A telephone for every barrio

The city government of Pasig, headed by Mayor Vicente Eusebio, is throwing its all-out support behind Interior and Local Government Secretary Alfredo Lim's anti-drug campaign. Just a few days ago, the Pasig City Council passed an ordinance providing for the "public identification or publication" of "known or confirmed" drug lords, drug pushers, drug peddlers or brokers and protectors. The Pasig City ordinance also covers gambling lords and protectors.

The Noisy Minority is going to cry "foul" again, because the Pasig ordinance uses the same "spray campaign" approach advocated by Fred Lim. It provides that drug-pushing shall be contained by painting or inscribing with appropriate markings their houses, residences, walls, gates, fences, or other premises. And the goal is to protect and assure the "safety and welfare of the public, especially the youth."

Despite the loud and vociferous voices of the Noisy Minority, Fred Lim's shame campaign is apparently snowballing. Just recently, Marikina Mayor Bayani F. Fernando launched a dramatic initiative aimed at flushing out the drug peddlers and drug users in several notorious streets in his city. There are indications that other places that have become lairs for drug-pushing are going to adopt similar methods that will hopefully put an end to the rampant activities of drug-pushers.

There is one welcome result from Fred Lim's "shame campaign." Public awareness of the drug problem has heightened. People are now beginning to realize the evil effects of drugs, and their eyes are being opened to the need for more draconian steps to contain the drug menace. Unless dramatic and innovative steps are undertaken to stop drug-pushing, the cycle of drug-related heinous crimes is going to go on and on and on.

Don't be immediately deceived by the negative reports about Task Force Aduana, headed by Gen. Jose Calimlim. Actually, there is a P100-million war chest that has been put up with one evil intention -- to discredit Gen. Calimlim and Task Force Aduana. The group behind this massive fund is made up of bigtime smugglers in cahoots with corrupt government employees.

The anti-Calimlim campaign is an indication of the clout and influence of the smugglers. It also shows how rampant smuggling is in the country. The smugglers must be getting badly hurt by the intensive activities of Task Force Aduana. Otherwise, why is there such a huge war chest?

If we go by the records, Task Force Aduana has been doing a good job. As of this date, the TFA has seized some P1.1 billion in smuggled goods -- and this is only in a span of a few weeks. What cannot be quantified, though, is the damage that rampant smuggling has been inflicting on our local industries.

Several parties have cried "foul" over the methods used by TFA in stopping smuggling. They claim, for instance, that the use of helicopters was an "overkill." But then, according to Calimlim, the use of helicopters was to prevent a possible shootout between the TFA and the smugglers who often use high-powered firearms.

It will be recalled that, a few years ago, NBI agents tried to raid a smuggler's haven in Northern Luzon but failed to enter the barangay. A hail of gunfire greeted the agents. It was because of this experience that the TFA had to use unorthodox methods now being criticized as "overkill." Note that no one was, as a result, hurt by the method used by Calimlim and his men.

Yesterday, in a privileged speech in the Senate, Senator Nikki Coseteng aired an appeal addressed to President Estrada, asking him to approve the Telepono sa Barangay Program, under the Municipal Telephone Project (MTP). Nikki's call is laudable, considering that so many barangays in our country are still without telephones, a vital component in keeping the Philippines apace with modern times. Tomorrow, I shall take up in detail Nikki's arguments why President Estrada's approval of the phone program is urgent. And I hope that the President and the rest of our policymakers will listen, because time is of the essence.

When a family is not financially endowed, it becomes a harrowing experience when a loved one gets seriously sick and requires medical treatment. Take the case of the family of Evelyn I. Crodua, a mere employee, whose 12-year-old daughter, Ma. Giselle, is suffering from diabetes, complicated by the weakening of her lungs and kidney. The young girl's prescribed medicines are so costly that her mother has been forced to practically beg for help, even from strangers.

For her diabetes, Giselle has to be injected twice daily with Humulin R and Humulin N. And four times a day, she has to take the Sure Step Test Strip, an insulin syringe and lancet. For her kidney and urinary bladder, she has to take a urinalysis test, a scan and triglobe antibiotics.

For her weakened lungs, Giselle has to take once daily, for a period of six months, a Pyrazinamide 500 mg tablet, an Isoniazid 300 mg tablet, and a Rifambicin 300 mg tablet. And then, her prescribed vitamins are Ferrous Sulfate and Clusivol. With a family with so meager monthly income, how can it afford these medicines? But then, the family's beloved Giselle has to live.

If there are some blessed souls who would like to help Giselle's mother, please contact Alex Dinoy of my staff, at telephone numbers 716-1339 and 716-1449. Your help could save the life of a young girl. Thanks a million!

Ernie Dulay Delfin, who was an agriculturist, then a CPA, and eventually a writer-publisher in the United States, took time to share with me his "views and voices from America." Here are excerpts from Delfin's letter:

* How can we elevate our values if the family itself is degrading. Even in our school, teachers are on strike because of unreasonable demands that our school cannot afford to grant.

* A generation ago, life seemed to simple in the barrio. Working diligently in the farms, our people found self-sufficiency and contentment. Our needs were few, our basic necessities were so easy to fulfill. People may have been poorer then but probably much happier.

* We pray for everything in this life and, in so doing, we often surrender the simple pleasures for the opportunity to discover the unknown. Unfortunately, in this metamorphosis of our cultural values, many get lost even as only a few succeed in reaching their full potential. We are often brought to ask ourselves: "It is worth the work and sacrifice?"

* Nowadays, materialism is a dominant force in our society, often tangling with idealism. This has compounded the conditions in our country as it goes about in her search for her destiny. But this concern should not petrify us into inaction as problems are an integral part of our lives.

* Every day of our lives, we are confronted with challenges, and with it come problems to be solved which we alone must tackle. Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. To do or not to do is a daily decision.

* Life never offers any guarantees. There are no simple solutions to our problems. There are no safe roads to take. Each day that comes is a new adventure, a new experience, and there will be no promises.

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>