lhuillier and Matthew Garcia. Also in the fold are Hong Kong’s Max Wai Ming Lee, Chun Ho Chow and Kyle Tang, Indonesian Giorgio Soemarno and Daniel Gunawan, Vietnam’s Huynh Think and Thais Pawin Jirappomdaje and Nutdanai Sincharoenwattana. Twenty two players have been seeded in the boys’ main draw of Week 1 of the two-week Grade 4 ITF (International Tennis Federation) 18-under category event sponsored by the Phinma Group of Companies and the Philippine Sports Commission. They include Filipinos Bryan Otico and Arthur Pantino with China’s Chengze Lyu and Japanese Seita Watanabe leading the cast that also includes top junior players from Indonesia, Korea, Indonesia Malaysia, Vietnam and India. Also in the 32-player draw are four wild card entries and two special exempts, according to Loida Mallare, tournament director of the event backed by Mariposa Foundation and Technifibre Balls, the official ball. Also on tap is the girls’ qualifier with Monica Cruz, Amanda Zoleta, Frances Santiago and Danielle Poblador hoping to join top Filipino juniors Khim Iglupas, Rafaella Villanueva and Shaira Rivera in the main draw. Hostilities in Week I of the twostage meet starts Nov. 15.