Food, jobs and justice first, before tourism and travels

This government, and any government for that matter, should focus on first things first. What the people need the most nowadays is food security given the impending food crisis, decent and sustainable jobs for the millions of unemployed and underemployed, and justice for the victims of summary executions and unjust detention. The people need disaster preparedness and shields against injustice.

Tourism is nice but not urgent. Travels abroad are desirable but the government coffers cannot afford them. With apologies to the young, dynamic, and impressionable secretary of Tourism, what she is doing is good and is called for. That is her mandate and we should support her and make her succeed. She is the only one from Cebu in the Cabinet, and so, we should help her in whatever way we can. But before tourism, before these many travels among government officials, there are more essential things that the national leadership must give priority to. The national leadership should focus on food security which is not only grave but also imminent.

The Senate president was seen having to explain himself about what he and the Chinese ambassador discussed about our country being supposedly blacklisted by the Beijing tourism bigwigs. They are making too much ado about it because the Philippines is going to lose thousands of tourists from China as a strong tourism market if such blacklisting turns out to be real and not fake news. The Senate president alleged that China is going to punish our country because we are supposedly going after the proliferation of offshore gaming operations by Chinese nationals. If they are going to do that, why are we too pissed off? Why doesn’t the Senate president worry more about the impending food crisis? His very rich province of Bukidnoon is the home of too many poor people and is, allegedly, host to too many insurgents and rebel forces.

Why can't the Senate president and his fellow senators like Robin Padilla, Jinggoy Estrada (who is chairman of the Senate labor and employment committee), JV Ejercito (the good one, supposedly), Bong Revilla (along with his wife and two sons who are all in Congress), and Lito Lapid (we can’t tell him from Adam), and the many honorable members of that august body, think about the impending famine? The series of disasters (and more are coming) has destroyed billions worth of rice and other agriculture and aquaculture products. The agriculture infrastructures and the food supply chain have also been disrupted by the war in Ukraine as well as the COVID-19 health crisis. Why can't our senators focus on what matters most? Does this Senate have any sense of priority?

The tourists are not coming to our country when there are too many dangers given the risks of crimes against persons and property. When there are too many people without jobs and livelihood, the tourists face the risks of theft, robbery, and even kidnapping and terrorism. The higher the poverty rates, the more risky a tourism destination becomes. Thus, it is important that this government should address first and foremost the problem of poverty, before worrying about tourism markets and volumes of tourists. The country is not clean, there are no public toilets, and street urchins, child beggars, and prostitutes are crowding the streets. And these are telltale signs of a poor country pretending to be rich enough to invite visitors.

Before worrying about tourism, this government should focus on food security, decent employment, better wages, and fair treatment of both employees and employers. Senators should crack their heads creating solutions to the food crisis, preparing for more natural calamities and disasters, and addressing the social injustices against the poor, the powerless, and the voiceless millions who are just remembered during election seasons. The Senate president and his fellow solons should sit down first and establish their priorities.

As we see it now, they are hitting everything trivial and have forgotten the most urgent. And when some career officials would dare tell them what is right, they would raise their voice and say: “Respect me, I'm a senator.” So?