Everything went black quickly

Laughter – both nervous and amused – greeted the speech delivered by Energy Secretary Vicente Perez Jr. last week before the American Chamber of Commerce.

You see, the mike used by Vince Perez went dead. And so did the lights.

That was about the time Mr. Perez was telling representatives of energy players like Mirant Phils. that the energy crisis for Luzon will take place only by 2008 – if absolutely nothing is done at all by government.

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After taking one of those short courses at Harvard University, Sto. Tomas University Hospital treasurer Fr. Roland Mactal now considers himself a Harvard alumnus, of course, and the equivalent of any MBA graduate from the same American school.

Fr. Mactal, who has been ordained just a year or two ago, is now considered the second most powerful man in the hospital next to chairman Fr. Juan Ponce.

Despite the stake of the Dominican order in the hospital, the board approved without much debate Fr. Mactal’s strategy to re-position the hospital as another St. Luke’s Medical Center.

The re-positioning basically involves raising the rates for rooms and services beyond the paying capability of its previous broad C market. Oh yes, the charity ward was also eliminated.

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Starting next semester, the University of the East headed by president Baltazar Endriga will be offering an English proficiency program that will be signed off as acceptable by the call center industry.

Bal Endriga’s management team has still to decide whether to make the program compulsory for all students or to offer it as an elective.

The program will not be limited to students eyeing the call center industry, which is expected to double next year its current 17,000 seats capability.

The school’s future doctors and nurses seeking employment abroad will also benefit from the program. (Passing an English proficiency test is a requirement to medical employment in the United States).

Far Eastern University, which is headed by president Lydia Echauz, has a similar program although it is limited to students who want to work for the call center arm of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

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Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo called in last Tuesday – his 509th day in office – to explain that the level of corruption (which is estimated at between 30 percent and 50 percent of total collections) is not the issue but what the BOC is doing to reduce such corruption.

Tony Bernardo talked about the current piloting of a program that would reduce discretionary or face-to-face dealings with BOC personnel through the use of machines. For example, an importer or exporter can now track his her shipment by cell phone.

Then again, to paraphrase Mr. Bernardo, the issue is not knowing at what stage of processing a specific shipment is, the issue is how to quickly move cargo through the gates of BOC.