WHEN PRAYING HAS TO BE COMBINED WITH ACTION

A friend gave me a tattoo stick device for internet use. 3 G Folks. I had thought internet usage would be a breeze. The first two times that I used it, it was really fast. Then the third time, the password did not work anymore. Then I sent it to the company for fixing of password. It worked again. Then the password did not work again. So I went back to the company and had it fixed. It worked, while I was at the supermarket where the company was located. But when I got home, this device worked off and on, off and on. I had to log in about ten times already.

I wonder if in other countries, this happens also? How about if Mars becomes a habitable planet, would our internet usage undergo the same conking out so often?

You see Folks, what do I use the internet for? I only search the latest news from the New York Times and the Guardian. After that I breeze through the latest art news. I sometimes go through beautiful art images in order to make my life audio-visually attuned. I also of course send emails to my friends and to companies from which I request for funding of our Regalo Magazine for children and teenagers.

Now I am wondering why my blog creates such a havoc in the tempers of certain sectors? I think that some government officials think that their posts are theirs. They do not like being criticized. But criticism is good if it is constructive, isn't it? Besides, why are they so onion-skinned? When they assume posts, they should be ready for the brickbats because government posts are public property. We own the government as we pay our taxes well. In fact, even if I do not earn so much, I pay my taxes just so I can say, "I am a taxpayer." I like the idea of saying, "I pay my taxes" so I can say also that "I deserve good public service."

What is wrong with exercising our critical mind? Am I not a good citizen in this manner, paying my taxes and at the same time contributing my ideas on how to run the government? I am sure if I had been given a post in the government, PNoy would not be receiving so much flak as now. I think he has even taken criticisms personally now by the way he responds to them. The thing is when people who assume posts don't have a background in social work, as Dinky, has, they are bound to just fit into the bureaucratic posts and repeat the same rigmarole.

I think also that this is why Dinky has survived the onslaughts of criticisms because people know that she is really doing her job well as a social worker. But the others, especially those in the infra, they are just plain bureaucrats, unmindful of the consequences of their work on the public. Energy is full of publicity, yet we don't really need that. We need another electricity server so that Meralco will experience having a competitor who will serve our electricity needs more cheaply. Why concentrate everything on Meralco? In fact, the government should have another utility company to serve our electricity needs that will provide it cheaply. This is just like the field of broadcasting. There are many private companies, but we also have RB, DZBR and PTV 4. So we get a glimpse of government work in the whole Philippines. Now the government should extend that to utilities and telecoms.

In the UK, I was told by a friend that she is a member of a cooperative that buys electricity, gas, and even celfon connections for her and her husband. And my goodness, it is so cheap. The coop buys from the market from the different servers. They haggle and bargain as to who can provide the cheapest service. Because they have many members, they can afford to bargain well.

I think we should wise up already and think of ways how we can use collective power to soften burdensome charges of utilities. Our peso has gone very low in terms of purchasing power. Imagine, I bought only a few items, hardly ten items, and they cost already P300 +. Soap sachets -- 25; pesto sauce for my breakfast - 139; oats - 75, raisins - 46, crackers - 28; French bread - 40. I am now watching my expenses because NGO work--mainly educational --  entails a lot of sacrifices.

If PNoy wants to be truly remembered, I think he should provide free transport of fruits and vegetables from the provinces to bring down their prices in the market. He must also command the Energy Department to think of a way of putting up our own refinery and buying our own oil ourselves instead of being dependent on these 7 sisters for their skyrocketing greed. Malampaya should give us the money for that.

Folks, praying and praying everyday we could be making God deaf already. We should also act. I do pray every morning -- thanking God that I am able to still exist and be healthy. Sana magtagal pa. And I also pray that our Muslim brothers and sisters would find it truly a haven being part of our larger community and would not think of seceding should they experience what we are experiencing now. From the warring zones, they go to the quiet zones with hopefully not war-inducing problems like what we have now.

I pray for my children and the Filipino people to have a truly good government in our lifetime, at least. Amen.