EDITORIAL - Government has no business in business
The reported entry of imported meat products to Cebu City appears to have agi-tated some city officials, such as the mayor and the chief veterinarian. But a quick check on their excitement would show their "high blood" springs from concerns that are outside their province.
It seems that both the mayor and the chief veterinarian are concerned about the impact of imported meat products on local meat producers. They fear the unrestrained entry of imported meat products into the local market will eventually drive local produc-ers out of business.
The last time anyone looked, global trade and market forces were beyond the am-bit of mayors, and most especially of veterinarians. Government officials may regulate the conduct of business as part of their ministerial duties, but that is about it.
The mayor can be forgiven for his hypersensitivity on the issue. As a political animal, he cannot be expected to be alienated from his constituency, no matter how tenuous that position might be in light of what is right or wrong.
But a veterinarian? Since when have the ebbs and flows of the economy been the concern of veterinarians? The city veterinarian can only step into the imported meat issue when it concerns the safety of the public, for that is precisely the field of expertise of vets.
What is certainly surprising, and quite interesting, is when a city veterinarian takes up the cudgels for local meat industry players, for that is already clearly overstep-ping the bounds of an essentially well-defined authority.
Whether or not imported meat products are eating up to 40 percent of the local meat market is not the concern of the city veterinarian, even if local meat market players and the city vet happen to know each other.
As to the mayor, he may take up the concerns of local meat producers for now. But for how long? Until such time that he realizes the meat importers happen to be his constituents too? You see, the best way to avoid conflict of interest is simply to let private businesses be.
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