Acting Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte

We are one with the observation of Davao City Acting Mayor Baste Duterte that the present overly-boasted by the national administration, the realization of a campaign promise by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to bring down the price of rice to P20 per kilo – is basically far from fulfilled. For instance, Mayor Baste claims that the low-priced rice is only made available in certain very limited areas in the country.

Mayor Baste was short of saying that making the P20 per kilo rice available only in a few places is discriminatory, more so because the areas concerned are either known to have officials close to the President, or that these went all out for him in the 2022 election.

Yes, Acting Mayor Baste could not have been more correct in his observation that having the P20 per kilo rice in those areas is selective and discriminatory. Why is that so? Are the places not reached by the low-priced cereal like Davao City and several other areas in Mindanao and the Visayas, and even in Luzon, not having population considered in the margin of society?

We do not think so. It is common knowledge that everywhere in the country there are a huge number of disadvantaged sectors. So why is the government not apportioning the low-priced rice to all the provinces and cities all over? Why does it brag of so many outlets now open to serve people desiring to buy the Filipino’s staple grain in so less number of places?

Isn’t the national government making a much greater number of marginalized Filipinos salivate for the affordable rice that is beyond their reach in distance? Is limiting the places for the marketing of the cheap rice intentionally making the marginalized population in the country crave for the affordable basic food?

On the other hand, we are also not in agreement with the suggestion of the acting Davao City mayor for the national government to instead give for free the rice intended for sale at P20 a kilo. What if the President decides to give the rice for free to the people of the same areas, currently provided with the P20 per kilo cereal?

Will it not further raise suspicion that the national government is giving favor only to selected beneficiaries? We have no doubt that going to such an extent as fully subsidizing the rice so that it could be given free to people in selected areas only, will further stoke the fire of disgust of the many marginalized Filipinos against the President.

Therefore, it is our humble take that perhaps Acting Mayor Baste will be giving a more sane and acceptable recommendation if he pushes instead for the expansion of areas of coverage for the marketing of the P20 per kilo rice.

In that manner, the acting local chief executive will not be confronted with similar issues should any from his family be catapulted again to the highest position of the land and will face problems of the same nature. 

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There is one word used by the President during his fourth State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA) last July 28. That is, his inappropriate use of a Tagalog pronoun in that portion of his speech where he lambasted those who rob the people of their money in the form of taxes they paid the government.

While humbly acknowledging that indeed massive corruption is being committed by certain government officials, including lawmakers, the President somehow knowingly dissociated himself from the omissions of the people running the government with him.

He simply did his “distancing” by using the wrong pronoun when he called on those concerned, “Mahiya naman kayo.” He could have appeared more sincere in his call for the corrupt government officials had he said, “Mahiya naman TAYO.”

Yes, the more appropriate word the President should have used is “tayo.” After all, being the highest official in government, he cannot escape or dodge the doctrine of “command responsibility.”

Meaning, with his failure to make all other officials in the government, especially the heads of agencies and members of the two Houses of Congress, keep their hands off the money intended for the implementation of projects, the President too is equally guilty of graft and corruption; of defrauding the Filipino people.

After all, even if the President did not receive a single centavo from contractors or suppliers, if he allows himself to be a passive part of a corrupt system, then he is as corrupt as the others – those who actually demanded kickbacks and received grease money.

And the sad thing about the President’s call of “Mahiya naman kayo,” most of those who he might have directly hit are those members of his Cabinet and other team mates who tendered their resignation in what the President termed as a cleansing process of his administration. Yet, the chief executive rejected their resignation because he was probably convinced they were doing the right thing in the performance of their job.

But with all the President’s clear attempts at distancing himself from the corruption he now subtly agrees is raging in his administration, he can still have a “shot at redemption” if he pursues his commitment to bring the corrupt officials to the open and have them prosecuted. He must make them suffer the consequences of their corrupt activities, even if they are his friends or relatives.

Yes, the President can still salvage his condition as leader of the present government if he is able to take down the more pervasive corrupt officials and have them convicted of their sins against the Filipinos. That is his only “shot at redemption.”