Pursuing reforms

President Rodrigo Duterte has been shedding off the unwanted barnacles in his flagship. They have added to the heavy burden of the president who has been navigating our country away from the rough seas of corruption, ineptness and crime.

Expect that as the second year of Duterte’s administration ends, more characters in the government would be jettisoned. Expect, too, that on account of recent developments, more crabs and crablets will continue with their attempt to bring down this administration.

Those who passed the test and survived should close ranks and be extra-vigilant with modern-day Machiavellians from in and out, mostly out, of the government. With the reforms being instituted by the president, we see the hands of the economic oligarchs with their marionettes in the Church along with the vestigial elements of the past administration diminish Duterte’s credibility.

Some very difficult decisions have to be made and these do not augur well to the interest of those who are in control of industries. They will not stop at impeding and delaying plans and projects as these will impact on their economic interests. Classic example here is in the area of power generation.

Reviving the mothballed nuclear power plant has become imperative. The mega-projects of the Duterte administration will certainly be accomplished but these will never go full throttle without sufficient power. The business sector is rejoicing but some are not. There will always be kibitzers who speak for vested interest who will warn about the political and environmental impact of the project.

The business of power generation and management of government assets under the Department of Energy (DOE) is of very sensitive importance. I will not be surprised if Secretary Cusi and Philippine National Oil Company president Ruben Lista are constantly subjected to malicious and unkind attacks and a bevy of temptations.

The other crack in the Cabinet where interlopers are bound to hammer a wedge is in the National Food Authority (NFA). I still think that NFA should be under the watch of the Department of Agriculture. The matter of how to balance imports and local palay production can only be achieved when the decision maker knows the statistics of production output and the supply demand.

I reckon that NFA is waiting for the problem of insufficiency of rice to surface before it scrambles to buy. This will create a complicated problem. NFA will be forced to buy from the spot market which will therefore be more expensive and delivery of imports and distribution nightmarish. NFA is losing its pertinence to the farmers and consumers.

This is a good time as any to help the Duterte government steer us to the “best of all possible worlds.”--SunStar Davao