By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
Back in the day, in the late 1960s, when rainy days were here your nose would detect the nice smell of corn being roasted on charcoal stoves along Magsaysay Ave. They would be lined up on the sidewalk shaded by commercial buildings where Center Mall was built. The stoves provided some heat and also by the throngs of passers by during rush hours in the early evenings. They are a welcome sight during rainy days.
The bad news during such times when it would be raining for weeks or months were the high prices of highland vegetables due to low supply. That was years after President Magsaysay commanded, “Repeal that law!” As the joke goes, when he asked his cabinet members why the prices of basic goods were sky rocketing, the answer blurted out by a secretary was because of the law on supply and demand.
The low supply then of veggies whenever continuous rains happened made life miserable for Baguio denizens as prices of greens become unbearable. For the same reason, the destruction of farmers’ gardens by typhoons or too much water. Add to that the frequent landslides that blocked farmers from bringing their produce to town. Even the lowly sayote then would command a price, and its tasty shoots would be impossible to find in the public market.
The terrible prices of vegetables are now again upon us. To give you a hint, the other day, carrots hit P150 per kilo, bell pepper was shocking at P250 per kilo, Baguio Beans was also at P250 per kilo, etc., courtesy of Typhoon Egay. That weather disturbance with its strong winds crumpled or flattened or blown away any veggie standing— only trellises were visible on farms where these were after the tempest passed.
So we will have to live with high prices of agricultural produce for months to come until their replacements become harvestable. Sorry to say the law of supply in demand has yet to be repealed despite the millions and millions of scientists the world over.
Another dire prediction is the skyrocketing prices of rice. One main cause is also that recent typhoon and also the hefty prices of OPEC juice. Diesel fuel just went up by more than P3.00 per litter after several successive increases the past weeks. As everyone knows, when that happens all prices of basic commodities go high. And surprise, surprise, these won’t go down to the way they were even if fuel oil prices would go down.
Another time bomb are the prices of rice. They already breached the P50.00 per kilo mark. Hopefully, we will be able to import rice from Vietnam at a cheaper price after the upcoming visit of PBBM there.
To repeat our pitiful situation, Vietnam’s agricultural scientists learned from us in UP Los Banos, and their rice production program that made it an exporter of rice was spearheaded by DA Undersecretary Sebastian who also graduated from there. This raises the question, What is wrong with us? The case of USEC Sebastian, a straight and meritorious fellow, bears the answer. He resigned due to politics on account of a controversial importation of sugar which many believed was due to politics. At least, PBBM had the good sense to bring him back to government. Hopefully, Sebastian will be given the support and the leeway to do what he did in Vietnam.
Politics is also the reason why this country is still a third world country. But that would be another very long and sad story.
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