Editorial – Pity the farmers, pity ourselves

The Mindanao power crisis caused by the El Nino phenomenon has dominated public discourse during the past two months. The loud discussion has been generously played out in the media whose focus on the subject has generated headline stories almost on a daily basis. Understandably so, because the business community, government and the  media industry  are affected by the outages that have become more frequent and longer the past two weeks.
In the beginning, the dire warnings by energy industry players were coldly received by an unbelieving public.  Now, the warnings are regarded as gospel truth after the skeptics began experiencing the initial effects of the crisis. This time, everybody seems to be doing his bit in contributing ideas to solve the worsening problem.
The government has reacted by making available a P10-billion calamity fund partly (40 percent) to underwrite the purchase of emergency generating sets  and partly (60) to assist Mindanao’s hard-hit farmers.
Of course, one doesn’t have to be a mathematical genius to know that the amount is not enough, given that the huge gen-sets, usually imported ones,  are super expensive.
It’s a good thing that the farmers are not forgotten in the allocation. At first, we thought that complaints from this hapless sector on the debilitating effects of the drought on crops and animals have been drowned by the louder voices of denizens of the urban areas who seem concerned about power first, and food security only second. 
In a way, we can thank the current election season for reminding  those who walk the corridors of power  that the farmers are a political force to reckon with – they constitute  16 million voters or 40 percent of the country’s total voting population.
Levity aside, assisting the farmers is absolutely necessary. It simply means we are doing ourselves a favor. Without them, or if they cease producing food, we go hungry. What if other countries, who are likewise reeling from the effects of severe drought, all decide to stop selling staple cereals to us simply because they are only able to produce enough for their own consumption?
God forbid!