#MINDANAO John Tria In the past few years, our newsfeeds have been filled with climate-related events such as heat waves that have sparked epic wildfires, droughts in many areas of the globe, and major storms and flooding in other countries, ours included. The climate disruptions in various parts of the food-producing world will force once robust exporting countries to reduce shipments to the world. Likewise, our country's agricultural output is also often affected by major typhoons that cause extensive crop damage that reduces harvests. Here in Mindanao, durian fruit growers say that the harvest season may have already shifted, as more durians are expected in a month’s time. That’s definitely another harvest period as in the previous years those fruits were abundant beginning mid July. I expect that other crop producers will have the same concern. The reality of a climate gone awry can no longer be denied or ignored. It is bearing an impact not only on additional costs for home repairs, but it raises food prices as well. This complicates and weakens the efforts to push post-pandemic economic recovery for the greater majority, as it is one of the major factors, apart from the Ukraine conflict, driving inflation up. This affects especially the people in the developing world where food costs are the major expense item in household expenditure. The sobering reality before us is that at no time in history have these various climate and geopolitical pressures and disruptions occurred in succession, with tough overlapping effects. While recovering from one disruption, we will have to face another that is more complex and challenging. Imagine the strain that will be put on public and private resources. With this, adapting to climate change will not simply be about reinforcing houses and buildings to deal with the stronger winds and rains of typhoons. It will also have to make space for pandemic-related risks, such as having isolation procedures and open air sections for customers. It will also mean that we are prepared to assure our families of adequate food supplies both before and after climate-related events. Thus, with these complicated and overlapping challenges, it is likely that any country seeking self sufficiency may have to spend more to reach the same volume of harvests to meet local demand. At the same time, it has to make sure that production and retail costs are lowered to allow its poorer citizens to buy the commodity, thereby helping manage inflation. Achieving a sensitive balancing act will be needed. These challenges will force us to reexamine our food systems, and make necessary adjustments in order to be resilient. This is one of the major tenets of resilience. How to achieve that will take open minds, new thinking, partnerships and a greater acceptance of the role of technology to expand production, improve shelf and storage lives and lower the costs of food transport to markets. Inter-island travel I would like to reach out to the Department of Transportation (DOTR) to take a look at procedures for inter-island travel, particularly those that involve vehicles that are brought along by the travelers. Perhaps having the process done online from booking seats and vehicle slots, to release of inter-island permits will encourage more travel. This will lessen the effort needed by Filipinos, especially from Mindanao travelling to the Visayas and Luzon, to travel between major islands on ferries.