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LAS VEGAS: The Philippines is suffering from high prices of food and
fuel, but it is not weeping alone for these woes. The price squeeze
is being felt even in the United States, particularly in this city
which is among its fastest growing urban centers, despite its having
no state tax.
Regular gasoline here costs $3.47 a gallon and
there are predictions that it will top $4 come summer time. My
pharmacist daughter Irene said that fuel cost a little over $2 a
year ago, and about $1 when she arrived in Las Vegas eight years
ago. Neither is the Filipino consumer all alone in facing increased
water cost. The Las Vegas Water District had just approved a
23-percent hike in water rates effective April 1, and doubled the
fines for those caught watering on the wrong day.
Are we complaining about the rising cost of the
shrinking pan de sal? Well, the cost of some special pies here have
gone up from $20 to $25, or a 25 percent increase. My wife Lynn was
aghast when she found that muffins, one of her favorites, now cost
almost $6 a dozen, or more than a dollar higher than the price last
year. Milk now costs a dollar more than a few months back according
to Irene. Most other food items have also become more expensive, and
the pinch is felt hardest by the low-income group, just like in the
Philippines. A Las Vegas television station said that a worker
receiving $9 an hour can not even save $5 after working 40 hours in
a week.
This city is one of the hardest hit by the
growing recession in the US. It is mainly dependent on tourism and
the casino and since the economy is bad and plane fares are higher,
fewer people are coming over. Some hotel-casinos are laying off
employees and are thinking of lowering their rates to entice more
people to come to compensate for the plane fare increase. The
business section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on the
increasing number of foreclosures of houses. Rite Aid, the third
biggest pharmacy store chain in the US, sold its stores in Las Vegas
to Walgreen, the nation’s biggest. My daughter Irene had been with
Rite Aid since 2000 and since the sale to Walgreens did not include
the personnel, she found herself unemployed. Thank heavens, Walgreen
hired her a week after Rite Aid closed down—with a higher salary
and a generous signing bonus to boot.
Why am I recounting the woes being felt by the
people of Las Vegas? Well, I am almost tempted to say that misery
loves company. But on deeper reflection, I think the motto of
Namfrel, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the
darkness,” is more apt. Now is not the time to point fingers.
Instead, we must learn to adapt and find ways to ease the pangs of
inflation. Nutritionists are now suggesting alternatives to or food
supplements for rice. For viands, may I dare propose that we should
try eating insects as food supplement.
I think that it is high time that we shake off
our bias towards insects. A number of insects are pests but most are
beneficial— and highly edible. Locusts, ant eggs, crickets,
salagubang, camaro, grubs, even the lowly gamu-gamu, are good
sources of nutritious food. When I went to China some years back, I
discovered fried scorpion in the menu of a restaurant and tried it.
Scorpion is not filling, however, and it merely satisfies one’s
interest in exotic foods.
Incidentally, I came over here to cradle in my
arms Joshua, my first grandson, who was born Feb. 13. Last weekend,
we had a long drive to San Diego to beat the heat of the Las Vegas
desert. It did not turn out that way, however, since San Diego
turned out to be hotter than Las Vegas. The day before we arrived,
the temperature was 104 degrees, the hottest in more than a century.
When we arrived, the temperature was 96 degrees, the hottest since
1944. And to think that this is still spring!
When this column comes out, I would have
returned to the Philippines and to my beat already. I thank my boss
Klink Ang, for giving me a break from my work to be with the newest
member of the Danao family in Las Vegas.
Kudos to Pia
Congratulations to Sen. Pia Cayetano for her
recent election as president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s
Committee on Women Parliamentarians. She is the first Filipino and
Asian to head the committee, which was formed in 1990 to give lady
legislators a permanent voice in the IPU.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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