SARA SOLIVEN DE GUZMAN: HOUSTON, WE HAVE A
PROBLEM!
MANILA, MAY 15, 2012 (PHILIPPINE STAR) AS A MATTER
OF FACT By Sara Soliven De Guzman (photo) - China claims everything! This
seems to be an understatement nowadays. Aside from claiming the moon, the
Apple-Ipad and the islands in the South China Sea, China continues to feel
supreme.
The country with the world's largest population has again regained supremacy.
Money talks in this modern world. The economy can move mountains and oceans.
China feels its strength. And when you are in power, you can also sometimes
abuse it! Ay, caramba!
The problem our country has right now is that we do not have an ambassador to
China. I cannot understand the logic behind this move. This strategy will
definitely not get us anywhere.
What is P-Noy doing? How can he delay sending a diplomatic envoy to the
world's largest country? Is he crazy? Does he not know the importance of an
ambassador? Susmariosep!
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation. In the
16th century, an ambassador was used as a representative of the state in which
he is from to negotiate and disseminate information in order to keep peace and
establish relationships with other states and make alliances during difficult
times.
Today, the use of ambassadors is widespread. They are diplomatic
representatives tasked to deal with a host of problems that occur within the
international system.
I hope P-Noy will see the urgency of sending a diplomatic envoy to China so
that we can have a better understanding of their claims and vice versa.
* * *
I just wrote about NAIA last week and as my column came out, there was a big
brawl at the airport again. Sanamagan!
First of all, I know the NAIA airport general manager Jose Angel Honrado. He
is a very conscientious and hard-working man. But he needs help. And he also
needs a good budget of which he seems to have very little of. If tourism is one
of the priorities of this country – then give him the money and all the
assistance he can get!
With a good budget I'm pretty sure we can get better airport services which
include better facilities, well- trained airport personnel, a good CCTV system
and security guards to mention a few.
Reflecting on the airport brawl that happened last week, I think that all
passengers have a tendency to be sensitive after a long and exhausting trip. You
cannot blame passengers from getting cranky especially when they discover that
their luggage has been left behind. Honestly, I too, would be hysterical. The
ground staff should be trained how to handle such passengers. They cannot afford
to be onion-skinned. It is part of the job. In the first place, relating to
different types of passengers is part of the service.
I believe, however, that there is a problem with the cheap tickets (low
budget airfares). Why would an airline leave any personal checked-in luggage of
a passenger behind? Shouldn't this part of their calculations?
If you hear the many airport and airline stories of the passengers everyday
you will be embarrassed to even utter the phrase – It's more fun in the
Philippines! I have friends who were actually trapped in an airplane from
Boracay for forty minutes because the ground crew had some confusion (poor
service) in opening the door.
Then, as they disembarked they went through the bridge only to find out that
the gate leading to the terminal was locked and no one would open the glass
doors. So, they had to go down the stairwell leading to the terminal thru the
tarmac. This inefficiency resulted in chaos and caused panic and claustrophobic
reaction among many passengers.
Later, they found out that the airline did not pay the fee for the bridge
that's why the airport officials did not open the glass doors leading to the
terminal lobby. Isn't this irregular?
While it is true that the marketing campaign of various airlines on budget
fares has made air travel accessible even to the poor, it has also caused a lot
of complaints on the kind of treatment of passengers who have availed of these
promos.
When a traveler avails of a budget fare, he does not expect a similar service
to full-service carriers. But he still has the right to be informed. Paying less
does not mean a despicable treatment of passengers causing them an undesirable
level of comfort.
There is really a need for a law that would regulate budget airlines and put
a stop to the practices of overbooking, denied boarding, flight delays and
cancellations that would compromise the passengers' interests, welfare and
safety.
The DOTC secretary, the airport officials and the airline groups must sit
down and talk to iron things out. We need to do better than this. What an
imprint you have left us (tourist and local travelers) with for such poor and
crazy service!
* * *
The rainy days have arrived. It rained in the Quezon City and Manila area
last week and after a few minutes some streets were already flooded. So should
we wait until the monsoon season before we clean up our waterways and fix the
drainage systems around?
Anyway, with the rains come the brownouts/ blackouts. Has government assured
the people of having enough power supply?
A circular released recently by the Department of Energy says that the
Mindanao situation has improved. But according to Sec. Almendras, the power
supply in the region is still critical as there are no contingency reserves.
This means that in the event of a failure in any of the power generation
equipment, this will result to a shortfall and blackouts.
To be able to address the critical power supply, Secretary Almendras
enumerates the important initiatives that must be pursued: 1) Resolution of the
problems in operating and rehabilitating the Iligan Diesel Power Plant that
could add 100 MW in 7-8 months; 2) Rehabilitation and transfer of 120 MW of
privately owned power barge generation; and 3) The most cost efficient and
speedy rehabilitation and transfer to Mindanao of the 96 MW of power barges
presently operated by NPC.
Sec. Almendras is calling on the people of Mindanao and the local government
units not to be complacent and to cooperate and support these initiatives.
I hope that someday, we can get efficient power supply in this country and
one that is not expensive because from what I hear – the Philippines has the
most expensive electricity in Asia.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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