“Lagnat laki,” we are told by elders, when we fret about our infants occasionally getting a higher than normal body temperature.
“May sinat,” we worry, until our moms tell us reassuringly, “ganyan talaga, lagnat-laki lang iyan.”
I was reminded of this usual phenomenon when I read the banner story last Sunday about the President’s worry, stated in terms that “shocked” many, that the economy is in the “doldrums.”
Now President Duterte often comes up with words that are not in the usual vocabulary of the ordinary citizen, let alone the millennials. “Tenterhooks,” “murmurings” and now “doldrums.” Deep in his memory bank, he probably has kept words that Longfellow and Henley immortalized in lyrical prose and poetry, and they just pop out in his long and winding monologues.
I had a Viber chat last Monday with BCDA CEO Vince Dizon about the doldrums issue and we both came up with the lagnat-laki analogy.
President Erap was the easiest to write a speech for, probably because of his movie background where they memorized scripts before their “take.” Hardly anyone can write for Duterte, who has the habit of verbalizing whatever thought comes to mind. Everything is impromptu.
“Doldrums” is a description from old maritime usage of calm periods when the winds disappear and ships powered by sails drift for lack of wind power blowing into their sails. Those of us who used to take boats to Mindanao in our grade school days have witnessed times when the sea around our ship was so listless, and there was no breeze to fan our bodies even when we were on the deck.
And so the President, worried about the recent spate of inflation, which the Bangko Sentral had to temper by upward adjustment in interest rates, add to that the external shocks of increased oil prices, came on stage to address his audience. The descriptive he used was “doldrums,” and coming from the head of state and the head of government, that jolted many.
His observation that while economic activity is being spurred in the urban centers by infrastructure spending, while the countryside seemed listless is more anecdotal than real. The economic statistics assure us that things are moving in the provinces as well, even in the “usual” bottom-dweller that is the ARMM.
In the sugar-producing provinces particularly Negros Island, there is a pronounced lack of farmhands to help in the harvest, even if output is lower this year than last. The reason? Many farm workers prefer to work in construction jobs, and this is likely to intensify as Build, Build, Build goes into higher gear.
But such is the “dismal science” called economics. It is always a question of seeking equilibrium, or balance.
Sorry to disagree with your description, Mr. President. The economy is not in the doldrums. Some degree of over-heating perhaps, but let your economic managers take care of the radiator. But thank you for your concern, the people appreciate your worrying.
It is the mark of a good leader to worry about the state of health of the economy periodically and how it impacts upon the quality of life of his people.
“Marunong magmalasakit” is perhaps the right description.
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The President was amused at the poster of a local candidate here in Taiwan who cut and pasted one of the Duterte photos with himself, and linked it to his copied “war” on drugs.
The Hualien candidate for councilor rides on the popularity of Duterte among many not only in Taiwan but elsewhere around the globe. I keep getting positive comments from not only Taiwanese but foreigners here as well, that they admire our president’s courage and political will.
The other day the Resident Representative of a South American country here in Taiwan was telling me about the “terrible” drug problem in their place, especially in the boundary of three nations, much like the notorious “Golden Triangle” in Southeast Asia.
“Your President is doing the right thing fighting this present-day evil,” he told me in Spanish.
Would that the jaundiced leaders of those 38 nations who keep yakking about human rights violations visit drug-scourged countries like ours and see for themselves, as Alan Cayetano challenges them.
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Erratum in our previous column: We stated that we spent 1 million Taiwan dollars for some 500 spots on television showing the wonders of the Philippines and promoting visits to our islands as the “paradise nearest to Taiwan.” That’s about P1.65 million at the time it was spent last year. Written on a lazy Sunday without bothering to ask my staff, I was corrected by my head executive assistant Gerry de Belen who checked the figures after reading the article.
It was 3.4 million NT dollars, he said, for 550 thirty-second spots spaced within two weeks in several programs. That’s around P5.6 million, still a bargain compared to TV rates back home.
And compared to 2 million American dollars for the “World’s Strongest Man” contest sponsored by the DOT which it’s new secretary now rightly questions, think of comparative cost efficiency.
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Yesterday, some of our staff at MECO were listening to a TFC-ANC exchange between their Christian Esguerra and Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. I caught parts of the interview which actually became a debate.
Christian, as his name suggests, is a very religious person who went through cerrado catolico schools San Beda and the University of Santo Tomas.
Over lunch thereafter, as one of my staff began to open up on the “stupid…” debate, I recalled what my good friend Col. Marianito Santiago who headed LTO when I was postmaster-general say about cadets in the Philippine Military Academy: “It is taboo among cadets in the Academy to debate about politics, religion and women.”
Amen to that.