No Place Like Home

No jobs. Low pay. No proper education. Ignorance. Weak foreign presence.  All these reasons help continue the cycle of human trafficking in our country.  The poor Filipino workers who have to languish in Malaysia, in the Middle East and in other parts of the world have become victims of human trafficking, preying on their poverty and ignorance and general helplessness of getting out of their unfortunate situation.  It is sad to hear the regret in their voices since they realize that the salaries they are receiving are not much higher from what they are receiving now, and definitely not commensurate to the suffering and abuse they experience from their employers.  It's like modern slavery.

I just hope that there are NGOs, local or foreign, who can rescue these workers.  The Philippine government sometimes are lucky enough to help some of them but there are still many who really need their help.  It is really important that our fellowmen just don't go abroad by illegal means.  The POEA can only do so much, but if pasaway talaga ang ilan, there is not much that they can do.

Cory is for Courage

It has always been talk during dinners with friends as to what would’ve happened if Cory did not die during this time last year. Maybe this businessman would’ve been president, or maybe this scion of a landed family or this former president. Of course, this talk is academic and would suffice to be interesting hypothetical talk amidst drinks and good food.

The reality is, Cory just saved us again, when our nation needed to be saved. I know it sounds weird, but she died just at the right moment in our nation’s history, when all the lies and the shameless abuse of power by the then incumbent government drowned almost everyone in hopelessness.

Fast forward a year later, and the glimmer of hope is back again. It really does feel like 1986 again. But this essay is not going to talk about how we should handle this new found revival of our spirits, but will just be a simple homage to a simple housewife who did extraordinary things for her country.

The sound of her name alone is almost phonetically the same as the virtue she possesses in heaps and loads. Cory is for courage.

For me, the best thing she did for our country is enliven today’s youth to dream again, to hope again, and most importantly, to be heard again! I was actually despairing already, at that time, because most young people I met have already given up, and have listed down in our questionnaire ‘Where will you be in 5 years?’ – ‘Abroad’. It would’ve been ok if maybe 3 out of 10 or 5 out of 10. But no, everyone, as in lahat, wrote, ‘Abroad’. That was the legacy that Arroyo left on our youth. The youth, believing that they have no future here at all, because Arroyo and her ilk have made it clear to them – you are stupid, you are powerless, and we will oppress you any which way we like. But Cory picked us up again and made us strong enough to claim our country back and once again stake our future in it.

Tita Cory, thank you for making the youth believe that they own this country again! We miss you and we hope you continue to pray for us like you always did.

When A More Strict Country Disciplines Our Brats

He is a son of a rich and powerful man. He is rich and powerful himself. Their wealth may have come from some legitimate businesses but I won’t be surprised if much of it came from the money the poor give to collectors when they want to play jueteng. Blood money in my book. The funny thing about the brats here in our country is that they believe so much in their own invincibility so much so that they think that sense of entitlement also extends out of our borders and into, say, a rich First World Country.

Now this young lawmaker was caught with an illegal substance in this tiny First World city weeks ago and the first question that always comes during talks with my friends is, how did he ever GET OUT of our own international airport? Oh yeah, he is rich and an elected official – and his Dad is – oohhh - rich and powerful too – so much so that the security in our own airport, maybe, never bothered to check his luggage. Maybe they should have. It could have saved him from a lot of trouble. But I guess God has a sense of humor because He allows this nincompoop to wallow in his own shit. Which I think he truly deserves!!

Now, I wish that the courts of this First World city will give him, maybe life imprisonment - since drug trafficking – or just possession of drugs is a heinous crime in their books. Maybe whip his ass too, literally – with a frayed bamboo stick please!! That should teach him some humility – and maybe his family too. The brats in our country can get away with murder – ALWAYS! Isn’t that revolting? Now another country has to do what should have been our work, in the first place. Place these good-for-nothings in jail, where they belong!

Paying the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg Properly

It would not take a rocket scientist or a PhD in psychology to know that if you treat someone really well, that person will also give you back his loyalty and dedication. Respect is a two-way street – something which, I think, some of our Filipino-Chinese taipans may have forgotten, on their path to make millions for themselves. It is an unwritten fact here in the Philippines that when you graduate, you should avoid working for a company owned by a Filipino-Chinese because they will pay you a pittance. That was a fact handed down to me by my sisters 15 years ago, something which I think is true, up to now. What they pay you is not worth your self-respect. (Although I wouldn’t mind working for SM even for a year or two, just to get some sort of experience in the retail trade.)

That’s why I still don’t understand why an airline could not pay its pilots properly? Is it could not or is it would not? Airlines around the world face the same economic variables so why would a pilot in a local airline not have, at least, a competitive salary as, let’s say, a CX pilot. As to why you would pinch-hit the most valuable person in your company’s food chain boggles my mind. I am just a small-time businessman but I’ve learned early enough that it is the quality of your employees that determines the survival and growth of your company. If you pay them properly, they will respond accordingly in their performance. In a restaurant, it would be the chef. In an airline, it would have to be the pilot. And I’m sure the airline-riding public would not mind compensating pilots properly, if only for our own peace of mind!! Yeah, the restaurant chef may be replaceable, but an experienced pilot?!! I really would not want to fly with someone who has a grudge up his sleeve or who is unhappy with his job! Even if airlines reduce their fares to 100 pesos, I will definitely not fly with them, because most likely, those cost-cutting measures have been extended to pilots who are unhappy with their jobs and their working conditions! The stress alone of having to ensure the safety of hundreds of lives every time you do your job is, I believe, not easy at all, and compound that with money problems – that feeling na parang naisahan ka – not a good recipe for a safe flight!

Maybe this local airline company just needs a good HRM person who is astute enough to meet the needs of the pilots and the difficulties being faced by the airline industry in general. The public will not mind paying proper fares if only it assures us that we will get to our place of destination in one piece. Their decision to outsource their catering services is fine. Everyone outsources many of their activities now. Yes, 3000 jobs will be lost but those jobs are replaceable since they are low-skilled anyway, and those people will find jobs somewhere else, no need to cry for them since they have your company’s reputation on their resumes. But I don’t think you can outsource the skill of piloting an Airbus. It’s a specialized skill which requires specialized training! Yes, you may have to cut costs to be competitive but to hurt the person that is the most important variable in achieving your company’s profits? Yes, take out the frills and streamline, but do not kill the goose that lays the golden egg!

Learning To Play With the Gods

With that once omnipotent TV host now begging this network to free him so he can do one of the most basic human rights – work for a living – it sent shivers to my spine as it shows how powerful a corporation can be when it deals with an entity it does not need anymore. Of course, it was tit for tat. They treated him like a god, he treated them with spite – so the network says GOODBYE - with a powerful slam of the door on his face.

The reality is - you have to play your cards well, if you want to be in the good graces of this powerful TV network. Especially if you are still young and fresh and people still like you. You’d have to be prepared for the eventual fall and find creative ways to sustain your career, after they have milked you of your popularity and fame. Anyway, they, with their game shows and reality shows may have created you anyway, so you owe them your career, because without that platform, and with many of you being non-talents anyway, it is practically your looks alone that allow you to survive in our entertainment industry.

The earlier you learn that you are a product to them – not a person, not a human being with feelings, not even an artist looking for a venue of self-expression in your craft – but just a product to promote and sell - the better for you. At least that way, you can play the game properly sans the illusion that they really care about you. You have to be a little bit of this and that to survive in their fickle world. Be a little bit like Madonna by finding ways to reinvent yourself every few years by changing your look or working with whoever’s hip at that point in time – so you stay relevant and important to the scene. Be a little bit like Donald Trump, by negotiating shrewdly when you’re still very hot – making the most amount of moolah from sponsors or from politicians during election campaigns – the interest will soon shift to someone else – so while they still love you – make sure that THAT love translates to money. Be a little bit like Rosa Rosal – find a cause, even if you have to fake it. And be shameless in asking corporate help especially when the country is plunged into a natural disaster of Biblical proportions! That’s where your celebrity may come in handy – and the pogi points you get will be immeasurable. And maybe, be a little like Sandra Bullock. Everyone likes her so that even if she turns in a passable performance in a middling movie – they give the Oscar to her – because they like her! So be nice to everyone you meet while everyone still loves you, because they’ll be the same people you meet, when everyone is already starting to get bored with you.

Our local entertainment industry is now run like a big corporation so the more you can position yourself as a viable product – the better. Remember that you are as dispensable to them as that thing women put in you-know-where. There are thousands like you out there – ambitious and handsome dudes and pretty bitches with twangs and with improbable mixed races you’d think their mothers were whores! There will always be a new edition to Big Brother, to Showtime, to Starstruck so you are not indispensable! Be a survivor and enjoy your 15 minutes while it lasts – and make sure that 15 minutes adds a lot of zeros in your bank account.

When Police Brutality Reaches Dickensian Proportions

I usually do not feel much pity for criminals, even for petty thieves who steal cellphones or those who get into houses and steal.  But when I saw that video of that poor, skinny man being tortured by policemen, I couldn't help but really feel sorry for him. It turns out the instigator of this police torture methods is a feared policeman in Tondo, one of the most notorious crime-infested places in Metro Manila.  Just the mention of Tondo would make any sane, middle-class person find a way not to pass through that place whether day or night.  But did that tough-as-nails policeman really have to go overboard with his investigation methods?  If he was investigating a more horrific crime or something that involves national security, maybe we could give him some leeway, but for petty thievery? Maybe not.  It reminded me of that Israeli woman who photographed herself smiling with several blindfolded Palestinians behind her.  Something was wrong with that picture.  Something was wrong in that video.

I know the stress that goes with policing a tough area like Tondo will be literally sky-high!  So maybe sometimes, the police there have to go overboard sometimes when they apprehend suspects just so they can catch the perpetrators of the crime.  But to humiliate the suspect by asking him to strip and to kick him and to make him eat a cockroach, whew, those maybe actions of a lunatic working as a policeman!  Yes, be tough on suspects!  Yes, be tough on criminals!  But be tough within what is justifiable or at least, morally correct.  And then maybe reserve the Dirty Harry tactics on the more insane criminals or those who never learn their lessons.

When A Multi-Awarded Cop Turns From A Protector to A Killer

It was like a scene from a Hollywood movie, but only this time, when the shots were fired, you could not help but scream in horror, knowing fully well that that rain of bullets and tear gas would surely leave a trail of innocent blood, shed because a desperate man decided to make an ultimatum, cowardly using a luckless group of tourists as his card of aces. In a Hollywood movie, the turnout would most likely be for the best - but this is not a Hollywood movie - this is another day in the Philippines.

It's turning out to be a horrifying month for the Philippine National Police (PNP) - starting off with that video of police brutality last week in a precinct in Tondo, followed this week with the dramatic and tragic hostage-taking of 22 tourists in a tour bus by a dismissed yet decorated policeman. Both cases are isolated in nature but may show the current culture that permeates in our police force. If the PNP had a 'corporate culture' it would fail miserably in stress management, as its members seem to fold quite easily when driven to the edge.

The first question that popped into my head when the event was unfolding was, 'Didn't the PNP have the proper channels to address this guy's problems before it came to this?' Of course, at that time, I did not know yet the full story of what drove the fallen policeman to do such a crazy thing. Of course, when the news stories started to come in, I realized this guy just lost everything, and to lose your pension and all your benefits, after serving the force for 28 years, was a compelling reason to drive the poor man to seek desperate measures. Although the accusations made against him were pretty serious (eerily, another case of police brutality), we would never know now if he truly deserved the harsh punishment, since the Ombudsman had acted too late to his appeals to hear his case - and that slow action has led to the death of several HK tourists whose main goal was just to enjoy their last days of summer, but instead, ended in them being used as human shield by a man who had nothing to lose anymore.

Yes, the fallout has started, especially that the hostage taking was monitored live by major news outlets abroad. As to why and how it ended up so badly will surely be fodder for the media and the police force for days to come. And since almost everybody saw it, I'm sure both media and the police handling of the hostage taking will have lots to answer in the coming days.

Now I know why there is an Internal Affairs division in American police forces or why stressed police officers there, have to see a shrink. I don't think we have that system yet, here. A stressed out police officer, whether in or outside the service, is a walking time bomb. These past two weeks have shown that. Last week, the actions of a petty snatcher led that tough policeman to tie the poor guy's dick and use it as some kind of yoyo. This week, when Mendoza felt he ran out of options already, this multi-awarded yet dishonorably dismissed police officer led innocent people to their slaughter.

There should be a system within the PNP, where they could identify police officers who are exhibiting anti-social behavior, and find out why he or she is acting that way, and hopefully, find a remedy to the problem. Whatever is needed - maybe a short vacation from service or professional psychological help - should be in place, to ensure that our own policeman have not turned psychos! If the police officer who is supposed to protect us from harm, turns against us, then it's time that we take a look and find out why they are acting that way.

How to Survive A Strong Peso - For Businessmen

Based on http://www.xe.com/, the US dollar equivalent today of one Philippine peso stands at 44.28.  The value of the Philippine peso has been steadily strengthening itself, making it a bit difficult for a business like mine, which caters mainly to foreign clients.  It also affects many Filipino families who depend on the remittances of their OFW-relatives.  Business news reports indicate that it would continue to strengthen towards the end of 2010.  Because of this new development, I have thought of ways on how to survive a strong Filipino peso:

1.  Increase income.  This is my first goal now since another problem we face is that we cannot increase our prices, due mainly to the recession that has engulfed the countries we serve. So one way to offset the currency exchange is to attract more clients.

2.  Open a local business. We have thought about this and we have actually started one, albeit, still very tiny.  Of course, we still stick with the mantra of doing something that we love.  The Philippines is a very challenging market since the paying capacity of most Filipinos is limited so pricing is very important! 

3.  Cut costs.  We have also tried to find ways to decrease the cost of doing business.  Anything that we can save on we implement. 

4.  Increase productivity of the employees.  It is not surprising to utilize the different talents of our employees, so multi-tasking has been the name of the game for us.  Not only should our employees be good on one thing, they should also have the initiative to do other related tasks.

Heroic Filipinos - The Bernido Couple

The Bernido couple - Christopher and Victoria - become the first couple ever to win the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.  Both physicists by training, the couple, who were earning lucrative salaries in top institutions abroad opted to stay in the country where they introduced the innovative basic education teachings in science and non-science subjects that they call the dynamic learning program (DLP).  The Ramon Magsaysay Foundation observed that there are some bright lights in the landscape – among them the Bernido couple who both are from privileged families and earned doctorate degrees in physics from the State University of New York. 

They headed the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines where they also reaped awards for teaching and research excellence. At the top of their profession and well respected in the world community of physicists, they startled colleagues however when, in 1999, they moved to Jagna, Bohol, to run an old, struggling high school – the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF) – owned by Christopher’s aging mother and at her request. The husband’s and wife’s new posts: president and principal, respectively.

Admittedly, it would have been a lot easier and practical to close the school down. But not the type to give up easily, the couple soon came to grips with the problems of basic education in the Philippines – but held on.

Despite the many challenges, their DLP took root. It is a cost-effective strategy focused on strong fundamentals, limiting teacher participation by devoting 70 percent of class time to student-driven activities built around clear learning targets, aided by well-designed learning plans and performance-tracking tools.

It uses locally available teaching aids and a “parallel classes scheme” wherein three simultaneous classes are handled by an expert teacher with the help of facilitators.

The Bernidos say that poverty need not be an excuse to compromise on teaching and learning excellence.

And the results have proved them right. AT CVIF, the around 500-strong mostly poor students showed radical improvement in their performance on national scholastic aptitude and university admission tests – attracting attention from other schools all over the country who made a beeline for Jagna, Bohol to learn how they did it.

The foundation further observed that in 2006, to address the severe shortage of qualified physics teachers, the Bernido couple designed the “Learning Physics as One Nation” project. Launched by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education in 2008, it is now implemented in over 200 private high schools, on top of the large number of other schools that have implemented the DLP model.

The program includes a portfolio of learning activities to be individually accomplished by the students, and closely-associated weekly video-based lectures featuring national expert teachers. Real time teacher-expert and student-expert interaction happen through text messaging and electronic mail.

Also in Jagna, the couple hold regular workshops that have drawn the country’s physics teachers, international scientists and even Nobel laureates who now use the strategy in teaching other students in other Philippine universities across the country.