Fatal Fatalism

On March 15, Kristel Tejada, a 16-year old University of the Philippines freshman, committed suicide because she was despondent that she couldn't pay her tuition on time and as a result was faced with having to sit out the semester. The University, a public institution, has taken a lot of heat for its purported inflexibility in not working with the girl and her family. However, the school was in the midst of changing its policy towards its economically disadvantaged students, and if the Kristel had waited a few more days, under the new guidelines, she would have gotten a break.

But who's really to blame for this tragedy? Was it really the school's fault? Or instead as one newspaper columnist submitted, was Kristel herself personally responsible for making the decision to end her life? I think the latter opinion is too harsh. Kristel was still an adolescent which is a time of life when problems often seem magnified out of proportion and when emotional maturity and rational thinking are not yet fully developed. This is especially the case in the Philippines where according to my wife Lydia, a psychologist, emotional maturity is impeded even further due to overly intense family interdependency. (And BTW the combined number of years of study for pupils in Philippine public and many private elementary and high schools is only 10 years rather than 12 as in many other countries. So sixteen is the typical age for starting college).

In my opinion it was the parents who were at fault, not for pushing Kristel academically (in her case that wasn't necessary anyway as she was a brilliant scholar who loved her studies) but rather for placing the financial future of the family, which included several siblings, on her shoulders, a burden which she evidently took very seriously. In Philippine culture it's common for poor families which usually include several children to try scrape up college tuition for one of the kids, usually the eldest, and charge her or him  with the task of completing school, landing a good job, and then not just "paying forward" the school costs of the other siblings, but also  becoming the main source of the family's income. If the parents lack  the funds to cover the full tuition expenses of even one child, well "bahala na"—just leave the matter in God's hands. Somehow things will work out.

But as Kristel's death shows, such arrangements are fraught with risk. Evidently, she believed that she had failed her family and just couldn't handle (what she perceived as) the shame for letting them down. To quote her father."The UP deprived my daughter of her only hope to help us". This says it all. Why did Kristel have feel that way? Was it her fault the family had too many mouths to feed in the first place? Who should be supporting whom? She should never have been made to feel for an instant that her sole purpose in life was improving her family's living standard.

Then yesterday, I read about a young man, also from a large, poor family who was putting himself through college by working at night, but he was killed in a mugging on his way home from his job. As with Kristel, his parents had pinned their hopes for a better life not just for their son but for the whole family on his eventual completion of his studies and a starting a successful career.

In short, for his and Kristel's parents, it seems that these children were considered  a ticket out of poverty, little more than means to an end. But will people see it that way?  More likely they will blame everything but the parents' participation in a  way of life of irresponsibly  bringing more children into the world than they can afford  and then expecting their kids to pick up the slack for their own short-sightedness,  a toxic tradition which in the end needlessly cost these two young people their lives.

Seniors Centered

In the Philippines, citizens who are at least 60 years of age are considered seniors and are legally entitled to certain benefits. To avail of these privileges, they may apply for senior citizen cards which upon presentation in certain establishments such as restaurants, theaters, supermarkets, public transportation, pharmacies, and medical facilities allows them a discount—usually 20%—off regular prices for goods and services.  In addition, there are often lanes in these venues set aside to accommodate the elderly.  

Unfortunately, the key word in these cards is "citizen".  So these cards are not available to foreigners, even to permanent residents.  But that doesn't mean that older non-citizens are out in the cold as far as being granted age-related perks.For example, when I went to a medical center to have some lab work done, I was 34th in line.  But the clerk manning the number dispenser machine observed that I was obviously over 60 and sent me to the senior citizen window for priority service to which as it turns out older foreigners are also entitled. My number in that line was 14, so I thought I had caught a break. But it didn't turn out that way. Even though there were fewer people in the senior lane, some of them required time consuming geriatric assistance. By the time my turn came, the regular patient service area which had several service windows vs. just one for seniors was already serving number 40!  

Now when it comes to senior discounts, here's where things get really interesting. Non-citizens may sometimes get this adjustment just by asking for it and furnishing acceptable proof of age, such as a postal i.d or an I-card. I have experienced this good fortune a couple times, and in a venue where it was especially useful: hospitals. Just ask for the discount when you present your bill at the payment window.  There's nothing to lose by requesting it.  The worst that can happen is that the cashier will say no.

When I was younger and still living in the U.S., I resented what I perceived as an arrogant sense of entitlement by American seniors as a whole to special treatment from merchants and others in the private sector  just because of their age.  Often their demands were not even the result of a reduced income.  In fact I know that many of these complaining older people were comfortable.  Now that I'm elderly I still don't share that attitude that I'm owed special privileges for having lived a certain number of years, which as I see it is not a personal accomplishment but rather the result of a combination of factors many of which are beyond one's own control.

Now if it's the policy of  certain business establishments or public agencies here in the Philippines to offer a senior discount or other accommodation to foreigners, of course I'll accept it.  As I mentioned above, I might even ask for it. But if no adjustment is available, well, so be it.

I once  read about an older citizen who raised a stink at being denied free senior parking privileges by a certain mall chain in Quezon City as required by law. On one hand, I understand that he was only asserting his legal right. But on the other hand, I don't see why such an ordinance was passed in the first place.  Anyone who has a car in the Philippines can't be that hard up.  Only a small percentage of Filipinos can afford to buy vehicles, and in keeping with the local culture of dependency many of them even have personal drivers!  Furthermore, the aforementioned senior  likely come to the mall to spend money, and I don't see how the  P45  that the mall refused to waive was going to make or break him.

Similarly, when I was living in the States, I read about an older woman in California who said that she had only a small income and was upset that the restaurant chain where she ate breakfast every day didn't offer senior discounts.  Yet how impoverished could she have been and yet still afford to eat out every day?!  This story stuck with me because at the time my wife and I didn't have the means to do that even though we were working.  What less so now on our small retirement incomes? 

In short it behooves us older folks to use common sense and adjust our sites accordingly in managing our finances. But at the same time we need to get over it if we don't happen to get special treatment as seniors if the venues that we happen to be patronizing—especially for non-essentials—are not required to provide it, no matter where we live.

Sky Cable and Customer Service—Still Unclear on the Concept?

I recently came across an interesting article  in the "Philippine Daily Inquirer: "At Dell, key exec pulls off harmony in diversity."  What particularly caught my attention was a statement by the executive under discussion, Richard Teo. who is President of  Dell International Services Philippines,that "Filipinos are always eager to please their customers".

I documented in a previous post "Indifferent Strokes from Business Folks" why this contention is a stretch. I can't speak for or about Dell, as I don't own any of their products, but in the Philippines, it's a cultural norm for  merchants in general and especially customer service reps to tell you what you want to hear. Yet too often they don't deliver. Case in point is once again  Sky Destiny Cable, my cable TV and Internet provider   This time the problem is frequent Internet service outages, the latest of which was on Feb.5 and one of several hours duration.

There were also several such instances in January, so I first called Sky on Jan. 22 and asked for a prorated adjustment on my monthly statement for the days in that billing cycle in which there was lengthy downtime. The CS representative with whom I spoke agreed to issue a credit immediately, but when I subsequently received my statement dated Jan. 26, there was no such adjustment posted. This is what I mean about by businesses telling customers what they want to hear.

So I called Sky again on Feb. 5 and happened to reach the same agent with whom I originally spoke on Jan 22. She claimed that the adjustment was indeed approved and issued on that date but was at a loss to explain why it didn't show on my bill, but assured me that it would appear on my February statement. (I will be very surprised if that happens). Also on Feb 5, there was another protracted Internet service interruption, and I asked her for a credit for that outage as well. she said to call Sky back on Feb. 6 to get that adjustment. I did so and reached a different customer service representative who agreed to issue a deduction for this most recent outage. I happened to mention my experience about the problem with the missing January 22 credit to my bill. He confirmed that it had been approved, but on Feb. 3, not Jan. 22 after all(!)

Finally,as another example of Sky's misinformation campaign, in January, the company issued a notice of expanded payment options for Destiny Cable effective February, including online remittance availability through BDO, where I bank. This was welcome news as heretofore my only means of remittance to Destiny was over the counter at various facilities, which I consider to be an archaic nuisance and a waste of time inasmuch as I'm able to pay my other bills via the click of a mouse. But on Feb. 6 when I reviewed the BDO list of companies payable online Sky Destiny was still not included   When I relayed this issue to the agent with whom I spoke that day, he said that online payment service for Destiny  is accessible via BDO, notwithstanding my efforts to explain that unless a company is actually listed in the bank's website for this service, remittances can't be made that way. His insistence to the contrary reminded me of a line attributed to Groucho Marx,"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" Obviously, this company doesn't have its act together. With such disorganization, how do they stay in business?

Oh, and back to Dell. Mr Teo, I live across the street from the Dell Service Center in Eastwood City. As I mentioned above, I'm not familiar with Dell customer service quality and whether or not your call center staff give the customers what they want, but I hope that their performance on the job is better than their behavior on their their breaks outside the 1800 Building where they engage in boisterousness and littering into early morning hours. As a courtesy to your residential neighbors, we would appreciate your training your night shift
people into giving Dell's residential neighbors what we want: respect for others so that we can have late night peace and quiet along with cleaner surroundings. A little consideration goes a long way.

Tips on Filing a Barangay Clearance

In order to meet the requirements for certain government issued certifications such as a Postal I.D. and the Bureau of Immigration Annual Report (the mandatory yearly registration by foreigners with the BI), one necessary document to have is a barangay clearance showing proof of residence. The barangay BTW is the most basic and local unit in the Philippine governmental structure.  Its functions which also include some public works and safety are directed from the barangay hall, which is located in and operates at the community level. So there is likely such an office near you.

To receive a barangay clearance, you need to have lived at your current address for at least six months and must present the following documents and remittance at the  hall:

-A letter of residence address verification. If you live in a condominium, for example, you can obtain this letter from your building administration office. For other types of dwelling arrangements such as house rentals, contact the barangay hall for instructions.

-A cedulua (head tax) receipt, the fee for which is P55. You can pay this assessment at the barangay hall before  or while filing your clearance.  Sometimes this service is available in non-government sites like shopping malls.

-A photocopy of your passport photo / I.D. information page.

-A photocopy of your Bureau of Immigration I-Card (front and back). It's also advisable to bring the card itself with you in  the event that the clerk isn't satisfied with the clarity of the photocopy. 

-P65 for the processing fee per individual. So of course it would be P130 if your spouse is also filing at the same   time, as was the case for  my wife and me.   

As with most government offices, the best time to conduct your business at the barangay hall is immediately after the doors open to the public, usually 8am. If you submit your request at that time, the clearance may be ready the same day. The barangay hall performs numerous other services for the public and lines form very quickly. So if you snooze, you lose.

Maybe it's because the barangay hall is a neighborhood oriented office that, at least in my experience, the staff has been very helpful especially towards seniors. I hope that getting your clearance goes as smoothly for you as ours did for us.

We Get By with a Little Help from Our Friends

As an American expat, I'm pretty much resigned to spending the rest of my life here in the Philippines.  In fact it's unlikely that I'll even be in a position or have the desire to visit the U.S. for quite some time to come, if ever. Yet, I've always felt that it's really too bad that my wife Lydia and I had to leave the States in the first place. However, based on our income as senior citizens, there's no way that we could have afforded to retire there as opposed to being able to enjoy a modest but comfortable lifestyle in this country for the same amount of
money.

So when we think back on our lives in America (Southern California to be exact where we married and and spent 35 years of our lives together) it's with decidedly mixed emotions. Like most couples, we've experienced both good and hard times. But what makes it easy to for us to reminisce about the former are, of all things, the home furnishings that we brought with us to the Philippines, some of which we've had for many years and that have (for us anyway) enjoyable stories behind the way and places that we acquired them. Further, Lydia has arranged them so artistically that they more than compensate for our having to downsize to a small condo here vs. our roomy former apartment in California. 

But what makes our unit especially attractive this time of the year and fires up our recollections of days of old are the holiday decorations that Lydia bought years ago and insisted on taking with us and which she arranges in a beautiful display each December. Some of these items were very expensive and others Lydia made herself out of cardboard, wood,and plastic remnants but which look as intricate as the pricey ones that she purchased back in the 1970's at such places as Bullocks Wilshire, one of Los Angeles' erstwhile premier department stores. 

So if you're planning to move abroad, along with packing the necessities, don't hesitate to also include some of your treasured belongings even if they're nonessential items but ones that you consider to be part of your history. These possessions are of course no substitute for a personal willingness and ability to adjust to new surroundings and culture, and shipping them may entail additional freight costs. But the familiarity and fond memories that they provide can give emotional comfort and a sense of continuity during and after you settle in your new environment that will be well worth it.

Fil-Ams: Not Your Typical Ethnic Voters

While most of the world cheered the re-election of President Obama, many (most) Filipinos  in the Philippines and especially those living in the U.S. (Fil-Ams) did not share this sentiment and preferred Romney instead.  Here's the breakdown of the Fil-Am vote: 38% for Romney, 32% for Obama, and 28% undecided.

One explanation for Filipinos identification with the Republican Party (27% GOP supporters vs. 24% Democrats)   is colonial mentality, including an interpretation or a perception of what they consider to be the true  patriotic American mindset which as it turns out is actually the  extremist "old white male" mentality.  An  example of an individual who fits this profile is Marisha Agana, a Republican Tea Party candidate for Congress from Ohio who odiously compared Obama to Hitler.   Fortunately, she was defeated.

Paradoxically, however, most of the other Fil-Ams running for political office were Democrats and and did fairly well.  The percentage of  Filipino Americans residing in the candidates' respective locales varied. So this factor didn't seem to play a part in whether they lost or won.

Another reason—and likely that of  Agana—for Filipinos voters' rejection of Obama is their racism against African-Americans. This is likely a legacy  from the American colonial period in the Philippines when the American civilian and military administrators and soldiers were white and conveyed a sense of superiority (as did their Spanish predecessors) towards their "little brown brothers" along with (especially  from the numerous troops from the segregated American South) a hatred of blacks. So in a kind of a  pecking order, Filipinos wound up seeing themselves as inferior to Caucasians but superior towards Blacks and for that matter towards  darker skin co-Filipinos as well .  

Indeed, President Obama's first administration was in many ways a disappointment, and there's no guarantee that he will deliver on his campaign promises for the new term. But Fil-Ams have no less a stake in the socioeconomic progress of the U.S. than other Americans. And it makes no sense for them or anyone else to hitch their wagons to the Republican party whose reckless economic policies not only brought on the Great Recession, but whose "old white male" / right wing politics of exclusion and closed-mindedness are at the end of the day nothing but a travesty of the American way after all.

Customer Service: A Study in Contrasts

My last post, "Indifferent Strokes from Business Folks",dealt with the poor customer service that I received from Sky Cable and how difficult it can be to get for many (most?) companies in the Philippines to take customer complaints seriously.

But that is not always the case. 

On  Oct.10 I purchased a take out order consisting of a pork liempo and pork barbecue stick meal at Reyes Barbecue which is a local chain that specializes in grilled native dishes.   Each item came with a packet of atsara (papaya relish). It turns out that the contents of both packets were spoiled. I returned to the store to notify the manager, but there was none on duty. So I told a line employee instead about the matter and emphasized that their entire supply of this product is likely inedible,

I wasn't  asking for my money back as the item in question was just a small part of the purchase. Yet I felt that the restaurant should be made aware of this quality control problem. My thinking was this time it was just a bad batch of atsara, which was easily identifiable even without opening the packet. But next time a customer might unknowingly wind up with an order that has a much more serious food safety problem, such as bad meat.

For good measure I went to the Reyes website and filed a narrative of my issue  in the "Contact Us" option.  However, I didn't really expect anything to come of it, which has been my experience in filing complaints or making inquiries with other businesses this way.  Imagine my surprise when just a few hours later I received a reply from the manager/owner of the franchise where I had made the purchase.  She apologized profusely for the incident which she acknowledged was inexcusable and said that the employee whom I originally discussed the matter had indeed brought it to her attention, but she didn't know how to reach me as I didn't leave any contact information at the restaurant. She even offered  to furnish  a new order of the above items on the house.   I took her up on it, and this time everything in the order was fine, including the atsara which was fresh and crispy.  

In short, a strong indication of a company's integrity and reliability is not just the service that it provides for customers in the regular course of day to day business but moreover how they respond when they've made a mistake. The respective attitudes of  Sky Cable and Reyes Barbecue in this type of situation are as different as night and day as is their worthiness of patronage by the public..

Indifferent Strokes from Business Folks

Here is a narrative about bad customer service. It reflects the attitude of many companies in the Philippines which have made  an art of inefficiency.

Our  cable TV and Internet provider Global Destiny was recently taken over by another company, Sky Cable Corp. It would be too much for subscribers to expect a seamless transition in such a changeover, and sure enough, Sky failed to record some of our subscription payments in the course of the records transfer between the two companies and sent us a past due notice in early September  threatening disconnection of service even though our accounts were in fact paid current.

In response to this warning, I immediately phoned Sky.  They claimed that Global Destiny is still responsible for billing and referred  me to the Global Destiny customer service number which turned out to be unreachable.  I called Sky back but they still refused to assist. I pointed out that they now own our accounts and even changed the account numbers to accommodate their system, and most tellingly "Sky Cable" not "Global Destiny" is the name of the payee on their bill.  Finally the representative  appeared to relent and said they would look into the matter and call me back the next day. Of course, she didn't. Such is the state of customer service in the Philippines. Employees will tell you what you want to hear. This type of stroking is rooted in the local culture. But meanwhile, these reassurances sound so convincing that you really believe your grievance is about to be rectified.

So a few weeks ago I reported our problem to the regulatory agency  that oversees cable businesses, the Department of Telecommunications, and received an email acknowledgment that it had been received. While that's pending, a few days ago I asked the administrator's office of our condominium building  whether they had heard of any new information as we are not alone in our complaint. There were no new developments, but they gave me a contact person at Sky to whom I texted a brief  explanation of our problem. She promised to call back on Oct. 3 but that didn't happen. 

This morning I finally received a corrected bill for each account.This afternoon I also received a text from the contact person at Sky requesting that I refer my complaint to her supervisor. I understand if the rep felt that my situation was beyond the limits of her job responsibilities , but as a matter of business courtesy, the supervisor should be the one to initiate the contact.

Obviously, I'm glad that the situation has apparently been resolved, but if I hadn't persisted in getting it it fixed and wasted hours of my time in doing so, rather than looking at an accurate statement, I might now be looking at a "cable-less" blue screen on my TV and at a "cannot connect" message on my computer for my Internet service.

The moral of the story is that if ever you have a service issue like this one, don't assume that it will be resolved with one call to or interface with a representative. If the complaint isn't properly addressed on the second contact, get a supervisor or manager involved and follow up regularly. Escalate the matter and file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory agency if necessary.  These steps won't guarantee success in getting issues settled in your favor, but failure to stay on top of them will almost ensure a disappointing outcome.

When "The Demands of the Business" Go Too Far

In The Philippines BPO (business processing outsourcing) operations for companies based in other countries, especially the U.S are an important sector of the economy. These companies transfer divisions such as call centers here in order to cut expenses, especially labor.  But there is a disadvantage of such relocations to this part of the world: This region is subject to severe  weather conditions, namely severe storms including typhoons at least nine months out of the year. The Philippines sits along the geographical ring of fire.  So there's also always the risk of earthquakes and volcanoes. The country also has a weak infrastructure that has difficulty handling the demands of 21st Century commerce. Thus, it's incumbent on companies who decide to relocate partly or fully here to do their homework so they'll know what they're getting into.    

The heavy rains and resultant flooding that Metro Manila experienced from a storm in August resulted not just in the loss lives and of heavy property damage.  Conditions were so bad that President Aquino called for (what turned out to be a two day) emergency suspension of work at most private business including BPO's and non-essential government offices.  Personally, I think that all things considered, this edict was a humane and practical decision. Yet according to "Philippine Daily Inquirer"columnist  Paolo Monticello, Aquino made a bad call because for one thing it overrode the BPO industry's own (unspecified) plans to deal with the situation.  Further, he says it reflects poorly on the country's ability to respond to such events. Businesses that send their work to the Philippines demand continuity in services, natural disasters not withstanding. They expect results, come hell or high water (literally).

Monticello gives the example of how well and quickly Japan's business sector took the Fukishima disaster in stride, and I likewise admire that country's intrepid response to that devastating calamity (See my post "Why Don't They Get It?").  But he doesn't address the consequences of what might have happened if the earthquake and tsunami had struck Tokyo instead, just as the Philippine economy would be in serious peril if a similar event were to strike Metro-Manila, the business center of the nation rather than some provincial city.

In his article Monticello gives a token nod to the need for worker safety during floods but doesn't offer solutions to the transportation disruption under these conditions.  How are employees supposed to get to their jobs?  Swim? And what about their own personal disaster-related hardships and emergencies at home?  As it turns out, a contributing factor to the flood in Metro-Manila was the city's aging pumping system. How can stranded BPO employees be held accountable for that?   Yet, as it is, some companies that do stay open nevertheless penalize their staff for not showing up

Moreover, call centers are usually not vital services on which the public depends for their very lives. If a BPO is closed because of severe weather conditions or other natural disasters, this is ordinarily at most an inconvenience to customers and not worth risking the lives of the staff.  I say this from the decades-long perspective  both as a  former call center agent in the U.S. who was occasionally prevented from reporting to work by such events as natural and civil disturbances.  On the other hand as a consumer I have also had to cope with business service disruptions from the same causes. But I recognize that sometimes  emergencies happen beyond anyone's control. That's part of life, and we just have to learn to accept it.

Monticello refers to uninterrupted BPO service in the face of natural disaster  as "keeping the lights on". He stresses that the Philippines can only compete with other countries for these businesses by supporting such goals. And that's all well and good to a point. But let's face it under disastrous circumstances, most  employers here can't guarantee transportation, safe working conditions, and at least partly paid time off for workers to deal with their own losses.  If Monticello doesn't recognize this fact, then when it comes to understanding the limits of  human physical and emotional endurance, he and like-minded business analysts are really in the dark.

Water Log

As bad as the storm was that just passed through Luzon , it's likely that sometime in the future, there will be an even worse period of prolonged and intense rain. And that doesn't even include  typhoons. So the question is whether or not the civil authorities learn anything from such disasters in order to be better prepared for the next one.

In 2009 Metro-Manila was similarly flooded by another disastrous storm,named "Ondoy" . One  difference between that calamity and this week's monsoon was that the former dumped a huge amount of water in an approximately six hour period, whereas this week's storm was spread out over two days. But the effect was the same in both instances: flooding, deaths, and property damage.  The local weather bureau, PAGASA   was caught flatfooted by Ondoy, and as result so was the local and national government.  However, this time,  PAGASA monitored the situation more closely, and civil authorities seemed to react more quickly and did a better job in deploying first responders. In turn this undoubtedly reduced the number of drownings that would otherwise have occurred. Also there seemed to be more emergency shelters available for those who were stranded or left homeless.

My neighborhood, Eastwood City, was relatively unscathed.  But had it not been for a seawall that was built immediately after Ondoy, this area would also likely have been flooded,which is what happened in 2009.  This week,just like that time, the nearby Marikina River overflowed from the frequent rains which had fallen continually over the past several days and for which the deluge on Tuesday and Wednesday was the last straw. Looking over the seawall, I observed that the community across the river--which lacks a corresponding protective barrier--was partly submerged.

On Tuesday, the President of the Philippines ordered (what turned out to be a two-day) closure of most government offices and private companies in the affected areas. This meant an interruption of delivery from suppliers to those businesses that stayed open, such as convenience stores. In turn this resulted in a shortage of some food items and bottled water.  This was worrisome as the latter product can become vital during flooded conditions because the safety of the municipal the water system can be compromised under such circumstances. Fortunately, that didn't happen--this time.

Just as government and businesses should plan for emergencies, it almost goes without saying that indiviuals should do likewise. Personally, I had become complacent and was ill-prepared for this storm. For example, at the first sign early  Tuesday morning that this was not an ordinary rain, I should have stocked up on essentials. In fact, that's something that I ought to have done long ago. Next time I hope to be ready. And inasmuch  as the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world when it comes to natural disasters, as previously noted it's likely that "next time" won't be long in coming.