The perfect person for the job

I have never been an admirer of President Aquino’s selection of high government officials for demanding jobs. In fact, I have often been at odds with him for his shortsighted choices. However, his appointment of retired police general Lina Sarmiento to head the Human Rights Victims’ Claim Board is an excellent choice. Granted it has been seen as a bit controversial by some, I feel that she can do an excellent job in ensuring the board completes its work in the time allotted.

According to Press Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., the HRVCB is a quasi-judicial body that only has two years in which it to perform its functions. I actually find that time period short when it comes to truly completing what needs to be done and proving your worth. The members of the board are definitely in for some stressful times ahead as they race against the clock to show what they can do in the time given to them.

I personally think that Lina Sarmiento can do a great job on the HRVCB. I don’t see why the respected Joker Arroyo, who served the Senate with distinction, has immediately reacted to her appointment and went public with his concerns before General Sarmiento has even had time to warm up her seat. Now I know Sen. Arroyo is a staunch human rights activist and was a freedom fighter and advocate during the time of martial law, so lets face it, any appointment might have had issues for him. But the appointment of General Sarmiento in particular pushed him to write an open letter to the President questioning his choice.

In my opinion, General Sarmiento will do an excellent job in this new capacity. I can’t think of any public official who has served her country so humbly and well beyond the call of duty. Lina Sarmiento even retired from the PNP eight months before her compulsory retirement age of 56. She served with dedication and passion and made an exit as graceful as her tenure. This is one policewoman who should serve as an example to all our men and women in uniform.

I can actually speak of her from experience, as I know her personally. She is a member of our weekly kapihan group, the Tuesday Club, at the Edsa Shangri-la coffee shop. We were all amazed by her humility and kindness even as a high-ranking police official. I think we should all give her the support she needs in her new capacity because I truly believe that she is the perfect person for the job.

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I have been following the news of the expected massive traffic jams following a combined onslaught of roadwork to start this month. So much information has come out in an attempt to prepare the public for high levels of traffic, detours, and more, as roads shut down completely for construction. Because of this there have also been several articles coming out about ways to cope while these mammoth road projects are happening. Ideas include public transportation, carpools, leaving much earlier, and even working from home whenever possible.

Recently, I have read that some schools are also considering a four-day school week as a response to the major construction projects happening. This is because so many schools are affected by the road closures and it will most definitely be hard getting to and from classes when you are stuck in standstill traffic. However, I don’t think shortening the school week is the answer to this problem.

I have to agree with the majority of the private schools who are against a four-day school week. First of all, cutting down the days of the week for school would not cut down the curriculum and academic requirements. Just like all the days that children get off when there is a storm or a flood, they have to make up for those missing days later on. Such would be the case of a four-day compressed school week. School work would have to be squeezed into a shorter amount of time and children, in turn, would get even more stressed because they still have the same amount of work to do in less amount of time. The basic education curriculum cannot and should not be sacrificed just because getting to school will be a hassle.

Plus, looking at it from an outside perspective, it is not the school’s responsibility to make up for the monstrous traffic situation. The ones who should be finding ways to help motorists and students are the MMDA and those doing the roadwork. Perhaps they can work on weekends when school is out or work in shifts and at night so as not to be present on the roads during rush hour when everyone is hurrying to both work and school.

Additionally, we really need to clean up the streets in every aspect possible. This means cleaning up all the pollution and debris as well as retiring extremely old vehicles from the road that can no longer pass road standard tests. This will help free up space on the road and will prevent flooding from garbage getting caught in the drainage system as well as preventing road accidents from vehicles which are truly no longer road-worthy. And finally, our public transportation system has to improve drastically. Jeeps and buses need to follow the rules. Stop and go where they are allowed and observe speed limits and other traffic regulations. Preventing them from stopping wherever they like (especially in the middle of the street) will go a long way to helping decongest the roads.

Traffic is a problem we will always have in the country. Massive roadwork is indeed a hassle, but we just have to recall that it is for the greater good in the future. Better roads and more accessibility will be something we’ll be so grateful for once it’s done. It’s like when they were building the Skyway. The traffic was horrendous during the project – I know from experience because at the time we lived in the South and my daughter studied in De La Salle University in Manila. It would sometimes take her up to four hours to get home from school, especially at night. However, now that the Skyway is done, it has truly provided a better option when having to head to Alabang.

Indeed, construction is going to be a hassle for the foreseeable future, but I think if we all work together we can find proactive solutions. Cutting down the days our children go to school is not a solution; it’s a knee-jerk reaction. One that I do not think we should implement.