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Lakers polarity

The Lakers got back on track with a win the other day, but mixed emotions were evident in the aftermath. They were happy, to be sure, with the triumph overcoming the stench of an abhorrent setback versus the supposedly inferior Nets in their previous outing. The Blazers may have been patsies as well, but they took care of business from the get-go and never let up. So even though all the effort merely got them back to .500 ball, it’s fair to argue that they had enough positives from the outing to build on as they endeavor to improve their standing in the second half of the season.

Significantly, not a few observers wondered why the festive mood was laced with no small measure of melancholy. LeBron James shared a telling hug with Austin Reaves, who just so happens to be the subject of trade rumors. D’Angelo Russell, himself being dangled as bait for coveted talent, seemed to shed tears on the bench, and again during his presser. Rui Hachimura, yet another name being touted as available for the taking by interested parties, looked wistful. Which made the scene all the harder to absorb.

If anything, the sight of long faces greeting an otherwise fine victory underscored the dichotomy in the Lakers locker room. As Russell noted, they all like each other, and genuinely want to be together. On the other hand, the roller-coaster ride they are currently on makes the maintenance of esprit de corps difficult with each passing day. Such is life in the National Basketball Association — and even more so with the Lakers, where there are high thresholds for success regardless of circumstance. For the purple and gold, it’s invariably the championship or bust.

It’s no coincidence that Russell has been playing lights out of late. After all, he did regain his spot on the starting five, and his minutes increased accordingly. Playing with James, Anthony Davis, and Reaves has enabled him to get open looks, on which he creditably cashes in with his aggressiveness. At the same time, he’s basically doing one more audition for the role that he played to the hilt last year as the Lakers’ new trade deadline addition. And he’s got a point. Why bank on the unknown when he’s already around, and when all he needs to thrive are the right opportunities?

Interestingly enough, the pressure on the coaching staff to do better was somewhat increased by James apparently calling time to take himself out of the match with the outcome already certain the other day. Critics feasted on footage of Darvin Ham simply taking a cue from him, and then considered it as proof that the Lakers should change the head coach first and foremost. Because that’s not likely to happen, however, the focus is on the personnel. Right or wrong, it’s what will determine their fate.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Canada sets 2-year cap on int’l student permits

Single family homes are seen against the skyline of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Sept. 30, 2020. — REUTERS

OTTAWA — Canada on Monday announced an immediate, two-year cap on international student permits and said it would also stop giving work permits to some postgraduate students as it seeks to rein in record numbers of newcomers seen aggravating a housing crisis.

The cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits in 2024, a decrease of 35% from 2023, according to a statement from the immigration ministry.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the federal government would work with the provinces, which oversee the educational system, to apply the cap.

He said the main reason for the cap is to protect students who attend colleges, which are often private-public partnerships, that provide inadequate services at high costs, but also to ease pressure on housing and services.

“Some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees, all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Mr. Miller told reporters.

“This increase is also putting pressure on housing, healthcare and other services,” he said, adding that fewer numbers would primarily help lower prices for rent.

Rapid population growth fueled by immigration has put pressure on services, like healthcare and education, and has helped drive up housing costs. These issues have weighed on Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s support, with polls showing he would lose an election if one were held now.

In the third quarter of last year, the population grew at its fastest pace in more than six decades, with non-permanent residents — mostly students — increasing by 312,758, the most in more than five decades.

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), a student advocacy group, criticized the cap.

“The biggest problem is that … there’s been announced a cap that is a reaction to the housing crisis,” said CASA Director of Advocacy, Mateusz Salmassi, adding that what is needed is more support and housing for international students.

The University of Toronto welcomed the announcement and said it would work with all levels of government on the allocation of study permits.

The changes are “focused on addressing abuses in the system by particular actors and are not intended to adversely impact universities such as ours,” the university said in a statement. — Reuters

British businesses fear more disruption from new post-Brexit border checks

REUTERS

LONDON — British businesses are warning of a new wave of post-Brexit trade disruption because European Union (EU) exporters are not ready for United Kingdom (UK) customs changes which start this month, and Britain’s port infrastructure might be unprepared too.

Britain left the European Union’s single market in January 2021 but it has repeatedly delayed imposing checks on EU imports. By contrast, the EU immediately enforced its rules, leading to port delays in 2021 and prompting some British exporters — such as cheese-makers and high-end beef farmers — to give up on selling to the bloc, at least initially.

Make UK, representing manufacturers, said in December that 90% of firms it surveyed still faced problems doing business with the EU with customs and clearance the biggest barrier.

Marco Forgione, Director General of the Institute of Export & International Trade, representing UK importers, said large EU firms would probably cope with Britain’s new rules but smaller ones — such as specialist food exporters — might struggle.

Some of them might decide it has become too complicated to trade with the UK and stop exporting, Mr. Forgione said. “That then leads to price pressure and the possibility of scarcity,” he said.

THREE PHASES
Britain has postponed full implementation of its post-Brexit border controls on food and fresh products five times due to worries about port disruption and the cost-of-living crisis.

But its new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) comes into force on Jan. 31 and will be introduced in three phases.

Initially, EU exporters of animal and plant products, such as eggs, dairy, meat and berries, will be required to present Export Health Certificates (EHCs) to British authorities.

But physical checks on shipments will only start on April 30 followed by a requirement for safety and security certificates from Oct. 31.

“We remain committed to delivering the most advanced border in the world,” a government spokesperson said.

William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said there was a risk of congestion and delays when the checks start in April.

Britain imports up to 70% of its fresh food from the EU in the winter months, falling to about 30% in warmer months, with as many as 1,000 trucks daily arriving at its ports.

“Will the government enforce by preventing material which doesn’t have an electronic EHC from entering the GB border? Or does it let stuff in and then simply enforce through contact with the companies involved afterwards?” Mr. Bain said.

“The government’s not telling us what they’re going to do.”

The British Retail Consortium and the Fresh Produce Consortium have also expressed concern. The British Meat Processors Association is worried that a lack of veterinary capacity in the EU might slow health certification.

James Barnes, chair of the Horticultural Trades Association, said there was a risk that the UK’s new border infrastructure, processes and IT systems would not be ready for April, the biggest month for plant shipments.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s happening when we think things aren’t ready and at the busiest time of year,” Mr. Barnes said.

The government said all infrastructure and systems were ready or on track to be ready by April and it would implement checks carefully with a view to avoiding delays.

The Dutch Association of Wholesalers in Floricultural Products called for a delay in the UK border checks until 2025.

That plea fell on deaf ears, but with a British national election expected in 2024, businesses hope the government might adopt a light touch to avoid delays and shortages.

“They’ve got the powers to dial up or dial down the mode of enforcement that they want to use, so it’s entirely in their hands to wave stuff through,” said the BCC’s Mr. Bain. — Reuters

Audits show less antisemitism on X than other apps, Musk says

REUTERS

KRAKOW, Poland — Social media company X’s platform has less antisemitic content compared with other applications, according to audits it has commissioned, X owner Elon Musk said on Monday at a conference on combating antisemitism.

Mr. Musk visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau site of a former Nazi German concentration camp earlier in the day, before appearing at the conference in the southern Polish city of Krakow, which addressed the rise in antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas conflict started in October.

The X platform has come under fire in recent months and has seen some major advertisers pause spending or flee since Mr. Musk late last year agreed with an X user who espoused an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Mr. Musk said on Monday that free speech was still the social media platform’s general bias and that falsehoods being pushed should be corrected.

“The outside audits that we have had done … show that there is the least amount of antisemitism on X, if you look at all the other social apps,” he said as he was interviewed on stage by US conservative journalist Ben Shapiro.

Mr. Musk did not say who performed the audit or share any details from the report. He did not answer any questions for other journalists.

The Krakow event, organized by the European Jewish Association (EJA), focused on the “disconcerting surge of anti-Semitism in Europe” since the start of war between Israel and Hamas in October.

When asked about balancing free speech and tackling hate speech, Musk said the platform favoured free speech.

“I think at end of the day free speech wins, in that if somebody says something that is false, especially on our platform, you can then reply to it with a correction,” he said.

“So if somebody tries to push a falsehood, like Holocaust denial, they can immediately be corrected. And you can’t get rid of the tag.” — Reuters

Israel says 24 troops killed in Gaza fighting, highest single-day toll

A Palestinian man walks past the remains of a tower building which was destroyed by Israeli air strikes, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 13, 2021. — REUTERS FILE PHOTO

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Tuesday, the biggest Israeli death toll in a single day of the war against Hamas, as Israel pressed on with its biggest ground assault so far in 2024.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said 21 soldiers were killed in an explosion when two buildings they had mined for demolition collapsed after militants fired grenades at a nearby tank.

Earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed in a separate attack in southern Gaza.

“Yesterday we experienced one of our most difficult days since the war erupted,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “In the name of our heroes, for the sake of our lives, we will not stop fighting until absolute victory.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the war would determine Israel’s future “for decades to come”.

“The fall of the fighters is a requirement to achieve the goals of the war,” Mr. Gallant said.

The deaths came as Israeli forces mount their biggest ground campaign of the new year, pushing deep into the western part of Khan Younis, the main city in the south of the Palestinian enclave, near areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of people who fled other parts of the enclave.

Gazans say Israeli blockades and storming of hospitals since Monday left the wounded and dead beyond the reach of rescuers as fighting escalated in the crowded city.

The dead were being buried inside the grounds of Khan Younis’s main Nasser hospital because it was unsafe to leave to reach the cemetery. Another Khan Younis hospital, Al-Khair, was stormed by Israeli troops who arrested staff there, and a third, Al-Amal, where Red Crescent rescuers are based, was cut off and unreachable, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel says Hamas fighters operate in and around hospitals, making them legitimate targets. Hospital staff and Hamas deny this.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is sworn to Israel’s destruction, whose fighters stormed across the fence into Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 250 hostages on Oct. 7.

At least 25,295 Gazans have since been confirmed killed, according to Palestinian authorities, with thousands more dead feared lost in the rubble, in Israel’s campaign, which has laid most of the enclave to waste.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have lost their homes, the vast majority now penned into small towns just north and south of Khan Younis, many sleeping rough in makeshift tents with food and medicine running out and no clean water.

The large death toll of Israeli troops in fighting comes at a time when Israel itself is beginning to see the first stirrings of discontent with Netanyahu’s war strategy – committed to the total annihilation of Hamas but with only vague discussion of what would come next for Gaza.

Since last week, Mr. Netanyahu has vowed never to let Palestinians have an independent state, a break with Israel’s main ally Washington which has considered a peace process ultimately leading to a Palestinian state as the bedrock of its Middle East policy for decades.

Relatives of hostages still held in Gaza have called for more effort to bring them home, even if that means reining in the military campaign. A group of them burst into a parliamentary committee hearing on Monday.

Last week, a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, former military chief-of-staff Gadi Eisenkot, whose own soldier son was killed in the ground offensive in Gaza, said the campaign had yet to achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and there was no hope of freeing the hostages in a military operation.

He called for swift elections to replace a government he said had lost public confidence.

The conflict has been accompanied by an escalation in violence elsewhere in the Middle East, especially where armed groups allied to Israel’s arch foe Iran operate, including Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which controls most of the populated parts of Yemen, has attacked shipping in the Red Sea in what it says is support for Gaza. The United States and Britain, which have been striking the Houthis this month, carried out another round of air strikes overnight. — Reuters

[B-SIDE Podcast] The sweet rewards of cacao farming in the Philippines

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

To cap off 2023, the BBC released its 100 Women list, naming women who have inspired and influenced people worldwide.

Among those on the list are former US First Lady Michelle Obama and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and a 25-year-old Filipina farmer and entrepreneur named Louise Mabulo.

Ms. Mabulo, the daughter of San Fernando Camarines Sur mayor Fermin Mabulo, joins 27 other Climate Pioneers in the list. She was lauded for her efforts in setting up The Cacao Project, which according to the BBC “aims to revolutionize local food systems through sustainable agroforestry.”

In this B-side interview with Joseph L. Garcia, the 100 Women-lister extols the virtues of cacao as a crop, changing the face of farming in the Philippines, and how growing up Filipino can make one sensitive to climate change.

Cacao as Crop

After the devastation of Typhoon Nina (international name: Nock-Ten) in 2016, Ms. Mabulo thought that farmers in her Bicol hometown deserved more than seeing their crops destroyed and having to start all over again.

She set up The Cacao Project as a seed exchange program, which later evolved into a training program and social enterprise.

Ms. Mabulo said cacao was an ideal crop in the Philippines because aside from its high value as a crop due to global demand for chocolate, it is resilient to typhoons.

“It doesn’t get easily flooded, and it doesn’t get cut down by high winds, which is ideal for our landscapes,” she said.

Removing the stigma of farming

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the average daily pay for a farm worker in the Philippines in 2019 was P331.10 per day.

Apart from the low wages, the agricultural profession is not held in high esteem locally — with the exeception of wealthy landowners who own the farms. Ms. Mabulo is working to change the face of farming by presenting it as a viable career option.

“I’m trying to empower farmers to understand that what they’re doing is land stewardship. It’s not just farming and producing food, and creating harvests. It’s also rethinking what a farmer looks like,” she said. “That can be young people getting into agriculture and aspiring to be a farmer.”

Filipinos and climate sensitivity

All Filipinos have a storm story, and are thus affected by the increase in the strength and number of typhoons caused by climate change.

While she did grow up in Wales, their family’s move to Camarines Sur made her appreciate how knowledge of local climate and weather is learned from a very young age.

“What I like to say here in Bicol is all of us are raised as meteorologists and weathermen. We all know immediately what the tickers and signs are of typhoons and how to prepare for them,” said Ms. Mabulo.

Farmers have, therefore, learned how to live around the changes in weather.

“Resilience is incredibly important, and that we need to build resilience and adapt to the typhoons,” she said.

However, she said it is also important to have the resources to not just survive, but thrive despite challenges posed by climate and weather.

It shouldn’t just be left to farmers, says Ms. Mabulo.

“It also made me question the systems that kept us resilient. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to be resilient. All of these resources should be readily available to us,” she said.

Recorded remotely on Dec. 20, 2023.

Bank of Japan keeps ultra-easy policy, focus shifts to Ueda’s briefing

WIKIPEDIA.ORG

TOKYO — The Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained ultra-easy monetary settings on Tuesday in a widely expected move, as policymakers allow more time to determine whether wage increases will broaden enough to keep inflation sustainably at its 2% target.

Traders are focusing on any clues provided by governor Kazuo Ueda on how soon the BOJ will pull short-term rates out of negative territory, which is seen as the next move Mr. Ueda will take in dismantling his predecessor’s radical stimulus programme.

At the two-day meeting that concluded on Tuesday, the BOJ left unchanged its short-term rate target at -0.1% and that for the 10-year bond yield around 0%.

The yen slipped after the decision, last trading down 0.2% at 148.39 per dollar.

In a quarterly outlook report, the BOJ cut its core consumer inflation forecast for the fiscal year beginning in April to 2.4% from 2.8% projected in October.

But it left unchanged its forecast that an index gauging trend inflation will hit 1.9% in fiscal 2024 and 2025.

Ueda is expected hold a press briefing to explain the decision at 0630 GMT (2:30 p.m. Philippine time).

The BOJ’s meeting precedes that of the European Central Bank on Thursday and the US Federal Reserve next week, both of which aggressively tightened monetary policy last year and are now contemplating cutting interest rates ahead.

Japan has seen inflation exceed the BOJ’s target for well over a year. But Ueda has stressed the need to hold off on raising rates until there is more evidence that inflation will durably stay around 2%, accompanied by solid wage growth.

Surveys and comments from business lobbies have shown an increasing chance Japan’s spring wage hikes will be above last year’s 30-year high 3.58% for major firms – a key prerequisite set by the BOJ for exiting ultra-loose monetary policy.

But the chance of success in meeting another prerequisite, which is a steady rise in services prices, remains uncertain.

While services prices have crept up, the increases are concentrated on sectors benefiting from a rebound in inbound tourism or where labor shortages are acute.

Markets are focusing on whether Ueda will sound more optimistic about prospects for wages to keep rising in tandem with inflation at his post-meeting briefing, which would signal an increasing chance of an end to negative rates in March or April. — Reuters

Philippines will not ‘lift a finger’ to assist ICC’s drug war probe

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT FB PAGE

MANILA — The Philippine government will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into a brutal anti-narcotics campaign, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr said on Tuesday.

“I consider it as a threat to our sovereignty. Therefore, the Philippine government will not lift a finger to help any investigation that the ICC conducts,” Mr. Marcos told reporters, reiterating his earlier position.

The ICC in July rejected an appeal by Manila and llowed an investigation to resume into the thousands of killings during former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ and other suspected rights abuses.

Mr. Marcos said ICC investigators can come and visit “as ordinary people” but the government will not assist them.

The President’s remarks followed a statement made by his justice minister who last week told Kyodo News the government may allow an ICC probe if legal procedures were followed, a move which Mr Duterte’s camp maintained was illegal.

“Allowing the ICC to conduct its probe in our country, in brazen violation of the constitution, is an absolute surrender of our birthright as a sovereign nation,” Salvador S. Panelo, Mr. Duterte’s former presidential spokesperson, said in a message.

The Philippines officially withdrew from the international tribunal in 2019 after then President Duterte questioned its authority to investigate the campaign against illegal drugs that killed thousands of people.

Police say they killed 6,200 dealers who resisted arrest during anti-drug operations during Mr. Duterte’s term. Many thousands more users and peddlers were gunned down during the crackdown, in what authorities said were vigilante killings. Rights groups and some victims accuse the police of systematic cover-ups and executions, which they deny.

In November, Mr. Marcos said he was studying the Philippines’ return to the ICC’s fold, months after saying he would cut off contact with the tribunal. — Reuters

Australia imposes sanctions on Russian hacker over Medibank breach

REUTERS

SYDNEY — Australia on Tuesday imposed cyber sanctions on a Russian man for his role in the breach at insurer Medibank, one of the country’s biggest data thefts which impacted about 10 million customers.

Reports of cybercrime in Australia have spiked over recent years with several companies disclosing hacks, prompting the government last year to overhaul its cyber security rules and set up an agency to help coordinate responses.

Targeted financial sanctions and a travel ban have been imposed on Russian citizen Aleksandr Ermakov after Australian authorities linked him to the breach at Medibank, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said during a press briefing.

“These people are cowards and they’re scumbags. They hide behind technology and today, the Australian government is saying that when we put our minds to it, we’ll unveil who you are, and we’ll make sure you are accountable,” Ms. O’Neil said.

This is the first time Australia has used its cyber sanctions framework since legislating it in 2021. The sanction makes it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 10 years in jail and fines, to provide Ermakov with any assets, including cryptocurrency wallets or ransomware payments.

The sanctions may not result in the arrest of the hacker or deter others from targeting Australian assets but the government’s move “is a step in the right direction,” said Nigel Phair, cybersecurity professor at the Monash University.

“It puts sand in the gears of the cyber criminals by degrading their efforts to work with others in future criminal pursuits,” Mr. Phair said.

Medibank in 2022 disclosed that a hacker stole the personal information of 9.7 million current and former customers, and released the data on the dark web.

A government report in November said state-sponsored cyber groups and hackers had stepped up assaults on Australia’s critical infrastructure, businesses and homes, with one attack every six minutes likely occurring on Australian assets.

Hackers in November hit DP World Australia, one of the country’s largest ports operators, forcing it to suspend operations for three days. Victoria state authorities early this month disclosed court recordings database was breached, impacting recordings and transcription services. — Reuters

Malaysia considers legal proceedings against foreign banks involved in 1MDB graft

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is considering initiating legal proceedings against foreign banks linked to the multi-billion dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal, the chairman of the 1MDB asset recovery taskforce said on Tuesday.

Johari Abdul Ghani did not name the foreign banks but said they did not conduct proper due diligence before facilitating fund transfers related to the sovereign fund.

Malaysian and US investigators estimated $4.5 billion were stolen from 1MDB, implicating former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, Goldman Sachs staff and high-level officials elsewhere.

Najib is serving a 12-year jail sentence for his role in the biggest financial scandal in Malaysia’s history.

“The 1MDB task force is firmly committed in addressing the 1MDB matter transparently and holding all parties accountable,” Mr. Johari said in a statement.

Separately, he added that Malaysia had responded on Nov. 8 to an arbitration request by Goldman Sachs, and the two parties were in the process of agreeing on a procedural timetable.

Goldman Sachs in 2020 had agreed to pay $3.9 billion to settle Malaysia’s criminal probe over its role in the scandal. However, the parties are now in disagreement over the settlement, which stipulates that Goldman should make an interim payment if Malaysia did not recover at least $500 million from the firm by August, 2022.

Goldman then sued Malaysia in a court in Britain in October last year for the Malaysian government’s violation of its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman in the settlement agreement and to recover other assets worth $1.4 billion.

Malaysia has denied the allegations it breached the settlement deal. — Reuters

US Supreme Court lets Border Patrol remove Texas razor-wire fencing – for now

REUTERS

The United States Supreme Court on Monday agreed to temporarily let US Border Patrol agents cut or remove razor-wire fencing that Texas officials placed along part of the Republican-governed state’s border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings.

The justices, in a 5-4 decision, granted a request by President Joe Biden’s administration to pause a lower court’s ruling that temporarily blocked federal agents from disturbing the fencing while litigation over the issue proceeds.

Two conservative members of the court – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett – joined the three liberal justices in the majority, with conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissenting.

The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued the disputed interim ruling, is set to hear arguments on Feb. 7 over whether Border Patrol agents violated Texas law by cutting the razor-wire barrier.

The fencing at issue in the dispute was installed on private property along the Rio Grande river by the Texas National Guard as part of what was called Operation Lone Star, launched by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2021 to deter illegal border crossings.

Texas sued the administration in October 2023 over what it said was an intensified practice by US Customs and Border Protection agents of cutting, destroying or otherwise damaging fencing that the state had strategically placed on private land with the permission of landowners.

US District Judge Alia Moses, while criticizing the Biden administration for its “utter failure” to prevent unlawful entries into the United States, ruled in November that the legal claims made by Texas could not overcome the federal government’s sovereign immunity in the case. Such immunity protects the federal government from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.

After Texas appealed, the 5th Circuit on Dec. 19 granted the state’s request to temporarily block federal agents from “damaging, destroying or otherwise interfering with” the razor-wire fencing while the case played out, except “if necessary to address any medical emergency.”

The 5th Circuit in its ruling said Moses misinterpreted a law granting the US government immunity from some legal claims by states, and that Texas was likely to prevail in its lawsuit.

The Biden administration, in a Jan. 2 court filing, urged the justices to halt the 5th Circuit’s ruling, saying there was no indication that the wire had deterred migrants from crossing into the United States.

In a subsequent Jan. 12 filing, the administration said Texas had set up new barriers along part of the state’s border with Mexico that impeded the ability of Border Patrol agents to monitor and respond to emergencies.

On Monday, the White House welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Ultimately, we need adequate resources and policy changes to address our broken immigration system…. That is why he (Biden) is working to find a bipartisan agreement with Congress that includes additional resources and meaningful policy reforms,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Republicans have sharply criticized Biden’s immigration policies and the flow of illegal entries across the US border with Mexico – an issue certain to heat up ahead of the Nov. 5 election in which the Democratic president is seeking another four years in office. — Reuters

DoF chief joins BSP’s Monetary Board

FINANCE SECRETARY RALPH G. RECTO — DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

By Keisha B. Ta-asan, Reporter

NEWLY APPOINTED Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto took his oath as a member of the Monetary Board on Monday, the Philippine central bank said, taking the last seat in the seven-member policy-making body.

Mr. Recto is expected to prioritize inflation while pushing stable economic growth, analysts said.

“He is responsible for National Government debt and taxes,” Jonathan L. Ravelas, senior adviser at professional service firm Reyes Tacandong & Co., said in a Viber message. “He ensures that growth continues by providing inputs to the Monetary Board to help support and stabilize growth.”

Mr. Recto, a former lawmaker who was appointed Finance chief last week, will represent President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s Cabinet at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) highest policy-making body.

The Monetary Board is headed by Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr., who led Mr. Recto’s oath-taking at the central bank office in Manila, the BSP said in a statement.

The board also has five full-time members from the private sector, namely Benjamin E. Diokno, V. Bruce J. Tolentino, Anita Linda R. Aquino, Romeo L. Bernardo and Rosalia V. de Leon.

Mr. Diokno is Mr. Recto’s predecessor at the Finance department and Ms. De Leon used to be the national treasurer.

Ms. Aquino held key positions at Standard Chartered Bank Manila, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Citicorp Investment Bank in Singapore and Citibank N.A. Manila.

Mr. Tolentino was the deputy director-general of the International Rice Research Institute, served as chief economist and country representative at The Asia Foundation and was senior economic policy adviser at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Meanwhile, Mr. Bernardo was an analyst for the Philippines at GlobalSource Partners. He used to be a Finance undersecretary and an alternate executive director at the ADB.

Mr. Recto would give the Monetary Board a clear perspective on how monetary policy and banking regulation can support economic growth, China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said in a Viber message.

“Immediate priorities should include forming a view on when to cut the policy rate and taking the necessary steps to remove the Philippines from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) ‘gray list,’” he added.

Before his appointment to the Finance department on Jan. 15, Mr. Recto served as Batangas representative and was a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

He was a senator for three terms and held key positions including as a minority leader. He pushed higher value-added taxes (VAT) in the Senate in the early 2000.

Luis A. Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said the central bank is already doing a good job in keeping prices stable.

“It will depend on current economic conditions but generally, Mr. Recto should try to help the economy get back to a lower inflationary environment with tools at his disposal,” he said in a Viber message.

The Monetary Board raised borrowing costs by 450 basis points from May 2022 to October 2023. This brought the key interest rate to 6.5%, the highest in 16 years.

Despite the high interest rate environment, the Philippine economy expanded by 5.9% in the third quarter, faster than 4.3% in the second quarter.

For the nine months ended September, economic growth averaged 5.5%, below the government’s 6-7% full-year goal.

Mr. Remolona earlier said it is unlikely for the BSP to start easing policy rates in the first half given risks to inflation.

The central bank sees inflation easing to 3.7% this year and to 3.2% in 2025. Inflation in 2023 was 6%, breaching the 2-4% target for the second straight year.

The BSP will hold its first policy meeting this year on Feb. 15.

The FATF has kept the Philippines under a “gray list” of countries under increased monitoring for money laundering and terrorism financing risks since June 2021.

Government officials expect the Philippines to get out of the gray list in October after failing to meet the January deadline.

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