The worst straw is something unimaginably horrible, and for now until 2027 at the very least, is in the hands of Xi, who cannot lose face before the Communist Party
Let me begin this piece with a congratulatory note for a dear friend, Ralph G. Recto, now the newly appointed Secretary of Finance, taking his oath a day after he turned 60.
This writer hinted about the changing of the guard in a September 2023 column, without specifying that it would be Recto.
Contrary to his predecessor’s rosy predictions on the economy this year, I have always maintained that 2024 will be tough for the people, the latest being in my initial 2024 article titled “The morning after.”
Which is why I wish Ralph the best of luck, as he tackles many straws in the wind, both economic and political, such as how to address the yawning fiscal deficit on which I know he should be able to navigate well.
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Sec. Kiko Tiu Laurel who was the subject of a recent column titled “Off to a good start,” continues his sensible approach to food security problems when he declared suggested retail prices, won’t work on rice.
That idiocy called SRP in fact never works on anything, just as the short-lived retail price cap on rice that tried to defy the law of supply and demand had egg splattered all over government’s face.
Optics with a shelf life of a few days, until ground reality bites.
No longer straw in the wind but the inevitable staring at us is El Nino, with our woeful lack of preparation for its adverse consequences, including the inability to stock up enough reserves for the staple commodity.
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I have always been advocating a revision of the 1987 Constitution, especially the failed political framework that for the last 37 years has resulted in our flawed democracy, but the hare-brained resurrection of PIRMA isn’t the way to go about it.
I would prefer an elected Constitutional Convention to do the revisions before a new draft is submitted to the people for ratification, and I wrote about this in the early days of the Marcos Jr. administration.
In my last column for 2023, I called for the president, mismo, to initiate the revision, thus: “Charter change can only happen with strong presidential support, along with a well-crafted and properly executed communications plan.”
Our “chill lang” president and his boys have instead chosen a law firm headed by one from Cotabato and another from Davao as front, sponsoring TV ads on “Edsa-pwera” at that.
Neat, but not so. Expectedly, like another straw in the wind, PIRMA will be booed all the way to the Supreme Court by those who hold the 1987 Constitution as the holy of holies.
Another wasted effort. Another five years, maybe more, of a flawed political framework and a confusing fundamental law.
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Taiwanese used to vote with a pattern: two terms or eight years of the Kuomintang, followed by another two for the DPP. But Lai Ching-te broke that with an unprecedented third win for the DPP last Saturday.
Failing to unite before the Nov 24 deadline at finalizing their tickets, the opposition together took close to 60 percent of the vote, the final result being 40.14 percent for Lai, 33.44 percent for KMT’s Hou You-ih, and 26.43 percent for TPP’s Ko Wen-je.
As we wrote last Thursday in a piece titled “Taiwan matters,” if Hou and Ko joined forces, “Lai would be a goner.”
Listening to “William” Lai’s speech before the DPP party cadres in front of their headquarters near Taipei’s railroad station, I worry that the Taiwan Strait conflict will continue to be a hissing powder keg in the region, as Xi Jinping would likely ratchet the hostilities against its “renegade province.”
Another straw in the wind which would inexorably draw us into the vortex.
Looking at it purely from the prism of our national interest, I would have preferred a KMT win, even if they hold a slim margin of one in Taiwan’s parliament.
The first straw will be continued tightening of economic screws. Factory output in Taiwan has declined, and demand for our workers is now tapering down.
The worst straw is something unimaginably horrible, and for now until 2027 at the very least, is in the hands of Xi, who cannot lose face before the Communist Party.
Which reminds me of an old song by Johnny Mercer, sometimes sung by Frank Sinatra, and it goes like this: “When an irresistible force such as you, meets an immovable object like me, you can bet just as sure as you live, something’s gotta give…”