By Anthony A. Araos
It is time to learn the Ifugao dialect and for Ifugao folks as well to learn English and other languages and dialects.
“Bogah” is the Ifugao word for rice. “Tulhi” means finger wrestling. We are in the 21st century, but most Ifugao folks still believe that learning or studying foreign languages runs counter to preserving their cultural heritage. That would be a looney thing to do. This madness is made manifest in my experience with persons who want to write office reports in Ayangan or Tuwali dialect. It is surely time to level up folks.
Lagawe is a third-class municipality of Ifugao. It is the capital of the province. Most of the people are poor. Many are jobless. Eye-sore looking checkpoints are finally gone. But prices of basic goods and services are still very high. This is particularly true with vegetables. This issue is worth looking into because there is a link between inflation and poverty.
Today, residents are buying less vegetable because of obvious reasons. Of course, poor residents are hardest hit by a high inflation rate. Their children, including indigenous children, are among the poorest in the Philippines. Child poverty, or the proportion of children living in poor households, is highest in far-flung and underserved barangays.
Many are at the brink of losing hope. The uneducated poor are suffering and cannot understand what they are going through. Why are poor children agonizing? Why is the government not helping them? There is only a deafening silence on this matter. Why is this so important? It is because the stakes are high. These poor children easily comprise the bulk of the nation’s population in the next ten or so years. Sadly, officials didn’t know what a checkpoint had done. It disrupted economic activity. The fiction is that the checkpoint is to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Any discerning assessment of the checkpoint, by the Filipino people must not fail to distinguish the reality that prices of vegetables increased significantly while being transported from one checkpoint to another.
Maybe, it is about time that we do some intervention. My recommendation is the provision of food subsidies to poor families in exchange for working at idle lands. This is how it works. Launch a land distribution program targeting thousands of hectares of idle government land that would make these productive. Let them plant vegetables or raise high-value crops.
My understanding is that both President Duterte and Governor Jerry Dalipog are supportive of the idea of expanding social protection for the poorest families.
It is high time to subsidize basic necessities for the poor. By doing so, the possibilities for reducing poverty are endless.
I also see the rise of child mortality rate and deterioration of maternal health as a result of the crisis. The government should help by improving the delivery of services and democratize the public’s access to medical and health facilities.
I continue to hope for the best during these so-called “new normal times” and will hold the line that it is prudent for the national government to directly deal with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs) in the grassroots level to ensure that no one will get hungry and the barangay government officials go back to the task of governing instead of curtailing the movement of people. Please start clearing up the mess brought about by these checkpoints so that investors would come in and provide more jobs.
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How a Punong Barangay helps form the values of the kagawads (councilmen)? It’s what you teach them on how to carry themselves in public places. Well, I saw a number of times a kagawad in Lagawe walking on a street without a shirt. It is quite hot and there is seemingly no problem at all to do so at the confines of your house or front yard. Haven’t it crossed you’re his mind that he is a public servant? You’re not a tambay! Maintain your values. Keep them close to your heart. Have the decency to dress properly at public places. You don’t have to wear expensive or signature shirts. What matters in the end is how you earn respect in the public’s eye. I’ve tried everything. That is, telling people to vote wisely during elections. Why are there still stupid officials like him roaming around the village?
-o0o-
Tricycles and a few vans are back on the road for the convenience of commuters, but not your all-time favorite “jeepneys.” Jeepney drivers are reportedly adverse to the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) to scale down by half the jeepney’s riding capacity just to observe “social distancing” regulations in lieu of the COVID-19 problem.
A key roadblock, so to speak, is the fact that gasoline or fuel used by jeepneys is expensive. Thus, I see the need for government assistance on this matter. Gas allowance should be allocated to a jeepney driver who really wants to work and feed his family. Healthy collaboration between the government and a limited number of jeepney drivers is the key to resolving the problem.
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About 99% of the businesses in the Philippines are in the small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) sector. Right now, most of them are not operating at all.
There should also be a strong drive from the government to energize the SME sector. Thus far, there are no government initiatives that aim to grow SMEs in the ICT market. For this reason, many of the SMEs in the countryside folded up in the initial days of the enhanced community quarantine. SME operators failed to get the necessary information regarding the checkpoints, quarantine, lockdown, passes and buy slips. It is entirely a different story in other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam. Their SMEs are still flourishing because of the digital wave.
Unlike the Philippines’ SME sector, the SME ecosystem, including startups and microenterprises of developed states like Singapore are strong because the government supports their actions.
To keep the SME spirit alive, there should be effective government funding and assistance schemes to contribute to the success of startups. The government should help them by providing a sturdy legal environment, low-tax system and a readily available workforce.
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Is the provincial government’s strategy working? Let me go straight to the point. There is a major unemployment problem in Ifugao. A possible solution then is for Governor Jerry Dalipog to plead his case to President Duterte for setting up an economic zone in the province. I’ll try to make sense of it briefly. Putting up two factories (one each for the two geographical districts of Ifugao) is akin to spreading economic opportunities as it is aimed at countering the debilitating effects of poverty. When there is an economic activity then there are jobs for the people.
Fully aware of the problems on mounting poverty and joblessness in Ifugao, I’m inclined to convince Governor Dalipog of the proposal’s relevance and practicality and to minimize the damage of the collapsed economy wrought by the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak that may still be coming.
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Finally, here are some thoughts for our dear readers: “Our future depends on our present. And we must never overlook our past.” Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama
“You do not ingratiate yourself with flattery.” President Rodrigo Duterte
“True love values the other person’s achievements. It does not see him or her as a threat. It frees us from the sour taste of envy.” Pope Francis
“The President will not run out of appointees. For every Cabinet official that leaves, there’s probably a hundred people interested in one post.” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
“Do not be among those who drink too much wine.” Proverbs 23:20**
