“Gentlemen, I think it is about time we pulled our fingers out….The rest of the world does not owe us a thing.” —Prince  Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Agriculture Secretary, Atty. Arthur C. Yap, who is running for Congress in Bohol, is a product of the Ateneo College of Law and a member of the American Society of International Law, and earlier a Dean’s List in management and economics from the same university.

However, his real passion is agriculture and the welfare of the lowly farmer.

His claim to fame, apart from his impressive academic credentials and much more, was his assigned task of making coffee for his teacher, a certain Professor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who eventually became president of the Philippines with Atty. Arthur Yap as her Secretary of Agriculture.

The unexpected and catastrophic devastation wrought by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” could have been far worse had it not been for the foresight, preparedness, precautionary measures, and diversification strategies of the Department of Agriculture under Sec. Arthur C. Yap.

By promoting alternative production sites for vegetables, piggery, and poultry, the devastation of Benguet’ La Trinidad Valley enabled supplies from Visayas and Mindano, via the GMA Nautical Highway, to enter and reach Manila on time.

For foreseeing regular natural calamities annually, the DA also saw to it that sufficient buffer-stocks of imported rice at affordable prices were stored which insulated the government from criticisms as rice is a politically explosive and sensitive issue.

Owing to “Ondoy” and “Pepeng”, 600,000 hectares of ricelands had been devastated of which 100,000 hectares will have zero harvest in 2009. Losses and destruction to the fisheries sector have been estimated at P23 billion.

Be that as it may, on the one hand, for example, China, with its unique political communist economic model, has not only come out of the global financial crisis relatively unscathed and intact but also, as measured in terms of financial reserves which stand at US$2.3 trillion, is now the world’s wealthiest country.

Moreover, as the aftermath of the international financial meltdown, according to a former US Deputy Treasury Secretary, the era of free market capitalism, globalization, and deregulation is over.

Thus, as the popularity of the U.S. economic model wanes, China’s hybrid liberalized communist economic model is growing.

In short, the journey to greater global free trade, e.g., WTO, APEC, and others, has been stalled, and a new period of state intervention, reregulation, and increasing protectionism has begun.

It is in this milieu, that small and developing nations such as the Philippines, will have to do a lot of rethinking and restructuring..

On the other hand, this country, for instance has an antiquated agricultural sector badly in need of modernization; an anemic export sector, and low-tech manufacturing industries that have relegated the Philippines to one of the most uncompetitive economies in the world with a reputation for corruption and political instability.

As the cliché goes, there is no such thing as a “free lunch”, and survival belongs to the most intelligent, and the fittest.

When all is said and done, it is vital, critical and non-negotiable that the next Philippine President must not only be experienced in management and government but must also be exceptionally talented in view of the new world order of things that is emerging.

You be the judge. ((For comment and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)