Intrusion Or Protection? You Decide

If you have an account with Philippine National Bank through which you receive U.S. social security benefits via direct deposit, don't be surprised if you receive an unannounced visit by a representative of that institution.

That's what happened to my wife. The PNB agent stated that the purpose of this interview was to verify her identity and make sure that no one was impersonating her and misusing her social security income in the event that she had died or become incapacitated. Hence, this was a precaution that the bank was taking to protect both the customer and PNB itself. My wife forgot to ask the agent why there was no advance notice of this visit, but our guess is that the purpose was to catch a would-be imposter off guard.

However, some of the questions that the representative asked were a bit unnerving (or nervy) and had no apparent connection with my wife's bank account, such as her state of health, work history, the number of people at her residence, and dual citizenship holding if any. She duly answered the questions but felt uncomfortable about it and only did so based on the agent's indication that the PNB was conducting these investigations in conjunction with the Social Security Administration office at the American Embassy.

Subsequently, she contacted her Philippine National Bank branch and confirmed that these field calls were legit and will be conducted on a yearly basis. However, when in turn I contacted the the SSA at the Embassy to confirm their role in the matter, the reply was that the neither agency nor the embassy was connected with the audit and that they would get in touch with PNB to see what was going on. The SSA then called me back to report that the bank again confirmed the authenticity of the field calls. However, as per the agency's instructions, that in performing the audits bank was to refrain from invoking the Embassy's name.

So I suggest that you contact your PNB branch to see if in fact you can expect their knock on your door and if so to tailor the visit to your schedule, not to theirs. This of course will also furnish you with opportunity to inquire in advance about the kind of non-banking data that they intend to collect and for you to determine whether or not you wish to disclose such information. After all, in the end shouldn't it be your own decision as to how much of your personal privacy--if any-- you are willing to compromise?

Oh No, Not Again!

In a replay from last year, today I got ripped off on the MRT. This happened (see "A Payment, A Theft, and Update") while I was on an identical errand: traveling to the Bureau of Immigration to file my and my wife Lydia's annual report, a paperwork formality which is required every January from all non-citizen permanent residents in the Philippines.

This time I lost my wallet to a pickpocket in the crush of passengers while boarding the train at the Cubao Station in Quezon City. I thought that I was safe by carrying the billfold in my front pocket. But never underestimate the skills of the petty (and not so petty) criminals that plague Metro-Manila.

I noticed that my wallet was gone shortly after boarding, but with the little cash that I still had in my other pocket, I decided to proceed to the BI anyway and find out what I would have to do to replace our I-cards which were lost in the theft. These plastics are required for conducting any business with Immigration and must also be presented for permission to leave and re-enter the Philippines.

When I arrived at that office and just as I was explaining my plight to the supervisor(who offered to lend me P50 from her own pocket so I could get back home! To say the least, I was very touched by her kindness ), I received a message on my cell phone (which fortunately was spared in the robbery) stating that my wallet and cards (but minus the cash of course) were found by security in the MRT Santolan Station.

What a relief that was. The BI supervisor explained what my wife and I would have to go through to replace our lost I-cards, and it wasn't pretty. Among the required steps would be the placement of a notice to the public regarding the lost cards via a newspaper ad and affirmation of the loss through a notary public who must also be an attorney. There would also be various fees and forms to pay and complete.

But the hurdles were not yet over. I proceeded to the Santolan station only to find out that I was at the wrong place. There are two MRT / LRT stops with that name. I finally got to the correct location and retrieved my wallet. All my cards, including both I-cards were indeed intact. Not even my credit card was missing. The perp apparently was interested in just the cash and for some reason, our BI 2009 annual report receipts. What a nightmare it could have been to replace the various cards and documents, even though I have a list of such valuables along with their account numbers which I keep separately in a secured location (BTW that is a precaution which I recommend for everyone to take with their important documents and plastics.)

With our I-cards in hand, I returned to the BI and completed the annual report. Fortunately, I did not have to go to the back of the line of waiting applicants which by that time was quite long. Nor under the circumstances did I have to produce the missing 2009 receipts (Immigration often asks for presentation of the previous year's annual report receipt when paying the current year).

In terms of personal safety here's the lesson that I've re-learned: You can't be too careful when riding public transportation in the Philippines. First, do not carry a billfold. Take along only your personal essentials, the cash that you will need for your errand, and the documents and plastics that you intend to use. Place loose change and an emergency P20 or P50 bill in a coin purse and place it in another pocket. If you need to take a cell phone, carry a cheapie. Leave every thing else at home. Hold the pocket in which you're carrying these items from the second that you arrive at the boarding section until you have stepped clear of the vehicle departure area. If you must carry a handbag, make sure that it's small, cheap (No Louis Vuittons, please), and inconspicuous. If it has a strap, place it across your shoulder and hold on to clasp throughout the trip.

Also remember, if you're carrying someone else's documents as I was yesterday, of course you have an added responsibility. And if they are those of your spouse / partner, you will be in even deeper s**t, if you lose them. Needless to say, Lydia was not a happy camper about this incident. She had wanted me to take a taxi to the BI in the first place. I would have done so but for the fact that at that time of the morning (rush hour) there were few available taxis, and none of them would transport me from Eastwood City to Makati, the site of a satellite Immigration office. So I had to settle on one that would take me to the nearest LRT station instead. As I had discussed in a previous post, taxi drivers in Metro-Manila are selective about the distance that they will transport a passenger, regulations to the contrary notwithstanding.

Lydia and I are past the age where either of has to appear in person at Immigration to pay these yearly fees and can have an authorized agent do it for us. So next year when annual report time rolls around, maybe we'll just hire a bonded courier. I just hope the courier agent doesn't take the MRT.

For more information on the BI and the annual report, click here.

Rockin' In the New Year Philippine Style

As popular an attraction as Eastwood City is, this venue outdid itself last night in drawing a huge crowd to take part in a safe and sane New year Eve celebration. And the best part of it is that my wife Lydia and I, along with our friends Barry and Elma (their own blog site, bjruth.com, is referenced in the sidebar of this blog site) had only to step outside our condo to join the festivities.

No New Years Eve celebration would be complete without a fireworks show. The one in Eastwood last night with a celestial backdrop of a full moon was spectacular. Best of all along with the live musical entertainment it was free of charge and long in duration. The tang of cordite from these dazzling pyrotechnics still hangs in air hours later as I begin to write this post.

As I mentioned, the area was teeming with people. In fact I have never seen in it so jam-packed and would guess the number of attendees ran well into the thousands--perhaps the largest turnout in the 10 year history of Eastwood City. The presence of a new mall certainly played a significant part in this phenomenon. But a bigger factor is that in the Philippines entire families from grandparents to infants (fixed or early bedtimes for kids do not seem to be a part of the culture) attend and stay late at these events. Perhaps it was this multi-generational presence even more than the security personnel that kept rowdiness and drunken misbehavior to a minimum. In fact, a G-rated atmosphere seemed to prevail throughout the evening.

2009 was marked by serious natural disasters including a terrible flood in Metro-Manila and by man-made horrors including the massacre of 57 innocent victims stemming from a political feud in the southern part of the country. Who can know whether the events in 2010 will be any better or worse? Will the national elections (scheduled for May and which include the office of the president) make a difference? Given the the history of the Philippines, probably not. Yet one can always hope that the change in leadership will set the Philippines on a new course or least show the people that there other options beyond wallowing in the mentality of fatalism and fiesta that has kept this nation from progressing and realizing its full potential.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY

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Another Perspective on the Maguindanao Massacre

The November massacre in Mindanao was a disaster waiting to happen partly because it was the logical outcome of President Arroyo's tactics of obtaining political support. It was a case of the chickens coming home to roost. So why does she pretend to be shocked? President Arroyo epitomizes the culture of corruption in country by having allowed her allies, the Ampatuan clan, to acquire their inordinate wealth via the plunder of public funds and to build up an illegal arsenal of diverted high-power military weapons which enabled them to slaughter their political opponents and accompanying journalists with anticipated impunity. All this in exchange for delivering the votes from Maguindanao Province which is ruled by this family.

Yet might there not have been an additional underlying factor that threw even more kerosene on this fire? I'm referring to a particular cultural mix of West and East. In this case, the West is the Spanish heritage of machismo (popularly referred to in the Philippines as "guns, goons, and gold") which along with private armies predominates not only in this country but in parts of Latin America as well. The East is the Muslim / Arab tradition in this predominantly Islamic part of the Philippines (the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao), of rido, i.e. clan tribal rivalry, warfare and vengeance. Add to this the devaluation of life of the "other" which is common to both societies along with the hair-trigger amok temperament that prevails here, plus the aforementioned corruption of public officials that is so widespread throughout the nation as a whole, and you have one volatile brew.

In other words, were it not for this particular cocktail of cultural influences, I think that even taking into account that one side was the ruling dynasty in this locale, the power struggle with the victims, the Mangudadatu clan (who ironically are inter-related with the Ampatuans) might have turned out differently. I further believe that when the final historical chapter is written on this tragedy, the blend of violent mores in this locale deserves to be taken into consideration (and this is not to diminish their personal responsibility for their actions) as a contributing ingredient that helped to harden the Amputuans into the sociopaths that they eventually became.

The Winner and Still Champion

If politics makes strange bedfellows (viz. the teaming up of Manny Villar and Loren and Legarda for the 2010 national elections), then this is equally if not more true of moral convictions.

To be blunt, I find the adulation heaped by the Philippines on another Manny, i.e. boxer Manny Pacquiao, to be terribly misplaced. Pacquiao is being hailed as a national hero because his (sole?) talent is delivering a brain concussion to his opponents in the ring before they can do the same to him. And it's not just Filipinos who are elevating Pacquiao to demigod status. Other foreigners residing here with whom I've spoken are also make a big deal out of his seeming victory.

Except for my wife Lydia, I thought that at least in the Philippines, I must be rather isolated in in my dissent with this national mindset. To my surprise agreement with my objections came from a source with whom I would normally have very little in common philosophically: a Filipino Catholic priest, who in a column in the Nov. 22 "Philippine Star" criticizes the brutality of professional boxing and the physical damage that it inflicts on its participants. As a result he considers this "sport" immoral.

Indeed , how can such unnecessary and degrading violence benefit this country or for that matter any society, especially when presented as a form of entertainment or a praiseworthy professional aspiration? Politicians here spent millions of pesos in government fund on junkets to travel to Las Vegas to see Pacquiao in action. That money obviously could have been much better spent on this country's needs.

As far as I'm concerned professional boxing is more pornographic than any display of graphic but non-violent human sexuality could ever be. Yet it is the latter that society condemns as shameful and deserving of censure here and the former to which children are exposed by their parents with no qualms. Go figure.

***

Contrast the "achievements" of Pacquiao with those with another Filipino, Efren Peñaflorida. Were it not for his receiving the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year award, few in the Philippines would likely ever hear of this man. Yet Peñaflorida rose above his own poverty, formed a group of teens to help other adolescents, earned a college degree, and through his organization of 10, 000 members has delivered education to hundreds of slum and street children in Manila via a "pushcart classroom" program. Rightfully, today's "Philippine Daily Inquirer" newspaper featured this story as page 1 headline news.

Between Pacquiao and Peñaflorida, who has made a greater impact and a true contribution to this country? Who is truly a hero of the Philippine people?

Completing The Job

Despite the negative tone of this and many of the previous posts in this blog, I'm really not out to do a hatchet job on Philippine society. After all if I were so unhappy about life here, why would I have stayed for 4 years and still plan to remain indefinitely? However, when I read unfavorable but important news features and stories about the national character here, I believe that they should be brought to light and discussed especially for those who may not have access to these news journals.

One such item titled "Licensed To Kill" appeared in the Nov. 4 edition of the "Philippine Star" newspaper. It reports that for many years, there has been gossip circulating that some transit companies issue certain instructions to their drivers whose buses are in accidents involving pedestrians: If the victim is seriously injured but still alive, run him or her over again and finish the job.

It turns out this rumor may not be just an urban legend but may have a basis in fact. The rationale behind this sadistic practice is that it's cheaper for a transit company to pay off a death claim than a hospital bill for injuries. An uncontested minimum payment for the former is set by law at P50,000 and can be even less for a child. On the other hand a living victim's mounting medical bills could obviously wind up being much more expensive for the bus companies to have to contend with. And since most of the dead casualties' families are too poor to afford the legal fees involved in a protracted lawsuit, they usually settle for the minimum. (Attorneys in the Philippines usually do not accept cases on a contingency fee basis). Hence the incentive for transit operators to take the low road (no pun intended).

The article emphasizes—and rightly so— the need for bus operators to prevent such accidents in the first place by treating their drivers humanely with decent pay, elimination of unreasonable hours that lead to driver fatigue and cause accidents, and the installation of equipment on the vehicles to monitor and ensure drivers' adherence to safe road practices.

Yet this still begs the question how an employer, no matter the amount of money at stake, could so unconscionably consider trying to turn their workers into murderers and why drivers would in turn oblige. After all, no matter how bad the working conditions, how could this ever be an excuse for employees to consent to kill innocent victims? Such a pact speaks volumes about Philippine culture itself. Incidentally, in this regard I do not mean to single out this country. Such low regard for human life (except for one's family) is common in many countries both on and off the road, especially Latin America, which due to their mutual Spanish heritage shares many traditions and customs with the Philippines.

President Gloria Arroyo stated a few years ago that this country could progress to first-world status by 2020. She must be joking. No third-world country can expect to make that kind of a leap when violence is so deeply rooted in its social structure. The Philippines is no exception.

Are You Ready to Order?

My wife Lydia and I celebrated 39th wedding anniversary this past Saturday by treating ourselves to dinner at a fine dining establishment. Now as I mentioned in my original post ("An Expat's Perspective on Life in The Philippines" Part 2, Aug. 7, 2008) eating out can be a dicey proposition due to many restaurant owners' indifference to and lax enforcement of health regulations. Then there's also the 22% surcharge to the check (12% VAT and 10% service charge) to contend with.

Still, it's good to get out once in while and let someone else do the cooking, even if it's uncertain what's going on in the kitchen. Just patronize well known restaurants that appear clean and that value repeat business. Based on these criteria, here are a few establishments in the Metro-Manila area where we've have had positive experiences.

For all you meat lovers, there's Gulliver's Restaurant located in the Great Eastern Hotel, on Quezon Ave. in Quezon City : This establishment is part of a chain based in California, and there is another branch in Makati City. Gulliver's specialty is prime rib, a dinner for which is a prix fixe and includes several side dishes. For two people the tab for this selection including drinks, VAT and service charge is about Php2,200. For a table with a view, reservations are recommended; phone 371-8282 (Quezon City) and 898-2888 (Makati City).

A very popular fast food restaurant, also a chain operation is Jollibee, which is based in the Philippines with many branches throughout the country and a few in the U.S. as well. Jollibee has a wide selection of dishes, including the hamburgers, fries, chicken, as well as native dishes of course. I especially like their breakfasts, such as crispy bangus (fish), which comes with rice, egg, and a beverage of your choice (Php74). Another good morning order is pancakes with beverage included (Php 42).

No review of restaurants in the Philippines would be complete without mentioning at least one Chinese restaurant. One of my favorites is China Bistro located on C-5 across from Eastwood Ave in Quezon City. This place has an unusual setting: a section of an office building lobby. But don't let this anomaly interfere with your enjoyment of their large menu of tasty and authentic selections such as sweet and sour pork, beef with asparagus, and frog legs. One delicious beverage that that I had there and which I haven't found anywhere else is sugar cane juice. Dinner for two including three ala carte dishes and drinks: about Php 1,500. Reservations not required for a small group, but it's probably best best to do so for a party of 6 or more; phone 6310556

(Note: do not confuse China Bistro with nearby Shanghai Bistro in Eastwood City. The latter is more well known but their food is not nearly as good. Further, Shanghai Bistro is more expensive, and their service is lousy).

Back to our anniversary celebration: We dined at 22 Prime, located in the Discovery Suites Hotel in Pasig City. This restaurant which is located right across the street from the Podium takes its name from its location on the top (22nd) floor of the building, and its culinary emphasis on quality meat dishes. Our prix fixe prime rib dinners included potatoes and vegetables. The side dishes are soup, bread with three different dips, a salad bar, and dessert. A word about salad bars: Normally, that is something in which I have no interest as they are usually IMO very dull. However, the salad bar at 22 Prime is unique. It's really more of a selection of delicacies , including shrimps, grapes, egg plant, and dates, just to name a few. By themselves, the choices that I mentioned sound ordinary, but they're all prepared in a special way and are delicious. By the time our main course arrived, we were both already full and wound up taking half our meal home. The only blot on the experience is that it turns out our take home portion was missing the leftover potatoes, which we had specifically ordered to be included. Prime rib dinner for two including VAT and service charge (drinks excluded) totals about Php 2,200. For a table with a view, reservations recommended; phone 683-8222.

Some people eat to live; other live to eat. As I mentioned in "An Expat's Perspective, the latter choice is very much a part of Philippine culture, and there are restaurants in Metro-Manila to suit almost any taste and budget. I can't overemphasize the need to be prudent about dining out here, and what you see in the dining area aesthetics isn't always what you get in the kitchen. Still, if you're lucky enough to select a restaurant in your food choice and price range and that complies with proper food handling and preparation procedures, dining out in the Philippines here can be a rewarding experience.

Condominium Living: Practival vs. Prestigious

This has not been a great few weeks for Metro-Manila. First there was the the tropical storm on Sept. 26 which flooded the city and surrounding suburbs. Now we are experiencing rolling power outages as the result of equipment problems at Meralco, our electric utility. This situation which began on Oct. 7 will likely continue until tomorrow and possibly beyond.

My wife Lydia and I live in a high rise condominium building, and in the event of a blackout, we residents depend on a backup generator located on the premises that powers the elevators and illuminates the common area including the stairwells plus one emergency light in each unit. When the first power interruptions occurred, they lasted for several hours. In each of these instances, there was a long gap before the generator kicked in. This meant that during this wait time, occupants--especially those on the upper floors--were stranded inside (and from) their units unless they were willing to fumble and grope their way through unlit corridors and darkened enclosed stairwells. A similar generator failure which lasted much longer occurred during a typhoon-related blackout a few years ago. In such situations, the prestige associated with living on the higher levels of a 26 floor high-rise like ours becomes meaningless. In fact such a location can turn into a hazard for those residents.

Before I arrived in the Philippines four years ago, Lydia preceded me here and was the one who selected our condo. She had a choice of a unit on the 25th floor or of another on the seventh floor. She wisely selected the latter knowing in the event of an emergency, especially if elevator service were unavailable, it would be much easier to evacuate from a lower floor.

In such a crisis I also prefer to have a basic cell phone that has a flashlight to a more expensive camera- equipped and / or Internet ready model which does not. What does this have to do with power outages? When the building generator failed, my cell phone performed double duty by illuminating the blacked out common areas thus allowing me to leave (and return to) our condominium at will in order to go about my business, to stay in touch with Lydia (who decided to stay indoors), and to contact other family members to see how they were faring. By way of comparison what additional services can a fancy mobile phone perform in these instances? Its expensive features might as well not even exist. (Speaking of phones, here's a tip: If the main telephone for your residence is a cordless connected to a landline, the phone will not function during a power interruption. Keep a modular corded phone as a backup. This unit will likely still work as long as service is available from your phone company, whether or not you have electric power).

I've met some residents here who are status-conscious and proud to the point of bragging about living on the upper floors. But in my opinion, in a disaster such as a fire or or earthquake a simpler life style that for example entails having to traverse on foot only seven floors instead of twenty-six to leave the building, and using a cheap but practical mobile phone to light the way out trumps dwelling in and maybe being trapped in a higher and more expensive unit any day.

Oh well, in case of a disaster I suppose while those occupants in the top floors are sitting and waiting to be rescued, they can use their state-of-the art cellphones to take pictures of each other and browse the web.

Storm Signals

In the four years that I've been living in the Philippines, I've never been so personally impacted by a typhoon as I was by tropical storm Ketsana (known locally as "Ondoy") which on Sept. 26 blew into Metro-Manila wreaking havoc on the city and surrounding provinces.

On the morning of that day as the rain was building I went out to a gathering that was about 12 km from home, not (consciously) realizing how much worse things would get as the day progressed. That understanding sank in only after I arrived at my destination. When I left there a few hours later, the storm was intensifying and areas were flooding, such that what would have normally been a 40 minute ride home turned into a 6 hour odyssey . During that time I traveled by taxi, rapid transit, and foot before I ran out of transportation options about 3km from home. Public transit jeeps and cabs had stopped traveling to my neighborhood due to flood conditions in that vicinity. So there I was, stranded and soaking wet. At least I was able to let my wife Lydia know what was going on via cell phone before losing the signal. Mobile phone service was not restored until this morning.

I took refuge in a shopping mall, unsure just how or if I would get back home that night.
While at the mall, it was interesting to observe the demeanor of the people there who were blithely shopping and apparently having a good time despite the worsening conditions outside.

Finally, I scored a taxi driver who for an extra P50 was willing to take a chance and try to drive me to my residence, or at least as close to the area as possible. I live just a short distance from the Marikina River which that day had overflowed its banks, and as a result, just a block away from my condo, the streets were impassable. However, we made it all the way home without encountering any problems, which of course was such a relief that I was happy to pay the additional fare.

It wasn't until the next morning that the extent of the damage from the storm and resulting inundation was starting to become evident both in terms of lost lives and property. Through now, the reported toll of casualties is still rising and at this writing, is over 100. And no wonder: According to Pagasa, the official weather agency for the Philippines, the typhoon dumped the equivalent of one month's rain in six hours.

One of the hardest hit communites was Cainta, where many of Lydia's family members live. Most of Lydia's relatives there, as is the case with the other residents in that town, had severe water damage to their properties. But the most unnerving incident was that involving one of her her sisters and brother-in-law who were missing until this morning. They had been flooded out of their house and made a harrowing escape from the rising waters, with the sister's godson actually carrying her on his back. Another sibling was stuck for 24 hours in a public transit jeep. A sister-in-law and her son were trapped in the attic of their home also for that same length of time.

So whatever discomfort and inconvenience that I personally encountered in the storm would not have happened if I had exercised common sense and had just stayed home. In that regard whatever troubles I experienced I brought on myself. Such was not the case for Lydia's family members and the hundreds of thousands of other victims who suffered in varying degrees partly as the result of the ravages of nature, plus the Philippine government's failure to properly plan ahead for such a catastrophe (think Katrina in the U.S.), and from the tragic misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.