Beat them or join them

The great thing about traveling and comparing notes with other travelers is that you discover what is new and what is old and it gives you a standard to go by. During our 8-day stay in Tokyo I experienced and discovered things that many people in many places already take for granted. I also had a chance to make comparisons.

Whenever I have to travel abroad for work, I am now forced to travel light because of my spinal injury. This means traveling and working with an iPad instead of a standard Mac laptop which about 4 times heavier. The problem is the iPad has no port or outlets for cabled internet connection so you either use one with a sim card or pray that your hotel room has good WiFi. I encountered such a problem here and the hotel staff installed a portable mini router that was no bigger than a small phone charger. That saved me the hassle of going to the lobby just to work. I later went out and bought myself one to use in places where they have weak WiFi signals or no routers at all.

When I arrived in Tokyo, I was promptly reminded by Globe Telecom of their Data Roaming flat rate of P599 / Surf all you can. Trust me on this one; Get it if you need to be connected to Internet even on the go. Twice I’ve hesitated to sign up and I always lived to regret it. Everyone kept telling me to just rent a Japan-based pocket WiFi service because it would be faster and it would be an added experience or learning. Well, my unit that I needed Monday afternoon, arrived Thursday lunch time.

Yes even in the high tech and generally perfect system of Japan there are glitches and in this case, the company my wife dealt with ran out of units due to the flood of foreign visitors probably going to the Tokyo Motor Show. Not only was my pocket WiFi late, it seemed confused or uncooperative with my phone to the point that I shut it down after 24 hours of frustration and squatting on other WiFi sources. I also realized that by using Globe I could have patronized a Philippine brand. I also would not have had to carry the additional weight and night time charging requirement!

Once I got my WiFi problem sorted out, I soon realized how important establishing a national network of public and affordable wifi zones or systems would be to a country such as ours that wants to stimulate economic growth, be pro-consumer and pro-Tourism.  In actual instances I witnessed how access to WiFi and the Internet made it easier for consumers or shoppers to get information on the things they wanted to buy or get particular details before making their choice.

The free messages on Viber certainly cut our SMS cost down but it sped up our spending! So there is a positive trade off if the Philippine Government seriously pursued public WiFi zones and gave companies like Globe and Smart incentives to bring down the cost of Internet connectivity and increase their speed.

Here in Tokyo, my wife relied heavily on WiFi, the internet and Google Maps to find our way to various destinations that would have been immensely difficult because we were unfamiliar with the territory. My daughter on the other hand used WiFi to be able to use her phone app Google Translate where she would take a photo of a sign, product tag or label written in Japanese and then translate it to a rough version of the English language. Without access to WiFi our trip here would have been difficult and half as efficient as it has been.

If PNoy cannot think of a legitimate accomplishment that he can be remembered by, then here it is, let him be remembered by every Filipino present and future as the President who achieved speed and connectivity on the internet for all Filipinos since the National Telecommunications Commission is now under the Office of the President.

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Beginning last Saturday an estimated 30 or 40 members of Philippine Motoring media have been making their way back to the Philippines and even before departure from Tokyo, several have already posted notices on Facebook to the “Laglag Bala gang” headquartered at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, that “they will not, never have, and will never plan on bringing live bullets!” It is obviously their form of protest and sarcastic warning to NAIA Airport Manager Bodet Honrado and his employees that they will not take kindly to falling victim to the “Laglag Bala gang.”

It is a sad sight to see pictures posted on social media of travelers resorting to “cling wrapping” their luggages as a precautionary measure to prevent being victimized by the “Laglag Bala gang” at NAIA, but from the looks of it even members of the PNP and the media are under the impression that the gang are untouchables or protected by someone or some group. I can understand that GM Honrado might feel obligated and duty bound to defend his institution and the people who work for NAIA, but if their singular public response to this criminal and embarrassing series of events is to talk their way out, instead of furiously condemning and hunting down the crooks within, then GM Honrado has signed his own “sentence.”

If he reaps the whirlwind of public condemnation and media criticism, it is because he chose to protect his team over public trust and interest.

Judging from the level of public apprehension compared to the lukewarm response if not indifference of President Noynoy Aquino and his cabinet, it is clear that members of media and the public will have to stage a counter offensive to the criminality within NAIA. We cannot rely on Congress or the Senate who took advantage of the publicity but gave us nothing but mere lip service in the form of a Senate/Congressional resolution to investigate the matter. We, the people should now pay back the lip service through media especially via Facebook until these twin national embarrassment goes viral: The Laglag Bala scheme and the lip service of Senators and the PNoy Misadministration.

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