Rice shortage or PR problem?

Looking at the lines of customers at the counter of a grocery store, I noticed that many people were buying more rice and meat than what they actually would need in a week. Not a few had bought two sacks of rice.

This is the month of April and there aren't that many fiestas here in Negros Oriental at this time of the year. They must be buying all those extra items for another reason.

Then it hit me. Why, yes, the people were not there for their weekly or bi-weekly grocery shopping. They were panic-buying!

Panic-buying has been noted almost all throughout the country these days, since news of a rice shortage started hitting the streets. Sure, we see rice in the market, but it only takes one news story to appear in the newspapers or on the 6 o'clock news for the populace to troop to the market to buy more rice than they actually need.

Those who went panic-buying were the lucky ones. Consider the millions who felt the need to go on a panic-buying binge but had no means to do it. Such a situation would only lead to despair and desperate people could be dangerous.

For some reason, people are suspicious of government pronouncements. The government says there is no rice shortage in the country and the next thing you know, people are panic-buying to fill their arsenals of the Filipinos' staple food.

In fairness to the incumbent administration, this pessimism over government pronouncements is nothing new. This is the same problem that had also hounded past administrations. I remember during the Marcos era when the government said there would be no increase in the price of gasoline, people rushed to the gasoline stations and filled up their vehicles with gasoline. At the stroke of midnight, lo and behold, the prices of gasoline and other petroleum products increased!

And who was that President who said the immortal line, "Walang kaibigan, walang kamaganak, walang kumpare?"

And this isn't just a problem of Philippine administrations. I'm sure you remember the famous line of US President George H.W. Bush during his inaugural address when he said, "Read my lips. No new taxes!"  Sure enough, the American public faced a tax hike soon after that.

Later on, his son would wage war against Iraq to destroy their "weapons of mass destruction."

Now we know better.

It is clear that the Philippines has enough rice to last us about two months even if we stop importing. But it may not be that easy to send that message to Juan dela Cruz when he sees that the price of rice and other products are rising. After all, the law of supply and demand says that if the demand increases while supply is low, the price goes up.

To get the message across to the people, the government must walk the talk. Government pronouncements should be verifiable by every ordinary Filipino from the nearest sari-sari store.

Of course, that's easier said than done. The problem is not just about economics. It's also about public relations.*

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