February 2009 Archives

I LEFT the country in 2005 to work abroad. Since then, I have already gone back to the Philippines four times for a vacation. The last time I was in Manila was in July of 2008. And every time, I would drop by the POEA headquarters in Ortigas to pay for my OEC and PhilHealth membership. In April and May of 2008, my mother was hospitalized. I sent my PhilHealth ID number to my sister to facilitate the claims. Both claim applications were subsequently denied as we were told by PhilHealth that I was an inactive member. That was ridiculous as I just paid the membership fee in January 2008. We were forced to pay up for the entire hospital bill on both occasions. When I went back to Manila last July 2008, I personally inquired about my membership at the PhilHealth office in POEA. They found out that my payment (made in January 2008) had not been posted due to reasons only they would know. Fortunately, they were able to reactivate my membership that day. So we re-filed our claim applications along with a cover letter asking for reconsideration for late filing while explaining what happened. We were told to follow up after 2 months. Two months had passed, to our dismay we were told for the second time that both applications were denied as the hospitalization dates were more than 60 days old. My sister had to highlight the cover letter and explanation that was sent along with the applications. Again, we were told to wait for another two months before we get anything. My mother got hospitalized again in New Year’s day and then again 7 days later when she broke her left hip. Until now we’re waiting for PhilHealth to act on our two previous claims. We’re not talking of millions of pesos here. I might just be getting a couple of thousands after enduring months (or a year) of painfully communicating with this (respectable?) institution. How come any high-ranking officials, like these so-called Euro Generals (what happened to them anyway?!?!!), could easily get millions without any a drop of sweat, while somebody like me, who pays his dues (and remits precious dollars to the delight of my beloved Philippine government), could not be afforded prompt services, whipsawed by life’s trials and this government’s inaction? Is it not proper to rename PhilHealth to Feel Hell? This suggestion might raise some hackles but I do really feel good about it. Ronald Balanay, Eagan, Minnesota, via e-mail

I READ and understood the entire argument put forth to propose freezing the pay-offs for Legacy investors. However, given the layers and types of investors in the Legacy scheme, wouldn't it be prudent to propose a "classified" type of freezing? My husband and I are expatriates who have been working in Dubai for over eight years. In the country where we work, and prior to the financial meltdown, deposits in local or multinational banks are not insured. Hence, when the opportunity came to invest in one of Legacy's banks presented itself to us, we gave it a go, and moved precious savings from Dubai to a Philippine rural bank. So much have been written about greed having motivated all of the investors including those of us who are neither lawmakers nor cronies. The scheme itself is dubious, but what made someone like me with an MBA give it a try? The first reason I have already stated (deposits in Dubai were not insured). The other reason is that there seems to be a business model (they have development projects, granting loans to individuals to buy tricycles, there was even an Ethanol project that was floated by their agents). The final reason is far more out of reach, for me personally. That is, my MBA professor once told us that the biggest "rackets" in business are the banks--whether they are the big or hole-in-the-wall ones. If I put in 1 million in a time deposit, I get 20,000 per year at best after the bank made say 200,000 out of that money, and that one million, one should note, took me about 5 years to save. That interest can't even cover a month's rent or property amortization, much less the money we remit to our families in the Philippines on a monthly basis. Did I look at other opportunities to grow our money before Legacy? Sure. I invested in some small cottage industry a while back with a 250,000 capital, and that tiny business went belly up in half a year's time, mainly because I work overseas and cannot personally supervise much less grow a business that could potentially help my family or my small community's economy. Were we greedy to have invested in a too-good-to-be-true scheme? Perhaps. Were we stupid? Perhaps. Did we, in the big scheme of things, help prop the cash flow to Philippine banks while we (there must be hundreds of investors including those from Saudi Arabia as well) were investing? Perhaps. Should De Los Angeles be held accountable? Definitely. But should they freeze the pay-off of my time deposit? I hope not. Jenny Malapitan-Aguinaldo, Dubai, via e-mail

I believe that Jun Lozada could run for President, so is Mang Pandoy and all the Juan de la Cruzes out there. It's a constitutional right that every natural born Filipinos enjoy. On the premise that he is morally upright and unyielding, professor Alejandrino should think twice on endorsing Jun Lozada for presidency just because he is morally so. Is he really morally so? He who claims that he is a moralist is a Big No for me. This time is not the reign of the clergies and the papacy. We should be liberal in our choices and vote for people who could bring results rather than discuss morality in these modern times. Let the pope do his job and let the leaders do theirs. As George Bernard Shaw once said, "All progress depends upon the unreasonable man". More so, we need a leader who thinks beyond the box. Beyond the norms and not a mediocre leader. Here, we define leaders as someone who talks the loudest. We need leaders who talks less and works more. We are tired of the trapos and the Catholic Church interfering the government. If professor Alejandrino wants a president that is without stain, then there would be no presidential candidate in the Philippines 2010. Abraham Sampalocia, Valley Virgin Gorda, via e-mail

"I didn’t do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can’t prove a thing." So goes the line Bart Simpson, that cute little, yellow boy from the cartoon The Simpson’s is known for. It’s cute when Bart says it but not when its politicians and contractors who claim to be friends and acquaintances of a certain politicians’ spouse. Please. Spare us. Filipinos have already seen and heard too much of this “plea for innocence via the technical rules of evidence and criminal law” (and now for a lie detector test?) from the clowns that hold public office and those who drop their names. Just because something is not technically a crime, (e.g. name dropping), that does not make it ethical. And just because allegations of possible criminal acts by public officials involving transactions impressed with public interest have not been proven before a criminal court yet, it does not mean that it cannot and should not be a cause for concern for the public or lending institutions. We have all heard this before. We have seen it before. We have even heard a public apology for an act, which in no way meant that the one apologizing admitted to the wrongdoing. Excuse me but what the heck? She even moved her minions in Congress to prevent those recorded conversations from being played (even if millions of Filipinos already had their own CDs downloaded from the PCIJ website). We even had ring tones of it. Admittedly, the rules of criminal procedure are not ideal (a lot has changed). But one of the principles behind procedural due process and the standards of evidence in criminal law is the protection of the accused before an often all too powerful state which can deprive citizens of life, liberty and what most concerns FG’s pals, property. That is true when you are charged in a court of law. Innocent until proven guilty is the standard for criminal justice. But just because they have not been charged or sentenced for committing a crime YET, it does not necessarily mean that they cannot be excluded from public works projects. The rules of ethical behavior in public office and in public transactions do not require full-scale criminal cases and final sentences before they can apply. They have got to be kidding if they are suggesting that. Even if they painted their faces yellow like Bart while saying that, it can’t be and won’t be funny. Ethical rules of behavior apply to all of us but there is a reason for holding the behavior of public officials and those who deal with public transactions and projects to such high standards and that is because their actions have a huge impact on the common good. All of this of course is lost on members of Congress, who like many others in Philippine politics, would not know what ethical behavior looked like even if it sat on their faces. What is the world coming to? Children are being subjected to heightened state surveillance via random drug testing and sly politicians and their friends get off on every conceivable technical argument they can muster against reported unethical behavior. We treat children like criminals and politicos play innocent. Carolina Ruiz, Senior Lecturer, UP College of Law, via e-mail

Your article "Youth and Change" really made me think and I do agree with you that the youth will be the key to change. Problem is that only a small number of us truly care about the country. I’m sure we all have our opinions about the country, the government and our economy. But not everyone is so concerned to actually act and do something about it. In fact, there are those who don’t even have their own opinions because they simply do not care about this country. But you can’t blame them if that’s how they think. I mean the Philippine government has done so many frustrating things and sometimes you wonder if there’s anything good which can actually come out of it. I think it’s time for change in our country. Not a change in the system, but a change of people who run the system. If the same families continue to be in power, the only thing that will happen is the continuous deterioration of our economy. For me, this is why Obama “clicks.” He is not from a typical political family. He has his own thoughts, opinions and outlook in life that comes from the point of view of someone who didn’t have everything as a child. “Obama and his legions of young supporters showed that it could happen in America. Can’t we do the same in the Philippines?” I think the right question to ask is WHO can we support to do good for this country; because I think it’s high time for someone to step up, and that someone should know the true meaning of being a leader. Someone who knows sacrifice and service—and that is what being a leader is all about. I am sure when the right person comes, the Filipino youth will support him just like how the Americans supported Obama. Erika Casas, Ateneo de Manila University, via e-mail