This is a test

We used to have television and radio announcements on public safety, calling on everybody to be prepared in case of an emergency. The voice on TV or radio says, "THIS IS A TEST, A PUBLIC SAFETY FEATURE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THIS NETWORK," then, a long beeping sound follows. Today, we seldom see or hear such a broadcast. What has happened to our Public Safety Preparedness Team? I never heard anything to prepare the citizens about the possibilities of losing water, electricity and even telephone lines. We were only told that Milenyo was on its way, and that there will be NO CLASSES but nothing to the effect of telling us how to prepare for it. You know, we sometimes still need to be reminded despite the fact that we are used to disasters. So, when should such announcements be broadcast? I think every now and then – just to remind the public.

I guess our brains are too small to think of everything at the same time. These officials were too preoccupied about putting down the tarpaulins of the commercial billboards that they seemed to have forgotten to prepare the rest of the environment for the coming storm. Like the pruning of the overgrown trees, securing traffic signboards from flying, removing unnecessary bars, cans, drums from the road.

Before the rainy season, I always make it a point to prune the tress in my backyard. I just have a strange feeling that the strong winds during the rainy season may destroy them one way or the other. My neighbors’ tree branches were all over the street after Milenyo. My mom’s kaimito tree was uprooted despite it being secured with a rope. Many coconuts fell off their trees almost hitting the cars parked nearby or passersby.

What is the point? Have a regular pruning and cleaning schedule. I think the local governments should learn from this experience. Since they cannot seem to "be prepared" whenever disaster strikes. Just learn from it all. Of course, this includes your billboards. Many have written about the billboards already. I hope they have been heard and understood by the local government officials. Actually, you can sue these local officials who allow such things. It is obvious that they are not after the public’s welfare. Again, what does the Ombudsman have to say about this? I know there are many pending cases about the billboards. It is about time the Ombudsman makes the right (and firm) decision.

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I always seem to notice that in a scene of an accident or a crime, there is no presence of that yellow cordon to protect the area. The police should always secure it from the public onlookers. In fact, there must be a standard distance from the cordon to the secured area. Without the secured perimeter, it becomes so easy for the public (or masa) to mess things up. They can also easily loot the area or destroy the evidence to the crime. In the case of the billboards that have fallen down, looters ransacked the area all trying to get a piece of their pie. There were no police or some sort of barangay security manning the area. I know that during that time, we were in the midst of a strong typhoon – but even after the storm passed, there were still secured lines. I think it should be SOP for us to start using cordons so we can protect the areas that need to be preserved for investigation. This way it will also protect the public from any danger or harm.

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My golly! We have relied so much on our modern electronic gadgets that when it was time for the dependable transistor radio and the "ever-ready" batteries to come out of its shelf, it seemed outdated. I had to look for one that worked with batteries. I am glad I kept a Jollibee radio (collectors’ item) which I also used when we experienced a blackout in the Luzon grid some 6 years back. Remember, there was an earthquake which prompted the jellyfishes to rally toward the power plant facility? Sorry I am not sure about my facts on this – I just remember that an earthquake and the jellyfishes were partly to blame for that massive blackout. Anyway going back to the radio, I was sooo happy to have had one. I was able to hear the news. For a while I felt cut off from everything. No electricity, no cell sites, no PLDT lines, no water. Lesson: Next time always keep a handy radio that can work on batteries.

Speaking of having no electricity, can you imagine how much food had been spoiled or wasted? I wonder how the grocery and restaurant owners managed to preserve their meats, chicken, ice cream, etc.? I hope their generators were all working or else they would have to retreat back to the olden days when salt and ice were used to preserve the meats from rotting. Just a word of caution: Be careful about the freshness of the meats you buy this week.

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To be honest, with the telecommunications network down, I was able to rest and relax for a while. This gave me time to think and reflect without any disturbance. Although I knew it was necessary for me to have a connection with my family and workplace, I found a good excuse to be in the silent mode. I welcomed such respite that comes in very rare occasions. Of course, when the lights came back, I will not be a hypocrite to say that I too – rejoiced! I was also so relieved that it came back just in time for my favorite telenovelas... Hee! Hee!

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Let me just say one more thing – that I have to get out of my chest. It has been within me for some time now and I think now is the perfect time to talk about it. Okay, here goes.... I cannot seem to understand why the government employees are always the first ones to be sent home whenever it rains or whenever a catastrophe hits us. Shouldn’t they be ready to be the first ones to help the public? I think they have been spoiled rotten. They should learn to be flexible and be available to be of used for other jobs in government service. If they need to clean the streets even if they work in the office, they should do it! Kaya walang nangyayari sa gobyerno natin – we train our government people to be lax or in other words – tamad! Why hire new people to do the job when they can do it? By deploying them to work in an emergency situation, our government can save a lot of money. Ganon talaga! If you work for the government, you work for public service which must come first before going home.

So did our new Secretary of the Department of Education drive his principals and teachers to do some clean up work before classes resume on Monday? Who will do the cleaning? In a public school there are few janitors. The principals and teachers must learn to be flexible! They must learn to do things themselves and not just exploit their students to do the dirty work. Mind you even without Milenyo, many public schools are filthy-dirty, I hope Secretary Jesli prioritizes a clean-up campaign amongst his principals and teachers.

The laxity of our government personnel is a sign of the leadership they have in their department or office. It has been my pet peeve since I was in college. I once called the Philippine Embassy in Los Angeles and the staff there could not answer my questions. In fact, I had to call several times because they said they were on lunch break when it was not even noontime yet. Just like many government offices here, when you call in the morning, it is still closed even if it is past 8 a.m. You call just right before noon, the phone keeps on ringing – I guess early lunches are a common trend. You call at around 4:30 pm and they say the office is closed. What’s the matter? Can we have shifts so that even during lunch breaks someone is assigned to accommodate our calls? The sad part is that once you get to talk to a person, most of the time, that person cannot answer your question and directs you to another person or another office. Ano ba yan? So, the moral of the story: Government offices should learn to be flexible at all times, should always be ready and must understand that their job is to serve the people. It’s really public service you know? And lastly, don’t just wait for the MMDA to do all the clean- up, local barangay members should do some cleaning up as well – unfortunately, this we hardly see. We only see these officers during the campaign season. As a matter of fact, it was only Chairman Bayani whom I saw in the streets doing a clean up after Milenyo had hit us!