Government people inaccessible online

IT IS REALLY a sad reality that many government people from all branches are not accessible online, despite the billions of people that have been spent for the internet infrastructure, and despite the administration’s drive for digitalization.

Sad to say, these people were probably inaccessible before the internet was invented, and they are still inaccessible now that the internet has become pervasive.

Before the internet was invented, many people were f rustrated because it was very difficult to contact government people via landlines, and if every you can get past the busy tones, the people you need to talk to are probably not available, and if someone is available, he or she might not be the right person.

More often than not, the person answering will probably ask you to call again, or just go to their office in person.

Now that the internet has been invented, we are faced with new f rustrations as we encounter government people who do not reply to our emails, and who only answer us with chatbots who keep giving us the same answer regardless of what we ask.

As always, the chatbots will tell us that they will get back to us later, but they never do.

There are also some government agencies that do not have a social media presence, and even if they do, they turn off their messaging features.

What is worst is when they post their website addresses but are actually dead links. What can we do about these people?

Any ideas?

HOSPITALS AND BROWNOUTS

I know for a fact that in some countries, t he l ocal electric companies maintain databases that enable them to inform persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens of planned or scheduled brownouts, especially who have pacemakers.

Of course, no one can do anything about sudden or unexpected brownouts, but that is another story.

Here in the Philippines, I have not heard of MERALCO having these databases, and neither do the provincial electric coops have it. Why is that so? Is it a matter of lacking awareness? Or perhaps lacking any interest in customer care?

Or is it a case of not realizing how critical it is? Of course, it is, because it could mean life or death for those who have pacemakers.

And what about the hospitals? Does MERALCO and the electric coops have a system of notifying them of planned or scheduled brownouts?

Certainly, notifications over the mass media would not be enough, because this is a matter of life and death.

Aside from mass media and social media, there should be backup systems like the use of SMS and UHF/ VHF radios.

And how should we go about solving this problem? Is there a need to pass a national law, or is an Executive Order enough?

For a s t art , perhaps t he Department of Energy (DOE) could issue a Department Order, since both MERALCO and the electric coops are under their jurisdiction.

For my part, I am just a writer and I have done my part by publishing this article. Someone else has to champion this cause by bringing it to DOE./