Minimum valor

In times of peace, Valor and Nationalism are less defined and not loudly demanded.

Yet it is during times of peace where a false sense of security lulls us from threats that are just as real as armed invaders. Today we celebrate our “Day of Valor,” remembering those who have sacrificed life and limb in defense of our country, democracy, and institutions we value as a nation and as a people. They who have gone before us faced a physical enemy, a physical threat, an opponent and an attacker. The lines were clearly drawn and there was always a face for every enemy.

Today no one thinks much of silent invaders and indirect non-physical threats that sooner or later will successfully invade and overtake us or undermine us as a nation. Some of those threats are the overwhelming invasion of foreign-made products, invasion of foreign workers, the subsequent loss of markets for local manufacturers and producers, and eventual loss of jobs and incomes for people and government. This is the scary scenario that a number of businessmen and economists have been trying to bring into the center of attention but the parochial media in the Philippines is more interested in Janet Napoles’ gynecological state of affairs than our economic future and stability. Yes there is a growing and real concern that when 2015 comes around the corner the Philippines will be the only country that failed to prepare for the ASEAN Integration and the resulting open doors in trade and employment.

We cannot backpedal on a commitment to open our doors to trade and employment among ASEAN members, but we need to seriously consider what the impact will be as Filipinos are likely to fail to curb their consumption of “imported” goods. Most Pinoys who hear about the ASEAN Integration react with welcoming arms because they think as consumers. What they fail to realize is the impact of a major market shift from limited local goods to a flood of choices and prices. Yes it’s good for consumers assuming the consumers have all the money in the world. But if the same Pinoy consumers eat themselves out of their market, jobs, factories etc. where will they get the money to buy all the eye candies they want?

In other words the gatekeepers of the Republic of the Philippines particularly at the Department of Trade and Industry, the BID and the Department of Labor and Employment are being called upon to wake up and at least try to do something more visible than reassure their favorite radio commentator. While the DTI has been active in many of their appointed tasks, Secretary Greg Domingo may want to consider developing and launching a joint project with the KBP or Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas to promote the creation, development of nationalist consumers who actively support, buy, consume, use, visit or give away Philippine products before they buy “imported goods.”

As an accomplished corporate man, Secretary Domingo will fully appreciate the need to undertake a massive and persistent promotion, labeling, and high visibility promotion of “PRODUCTS MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES” and “PHILIPPINE PRODUCTS THAT GIVE JOBS TO FILIPINOS.” We don’t have to give up our lives to show our valor and nationalism, we just have to make a decision that we will first be Filipino, buy Filipino, and proudly support Filipinos.

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If you ask any TV addict in your house what CSI stands for they will most likely tell you “Crime Scene Investigation,” a TV series. If you talk to coconut farmers they will tell you it stands for Coconut Scale Insect. If you ask executives engaged in the business side of coconuts, they’ll tell you it’s the three letters that best reflect how government officials are reacting to the coconut epidemic. To them CSI means: Completely Stupid and Incompetent.

As much as I want to be fair and objective on the matter, I often wonder why government officials are unable or afraid to declare a “state of calamity” in order to address the severe infestation of scale insects that are continuously infecting and killing coconut trees in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and now even Quezon province. A state of emergency would enable the Secretary of Agriculture or the head of the Philippine Coconut Authority to suspend all existing restrictions and encumbrances that are in the way of any and all possible solutions. The declaration would also free up possible funds that can be used directly to combat the infestation.

Right now all solutions and science are tied up because of “rules and procedures” that need to be followed. For instance many companies that have potential chemical, organic, and mechanical solutions can’t try out their products until after they have been given approval by the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority. The only short cut around this would be to get an Emergency Use Permit that I understand allows you to do limited testing under controlled and monitored conditions. So far only one company out 50 plus has been issued and Emergency Use Permit and curiously it is the only company that reportedly donated $15,000 for a research fund to the government.

It may be just coincidence that the foreign company alone made a contribution and they alone got an Emergency Use Permit, but under a “State of Emergency” the FPA and PCA and Department of Agriculture could easily wave the restrictions. Given the desperate state of affairs, I would simply tell each company or solutions provider to find one or two willing “victims” whose farms are under attack and agree on using their farms as a test site. The DA or PCA can then assign volunteer geeks from Los Baños or agricultural extension workers to monitor, record and report the outcomes from each farm. Only when you use the weapons in the battlefield can you be certain of how effective they are.

At the rate they are going, government officials will eventually become everybody’s target if they fail to act decisively in this war. They will find themselves the subject of a CSI: Congressional Special Investigation!