May 2007 Archives

I WOULD like to congratulate the Land Transportation Office for coming up with the driver's license renewal office at the MRT station along Ayala Avenue. For someone who is so used to slow, lousy service as well as the hot and dirty premises at the LTO; I was very surprised to find that this license renewal office was clean, had cool airconditioning and the personnel extended very efficient service. The whole process of preparing my driver's license took less than one hour. I started the process by filling out a form and taking the drug test around 11:50 a.m. and I got my license (plastic) at 1:15 p.m. That included the staff's lunch break, mind you. I was so impressed that I had to write Vox Populi to let everyone know how good the experience was. To the manager and staff at this little LTO office, keep up the good work! To the LTO, I hope there would be many more of these offices around the country and, I hope, that this would be the new face of the LTO that will win back the hearts of the citizenry.

THIS is a reaction to Mr. Neri's irritating remarks from your column, part of which reads: "When asked about the families of overseas Filipino workers, who are likewise adversely affected by the peso's strengthening, Neri said: 'Well, they are not being taxed anyway, so that's their consolation.' "'Also, OFW remittances are getting higher anyway,' Neri said. 'Remittances are increasing because there's an upgrade on the quality of jobs.'" First thing, Mr. Neri should not "brag" about OFWs not being taxed; lest he forget, remittances from the OFWs keep the country's head above high waters. Second thing, indeed remittances from OFWs are increasing simply because more and more Filipinos leave the country to work abroad. Mr. Neri's statement on increased dollar remittances due to upgrades in the quality of jobs is inaccurate. It's just a matter of ratio and proportion; the more Filipinos leave the country to go work abroad, the more the influx of dollar remittances to the country. Now why do people leave the country, everyday, to work abroad? Because they don't see a good future for their family if they just stick around and wait for the Philippine government to give them the opportunity to have one. It's sad, but it's the truth! Indeed OFWs are adversely affected by the strengthening peso because prices are not going down accordingly, which virtually makes the nature of the strengthening peso superficial. With the current exchange rate, OFW’s practically lost about 10 percent of their income compared to fourth quarter of 2001 rates, and approximately 20 percent from September 2004 rates. Instead of making disdainful remarks regarding the impact of the ‘strengthening peso’ on OFW’s (Mr. Neri is making it sound like it’'s OK for OFW’s that the exchange rate is going down), Mr. Neri and the government should find ways to ease the burden of OFW beneficiaries back home who practically receive lesser remittance value, like bringing the prices of basic commodities and services down accordingly. Now, about the idea of the economic experts from DLSU regarding taxation of remittances? I don’'t know how more ungrateful people like them back home could get. … -- Jeoffrey Bautista, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia (via e-mail)

THANK you for your article about the hog business. I hope that it will encourage more people to raise pigs, so we can help our country to become an exporter of pork around the world. It would be nice if our government can distribute a pair of pigs to raise to every family. That would be really a big help for them to start. -- Lea Hetherington, Perry, Kansas (via e-mail)

I AM throwing up everytime I read news about the marital problems of Ruffa and Ylmaz. What's the big deal about it? Why is the Philippine media giving so much attention to it? Let's get to the real facts: 1) The letter of Ylmaz is an excellent commentary on the state of the Philippine media, which creates "fake stars." It should make the Filipinos think about what makes a person worth praising. 2) Annabelle's gallons of tears in one of the talk shows there just reveals who the "materialistic person" is in Ylmaz's letter. We all know why she's crying. She's afraid to lose her milking cow! Enough about this Ruffa-Ylmaz soap opera, please. Give us some more important news from the Philippines. -- Don Ledesma, Indio, California (via e-mail)

I WONDER if anyone (besides me) has ever come with the idea of electing our senators on a per region basis. The way I see it, we can elect 2 senators per region (not sure about the autonomous ones, though). True, it would increase the number of senators we currently have, but I've been thinking of several advantages to this system. For one, the Senate membership will truly be representative of the entire country. As it stands now, majority of our senators are from Luzon, with a sprinkling coming from the Visayas and Mindanao. This will give regions outside Imperial Manila a chance to be adequately represented in the Senate. Second, it reduces the expenses to be shouldered by the candidates, from the actual campaign to the number of watchers they will require, as they would focus their resources in their specific regions rather than the entire country. Less expenses might encourage more deserving but financially-handicapped candidates to come forth and throw their hats in the political arena. It would speed up the canvassing of votes, as the winning candidates can be proclaimed on a regional level rather than on a national level. This "might" also reduce the chances and the scope of dagdag-bawas, making it easier to detect. In the United States, only the presidential/vice-presidential race is conducted on a national level. Their senators are elected per state. It should make sense that our senators also be elected at most on a regional level. It should make the candidates more mindful of their constituents in their respective regions. Just my two centavos' worth...

I HAVE been reading with interest Ramon Farolan’s columns on the rights of senior citizens. I am one of them, and he has indeed helped us a lot. Another problem that I would like to bring to his attention is the non-acceptance of credit cards by hospitals for the payment of fees for blood examination, X-ray, ultrasound, etc. They insist that a cash payment be made; otherwise the 20-percent discount will be reduced. For me, these services are even more urgent than the need to buy medicines. One goes to the hospital for a medical exam because it has become very necessary. In this connection, I was wondering if Farolan has a facility, say, an e-mail address, for accepting comments or suggestions from senior citizens, regarding problems they encounter and how these can be addressed in a collective and organized manner. Whether or not he has this facility, I am volunteering my services to assist in this endeavor. -- Angelo V. Manahan (via e-mail)

FIRST of all, an informative article -- in particular since it was done locally. Nothing like a local perspective on the Prius. Always wondered what the Prius performance was in the Philippines. I have a slight disagreement with the author. She suggested that plug-in hybrids are superior to the current gas/electric setup. Well, in so far as the individual car is concerned, yes, it will certainly use up less gas. But a lot of people forget (even here in the US) that plugging in a car means it uses power from the electrical grid. And in the Philippines, majority of our power still comes from generators fueled by dirty fuel, i.e., coal, diesel, bunker fuel and the like. It is commendable that we now have power generated from natural gas but that is still not the norm. In theory if all the vehicles in the Philippines switched to electricity, we would still have problems since we would eventually overload our electrical grid. Now if we can generate that extra power from natural gas, then good, but if all the extra electricity came from coal, think of all the extra smog we would now be producing. In my mind the current setup of gas/electric is still the best. Just imagine if all the vehicles in the Philippines averaged 25 km/liter, wouldn't that be good for everybody! And we wouldn't have to build new power plants to boot. -- Don Gonzaga, Fort Worth, Texas (via e-mail)

COME to think of it, using [Romeo] Brawner's convoluted logic, is he a Filipino? I seem to recall that he has an ancestor that was not a Filipino. And if he is not, what right does he have to be a Comelec commissioner? And if he has none, what right does he have to give such a ruling? -- Ramon Lukban, Mexico (via e-mail)

I WAS amazed and happy to read that an executive of a company would [lend a] hand and bring back one man's life in that busy place. God bless him and his family. Mabuhay po kayo... Thanks to Inquirer for bringing this story [to the attention of the] public. -- Ben Mempin, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (via e-mail)

JAY R, Panky, Chad, Irish -- who are they? And who do they think they are? They are nobody and yet they act like they are somebody. No wonder these would-be actors and actresses never progress because of their attitude. They better kiss their dreams goodbye. -- Alex Peralta, Montreal, Canada (via e-mail)

WE are missing the point as far as the root cause of CARP's [Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program] problems [is concerned]. The fact is [that] since its inception, the government and Land Bank of the Philippines have conspired successfully to defraud and deprive landowners of just compensation and farmers of genuine land reform. The former is now the new underclass and farmers should wisen up to recognize [that] the enemy is a corrupt state who grins when agricultural titleholders clash with farmer-beneficiaries while politicians enrich themselves. Recent examples of these include the P400-million cell phone scam taken from the agrarian reform fund in the sole custody of LBP. Add to that the Bolante scam and not much will be left of the Marcos loot recovered. In the past the Arroyo administration and Secretary Gary Teves have told the Marcos victims that they cannot be fully compensated because the funds must be for CARP. Yet today one will be hardpressed to find a titleholder who was paid just compensation by LBP. Can we truly blame the remaining landowners for resisting CARP coverage? A number of them have voluntarily offered their land only to find themselves victims of an oppressive fund custodian -- LBP. Titleholders and agrarian-beneficiaries should therefore unite against a deceitful, divisive, and corrupt government standing in the way of genuine agrarian reform. -- Ana Tanedo Wu, Hagonoy, Bulacan (via e-mail)

IT'S a bit confusing how come the Daewoo company and the Nigerian Embassy here in the Philippines and South Korea have not done anything productive with regards to the immediate release of the hostages. Employees of Daewoo are stuck in the middle of all this and the Nigerian government isn't doing anything about it at all. I think Daewoo should take better care of the security of their employees and not leave them to the mercies of kidnappers and the Nigerian government should do something as well with regards to their people unless they want to see a boycott of the United Nations helping out their country if these kidnappings do not stop. -- Jenifer Xavier, Merville Park, Parañaque City (via e-mail)

IN MY work and business, when I am unable to accomplish my objectives and targets, I can expect to lose my job and clients' trust. When the PNP [Philippine National Police] and military are unable to establish the peace and order expected from [them by] taxpayers and citizens, they should be held accountable or else lose their respect and position. Regardless of who or what are responsible for the increasing extra-judicial killings, rampant kidnappings and breakdown of discipline among the ranks of our uniformed personnel, the leadership of these national institutions do not deserve the continuing support of the people or our "duly elected" government... unless of course, these civil disturbances are exactly what we want. We the people have said no but have no direct authority to act. The administration has the authority to act but remains "reluctant"? Or should we conclude a conspiracy or are they they just plain incompetent? We deserve a better government and social justice. Whatever economic gains we profess as a nation, [if] we fail to uphold justice [it] will destroy all of us over time. -- Manny Esclante, Alberta, Canada

WHEN I was teaching Philippine Constitution many years ago, I had no problem explaining to my undergraduate students the meaning of the constitutional tenet: No one shall be denied access to the courts by reason of poverty. That was self-explanatory even to them. The Supreme Court has dumbfounded everyone as to the meaning of this constitutional guarantee by arbitrarily raising the amount of filing/court docket fees to such astronomical levels [that] only the rich can now file cases in court! -- Steve Monsanto, Xavierville II, Quezon City (via e-mail)

RIGHT after the Easter holidays, I noticed a couple of heavy equipment [vehicles] working on the drainage of the west service road of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) between Villamor and Merville, which I suppose is [intended] to [prevent the] pooling of water in the area during the rainy season. Sometime last week, there were more heavy equipment [vehicles]. But this time, they started to break the cement pavement of the southbound lane of the west service road. With the increased road work, the west service road was made one-way to northbound traffic. Motorists bound for Merville now have no alternative but to use the SLEX and pay a toll of P25 for the short distance. Unfortunately, it seems that the toll operator failed to consider providing additional tellers at the Merville exit to meet the increased volume of vehicles. As a result, southbound traffic at the SLEX, starting from the Sales bridge at Villamor all the way to the Merville exit, has since last Thursday, been very heavy, particularly during the night time rush hour, when residents of the various communities in the Merville area, return from work. At midday last Sunday, a hundred-vehicle motorcade of the Genuine Opposition in Pasay even entered the one-way west service road to campaign at Kalayaan Village off Mervile, stalling and inconveniencing northbound Sunday motorists for more than thirty minutes. With only a month before school reopens, I hope the [road]work can be expedited. I also hope that the SLEX operator can field additional tellers to speed things up. Finally, I hope candidates for the coming election can and will at least respect basic road ordinances. -- Anthony A Mariano, Merville, Parañaque (via e-mail)

IT is frustrating to see this issue getting revived again and again. As a non-Tagalog speaker, it was easier for me to learn in English rather than Tagalog (Filipino is just Tagalog in disguise.) Language is not the main issue. The improvement of the quality of education by increasing the budget for it is more important. Not giving quality education to our poor people is more anti-poor than teaching them English. Why don't we just support that directive? As an overseas Filipino worker, I keep updated by reading the Inquirer everyday. Working abroad is already depressing. Reading about bickering NGOs and politicians is not making the lives of millions of OFWs any better. I just hope that everybody cooperates and practices the bayanihan spirit to make the Philippines the best country in Asia. -- Homerson Uy, Sarawak (via e-mail)

WHY should we allow this man to go out of the country? He is an accused and should be in jail. Or is P5.3 billion such a small amount that we just let dupers like this Mr. Faustino Chingkoe make fun of our country? In other countries, people who have duped the country of millions serve life imprisonment. Really, only in the Philippines can you find an accused out of jail, if they are not running for a political position or [relaxing] in a resort or summerhouse like ex-President Estrada. Sometimes it is really hard to believe that we still have a judicial system that works for the people. Only the poor, those who are without financial means to defend themselves, go to jail. -- Ariel Cerdenia, Düsseldorf, Germany (via e-mail)