A couple of Senators and Congressmen who were apparently cashing in on the PR opportunity have issued statements of disbelief on how slow the Bureau of Food and Drugs or BFAD has been regarding the “Milk made in China” problem.
Such careless and damaging statements are very unfair to the BFAD considering the fact that Congress has been slower in passing the necessary law and provisions for a better and stronger BFAD. In addition, the publicity hungry legislators conveniently lost track of the fact that the entry of products into the Philippines is primarily the concern and responsibility of the Bureau of Customs.
Ideally the Bureau of Customs must have the capability to review, confirm, record and track any and all products entering all Philippine ports. Before the “China Milk products” are allowed into the Philippine market, the importers are supposed to go through the Department of Trade, the Department of Health, particularly the BFAD. Once testing, clearance and compliance have been given, only then can these products come in. So in essence, if the Bureau of Customs did its job, health and local officials would have need very little time to determine who the importers, distributors and larger retailers of the “China milk products” really are.
What many people overlook is the problem of “tingi”, sachet or repackaged sale of such sensitive products. If the Bureau of Customs is responsible for “entry” then the next step to consider in this problematic situation is the role and responsibility of the Department of Trade. We may be able to track certain dangerous products by following the trail of delivery and sale, but how do you even start to track down “potentially hazardous products” if they have been repackaged, reformulated or diluted? In the “tingi” market nobody bothers with labels, receipts and certainly documentation.
Faced with a clear medical threat such as mass poisoning or contamination, we must now realize that the “tingi” system needs regulation and control. It would be all good and well if there was never any possibility that what happened in China won’t happen here, but that is a fantasy, so even if regulation would affect many street level vendors, we cannot deny that this unregulated activity has to stop.
I doubt very much if the Philippines has the capacity to deal with treating 40,000 toddlers all suffering from kidney ailments like what happened in China. The bad part is that the innocent people such as the BFAD will always be first to be blamed instead of the Bureau of Customs or the Department of Trade.
Unfortunately very few people notice this or bother because the Customs chief and the DTI secretary are apparently the teacher’s pet. In other words they never get punished by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
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Whether it is the most recent financial crisis of Lehman Bros and AIG, or the “China milk products” disaster, many people are beginning to believe that “in every cloud, there is a silver lining”. Controls will certainly be going up in both areas of concern and we can expect stronger government and public involvement regarding regulation. If the government does not take the necessary action, the market almost always acts quickly.
Personally, I was glad that I have long been an advocate of “BUY FILIPINO”, even when I buy milk. I certainly don’t know if Magnolia and Alaska produce their milk in the Philippines but since they create jobs, pay taxes and are based in the Philippines, it would be a lot easier and safer to deal with them than a company whose name I can’t even read or pronounce! As far as the Philippine chain of Starbucks is concerned, I was told that their milk or dairy requirements are largely supplied by the dairy company behind my house in Batangas. Yes, we have cows in the back yard!
The blessing in the milk matter is that the DOH campaign for breastfeeding certainly got a boost and affirmation that it’s still the best and the safest. On the other hand, the more reputable and stable makers of infant formula milk are sighing with relief that the dangerous and smuggled milk products will now pay for their past sins of smuggling and tax evasion.
In the area of financial investments, the stock traders loss may be the common man’s gain as retirees and fund owners begin to invest on more visible, tangible and “haplos-able”(things you can see, touch and feel) investments such as houses, rental apartments, condos, vehicles for rent or business, farms and even on their own loved ones such as their grandchildren. People may not realize it, but sending your children and “apos” to tour the Philippines, Asia, or Europe is a high impact, lifetime educational experience that no school can teach.
Perhaps it is time we reconsider or restudy our definitions of investments.
For the most part, investments have been about putting in money in order to get more money. In general it is about preserving or increasing the level of wealth one has. But not too many people are familiar with the idea of “spending” as a form of investment. Yet in some cases spending can give better results than just mere money.
Ask the guy who bought the diamond ring and went home with the woman of his dreams. Ask the grandfather who gave away his convertible Mustang and Mercedes SL and discovered how much joy and blessings he can give to a generation he loved, yet could not connect to until that moment. Ask the immature guy who blew two years of salaries while working in the US and “living the dream” then came home a man with bigger and better dreams.
We pooh pooh the prodigal son, but he came back a wiser man than his rich whining brother, who never had a life outside the farm. Even Jesus reminds us, what good is it for a man to own the world but lose his soul. As they say: Get a Life!