No chicken, no joy?/Dr. Dilemma

Remember one Christmas when you couldn’t buy enough two-piece Chicken Joy? Then news spread that there was a “chicken shortage” in Metro Manila? A lot of kids nearly suffered withdrawal symptoms that Christmas not so long ago.

Well, Lolos and Lolas, better prepare because that nightmare may once again visit your apos VERY SOON. To make matters worse, even Lolo and Lola’s bacon, tocino, longganisa and pork chops may disappear altogether, or you pay a pound of flesh for a kilo of liempo!

It seems that the Court of Appeals recently decided concerning the importation of Golden Rice and BT Eggplant based on the arguments about genetically modified organisms or GMOs. In response, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) immediately stopped processing import permits for Golden Rice and BT Eggplant. But they did not stop there, the BPI also stopped processing import permits for other GMO products such as soybean and corn.

Soybean and corn were not part of the CA decision, but the BPI may have opted to simplify matters and play it safe by including soybean and corn until the GMO issue is fully decided on. What the bureaucrats at the BPI failed to consider, or may have intentionally decided, was that their decision would limit the available supply of soybean and corn only within the Philippines.

It would be good for local farmers, or so they think, but the question is, do we have enough reliable supply of soybean and corn since these are subject to cyclical challenges in production? Is the overall quality of the soybean and corn stable and consistent enough not to disrupt production processes for feed mills and livestock producers? Corn and soybean are the key ingredients for feeds and many other products, and disruptions cause shortages and price increases. 

A common criticism is the high or erratic moisture content of local corn and soybean that are generally traded from farm to silo with very little processing to extrude moisture and safeguard from bacteria and molds because all these involve time and costs a lot of money.

 Does the Department of Agriculture or national government have the capacity and police power to regulate the expected price war that often happens among stakeholders, corporations and farms that will now have to compete against each other for what’s available locally?

 Any form of price war for any product always results in hoarding, shortages and consumers paying the inflated value of the end product. Every time such things happen, congressmen talk about inspections and investigations but not failure of policy and management of government. The price war will not be profitable for farmers, and definitely not for lovers of Chicken Joy and Mang Inasal or Aristocrat’s pork barbecue.

 Such a situation destabilizes the predictability of supply or availability of corn and soybean. Beyond potential price wars and initial shortages, producers lose whatever backup plan is available and this effectively torpedoes any plans for expansion or creation of more production plants for feeds and farms for livestock. Instead of building up on food security, we now have additional reasons to be insecure!

Aside from the middlemen for corn and soybean, the people who will be happiest about the impending non-importation of corn and soybean will be the importers of chicken, pork and beef, who now benefit from the very recent presidential order to lift all non-tariff requirements for “agricultural products” a.k.a. meats.

 The timing is uncanny that non-tariff restrictions are lifted and importation of crucial feed ingredients are blocked within 10 or 15 days of each other. The coincidence is beyond normal but undeniably, it is the “win and win some more” situation for importers.

No feed ingredients, therefore reduced or no production of animal feeds that become very expensive which, in turn, means reduced production of pork and chicken. Therefore, more reason to flood the Philippines with imported chicken, pork and beef from abroad!   

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I recently got hold of several prescriptions issued by several Philippine Heart Center MDs, presumably cardiologists who prescribed different maintenance medicines (average of six to eight) to their patients. I compared them to the Rx of friends, and they were similar.

What caught my attention was the fact that they all prescribed a minimum of 100 pieces, up to 200-plus per medicine, consumable in three to four months. Why so much? Here are some of them: #100 Kenzar #120 Provasc #240 TMZ #120 Ecospirin #120 Teldra #120 Cardipress #120 Coumadin etc. etc.

Such high numbers not only mean sales but force drug stores to stock up on those medicines which effectively displaces competitors. The prescriptions and sales are recorded/collected by the drug stores, so manufacturers can actually monitor doctors’ prescriptions. 

When I Googled the meds, the info showed the manufacturer of many of the meds prescribed as BEL-KENZ, the same company now being singled out by the DOH and senators for alleged MLM marketing practices.

 I also learned that at least 459 physicians are suspected of being involved in the MLM scheme at the Philippine Heart Center, while another 900-plus MDs were possibly being targeted or recruited inconclusively. Someone claims that many of those suspected have tenure at PHC, a government hospital, or have “plantilla positions,” so it may be complicated to just call them in to the “principal’s office.”

 But the problem is apparently not limited to the PHC but has “infected” other government and private hospital physicians in Metro Manila as well as nationwide. In the meantime, doctors with integrity are furious about the state of affairs! 

President Marcos should personally act on this serious public health issue and call in the DOH, DOJ and BIR even the LTO to investigate all the claims about pay-offs and luxury cars and malpractice?   

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