Day 168: Bureaucracy

The girls and I accompanied hubby to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) this morning to get a copy of his clearance. A process that should normally take about an hour to two tops turned into nearly a whole day affair. We were there before 8:00 am and a significant crowd already awaited us. Instead of letting each applicant go through the entire process at once (from application, payment, photo capture, finger printing to releasing), the government agency did each step in batches of 10. After application and filling up of forms, 10 people were asked to line up to go up the stairs and pay the cashier then back down to wait. This happened for about 6 or 7 batches. It was already past 10:00 am and hubby's name hasn't been called yet for photo capture! What the?!?! And when new faces were being called, we suspected they skipped the order that the batches were initially called. It was a hot day and the girls were already getting cranky so hubby said we should just go him and leave him there to finish everything. 

At around half past 11:00, hubby arrived home frustrated because he was told to just go back after lunch as it was already nearing lunch break. At that point, he still hasn't had his photo taken. Four hours of waiting? That ain't cute! He went back around 1:30 in the afternoon and finally came home with his clearance on hand shortly before 4:00. That's a total of more than 6 hours in a day wasted in useless waiting. Had the agency taken a one person, one sweep of the process approach, it would probably make the waiting time way shorter and would not leave the applicants exhausted from going up and down the stairs 3x throughout the entire process. Imagine, each person had to wait after each small process when it could easily just be a one-time waiting when he's done with the entire process.

Most of the people who were there were probably first time applicants seeking employment and others just sneaking out from school or work to get their clearance. All of them ended up spending most of their day waiting and probably suffered income loss or absence from school. What should only take a small fraction of time during a person's lunch hour took a day. Now, there's something seriously wrong with how NBI-CARAGA is doing its clearance process. I hope its management realizes this problem and be able to do the necessary steps in improving how they do things to better serve the public.

Day 165: Independence?

Philippine Independence Day fell on a Saturday this year (June 12) but because of a weird Presidential proclamation, its observance was moved to today. I think it had something to do with tourism so that people would have long weekends for some getaway or something. Of course this is a yahoo moment for kids because  there's no school and for parents because it's an extra day of bonding with the family. However, if we look closely at the real implication, we'll discover that it isn't good for  most laborers as they lose an opportunity to earn on this day. Another thing to look at is the overall impact on the celebration itself. By moving the holiday, the real meaning for its commemoration somehow loses its importance. If I were still a young student or an office worker, I'd probably rejoice about no-work holidays like this but now that I can understand how it adversely affects more important issues, I see there's no reason to jump for joy. The celebration of a nation's true independence can only happen if its people are able to live by the principles that our forefathers and heroes fought hard for. Until then, it is just a facade to hide the ugly truth of a decaying nation and society.

Day 148: Philippine National Flag Day

Today marks the Philippine National Flag Day to commemorate the very first time it was displayed in battle back in May 28, 1898. 

From today until Independence Day, June 12, we are enjoined to observe flag days wherein all government offices, business establishments and private residences are encouraged to display the Philippine flag. 

Let us pay respects to our country and to the flag we have sworn allegiance to by remembering all those who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom and democracy we have now.

Day 122: In Prayer

I only have to look at the image of our Lord Jesus Christ here to be reminded of His own hardship and sacrifice to save all of mankind.

An inspiring teacher...a loving son...a strong leader - Jesus Christ is the model on how to live our earthly lives. Many times I forget this fact and end up erring big time. Well a huge part of Jesus' legacy is not just showing us how to live but also how to pick up ourselves after a fall. When we acknowledge our mistakes and ask for forgiveness, we are reunited with Him and with God, the Father.

As Filipinos all over the world face a great challenge next  week in choosing the country's next leader, may each one of us look up to Christ for guidance, enlightenment and inspiration.

Day 55: The Silver Lining of Rotating Brownouts

After getting used to the routine of 3-hour brownouts for more than a week now, we were hit today with a whopping 8-hour power outage.  Power was cut off at 9:00 am and came back at 5:00 pm. When the power outage was nearing 4 hours, I decided to call the local power company to ask why the brownout exceeded the usual 3 hours.  The person on the other line responded that they didn't have any hand on the power interruption and pointed to NAPOCOR as the culprit.  They couldn't say how long it would last as they claimed it was NAPOCOR's call.

And so there was nothing else we could do but WAIT...

In these times of technology and modernization, power interruption is certainly thought of as going back into the "Dark Ages".  It is irritating and certainly very inconvenient but after experiencing a whole daytime of power outage, there are several good things that the power crisis has brought about:

1. forced savings on electricity (a daily brownout of 3 hours can be converted to about 1/8th savings from the usual power consumption)
2. renewed appreciation for basic conveniences like water and electricity (many countries are not even as fortunate as us to have these utilities on hand)
3. you're forced to think up of creative ways to pass the time (board games and community singing make a comeback)
4. there's a forced abstinence from the internet (read: facebook) and television which gives family members more opportunity to bond
5. hours of no power mean more time for people to TALK to each other...that is, to engage in lively and focused conversations

When the power crisis is looked at in this way, it doesn't feel a big a burden as it originally was...I guess we just have to look at the silver lining in every bad event.