BY EDISON MARTE SICAD
All experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer—while evils are sufferable—than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. –American Declaration of Independence
IN THE movie Mad Max: Fury Road, the tyrant Immortan Joe enslaves the apocalypse survivors with his promise of eternal happiness. Also, the people are subservient to him because of what he alone can provide to them: free water. Although the supply is sufficient for everyone, Joe makes sure that the crowd receive only the least amount for them to appreciate the value of scarcity—and the greatness of his benevolent power. Thus, this desert society maintained a semblance of order because of what his constituents unconsciously (or ignorantly) learned: learned helplessness.
This story reminds us of the power of control (or manipulation) vis-à-vis social programs and opinion-formation (or propaganda) in favor of or against government institutions (that in some way can always be connected to politics). Just like how the British in the imperial days fooled the Arabs that led to the Palestinian-Israel conflict, and how the mighty U.S. invaded Iraq on the pretext of Fight Against Terrorism, the Philippine government will import onions to subdue the spike of prices in the market.
A total of 21,060 metric tons (MT) of fresh yellow and red onions will be imported. But only 5,000 MT will arrive in the country to save us since importers were not able to meet the deadline for application set by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Onions are bought from the farmers at P15/kilo and sold in the market at P500/kilo. At fault for such a scenario (after a thorough investigation—or just plain common sense) is the lack of cold storage as well as the rampant smuggling. In short, it has nothing to do with the supply of onions nor the demand for such kitchen staple (nor the government laws and officials concerned).
For an agricultural country to import agricultural products and its people to suffer an agricultural crisis (that seems to become a perennial problem) but not having a DA Secretary to lead in this “onion-scarcity/smuggling busting,” is a sure tearjerker kind of a story. But the show must go on—and the travels abroad as well.
In a Senate hearing last Monday, January 16, 2023, a housewife from Pangasinan lamented the havoc of a farm infestation that led to her husband committing suicide, leaving behind family debts amounting to millions of pesos. Mr. Gallardo was an onion farmer. Mrs. Gallardo is now a widow-in-debt.
So where does the blame lie? Who has the solution to this problem? When the Bureau of Customs (BOC) apprehended balikbayans for bringing sibuyas as pasalubongs, our story has now become a bestseller in its plot twist. But then, the BOC says this is to protect our agricultural products. Outside food products can bring infestation to our local produce. But this has nothing to do with importation. Importation is safe for our bahay-kubos.
Hopefully, our government officials (a.k.a. public servants) will truly exemplify the public service mantra “for the people, by the people, and of the people.” The debilitating effects of the pandemic—and the myriad concerns about vaccine side-effects and millions of vaccines expired—are almost lost in our short-termed memory.
Despite it all, we now see promising growth in the different sectors of society. And such momentum could only be dampened by the ongoing crisis in this Pearl of the Orient Seas: where public service is nothing but a lip service; and the Filipino people a captured audience in this (staged) tragicomedy not knowing where the fire exit is in case of an emergency. That is if there is a fire exit.
As of now, learn to relish in this theater of the absurd (it’s very New York, you know).
But keep calm and relax. Let us remain united and get our strength from this promising message:
“Food is not just a trade commodity. Without it, people weaken and die; societies come apart. It is more than a livelihood; it is an existential imperative and a moral one. An agriculture damaged and diminished by unfair competition will have a harder time, or will have no prospects at all, of recovering…You will not be disappointed. So do not be afraid.” —Inaugural Address of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., June 30, 2022/PN
