When the price of garlic shot up and the supply became scarce, I knew from past experience that the prices of other food products would rise, too.
In the case of garlic, the government, in a knee-jerk reaction, brought token supplies to selected outlets. Of course, this was only a palliative measure, principally meant to show that there was no shortage and to bring down the price of the commodity.
Garlic growers denied that they were hoarding supplies and that the price from the source remained stable. There was no news from garlic importers.
Meanwhile, the price of garlic remained high and the shortage continued to be felt. Speculations were rife that the prices of other food products would go up as well, e.g., milk, milk products, canned meat and similar food products. Earlier, the prices of the common and fancy varieties of rice had gone up. We have yet to hear what the government will do about these developments.
I suspect that some sectors deliberately create an artificial shortage of food products in order to raise prices. This is done regularly and the government is powerless to deal with the situation. From Cabinet level down the line, we have many agencies in the government tasked to deal with problems of supply and prices, yet some sectors regularly create shortages and practically dictate the prices of food products. If the government is helpless to deal with these situations, it might as well prune down the bureaucracy and eliminate not a few government agencies and positions. The funds saved can be reallocated to more deserving pursuits.
—APOLONIO G. RAMOS,
42 Mindanao St., Marikina City