Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Cabaero: No Haiti in RP By Nini B. Cabaero Beyond 30
PRESIDENTIAL lawyer Sergio Antonio Apostol was quick to dismiss the image of the Haiti experience over its food crisis ever happening in the Philippines. No way, he said.
I, too, do not see the Philippines having food riots and resorting to the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the presidential palace over food security issues.
Although warnings of a supply shortage have been made, the situation has been kept manageable and there is no indication that what happened in Haiti over the weekend would happen in the Philippines, in the near future.
The situation is under control and Filipinos are abiding by rules on queuing to the rice outlets and limiting the number of kilos to be sold per person. If the situation will continue to be orderly and restrained, it will be because of the Filipino people who prefer stability over chaos for as long as it is still possible to keep order in their lives.
Not solely because of government.
Apostol’s statements give credit to government efforts and to President Arroyo as to why there can be no Haiti experience in the Philippines.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, reports said the crisis has resulted in bloody protests, riots and looting, and the decision of Haitian lawmakers to fire Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis.
Apostol said last Sunday that there was no comparison to speak of between the Haiti Government and the Philippine Government and their leaders. He said Arroyo and the Cabinet are working hard to address the food problem. The people should not panic. If needed, and as a last resort, the government may declare a state of emergency in the country to ensure order.
President Arroyo last week also called on critics to stop their divisive actions and join in the efforts to address food security. She said the investigations by the Senate into alleged anomalies of the government, for example, are diverting the people’s attention from the pressing problem of food.
“It is essential for our political leaders to join hands and close ranks to meet this challenge. This is no time for political posturing. We need food on the table, not headlines in the newspapers,” she said. “No endless investigation will put rice on the table, a computer in a classroom or health clinic in a village.”
It is true that governance in the country is marked by a lot of political noise. But it is noise that is sometimes meant to serve democracy. The Senate has been investigating allegations that Arroyo cheated in the 2004 presidential elections and that her husband and allies have sought millions of dollars in commissions from a government contract with a Chinese company. While some see the investigations as a waste of effort and time, there is also the view that the exercise of the oversight function of Senate could finally send grafters to jail.
When an emergency situation crops up, however, Filipinos have been known to stand united behind a common goal and be helpful and charitable towards others. That could be more because of who we are as Filipinos than of the government.
