The ticking bomb

The ticking bomb | Daily Tribune

It does not help that our country is presently being run by a conglomerate of the executive and legislative branches that operate the government and share the taxpayers’ money among themselves. It is also unnerving that we have been hit by a series of devastating typhoons which the leadership conceded it cannot handle.

The central plain of Luzon, which is still thought of by many as the rice granary of the Philippines, is a spectacle of massive destruction. For the next two quarters, if the weather will not calm down, there will be no harvest. Farmers will resort to short gestating cash crops that can withstand typhoons but these are not the staple food we want on our table.

Mr. Marcos Jr. never learned from his father. I remember that the moment Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. became President, he immediately constructed several irrigation systems in Central Mindanao — in the undivided province of Cotabato — believing, as he declared, that it will be the next rice granary of the country.

The first to be irrigated was Midsayap, Cotabato, my hometown. The government tapped the Libungan River which provided water to about 32,000 hectares of arable land in several barrios of the town. The next were Kabacan, Norala, Tulunan/Mlang then in undivided Zamboanga.

Not only did Marcos Jr. virtually forget the agricultural potential of Mindanao, his appointees in the Department of Agriculture, to include the incumbent Francisco Tiu Laurel, are irrelevant. The DA in fact has become a formidable competitor of the farmers. The tariff on rice imports was cut from 35 percent to 15 percent while the buying price of local palay is down to ₱13.50 per kilo during harvest season and up to ₱19 per kilo during the off season. And nobody cares.

The Philippines is on its way to becoming the biggest gold trader in the world. It needs the dollars. As I write this piece the exchange rate is ₱58.81 to a dollar. The government is stealing from PhilHealth. Despite this, the Lower House is squandering unprogrammed funds for their political campaigns in the guise of “ayuda,” making people believe it comes from their own pockets.

The midterm elections are just around the bend. The House leadership is seeing to it that their anointed bets in the provinces, cities and towns will win to ensure that they will control the votes come 2028. And they splurge with the money from the treasury as if it is of great abundance.

To cover this malfeasance, the legislators conduct endless investigations of VP Sara Duterte for spending P125 million in just 11 days. The dullards wonder and find it impossible to believe the VP can act that fast. They threaten to impeach her for setting up satellite offices used as quick-action centers during emergencies, even calling them “safe houses” of Sara Duterte.

When typhoons strike, the first on the scene to bring relief items before, during and after are the OVP’s satellite offices, while the President is wondering what to do despite his immense power and moolah. His cousin, the Speaker of the House, is nowhere to be seen.

Then came the interrogation of former President Rodrigo Duterte. The Senate harangued him over the issues of extrajudicial killings and Davao Death Squads. The star witness, Leila de Lima, who had raised these issues against FPRRD for two decades, was present during the hearing. But she was so spookily silent. Duterte answered all the questions thrown at him and even gave the garrulous among them, Risa Hontiveros, a piece of advice: Be a mayor first.

All these incessant investigations are to cover for the failures of this administration and the unprecedented corruption that is eating up the government bureaucracy. But if the people remain numb and unperturbed with the opiate of cash and ayuda, they will get a shortage and lack of rice.

It’s a ticking bomb that may explode into social upheaval. This problem may yet be the solution to eradicate or excise what ails our native land.