Low blows and low lines

Public property should be held sacred because we all own it.

However there is a prevailing mentality among government officials and elected officials that because some things are “public property”, they have all the right to take advantage of it or simply ignore it.

Something that is largely going “ignored” is the financial situation of Philhealth or the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. Philhealth officials have already raised warning flags that if certain government offices and their officials don’t pay the P19.2 billion they owe, the agency would go bankrupt by 2016.

I personally am committed to doing whatever I can do to prevent that from happening because I have personally witnessed how Philhealth can significantly help patients, the elderly, retired or underprivileged people.

Because of her Philhealth coverage, my Mom was entitled and given a discount of P31,500 out of a P188,000 hospital bill at the National Kidney Center. That’s a whole month’s salary for many of us and it made me realize the major importance of being a Philhealth member.

Unfortunately, in the politically correct administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, no official is allowed to sound the alarm. So instead of making people pay serious attention to the matter, Philhealth chief Rey Aquino is constrained to say were not broke. But, they will get there.

In this chicken or egg scenario, our friends at Philhealth should remember that sending collection notices to erring agencies is not full compliance or doing your job to the best of your abilities. Philhealth must insure the proper collection and turnover of contributions even if it takes publicly naming the agencies and the officials who have resisted their collection efforts.

I for one would go to town and lead the charge against this people who think of and treat financial trusts like personal piggy banks. 

On the other hand, President Arroyo or Secretary Ermita should warn Secretary Jesli Lapus, PNP Chief Jess Versoza, Secretary Gilberto Teodoro (on behalf of the Phil. Army), the ARMM Governor and Secretary Oki-Doki that Philihealth contributions are the people’s money and that any mishandling or misappropriation of its collections is ground for graft and corruption charges.

Philhealth contributions are not just the “people’s” money but money of registered, card carrying members. Not turning the contributions to the Philihealth is plain and simple misappropriations or theft. It is not part of your department’s budget.

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You know you have a problem when you don’t even know who is in charge.

I realized this yesterday as I tried to figure out who exactly is in charge of all the telephone and television cables that have become a real threat to life and limb in Metro Manila.

Just inside Barrio Kapitolyo, in Pasig City, walking under such cables is like playing Russian roulette. At our main intersection so many of the wooden posts and their metal brackets are all bent out of shape from the overload of cable television lines as well as telephone lines of various companies.

Adding to this potential disaster is the fact that many, if not all these companies have farmed out their “cabling requirements” to private contractors who don’t invest on the appropriate equipment for the job. What happens is that most of the cables in Metro Manila are installed so low that garbage trucks are delayed in their collections because they have to avoid ripping the lines.

This is a daily occurrence, where telephone, cable TV or power lines are disconnected or ripped by passing vehicles because they are so low.

The problem is: Who’s in charge?

When you have too many cooks, it’s hard to tell who poisoned the food. The same with the “Black Spaghetti and vines” that run through our concrete jungle. The National Telecommunications Commission is there, but what has it done in the last 10 years? The Metro Manila Development Authority is their but it has become more involved in traffic and building bridges, the mayors and barangay captains are there but they are too preoccupied with income generation rather than safety and efficiency.

So once again it is up to media and YOU. If you can make time and text messages simply text your favorite radio station and media partner to kick up a fuss. In this time of pre-election popularity contests, we might just get some real action instead of radio commercials amounting to nothing.

Given the great risk to life and property, as well as losses and inconvenience to paying customers, isn’t it about time that the government gave the problem some serious attention? I don’t think we can expect the telecoms, cable companies and Meralco to do something about it because if they cared, something would have been done about it a long time ago.

For starters, what about passing a law setting a mandatory minimum height for cables on posts so that garbage trucks, movers and mixers don’t cut them. Make it mandatory that telecoms and cable companies bundle their lines based on a maximum number of lines per bundle in order to stop the mess and ugly tangles above us. Have a common post for all cables but stratified installations so even an ordinary person can tell if the cable is telephone, cable TV or electrical line.

Set down a rule that requires cable installers to follow the contour of the sidewalk and prevent them from making short cuts across the road which in turn become an obstacle for tall vehicles and comes too near some houses or building windows. In a time where people have become increasingly concerned about “electrical radiation”, these companies should at least keep their cables away from our windows.

Finally, get the companies to clean up non-operational or disconnected/discontinued lines. With so many businesses closing down, moving or relocating, no one has paid attention to the fact that these cables have never been removed. So every year we see more cables but not realizing that about 10 to 15 percent of these cables are dead!

Calling on Senator Juan Ponce Enrile…