FIBA: 5 times Champion Philippines’ recent victories over Kazakhstan and Korea defeated by 3 times champion Iran for gold

Iran players celebrate after winning the 27th FIBA Asian Men's Basketball Championship in Manila yesterday.

Iran routed the Philippines 85-71 to bag gold at the 27th FIBA Asian men's basketball championship yesterday, powered by NBA centre Hamed Haddadi.

The seven-foot two-inch Haddadi was simply too much inside the paint for the Philippine side, scoring 29 points to lead all players.

Haddadi, the first Iran-born player in the US National Basketball Association, also grabbed 16 rebounds as he towered over his opponents. The speedy Filipinos made a valiant effort, and were playing without injured centre Marcus Douthit.

It was Iran's third gold at the Asian championship. The Philippines are five-times champions, though their last victory came back in 1985.

Iran, the Philippines and third-placed South Korea, who lost to the Philippines in the semis, will go to the FIBA world championships in Spain next year.

The Philippines trailed by as much as nine points before clawing back to 34-35 at half time led by point guard Jayson William.

The home team played in front of a crowd of about 20,000, with President Benigno Aquino and other top government officials at courtside to cheer them on.

The raucous fans however were silenced as Haddadi repeatedly clobbered them inside the paint with his low post play and put backs.

China beat Qatar

China ended their campaign with a 96-85 victory over Qatar, finishing fifth. The only chance for the former Asian Champion to play in next year's Basketball World Cup in Spain is a wildcard awarded by FIBA.

"We wanted to play the final so it's not good for us to play this match," said Panagiotis Giannakis, head coach of China. "But I think we learnt many things from this tournament. We have the opportunity to become stronger in the future."

A 13-0 run in the beginning of the second half helped China to enlarge their lead, which was only five points by halftime. The 15-time Asian Champion never let the match slip away from their hands from then on.

It was a tight game at the start of the first, with Wang Zhizhi building a three-point lead off a Yi Jianlian assist with six minutes and 20 seconds remaining, 9-6.

But Mohammed Saleem Abdullah and Mansour Elhadary then went on a 7-0 run for Qatar, building one-point lead after the first quarter. Wang Zhizhi then anchored a 15-4 run to start the second period.

Qatar responded with a 15-5 run to tie the game at 40-all.Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu had the last say in the second, giving China a 45-40 lead at the half.

Guo Ailun led China with 21 points and five assists. Veteran Wang Zhizhi finished his last Asian Championship game with a 13-point and 11-rebound double-double.

Yi Jianlian took 12 while Wang Shipeng and Zhufangyu combined for 24. China suffered a shocking loss to Chinese Taipei in Friday's quarter-finals, leading them to their second worst result in Asian Championships.

"We need to summarize after returning back to China," said Yi. "Not only today's match. Not only this tournament. It's for a long time."

"During the tournament we didn't improve as I wanted," said Giannakis. "We lost our concentrations sometimes and we lost the chance to the final. But I think we will become smarter with more experiences."

INQUIRER & Gulf Times

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Philippines could grow beyond 8% in 2015 and beyond

The Philippines could begin growing by more than 8 percent in 2015 and sustain that even onto the next administration given the correct policies and strong fundamentals driving investor confidence now, an investment bank said.

"There is no reason why the Philippines could not start growing faster than China," Marios Maratheftis, global head of macro research at Standard Chartered Bank said in a briefing on Thursday.

"The country is moving into the right direction. There is no reason why the Philippines will not grow by 8 percent plus by 2015," he added.

The statement compares with Standard Chartered's official forecast of 7 percent growth by 2015. For this year and the next, the economy is expected to expand by 6.9 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

The Aquino administration has set the following medium-term growth targets: 6-7 percent this year, 6.5-percent to 7.5-percent next year, 7-8 percent by 2015 and 7.5-8.5 percent by 2016.

Maratheftis said the "positive story" of the Philippines has reverberated across the world given that "right plans," especially on infrastructure, are in place. The bank also credited the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative.

In a report dated July 1 but released on Thursday, Standard Chartered said low interest rates and a flush of liquidity will help finance PPP projects, of which only three have been successfully awarded since its launch in November 2010.

The awarding of investment grade status could also boost foreign direct investments (FDI) — tagged as the missing link to the country's success story. Maratheftis noted that "strong confidence" in the Philippines from corporations globally.

"FDI will eventually catch up. There is a lot of room for Philippines to catch up," Maratheftis said.

"If you have the three drivers of growth: correct policies, strong fundamentals and confidence, it will be difficult to isolate one over the other," he pointed out.

A recovery in the United States would also work on the country's favor, the official said, noting that the Philippines is "most sensitive" to developments in the world's largest economy. Among others, trade and FDI gains are expected once the US fully recovers.

Steve Brice, the bank's chief investment strategist, said it would be important for the government "not to become complacent" despite all its laurels.

Growth, he said, will need to be sustained by ensuring public projects are bid out accordingly and in time.

Brice also said there is a need to create more channels for investments to keep the Philippines on the radar screen. On the local bourse for instance, he said "a lot of money chasing limited assets" have caused valuations to ratchet up relative to our neighbors.

"Valuations are really high. It's a challenge for the market. But we always believe on the structural re-rating story," Brice told reporters.

"You would expect earnings to grow up faster here than in the US against this backdrop (of strong growth)," he added.

On the property market, Brice said the market is seen to remain "relatively buoyant," with slight correction on prices in the future owing to huge supply coming in. "But we don't expect it to slump back dramatically."

philSTAR

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WYD 2013: KLM Airlines denies 2 days “Hold-up” discrimination and boasts Philippine tribe stranded in Malaysian Airport arrived Brazil

World Youth Day 2013: Indigenous Filipino Youth Delegate Earlier Denied Boarding by KLM Airlines Due to Alleged Discrimination Finally Arrives in Brazil

Indigenous Philippine Youth Delegate Denied Boarding by KLM Airlines Finally Arrives in Brazil

Arjean Marie Belco, the indigenous Philippine woman who was earlier denied by KLM Airlines to board her flight from Malaysia to Brazil, has finally landed in Rio de Janeiro. Goodxorg, the nonprofit group that organized and sponsored Ms Belco's trip in time for the World Youth Day 2013 festivities, believed its scholar was denied her "right to travel" all because she did not fit KLM's idea of a traveler, thus essentially "a case of discrimination."

Despite encountering several difficulties in the beginning of her trip, not to mention getting delayed by two days, the Talaandig lass from Bukidnon, Mindanao Island has finally arrived in Pope Francis' home continent.

On Saturday, 18-year-old Ms. Arjean Belco left Manila to Kuala Lumpur for the first leg of her first ever international travel. From there, she was to board a connecting flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, via Amsterdam. At the KLM check-in counter, she was refused boarding.

Ms. Belco called Goodxorg, with offices in Manila, long distance to advise her fate at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

According to Ms Belco, based from an assessment made by a certain Mr. Shawa, a KLM employee in Malaysia, she was denied entry because she appeared "not ready to travel." It is not clear if the supposed assessment was part of the airline's regular and mandated routine checks over a paid traveler.

Even if the BS Education student handed him her folder full of documentation, proving the authenticity of her person and her travel, Mr. Shawa continued to barrage her with questions - "Why is your passport so new?" "Your ticket is too cheap" "Your ticket was just purchased yesterday" "Why flying through Malaysia if there are flights from the Philippines?" and "How much money you have?"

Mr. Shawa allegedly continued on to say "that he was doubtful" about her trip, according to Ms Belco.

Goodxorg explained in its Facebook page that along with its partner Cartwheel Foundation.org., they pooled donations from all over the world just to be able to send Ms Belco to attend the Catholic event in Brazil in July.

And "for the record, before purchasing the ticket we called KLM reservations and reconfirmed that Philippine National don't need a transit visa in the Netherlands (waiting at the boarding area for 5 hours for her next flight) and that Philippine Citizens need no visa for Brazil for up to 90 days," Goodxorg further said.

According to the Netherlands Web site, airport transit visas are required under the following conditions:

Nationals of the following countries need an airport transit visa to change aircraft at an airport in a Schengen country: 

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Iran
• Iraq
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Somalia
• Sri Lanka

Countries whose citizens are required by the Netherlands to possess an airport transit visa when they are in the international transit area of airports in Dutch territory are from the following countries: 

• Angola 
• Gambia 
• Guinea 
• Guinea Bissau
• Nepal
• Sierra Leone
• Sudan
• Syria
• South Sudan

"Arjean was denied her right to travel. This could also be perceived as a possible case of discrimination based on appearance, gender, ethnicity, nationality, age or social status," Goodxorg said in its post.

It is not clear if Goodxorg will pursue formal and legal charges against KLM and Mr. Shawa.

KLM denies discriminating vs. World Youth Day delegate from Talaandig tribe

The European airline whose staff  barred an 18-year old indigenous Philippine ethnic member from taking a connecting flight to Brazil to attend the World Youth Day (WYD) said it does not discriminate passengers—even if one of its employees reportedly assessed the delegate as being "not ready for travel" despite having all the necessary documents.

On its Twitter account, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said it "does not discriminate and accepts passengers with valid travel documents."

The company has been repeatedly posting the statement since Wednesday in response to Twitter users if it is part of the company's policy to discriminate against Philippine passengers.

KLM has been the subject of criticism on social networking sites after news broke that its staff in Kuala Lumpur International Airport prevented Arjean Marie Belco from boarding her connecting flight to Rio de Janeiro on July 20.

Belco, a WYD delegate from Bukidnon's Talaandig tribe, was supposedly told by KLM employees that she was "not ready to travel" even if she passed through Malaysian immigration smoothly and had a folder with full documentation proving her trip to Brazil.

Arjean was stranded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 2 days before GoodXorg, a non-profit group, was able to rebook her flight to Brazil.

In a statement on Thursday, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that Belco arrived in Brazil on Tuesday on board KLM Flight No. KL 705.

The DFA said that Arjean was met by Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Eva Betita and other members of the Philippine consulate in Brazil upon her arrival at the Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro.

With the help of WYD organizers, the Philippine Embassy in Brazil has set up a secretariat in Rio de Janeiro to provide assistance to Pinoy pilgrims attending WYD 2013. Delegates from São Paulo and nearby cities can also seek consular assistance from the embassy for the duration of the program, DFA said.

with reports from International Business Times,  &  GMA News

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