EMERGENCY POWER

Last week PNoy requested Congress for emergency power to resolve problems related to shortage of electric power in the country. Congress leadership then promised to provide such power, however executive department shall specify what emergency power they require. So, the two branches of government are not aligned on certain subject. It looks to me that one is having a problem on its own and just kept it for himself and because the resolution is inevitably impossible, then it’s time to share the burden to others. Am I right, sirs?

Have you heard of Philippine Energy Plan for Y2009 up to Y2030? Maybe not, I’m afraid so. I’ll surely understand since such plan will never be posted in social media (FB, IG, Twitter, etc.). The energy plan is initiated of course by the Department of Energy (DOE) and can be viewed in its website: https://www.doe.gov.ph/doe_files/pdf/01_Energy_Situationer/2009-2030-PEP.pdf. With the PEP being studied and devised, what is then the purpose of the emergency power requested by PNoy?  In practical terms, you only asked for immediate help is there’s a situation that requires urgent solution, in the absence of a certain plan. In this case, the energy plan is up to Y2030 and we are still on the last quarter of Y2014.

Oh sorry, PEP is not only for power requirement but also for other related energy that requires planning and management including its utilization and conservation such as oil & gas. Nevertheless, we’ll focus the discussion on electric power otherwise our discussion will be longer and you’ll end up snoring while reading my blog.

As a professional who’s into construction management business, I understand that long term plans such as PEP require annual evaluation for future fine-tuning and action. The same applies in electrical power requirement based on several factors such as population growth, business expansion, calamity, demographics, etc.., then required power generation can be forecasted. Compliance of forecast dates shall be followed seriously and mandatory execution of planned activities is a must. Should such will fail due to irresponsible managers, then problem arises.

As I opined, the reason for emergency power requirement by executive department on power generation projects is to: 1) Bypass bidding normal process. 2) Bypass regular procurement procedures. Both bidding and procurement, in normal terms, require sufficient period for evaluation both of technical and commercial proposal by contractors and vendors, respectively. Bear in the mind that non-compliance to normal procedures specially bids and material supply is prone to corruption due to absence of verification from various agencies assigned in accordance to law. Having said that, anything shortcut is not advisable and the best option is efficiency of assigned task which I guess not easy to find in government personnel specially those in appointed position hired because of political connection, not on broad experience and technical ability.

For PNoy to follow his straight path (daang matuwid), emergency power is not necessary, rather strengthen the potential of assigned personnel paid expensively to carry-out the work. Failure is unfortunately not an option and the same shall be infused to each member of the president’s cabinet.

 

My two cents....

 

BAKHALA ON AIR

Bakhala is a word we used to call in Saudi Arabia for a convenient store. It’s much bigger than 7-Eleven stores but with similar things to sell from kitchenware, toilet wares, foodstuffs, bottled water, chocolate, and any other products that you can buy from a grocery store. I used to think the same as “sari-sari store but completely opposite because customers can enter inside the store and select what you want.  Any idea why I made an overview of what a Bakhala is? Please bear with me; we’ll cross that bridge soon.

In my long years in Saudi Arabia, I had travelled various airlines, of course, mostly Middle East bound (where my work is based), both in economy & business class. Nowadays, in the company that I’m connected 5 years ago, I punished them by travelling business class as one of my entitled benefits. In business section, upon occupying my assigned seat, a stewardess normally approached and introduces herself as my caretaker during the flight duration. My usual request before departure is normally Champagne, just don’t ask me the brand coz I’m not familiar and they taste same be it in Etihad Airways, Gulf Air, Emirates Airline, Cathay Pacific, etc. or in hotels like Radisson Blue or Marco Polo.

In Cebu Pacific (CebuPac) flight to Singapore last 27 August, I noticed that even in a 4-hour flight, meals are not served by default, however, can be requested for a fee. Very funny, but probably I’m just not familiar of same set-up, however, might be normal for regular travelers in CebuPac. By God’s grace and thanks to the travel agency, our ticket specifies “chicken adobo” as our meal. Know what, it’s not easy to commence eating and others are not or can’t. Much more so, both my wife and daughter escaped dinner, thus me & RR had no choice but to consume two “chicken adobo” meal packs on our way to Singapore. Jokingly, I called Cebu Pac as “Bakhala on Air”. Stewards and/or Stewardess push the roller and sell everything from water, pack meals, snacks, wines, perfumes. Personally, it’s an attention-grabbing strategy but I still find it “cheap” marketing.

On the positive note, airline fares become cheap due to absence of food served during flights. The strategy might be practical specially timing of the flight. For a 7:30 PM flight schedule, normally passengers had already taken dinner either in their houses if near the airport or at the airport itself, like what we did. Still, what if you’re a resident outside Mactan Island, say from Talisay or Naga Cities in the south? The usual appearance is at least 3 hours before scheduled flight for international departures. So, for those residing outside Mactan, traveling to MCIAA starts either with 3PM maximum at the most considering traffic on the way. Meal inside MCIAA is not that cheap. I find the prices funny but I’m used to it being a frequent flyer. With such facts, I still believe that in a 4-hour flight, food shall be embedded in the airline fare typical to other airlines.

All the same, my opinion is not at all typical to others who might think on the opposite. We are a free country anyway with different opinion and should you feel that such marketing is acceptable, then by no means enjoy the ride and take a deep sleep while others are enjoying their meal. This piece is for people’s awareness and shall not expect more than what I wrote above.

SINGAPORE TRIP

Escaping stress from work and family craving were the reason of buying a package tour to Singapore. I don’t exactly remember why Singapore was the selected destination, thus I won’t dwell more on that subject and just leave to my dear wife in replying such queries, assuming somebody will be interested. Having two members (RR & myself) of the family working outside the country makes planning more complicated. It has to be sequenced and timed properly. In the end, my wife booked for August 27-30, 2014 package duration.

I arrived in Cebu on the 26^th August @ 7:20PM then the following night (27 August), we fly out from MCIAA at 7:30PM to Singapore. In MCIAA, we were not exempted from surprises since both of us are unaware that paying mandatory travel tax is a pre-requisite for checking-in. Anyhow, I lost 6,600 pesos for the travel tax, intended suppose to be for shopping (lol). I regularly heard delays in Cebu Pacific Flights; however, our own seems an exception since departure is on-time maybe because CebuPac is aware that same flight is Nina’s (my daughter) first, outside the country, who managed to escape watching intramural activities in CDU.

Oh, I almost missed narrating the details about our 4-hour flight. Nevertheless, I intend to blog such experience separately and promise, I will really write it for others awareness.

We arrive in Terminal 3, Changi Airport, 10 minutes past midnight and upon completing necessary immigration requirements, we pick-up our bags, and immediately went to the arrival area with my wife spotting immediately the driver assigned to fetch us. Prior to leaving the airport premises, I changed my $US 500 to Singapore Dollar (SD) denomination. Not much a big difference with the conversion ratio of 1:1.20, thus my $US 500 is worth only 600 Singaporean Dollars. So I honestly asked the teller if I could buy a lot on my 600 SD and he said “yes”, hence I just believe him though with reservation. As expected, Singapore is a city state with clean surroundings and nice trees. Cars past midnight are not much roaming around. Roads are marked appropriately and well lighted. Basically, it’s opposite to Lapu-lapu City where I reside and any other cities in Cebu where Electrical Engineers don’t design lighting system in accordance to its utilization. Though taught in colleges or universities, seems they are unaware of illumination levels but I don’t blame them in general terms. They’re just pawn in the chess board, if you guys know what I mean. The result, roads are very dark at night that causes accident and high probability to commit a crime as well.

Upon arrival in the hotel, we were assigned in 2 double bed rooms. The hotel is not really a hotel per se. It’s just a pension house with smaller rooms and regular wall/floor finishing. Don’t expect a suite room like Imperial Hotel & Resort or a Marriot. A McDonald breakfast was delivered to our room at 6:00AM with pick-up time at 8:45AM for one-day tour at Universal Studio and SENTOSA. We arrived earlier than the opening time, so as usual “picture-picture” is the word of the day. Then we bought shirts with Universal Studio markings at prices ranging from 24 to 26 SD. Luckily, there’s a bargain as well; 3 shirts for 30 SD. I guess we bought 9 shirts using my AMEX, not my 600 SD cash. I always tried to recall my mathematics for immediate calculation to peso equivalent. The good thing is, the package tour include tickets to enter Universal Studio for all kinds of rides, though what I like most is the Transformer Ride. For other rides, both I and my wife just leave the thrill to RR & Nina. I don’t fancy going to the hospital during the tour so I just make myself contented in looking for something to eat. Before I could find a restaurant, rain comes, so we went inside a store and inquired for a plastic raincoat which in my observation was commonly utilized by other tourists and know how much it cost?, 4 SD per piece. We also ride Madagascar boat. It’s basically formed as the speed boat though controlled mechanically by a rail under water. As the boat moves on, man-made animals placed nearby talked, shouted, whizzed us. I was actually expecting a bumpy ride same as Transformer, however, I was wrong. The funny thing is, as we approached the exit, falling water is visually ahead of us and you could see the facial expression of other passengers knowing that they would become wet as we passed-by. As we approach 5 meters from the falling water, suddenly the water stops falling, just part of the thrill, I guess.

The last location we moved into is the Hollywood Area where buildings & streets looks the same in the US. First photo on same area was taken with Nina hugging the “minion”. I’m too old know that such cartoons are popular and anyway, we took also pictures with my family and of course bought 2 “minions” that has one eye for Nina & RR (for his special girl, I guess). The rest of the day until 4PM, we spend our time drinking coffee and various “selfie” at Starbucks.

At 4:30 PM, our tour guide appears and immediately brought us to SENTOSA through a Fast Rail. First stop is the Museum where a short presentation about Singapore beginning is shown and how it was inhabited by 3 major races (Malay, Indian, & Chinese). We took pizza bite after the museum tour before proceeding to Cable Car ride which cost 26 SD per person. Up there, you can see Singapore as an island for about 30 minutes, though little bit scary due to its height. Oh, by the way our tour guide is much older than me but walks very fast as my wife would always say coz he lacks my belly. There are actually rides that were part of the package, however, not to my fancy. Since we intend to watch a beach presentation entitled “Wings of Time” and time still early for 7:40 PM show, we just wasted our time climbing up (of course through the elevator) the Mother Lion and riding the train along the beach at SENTOSA. At 7:00 PM, we proceed to the beach area where the show was to be done.  As time approaches, the concrete benches suddenly full of tourists of different nationalities but mostly Asians. The show is hard to describe due to unique application of physical attributes. Other than several sheets formed in different forms, the screen is mostly water, pumped from the sea. The water timing up and down is technically sequenced for the show’s story involving lights of several colors. I had not seen or heard like that in our country and for me, it’s the best that I could think compared to the rides.

Finally, we went back to the hotel with hungry stomachs, and decided to take-out some food from restaurants near the hotel. We ended the first day looking at our pictures and having them uploaded in FB (as usual) both by Nina & my wife. For me, since all are busy with the net, I did the usual thing when I’m in Saudi Arabia, reading local & national Philippines news at the net aside from checking e-mails and my own FB account.

I wish I could squeeze my time writing the second day tour, however, my credit card will surely be crying as I wrote this piece since it’s the City Tour, which means shopping!!!