Coincidences

By Alex P. Vidal

“Ambition can creep as well as soar.”—Edmund Burke

WAS it a mere coincidence that when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was reportedly scheduled to appoint the new secretaries of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health (DoH) anytime next month, Iloilo first district Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin’s press statements also started to flood in the media as of this writing?

So many astute politicians angling to be appointed in key cabinet portfolios make a lot of noise in order to be noticed—especially when the field is swamped with proteges of heavyweight political clans.

Some of them believe the more they are heard and seen in the media the more chances they will be included in the game of the musical chairs—and even clinch the coveted chair right away if one of them is luckier.

We aren’t saying, of course, that Loreto-Garin, who had a roller coaster ride as DoH boss during the term of the late former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, is doing this; we aren’t saying she is among those astute politicians.

When the president distributes the appointment goodies, the lucky ones can’t be faulted if they are the apples of the president’s eye.

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Clever Loreto-Garin is actually in the best position to try her luck anew since her family had really supported President Marcos in the last election.

Earlier, sister-in-law, former party-list Rep. Sharon Garin, was appointed as undersecretary of the Department of Energy (DOE).  Other political clans and dynasties queueing for cabinet jobs might envy the Garins if they will right away corner two slots—assuming that Loreto-Garin is salivating for any cabinet post.

One Garin in the cabinet for a political “payback” is enough. Two Garins are too much? If they are qualified and President Marcos really wants them, why not?

Aside from their qualifications first and foremost, most of those who get juicy cabinet positions and their families really went all out to support the president in the election.

It’s a case of “we’d scratched your back, now it’s your turn to scratch ours.”

To accept the job is one thing. To be ashamed out of delicadeza is another thing.

It was only probably a coincidence that before President Marcos appointed Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire as DoH officer in charge on July 14, a “press statement” from Loreto-Garin had circulated in both the local and national media where she “urged” the use of Dengvaxia in the light of the increase in dengue cases.

As a doctor, Loreto-Garin was indeed in the best position to talk about what’s best for dengue cases; in fact, her vigilance and kindness deserved a kudos.

But, again, the cruel coincidence.

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Meanwhile, just as President Marcos was about to pick the regular DA top post he concurrently holds and Vergeire’s possible successor in the DoH, Loreto-Garin, once again, surfaced in another “press statement”, this time calling the DA to promote “kamote” or sweet potato as alternative to rice.

“It is high time that the DA extensively promotes sweet potato as an alternative. One way of doing this is to increase production and make the necessary investment in root crops in terms of agricultural research, food technology, or marketing,” Garin said in a statement.

“The nutritious content of rice cannot compare to that of kamote since rice transforms into sugar in the body, making one susceptible to diabetes, while kamote is high in fiber and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer.”

She added: “Our love for rice has given birth to the famous ‘extra rice’ and ‘unli rice’ cultures. Unlike the popular expression ‘rice is life,’ we encourage restaurants to try using kamote in place of rice and even as French fries. What we need today are innovations in the kitchen.”

“It’s high time we changed our attitude towards both rice and root crops. Kamote can bring back health and keep some health problems at bay. As medical studies have shown, kamote lowers hypertension, bad cholesterol, and even blood sugar when taken as a substitute for rice.”

Wow. Was the latest coincidence too good to be true?

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)