A cure for 'oil addiction'

The recent call of US President George Bush to be less dependent on oil and instead look for alternative fuels has elated our own solons, particularly Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, the principal proponent of our own ethanol bill.

Zubiri issued a statement calling on the Senate to prioritize the bill that had been given the nod by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself but which has taken a backseat as our Senate has been more engrossed in probing scandals like misuse of government funds.

Zubiri is acting on sentiments prevailing in the Senate, many of whom have no love lost for President Arroyo, maybe because of the Cha-cha endorsements. "If they won't listen to their own president, maybe they would like to listen to the American one," he said.

Indeed, if nations like the US are already concerned about the dwindling oil supply in the country, ours should start acting now since we have the resources to push for ethanol production in this country.

And Zubiri is right in his view that the signal from Bush should be a "cue for our senators to work on the bill now."

More so now with the possibility of US embargo against Iran because, according to the young congressman, "one in every four barrels of oil that enter our country comes from Iran and if there's an embargo we will have a hard time finding a substitute."

Zubiri's bill aims to jumpstart through the grant of tax and financing incentives a "national biofuels program" aimed at replacing within four years a tenth of national gasoline consumption with a "VAT-free cheap clean gas" produced from the likes of cane and coconut.

The bill provides for the "mandatory blending of gasoline with five percent bioethanol" within two years after the approval of the law.

This will lead to annual foreign exchange savings of P40 billion, Zubiri said, basing his estimate on the country's daily consumption of 320 thousand barrels of oil, at $65 a piece, using a P53 to US$1 exchange rate.

I hope the Senate heeds the call of Zubiri before it's too late and we find ourselves lagging behind other countries again.

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One of the most deplorable trait of the Filipino is that of bewailing corruption as an endemic trait of our people. Not true. Honesty had always been the sterling virtues of the Filipino, especially before World War II.

But here is a tale told to me by Julie Mag Desiree C. Cadimpis, president of the Save Our Language Through Federalism of Silliman University.

"Coming back from Iloilo Sunday, I left my bag with my cellphone, IDs and cash of P1,300.

"I was about to ask for help from Bombo Radyo when I learned that they had been paging me because the taxi driver, Celestino Garin, had turned over to them my bag with the contents intact. The two announcers - Daniel Lecciones and Jaz de Jesus - were asking me to retrieve my lost possessions at the radio station in Bacolod.

"Seeing that Garin had turned over my bag intact, I then decided to give him P500 for his honesty. He initially refused, but I insisted.

"Later, Rep. Monico Puentevella, hearing about it on the radio, arrived at the Bombo Radyo station and added another P500 to be given to Garin.

"I had been desperate when I lost my bag. It contained everything I needed to return to Dumaguete. I was already crying. I had no money, no relatives in Bacolod who could have helped me go back to Dumaguete. Worse, my PRC card and my ID as a nurse were also among the lost items. Imagine my surprise when Daniel Lecciones and Jaz de Jesus paged me over the air to get back my bag which had been deposited with them by cab driver Garin. Thank God for honest men like Garin." That was how Julie described that touching episode.*

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