OH, ABOUT that devastating earthquake that hit Cebu Province last month.
We thought the serious damage in that Visayan province would not negatively impact the people of Davao City and the whole of Mindanao. But it did after all. And it may even be as devastating as the earthquake in Cebu.
No, not in terms of structural damage, even if the cost of destroyed buildings in Davao City and the whole of Davao Region during the recent temblor that had its epicenter in the ocean not far from Manay, Davao Oriental, is to be added. And why are we saying this?
Very simple. The effect of the Cebu earthquake – higher power rate – will be borne by the people of Davao City, and perhaps the rest of Mindanao, for a very long period. And it may even be forever.
And what do we mean? Simple. Notice the banner headline of this newspaper’s yesterday’s edition? It reads, “Higher rates.” This refers to the increased electricity rate that Davaoenos will have to bear this month. The power consumers in the rest of this southern island are also likely to suffer the same higher rates. The reason is that the Cebu earthquake has disrupted the power supply across Mindanao.
It is said that a good volume of power generated by Mindanao power generators has to be “transported” to Cebu to augment the power shortage due to the reduction in power production by some power plants in the Visayas.
Yes, the strong earthquake has affected the production capacity of several generating companies in the Central Visayas region. The situation, therefore, necessitates the shifting of sources for power to meet the Cebu power needs.
We can only hope that when the power needs in Cebu are fully supplied by the Visayas-based generating plants, the Mindanao power retailers will correspondingly adjust their rates.
But will they?
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We had the opportunity to communicate with our businessman and Ateneo professor friend, Stephen Antig, the other day.
And we were sad knowing from him that Philippine products, fresh fruits included, are now getting a beating in the world market.
And by whom? He told us the Philippines is beaten by our fellow Asian countries, Vietnam and Cambodia. We could hardly prevent ourselves from gasping. Imagine Vietnam, a country that underwent a devastating war among its own people, pitting the once so-called pro-democracy South Vietnam against the Communist North Vietnam!
Then we have the other “tormentor” country – Cambodia. It has been at the tail-end among countries in Asia as far as economic growth is concerned.
And suddenly these two nations overtook by the miles. Hard to believe, but that is the truth and nothing but the truth.
Stephen cited the very low cost of production in the two countries, with the cost of labor contributing substantially to the lowering of the cost of the two countries’ exports.
Now we feel there should be something our government can do to address the disparity situation. Unfortunately, our leaders are more preoccupied with fighting for political dominance than with what they are doing now is destroying each other, or putting the blame on those presently running the government.
Honestly, we believe that if, even for a few days or months, they can set aside their political animosity and work together to help lift the country from the quagmire of poverty and distrust, then there is no doubt that the people’s development objective can be achieved.
But no, our leaders prefer to fight tooth and nail, starting as early as the first few months after the election.
What a tragedy.
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For several times already, we have viewed on Facebook a post showing a sea of humanity marching on an unidentified road. The number of people had not been given an estimate, but based on the density, it qualifies as the so-called “di mahulogan ng karayom” crowd.
And the marchers are supposed to be on their way to Malacañang to drive away the present tenant and his family.
But the one who posted it was asking why the mainstream media has not covered and reported the massive gathering of people out to boot out the incumbent President.
The only reason we could give as to the non-coverage of the massive crowd of marchers is that it is not true. That it is simply a creation of the experts in computer manipulation, more so with the advent of the so-called Artificial Intelligence..
In other words, our take on the matter is that the “sea of humanity” supposedly marching towards the seat of Power that is Malacañang is merely nestled in the computer unit.
And it is made to appear on Facebook every now and then for the purpose of influencing people to join in their partisan cause.
Frankly, the trick is already far from convincing.
