IN one of the recent lunch meetings that I had in Cebu, there was one incident that shocked me no end.
One of my clients ordered Coke while the other one ordered Sprite, just water for me.
When the waiter returned, he had with him a bottle of Pepsi and Mirinda Orange.
Upon seeing these, my clients insisted that they ordered Coke products, not Pepsi products.
But the guy nonchalantly said no more stock for Coke, all they had are Pepsi products.
Taga-Coke baya mi Sir pero Pepsi na lang amo gibaligya ron kay way stock.
* * *
So the stories circulating around are true.
There is a shortage of Coke products brought about by the shortage of sugar.
But what causes the shortage of sugar?
* * *
Is it because there is no supply?
Or, is it because some traders are hoarding sugar to create artificial shortage?
* * *
If there is no supply, then we can understand the shortage. In this case, sugar importation becomes imperative. A lot of food commodities are dependent on sugar and the economy can ill afford to have sugar shortage.
But if there are hoardings here and there, just like in the case of the raids being conducted by Bureau of Customs personnel in Bulacan that demonstrate the unscrupulous practice of traders to stock sugar in warehouses to create shortage, then sugar importation is not warranted.
Anyway, they are already creating panic, they have pushed some DA officials to declare lack of supply to justify importation, and pushed the President to disapprove the same.
In the process, some heads rolled.
Two of them are former colleagues, one of them is a close friend.
* * *
This proves that the President is correct in vetoing the sugar importation because the Bulacan raid proved once and for all that there are sugar hoarding incidents.
And what is needed at the moment are close monitoring and checking of bonded warehouses to ensure that there are no more hidden stocks of sugar.
Angayan lang nga hilngon og abrihan ang mga warehouses aron malikayan ang nahitabo sa Bulacan.
* * *
By the way, how true that the figures at the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian as regards the 85-15% sharing of pork supply, 85% from backyard raisers and 15% from commercial/private raisers, are no longer true?
According to my source from the pork sector, there are commercial/private raisers who are now into buying local stocks, in addition to their own stocks, to accumulate huge stock and in the process, putting themselves in the best position to dictate the price of pork in the market.
In other words, they are not just raising their own swine stock, they are also buying swine from backyard raisers.
With the huge stock, they are now capable of doubling, even tripling, the number of hog vans and the frequency of delivery to Metro Manila and Luzon markets.
Because Luzon traders offer higher buying price, naturally, they earn more when they maximize the volume of delivery outside of the province.
What is the result?
Simple, high cost of pork in the market.
Which is ironic because we are supposed to be the supplier of pork and yet, we are buying high price for pork in the local market.
* * *
Our basic understanding of pork exportation is that we have a surplus of pork thus, we need to export the surplus to other markets outside of the province
But in the case of Bohol, the question that begs for an answer is this – do we really have a surplus of pork?
Because if we do, then by all means, let us continue sending pork to Metro Manila and Luzon markets.
But if we don’t, then we should declare a moratorium on pork exportation so that the local price will go down.
* * *
So how do we know if we have surplus?
Simple.
There should be an inventory of local stock. There should be a dialogue among major and minor players in the local hog industry so they can speak up and elevate urgent issues and concerns and come up with viable recommendations.
In the meantime, I suppose a suspension of pork exportation is in order.
At the end of the day, it is important to note that in the order of things, the provincial government should prioritize the needs and demands of local consumers. If there is more than enough, then we can probably share our blessings with our neighbors.
* * *
Somebody told me that the remaining stock of corn procured by the provincial government during the time of Art Yap is languishing in a warehouse, unused and undelivered. Accordingly, this huge stock of corn is included in the 37 million pesos worth of corn procured by direct purchase from a questionable supplier in Mindanao.
Only a very little portion of the corn stock have been distributed to local corn farmers. And the reason for this is also simple — upon discovery of the very low germination rate of the corn, the corn farmers refused to accept delivery.
Matod pa, sa 1,500 ka sako sa mais nga gi-order, mga 400 ra ka sako ang nahatag, ang uban wala na dawata kay lugos moturok. Mao kini karon ang nadiskobrehan nga gipriso na lang sa usa ka warehouse kay di na magamit.
Kon tinuod kini, dili ba dakong pag-usik-usik sa kwarta ang gihimo ni Art Yap?
Kon giusik-usikan lang ang kwarta panahon sa kawad-on, unsa may angay buhaton niini?
Pasagdan na lang ba nga ma-kwits ra ang pipila ka milyon ka pesos nga gigamit pagpalit sa maong mais?
