Editorial

By any other name

Price and distribution abnormalities of the most basic of goods can spark public outrage, perhaps even more than the latest scandals unraveling in congressional hearings can. This is especially true if the government takes too long to acknowledge the problem, much less act on it.

Take what?s been happening with supplies of liquefied petroleum gas. Getting a new tank of cooking fuel used to be as easy as picking up the telephone to have the retailer deliver it?and right beside the stove, if the customer wants.

In recent weeks, however, LPG has been hard to come by. Non-bulk buyers such as families have had to look hard as their usual suppliers say they?ve run out of stock. Some desperate households have reportedly shelled out as much as P800 for an 11-kilogram container of the cooking gas, which hovered between P450 and P470 in ?normal? times.

Despite these, the Energy Department chooses to be artful with its depiction of the situation. There is no shortage, Secretary Angelo Reyes, who might as well be autistic, insists; just some shipment delays.

Now the Palace says Reyes has two weeks to solve the problem. We wonder how far his optimism is going to carry him, especially since the association of LPG marketers has announced that each tank could cost P55 higher amid tight supply.

We wonder, too, how Vice President Noli de Castro?s statement that hoarding causes supply problems will play out in the whole ?crackdown,? as these officials like to call their grudging efforts, against those responsible.

We are now told there exists a task force, composed of energy and justice officials, monitoring retailers? activities, ready to slap any of them with profiteering charges.

But who needs task forces if officials are doing their jobs and agency heads are attuned to what?s going on?

In the meantime, we hope Reyes? department does something about the situation, if he wishes to use a more neutral word. It will be interesting to hear what Reyes has to say if the problem is not solved after two weeks. And if that happens, we will be relieved to see him go?or something to that effect.