Anyway, how about going for the title of "General Manager of the Year" this time, Mr. Garcia, by cleaning up the evident mess in GSIS?

Like what?  Well, how about starting off with the delayed payment of pension to hundreds, if not thousands, of old-age pensioners; then the unexplained "appearance" and "disappearance" of money in pensioners accounts; on to the much delayed posting of premium and/or loan payments (through automatic payroll deductions) of members remitted to GSIS by their respective agencies, and then to the much delayed, some for years, payment of the pension of old-age pensioners like Ambassador Rodolfo Arizala, 79, in Santiago, Chile; Adelaida Fajilago in a nursing home in New York due to a stroke some years back; and Floro Pimentel, 91, in Melbourne, Australia who had a stroke recently.

GSIS insists that these pensioners’ accrued pension (and others like them) over the last two years of about P350,000 each "shall remain with the GSIS for safekeeping (with interest?) until the GSIS and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) complete the mechanics on the possible outreach program for bedridden GSIS pensioners within and outside the USA ."

First, that’s against the law!  R.A. 8291 provides, among others, a government guarantee that members shall receive their benefits in full as and when they fall due.

It is also inhumane.  These three individuals need their pension like yesterday, like two years ago.  They all have health problems that need constant medical attention.  What right has the GSIS to withhold payment of their pension, eCard or no eCard?

And I might ask – "aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo" (what good is hay when the horse is already dead)?

I checked with the DFA on the status of the proposed outreach program. They still have to meet with GSIS representatives on an unspecified date.  Whatever may be agreed upon will most likely involve embassies and consulates general personnel meeting with these pensioners and certifying to the fact that they are who they claim they are and that they are still alive.

I, therefore, see no compelling reason why the embassy in Santiago and the embassy in Canberra or the  consulates general in Sydney and the one in New York cannot be requested to check on them now. Unless the GSIS has no ready cash to pay them.

Which leads me to the oft-expressed and long-held suspicion by one and sundry that GSIS is actually cash-strapped because of mismanagement and bad investments. (One investment that may now be categorized as such is Meralco.  When Garcia started his "crusade" against Meralco, its price per share in the stock market was P82.  Today, it is less than half of that.) GSIS’ knee-jerk reaction to this suspicion has always been to claim the contrary and then rattle off figures which no one can verify anyway.

Perhaps it is time to have the books of GSIS audited, either by independent auditors or by the Commission on Audit, whichever is appropriate, to determine the true state of its finances.  How about it Mr. Garcia, for the sake of the system and its members who are your employers?

Typhoon Frank left several provinces in Luzon and in the Visayas in a shambles.  Almost a thousand lives were lost and an estimated P7.2 billion worth of crops, properties and infrastructure destroyed.  The effects of the devastation will last for months, if not years.  Witness the people in the Bicol region who were ravaged by Typhoon Milenyo two years ago.  They have not fully recovered till now.  It has nothing to do with their resiliency.  It has to do more with the inability of the Arroyo regime to help them get back on their feet.

So what does Ms. Gloria Arroyo do in the wake of this disaster?   She appeals for international aid and orders Philippine embassies abroad to open donation accounts for the relief and rehabilitation of devastated communities, 

"We are banking on those willing to help, especially Filipinos," she said.

Filipinos are generous by nature.  But Arroyo’s appeal would have been more effective and the Filipinos (and foreign donors) more receptive if she and a horde of hangers-on were not on a junket abroad when the appeal was made.  The appeal simply left a bad taste in the mouth.  That was the reason the response to her appeal both from the international community and the Filipinos abroad has been minimal.

If she had cut short her junket, it would have been a different story.  And it would have caused no embarrassment either, contrary to the assertion of her lackeys.

Her new chief apologist, Jesus Dureza, said Arroyo was "in control" even while she was in the US .  Come on, you know damn well there’s a world of difference between being "in control" and being "here".

Arroyo should have taken her cue from Senator Richard Gordon who had the common sense to be where he was needed, as chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC).  Kudos to you, Mr. Senator.

What’s the big deal about the United States sending a flotilla of ships to help in the search and rescue operations for the victims of typhoon Frank?

Arroyo was saying her trip to Washington was fortuitous, that it allowed her to personally appeal to Bush for help. 

Lest she hadn’t noticed, the US offered help to Indonesia , China and even Myanmar without being asked.  Tayo pa?  Do we not have special relations with Uncle Sam? The US would have helped us even without our asking for it, even without Arroyo in Washington .  No amount of spin to justify her junket will ever erase the fact that she left the country for an unnecessary junket at a time of national calamity.

What is noteworthy is the fact that the US also donated $100,000 but coursed it through, now get this, the Philippine National Red Cross.  Doesn’t that say a lot? (France also gave $110,000 through the PNRC. Of course, her callousness would not allow Arroyo to note the significance of that move on the part of the donors.

Headline in another paper:  "I am sorry, Obama tells GMA" with the drophead:  "US presidential bet rues missing chance to meet in letter of apology".

The basis for the story is a letter from US presidential candidate Barrack Obama to Arroyo as follows:  "I am sorry I will not be in Washington and therefore will be unable to meet with you in person.  I look forward to meeting you in the future and to working with you to advance the critical partnership between our nations.  Please enjoy your visit this week."

That is not a letter of apology!  What Obama said is simply that he was sorry he will not be in Washington.

I think that headline story is a bad spin, a feeble attempt to explain away the embarrassment Arroyo inflicted upon herself and the Filipino people by trying very hard to see Obama and not succeeding.  What do you think?

A lot of finger pointing had gone on as to who was responsible for the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy.  Was it the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Transportation and Communication, the Sulpicio Lines, the Marina or the Pagasa?

None of the above, according to my good friend Captain Vic Lauron , a retired PAL pilot.  It would have to be the ship’s captain who is ultimately responsible.  Vic said that the captain of a ship or an aircraft has "complete and total command" of his vessel.  He can make any decision especially as it pertains to the safety of his passengers.  And no one, but no one, can countermand him.  Sounds right to me.  Then again, what if the captain’s employer, the ship’s owner, tells him to do otherwise or else lose his job?

Like most government agencies, the DFA has its share of deadwood and deadbeats.  And there are those who, because of their political connections, have been appointed over the heads of many others who have been with the Department longer, some for more than ten years, waiting for permanent appointments.

Two cases stand out. 

One is the sister of a governor in southern Luzon who was a casual employee in a consulate abroad, came home and soon after was given a permanent item.  After a brief stint in the Home Office, she managed to get assigned to Los Angeles to replace a driver since it was the only position available at the time!

The other case is that of a niece of a very high-ranking senator who also got a permanent item way ahead of those waiting in line for years and was assigned to San Francisco . What is even worse is that this person is allegedly on frequent and extended "official" assignments in Manila, courtesy of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, or is it the senator?

And what’s this I hear that it is now SRO (standing room only) in the office of Romulo due to the number of personnel assigned there?  Four, whose assignment orders he reportedly signed some five months ago, have not been let go for reasons known only to him. In the meantime, their replacements are already reporting for work.

More "irregularities" in the DFA next time.

Today is the 64th day of the second year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

To those who were able to watch the TV interview of Jonas’ mother, Edita, and his siblings last week, weren’t you moved to tears?