Editorials:

Illustration by Jimbo Albano

Typhoon Frank hit the Philippines—to borrow a pugilistic phrase—in the breadbasket. In the case of the destructive howler, which the rest of the word called Fengshen, the blow was literal.

The typhoon raked through Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon. It generated monsoon rains in Central and Western Mindanao, causing widespread flooding and landslides. All the regions hit by the storm contain farms that grow rice, corn, vegetables and so-called high-value commercial crops (HVCCs), not to mention fisheries and livestock. It is precisely in those areas that the bulk of the produce that Filipinos consume is raised.

Days after the typhoon barreled its way out of the country, authorities surveyed the havoc it wrought and placed the damage at P4.39 billion—mostly in farm-production losses. However, that is just a preliminary figure.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras broke down the extent of agricultural losses: fisheries, the hardest-hit, with about P2.2 billion, rice P670 million, HVCCs P194 million and corn P165 million.

“Until the waters have receded, we cannot yet determine the damage to livestock,” Paras added. “But hard hit are the backyard swine producers.”

Meanwhile, Augusto Santos—sounding more like a spin doctor than the acting socioeconomic secretary that he is—said that while the National Economic and Development Authority is still awaiting final figures, preliminary data show that Fengshen’s rampage will “not have a big impact” on economic growth this year.

That may be so, but Santos failed to consider that Fengshen is only the sixth weather disturbance so far this year to cut across the Philippines, which historically is hit by an average of two dozen typhoons annually. With global warming expected to generate more numerous, more frequent and more destructive extreme weather events, the outlook is not very reassuring, indeed.

Little can be done, at this point, to temper nature’s fury, but we have lost neither the capacity nor the resources to mitigate the impact of storms, especially on our farms. Question: Do we have the political will to do so?

For one, officials need to focus further attention than they already have on not just assuring the supply of rice, but, more important, supporting the local production of what is, after all, the national staple.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. may not be the sort of politician that, say, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap would be keen to heed. Nonetheless, the opposition leader has put forward a sensible proposal that should help the Department of Agriculture guarantee the availability of rice.

In a press statement issued Wednesday, Pimentel urged President Arroyo to grant additional subsidy to the National Food Authority (NFA) toward boosting rice production instead of allowing the NFA to incur more borrowings.

The additional subsidy, the Mindanao senator said, could come from the “windfall” collections of the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on oil products—thanks to skyrocketing fuel prices.

With debt totaling P35 billion, the NFA still plans to borrow P8 billion more this year to fund its ballooning deficit due to its policy of selling imported rice at a loss, Pimentel said. Last year the NFA posted a P2.6-billion deficit. In the first quarter this year it already sustained a P4-billion deficit.

The government ends up absorbing the NFA’s losses and borrowings, Pimentel noted, and these are passed on to the public through higher taxes.

“The President should help fund NFA operations during these times of emergency,” Pimentel said. “If she can grant subsidies by the billions to the small consumers of power and the transport sector, why can’t she do the same for the NFA?”

With the additional subsidy, the NFA should scale down its rice importations and step up its program to raise rice production in the country.

Boosting rice production is one area where taxpayers won’t mind their hard-earned money to go.

Editorial: Put windfall VAT to productive use

Typhoon Frank hit the Philippines—to borrow a pugilistic phrase—in the breadbasket. In the case of the destructive howler, which the rest of the word called Fengshen, the blow was literal.

Sway: Passage to death

Doña Paz, with more than 4,000 dead, Princess of the Orient, with more than 200 dead, and Princess of the Stars, with close to 800 feared dead: With that record, Sulpicio Lines is tops, it is simply unbeatable. Until MV Princess of the Stars went down, despite its remarkable record of casualties starting with Doña Paz, Sulpicio was still out there in the open seas—maybe just waiting for the next accident to happen.

Omerta: Bleak rice outlook

I really hope and pray I’m wrong. But there are signs popping up everywhere that don’t look good as far as the country’s rice situation is concerned.

William Pesek: Japan’s Generation D, Sri Lankan prices, Korea’s beef

Japanese growth is slowing, inflation is accelerating and record food and energy costs threaten to do increasing damage to Asia’s biggest economy. What should investors do? Buy Japanese stocks.

Servant Leader: Encyclicals

The other day, I could not help but overhear some people talking about the Bible and religion in general and in terms of personal interpretations. Working in Caritas Manila, we deal with “Church people” every time. Close to 100 percent of what makes Caritas Manila work are these Church people or parish volunteers.