Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Uncle Sam once again came to the rescue of its former colony, the Philippines –or is it the other way around?

The Philippine government has just lifted the ban on the importation of fresh vegetables from the United States. This, according to President NoyNoy Aquino, will solve the vegetable shortage currently being experienced by his country. “Our agricultural lands are just not producing enough vegetable supplies needed by our country,” Aquino said, “so we thought it necessary to spend millions of dollars to bring in fresh vegetables from the U.S., rather than support and subsidize our local farmers. ‘Imported vegetables’sound more appealing and appetizing.”

Newly-appointed agriculture Francis Pangilinan echoed his boss’ sentiment by teling reporters that “spinach (from the U.S.) sounds more sexy than the local kangkong.” 

In response to a reporter’s question on what vegetables the Philippines will be importing from the U.S., Aquino suddenly burst into song, singing a verse from a famous traditional Filipino folk song:

“Bahay kubo (Nipa hut)  kahit munti (small as it may be). Ang halaman doon ay sari-sari (Plants there are varied). Singkamas (turnips) at talong (eggplant), sigarilyas (winged bean) at mani (peanut), sitaw (green long beans), bataw (hyacinth bean),  patani (lima beans).”

Meanwhile, Filipino Americans have complained that they are not able to procure many Filipino vevegtables in the U.S., especially those needed to cook pinakbet, a vegetable recipe akin to the French ratatouille.  “So now, with the U.S. exporting its vegetables, it will even be harder for me to find my veggies here,” says Alejandra Talong of Daly City, California.