LACK of supply of sugar and white onions?
Is government now ready with millions to import these items?
The foregoing questions had been capturing the attention of well-meaning Filipinos. For almost three months, print and air media had a fiesta on this subject.
These are further augmented with an additional query if only to open and broaden the minds of every Pilipino, more specifically Short Cuts’ brother Boholanos:
Is our beloved country, the Philippines, and our province – Bohol – not an agricultural province?
Indeed, it is.
Short Cuts had been told of this fact even during his grade school days.
Until today, we are made to believe and duly informed.
So, what follows is this mind-bungling query: Why import these agricultural products?
To Short Cuts’ coconut shell, the BEST solution is: Plant, Plant, and Plant white onions and sugar canes.
And, not importation!
If other countries can do it, why not the Philippines? To be specific, if Vietnam and some other countries in Southeast Asia can grow these products, why not the Philippines, an agricultural country?
Take the case of sugar canes . . . .
It is Short Cuts’ understanding that Bohol was producing bags of sugar during and almost three years after the Second World War. It is further believed that hectares of land in this island-province of Bohol were planted with sugar canes during that same period.
Short Cuts was an eye-witness to this fact.
He was one of the many toddlers in the barangay who stood by the side of the farms planted with sugar canes when harvesting comes. These farms are located right at the vicinity of his parents’ residence. And, these harvested sugar canes are brought to an antique, old fashioned sugar mill in a neighboring barangay.
The said sugar mill – karapetse in the local dialect – is so antique that the same was not powered with an electricity. Lot of male carabaos were lined up to alternately do the job.
What was Short Cut’s and his co-toddlers’ purpose in attending the harvesting of the sugar canes and going direct to the karapetse after the harvest?
To get a sip of some cups of liquid sugar given by the sugar cane growers after the milling!
It was a give-away from the farmers!
A sort of a “pahalipay” for a good harvest.
With that, WHY NOT PLANT SUGAR CANES in the province in order to produce sugar?
If national government miserably failed for the last many years in addressing solution to this mess, Short Cuts calls on the Committee on Agriculture of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the province to do the first move. Or, a technical working group maybe organized in the province to do the planning and ultimately make initial steps.
And, let this idea be known to the national leadership via the provincial lawmaking body.
