SERVING VESTED INTERESTS

April 26, 2025 Opinion

In a democratic form of government we adhere to the time honored principle that such government is of the people, by the people and for
the people. If the elected leaders in that democratic government deliberately choose not to serve the people that voted them into office but to serve only their own selfish vested interests then it should follow that they no longer have any business remaining in that government and should be removed forthwith. Take the case of Vice President Sara Duterte who, after arriving from the Hague, Netherlands to visit his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, immediately ridiculed and assailed the announcement by President Bongbong Marcos that the 20 per kilo rice, as an election campaign promise, shall be finally implemented this year starting in the Visayas region.

This pronouncement by the national government is seen as a calibrated measure to make rice affordable to all sectors of society. The 20 pesos per kilo rice program according to Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is now feasible to realize given the continuing decline of rice prices in the global market thus allowing the government to narrow the gap between the current market price of around 33 pesos per kilo and the subsidized 20 pesos price per kilo. Under the said program Secretary Laurel explained that the price difference of around shouldered by the government through the Food Terminal Incorporated and the local government units that will be initially selected to participate in the program. The DA secretary also clarified that the 20 pesos per kilo rice will initially target identified beneficiaries particularly those belonging to the indigent and local income communities.

Laurel also clarified that there will be a maximum number of kilos of rice to be sold to a family for a certain period of time. For instance the government can sell the 20 pesos per kilo of rice at a maximum of five kilos per week of family or it can also be 10 kilos per week per family. If the maximum is followed and the 20 per kilo rice is sold at ten kilos per week per family then that will be equivalent to 40 kilos of 20 pesos per kilo per month for each family. Since it is a subsidized program the budget is expected to cost at an estimate of between 3.5 to 4.5 billion pesos. So here we have a campaign promise that is now expected to be realized and implemented in the coming months by the present administration of president Bongbong Marcos.  It is a commitment to make rice, the food staple in this country, as affordable as it can reasonably be for a greater number of Filipinos who populate the marginalized sector of society.

This is a great development and one that aligns with a democratic government principle of serving the people. The only issue now is whether the vice president is also aligned with this governmental objective because it seems as if her personal animosity towards the president has blinded her on he very reason why she has been voted into office as a public servant. Even if she is just considered as a ‘spare tire’ in the government administration’s hierarchy, as the second highest elected official in the land, she still plays a very important role in showing her support towards the present administration goals and objectives. Her criticisms on the implementation of the 20 pesos per kilo of rice program of the government will definitely not help her cause in challenging and defeating the case of impeachment against
her. If at all her very opposition to the government’s effort of providing affordable rice to the people shows an innate insensitivity towards the plight of those marginalized and living at the edges of poverty.

This is the real problem when someone who has been entrusted with the responsibility of providing for the welfare of the people as a public servant succumbs to her own selfish desires and promotes only her own vested self-interests. This is where abuse of power enters into the picture when those elected into office see their positions as their own property right to be used and dispensed with through their whim and caprice. These are the most dangerous people in a democratic government. These are the false public servants who actually serve only their own vested interests. Now that the vice president has openly declared her disdain for the program to provide affordable rice to the masses we can only hope that those who will judge her in her impeachment case would be more understanding of her erroneous belief of what a public servant should be.