‘Don’t abuse the courtesy’

While discussing the state of Philippine agriculture, I asked a member of Congress what he thought of President Bongbong Marcos acting as the secretary of agriculture. Like many, he initially thought it was a good idea in the interest of fast tracking government plans and programs.

But three to four months down the road, the congressman has observed that nothing much has been done to address the many concerns and challenges of farmers, hog and poultry raisers as well as fisherfolk. If anything, their lot under the new administration has become worse and the DA’s solutions is to import or open the gates to traders.

All this has now discouraged many farmers and producers from normalizing or increasing productivity. Slowly but surely, they have reduced production towards domestic sustainability or only for personal consumption and no longer as a sustainable business.

The congressman maintained that the agri sector remains supportive of President Bongbong Marcos’ vision for sustainability and is being patient for now. But the President should not abuse the courtesy being extended to him by the community. The legislator went on to say that it may be wise for the President to appoint a permanent secretary of agriculture because all the good intentions of PBBM will not save the industry nor help the community and patience is running out.

The department needs directions, it needs a secretary at the helm who is on the job, at the office and not someone who is multi-tasking as salesman and brand ambassador of the Philippines. If PBBM is too busy, then he owes it to the country and every Filipino to let someone else play secretary.

*      *      *

Anyone who is in the know points out that the DA officials have all been traumatized by what happened to the former sugar regulatory administrator who, after pro-actively preventing a possible shortage, found himself criticized and turned into a fall guy. As a result there is allegedly a “gag order” in effect issued to all officials of the department.

Analysts have been quick to say that it is probably to avoid slip ups or verbal diarrhea, but it is like shooting yourself in the foot because the success of the very few plans and programs, even policies, of the DA is dependent on the public being informed.

For example, many poultry producers, plant traders, etc need to be informed of the latest rules in the transport and sale of these products. I personally wanted to help the Bureau of Animal Industry in disseminating the information on their revised rules and requirements for poultry shipments. But after getting the run around, we learned that the BAI director, along with others, are not allowed to guest or talk to the media without clearance from the office of the senior undersecretary of the DA.

This is the sort of thing that Senate President Migz Zubiri should look into because the intentional lack of or selective engagement with media is a primary reason why the accomplishments don’t get coverage.You don’t have to ask us to do our work, but please tell government officials to do their work, which is to inform the public about programs, policies, new rules, etc. In case they don’t know it, it is their job!

I have handled so many classes at the Development Academy of the Philippines and a recurring frustration among government middle managers is that their senior officers almost always won’t let them engage with the media simply out of fear, ignorance on media management and lack of appreciation that media exposure helps inform the public.

When government offices issue gag orders, they generally end up gagging themselves or choking on it!

*      *      *

Every time I go on a work-related road trip or for tourism, I almost always end up riding a van that is fully tinted all around. More than anything it is the “norm” but does not have a common reason for being.

I personally dislike vehicles that are tinted because the tint messes with my vision because I wear progressive eyeglasses that adjust to the distance I’m viewing. After a few minutes I develop a headache, not to mention that tinted windshields lower visibility at night or during rain.

No one seems to think much of it but what good is a dark or fully tinted van for tourists or travelers who want to see the view or their surroundings? You always think it’s later than it actually is and at night you can barely see anything on a city tour or appreciate the night life of where you are from inside these vans.

I would like to remind the Department of Tourism and the LTO about the Manila hostage situation where a disgruntled police officer commandeered a tourist bus and held Chinese tourists as hostages and kept the SWAT and authorities at bay mostly because the bus was tinted and curtained and left cops blind to the movements inside the bus.

That hostage situation remains to be the worst tragedy of errors in the history of the Manila police and the entire PNP and it should be prevented from happening again in a tourist bus or van, with the precautionary rule that such vehicles should not be fully and darkly tinted. Aside from preventing a repeat of that hostage situation, having clear view of the insides of a vehicle can help responders find accident victims.

I remember once reading or watching a report where rescuers retrieving victims from a vehicle that ran off the road down a ravine had a horrible time finding victims because the windows were tinted and they could not immediately know how many people were inside the vehicle. No to blackout tints on vans!