On June 15, his eCard account finally showed a balance of P294,672.76. Later, GSIS deposited to his account P15,000 more.

Case settled. Or so Mr. Smith thought.

Last June 30, he, together with his son Jack, Jr., went to an ATM to withdraw money from his account. The machine said: "Transaction Not Valid". They tried once more, same result.

Wrote Jack Jr.: "I talked with a Union Bank lady named Norin. She told me that GSIS is still working on the ‘international network’, whatever that means. Further, she said that she can’t give any time frame about the problem, again suggesting that we should call GSIS for accurate answers."

I have not heard as of this writing from Jack Jr. who promised to let me know as and when they succeed in accessing his father’s eCard account.

I wonder what kind of explanation GSIS will come up with this time. The same thing happened twice before. Ms. Julieta Posadas and Ms. Ruby Parial, old-age pensioners both, had the same frustrating and infuriating experience before they were able to finally get money from their respective accounts.

The question begging for an answer is why do such things happen? Is it GSIS’ fault? Or is it Union Bank’s? Once the GSIS has deposited funds in eCard accounts, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that it no longer has control over the money? So, what "international network" that GSIS is supposed to be still working on is Union Bank talking about? Which one is actually responsible for the "appearance" and "disappearance" of money in eCard accounts, GSIS or Union Bank? Or both? How and why?

A banker with whom I spoke agreed that Union Bank gains full control over money deposited by GSIS to eCard accounts and whatever happens to the money afterwards, only the Union Bank can clarify, not GSIS.

Earlier, I suggested that both GSIS and Union Bank investigate this evident anomaly. I have no idea what action, if any, has been taken.

Ambassador Rodolfo Arizala in Santiago, Chile, Floro Pimentel in Melbourne, Australia and Ms. Adelaida Fajilago in New York have not heard from the GSIS. These three pensioners have not been receiving their pension for the last two years. GSIS says it is holding their money for safekeeping until an outreach program is concluded with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). When the program will be in place is still an open question.

As I said last week, GSIS has absolutely no right to withhold payment of pension to these persons (and others like them), eCard or no eCard. It is not only inhumane but it is also 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."

On the basis of this provision of R.A. 8291 alone, GSIS has a lot of explaining to do.

If there is anyone out there who still is not convinced that there is something wrong going on in the GSIS, doubt no more.

Public school teachers and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) who make up about 40 percent of the total GSIS membership have decided to file a billion-peso class suit against the System.

"We have all agreed to file a class suit against the GSIS for the billions in pesos of alleged arrears being charged the hundreds of thousands of public school teachers that are causing them difficulties in getting salary loans and other benefits due them," said Benjo Basas, national president of the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition. (GSIS contributions of teachers are automatically deducted from the payroll.)

Basas said that the decision was made together with the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers (ASSERT) two weeks ago at the Teachers’ Camp in Baguio.

As of last weekend, the DFA still has not received the agrement (agreement) of the Holy See for Ambassador-designate Cristina Ponce-Enrile.

The Holy See must be in a quandary. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which represents the Catholic Church and its followers in the Philippines objects to Enrile’s appointment. With the CBCP against her, how effective can she possibly be at the Vatican?

If the agrement doesn’t come within a reasonable period (one month is usual, and it has been three weeks since the request was made), that would be a clear signal that she is not acceptable to the Holy See. Ms. Arroyo ought to be sensitive enough to withdraw Enrile’s nomination by then and perhaps give her another post. (Abuja, Nigeria has become vacant.) Of course, Enrile herself can always ask Arroyo to withdraw her nomination.

Even before she assumes her intended post, Ms. Enrile has already asked for the transfer of a senior career diplomatic officer and the administrative officer in the Embassy. When I asked why, my DFA sources said that it was actually upon the instigation of the notorious political ambassador in Rome, Philippe Lhuillier.

According to my sources, Lhuillier does not like the officers concerned. In the first place, what the heck does he have to do with the embassy in the Holy See? In any case, it appears that he got the acquiescence of Enrile.

Many of these political ambassadors run roughshod not only over diplomatic norms that embarrass the country, but also over government rules and regulations.

Take Lhuillier, for instance. Earlier in his tenure in Rome, nearly the entire embassy staff requested to be transferred elsewhere. He must really be bad news for the staff to do that. He was also reported to have installed surveillance cameras in the working areas of the Embassy, not for security reasons but because he simply wanted to keep an eye on the staff. The guy must be paranoid too.

Later, he was being reassigned to Buenos Aires, Argentina where presumably he could do less harm. His appointment was signed, confirmed by the Commission on Appointments and the Argentine Government gave its agrement. So, what did this pawnshop owner do? He asked for Paris instead and when he didn’t get that, he asked to be left alone in Rome. You guessed it: Ms. Arroyo acquiesced. Why? He obviously has "political clout".

In the meantime, the ambassador in Buenos Aires, a career officer, had to be shunted to Havana, Cuba. Poor fellow, he didn’t have to go through the trouble of moving after all.

Another holdover political ambassador in Central Europe has admitted to having a United States passport. That’s a big no-no for reasons that should be obvious to even those who are not in the diplomatic service. Conflict of loyalty and all.

What is worse is that Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo allegedly knows and he hasn’t done anything about it! Why?

Another political ambassador in southern Europe applied for citizenship in the country of his assignment. He denied it but somebody got hold of a copy of his letter of application to the Spanish authorities, which he likewise denied, he wrote.

Thankfully, this political ambassador is being replaced. The bad news: His replacement is sadly another political appointee.

How about the political ambassador in a Southeast Asian country which is not a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)? Her daughter is reportedly in the embassy payroll but is working elsewhere.

Also, her husband who is an official of a revenue-collecting agency of the government has been detailed to the embassy. Not even the DFA could tell me in what capacity. Ay naku! Welcome to the Department of Political (?) Affairs!

A little over two years ago, I wrote:

"It is ironic that the ‘prostitution’ of the Foreign Service should be taking place during the watch of an appointing power whose father is considered the "father" of the Philippine Foreign Service, the late President Diosdado Macapagal. He authored the Foreign Service Act of the Philippines, R.A. 708 of 1952, when he was a member of Congress.

"It is doubly ironic that this prostitution of the Foreign Service should also be taking place when a Romulo (Alberto) is at the helm of the DFA. The name was made famous by the revered General Carlos P. Romulo who was considered the "best foreign minister" the Republic ever had by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. His initials, CPR, also elicited instant recognition as belonging to a man of great stature. Those initials too have been "desecrated" by the present occupant in Malacañang when she instituted the so-called calibrated preemptive response or "CPR" that suppresses the people’s right of free expression.

"Going back to Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who has been described by certain quarters as ‘feeble’ and others as ‘courtly,’ though he is said to be less than courtly to subordinates, with invectives flying left, right and center, when things go awry….

"In the beginning I did not have much sympathy for him for the way the DFA is now being run. But seeing as how his boss is ‘transactional’ in nature, I can well understand his utter helplessness in preventing the prostitution of the Foreign Service.

"The poor man probably is no longer listened to by Malacañang on matters pertaining to his turf, specifically appointments of political ambassadors."

Except for the word "probably" in the last paragraph above, nothing much has changed since. Of course, Romulo can do something about his "utter helplessness" by standing up to his boss, but he loves traveling too much. So there.

Today is the 71st day of the second year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

Jonas’ mother, Edita, joined last week some fellow mothers armed with a writ of amparo in their search for their missing sons at Fort Magsaysay. However, they were brought to a part of the camp that is different from the one specified in the writ. When they complained about it, the escorting officers reportedly reacted in a very arrogant manner, particularly one Colonel Barrios from the Judge Advocate General Office (JAGO). What gives?