Favila hits the ceiling

Initially, I didn’t know where Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila was coming from when he griped against media reportage on the post-typhoon Ondoy situation. An impassioned Favila could not hide his irritation when he took a swing at media while briefing President Arroyo and other Cabinet members during the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting held at the Cainta municipal hall last Friday. In the course of his briefing about the DTI price monitoring that he has been doing regarding basic foodstuffs and other goods sold in stores and wet markets, Favila scored the “media” out of the blue for reasons he did not say.

Quoting unidentified people who purportedly complained to him about media reportage on Ondoy, Favila told the President and the NDCC that he could not act on this particular public concern. But Favila said he assured these people that he would raise this matter before the National Telecommunications Commission. Obviously, the subject of Favila’s alleged public complaint involves broadcast media when he mentioned that it is the NTC, not the DTI that has jurisdiction on this matter.

Fortunately, the DTI Secretary is not the proper government authority that regulates the activities and operations of Philippine media. What was Favila’s beef against the press when he made a sweeping attack on media’s reporting on the aftermath of Ondoy? By the way, the NDCC meeting was being telecast live by the government-owned TV network NBN-Channel 4 and also by the ANC, the cable news channel of the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN TV network.

I could only surmise the cause of Favila’s irritation on media has something to do with his price watch job as DTI Secretary. Favila is finding difficulties to perform his principal task to keep stable the prices of food and other basic goods and ensure that their supplies are readily available in the stores, groceries and markets.

Interviewed on TV, I heard Favila explain that he has no police powers to arrest violators. All that the DTI could do, he cited, is to issue notice of violation against storeowners and vendors caught selling goods way above the price ceiling set by the government. This was after President Arroyo, upon the recommendation of the DTI Secretary, imposed price ceilings on basic commodities starting last Monday and to remain in effect for two months.

Products covered by the “price ceiling” are canned sardines in tomato sauce, processed milk (condensed, evaporated and powdered), coffee refills, luncheon meat, corned beef, meat loaf, beef loaf, instant noodles, cane vinegar, patis or fish sauce, soy sauce, detergent/laundry soap, toilet soap, batteries, LPG, construction materials, to name some.

In one of his market inspections to check on the prices, Favila told the President that he nearly got into what could have been a deadly encounter with a vendor resisting violently on this government-imposed price ceiling. But that should not be any reason for the DTI Secretary to take it against media.

What’s media got to do with it? From what I gathered, media reports about instant noodles, sardines, and other canned goods disappearing fast from grocery shelves were being blamed for allegedly causing undue panic buying. But the other half of the story is that these foodstuffs were being bought in bulk by donors of relief goods.

While the government has the power to enforce price ceilings for these commodities, especially in times of emergency, consumers are still at the mercy of these unscrupulous vendors and traders. We even encounter some smart-alecks among them to say in our face, “Buy these goods from the newspaper.”

If only the DTI Secretary carefully read the Price Act before he took cheap shots at media, he would have found out there is enough powerful tools for him which he could use to go after these profiteers in the midst of crisis.

Apparently, the DTI Secretary belatedly found this out when the President later continued the NDCC meeting in executive session or without media coverage. Later in the day, the Chief Executive issued an official statement, thanking news organizations for helping in the rescue and relief work to assist thousands of victims of Ondoy that killed over 280 people and left hundreds of thousands of families homeless in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Mrs. Arroyo cited the various emergency and relief assistance programs of television and radio stations as well as newspapers, including The STAR. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde echoed the President’s gratitude to Philippine media and cited that the information disseminated by news outlets have also helped saved lives and property. He, however, appealed to media outfits not to stir panic as the government raised public alert on the entry of another “super” typhoon named Pepeng over the weekend.

“If it is indeed true that there is panic-buying because of media reports, I think the news organizations are responsible enough to do self-regulation and we do not want to interfere in their work for public service,” Remonde told Palace reporters. And I think the Press Secretary also impressed this upon to Favila.

And perhaps Favila has gotten the message well when he finally made sense on how to effectively discharge his powers under the Price Act. Favila disclosed he would utilize the services of the National Bureau of Investigation agents to help the DTI run after Price Act violators. Favila also subsequently announced that the DTI would ask the assistance of the Department of Justice to assign a 24-hour prosecutor to conduct inquest of Price Act violators. That’s more like it.

And since the entire country has been placed under state of calamity, the President also ordered the Philippine National Police to help the DTI strictly enforce the law and make “arrest on the spot.”

Citing the legal advice by her Harvard law graduate Cabinet member, Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., the President cited the legal maxim of “in flagrante delicto” or being caught in the act of committing a felony. Teodoro, by the way, is the NDCC chairman. Favila could learn a trick or two from Gibo before he again hits the ceiling! –Marichu A. Villanueva (The Philippine Star)