Alongside recent news of tankers being fired upon in the beleaguered Strait of Hormuz, the situation between the United States and Iran is going to be unpredictable. This can rile up markets and affect our fuel prices, eroding confidence over the next year. Add this to the unresolved conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and a long-term oil supply disruption is already clear, casting a cloud of uncertainty affecting the economic survival of almost all nations, including ours.

Rather than rant and expect others to carry us through these uncertainties, we will have to carry ourselves and each other through.

In previous columns, I already discussed some steps that can be taken, from co-loading cargo on trucks and producing whatever food we can to relying less on purchases. Other areas include boosting local fertilizer production. You can produce fertilizer at home and in the community, if only to feed backyard and community vegetable plots. Installing solar panels on rooftops, reducing the time to approve net metering arrangements, and increasing retail electricity supply contracts are positive developments that can enable more local production of electricity.

Nonetheless, we need to play the long game. At the national and regional level, this includes mapping out strategic food production areas within each region and putting in place food transport programs that can help farmers bring produce to market and keep food costs low for consumers. In addition, solar-powered electric food storage, solar-powered fishing fleets, and electric public transport. Electrifying the food supply chain and transport sector with locally produced electricity will help keep our local economies resilient, whatever disruptions may arise. Such resilience is not merely about having transport and food available, but affordable for consumers.

As uncertainty persists, geopolitical realignments will take place with blocs of nations cooperating to secure short and long-term interests. At the interstate level, I believe deeper cooperation within ASEAN is necessary. This can cover long-term, strategic petroleum storage, particularly for aviation and marine fuel, as electrifying these modes of transport with lighter batteries may take decades to develop.

Moreover, cooperation within ASEAN and our dialogue partners to develop such technologies may also be necessary. Despite slowing population growth in the Philippines, ASEAN remains a young, high-growth regional economy that can serve as a market for these new technologies. This situation serves as the mother of innovation in such fields. This can help keep ASEAN-level markets humming, a must if we are to facilitate growth and secure the political stability of all member states, and address uncertainty.

Happy Anniversary, Archbishop Valles and the Holy Cross of Davao College

I would like to greet Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, D.D., a happy 50th sacerdotal anniversary last April 10. I have always admired the folksy wisdom of his homilies, which are always rooted in the gospels of the day, juxtaposed with the daily lives of the flock of pilgrims - a Mindanao populace that has seen tremendous change, growth, and hope in these uncertain times.

Likewise, the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) deserves to be commended for 75 years of providing high-quality Catholic education to generations of Mindanawons, many of whom are a significant part of the island’s social and economic fabric. Noteworthy is its Institute of ASEAN – European Studies (IAES), a forward-looking institute which recently hosted its 18th Ambassadorial lecture featuring Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya on 70 years of Japan-Philippine diplomatic relations. This puts HCDC at the forefront of efforts to face the future with hope and vision, enabling all to deal with the persistent uncertainty we are facing.