SSS and NSO should give us better service!

Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) set aside P18 billion for the modernization of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and all we can say is, it's about time. Here we are talking about national renewal, yet our police forces still do not have the proper equipment, the proper training and yes even a decent salary to bring home to their families. Because of lack of housing, most police officers live in squatter areas, thus they easily succumb to the temptation to use their power and authority for their personal gain.

In Cebu City, the nation's second largest city, in order to find out how low the police have gone down the brink, all one has to do is look at the present state of our police stations. The best one we have wasn't even funded by the government, it was given by the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. last year! Today, even the presence of a police station does not deter a crime.

For instance, the PNP hierarchy rightfully put Police Stations in strategic areas like in Carbon or the Tabo-an Market, yet the people who buy and sell their wares in these markets complain so often that petty criminality has gone unabated despite the presence of these Police Stations.

This only tells you that the problem that the PNP faces today is not just its crumbling infrastructure; our policemen have a crumbling morale. But I don't blame the PNP entirely for what's happening to them, all I can say is that, at least the Arroyo Administration is now addressing their problems. Let's see if we can see an improvement in the efficiency of the PNP.

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Talking about national renewal, we ought to start looking at agencies that serve our people on a daily basis, yet fail miserably when it comes to giving basic services. The best example is what is happening everyday at the Social Security System (SSS) where people have to line up at the wee hours of dawn in order to get served. Please don't tell me that the officers and staff running the SSS in Cebu cannot see the plight of their very own clients who brave rain, heat and sweat just to get their papers.

I understand that you can get a lot of information about the SSS through the Internet, yet when it comes to printing out certain documents, you still have to go there and line up along Escario St. Surely, someone in the SSS believes that there should be a better way in giving service to our people? I'd like to point out that the SSS once had the most beautiful edifice in Cebu City and I still cannot get the reason why they have deteriorated so much, they've ended up renting a building along Gorordo corner Escario St.

The same thing can be said for the National Statistics Office in M. J. Cuenco Ave. where long lines or queues of people are an everyday affair. Truth to tell, this is a simple matter of getting a number or getting an appointment so you do not need to line up for your requirements. But then, the people behind the SSS or the NSO couldn't care any less to serve our people in the right way. Either they do something drastic this year or maybe we ought to do something drastic ourselves like ask for their resignations!

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Last Monday night, we went to see The Lettermen and you can say that anyone who was anybody way back in the 60s was there at the fully packed Waterfront's grand ballroom. Those our age who weren't there are probably still in denial, believing that they are not yet that old. Thus, in order to save our friends from embarrassment, I'm not putting any names on this piece. For sure, last Monday night's concert looked like a humongous High School reunion. The Lettermen was as they said and as Tony Butala claimed, the "Back Street Boys of the 60s and 70s" and yes their music transcends generations!

Our generation, often called the "Flower Power" generation, brought to the world, great music, great concerts and music greats who are still with us. Aside from the Lettermen, Mick Jagger is still doing concerts and Santana continues to belt out new songs. As for last Monday's crowd, I recall every time we had a "TeePar" (that's the way we called a party then) the guys would be wearing "Old Spice, English Leather or Brut" to lure the girls, who'd be wearing their mom's "Heno de Pravia". Well these days, the aging (should I say wilted?) Flower Power generation smells all of White Flower, Omega Pain Killer or for those who came from the USA Ben Gay!

Indeed, The Lettermen too have aged; after all, they've been doing concerts in the last 45 years and their songs continue to haunt our consciousness. But what makes The Lettermen close to the Filipino people is that they always belt out a few songs in Tagalog, which obviously gives you an idea that they haven't heard the great Cebuano songs like "Usahay or Matud Nila."

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