ESSENCE OF GOVERNANCE

I watched the proclamation over TV and heard the sounds through the radio, which I got from Filscap member Peewee Trinidad in exchange with a basket of goodies last Christmas. Why the use of two appliances? My TV set has a tendency to lose it sounds, and then have a parade of adverts whereas the radio coverage has continuous sounds about the goings-on at the Batasan. And so I did not miss a single important word said, until the first press conference of Noynoy as president.

It was very refreshing listening to the presscon. Words that touched on the need to have justice, to look after the welfare of the majority of the people, and to seek out the problems to know the solutions -- all these show the readiness to address the people's lack in our lives.

Actually it is very hard to become an official in the government for many reasons:

1. Everyone is expected to sacrifice one's life performing one's duties.

2. The government must be overhauled and bureaucratism must be abolished. No passing the buck, no reference to another person to do the job. All inquiries of the people must be done once -- the recipient of the inquiry must make sure that an answer is provided.

Time and again, I have had to ask a government office, through the phone, and then it would take me several times to dial again before I am able to get the final answer.

Worse yet, some employees think that government equipment are theirs for their sole usage. One time, I was at UP during the time of Pres. Dodong Nemenzo. Then, I entered the registrar's office and said that I would like to fax a letter to Dodong. Do you know that the registrar at that time refused to do so? Where is he now? He is now occupying a very high position in UP Diliman. So you see, bad behavior is rewarded in government.

Nowadays, whenever I go to UP, men in civilian clothes and riding motorcycles pass me by, or at the UP Church of the Risen Lord, where my Bible Studies friends -- Jean, Claire - and I meet, the men ride to the hilt to drown our voices with the sounds of their motor engines. Last year, the police in the area would tell off the janitors at shops that I enter to sweep or clean up beside me and even brush my feet.

Worse yet, I submitted my articles in Business World to the UP Main Library for safekeeping and for students to be able to access right away for research. A few months after, I tried accessing them through the search computers. Lo and behold, I could not find them. The employee incharge had shelved them in the archives. Now who goes to the archives but those who are writing books? And they are rare. And how would the researchers find out about my writings if they had not been listed in the indices of the Filipiniana and if the researcher has not read any article of mine?

I have the feeling until now that the employee, an Ilocano did not like my having hard-hitting articles against Marcos and the untold wealth. Hence, she tried to keep it away from public easy search.

Another instance, I went to the Court of Tax Appeals to request for re-assessment of my condo unit. You see, it is 15 square meters in size, but was sold as 30 sq.m. because of the loft. However, the loft is that tangalable or detachable plywood.

Now the recipient of my query is a woman employee whose face registered boredome and petrification on the job. She told me to go upstairs, about twenty steps up and go and see a lawyer up there. Instead of following her advice, I asked to use the phone to call up the lawyer and talk to him or her about the matter. Would you believe, she refused and said the use of the phone is only for the records division? I had just come from the hot afternoon sun going to the office building and then entering the division's very cold room due to aircon. I had felt very weak from the sudden change of temperature and could no longer have the energy to go up the several flights upstairs.

Well, this is how I examined it, Folks, aside from the cranky character of the employee. Being an intellectual, much more so a female one, is hardly commended nor appreciated in our country. Either she is considered too "mannish" or "too straightforward." The first label presumes that being an intellectual is a male prerogative, whereas the second assumes that an intellectual is a detached observer. Now if one is asserting an original idea, how could he or she be detached?

3. I think that the challenge for all entering the government is how to remove obscure language so that the majority of the people will understand the government -- its procedures, what it stands for, and how to be a good citizen. While watching the Senate and the House of Reps conduct their sessions, my mind kept reverting to the scenes in Tondo. I ask myself, how could they possibly understand the English language being used when many were high school and elementary drop-outs?

Instead of purely English, I believe that government should conduct its business bilingually. It should not be considered a prerogative by the government employees to use the English language alone. Everyone should be able to speak in both languages and speak them to the people during transactions for them to understand all kinds of instructions, procedures and what have you. Even forms have to be in Pilipino.

Folks, try reading the tax forms -- they are all in English and the column titles are only understandable to those who have studied tax reform in college. Now the government keeps complaining about lack of taxes, yet it is not doing everything to make the people understand the forms.

4. In Makati, it is true, the senior citizens enjoy many perks -- like watching the movies anytime they like to do so. This is so different from Quezon City, the highest earning city in the Philippines, which allows only two days, Monday and Tuesday and only until 4:30pm for the seniors to watch the movies.

By the way, why use the word "seniors?" That is highly discriminating of the elderlies. To use "seniors" is to imply that there are "juniors." And why the need to make that implication?

However, I believe that Makati should also be nice to seniors who ride the public vehicles. Would you believe the loading and unloading stations are more than a hundred meters apart? On rainy days, on stormy days, it is very difficult to go out of the building and reach the loading station still with dry clothes. During summer, the heat is unbearable on the streets and then the offices are very cold. Coming from the cold buildings and going out to the scorching heat could produce hypertension among commuters very easily.

Unfortunately, Ayala Avenue has been structured to have stops that are only for Loading and other stops only for Unloading, and these are so far apart from each other. One has to go down the underground passes in order to get to the Loading or Unloading stations. These conditions are worse for the disabled using crutches, for pregnant women, for women carrying market bags, for women with children, for senior citizens and for people of all ages. Sad to say that Ayala Avenue has been organized transportation-wise to be for young adults which is a form of discrimination.

Hence, I would like to suggest to the incoming Mayor, son of Mayor Binay to please provide roving small jeepneys to go around and around Ayala Avenue, to pick up passengers and transport them to the Loading stations for free. "Ganito tayo ngayon sa Makati, mapagkalinga ng lahat ng tao" would be a good motto to post at every station.

Lastly, I would suggest to Pres. Noynoy to have a three-number emergency number to be called for help. Right now, 117 is only for police cases. I do think that the emergency number could be handled by the DSWD and be made to respond to all kinds of queries -- what is the number to call when ill with cancer; when a child is missing; when a government employee is acting in a corrupt manner; etcetera. At this time, the government looks imperious -- people have to adjust to its ways. It should be the opposite.

The goverment has to be sensitive to what the people feel.

That I think is the essence of good governance.