THE NAME’S AKIRA, and boy do I have something to tell you. It has been apparent that the government has relied on giving out ayuda (money) to the rice retailers due to the rice cap as well as the transportation drivers because of the increased prices of gas and diesel. It has always boggled my mind as to why the state couldn’t just maximize the people’s money to solve their problems rather than resorting to ayuda.
For the most part, it’s not just those sectors that are experiencing such price struggles but the general public as well. Not only do they have to save a lot of money in preparation for the next days, weeks or months. They also have to buy their essential needs in the most limited ways possible. Otherwise, complaints will never disappear nor the need to encourage the political institutions to listen to their needs. The problem is clear yet they take a different route like rather than just attend to the problems and resolve them.
“…Why not prioritize the people’s money into something more proactive and not reactive?”
Why does the government need to continue to import rice? Why don’t the people in power empower our very own agricultural farmers instead? This must be prioritized so that they will be able to work harmoniously without worries on whether or not they could sell rice in the local markets. If the Secretary of Agriculture really does care about farmers and will promote the so-called P20 rice per kilo, then why should there be a need to continue the importation of rice into our country rather than exporting? Thanks to the state taking in rice from other nations, the Philippines just hit number one as the country with the most importation, even topping China. Can you believe that? Because I can’t since it feels such a disgrace to our own farmers.
The same goes with the gas and diesel. As much as I hate the increase of paying more than the regular fare to the jeepney drivers, it’s hard to imagine the problems they go through in finding passengers to fill out their seats and think about how much they need to pay whenever they arrive at a gas station. They also have families to feed. I am not saying that we should simply agree with the increased fare but I am also venting out their sentiments since not everyone would take a step back and put themselves in their shoes.
Finally, prices of goods and commodities continue to rise, particularly that of meat and vegetables. While the argument that other countries also experience the rise of prices as well due to the inflation, there’s still room for suspicion. Maybe, just maybe, these numbers on the tags that we are seeing can actually be just artificial wherein the government itself is benefitting from the prices they put on the essential needs while people are struggling to figure out which ones are they able to buy.
Considering how much national funds the administration has, why not prioritize the people’s money into something more proactive and not reactive? And I am not talking about just the ayuda style since that is only a band-aid solution and not a long-term one. What the people need right now is that the agencies concerned with food, economy and transportation look into problems with better perspective since these are the concerns of the people that should be answered.
Email me at thebedan_newseditor@sanbeda.edu.ph
