By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
It was raining like hell the other day. When I got into a cab the driver had a long face. “Nakapoy biyahe,” he said. Well, I said, who would like to go out in this driving rain?
To console him, I told him how lucky he was and anybody who has a way of earning a living everyday. Earning daily means that during bad times, you just lose the day’s earnings. Perhaps you can make it up the next day, or even the next week.
But look at farmers who are just tilling the land of others by relying on their share from whatever they can harvest after several months. If their crop is destroyed like newly planted rice being drowned by high water levels due to a storm, they will have to wait again for the next planting season. Meantime, what will they eat?
My “dissertation” sort of brightened the face of the driver.
It is often just a change in perspective that we need to make the day brighter. And right now, I need a change in perspective. It had been damp for days and for this paper to come out, working conditions are very difficult. The moisture in the air seeps into the newsprint and softens it so it easily gets crumpled when it is picked up by the suction parts of the printing machine. The percentage of spoilage increases, and sales of everything is low when it is raining.
Let me repeat the exemptions to that. Medicines for colds, flu, leptospyrosis, etc., umbrellas, raincoats, rain boots, etc., are fast movers this time of year. Doctors are too busy with multitudes of patients and are smiling on their way to the bank even if it is typhoon signal no. 4.
So how about us not in these lines of businesses or profession?
The worst however that can hit us is when an unannounced “blackout” occurs. You just could not do anything about it. All producers suffer, it not all businesses.
Just like any other bad time, however, sometimes it is better to just endure its effects and let it pass. “There is a time for everything, a time for every purpose under heaven.” No matter how long it takes, it will soon pass and better times will soon be in the horizon.
***
In the Police Corner of this issue, was an incident in Kibungan, Benguet where the owner-driver of a truck went under his vegetable laden truck to fix something then the truck rolled, running over him, resulting in his death.
It was of course stupid getting under a vehicle without securing it so it will not fall on you. Because no matter how “hard” your head is, it will be no contest when tons of metal smashes it. The moral of that sad news is to be always prepared for any eventuality when embarking on a trip. Have all the tools ready so your truck will not fall on you. We knew that by heart but often times our “bahala na” attitude gets the better of us.
Just the same, we feel the pain of his family. More so if he had small kids.
***
I just met the other day with a representative of CITEM, the government agency helping MSMEs that want to expand their businesses by becoming exporters. Their main role is promotion of your product but they can help out also by referring you to other government outfits such as the designing and packaging outfit of the DTI. If you don’t know how to access their services, perhaps we can refer you to them.
I think a number of Cordillera entrepreneurs are losing out in the export market due to some built-in disadvantages. For instance, the makers of bugnay wine can access the technical know-how of the DOST to standardize the taste of their products. When a customer tastes a bottle of bugnay wine, he expects the same taste when he buys another one of the same brand. That is, it should have the same alcohol content and other chemical components as the first bottle. To assure this, technology is required and can be very costly. But with the help of government, no matter how inefficient, perhaps the playing field can be levelled.**
