Food on the table...

….for P1,200.00 a month? That gives the recipient of a food coupon P40 a day, apportioned for 30 days a month. Consider how much rice costs–at least P17 a kilo for the NFA variety. Tinapa or daing (galunggong) is tagged at P120 a kilo; four pieces to be shared by a family of five or six would require P30. Kangkong, cooked in bagoong, garlic, tomatoes (now at P40 a kilo), onions and vinegar goes for P5 a bunch. A meduim size family would need at least 2 bunches. At best, this program will only give temporary relief. Couldn’t we think of more lasting assistance, like giving our people the know-how to raise vegetables in their backyards, to make tinapa to consume and to sell, to go into a small food business? Better still, can’t jobs be generated as promisedso people can be self—sufficient and not depend on dole outs? When people use their brain and brawn to earn a living, they become more appreciative of the fruits of their labor and they will feel proud. To put insufficient money into an open palm is not the solution. We need to extend training, not hand-outs.

With so many able-bodied men and women without jobs (they are all over the place begging) and with a lot of families (even singles) needing household help, maybe the government can put up its own employment agency, charging fees that would be lower than those of the established placement offices and clearing applicants through the NBI.

It has been a long time since our last visit to Cartimar market on Taft Avenue in Pasay. We drove that way because a friend said Tuesdays and Thursdays are bagsakan days. After asking a few of the vendors, we found out that unless you are a bulk buyer, you won’t get anything from the wholesalers. Oh well, there was nothing we could do about that. One is greeted by animal feed peddlers on the sidewalk of the market (wet and fresh) proper. The dry portion, happily, is indeed dry. There was one rather nasty vendor who wouldn’t move to make way for passing shoppers. But her breed is probably in the minority. Luckily, we stopped at the stall of Helen and her granddaughter Irene, a couple of store owners who know how to please their buyers. They have quite an array of fresh vegetables including kaina (kaylan to some) Chinese broccoli at P60 a kilo, which Helen suggested we cook with oyster sauce and sesame oil, like in restaurants; Baguio cabbage at P35 (choose the pointed head), chicharo, a bit expensive at P120 and carrots at P60. Cora, the meat vendor, is another amiable lady. We got sirloin at P230 a kilo; lomo is at P150 and kenchi at P140. We promised to go back for her special marinated tapa and tocino.

In the wet section, we noted lapu-lapu at P220, jumbo prawns (the pink sugpong dagat) go from P420 to P500, scallops at P300.

On the other side of town, as we headed toward the Muntinlupa public market, we noticed that the sidewalk has been fenced off, giving the street back to the pedestrians, the vendors organized inside. At the market we still could not find where our vegetable suki Laura has relocated, but there are enough stalls with enough fresh harvest to choose from , like fresh sitao at P10 a bunch, sayote, upo and patola. If Filipinos would eat more vegetables, their food budget would be much smaller.

In both markets fruits abound, but mango has gone up to P75 a kilo. We were told mangosteen has medicinal attributes, specially for those with aching bones (!), so get some (from P60 to P70 a kilo). We have not tried this season’s lanzones, but they are rather inexpensive at P65 a kilo.

Meralco to the rescue? You better not depend on that. The lamp post across us was emitting sparks which alarmed the neighborhood. We placed the emergency call at 6:30 p.m. Repeatedly we were told they were "coordinating with their crew". Guess what? They came at past 12 midnight! If it turned into a big fire, we could have lost our homes!

Email comments and questions to: inmybasket@tri-isys.com