Good stuff

As a “foreigner” who’s been living in the Philippines for 26 years, my wife Karen appreciates anything that reflects good news or good service from people in government. Recently she wondered out loud why people don’t seem to appreciate good government service? My response was: “because people normally pay for the service and in a country where people have to work so hard to be paid so little in salaries, in a country where taxes are now a scourge in the face of widespread corruption and inefficiency; good service is demanded and not just expected.”

Having said that there are some good stuff that come out of government and if we really look close enough or share our stories, we might all gain a little more appreciation of the small agencies or the departments that have been trying to improve their service and their image.

Take for instance the DTI or the Department of Trade under Secretary Gregory Domingo. His people have actually been reaching out to the public as well as the media in terms of public information, events and services that are actually practical.

The DTI through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bureau (BMSED) regularly organizes events to help small businesses. The topics covered include taxation, financial statements, marketing, the BMBE law, licensing and trademarks etc. They invite guest speakers to speak on topics of relevance to small business and are free of charge.

My wife and her Russian-American friend recently attended a seminar on business taxation for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) conducted by a very humorous and knowledgeable gentleman from the BIR named Rex Paul R. Recoter. My wife Karen highly recommends this seminar to anyone who is thinking of putting up a business or even those who already have a small business but struggle with complying with BIR regulations. Recoter not only explained what you need to do to set up a business properly, but answered all questions thrown at him about a wide range of businesses including consignment shops to travel agencies who couldn’t get receipts from their tour guides in the mountain province and where to get your official receipts printed!

My wife also complimented the organizers from the DTI — Carissa Sapera, Edwin Pasahol and Corabeth Magkalas as well as Ching de la Cruz from the BMBE section, who were very helpful in answering all our other questions. The event started and finished on time, so plus points for punctuality! Whilst we all like to regularly complain about the government, you do have to give credit where credit is due and all those who help organize these events are doing an excellent job.  

Last week, my wife once again had to go on her annual pilgrimage to the Bureau of Immigration to register as a permanent resident. She arrived at the BI office in Makati at ten to eight and was finished by ten past eight or 20 minutes including having to photocopy her documents. The service according to her was fast, cheerful and polite. Come to think of it this is worlds apart from the time when I had to accompany her downtown to the main office of the BI and required the services of an insider who has since then moved on to the pearly gates.

I for one am happy to report that getting your passport renewed no longer requires going to a travel agent or standing for half a day in long lines. I recently had to renew mine and initially dreaded the thought of having to go down to Macapagal Boulevard or somewhere in Manila and losing half a day just to renew my passport. Fortunately for me there’s a new DFA processing center at the top floor of the Megamall annex or new building that even has six floors of parking space available to clients. Except for the initially confusing access to the center, which could be vastly improved by having sufficient directional signs, getting to the center was relatively painless except if you hate taking stairs in between floors.

The process itself was clear, quick and easy and took me all of 24 minutes flat from entry to exit. For a few hundred pesos extra your passport will also be delivered to your address via courier. When you compute your time, transport cost and parking, it’s a lot cheaper to have it sent to your place rather than coming back to claim it.

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While we were in Oslob, Cebu we learned that it is possible for a local government to develop, manage and regulate a tourist attraction and destination such as their “Whale Shark Watching” which generates so much interest as well as tourism revenues. I learned from the local bankeros or banca owners that the income collected daily from guests is shared 60/40 with 60% going to the bankeros who provide rides for watchers and divers. As part of their responsibility the bankeros also pay for the fine shrimps or alamang (fine “baby” shrimps) that is fed to the whale shark every morning by the pail. The local government on the other hand provides the marine biologists, security personnel as well as medical crews and ambulance on stand-by.

I learned that the bankeros earn an average of P150 to 200 a day and they only do the tourist thing in the morning, which allows them to do other things such as fishing in the afternoon or early evening. However, they claim to be tired after hosting tourists so they often just go home and rest. What I suspect is that they have lived by so little all their lives and with little materialistic aspirations, they have continued living as they always have. Again a lesson in simplicity and contentment learned from travelling.

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