The Vilma Santos survey

During our weekend break here in Lipa City, our caretaker handed me an official survey from the office of Governor Vilma Santos-Recto.

The survey essentially is a feedback mechanism for the Governor to determine if her H.E.A.R.T.S program on Health, Education/Environment, Agriculture, Roads, Tourism and Security have lived up to the expectations or have benefitted her constituency.

I must confess that this is the first time I have received such a survey from any elected government official in all the places I have lived or done business. From Baguio City down to Coron, Palawan, this is certainly a first for me.

It’s a good practice and “We” the people, need to respond whether or not something comes out of the exercise.

A covering letter came with the survey and it was obviously intended to inform the uninformed people such as myself of what the Provincial government has been up to. Fortunately, they left enough room for us to write about the other things that “We the people” may be concerned about.

For instance, for the last two nights, I have been hoping against hope that our electrical current would stop fluctuating up and down like the waves at the Batangas pier. At the moment, there is an average once a week power-outage. Power fluctuations have caused serious damage to residential appliances and commercial equipment. The voltage is so low that we can’t install water heaters or air-cons. You can literally tell by the speed of your electric fan that the electrical voltage was going up and down.

A few years back we had a party where John Lesaca and Area One came to entertain everyone. The voltage was so low they had to reduce the number of guitars and microphones because there was not enough electricity!!! Thank God for Acoustic Jams.  

Thanks to the hard work of “Ate Vi”, Lipa City has certainly grown to a progressive business and residential center, which the current Mayor, Oca Gozos has continued. Unfortunately, the Batangas Electric Cooperative II (BATELEC) has fallen behind in developing its capacity to serve the needs of their growing and evolving customer base.

For the last four years, the standard response of the BATELEC II is to suggest that the customer buy his or her own “Transformer” to insure a stable and reliable power supply. This was what Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago ended up doing for their weekend farm in Lipa. Fortunately for BATELEC it has not yet occurred to Senator Santiago to investigate why she needed to do that or what the Energy Regulatory Commission was doing about it.

In another instance, an establishment that had a “commercial power requirement” applied for power installation but was also told that they would have to provide the transformer and the high voltage cable into the property. Faced with an estimated five hundred thousand pesos bill, the group went out and bought a power generator instead.

The same thing happens to rich or poor, who live in the interior areas who have to buy their own electric cables, wood posts or bamboo poles, then wait for BATELEC to sell them electricity that is so weak you can’t operate a water pump.

Apparently, the electric cooperative does not believe in investing on the business because they have enjoyed a form of “monopoly” in this part of Batangas. As a result, the cost of doing business is artificially increased by the need of having two power supplies: BATELEC and your own generator.

People who want to put up agricultural operations can’t because there is no power supply to drive their deep well pumps, incubators, machines etc. People who want to build mini resorts can’t because the electricity is not there to operate air conditioners, swimming pool equipment, spa equipment etc.

Governor Vilma Santos-Recto may not have thought about this problem as a provincial concern, but as many towns in Batangas start to attract residents, OFWs, and investors it is high time to gather the Board members and officials of this electric cooperative and ask them if they are interested in growing and investing for the future or should we invite MERALCO to improve power supply in the province.

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As for Governor Vi’s HEARTS programs, she does not really have to survey the entire province in order to get a pulse. Like I wrote, while she was away filming a movie in New York, her doctors at the Batangas regional do exceptional work even on limited resources.

The Police have done admirable work nipping the beginnings of Kidnapping, while Barangay security forces have stepped up to nip petty burglary.

Sadly, it pains me to tell Ate Vi that as far as road development goes, she will only get some points for visible projects along the highways and centers. As far as interior roads are concerned, there has been no attempt to improve or rebuild roads in the outlying barangays of Lipa City. We just see mini billboards of an ex-politician but not roads.

And if “Ate Vi” wants peace and order, perhaps it would be good for our health and safety if mayors and barangay officials can put a limit on the excessive alcohol use at fiestas, birthdays and weddings which then becomes unmanageable once the rented Karaoke machines go on for several nights, which is highlighted not by fireworks display but by firearms discharge!

Tourism has a very big potential in Batangas but the provincial government needs to educate its officials and citizens that public beaches are not their living room, not a beer garden and barangays are not firing ranges.