A YEAR into the Marcos Jr. administration, local economists are looking for concrete projects and programs that would address the country’s food security issues, especially with inflation remaining elevated and the impending El Niño.
Jandoc said a shortfall in the December harvest of rice is possible especially in the context of the El Niño. The government’s weather bureau earlier estimated that the full impact of the drought could be felt sometime in the last quarter of the year. UP Professor emeritus Epictetus Patalinghug told this newspaper that the government should address the structural problems in agriculture particularly low productivity, low farmer incomes, lack of rural infrastructure, and the existence of cartels in onions, garlic, vegetables and essential food crops.
Ofreneo said this agriculture deregulation program gave rise to “untrammelled profit taking by big importers, big distributors, big hoarders, big traders and big smugglers” who took advantage of the so-called free-market rules.” Meanwhile, Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo A. Lanzona is concerned about how the coming El Niño and the government’s fiscal constraints could worsen the employment situation.
“I would like to hear an admission that the government failed to take decisive action on inflation and unemployment. Unfortunately, we will probably hear that inflation and unemployment have finally declined,” Lanzona said. Ravago stressed that it is not enough that the government focuses on generation. There is a need to accelerate the development of transmission capacity to bring down energy costs.
Patalinghug added that along with this, fiscal reforms must include efforts to allow the Department of Budget and Management as well as the Commission on Audit to “discipline” national government line agencies who are not spending their budgets efficiently.