Cosalan takes oath in Tublay; Father’s day in the eyes of an Ibaloi

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

TUBLAY, Benguet -- A day before newly elected provincial officials took their oath yesterday, re-elected Benguet Representative Ronald Morales Cosalan took his in front of unopposed Mayor Ruben Paoad in his hometown of Tublay.

Why he was not invited this time to the oath taking rites at the provincial capitol like in 2010 when he and all elected provincial local government unit officials took their oath one after the other, was not surprising. He shrugged his shoulders and called it as a “no sport” gesture on the part of officials who launched vice governor and defeated congressional bet Crescencio C. Pacalso in the last election.

The oath taking ceremony was sort of a déjà vu reunion with old and new supporters along with non-supporters who came to reunite with each other and partake of the food and wine, knowing that after all the elections are over. No heart feelings. Making use of the venue, Cosalan took the time to announce new plans he had in mind for the province.

He said, his colleagues in congress are again asking him to stay as chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure in Congress. Of course, he has to continue following up old bills he filed such as the nationalization of roads linking Tublay to Kibungan, the Gurel-Kabayan-Abatan road, Asin-La Union road, and the Ambiong-Tawang road that are all being reconstructed and ready to be signed by PNoy.

He explained that road infrastructure improvement without question supports agriculture and uplifts the condition of Benguet farmers considering that good roads mean lesser transport expenses of products from the farm to the trading posts and public markets.

He asserted that making good roads as the most practical way and doable solution in terms of providing support to vegetable farmers and traders in Benguet is the means to combat never ending over-importation of cold climate or highland vegetables from China and other Asian countries.

One of the causes of oversupply of imported and smuggled vegetables in lowland markets was due to the subsidy that certain Asian countries provide for their farm workers who do not have to shell out additional capital for inputs such as fertilizers and labor expenses.

The solon said “while we cannot financially subsidize our farmers since direct subsidy is still not possible in the Philippines, we can help them by building good roads, assist the agencies in their fight against smuggling and control importation. In fact this administration is doing its part by improving the roads nationwide so that lesser travel expenses for traders and farmers convert to post production savings.”

On the other hand, the solon said he would ask for a more comprehensive inquiry on vegetable smuggling and over importation to involve the physical presence of representatives of government agencies concerned such as the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Customs and expose the real problem. He said no complete investigation has ever been conducted because of the absence of complainants who do not want to come forward and the non-attendance of representatives of concerned government agencies during inquiries.  

Farmers and private individuals were at times overheard saying that while local officials have been motoring down to Manila everytime illegal vegetable imports were apprehended, this did not substantially help ease the problem of the farmers as the trips only became photo-ops and publicity stints, and a chance to drop by watering holes in Clark.

Some years back when illegal importation and oversupply was at the peak, there were allegations that complainants received sums of money from rich illegal importers for them to just keep their mouths shut. Some years ago, two local officials of a vegetable-producing town who were previously very good friends became enemies because one of them was suspected of having received big money from the importers. True and as expected, nothing came out of the complaint that this guy claimed to have filed with authorities. Maybe he never filed one. It is worth finding out.

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I grew up a G.I. (Genuine Ibaloi) familiar with anniversaries and celebrations. In school, teachers made us memorize red-letter days from Baguio Day, Magsaysay Day to Bataan Day, Labor Day, Independence Day and National Heroes’ Day. Foreign anniversary celebrations were also familiar such as Fil-Am Day and Valentine’s Day. Then more anniversaries were added to our local celebrations such as Earth Day, PNP Day, Cordillera Day and the 1990 earthquake anniversary. Honestly, I have never encountered Father’s day and Mother’s Day that are being observed by some Filipino families now.

 It is not integral or part of Filipino or Igorot life. These are American inventions. But that does not mean we don’t love our fathers and mothers, of course we do. We are one of the races on earth that stick together from “erection to resurrection.” In fact Filipino children grow up around parents and grandparents and stay with them under one roof until they have families of their own, and that may be the reason why we do not have a Father’s Day and Mother’s Day in our list of celebrations.

On the contrary, that is also the reason why Americans celebrate Father’s Day and Mother’s Day because Americans who belong to a working class society spend most of their time in the workplace, always busy making US economy grow. They send their parents to home care centers called Home for the Aged because they do not have time for them. In fact they do not even have time for themselves, no time to bar hop nightly as we do here. Certainly, there has to be some way in order that working children far from home are able to visit dear mama and papa under the care of insurance companies and Filipino and Mexican medical workers or PT (punas ___i). Definitely Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are the answers. – ozram.666@gmail.com