Only those who don't buy anything are silent about the unrestrained increases of prices of almost anything. What is very sad about it is that not even the agencies of government that are supposed to have the power to address them have become powerless. Talk of the new curse and that is the runaway prices of almost everything that can be bought. First there was rice. Despite claims of the Department of Agriculture (DA) that there is enough supply, the price of rice during the last few months was competing with the runaway price of gasoline. Then there was the price of fish in the market that not only competed with the price of meat but even surpassed it. Fish that only have to be caught from the sea is now more costly than pork. The prices of prime commodities and other agricultural product followed. Garlic, onion, ginger, name it, and their prices have all soared high. The public can't understand anymore as government agencies in-charge of monitoring these commodities have given no plausible explanation.

DA says there is no shortage of rice but a kilo of the good kind, referred to as fancy rice,that used to sell at P42 now sells at P50 or more per kilo. Canned goods, laundry soaps, infant formulas whose prices are regulated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have become unaffordable to daily wage earners. Who is to protect the public from this unwanted price increases? Who is piling profits out of these increases? I asked farmers who produce these agricultural products if they are sharing from the windfall of price increases and none of them said yes. So, who's raking in the profits? Why is government powerless in arresting these runaway prices? Are these symptoms of illegal operations bigger than the P10 billion PDAF scam? The PDAF scam only deprived the public of the benefits that should have been due them had the projects identified under PDAF been implemented as they should be. But the runaway prices of everything are choking the public, especially the poor and destitute, to death. This is the expressed but unheard curse of people every time they buy anything in the market. Let's hope the agencies of government charged with protecting the public listen to this curse not only with their ears but also with their hearts before the pleas of the people turn to dissents and open acts of violence.

NOTES. Senior citizens of Tagbilaran City are complaining why they should be required to secure a certification from their chapters in the barangays before they could be issued with their booklets that will entitle them to free movie. Even after presenting their new IDs which have been validated several times by the Office of the Senior Citizens at the City Hall they were still refused their free movie booklets. If City Hall cannot honor the IDs that it issued to the senior citizens who else would and where else can the senior citizens run to?