Congress vs. Palace; A garden as apothecary

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago once again is on the warpath. This time the stakes are high. She says Congress could and should terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States. “It does not need any action from the President,” she argued. She is not making a policy statement but proposing action consistent with the role of the Senate on treaties and agreements.

Let us see how Santiago’s colleagues will act on her proposed Joint Resolution 3. In the resolution she asks the Senate as a whole to “terminate the VFA and direct the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to give a notice of termination to the US.”

That puts her in direct conflict with the executive branch. President Noynoy has asked for a mere review of the agreement.

Here is a brewing battle between the executive and the legislative that puts President Noynoy and the Senate on collision course. It will test his capacity to take on a recalcitrant Senate. Santiago is an expert in constitutional and international law and would not have made the statement unless she was sure of her position. It is her view that “terminating the agreement would no longer be under the ambit of the executive branch but rather the legislative branch.”

Sen. Santiago can be a difficult adversary but will the other senators, especially the Liberals support her? Some senators are indebted to President Noynoy and may take his side that the VFA should be merely reviewed.

“The executive’s role is to give notice of termination to the United States, although the decision itself is one for Congress to make,” she added.

Filipinos should not merely watch how this contentious issue would be resolved. Public opinion should be involved so the VFA controversy can be decided correctly and mutually beneficial. It does seem that a review has become moot and academic.

The Senate had already called for renegotiating the VFA since last year. Unfortunately, the DFA was asked to conduct a review of the agreement and submit this to the Senate but it has not done so. Does it take that long to review an agreement? If I remember right, the US had already said it would not renegotiate. The proviso for review then was that if the US denied renegotiation the Department of Foreign Affairs should give notice of termination. It has not done this either. What are we a sovereign nation for if we behave this way?

That puts the onus on the Senate to act in compliance with the resolution that called for termination if renegotiation was denied.

She said that after the act of Congress, the VFA “shall remain in force until the expiration of 180 days from the date on which either party gives the other party notice in writing that it desires to terminate the agreement.”

*      *      *

When I first thought of gardening, I did not think of plants as medicines. The first time gardener looks at other gardens and borrows landscaping ideas. The plants chosen are mostly ornamental. That is the way I began too. Flowers, ferns, palms, all very beautiful. I thought I would simply buy the plants and put them in strategic places to make an over-all pretty sight. The space for this garden is not on hectares but square meters. That was the first challenge.

So when I bought the plants from a nearby garden the landscape artist planted the ornamental ones I had selected into a corner, I knew something was wrong. It was not for me. Something was missing.

First step was to recognize that with very little space I must use every inch of land.

I began with herbs by the kitchen window but soon my friend, Bert, an agriculturist from Los Banos told me that oregano was a cure, that dill was an insect repellent and of course, ginger (luya) is great for stomach ailments and arthritis.

He then invited me to this little restaurant in Los Banos, called The Herb Republic where I had the most refreshing drink made from pandan, crushed ice and topped with the whiff of mint. It was so finely made I thought it was ice-cream and I said I want that for dessert. Actually, they said it is the aperitif. Ay dyahe. Outside the restaurant was their small herb garden.

 That decided what my garden would finally be – an apothecary (a complicated word for drugstore) but in this case it will not be medicines that will be dispensed but plants. What seemed like an original idea to me was in fact the growing trend in the US of plants by prescription.

Doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat “prescription produce” from local farmers’ markets.” writes the New York Times. In the Philippines plants as medicines is a tradition that is slowly being eroded. 

The Massachusetts project of “prescription produce” was designed to fight obesity in children of low-income families. They give $1 coupons for each member of a patient’s family to promote healthy meals. That means eating more fruits and vegetables instead of quick doughnuts and fries.

This would be good not only for the children’s health but to boost farmers’ earnings.

We have a growing problem of malnutrition and it is not only among the poor. Even those who can afford more nutritious meals are resorting to quick fixes from fast food outlets.

When you go to a doctor in some states in the US, depending on what he sees as the nutritional problem he writes out a “vegetable prescription”. The patients use their coupon to go to the farmer’s market instead of a drugstore. That does not mean the prescription will cure the patient of his obesity. But it can help change his pattern of eating.

The same can be done here. What better help can we give our farmers if their vegetables are bought as “medicines”. Better still, grow your own vegetables in pots in the backyard.