IN a television news report on the resurgence of the community pantry, an unnamed tricycle driver summed up in a few but meaningful words what ordinary Filipinos think they must do to survive: “Kanya-kanyang langoy na lang (Each swims on his own).”
There was no bitterness on the man’s face, just quiet resignation. That’s where the government fails to provide; as the reporter puts the question in context, one must rely on himself or herself to survive.
Helping each other out in times of need follows that old Filipino tradition of “bayanihan,” or community spirit, that we are proud of. But it is a shame if we were forced to aid one another because the institution mandated to pull us through this ongoing crisis has failed us.
The tricycle driver in that report, who spoke on behalf of millions of people whose voices were not heard or whose pleas went unheeded, found an advocate in Sen. Loren Legarda. In a recent hearing held by the Committee on Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (Protect), an obviously piqued Legarda expressed her frustration over President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s indecision.
Four days before he left for a working visit to the United States on March 8, President Marcos hinted to Congress that he would seek emergency powers to reduce or suspend the excise tax on fuel products.
On March 12, Marcos certified as urgent House Bill 8418, prompting both chambers of Congress to act forthwith. But despite the unprecedented dispatch, we were all surprised when he vacillated on March 18, saying there was “no rush” for the legislation and “we will see” if there was a need to use it.
Better later than never?
Despite his dithering, the president got what he asked from Congress: he signed Republic Act 12316 on March 25, 25 days after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran that triggered the war in the Middle East.
However, people stand to suffer for a few weeks more before experiencing any tax relief because the law provides that it would take effect on April 10, or 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. Didn’t the people need that reprieve 45 days ago or even earlier?
Why didn’t Congress draft this critically important piece of legislation to take effect immediately? My hunch is because there isn’t any plan prepared on how the excise-tax reduction would be implemented by the executive department. Had the suspension of the excise tax been the option, the measure could have taken effect immediately. But granting that tax reduction is the most advantageous choice, as the 25 days since the Middle East war began are sufficient to determine how much. Veteran radio commentator Melo del Prado echoes the Filipino adage, “Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo? (What good is the grass for if the horse eating it has died?)”
Getting acts together
Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) 110, declaring a state of “national energy emergency” to address “potential disruption in fuel supply and stabilize the country’s energy sector.” By this, he finally puts together various government agencies to form the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (Uplift) Committee. Relevant government agencies will “implement coordinated measures to ensure stable and adequate energy supply while mitigating the impact on the economy,” it added.
Well done — except that the EO is 24 days late! Had this been issued earlier, Marcos would not have suspended the implementation of the provisional fare hike of a measly P1 for traditional jeepneys and P2 for modern jeepneys that drivers and operators had been asking since 2023.
Legarda called out the Department of Energy (DOE) for its lack of a sense of urgency and the absence of Secretary Sharon Garin in the earlier part of the hearing called by Protect. She shielded the Senate from blame if the DOE’s request for congressional approval was not acted upon because the chamber was on its Lenten break. The request for authority to spend the P20-billion fund for the strategic procurement of fuel products released by Department of Budget and Management was passed by the DOE a day before the break started.
‘Bayanihan’: A silver lining
Former finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III said “this energy crisis x x x could be a more ruthless economic adversary than Covid-19.” Unlike the coronavirus pandemic, in which the government imposed lockdowns and initiated vaccinations to curb the spread of the virus, Dominguez said we “cannot quarantine the global oil market.” But the same global health emergency taught us valuable lessons on “malasakit,” or care.
Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has shown how big businesses can help alleviate the suffering of Filipinos and assist the government’s response to the pandemic. He directed SMC’s liquor business to convert its operations to produce alcohol disinfectants that were donated to hospitals and frontliners all over the country. He also tasked its food unit to start a nationwide food donation program and its infrastructure and fuel businesses to give free transportation and toll road use for medical practitioners.
According to reports, SMC paid in advance P8.77 billion in taxes and concession and contractual fees to boost government funds for crisis response, while P14.781 billion were spent on Covid-19 response efforts as of June 30, 2021.
Ang also expressed willingness to sell Petron Corp. if the government desires to buy it back. In the meantime, and since only Petron has a refinery, he has helped secure oil from Russia — a nontraditional source — to help the government extend the country’s fuel supply. Petron also provides the lowest price of petroleum products among its competitors.
We salute the likes of Krishna, one of the donors of food items to the community pantry on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City. “We can help one another in small ways we can. If we have extras x x x for this kind of initiative,” she said in Filipino.
We take our hats off to anonymous individuals who shared what they could afford to the initiative — a P50 bill and P40 worth of coins — to help alleviate the plight of public utility vehicle drivers who are hit hard by the oil price hike.
We hope this drive becomes a movement like it did during the pandemic. We pray it gets replicated all over the country.
We pray, most especially, that those who robbed us of trillions of pesos in flood control projects be moved by shame, if not by conscience, to anonymously fill community pantries with food. May God’s eternal light shine upon them.
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