Houston, we have a problem!

China claims everything! This seems to be an understatement nowadays. Aside from claiming the moon, the Apple-Ipad and the islands in the South China Sea, China continues to feel supreme.

The country with the world’s largest population has again regained supremacy. Money talks in this modern world. The economy can move mountains and oceans. China feels its strength. And when you are in power, you can also sometimes abuse it! Ay, caramba!

The problem our country has right now is that we do not have an ambassador to China. I cannot understand the logic behind this move. This strategy will definitely not get us anywhere. What is P-Noy doing? How can he delay sending a diplomatic envoy to the world’s largest country? Is he crazy? Does he not know the importance of an ambassador? Susmariosep!

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation. In the 16th century, an ambassador was used as a representative of the state in which he is from to negotiate and disseminate information in order to keep peace and establish relationships with other states and make alliances during difficult times.

Today, the use of ambassadors is widespread. They are diplomatic representatives tasked to deal with a host of problems that occur within the international system.

I hope P-Noy will see the urgency of sending a diplomatic envoy to China so that we can have a better understanding of their claims and vice versa.

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I just wrote about NAIA last week and as my column came out, there was a big brawl at the airport again. Sanamagan!

First of all, I know the NAIA airport general manager Jose Angel Honrado. He is a very conscientious and hard-working man. But he needs help. And he also needs a good budget of which he seems to have very little of. If tourism is one of the priorities of this country – then give him the money and all the assistance he can get!

With a good budget I’m pretty sure we can get better airport services which include better facilities, well- trained airport personnel, a good CCTV system and security guards to mention a few.

Reflecting on the airport brawl that happened last week, I think that all passengers have a tendency to be sensitive after a long and exhausting trip. You cannot blame passengers from getting cranky especially when they discover that their luggage has been left behind. Honestly, I too, would be hysterical. The ground staff should be trained how to handle such passengers. They cannot afford to be onion-skinned. It is part of the job. In the first place, relating to different types of passengers is part of the service.

I believe, however, that there is a problem with the cheap tickets (low budget airfares). Why would an airline leave any personal checked-in luggage of a passenger behind? Shouldn’t this part of their calculations?

If you hear the many airport and airline stories of the passengers everyday you will be embarrassed to even utter the phrase – It’s more fun in the Philippines! I have friends who were actually trapped in an airplane from Boracay for forty minutes because the ground crew had some confusion (poor service) in opening the door. Then, as they disembarked they went through the bridge only to find out that the gate leading to the terminal was locked and no one would open the glass doors. So, they had to go down the stairwell leading to the terminal thru the tarmac. This inefficiency resulted in chaos and caused panic and claustrophobic reaction among many passengers. Later, they found out that the airline did not pay the fee for the bridge that’s why the airport officials did not open the glass doors leading to the terminal lobby. Isn’t this irregular?

While it is true that the marketing campaign of various airlines on budget fares has made air travel accessible even to the poor, it has also caused a lot of complaints on the kind of treatment of passengers who have availed of these promos.

When a traveler avails of a budget fare, he does not expect a similar service to full-service carriers. But he still has the right to be informed. Paying less does not mean a despicable treatment of passengers causing them an undesirable level of comfort.

There is really a need for a law that would regulate budget airlines and put a stop to the practices of overbooking, denied boarding, flight delays and cancellations that would compromise the passengers’ interests, welfare and safety.

The DOTC secretary, the airport officials and the airline groups must sit down and talk to iron things out. We need to do better than this. What an imprint you have left us (tourist and local travelers) with for such poor and crazy service!

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The rainy days have arrived. It rained in the Quezon City and Manila area last week and after a few minutes some streets were already flooded. So should we wait until the monsoon season before we clean up our waterways and fix the drainage systems around?

Anyway, with the rains come the brownouts/ blackouts. Has government assured the people of having enough power supply? A circular released recently by the Department of Energy says that the Mindanao situation has improved. But according to Sec. Almendras, the power supply in the region is still critical as there are no contingency reserves. This means that in the event of a failure in any of the power generation equipment, this will result to a shortfall and blackouts.

To be able to address the critical power supply, Secretary Almendras enumerates the important initiatives that must be pursued: 1) Resolution of the problems in operating and rehabilitating the Iligan Diesel Power Plant that could add 100 MW in 7-8 months; 2) Rehabilitation and transfer of 120 MW of privately owned power barge generation; and 3) The most cost efficient and speedy rehabilitation and transfer to Mindanao of the 96 MW of power barges presently operated by NPC.

Sec. Almendras is calling on the people of Mindanao and the local government units not to be complacent and to cooperate and support these initiatives.

I hope that someday, we can get efficient power supply in this country and one that is not expensive because from what I hear – the Philippines has the most expensive electricity in Asia.