My favorite excerpt from PBBM’s SONA 2024: “Mga minamahal kong kababayan, lagi po nating LABANAN ANG MALI at ang masama. Lagi po nating IPAGLABAN ANG TAMA at ang mabuti…”
All past presidents were aware that rice is a staple food in every Filipino family’s home, be it in an opulent dining room of the rich or on an improvised dining table of the poor. PBBM is the only president I know who is actually doing his darn best to make it affordable to all.
For context, being born to poor parents, I and my 6 siblings had too much rice with little or no viands to share on our dining table. This was a long time ago, when rice was abundant and cheap, even by our family’s standards. Times have changed. Rice has become a luxury to the poor and the downtrodden.
Expressing my support to PBBM’s darn efforts to prioritize rice production and self-sufficiency in the country, no matter how long it takes to materialize is my way of showing appreciation by sharing my sentiment to those who may be able to read my X post in that regard. As if on cue, some bashers and idiots couldn’t contain themselves and posted vitriolic and impertinent responses. I have one word to describe them and their handlers: PATHETIC.
He has neither succeeded nor failed. My reality is his expressed passion to prioritize making rice affordable which I didn’t see or hear from his predecessors. My opinion is anchored on that sense of priority. The P20/kilo is too ambitious and may not be realized, but he’s trying.