Highway projects caused decline in agricultural production

If my memory serves me right, the development of NLEX started way back in 1968. Thereafter, travel time between Balintawak and Pampanga has been shortened by half. In the succeeding years, SLEX was built to decongest traffic south of Metro Manila and make for more convenient travel. On a larger note, both projects are aimed at providing safer roads and keeping a healthy environment, as well as encouraging tourists, local and foreign, to see our country’s attractions.

It’s true, and this we can’t deny, that these and similar projects in other parts of the country have benefited us in many ways. But haven’t we forgotten something? How about the negative consequences of such undertakings?

Some five decades ago, the Philippines was the No. 1 exporter of rice among Asian countries. But following a “construction spree”—of expressways, subdivisions, factories etc. around the country—the number of hectares of rice lands drastically declined. As a result, the Philippines had to import rice to meet its consumption.

In 1960, the dollar-peso exchange rate was 1:2 and the Philippine economy was the second most prosperous and promising in Asia after Japan’s. Today, it is way behind its neighboring countries.

Before it’s too late, let’s recognize and admit our mistakes and take those necessary, though radical, measures to correct them and to move forward.

God Bless.

—JOSE T. MAGTALAS,

1128 Esguerra St.,

Pulilan, Bulacan