The Marcos legacy

Two news items that hogged the limelight recently can be attributed to the Marcos legacy that GMA tried to perpetuate for herself. One news item is that of the publicity seeking military general who aired his gripes in the media. He ranted on radio and TV about his 'demotion' and repeatedly talked cryptically as if threatening of something. Kasalanan ni Marcos iyan. Marcos spoiled the military. Since then, the uniformed guys have their more than enough share of public tantrums. GMA coddled the military too, thus we have this anky-panky general. It's a good thing that PNoy stood firmly on the issue.

The other news item is about Kris's marriage. Had Ninoy not died, Kris would have had a father doting on her and guiding her in her teenage years. But with a tragic death like that of Ninoy's, the public wave of sympathy buoyed Cory to the presidency. That wave lead the nation to tolerate Kris's antics. After all she is a hero's daughter. The least we could do, in gratitude, is to put up with her idiosyncracies. Kawawa naman, eh. Kris masterfully rode on that for years. So the way Kris is acting now is kasalanan ni Marcos yan!

Papogi points

PNoy scored many pogi points when he exposed the excessive pay of GMA appointees to a government corporation. He went on to ask them to resign. Now PNoy allies in the circus called the senate similarly want to score pogi points by shaking down other executives of government financial institutions. Led by chief clown Drilon, the senate questions the perks and privileges of the Bangko Sentral's Monetary Board. I would understand the questioning if Drilon was in Mars the past 20 years. But he has been around the political/government scene since I can remember. How can he not know about these perks? Why the fuss only now? Papogi points.

I agree there is imbalance in the government pay scale, much more so for the line bureaus. But the so called perks and privileges of some agencies have been there for so long. Taking them away will be a loss to those enjoying them. Increasing the low pays of the others will be more Pareto optimal. Increasing the welfare of many need not involve decreasing the welfare of others.

Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska!

Congrats to the Alaska for effortlessly winning the Fiesta PBA conference over San Miguel. I am a longtime SMB fan but I felt all throughout the series that SMB was not in it. For one, the coach is a known choker. He just could not close out games. If they lead by less than 10 going into the last quarter, I always expect the other team to catch up.

So the most talented team got a so-so talented coach. So Alaska, a great team with a great coach, had excellent chances to win it all. Whereas before, SMB had 75 percent of the crowd going for them, Alaska and other teams like Talk and Text, now command more fans. Clearly, losing despite a talented lineup eroded the fan base. The coach has to go.

Majestic Mayon

I was not feeling very well recently but I had to go on official travel to Legazpi City. It's my first time to the city and the first thing I wanted to see was the majestic Mayon Volcano. I asked to be seated on the last row, window side of the PAL flight so I could get an unobstructed view. It was an early morning flight and Mayon showed its beauty. It turned out to be my last sighting of the volcano. After landing and in the two days I was in the city, clouds veiled the beautiful volcano from dawn till dusk. In contrast, my officemates who traveled there after me were shown its full glory almost the whole duration of their travel. They chide me with what they say the locals said - if it's your first time in Legazpi and you get to see Mayon, it means you're kind-hearted. I tell them I got to see it early on while on the plane.

I always try to observe the local culture in all places I visit. I noticed that Legazpi is a very clean city and the people are not snooty at all. At the airport, I met a friend who is now a doctor and reproduction health expert. He said his group is targeting the males in their population control campaign. The area, he said, has a low population control penetration. I remember the reports, when the volcano was threatening another eruption and people had to be evacuated, that couples often made excuses to return to their houses so they can have conjugal time. This place known for hot and spicy food really has a hot population. Gabriel Garcia Marquez could write another magical realist novel "Love in the time of volcanic eruption".

As I expected, the food was hot and spicy. I had dinner at Sibid-sibid. It's a great seafood house and many dishes are based in gata (coconut milk). I was not feeling very well and thankfully the spicy-hot food helped unclog the stuffy nostrils. Their version of the tuna Bicol Express was a unique experience.

Then a very friendly tricycle driver, noticing the backpack and my unfamiliarity with the city, asked me if I had seen the sights. I told him not yet but I intend to. He said Legazpi has many beautiful sights in the day and also at night. Anticipating what he was up to, I told him I'm not interested but he continued to describe to me his girls and the corresponding prices. Still, no dice.

After just brief glimpses of the marvelous Mayon and just few samplings of the local fare, Mayon deserves another visit. I will be back.

GSIS deserves a new name: [ ] tafkag

If you ask any government employee what his most despised government agency is, the reply would invariably be the GSIS and then whatever agency that employee is in. In my twenty years in government, I have heard all the 'horror' stories about people learning sadly that others have used their GSIS loan facilities. There are plenty of stories about policy premiums not being recorded despite diligent remittance of deductions. Indeed every government employee has heard of one or two of those.

At the GSIS main office you will see very old people being bodily carried into the building so as to prove that the they are alive. Obviously the GSIS people have not thought of doing the old pensioners a service by visiting them at their homes. Or they have not thought of doing provincial roadshows where the old timers can appear before them. I'm sure there are better ways than requiring them, wheelchair and all, to appear before these lazy, inefficient a$$h013s, but they are too lazy and inefficient to think.

What peeves many are the high salaries and perks enjoyed by the GSIS. They are among the highest paid. They escaped media scrutiny because they did not appear in the COA report published last week. Why? Because the COA has not finished auditing them most probably because of their shoddy record keeping.

At the national grains marketing agency, many did not dare take up an early retirement package offered last year because their GSIS records are in disarray. Now that many agencies face abolition, many again think twice about accepting retirement offers.

With all these, I think the Government Service Insurance System deserves a new name. It's in constant disarray, it appears it has no system. So the word 'system' in its name can go. GSIS=GSI. But wait, GSI is not capable of paying off insurance. They say its funds are dwindling. So the word 'insurance' can go too. GSI=GS. But wait, there's more. What service are we talking about? The word 'service' has to go too. GS=G. And finally, G has not served its client, the government employees, well. The G also has to go. And then we are left with nothing. Very apt, as it had done nothing.

How do we then refer to this nothing of an agency? What is the symbol for nothing? The zero (0) is too elegant to use. Under Winston, this agency has become much less. I propose the symbol []. The brackets are there just to indicate that there is nothing there. The symbol will be referred to as tafkag which means "the agency formerly known as gsis".