Help coconut farmers
I am happy with the news that the Supreme Court decided with finality that businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr’s shares of the United Coconut Planters’ Bank (UCPB) belongs to the farmers as the High Tribunal declared the shares public in nature.
This is a long fought battle that the farmers waged since the time of Cojuangco’s boss president Marcos Ferdinand Marcos. The amount used to set up the UCPB was from the levy that Marcos exacted on the coconut farmers.
The farmers of the coconut industry were very pitiful when Marcos exacted the levy since it was not used for their interests but to establish some businesses that benefited the Marcos cronies like Cojuangco.
Prices of copra went down when Marcos established the monopoly of cronies in the coconut industry. Not contented with lower prices that brought untold suffering to the farmers Marcos imposed the levy that cronies used to enrich themselves. Now justice has been served to the coconut farmers for now the High Court has recognized their contribution.
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Last Sunday the gospel was about the parable of the good Samaritan and I immediately related it to the incident that involved Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo.
I am asking if indeed he was at the vicinity of Kuerks resto bar to answer an incident because he is a councilor. When the rumble between two groups ensued then why did he fail to help Jan Niño Pogoy by bringing him to the hospital?
He could have been an example of a good Samaritan but he miserably failed to take the opportunity to show to everyone what kind of a person he is.
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Another booster for our tourism arrivals was the lifting of the ban on the official carrier of our country the Philippine Airlines from flying to and from Europe as the European Union declared last week.
It was indeed a welcome development and our country’s stakeholders should put their acts together in order to boost our tourism industry. I still do not understand why hotels in the country are charging a very expensive rate for foreigners unlike other Association of Southeast Asian Nation countries.
Sometimes, it is more practical and less expensive to travel to our neighboring countries than to stay in our own hotels. We should explore more activities for our tourists to do and be creative in doing so because in other countries they offer many things to engage the tourists.
Vietnam offers a cruise in their murky river and I think we in Cebu can also do something similar by providing a cruise through the Mactan Channel where tourists can have a good view of the coastal scenery.
We should offer something for families, not just golf because not all members of the family play golf. Another issue is how government treats our tourism stakeholders. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) makes it difficult for car rental operators to get a franchise for their buses and coasters plus the Department of Tourism has recently required brand new buses to get a franchise.
I think the government should be friendly to these operators because they are helping the tourism sector. I agree that there should be regulation but I think the LTFRB knows which are the legitimate operators and which are fly-by-night.
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Last week I asked the Regional Development Council infrastructure committee about the design of the Mactan Cebu International Airport that costs P17.5 billion and Manny Rabacal told me that he saw the presentation and was willing to give a copy to Bobby Joseph so that we can be informed about the said project.
It is by phases, I was informed, but I countered that P17.5 billion is too much because to construct a new airport would cost the government only P7 billion. Rabacal just smiled.
