Friday, November 2, 2018

Honda Asian Journey Kick Off


The Honda Group of Companies in the Asia & Oceania region today kicked off the “Honda Asian Journey 2018,” a Honda big bike caravan that will cruise down Peninsular Malaysia from November 2 to November 4, 2018, ending up at the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) event.

Once again, over 60 riders comprised of customers, journalists, Honda dealers, and associates from six countries, namely Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India, will experience the fun and joy of riding Honda big bikes all the way to the destination, the Sepang International Circuit.

The journey started at Stadium Batu Kawan in Penang, a northwest state of Malaysia, where all riders gathered for safe riding training and to warm up on over 60 Honda big bikes they will experience during the journey, such as the new Goldwing, Africa Twin, CB1000R, and CB1100. The caravan then kicked off by travelling to Cameron Highlands, where a scenic landscape awaited the riders to enjoy while cruising.

The itinerary of the Honda Asian Journey 2018 is:

November 2:   The caravan kicks off with a ride from Penang to Cameron Highlands,a mountainous district in Malaysia’s Pahang state.

November 3:  Ride from Cameron Highlands to Putrajaya, the federal administrative center,to attend a welcome dinner featuring an exclusive appearance by MotoGP riders, including 2018 Champion, Marc Marquez.

November 4:  Ride to Sepang International Circuit for the MotoGP race along with hundreds of other Honda customers to cheer for the Honda GP riders in the Malaysia MotoGP.

The following Honda Group of Companies in the Asia & Oceania region are hosting the Honda Asian Journey 2018:

- Boon Siew Honda Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia)
- PT Astra Honda Motor (Indonesia)
- A.P. Honda Co., Ltd. (Thailand)
- Honda Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Vietnam)
- Honda Philippines Inc. (The Philippines)
- Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt., Ltd. (India)
- Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd., regional headquarters for the Honda Asia & Oceania region.

Total distance:  Approximately 490 kilometers.
Honda models: Goldwing GL1800, F6C, Africa Twin CRF1000L, CB1000R, CB1100 series, Rebel 500, CTX1300,  VFR1200X, NC750 series, CBR650F, CB650F, CBR500R, CB500 series


Information about and photos of the Honda Asian Journey 2018 can be found using the official hashtag #hondaasianjourney on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

ZEBAZTIAN KADESTAM AND TYLER MCGUIRE BATTLE FOR VACANT ONE WELTERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP


Former PXC Welterweight Champion Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam started training in Muay Thai when he was 12 years old and later embarked on a highly successful professional career in the sport. Soon he explored other disciplines as he trained at the Pancrase Gym in Stockholm, and also traveled to the Philippines to sharpen his skills at the Legacy Gym in Boracay under famed martial artist Ole Laursen. Though he was unsuccessful in a bid for the welterweight title against former champion Ben Askren, Kadestam does own two high-profile victories over top contenders Luis Santos and Agilan Thani. His latest performance against Thani saw Kadestam exhibit his incredible striking skills to finish the young Malaysian by TKO. Up next, Kadestam takes on Tyler McGuire for the vacant ONE Welterweight World Championship.
Undefeated American mixed martial artist Tyler McGuire of Washington, USA, is a submission specialist who trains out of Sik-Jitsu Fighting Systems in Spokane. With an unblemished 11-0 professional record, McGuire owns seven victories by way of submission. Known for his ability to display creative grappling techniques, McGuire finds himself travelling halfway across the globe to Asia, where he plans to showcase his skills on the global stage of martial arts competition. In his most recent outing, McGuire took on the dangerous Luis Santos in a tough three-round battle to win via unanimous decision. The performance was impressive enough to earn McGuire a title shot, as he takes on Zebaztian Kadestam in Jakarta for the vacant ONE Welterweight World Championship.
Multiple-time Kickboxing World Champion Nieky Holzken knew from a very young age that he wanted to become a professional martial artist. He competed extensively, compiling over 100 wins across multiple martial arts disciplines including boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, on his way to Dutch and European championships before claiming several World Titles. A sensational striker, Holzken’s entertaining style has already seen him secure almost 50 knockouts in kickboxing and an additional 11 in the boxing ring. Known around the world as “The Natural,” Holzken is intent on making his mark in ONE Super Series. He makes his debut against Cosmo Alexandre in a kickboxing contest.
A Lion Fight Super Middleweight World Champion and it's Showtime 77MAX World Champion, Cosmo Alexandre began his athletic career as a footballer but gave it all up at the age of 19 to pursue Muay Thai. Alexandre has since put together a phenomenal professional martial arts career, winning numerous world titles in both Muay Thai and kickboxing. Known as one of the best strikers Brazil has ever produced, Alexandre has faced some of the biggest names in the striking arena, including the likes of John Wayne Parr, Sakmongkol Sithchuchok, Yodsanklai Fairtex, and Giorgio Petrosyan. He returns to ONE Super Series now to face Nieky Holzken in kickboxing.
Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol began training in wushu at the age of 17, after taking up an opportunity to compete for the Indonesian national team. She was highly successful in this regard, capturing both an Indonesian National Wushu Championship and a local boxing title. She even won a bronze medal in wushu at the Southeast Asian Games, with her striking success spurring her towards a career in mixed martial arts. Today, Lumban Gaol has made a name for herself as one of the top female talents in ONE Championship. She is set to face Angelie Sabanal in her next outing.
Solid martial arts prospect Angelie Sabanal of Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines is a Muay Thai practitioner now making the rounds as a professional mixed martial artist in ONE Championship. She made her impressive cage debut in March of 2018, defeating the highly-regarded Rika Ishige by three-round unanimous decision. A national Muay Thai silver medalist, Sabanal looks to climb up the ranks in ONE Championship as she seeks to become a world champion. The Filipina is set to make her next appearance in the promotion when she takes on Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol.
Chiang Mai Muay Thai Champion Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit hails from the North East of Thailand and was raised in humble surroundings. After repeated encounters with childhood bullying, Mitsatit decided to pick up Muay Thai to learn how to protect himself. Through his hard work and talent, he soon ran up an impressive 72-17 record, and even won a Muay Thai championship in the process. Mitsatit then made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2014, and has since rapidly emerged as one of Thailand’s most exciting talents. Mitsatit already holds an impressive professional record, including several TKO wins in ONE Championship. Now training at the prestigious Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Mitstatit will see action against Hayato Suzuki in Jakarta.
Japanese stalwart Hayato Suzuki of Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, is a veteran mixed martial artist with an impressive professional record of 19-1-2. Spending the majority of his career competing in his native Japan, Suzuki is known as a highly-skilled competitor with the ability to finish his foes with heavy knockout power and technical grappling skills. Out of 19 wins, Suzuki has finished 14 of his opponents impressively, including nine by submission and five by knockout. A former Grachan Flyweight Champion, Suzuki will now face Pongsiri Mitsatit in his next contest.
Multiple-time Muay Thai World Champion Lerdsila is originally from a small town in Thailand’s northern Isan region. He first began training in Muay Thai at the age of seven under his father’s tutelage, and had his first bout that same year. Lerdsila has competed countless times at the famed Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Stadiums, and was a Rajadamnern Muay Thai World Champion in three different weight classes. At his peak, he had an incredible streak of 100 consecutive victories. He now steps onto the biggest global stage of competition to face Sok Thy in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai bout.
National Kun Khmer Champion Sok Thy is from the Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia, an area which shares a border with Thailand and is known for producing top Kun Khmer talent. A phenomenally hard worker, Thy already has hundreds of bouts under his belt despite being just 20 years of age. He even competed for a Muay Thai title in Thailand’s famed Lumpinee Stadium in 2017 and is the first Cambodian to ever do so. Today, Thy trains at Cambodian Top Team under head coach Chan Reach and legendary Kun Khmer competitor San Saoyan. Thy will take on the legendary Lerdsila Phuket Top Team in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai contest.
A Maui Fighting Championships Featherweight Champion, Zach Zane was born into a martial arts family in Indonesia, with his grandfather being a kung fu grandmaster. Soon after his family relocated to Hawaii, he expanded on his kung fu background by training in taekwondo, boxing, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Stepping into the world of mixed martial arts, he competed mostly in the United States, but has travelled as far afield as Northern Ireland to compete. Zane’s exciting style has resulted in all of his wins coming via stoppage to date, and earned him a featherweight title in the process. He makes his ONE Championship debut against Jimmy Yabo.
Jimmy Yabo of Cebu City, Philippines holds a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, and is a veteran of the Philippines martial arts scene, having been one of its early pioneers. Nicknamed "The Silencer" due to his quiet demeanor that hides explosive firepower, all of Yabo’s wins to date have come by way of knockout, which is testament to his fearsome punching power. He is a patient fighter who likes to counterpunch, and is as dangerous at the end of every bout as he is at the beginning, as shown by his performances. He signed for ONE Championship in 2015, and has already put on several thrilling performances. Most famously, Yabo scored a spectacular one-punch knockout of Bashir Ahmad, finishing the Pakistani star in just 21 seconds. Now he finds himself back in action, this time against Zach Zane.
Former Indonesian National Wrestling Champion Elipitua Siregar came from humble beginnings, having been born to a family struggling to make ends meet in Indonesia’s North Sumatra region. His family sent him to live with his uncle in Jakarta in order to learn discipline. That would come in the form of enforced wrestling training, which would not just reform the young Siregar, but change his life forever. The young Indonesian competed in wrestling throughout his academic career, and racked up numerous medals at the national level. After such a long run of domestic success, he turned his attention to international glory in the cage, and joined ONE Championship. Determined to become one of Indonesia’s most elite martial artists, Siregar will now face Muhammad Imran.
Muhammad “The Spider” Imran of Punjab, Pakistan is a mixed martial artist and former PFC Strawweight Champion who specializes in budokai karate and grappling. Imran looked to make a solid impact in ONE Championship when he joined the promotion in early 2018, but a unanimous decision setback to Indonesian star Stefer Rahardian sent him back to the drawing board. Now determined to score one in the win column, Imran returns to action looking to make a statement. This time he faces Elipitua Siregar.
Egi Rozten is a professional mixed martial artist and former regional boxing champion from Jakarta, Indonesia. He made his ONE Championship debut in January 2018 against countryman Riski Umar, in what was an action-packed one round affair that kept fans on the edge of their seats. Displaying incredible toughness and resolve, Rozten proved to the world that he has the willpower to hang with the best talents in Asia. He faces countryman Eddey Kalai in his next assignment.
Two-time SEA Games Boxing Bronze Medalist Eddey Kalai comes from a long line of boxers. After several years spent on the regional boxing circuit, Kalai became intrigued at the prospect of competing in mixed martial arts. He first took part in a national amateur tournament in 2013, and although he lost, he was instantly hooked. Kalai then decided to dedicate himself to training in all disciplines, and is constantly adding new tools to his strong boxing base. After 10 wins as an amateur with eight stoppages, Kalai turned professional, and now finds himself among the world’s best martial artists in ONE Championship. He is set to face Egi Rozten in his next appearance.
Chinese Sanda Champion Zhao Zhi Kang is from the desert region of Inner Mongolia, where he began training in martial arts at the age of 15, inspired by heroes such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li. Zhao later made his professional debut in 2012, amassing an excellent record by competing all across China, which brought him to the bright lights of ONE Championship. Driven by the competitive spirit of martial arts, Zhao aims to achieve glory on the global stage. In his next outing, Zhao returns to action to face Dae Hwan Kim.
South Korean martial arts star and former KAMMA Bantamweight Champion, Dae Hwan Kim is one of the top talents to emerge at bantamweight. He joined the promotion in 2013, posting victories over Thanh Vu and Kevin Belingon in his first two bouts in ONE Championship. In 2014, Kim challenged Bibiano Fernandes for the ONE Bantamweight World Championship. With incredible striking prowess and solid grappling ability, Kim is one of the top contenders in his division, and will look for victory in his next bout against Zhao Zhi Kang.
Flyweight standout Eugene Toquero is a former celebrity martial arts and fitness coach from Manila, Philippines. He offers solid striking skills combined with sufficient grappling knowledge to put together a unique style that can end bouts instantly. The Filipino stalwart has a knack for executing highlight-reel stoppages and is highly unpredictable, operating at a pace opponents find difficult to keep up with. Toquero is looking to get back to his winning ways, and he will get the opportunity to do so when he meets Tatsumitsu Wada in Jakarta.
A DEEP Flyweight Champion, Tatsumitsu Wada is originally from the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan, but moved to Tokyo after high school to further his martial arts career. He originally started his training with karate, and later added judo to his growing skill set. Nicknamed “The Sweeper,” Wada has gone on an incredible run in his career thus far, and twice captured the flyweight belt in DEEP. He is set to face the exciting Eugene Toquero in his next appearance in ONE Championship.
Two-time European Kickboxing Champion Brown Pinas has come a long way from his early days getting into trouble on the streets of Rotterdam. After a neighbor introduced him to kickboxing at the age of 19, he fell in love with the sport immediately, and matured quickly through training and competing. He has since become a Dutch National Champion and two-time European Champion, with his sights set on even loftier goals. He comes into his next assignment looking for victory against Yohann Fairtex Drai in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai contest.
Yohann Fairtex Drai grew up near the ocean, spending much of his time windsurfing and diving. At 15 years old, Drai took up sambo, and began entering local competitions. He then took up boxing at the age of 19. Drai went on to compete in boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai, compiling an impressive winning record. Driven by the desire to experience real Muay Thai training and competition, he relocated to Thailand when he was 22 years old, and has lived there ever since, training out of the world-famous Fairtex camp in Pattaya. Today, Drai is one of the top talents in ONE Super Series, and will take on Brown Pinas next in a Muay Thai bout.
Top Chinese featherweight Xie Chao is originally from Qingzhou, in the Shandong province north of Shanghai. At the age of 20, he started training in Jeet Kune Do -- a famed martial arts discipline developed and founded by the legendary Bruce Lee -- and began preparing to compete in mixed martial arts just four years later. He showcased his burgeoning grappling skills in his very first professional bout, which he won via first-round armbar. Xie made sure to leave a lasting impression in his first appearance in ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI, where he submitted a game Marc Marcellinus via kimura armlock in just 90 seconds. Next up, he takes on Bruno Pucci.
Two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu No Gi World Champion Bruno Pucci of Brazil was 13 years old when he took his first BJJ lesson, and from then on, he would train every single day. In 2009, he reached the pinnacle of his grappling career when he won gold at the No Gi Grappling World Championship, and defended his crown the very next year. Pucci went on to earn a black belt in BJJ, and in 2011, he made his professional cage debut. With an inherent ability to source high-level submission maneuvers from any position in the cage, Pucci is looking for victory in his next outing. This time he faces Xie Chao.
Ticket information for ONE: WARRIOR’S DREAM is available at www.onefc.com.
For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

DTI-DOF JOINT STATEMENT On the 2019 World Bank Doing Business Survey


The Department of Finance (DOF) and the Department of Trade and Industry  (DTI) unequivocally express their strong objections to the 2019 World Bank Doing Business (DB) report,  which shows a drop in the Philippines’ ranking by 11 notches from 113 (2018) to 124 (2019).

We demand that the World Bank review the Philippines’ rating, and make a correction immediately given our country’s increases in the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) scores, which was, unfortunately, offset by the grossly  inaccurate and understated findings in the Getting Credit indicator of the Report.

This correction should be done soon as the Report could unduly compromise the Philippines’ standing among the investment community and negatively impact the country’s development, considering that this document is widely used as a reference by investors and survey organizations. As a highly respected institution, the World Bank has a responsibility to ensure that an economy is not unduly disadvantaged and that its report reflect the realities on the ground.  

The DOF has submitted a letter to the World Bank challenging the data used in the report. We believe that the World Bank has gotten this one wrong. This is regrettable considering the significant headway made by the Philippines on the other indicators. The Philippines registered a +1.36 increase in the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) score at 57.68 yet received a lower ranking.

While the World Bank has taken governments to task by fostering an enabling environment characterized by efficient business regulations, so must the World Bank exercise responsibility and greater transparency in its methodology.

The Philippines’ drastic slide in the rankings was attributed mainly to the country’s Getting Credit indicator where the EODB score significantly fell from 30 to 5, because of the failure of the World Bank’s survey team to gather the correct information on the country’s credit information database. As a result, the country registered a substantial decrease in the credit bureau coverage (from 8 in 2018 to 2.7 in 2019), and reduced scores on depth of credit information (from 5 to 0).

Considering that higher borrower coverage is associated with larger share of adults with credit cards and borrowing from financial institutions, we find the report grossly inaccurate and the coverage severely understated.  

The Philippines should have obtained a higher score if the World Bank included data from all the credit bureaus—the BAP Credit Bureau Inc., TransUnion Information Solutions, Inc., and Microfinance Information Data Sharing Inc. (MIDAS), to name a few. Instead, it obtained its data only from the BAP Credit Bureau Inc, which has the smallest database of 1.7 million borrower-entrepreneurs. The Philippines could easily have hurdled the 5% coverage, if the World Bank selected the largest credit bureau, as its methodology prescribed. The major credit bureaus with high coverage were included in previous year’s survey.

Moreover, it is ironic that the Philippines’ Getting Credit score slumped from 30 points in the 2018 survey to only 5 points in the 2019 survey when credit is growing year-on-year by 19% mostly to micro, small and medium enterprises, the highest among the ASEAN-5.

Unfortunately, this drop in the EODB Score reflected a 42-notch slide in the Getting credit ranking, with the Philippines now at the bottom tier at 184/190 (from 142).  This is the reason for our very low overall EODB score of 57.68, and contributed to the steep decline in the country’s  overall ranking of 124 (2019), from 113 (2018).


2019 DB performance generally improved

In contrast, the rest of the DB 2019 report for  the Philippines showed the country  posting increases in the EODB scores on 7 out of 10 indicators, namely (1) starting a business, (2) dealing with construction permits, (3) getting electricity, (4) registering property, (5) protecting minority investors, (6) paying taxes, and (7) protecting minority investors, while it retained previous scores on two indicators, namely (1)enforcing contracts and (2) resolving insolvency.

The DTI has been monitoring the Distance to Frontier (renamed as EODB) scores because these scores benchmark economies with respect to regulatory best practices. The DTF/EODB scores assess the absolute level of regulatory performance over time, and measures the distance of each economy to the “frontier.” An economy’s distance to frontier is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier.

Accordingly, the DTI simulation shows a much favorable scenario if the Getting Credit scores are adjusted, or remained the same as last year—the Philippines’ EODB score for 2019 should be at least 60 (vs 57.68) and the country’s rank would be in the range of 101-108 (vs #124). Compared with other countries, the Philippines could have fared better with an improvement of at least +5 notches.

Lest we be misconstrued, we recognize that the Philippines needs to improve access to credit information. Borrowers must have the (1) right to access their data, (2) banks and financial institutions must have online access to credit information, and (3) credit scores are offered as a value added service.  Both positive and negative credit information must be reported and the credit registry must have data from retailers, utility companies, telecommunication companies.

We also acknowledge the fact that while instituting significant reforms, we must also let the public become aware of them.

Thus, for the 2020 DB Report, our strategy is  two pronged: One,  we shall continue to pursue regulatory reforms i.e.– streamlining of processes, repeal of outdated/redundant and obsolete rules and regulations that create undue regulatory burden;  and Two, implement an effective communication campaign.

The DTI and DOF, in coordination with other agencies concerned, will launch an aggressive communication campaign in the next three months so that the planned regulatory reforms that the agencies have started to implement will be credited in the 2020 DB report cycle.  


We must, among others:
  • Inform the public about Revenue Memorandum Order 19-2018 and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 30-2018 issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which (1) specified that registration of the book of accounts can be done 30 days, authority to print receipts should be given together with the certificate of registration, and (2) reiterated the removal of the requirement to submit books of accounts to be issued a certification of registration, respectively;
  • Inform the clients of QC of the issuance of Executive Order 11, and EO-11A, which created the One-Stop Shop of Quezon City; and
  • Encourage citizens to have the titles digitized.  We must scale up the implementation of the Land Titling Computerization Project, which should convert almost 25 million certificates of title into digital form.

We must also conduct a massive information campaign on the recently enacted Ease of Doing Business/Efficient Government Service Delivery Act, and the Personal Property Security Act which are expected to directly impact the competitiveness ranking.


Table 1. Comparison of Distance to Frontier Scores among the Doing Business Scores for the Philippines


Indicator
2019 DB Report
2018 DB Report
Difference
1
Getting Electricity
87.45
84.31
3.14
2
Starting a Business
71.97
68.88
3.09
3
Paying taxes
71.80
69.27
2.53
4
Trading Across Borders
69.90
69.39
0.51
5
Dealing with Construction Permits
68.58
66.84
1.74
6
Registering Property
57.56
57.55
0.01
7
Resolving Insolvency
55.22
55.22
0
8
Enforcing Contracts
45.96
45.96
0
9
Protecting Minority Investors
43.33
40.00
3.33
10
Getting Credit
5.00
30.00
-25.00


Reforms Slowly Bearing Fruits But We Must Sustain Our Momentum

Each year, the Government strives to improve ease of doing business by implementing significant reforms that will bring us closer to the frontier. Last year, we have been relatively aggressive in instituting regulatory reforms.  For the 2019 report, the Philippines submitted 18 reforms and 1 data correction, resulting in improvements in the EODB scores in 10 sub-indicators (compared to only 5 in 2018). Unfortunately, not all reforms were considered because as reminded by the World Bank, the Doing Business Report:

  • measures procedures as they occur in practice (de facto) in addition to those required by law (de jure); and
  • that for a reform to be accepted, it must be fully implemented during the period June 2, 2017 – May 1, 2018.

Not all of the reforms submitted were effectively implemented by government, hence most respondents were not aware of these initiatives.  


Confident but never complacent

Since the start of the Duterte administration, government agencies have been hard at work in implementing initiatives to increase the country’s competitiveness.  We believe we are on the right track, and expect upward trajectory in our competitiveness ranking.  And we recognize the efforts of the following agencies that have shown commitment and tenacity:

  • Local Government of Quezon City
  • Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Bureau of Internal Revenue
  • Bureau of Customs
  • Land Registration Authority
  • Bureau of Fire Protection
  • Social Security System
  • Pag-IBIG Fund
  • PhilHealth
  • MERALCO, and the
  • Supreme Court of the Philippines

WEF Global Competitiveness Index for Philippines Improved

We are particularly appreciative that these efforts have started to impact, with the recent jump in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index, up by 12 notches.  We believe that this fairly reflects the impact of the government’s efforts.

The Philippine Government urges the World Bank to immediately correct this error in data gathering, and to prevent such errors from happening in future surveys as well.