Tarlac City Hall is ‘text-free zone’

TARLAC CITY — This city’s mayor has earned for himself the monicker "enemy of texters." The reason: he has declared City Hall a "text-free zone."

Quite surprisingly though, Mayor Genaro Mendoza’s order is now being strictly observed, although he only issued the directive verbally in one of his meetings with City Hall employees and during a flag-raising ceremony.

But, of course, text-crazy employees still find a way to receive text. So as not to attract attention, lest they earn the ire of their superiors, they "mute" their handsets or put them on "vibrator" mode.

Mendoza told employees that his policy is aimed at making City Hall a "working government," and not a "text center." Apparently, he heeded the suggestion of his advisers who had been annoyed seeing employees texting during working hours or hearing text tones from cell phones.

Mendoza said texting wastes "precious time" during office hours, stressing that the city folk want City Hall to be more responsive to their needs, thus government employees have to be "more productive."

Inevitably, Mendoza’s policy has earned the ire of some employees. A secretary now wonders how she can advise her husband to fetch their children from school. "Pupunta pa ako ng comfort room para lang makapag-text (I have to go to the comfort room just to send a text message)," she said.

One male employee, however, felt good about Mendoza’s policy, saying his untrusting wife would always check on him, through texting, even if he was busy at work.

"That’s good because now I have a reason for my untrusting wife not to pester me," he said.