Profiting from others’ misery
Jonas travels 50 kilometers from his hometown to work in Tagbilaran City. There are no public utility vehicles plying the route directly from his home to the city. For his daily means of transportation, he relies on his trustworthy motorcycle.
After Typhoon Odette ravaged the province during that fateful night on December 16, he has been absent from his work for days because travelling to the city was not possible. On the fourth day, the road clearing was completed. Still, he could not report to work because gasoline became scarce, and he needed to spend a whole day just to get few liters of gasoline. Worried that he would be considered to have abandoned his work, Jonas was forced to buy the gasoline sold at a merchant’s store at P150 per liter, more than double the price at the gas stations. In this situation, Jonas needs P750 per day to report to work to earn a daily wage of P400.
Meanwhile, one business owner has been keeping empty water containers in his warehouse. He purchased this item at a cost of P40 per container and sold it at P50. Since the item is slowmoving, his inventory has accumulated. To keep it moving, he decided to sell it at breakeven and sometimes at a loss. After Typhoon Odette, the business owner noticed many customers asking for empty containers. Seeing this as an opportunity to increase his income, he sold each container at P100. Since the item is selling like hotcakes, he decided to sell the next day his containers at P500 each, and as result, he received a windfall of P100,000 in just two days.
Jonas is just one of the so many Boholanos who are placed at the receiving end of opportunism while the business owner exemplifies how one can instantaneously enrich himself out of others’ misery.
The long line of people waiting for their time to buy gasoline in almost all gas stations within and outside the city and the exorbitant prices charged by unscrupulous businessmen for our necessities are situations that call for government intervention. It is a crisis that needs to be addressed urgently by our local and national officials.
We have existing laws that punish those who are taking advantage of others in our present situation. Government authorities must apply the strong arm of the law to these people. This is the defining moment for our leaders. With all the wherewithal to quell this manmade crisis, these problems are not difficult to solve unless our leaders really don’t have the will to do it.