Quality of Philippine Officials

Last April 14 was the start of voting overseas for positions in the Senate and the party-list as well. Here in Alkhobar, KSA the voting center is at International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA). In Precinct 4, I was the second certified voter who cast my vote and I find it very convenience when voting during working days due to less people at the center. Of course, having selected the candidates which I believe could uplift the country's law making body, is a fullfillment as a Filipino citizen.

However, latest news about the country regarding election campaign is so sad. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales was so proud as interviewed on television promising barangay heads in Iloilo with P10,000 if they can deliver 12-0 in favor of the Team Unity candidates for the Senate which are of course from the administration. Comments left and right regarding Gonzales pledge came in depending on whose camp came from. I don't mind on the observations from political parties who participated in this mid-term election. But for neutral camp coming from us, OFW's who prefer to work hard in a foreign land, those pronouncements are unethical, shameful, selfish, degrading, and a grave violation of election laws. I guess the justice secretary had forgotten that he's an alter ego of the president and whatever he gonna uttered in any medium, will reflect the position of the government. Granting that the money is from his personal account, having bestowed the promise to barangay officials would paint an image of vote buying no matter how he will expain it's purpose whether it's for the barangay's benefit considering that we are in a campaign period. The worst thing is that the promise was delivered by a person who takes care of justice in our country. Do we Filipinos really deserve this kind of quality on our government officials? Are the blood sacrificed by our heroes will be going to drain? How long are we as a nation can accept this kind of political culture? Is there brightness coming ahead for the next generation? Sometimes, I'd agree with a co-employee here in my company who argued with us during discussions, that the only way to stop corruption in our country is to kill all its citizens with age 6 years and above. The assertion is just to humor us but personally it makes sense.

On my next post, I will surely be writing in Cebu since from the end of this month, I have to enjoy my annual vacation. Of course, it's nice to spend my work leave with my family. Surely, I would experience the festive atmosphere during campaign period until the election day on May 14. But before that, I'm looking forward to attend my hometown's (Pinamungajan, Cebu) annual fiesta on May 3 & 4.

Moral Lesson (For Your Joke Only)

The story below had been e-mailed to me by Jake of Tiaong, Quezon.
___________________________________________________

I was a very happy person. My wonderful girlfriend and
I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married.
There was only one little thing bothering me ...
it was her beautiful younger sister.

My prospective sister-in-law was twenty-two, wore very
tight miniskirts, and generally was bra-less.
She would regularly bend down when she was near me,
and I always got more than a pleasant view of her private parts.
It had to be deliberate. She never did it when she was near anyone else.

One day "little" sister called and asked me to come over
to check the wedding invitations. She was alone
when I arrived, and she whispered to me that she had
feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome.

She told me that she wanted to make love to me just
once before I got married and committed my life to her
sister. Well, I was in total shock, and couldn't say a word.
She said, "I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and
if you want one last wild fling, just come up and get me."

I was stunned and frozen in shock as I watched her go
up the stairs. When she reached the top she pulled off
her panties and threw them down the stairs at me.
I stood there for a moment, then turned and made a
beeline straight to the front door. I opened the door,
and headed straight towards my car.

Lo and behold, my entire future family was standing
outside, all clapping!

With tears in his eyes, my father-in-law hugged me and
said, "We are very happy that you have passed our little
test.....we couldn't ask for better man for our daughter.
Welcome to the family."

And the moral lesson of this story is :

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR CONDOMS IN YOUR CAR !!!!!

IIEE Code of Ethics

This week, I'd got an e-mail from the former president of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, Inc.-Eastern Region Chapter, Saudi Arabia (IIEE-ERCSA) of which I am a member, in the person of Engr. Nelson J. Tagapulot (NJT) from WESCOSA. The subject is about engineering profession to stand-up against the country's corruption practices. The area under discussion is the lamp post installed during the ASEAN summit hosted by Cebu. Although the PDF attachment on the e-mail is not exactly right as per the venue and date is concern, that is another matter and understandable. People outside Cebu opined that when the same name is mentioned, it is Cebu City. Little that they know that Cebu is a province with Mandaue City as the exact location of controversial Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) built on the funds of the provincial government. The other venue of the summit is at another component city of the province of Cebu that is Lapu-lapu City where I reside. The lamp post are erected on the ceremonial streets from the airport towards hotels and meeting venues as well. These locations can be found in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-lapu, both in the province of Cebu.The lamp post become controversial when one of the lossing bidders filed a case to the Ombudsman for an investigation on the cost per lamp that were ranging from P80, 000 to P300,000 depending on the type and location of the lamp post. By experience, these amounts were astronomical for a lamp including the fixture and poles even if you include the manpower for trenching, sanbedding, cable laying, backfilling, cable termination, pre-commissioning and start-up.

But this posting will not tackle on the lamp post issue although it's the main subject matter on hand. Upon receiving the e-mail from our colleague, I kinda feel guilty for not discussing this corruption issue officially thru IIEE-ERCSA Board Meetings. Upon reading the e-mail, I forwarded my thoughts in the form of a query to IIEE Region 7 yahoogroups inquiring their position on the subject. After two days from my e-mail, I received a reply coming from Wille C (cebu_power@yaho.com) inquiring me if there was a violation of Philippine Electrical Code on the subject lamp post. Honestly, my first reaction is I'm at a loss. I was just wandering why the reply is about a violation of PEC. I believe that he's reply told me that as long as the PEC is not violated, corruption is acceptable.

"A tough question" commented NJT on the reply. On my respond to his query on PEC, I copied the words from my colleague that the content of his e-mail is a tough question. I said tough, because it's hard to answer a question that is far from the previous subject which is corruption. I hope IIEE Region 7 had not been blind on the subject itself. Asking me on a PEC violation is something absurd. I jokingly told Willie C that the lamp is just a resistive load and an analysis on ETAP is not required. It's my confirmation that for sure, a technical violation is nil. But what about professional code of ethics? I guess the former president of IIEE-Qatar Chapter is right. The code of ethics had been violated and being a professional organization, it is our social responsibility to share our expertise on the matter because it belong to our field and we live in the place where the irregularity happened.

Making our voice heard on the issue doesn't mean that the suspended personnel are guilty. It has to be proven anyway by investigating authority. Our stand against corruption is to let the community know that we are around and behind them against this plague. I'm looking forward that someday, IIEE 7 will not discuss only technical issues for their own professional growth but to the community where they live as well.

Let me give my appreciation to the former president of IIEE, Qatar Chapter, Engr. Mar Agbayani for his postive rejoinder and NJT for his personal call on the subject matter.

If the engineering profession will not help in weeding-out corruption in the Philippines, then who and when?