Direct linkage! Filipino Expats in Indonesia Engage Manny Piñol Online

By Norwin Mark Castro

Philippine Business Club Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia – If you listen to the proponents of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), you will hear of it as the greatest invention since sliced bread.

If you listen to the farmers that suffered from its failure of implementation, you will hear of it as the biggest boneheaded decision ever made.

On paper, the RTL promises to be the quickest solution that, if implemented properly, would be a boon to the farmers and help stabilize the price of rice for the consumers.

With an institutionalized bureaucracy, rice hoarder mafia, opportunity for corruption, and plain incompetence, a momentary delay on the entire value chain will result in the mess that we find today.

The groundbreaking law is what pitted then Secretary of Agriculture Emmanuel Pinol against the economic managers of the president who enjoyed their air-conditioned turfs while navigating the lives of the farmers. Those confrontations, of which then Secretary Piñol had been very vocal, was among the key factors that found him at odds with the president’s circle.

Secretary Piñol was then diplomatically moved to Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) where he continued his advocacy for the farmers and rural development. He embraced the post in his familiar territory of Mindanao taking even his online followers to the journey and to give us a view of the magnitude of opportunities in our countryside.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, where the country consumes more rice than the entire population of the Republic of the Philippines, rice is equally an important commodity that has pitted the parliament against President Jokowi’s economic managers.

The solution: no single grain of rice shall be imported until all the produce of the farmers have been bought by the government. Further, only the state-owned enterprise Bulog shall be allowed to import rice.

Hence, the continued proliferation of the ubiquitous nasi Goreng in every corner across 17,000 islands.

Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has a guaranteed tenure as Administrator of MinDA until 2024 but, pushed by the collective prodding of young farmers in the country, he had no choice but to accept the challenge by these new generation of farmers to become the voice in the Senate.

Secretary Piñol is no stranger to a fight, having struggled all his life to uplift his condition out of poverty: he took his education in whatever the province could offer, at times derailed by his financial capability but nonetheless completed it by working as a student in whatever job came his way: disc jockeying, sports writing, as a sports commentator, journalist, until he found himself vying for the mayoral post and winning, becoming a governor, and a vice governor.

He has been credited to have reduced the poverty index of his province during his term. And he has had his share of political triumphs and losses.

In such political journey, he has never been accused of corruption. Not as a mayor, Governor, and Vice Governor but as Secretary of Agriculture, when he went up against vested interests, you will find him at the center of alleged bribery and intimidation.

Yet the independent Presidential Anti Corruption Commission cleared him of all baseless allegations and he even passed the lifestyle check, proving his detractors wrong.

As he begins his electoral journey to the Senate, the questions now are:

1. What would you amend in the RTL?

2. What’s the better — if not best — solution that can be learned from our neighbors?

3. What’s the sustainability plan towards food security?

4. Is there really an investment space for locals, OFWs, and even foreign investors in the agriculture space? Or are the natural elements (typhoons, calamities, etc) still a challenge in that industry?

5. Is it safe to invest in agriculture including in parts of Mindanao that you have shown?

These — and your OWN QUESTIONS THAT YOU WILL ASK DIRECTLY FROM HIM — are among the robust discussions that we will have this Saturday, November 13, at 1:30 pm JAKARTA time.

How often will you have an actual chance for a candidate to so boldly submit himself for your consideration?

Not from some esteemed journalist or from some high level organization but from us, an average and regular voter outside of the country where our voices are oft muted and not heard.

Kaya magkita-kita tayo at makipanayam ke Emmanuel Piñol, kandidato para sa Senado.

(The Nov. 13 engagement with Filipino expatriates in Indonesia is an initiative of the Philippine Business Club Indonesia, headed by its President Antonio Capati, through one of its most active officers, Norwin Mark Castro.)