By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
All the things I heard from pundits all over the world, point to difficulties we all have to suffer from due to the US- Iran war. That these will not be short-lived.
It reminds me of my high school days in Baguio City where we appreciated the value of a vacant lot near our boarding house with wild sayote plants. These were our savior whenever the nearby sari-sari store declared, “your credit is good but we need cash.” It meant our listahan for things we got from her store—tuyo, rice, mantika, eggs, etc– in order to survive was already as long as a roll of toilet paper. In short we had to pay first a substantial part of the debt.
Then to the UP College of Forestry where we lived the opposite way, like millionaires just after we received our periodic allowances. We would splurge the money for beer, or 4X4, or for real volume or quantity, lambanog. Only after several days of generous or intense hangovers that we would think of setting aside some amount for food. But then we would already be as poor as rats or like our elders during World War 2. Then we would realize the real meaning of hunger.
So those were difficult times. A lot of it will come a visiting as the war goes on. You could go and shoot Donald Trump but it would not be a quick solution. The world-wide destruction of infrastructure for fossil oil extraction, processing and distribution cannot be rebuilt in a day. Such will take a very long time. And another very long time for us to end the war and to start moving from there to the point where we can start the process of rebuilding. Meantime, hardship. A lot of it.
Who would be in a better position to deal with such things? I Remember writing long ago about investing in small but self-sufficient farms. Those who did, at the very least, will have something to eat.
Several weeks ago or about two days after the US and the Israelis started bombing I ran, a doctor friend of mine came a visiting. He came to ask about options he could take when creditors started knocking on his door. Well, I told him the options but the war will not last forever. There will come the day of reckoning or for all of us to come out of our holes and show ourselves as professionals again. In the process, debts and credits will have to be settled and, lucky for us, lawyers will be needed. Actually, if you are smart, you should start needing one while there are still assets you could run after. Otherwise, it might be too late.
And, don’t look at me. I am still recovering. I still can’t play hard ball. Actually only a few really can.
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