Dep-Ed’s crunch on small investors continues

Everyone has thrown his hat into the fray. Old senators relegated to the cupboard of history have resurfaced claiming their place of fame in the huge spotlight that is trained on our current political situation. Polling firms continue to paint grim pictures as more and more independent surveys, uncommissioned, mind you, conduct nationwide surveys.

A staggering 61 percent, according to Pulse Asia? And Mahar Mangahas is singing the same tune.

What really stings is the fact that our educational sector is flocking to join the animated lot. In the past, the University of the Phil. has always been in the forefront of such political protests, but traditionally, the eminent La Salle univeristy took a more cautious stance. With a population of some 100,000 all over the country, the pronouncement by no less that the university’s president is quite unprecedented. Is this a personal sentiment or the university’s official stand, or at the very least the voice of the majority of the faculty members? With such mounting calls, I imagine that one can no longer cite seditious conduct for these calls which have snowballed in the last couple of weeks. I still stick to my call for sobriety in these trying and terrible times.

Even the Makati Medical Center is under siege, though the hospital’s problems are more financial than political. I was supposed to have my routine monthly "chat" with my good doctor Dr. Augusto Litonjua before the weekend, but his secretary couldn’t confirm the clinic’s schedules over the next few days, saying they were gearing up for an employees’ strike before the end of the week. As you know, they are protesting the recent lay-off or forced retirement of some 300 employees of the hospital. All the doctors at Makati Med now have chaotic schedules, but what about life-threatening situations compromised by militant protests such as this?

Speaking of educators marching out into the streets, we will soon have batches of public school teachers coming out in protest. I’m not talking of the political batch joining the other sectors, though this is one issue that a powerful union of public school teachers has taken up. I’m talking about the organized group’s plan to take to the streets once again to call attention to the public school teachers’ low salaries. This is a perennial gripe that have seen them through several administrations but which have not been satisfactorily addressed.

Teaching is a profession that’s as noble as any profession can get, yet it continues to be overlooked, or looked down upon, notwithstanding the fact that it is to the teachers that we have entrusted our children’s future. So now, after the brain drain that has claimed the best of our doctors and nurses comes the inevitable plight of public school education in the country. We see on TV how small towns in the US are starting to lure our teachers, mostly from the public school sector, to teach math to their American kids and English to the immigrants who, though they comprise the minority, is still a formidable block in these small-town schools. The difference in pay is enormous, enough for their families in the US to pay the mortgages and live comfortably, with some left over to send to their extended families in the province. Who wouldn’t be lured, nationalistic or not? Our sense of nationalism, I guess, is only allowed to surface after ascertaining that there is enough for our basic needs.

Because there’s never enough left in a teacher’s payslip, loaning becomes a way of life with them. If our national coffers can’t afford to bring their pay to a more comfortable level, the least we can do is NOT drive them to the loan sharks lurking around miserable communities such as these, always ready to lend a hand in exchange for an arm and a leg. If there’s nothing left in the payslip, and there are no legitimate sources to turn to, what is the hapless teacher to do? The five-sixers are the only logical option left to the poor teachers, and they are now waiting in the sidelines, ready to pounce for the kill. With the protracted delays caused by the computerized systems now being introduced in the provincial branches by the DepEd, the small independent but legitimate lending companies servicing the needs of the teachers and even the non-teaching staff of the public school system are experiencing a slow and agonizing death. As months tick by, more and more of these small lending companies are dropping by the wayside, as their serviced loans go unprocessed, first because of the protracted requirement of re-accreditation, and then the computerization of the different systems, specifically the payroll system of these teachers nationwide. The re-accreditation alone took more than six months which, to a small businessman is a lifetime. That means more than half a year of not being able to collect your bi-monthly amortizations while required to pay your investors their monthly interest payments. Still, most of these independent lending companies persevered, and after complying with the new requirements for re-accreditation, and waiting for more the better part of a year for these to be re-evaluated, the groups has finally been purged. Hopefully, this cleansing of the system has left only the worthy to be allowed to service the teachers but hey, after all that paperwork, those deemed worthy are now told that they still can’t collect what’s rightfully theirs because the computerization of the payslips can take forever and a day. What’s this? What does it take for these legitimate businessmen to conduct proper business, when all the paper work is in order and all the terms. And conditions are legal and more? Are they waiting or the day when all these small businesses march alongside the teachers to protest the unfair business practice of the DepEd? Maybe this is not far-fetched as I heard that a group of them are now mulling a group suit against officials of the DepEd led by Undersecretary Luz. If the DepEd officials claim they are only looking out for the teachers, can they direct these hapless teachers to the nearest loan shark for their daily dose of five to six? Who is now looking out for these legitimate private lenders who have invested millions in the business and who now have to wait in line for sporadic allotments, small bursts of "awa" from the DepEd? The clock is ticking for these people too.

Poker King Finals Today

Next weekend, the semi-finalists who proved their mettle in the elimination games last Saturday and Sunday at the Parañaque Casino Pilipino will again see action in the same venue. We had about 120 eager participants last weekend, some of them veteran poker players, but we were happy to see new converts to this game of skills. The games were supposed to last about three hours but some table had declared winners after only about an hour, like colleague Tony Sulit’s table. Tony Halili’s table of five, though, saw a lot of action. The lone lady player (sorry didn’t catch her name) played well and surprised the male veterans in the same table with her well-timed aggressive bets, alternating caution with feisty playing before she bowed out of the game graciously. Had a lot of fun watching the cerebral tussles from the side.

Watch out for the next gun show to be held at the Mega Mall’s huge exhibit hall next weekend. NASHE ENTERPRISES will be coming out with their latest models, and there are awesome beauties in this batch.

Their KIMBER model, 45 caliber fully automatic, is one such beauty.

See you there next weekend.

Mabuhay!!!!! Be proud to be Filipino.

For comments: [email protected]