• Give us this day our daily rice – at a price the ordinary, jeep-riding Pinoy can afford. NFA rice has gone up from P14 to P16 per kilo.
• Let there be cheaper branded drugs. We have generic drugs but a lot of times, their response is slow. Imported drugs give immediate results but they’re five times more expensive than generic drugs. Maybe we should buy from India where patented drugs can be produced at so much cheaper rates. Also, all drugstores, even the small ones in the provinces and not only the big ones, should give a 20 percent discount to senior citizens. Senior citizens should likewise be given a 20 percent discount on hospitalization, which is a proposed amendment to the Senior Citizens’ Law.
• The government should be enlightened and remove the PPA (purchased power adjustment). Is it true that the term of contract with the independent power purchasers was extended by some years so the monthly payment of the government was also extended? Is that the reason why the costing of the PPA in the electric bill has been reduced? The government should shed light on this. By removing the PPA, maybe we could afford to buy not just an electric fan but an air conditioner!
• Strictly enforce traffic rules, and clear sidewalks and side streets of obstructions so the color coding system can be removed. Improve public utilities and do away with dilapidated, smoke-belching PUs.
• The government should build really accessible and affordable mass housing for the poor. The National Housing Authority should be funded for this. Only in this part of Asia will you find shanties everywhere. The provincial government should be encouraged to put up high-rise housing for the poor, too.
• Garbage should be collected regularly but residents should also do their part. In White Plains, Quezon City, for instance, residents do their own composting.
• Not only should we dispose of our garbage properly, we should also rid the government of the stench of corruption. Today, corruption is found not only in high places of government – it has gone down to the rank and file.
• That products carry expiry dates should be strictly enforced.
• Big companies should have their own built-in consumer complaints desk manned by personnel with authority and who are knowledgeable.
• We should zero in on family planning. Couples should be educated on the rhythm method and given calendars for keeping track.
• The police and the military should be given a pep talk that would appeal to their conscience. They may not be doing wrong themselves but they’re looking the other way. But crime suspects need not be presented to the public. It does nothing but give GMA publicity mileage. Instead, all high-ranking police and military officials should close ranks to solve the peace and order problems of the country. After all, there’s really strength in numbers.
Taxi! |
Dear Consumerline:
Harrison Plaza, which is one of the oldest malls in the country, has been doing some face-lift. Recently, more interesting eating places have opened, a bigger tiangge area has been set up, and even the old tenants are doing some makeover of their own. One thing, however, that is still badly in need of good management is the taxi service. All other malls in Metro Manila, particularly those in Pasig and Makati cities, have devised very efficient systems that ensure the customers’ safety and convenience, and eliminate the aggravation of being refused by a driver or of having to negotiate the fee. They have set up taxi stands where passengers can stand in line to wait for a cab. The lines in those cities’ malls may seem long, but they move fast with hardly a complaint from both passenger and driver.
Not so at Harrison Plaza. There is hardly a taxi line to speak of. What you get instead are a lot of people wearing traffic aide uniforms and standing around the mall’s main entrances. When customers take a taxi, these men collect from both drivers and passengers for doing no more than standing there. They don’t even go out of their way to call a cab for customers but simply wait for one to enter the mall. Oh, they do some token gestures like waving their arms to call a taxi that is already on the way to collect the passenger or is already waiting outside the entrance. Some taxi drivers resort to negotiating the fare with the passenger to make up for what they give to these so-called traffic aides, who should be out on the main road helping direct traffic if they are really who they claim to be. Most, however, do no more than mutter under their breath about the unfairness of having to give money to these people for doing virtually nothing.
– LINDA BOLIDO
San Andres, Manila