Hands-on

Economic officials knew the measures were temporary since they would drain the government coffers if imposed for too long.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. is living proof of US President Abraham Lincoln’s adage: “You can please some of the people all of the time; you can please all of the people some of the time; but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

In the previous regimes, the usual question was, “Where is the President?” during critical periods such as when calamities struck and the elected leader was slow to react.

Thus, there was a frequent demand for medical bulletins on previous presidents when they were not in public view for consecutive days.

Both President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte are taking flak from critics who allege that they are monopolizing authority for holding Cabinet positions aside from their elected posts.
Bugged endlessly about relinquishing his Department of Agriculture post, Marcos said he would maintain the current arrangement since many officials in the graft-ridden agency do not easily take orders except from him.

Amid the rising prices, some sectors whose only interest is to have an official that favors them have been harping on the need for a full-time secretary, floating names in a subtle endorsement to PBBM.
Marcos has held the agriculture post since he assumed office in July 2022. Since then, and especially in January 2023, amid the rise in the cost of food, critics have been calling on Marcos to finally appoint someone who can hold the post full-time.

The President knows what he is doing and has competent advisers to help him make fast decisions in the critical agriculture sector. Making difficult but critical decisions, even with political will, would take more time from an alter ego.

He explained the situation: “Generally speaking, if the President asks them to do something, they’ll do it. If someone else asks them to do it, they’ll probably do it, or they may not.”

The need for swift action was particularly evident in the recent rice price shock when the cost of a kilo of rice rocketed to more than P60.

The intervention was tricky because of the complex network in the industry that needs to balance the welfare of consumers, farmers, and retailers.

Add to that the external situation in which supply has been affected by the limits that India, a major producer, imposed on its exports.

President Marcos, the other day, lifted Executive Order 39, which imposed a price ceiling of P41 per kilo on regular milled and P45 per kilo on well-milled rice.

The EO effectively brought down the market price of the grain, but it affected retailers who complained of losses since they were selling below the price they were buying from middlemen, while farmers said traders demanded that the farmgate price be lowered.

The National Food Authority then had to set the buying price of palay at P19 to P20 per kilo from P16 to P19 to maintain farmers’ income amid the price cap.

Retailers were also provided with subsidies to offset their losses due to the government-imposed ceiling.

Economic officials knew the measures were temporary since they would drain the government coffers if imposed for too long.

The aim was to stabilize the market until the harvest season, and the influx of grains from imports under the tariffication law brought the situation back to normal.

Had the steps taken been delayed by just days, it may have caused a crisis where consumers would have had to eat alternatives to the grains such as kamote (sweet potato) and corn.

Then, the public would have been outraged, and the heated situation would have been stoked by the opportunists who waited like vultures for public support for Marcos to weaken.

Rice remains a political commodity, which spelled the 15-point difference in Marcos’ rating in the recent survey.

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Credit belongs to: tribune.net.ph