DepEd and DSWD, please . . . !
Being a senior citizen under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status, my daily routine starts with opening the television set at 6 in the morning for the TV mass and for Cito Beltran’s program on “One TV” after. Then, I give the floor to my hubby for his favorites shows, except when there’s a live coverage in congress.
ON SMARTPHONE’S:
I had to ask my therapist what a Smartphone is. I thought it’s a brand by PLDT. I have been using globe connection eversince when the telephone was still on landline. From him, I came to know that Smartphone’s are powered by android and have several apps. Then I came to know that apps is applications. These are things that children at a very young age very well know.
These topics have caught my attention since DSWD and DILG are downloading the SAP money thru the Smartphone’s. Smartphone’s are costly. Kun ingon ani ang atong kundisyon sa pag panghatag sa SAP money, ang buot ipasabut mao nga na gyud diay mga Smartphone’s ang mga sap beneficiaries? Kun aduna na silay Smartphone’s, dili gyud diay na sila poorest of the poor? Why? Kay maka afford man sila ug palit ug Smartpone’s. Ang kantidad niini dili mo menus ug Siete Mil Pesos (P7,000). And this amount is the price of the cheapest brand of the Smartphone’s.
Is it true? If this is the case, then, I would say that the beneficiaries do not belong to the group called “poorest of the poor”. The amount of P7,000 is beyond the reach of the “poorest of the poor” and for them the Smartphone’s would be a luxury – not a necessity. The amount of P7,000 is only for the unit. The owner of the Smartphone’s would still have to spend for the load. Pila man pud ng load ana?
Please be patient with me as to my ignorance. My phone is postpaid and connected to my landline with the internet. Magpaduol lagi ka sa landline to get the signal. This is used only for facebook and messenger. It was just only two years back that I learned how to use messenger to send my column to the editor of The Bohol Tribune. .
And there is one joke nga makahimong palamuot pud aning DSWD. Naglisud kono ang DSWD pahimo ug house to house nga trabaho. Pero ang lineman sa Boheco maka house to house man bisan siya rang usa. Come to think about it. The DSWD works with the barangay through the kagawad-in-charge of the purok. They know best who deserves the subsidy from the government based on the guidelines. But what has happened? Have they really chosen the beneficiaries using the fine teeth of the comb? Gisiksik ba gyud?
What is happening makes me really sad. And now, the SAP is thru Smartphone???
ON THE ALTERNATE TEACHING MODE OF THE DepEd:
DepEd takes care of public primary and secondary schools. Does this mean that they already have teaching modules through the internet???? Do they really know the situation in the public schools? I can speak of the schools in our town. Do they really have a proper electrical connection? Why is it that teachers have to bring with them lamps such as “Petromax” during the election period? Manghuwam ang mga magtutudlo ug mga “petromax” kay dili igo ang kalamdag sa suga sa mga classrooms nga gigamit nga voting precints. Dili igo ang siga sa mga suga nga gikan sa kuryente. Has DepEd really made a close and deep assessment of the carrying capacity of the classrooms as far as electric power is concerned? Makaya kaha sa load sa kuryente ang tanang mga computers, gadgets ug uban pa? And how about those in the hinterlands? Atong nahibaw-an nga musaka pa man gani sa bungtod ang mga tawo aron makakuha ug signal? Dili ba nga diha nay nadisgrasya kay misaka sa kahoy kay nangita ug signal?
And here’s another one coming from the President himself. He said that he is looking for funds to buy transistor radios for the schools. Can a delay of one year in school matter a lot? Perhaps, we can give to our children a respite from Smartphone’s and from television. And what will we do in the meantime? We can teach them home craft and let them adopt the values of the olden times. We can have the radio on the apps of Smartphone’s. Please Mr. President that money can be used elsewhere.
Leonor Briones, our Education Secretary, was a colleague at the U.P School of Public Administration at Diliman. At one time, she was one of the speakers in one workshop I attended at the University of Life. After that, she became the treasurer of the Republic of the Philippines. She has been in government service for quite sometime. I think she is a bit older than me. And I hope she has started to smell the roses and find time for herself. For her, it is time to watch the sunset and feel the sweet breeze at dusk.
Talking of transistor radios, I remember my Lola Danday. In our growing up years, electric power was available only from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening. Hawonghawong pa gayud ang siga. Ang usa sa mga popular nga estasyonan sa radio mao kadtong DyRC. So we had to go to the transistor radios using the batteries. To lengthen its usable life, every morning we had to spread the batteries under the heat of the sun. Moingon to si Lola Danday nga adto gyud kuno ibuwad ang battery sa bintana atubang sa sidlak sa adlaw. Mao ni ang usa sa akong gipasabut ug moingon ko ug PAGDAGINO kay usa kini sa mga hiyas sa karaang panahon.
During these times of crises, I have no big fears. Wala ko kaayo bati-a ug kahadlok kay mosunod man ko sa protocol. And we have saved a little something for the rainy days.
Most of all, we believe in prayer and we really pray.
