When communication lines bogged down between and among military and the police officers, I thought, my God, that was a fatal problem in the war field. Here in MetroManila, we also experience communication breakdowns. 

I was not able to communicate regularly withmy son when he was still alive in Singapore because he used to say that it was a very expensive call. Somehow, I inhibited myself as well. All my moneys I poured on food and necessities as at that time I was not earning well. 

How I regret not having incurred debts just to be able to talk to him on the phone, much more so to see him in Singapore. But you see I also had an inkling that because of my writings could have been too cautious about seeing me there knowing how strict and anti-democratic the State there was and is until today. Flashes of Flor Contemplacion ran in my mind as soon as I came to know about his death last July 2014. Could it be that he was targeted by some highly placed people in the government which I criticize now and then? My last letter to him was for us to make an animation about a bagong salta Filipino who spat a chewing gum on a sidewalk in Singapore.Remembering what a stickler for cleanliness Singapore is, he tried very hard to extract it from the pavement. Then a policeman passed by and upon seeing him, he swallowed the chewing gum so that the former would not see it. 

I find it difficult to breathe now again. Let me catch my breath. 

My next issue is communication here in our country. October 27, I bought a PLDT card for P400 thinking that it was good for landline communication for one month. On November 4, a message said that I did not have enough load anymore. 

I then loaded another P300 as the P100 wasfor the sim card. On Nov 27, the load finished off. And I was asked to load again. I did on December 4. Then my phone conked out again.Later I learned from another branch of PLDT that am supposed to be entitled to a P600 worth of load calls. 

I complained that I need an extension of the load as I had loaded so much already and that my calls had not amounted to something worth P600 at all, the first and second times. 

To date, I have not received any response. 

Today, I saw a P100 PLDT card good for one month and consumable at P7 per minute. If I were a worker earning P250 per day, that means to use the P100 card, I can make 14 one-minute calls only per dayand I need to load again for the next day. AT P100per day thatwould stretch to P3,000 per month. At P250 per day wage, the worker will spend P5,500 per month in order to communicate with the world. 

You see Folks, for decades, PLDT was a monopoly in our country. It was only in the 80's or 90's that celfones started pouring in, allowing people to communicate whereever they are with others. And yet, only a few then owned celfones. Today, you are sikat  if you can make voice calls with your celfone.  For ordinary folks like us, texting is our way of life. We can make voice-to-voice if it is same telecom company numbers, say Sun-to-sun, Globe-to-Globe, etc. 
But crossing lines, it almost feels like harakiri. You finish off your load right away. 

Folks, why are our communication lines this way?