Mindful

07Mar11

This is a reaction to Mr. Ben Diokno’s article entitled Mindless. http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?title=Mindless&id=27214

Contrary to what Mr. Diokno said, the proposal to grant emergency powers to the President while urging several government agencies to already draw up emergency plans did not come from panicky and mindless legislators. Congressmen Teodorico Haresco and Mel Sarmiento are simply guilty of proactiveness- an element that this country direly lacks.

It should be remembered that the past congresses are (in)famous for knee-jerk legislations triggered by catastrophic events- The Solid Waste Management Act or RA 9003 came immediately after the Payatas landslide (or basura slide), the Climate Change Act and National Disaster Risk Reduction  and Mitigation Act both came after  Ondoy and Pepeng immobilized most part of the country.  This writer has doubts if these pieces of legislation would have been enacted without the eye-openers.

There is nothing mindless if the government already draws up worst-case-scenario plan this early amid the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. We are actually late in doing so. In mid-February, the government of South Korea had encouraged its people to reduce oil consumption which entails cutting of unnecessary trips using private vehicles and shortened use of office cooling system. SoKor’s advisory to its people was issued despite the fact that, like the Philippines, it does not rely on Libya for oil produce.

Comparing the situation today with the experience of then President Gloria Arroyo can be misleading if not flawed. During the Arroyo administration, EO 839 was issued. EO 839 froze oil prices which has gone haywire because many roads were closed because of the two supertyphoons. Yes, we survived the supposed oil crisis that time without granting Arroyo with special powers. But it is because of the fundamental reason that the problem came from the demand side, the Philippines as the consumer. Oil prices spiked then because delivery almost came to a halt. Why and how would we conclude then that we can weather today’s looming oil crisis when the problem originates from the suppliers’ end? This goes without saying that in any given market, the seller dictates both price and supply and there’s little that the buyer can do about it.

Yes, the government departments have all the powers to mitigate the situation without emergency powers. The Department of Energy, for example, may inspect oil companies for unscrupulous adjustment of prices or hoarding. But do they have an emergency plan for the worst scenario?  For instance, the Department of Foreign Affairs was apparently caught flat-footed in acting on time for the rescue of the Filipinos in Libya. Rep. Mitos Magsaysay’s remark that “baka Pilipino nalang natitira sa Libya” says a lot about the government’s reactive attitude.

What does the proposed emergency power entail then? The President must be empowered to realign the 2011 budget to items that will gravely hurt the common man if oil prices start pulling up the prices of other commodities- this may include the temporary revival of the Oil Price Stabilization Fund. Remember that congress has, mindlessly or not, approved billions of appropriations to conditional cash transfers and MRT subsidies. The President and Congress must also be ready to amend the Oil Deregulation Law. Section 14 of the said law fails to mention benchmarks that will allow the DOE and/or the President to temporarily takeover the oil industry. The amendment must be done immediately to respond to the emergency.

I agree with Mr. Diokno that solutions require clear thinking, dedication, seriousness, and hard work on the part of our political leaders. But policy options and solutions must be formulated now not when it has already started raining.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  1 Comment