Make trade, not war
By Dan SteinbockDespite political tensions, economic relations between China and the Philippines are closer than ever before. The challenge is to move toward a win-win future.
Despite political tensions, economic relations between China and the Philippines are closer than ever before. The challenge is to move toward a win-win future.
In my previous commentary, I reported that Director Clarito Barron (09178738483) of DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) cited the mayors as the key to nursery development. However, because of an incident involving a nongovernment organization early last week, he now says that NGOs can also fulfill that important role.
My commentary last week on nurseries as anchors for agriculture development elicited great interest. To follow up what action should be taken to promote this, we discovered that mayors are the key to nursing anchor nursery development.
Recently, the International Monetary Fund stated that developing countries such as the Philippines need to create more jobs to achieve a more inclusive growth—in the face of aging populations and globalization. This was highlighted in a report titled “Jobs and Growth: Analytical and Operational Considerations to the Fund.”
A key solution to the smuggling problems today is to have a structure that has already proven successful in the past. This is the Task Force on Anti-smuggling created through EO 385 on Nov. 16, 2004.
We get the government we deserve. This is a saying that farmers are now acting upon with greater vigor. During the fertilizer scam period, they bravely came out to denounce the corruption by specific unscrupulous officials in the Department of Agriculture, local government units, and even Congress. They succeeded only because of the help of the Senate, led by Senator Jun Magsaysay, and COA, led by officials like Heidi Mendoza.
The Philippines has achieved considerable progress in tackling corruption and upgrading competitiveness, which makes it earn the respect of world economists, thanks to the high confidence enjoyed by President Aquino. From the “Sick Man of Asia” in the past, the country is now considered as the possible “Tiger Economy” before long. The President has [...]
February is People Power month. What we need today is an additional form of people power to bring prosperity to our people. This is agricultural people power. In this area, we run far short of our potential. Much has been blamed on the fact that the Department of Agriculture no longer has the responsibility for agricultural development.
There are true and false prophets. Unfortunately, some true prophets who have invented something useful are not even recognized in their own country. Here in the Philippines, some agricultural inventions have been rejected by our people, but farmers of other countries find these same inventions to be useful and even profitable.
Agriculture has found a powerful ally in the National Competitiveness Council. It is chaired by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregorio Domingo for the public sector and co-chaired by Guillermo Luz for the private sector.
Last Feb. 6, we interviewed Fiber and Development Authority (Fida) Regional Director Deoben Hivaler (0917-7247954) on abaca’s unfulfilled potential.
Recent events related to the farmers’ long fight against smuggling have left them frustrated and furious because of government inaction and indifference. A recent event may help us understand why.
