Bangladesh police looking for family, associates of NYC bombing suspect

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

DHAKA — Officials in Bangladesh are trying to track down the extended family and any known associates of Akayed Ullah, a Bangladeshi man US authorities say set off a homemade pipe bomb in a crowded New York City commuter hub on Monday.

“Police are looking for his family, but so far they’ve not been able to trace them,” said Abul Khair Nadim, the Chair of Musapur Union council, a local government body in the Chittagong division in southern Bangladesh, where Ullah’s family originally lived.

Bangladesh’s police chief told Reuters late on Monday that 27-year-old Ullah had no criminal record in his home country, which he last visited in September.

Ullah lived with his mother, sister and two brothers in Brooklyn and was a green card holder, said Shameem Ahsan, consul general of Bangladesh in New York.

Ahmad Ullah, a relative of Ullah, who Reuters tracked down on Tuesday, said his cousin’s father had moved to the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka with his family many years ago.

He said Ullah’s father had passed away about five years ago, and that Ullah had been through a normal public school education in Bangladesh before moving to the United States.

Ullah, who had a homemade bomb strapped to his body, set off an explosion in an underground pedestrian corridor between New York’s Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal at rush hour, injuring himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said investigators have found evidence that Ullah had watched Islamic State propaganda on the internet.

Bangladesh strongly condemned the attack in a statement saying, “A terrorist is a terrorist irrespective of his or her ethnicity or religion, and must be brought to justice.” — Reuters

Delayed Bolshoi Nureyev ballet opens with its director under house arrest

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

MOSCOW — A controversial ballet based on the life of Russian dance legend Rudolf Nureyev opened at the Bolshoi Theater Saturday, despite an earlier premiere being pulled at the last minute and its director remaining under house arrest.

In a move unprecedented in the Moscow theater’s modern history, the Bolshoi in July canceled the world premiere of Nureyev just three days before opening night, after director Kirill Serebrennikov was questioned in a criminal probe.

Serebrennikov was placed under house arrest in August in a fraud case supporters say is part of a politically motivated crackdown on Russia’s arts community ahead of presidential elections next year.

Management cited an under-rehearsed cast for the delayed premiere but speculation swirled that it had been pulled because of the investigation or the ballet’s treatment of Nureyev’s homosexuality. At the time, Russian state news agency TASS quoted a source close to the culture ministry saying there were concerns about the ballet’s gay themes.

A month later, the production’s edgy director was charged with embezzling state funds. Under house arrest, he was unable to take part in rehearsals. Serebrennikov’s supporters alleged he was being punished for challenging the establishment, and that his production would be watered down.

Several audience members told AFP they had come to the opening night to show support for the director.

“I’m sure Kirill’s talent will always be appreciated — with all my heart I wish him creative freedom and I’m sure that all the people who were here tonight will wish the same thing,” said film actress Alexandra Korendyuk, 28. The “wonderful” performance received a standing ovation, she said.

“For people who love the theater and ballet it was very touching, everyone worked incredibly well — and freedom to Kirill Serebrennikov,” said actor Gurgen Tsaturyan, 46.

Some audience members were wearing T-shirts with the slogan “freedom to the director,” he added.

Muscovites queued for hours to buy tickets for two performances of the new ballet when they went on sale last month, after the theater announced in September the production would go ahead.

Serebrennikov, who heads Moscow’s innovative Gogol Center theater, is accused of defrauding the state of over $1 million in arts funding. The director has dismissed the case against him as “absurd.”

A request from the Bolshoi to Russia’s Investigative Committee that Serebrennikov be released to attend final rehearsals was not answered, the theater’s general director said Friday.

Dozens of prominent figures in Russia and international stars, including Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen have called for Serebrennikov to be released without charge.

Nureyev, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, charts the life of the superstar dancer who defected from the Soviet Union and found new fame in the West before dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1993.

The production, which features a gay love duet, cross-dressing male dancers, and flashes of nudity in projected photographs of Nureyev, has been approved for adult audiences only.

At a rehearsal to which the media was admitted on Friday, Bolshoi staff said the production had undergone only minor technical changes since Serebrennikov was replaced. Serebrennikov has not commented publicly.

In one scene, dancers playing Nureyev and his lover, Danish dancer Erik Bruhn, perform a touching, sensuous dance intended to represent them falling in love. Another scene depicts Nureyev visiting a drag act in Paris, soon after arriving there having defected from the Soviet Union. During the rehearsal, a huge image of a completely naked Nureyev briefly appeared as the backdrop to the performance. When reports leaked into Russian media about that image earlier this year, it caused an outcry among social conservatives.

The ballet as performed on Friday also features a character reading official files on Nureyev from informers, alleging that in Paris he was spending time with “dubious people, some of them pederasts, among whom were clearly representatives of Western intelligence agencies.” The word “pederast” is often used in Russia as a derogatory term for homosexuals.

Russian government officials have yet to say what they think of the production.

Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, prejudice is common and human rights activists report widespread harassment and abuse.

In 2013, Russia passed a law banning “gay propaganda” that has been denounced by the European Court of Human Rights.

Theater management insisted at a press conference Friday that it had not imposed any changes on Nureyev since July, but Russian journalists comparing a final run-through to a video of summer rehearsals said nudity had been scaled back.

The Bolshoi announced on Friday that the production would return to the theater in May. — AFP/Reuters

RCBC accuses Bangladesh of covering up cyber heist

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

MANILA — The Philippine bank through which $81 million stolen from Bangladesh’s central bank was channelled in February 2016 has accused Dhaka’s monetary authority of covering up its negligence and demanded that it stop making the bank a “scapegoat.”

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) was responding to comments on Saturday by Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal A. Muhith who said he wanted to “wipe-out” the Manila-based bank.

The comments follow a Reuters story that Bangladesh Bank (BB) had asked the New York Federal Reserve of New York to join a lawsuit it was considering filing against RCBC seeking damages, according to several sources.

“RCBC has revealed everything it legally could to the (Philippine) Senate and its regulator, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. BB however, has concealed everything it could. The contrast is telling,” George dela Cuesta, head of legal affairs at RCBC, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Unidentified hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Fed in February last year, using fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system. The money was sent to accounts at Manila-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corp and then disappeared into the casino industry in the Philippines.

Nearly two years later, there is no word on who was responsible and Bangladesh Bank has been able to retrieve only about $15 million, mostly from a Manila junket operator.

“BB is definitely partly to blame for the heist. Its refusal to be transparent is a continuing cover-up and a disservice to global efforts to combat cybercrime,” Mr. dela Cuesta said. “RCBC is clearly a victim of BB’s negligence.”

RCBC has blamed rogue employees and Philippine prosecutors have filed money laundering charges against a former RCBC bank manager and four people who owned the bank accounts where the funds were sent, but are not identifiable since the accounts were in fake names. They are the only people to be formally cited anywhere in the world in association with the crime.

RCBC was fined a record P1 billion ($20 million) by the country’s central bank last year for its failure to prevent the movement of the stolen money through it.

“BB must be sanctioned until it owns up and shares what it knows to prevent a repeat. Up to now, not one Bangladeshi has been identified in the inside job, much more hauled to the court,” Mr. dela Cuesta said. — Reuters

Marlins woes

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

Marlins fans are understandably upset over the way the offseason has evolved. In the midst of a playoff drought bested in length only by those cheering for the Mariners, they thought they already had the seeds planted for a turnaround. Among other things, they had reigning National League Most Valuable Player Giancarlo Stanton spearheading a Top Five offense. And so they figured the natural progression would be for new ownership to get star power on the mound.

The hope is, to be sure, predicated on a flawed premise. Whether or not majority stake in the franchise changed hands, the Marlins were due for another rebuild. For all the promise they showed, their bloated payroll precluded them from improving their pitching rotation. And so a reboot was in the offing yet again, beginning with unpopular firings of off-the-field staff and continuing with fire sales for players with high market worth, Stanton included.

That the move could not be avoided is clear. That it could have been better implemented is also clear. For instance, the Marlins negotiated a Stanton trade with the Giants and Cardinals as if they had control over the process. In fact, the home run king did, and, evidently, he made clear from the outset that he would waive his no-trade clause for a transfer to the Dodgers and Yankees. For fans expecting goods news, the departure of one of the few bright spots of their 2017 experience was, needless to say, a major blow. Parenthetically, it may well have been softened by a concerted effort to inject transparency to the process. Could the powers that be not have publicly explained every step by way of soliciting support?

Instead, the front office went about its business as if fans didn’t matter, and it’s now paying for its transgression. Which means the Marlins will again be the subject of brickbats throughout yet another fruitless campaign, with those supposedly standing by them also against them. It’s too bad, really. Jeffrey Loria’s departure was thought to usher in positive vibes. Unfortunately, only the faces seem to have changed, and everybody else couldn’t care less about the same old, same old.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

Building a future-ready work force from classrooms to boardrooms

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

By John Laxon

HOW do we prepare for successful careers?

This question has challenged our education systems for generations. Although it can be argued that now more than ever, technological change has brought an unprecedented set of challenges that our youth have to contend with to be successful in today’s, and more importantly, tomorrow’s world.

boys reading books

Knowledge of traditional subjects are no longer an adequate marker of ability. Not only are today’s students required to master skills in problem-solving, they must also demonstrate versatile and critical thinking skills for an increasingly virtual world.

Education systems around the world have often struggled to meet and anticipate future skills needs. More needs to be done to break down classroom walls and adequately prepare students to have multiple careers in the 21^stcentury.

The good news is that education systems are now being assessed on how well they prepare students for the future.

FUTURE-READY GRADUATES
According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2017 Educating for the Future Index, educational systems around the world must find ways to produce graduates who are able to constantly anticipate and acclimatize to the changing demands of the global economy.

Specifically, the Future Index highlights project-based learning, industry collaborations, and the need for technology-based curricula as key areas in which education systems around the world must invest in.

The Future Index provides a holistic perspective of education systems, by including measures on respective national education policy environments, teaching environments, and socioeconomic environments. These are critical factors that determine the ability of education systems and their institutions to produce resilient and work-ready graduates.

It is noteworthy that the Future Index ranks New Zealand as the best education system overall, earning full marks for the curriculum framework for future skills, collaboration between education providers and industry, and cultural diversity and tolerance among other measures. Indeed, these are the cornerstones upon which we have built our internationally recognized education system, and the reasons why 130,000 international students from more than 180 countries study in New Zealand every year.

New Zealand’s “Think New” approach promotes inquisitive and project-based learning, provides flexible learning pathways for students, and is built upon a world-class education quality assurance system. These foundations, and well-targeted education subsidies, have enabled collaborations between education institutions and industry that provide students with formal education qualifications as well as industry-relevant skills.

Additionally, government investments in digital infrastructure has ensured that the next generation of New Zealand graduates are not just digitally savvy but are digital natives. According to the Future Index report, 98% of New Zealand institutions are connected to fast and uncapped broadband connections, making technology an enabler of education in New Zealand.

Such focused efforts have resulted in several New Zealand universities being included in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017 list, which ranks 300 leading global institutions based on five key aspects of graduate employability.

To effectively prepare students for an increasingly connected world, education systems must also welcome global perspectives. New Zealand has championed this cause, becoming a sought-after international education destination and being ranked as the safest English-speaking country in the world by the Global Peace Index for ten years in a row. International education is now New Zealand’s 4^th largest export industry.

How are these learnings relevant to Philippines? New Zealand demonstrates that any education system can successfully prepare students when there is a coordinated and sustained effort by education leaders, teachers, parents, students, and government to raise education standards.

Today, more than 4,000 Filipino students are in New Zealand pursuing an international education and a large reason behind this growth has been the future-focused education system that New Zealand offers.

The great news is that today’s globally connected world enables us all to share these learnings.

Not only are New Zealand universities and education ministries working on education capability-building contracts across South East Asia, we are welcoming more and more international students to our country to experience our education system.

We are excited to continue working with our Filipino counterparts to further our investments in developing crucial skills for our students that will can ultimately determine their success in the boardrooms.

John Laxon, Education New Zealand’s Regional Director of South, South East Asia & the Middle East.

Labor force survey (Philippines, October 2017)

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

THE RANKS of jobless Filipinos grew in October, but job quality saw the biggest improvement in more than a decade, according to latest labor data which the government released on Tuesday. Read the full story.

Vitarich plans debt-to-equity swap

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

VITARICH Corporation is looking to convert the company’s debts into equity, as it hopes to see a healthy balance sheet by next year.

The Bulacan-based feeds and livestock company said the debt-to-equity conversion, its second in four years, will be worth P400 million.

“By paying the company’s remaining debt with shares, the company will conserve much-needed cash for its operation and its expansion plans. Also, paying the remaining debt with shares instead of doing a ‘dacion’ of its core assets will allow Vitarich to benefit from the rental income and future increases in real estate value of the non-core assets,” Vitarich Chief Executive Officer and President Ricardo Manuel M. Sarmiento said.

He said Vitarich shareholders have also approved the plan to undergo quasi-reorganization, allowing it to eliminate the deficit which, as of end-2016, stood at P2.417 billion.

“After the quasi-reorganization abolishes the company’s deficit, Vitarich can then already declare dividends to its shareholders from the unrestricted retained earnings that will subsequently be generated,” Mr. Sarmiento said.

At the same time, Vitarich is aiming to sustain the growth momentum it has seen so far this year.

For the first nine months of 2017, Vitarich recorded P107 million in consolidated net income, 21 times higher than the P5 million during the same period a year ago, driven by 27% increase in sales revenues.

Mr. Sarmiento said the company set aside a capital expenditure of P130 million for 2018.

Vitarich is also planning to build another feed mill, expected to produce 20 tons per hour, in Luzon.

“In Batangas, we also have plans to put up our own feed mill. We’re estimating it be to around P400 million. We hope to groundbreak by mid-next year, it will take about 14 months for the construction so if we’re successful in groundbreaking by June it will be operational by fourth quarter in 2019,” Mr. Sarmiento said. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

Tax reform watch weighs on investor sentiment

December 13, 2017 | 12:01 am

ANY OPTIMISM over the Philippines’ credit rating upgrade on Monday by Fitch Ratings evaporated yesterday, as investors awaiting Congress’ ratification of tax reforms made the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) end three days of gains.

PSEi dropped 24.51 points or 0.29% to close 8,334.06, while the all-shares index gave up 18.83 points or 0.39% to end 4,866.62.

“The local market traded on a softer note a day before a series of huge events in the next few days,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said, citing impending ratification of the first of up to five tax reform packages designed to boost infrastructure spending till 2022, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends his six-year term.

The bicameral conference committee harmonizing divergent tax reform provisions of the Senate and the House of Representatives was unable to issue its report yesterday for ratification by both chambers.

Diversified Securities, Inc. equity trader Aniceto K. Pangan said “the market is still awaiting the final version of the tax reform package,” whose divergent provisions have spelled significant difference in terms of projected additional revenues.

“Investors have been discounting this news, but until this is final then it is not yet set,” Mr. Limlingan noted, while Mr. Pangan said that “[u]ntil we are certain of the final version, definitely market will continue to consolidate.”

Set to be ratified separately is the proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018.

Both laws are targeted for implementation starting Jan. 1 next year.

Congress is also expected to extend for a year martial law declared over Mindanao — in the face of what Malacañang sees as persistent threat from Islamic militants and communist rebels — that is set to lift at end-2017.

Lawmakers then adjourn on Dec. 16 for a month-long break.

Four of the six sectoral indices ended with losses: mining and oil by 149.57 points or 1.28% to 11,559.25, holding firms by 87.99 points or 1.04% to 8,412.21, services by 13.60 points or 0.86% to 1,569.89 and industrial by 15.08 points or 0.14% to 11,017.

On the other hand, property gained 18.31 points or 0.47% to finish 3,915.43, while financials added nine points or 0.42% to close 2,152.90.

Negative sentiment similarly gripped many other Asian bourses, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, China’s blue-chip CSI 300, the Shanghai Composite Index, South Korea’s KOSPI Index, Straits Times Index and the Jakarta Composite Index dropping 0.32%, 0.63%, 1.31%, 1.24%, 0.42%, 0.16% and 0.09%, respectively.

Philippine stocks that declined led those that gained 115 to 87, while 52 others were unchanged.

Tuesday’s list of the 20 most-traded stocks showed only seven gained, led by Ayala Land, Inc. that added 1.49% to end P44.15 apiece, Bank of the Philippine Islands that increased by 0.96% to P105, Security Bank Corp. that rose by 0.72% to P252 and Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. that climbed 0.87% to P98.95 each.

Those that lost were led by Bloomberry Resorts Corp.; DMCI Holdings, Inc.; International Container Terminal Services, Inc.; and Ayala Corp. whose shares gave up 3.55% to close P10.32 apiece; 3.27% to P14.22; 2.008% to P102.50 and 1.44% to finish P1,025 each.

Tuesday saw 638.34 million stocks worth P6.61 billion change hands, compared to Monday’s 923.34 million stocks worth P5.85 billion.

Foreigners remained predominantly sellers for the eighth straight trading day, but Tuesdays’ mere P491,402.68 net sales were the smallest amount in that period. — Arra B. Francia

How PSEi member stocks performed — December 12, 2017

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, December 12, 2017.

Insurance firms’ premium income jumps in 3rd quarter

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY booked a single-digit increase in its total premium income in the third quarter, driven by the continued growth of the life insurance sector.

Preliminary data based on unaudited reports submitted by life and non-life companies to the Insurance Commission showed the industry’s total premiums collected in the July to September period rose by 9.41% to P185.51 billion from the P169.56 billion posted during the same period last year.

Broken down, life insurers reported P144.63 billion worth of premiums at end-September, 8% higher than the P133.85 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.

“The total premiums from variable life insurance products rose by 8.74% from P96.46 billion to P104.89 billion,” Insurance Commissioner Dennis C. Funa was quoted as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

While the premium income from single premium variable life insurance product fell by 5.81%, Mr. Funa noted this was offset by the “impressive” increase in its first year and renewal premiums, which grew by 12.28% and 34.43%, respectively.

Premiums from traditional life insurance products surged by 29.01% in single premium and 23.07% in first year premium.

Meanwhile, non-life insurers saw 14% rise in total net premiums to P34.31 billion in the third quarter from P30.1 billion booked in the same period last year.

“The non-life insurance sector demonstrated continued momentum in the third quarter of this year through the sale of fire and motor insurance products,” Mr. Funa said, noting that more than half of the total net premiums written by the sector were generated from the said products.

In addition, mutual benefit associations (MBAs) recorded total contributions of P5.61 billion in the July to September period, up 16.59% from P4.27 billion quoted last year.

The insurance industry’s net income jumped 21.88% to P27.86 billion in the July-September period, versus the P22.85 billion booked in the same period last year.

Broken down, net income of life insurers climbed 31.93% to P21.96 billion, while MBAs saw its net surplus rise 15.19% to P3.13 billion.

Meanwhile, non-life insurers’ net income declined by 20.87% to P2.76 billion during the third quarter from P3.49 billion reported in a comparable year-ago period.

Nation at a Glance — (12/13/17)

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Philippine trade year-on-year performance

December 13, 2017 | 12:00 am

FOREIGN SALES of Philippine goods grew for the 11^th straight month last October, but the double-digit increase in merchandise imports drove the monthly trade gap to its biggest on record, the government reported yesterday. Read the full story.