PBBM’s US trip: ‘Malayo sa bituka’

While the Filipino people are panicking at the prospect of skyrocketing fuel prices, the Palace “appears” unperturbed. It doesn’t help that just a few days into the US-Israel war against Iran, Malacañang reportedly still held a Latino Manila celebration night in the Palace.

And now another seemingly useless trip to New York by the President on the pretext of delivering a message before the United Nations, purportedly to help secure a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, the government has not made any palpable effort to placate the concerns of the public in the face of rising fuel prices and its certain negative impact on the cost of other essential goods and services.

Why this administration deemed it necessary to fly to New York to make the call for peace before the United Nations a priority amid the impending economic crisis at home baffles the reasonable mind. In the first place, what can the UN do to stop the United States and Israel at this point?

Has Malacañang lost sight of what’s truly important? To justify the US trip as important in light of the present situation at home reeks of an administration far-removed from what really matters most to Filipinos. “Ika nga, malayo sa bituka” (As they say, it’s far from the gut).

Let us not delude ourselves that an appeal for peace will dissuade the United States and Israel from pursuing their objectives in the Middle East.

Instead of pretending that what the Philippines has to say on the Middle East conflict matters to the world, PBBM should instead focus on putting in place measures to mitigate the impact of the oil crisis on Filipinos. If anything, the Marcos administration should be more concerned about what the Filipino people are thinking and feeling during these uncertain times.

We need to see the President on top of things. Not out there posturing before the rest of the world as if his opinion mattered, when our own people are lost on how to cope day-to-day as the prices of goods soar.

The present situation calls for decisive and wise leadership — right here at home.

PBBM should have anticipated the need to exercise extraordinary powers under the Constitution and prepared for the declaration of a state of emergency earlier — not only to prevent oil industry players from taking advantage of the Middle East crisis, but also to ration local supplies to make them last longer.

While the oil industry is deregulated, it may still be subjected to government control in times of emergency such as we are currently facing. The power of the government to impose a temporary price freeze on fuel and pull products for a limited time and under certain conditions in times of calamity has been upheld as valid and constitutional by the Supreme Court in its en banc decision in Executive Secretary et al. v. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (G.R. 209216 promulgated on 21 February 2023).

Finally, the President should make it clear to everyone in the government, the private sector, and even the public that corruption and profiteering in times of crisis will not be tolerated or allowed. It’s all hands on deck and the only way we can get through this is for everyone to sacrifice what they can and do their part.