LET THEM EAT CAKE? STATIC

Aquote incorrectly attributed to the infamous French royalty Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake,” is said to be more fiction than fact; invented, the offspring of a fertile imagination. But its context cannot be discounted. There are situations when food might be plenty, but not within the reach of common folks. Thus, the forced “trade” of cheap bread for more expensive cake.

Looking back at 2018, and noting what should matter to candidates and voters in May 2019, I believe that food should be the priority. Above anything else. One senatorial candidate correctly emphasizes the economy. Howev- er, he should focus more on food. For an economy might be growing on the back of infrastructure and services growth, but its people are still hungry.

In the third quarter and onto the fourth quarter, food supply has remained problematic, with supply bottlenecks driving up the price particularly of rice. While higher taxes and rising fuel prices also contributed to inflation, the increase in consumer prices, the impact of food shortages was just as significant. We thus need to address the problem with long-term solutions.

In October, the trade deficit was reported to have hit $4.21 billion as the country spent a lot more on imported items and earned less from exports, its sale of locally made goods to buyers abroad. This brought the excess of import spending over export earnings for January-October 2018 to $33.92 billion, from $20.13 billion in the same period last year.

The culprit? According to government statisticians, more than half of the imports in October were raw materials and intermediate goods, as well as capital goods used as inputs for production. However, the main imported commodity groups included cereals and cereal preparations; mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; and, other food and live animals.

Looking back at 2018, and noting what should matter to candidates and voters in May 2019, I believe that food should be the priority. Above anything else.