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.

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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.

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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.

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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)