With or Without A Slogan

I couldn't care less if the Department of Tourism has a new slogan to promote our country. The fact of the matter is that unless we can protect foreign tourists, we'll have a hard time selling the Philippines. Two weeks ago, the Asian Intercity Bowling Championships was held here. Despite the travel advisories that several countries issued, the event was well participated. My team represented one of the three local cities that participated. Several cities from Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Saipan and Guam also sent teams to participate in the annual meet. Unfortunately, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and China did not send their teams due to the travel advisories and the botched hostage rescue.

A very sad incident involving a player (of Australian descent) from Guam happened. While waiting for a taxi cab in front of Robinson's Place in Ermita, two thieves riding in tandem snatched her necklace. The poor girl was dragged for several meters because her necklace di dnot easily break. She sustained bruises on her elbows and knees and he right wrist was sprained. This did not happen in the wee hours of the morning but early evening. She vowed that she will never visit the Philippines again even if her sponsored her travel.

This is not an isolated case. Many tourists are victimized by thieves, prostitutes and even our police. No matter how much we spend on advertising, or how many times we change our "branding", unless we can assure our visitors that they will be protected, the Philippines would be a hard-sell. It's not about the terror threat that we lose tourists to our Asian neighbors but
due to crime. Even our "balikbayans" fall prey to crime. Is this just the government's problem? It concerns us all. How many taxi cabs dupe even the locals? We've lost our sense of hospitality as well. What most people see in tourists is simply the color of money. We no longer see them as guests. It may just be a case of a few rotten eggs, but perception plays a big part in all these. When even local tourists are treated badly, the tourism industry will continue to suffer.

With or without a catchy slogan, we will continue to lag behind our neighbors in terms of tourism. We must go through a re-education of sorts. Tourism should not be limited to the DoT's and travel agencies, it should be a national concern. We, the Filipinos are our tourism's greatest endorsers. It is our good nature that will back our foreign guests.

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Welga You Like It Or Not

The bus operators showed us last Monday how they can hold the riding public hostage. Thousands were stranded and they blamed the drivers and conductors for the strike. Yet last Friday, a defiant Claire dela Fuente said that they will call for a transport strike shoud the MMDA impose the number coding on them. With the DoJ and DOTC threatening to revoke their franchise.

Bus operators claim that they have no control over their drivers and conductors. What a lot of crap. No driver or conductor in his right mind would want to lose the only income they have. Clearly, these operators are trying to dodge the bullet. We all know that drivers and conductors have no fixed monthly pay and relies only on commissions (boundary system). You don't drive, you don't earn. Operators set a fixed amount which these people have to meet. Anything over the amount is theirs for the keeping.

The number coding scheme being imposed on them is meant to reduce the number of buses plying the EDSA route. How many empty/half-empty buses do you see on the EDSA during rush hour? There are many. How many of you encounter traffic at every loading and unloading zones for buses? I'm very sure many of you experience this everyday. Because drivers and conductors do not have fixed salaries nor the benefits other employed people do, they try to run as many trips as they can in one day. This is why we see them jockeying for position at every corner and driving like demons on steroids. How many lives have been lost because they try to outrace themselves so they can add a little more to their earnings?

The problem lies in the greed of the operators. They feed on the blood, sweat and tears of the drivers and conductors. I'm very sure that they don't even pay the right taxes. The number coding was to be implemented back in 2003. GMA did not impose it. Perhaps she's afraid that Claire wouldn't do a duet with her. We all know how GMA never had the political will to do take the bull by the horns. These is why NaPoCor has a huge debt and we the people have to shoulder the burden.

I'm enjoying this chicken play between the government and IMBOA. I'd love to see who blinks first. Because the threat of losing their franchises is real, these operators are running to the courts for intervention. EDSA plays a very big role in Metro Manila's economy. As long as a strangling traffic holds up movement, maximum productivity will never be achieved.

Why not revoke all franchises and start from scratch. Cities can create loops for buses. They wouldn't have to fight each other out. Provincial buses should have their terminals in the fringes of Metro Manila. They shouldn't be competing for space on EDSA. I've taken buses in my trips abroad. People walk to stations. Specific stops are assigned to specific buses. The riding public should also learn to share some sacrifices. You want to get off at your doorstep, take a cab. Otherwise, learn to use your feet. I do ot know how this issue will end. EDSA will not widen itself. Every sector involved must sacrifice so that this problem can be addressed.

Drivers and conductors are not slaves. They have the right to earn a decent living. I don't believe that operators are losing money. I also abhor how they use these people as pawns because they want everything for themselves. I hope the LTFRB can conduct a REAL, HONEST TO GOODNESS audit of all franchises so the we can weed out the legitimate from the illegal operators. This would be a good step in the right direction.

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Meron Nga Bang Nagbago?

PNoy promised change. So far, there had been many changes. I laud the changes in the GOCCs and the GFIs. The exposes on how grossly abused these offices were by their boards. These are major changes that created a huge impact on public perception. But there changes that show na "walang pagbabago".

In the Bureau of Customs, "areglo" is still rampant. Before, it was P80,000-P125,000 per container. Now, it's between P165,000-P185,000. Only the faces changed but the same corrupt practices remained. Importers complained that despite their desire to pay the right taxes, officials come up with charges so that the importer would use the "areglo" just so they can bring their goods out. No wonder manufacturing costs are so high.

The new Metro Manila Development Authority administration has also done nothing. In fact, traffic has become terrible. Colorum buses continue to ply their routes with impunity. Of course the LTFRB shares the blame. The "Kabit system" is tolerated. There is a very simple solution to this problem, simple conduct an audit of franchises of these bus companies. EDSA looks like a huge parking lot even on weekends. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to fix this problem.

The revised IIRC report will be released on Monday. This will prove if things really has changed or wala talagang pagbabago. Will justice be blind or would it favor those close to PNoy? I hope there wouldn't be scapegoats.

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Where Were You?

As the debate on the RH Bill heats up, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is gearing up for a confrontation. First they threatened to call for civil disobedience, they now threaten to excommunicate anyone who supports the bill. Claiming that they are doing this in the name of morality. The say that when moral values are the issue, they will resort to these extreme actions to drive their point home.

Pure hypocrisy if you ask me. Where were you in the nine years of Arroyo's immoral reign? Isn't thievery a moral issue? Isn't human rights a moral issue? Isn't increasing poverty a moral issue? Isn't the destruction of the moral fibers of all our institutions a moral issue? The cheating and lying of the past administration and its cohorts were all moral issues, yet they did not even raise a whimper when all these were happening before our eyes.

Calling for civil disobedience just because the president is pushing for an informed choice is totally reckless. Their continuing rejection of the RH Bill runs smack of hypocrisy. They could not even police their ranks. We've seen priests father children, molest altar boys and steal mass collections. Have they done anything significant to address poverty that is a result of the lack or inadequate information and methods to plan for their family?

The Lord gave us free choice. It is up to us to use our God-given wisdom and intelligence to make our own conscientious choices. At the end of the day, it is my God that will decide if I lived my life in accordance with His teachings. We live in a democracy and you have the right to express yourselves. It is your right to call for civil disobedience. As a Catholic and a Filipino, I can also exercise my right to express myself. I'm sure I am not alone in saying that we too can call for a donation disobedience. After all, you get the money you spend on yourselves from us.

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Media Out of Focus

"A journalist is only as good as the last story he wrote."

It did not surprise me to see media practitioners and even networks included in the list of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC). Clearly, broadcast media overstepped the bounds of press freedom. They need not be told by any authority what they can and cannot air. It's a lame excuse to say that the police did not give any guidelines on what can broadcast. Either these people were stupid or simply ambitious. I am appalled by the way broadcast media handled the situation. Their actions contributed to the deterioration of the situation.

I do not understand why they have to show the actions of the assault team or show on national television Mendoza's brother screaming like a stuck pig. Things may have ended differently if Erwin Tulfo and Michael Rogas of RMN did not tie up the line of communication for almost an hour.

All rights have limitations. Press freedom is not exempted from these limitations. Media should know when lives are endangered. At the end of the day, broadcast media should know when they should act as reporters and when they should act as human beings. The media I saw on that fateful August day is a horde of predators out to squeeze every drop of ratings they can get out of the incident. They should be brave enough to accept the consequences of their reckless actions.

Legislators now would like to repress some of their rights. Media has only itself to blame. They said that the PNP failed to give them orders so they just let their cameras roll. Now that congress wants to regulate them, they raise a howl. If only media knew how to regulate itself, congress wouldn't step in. Alas, the temptation of becoming stars was just too irresistible. The networks should be reprimanded, the more guilty ones (Tulfo and Roags) should fry.

Broadcast media at least on this matter was clearly out of focus.

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The Illusion of Jueteng

I don't buy that jueteng gives employment to the poor. In fact, it enslaves them. A kubrador gets a measly 10% of his entire daily collections. It looks big until you see how many they are. A kubrador is lucky to earn P 200 for his efforts. Additional income can be had if one of his patrons win. And that very rarely happens. The biggest benefactor of jueteng is non other than the jueteng operator. The lowly kubrador slaves day in and day out to earn his keep while the operators sits idly by and rakes in hundreds of millions.

Like a slave, the lowly kubrador has no benefits. He has only himself to rely on when he gets sick. Is this how jueteng benefits the poor? Jueteng would be acceptable to those who are too naive to understand how jueteng really works. Jueteng's benefits is just an illusion to justify its existence. It's nothing but a means to exploit the poor and desperate. It's no wonder the Small Town Lottery (STL) will never succeed. No corrupt official will allow it. To legalize jueteng will take a big chunk of their earnings. Just imagine the tax they have to pay? They will have to raise the pay of the kubrador. Of course these people will have to pay their SSS contribution and medicare. No jueteng operator in his right mind will part ways with his millions. He would pay any amount to continue his exploitation.

*Jueteng operations in my area were temporarily stopped. A new chief of the PNP has just been appointed. People in the know will tell you this is the SOP every time a new chief is named. Negotiations will soon follow when everything settles down.

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The Truth

We've heard P-Noy's SONA and the two Kontra-SONAs of the minority in both houses. Edcel Lagman described P-Noy's SONA as "bitin" and misleading. The truth of the matter is that P-Noy got it right. His data was genuine as can be. He was right about the excessive benefits the MWSS execs get. Even the MWSS's OIC admitted it. What about the over importation of rice by the NFA? Yap denied it but evidence presented by Sec. Lito Banayo proved otherwise. In fact, surplus as far back as 2008 was discovered. P-Noy wasn't lying when he said the budget had been spent. Sure there's money in the coffers but all have been allocated to the different agencies. He has nothing to work with in terms of programmable funds. The misuse of the calamity fund was also proven to be true. Perhaps Lagman felt bitin because P-Noy mentioned only a few anomalies.

Alan Cayetano was his old true self. Feeling self-righteous as usual. He implores P-Noy to follow up on his promises. I guess he forgot that his gang blocked the resolution of Villar's scandalous C-5 Ext. controversy. Isn't that worthwhile job for the Truth Commission? Cayetano may have also forgotten how he exploited the Arroyo administration's scandals to further his political ambitions. He is the one selective in the fight against corruption. Their camp also was the one who used downright dirty tactics against P-Noy during the campaign. All the issues hurled against Villar were supported by real documents and not fabricated ones. He was never truly for the people in past nine years. He played poker with the people at the least of his concerns.

Lagman and Cayetano may have massive hangovers of the past nine Glu-rious years. The country has entered a new phase. The likes of Lagman and Cayetano are remnants of old politics where the truth is fabricated and manipulated. The truth of the matter is that the people can now differentiate fact from fiction.

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