An ocean in between
TABUK CITY, Kalinga – I achieved an unwelcomed record of sorts last Tuesday afternoon when I found my self sitting inside a plane for an entire hour waiting for actual take off. That’s a record highlighted by the fact that my flight to Tuguegarao City was estimated to take only 35 to 40 minutes on the average.
Just to amuse myself instead of allowing the incident to affect my blood pressure, I went to Facebook and started a “developing story” on line. Sadly the response of my Fb friends were exactly that; Sad. Almost everyone shared that they too had been in the same situation and that some of them had waited even longer inside a plane on the NAIA tarmac. Mike, a fellow journalist from Cagayan De Oro commented that: “they ask you to take your seats in the plane kasi congested na din sa terminal, sa ibabaw at ilalim ng terminal” (it’s also congested inside, above, and below the terminal). My friend Milette, a regional legal officer of a multinational corporation turned out to be experiencing the same thing and messaged me: “Me too! I guess that’s because we all share the SAME runway. What a waste of time.”
I then responded on Fb “56 minutes waiting (just) to take off, wasted time and opportunity for work. Some people need to get roasted once again for being all talk and do nothing.”
To that my esteemed colleague and friend Mr. Boo Chanco replied: “You know, I am almost tired nagging the DOTC and now the DOTr. I guess they are hard of hearing. I am also afraid they are turning into clones of Mar Roxas and Jun Abaya in that cursed transport department.” From tragic the response ended poetic when my brother in law John replied all the way from Europe with an Italian saying: “Tra il dire e il fare c’ e di mezzo il mare”; There is an ocean between saying and doing.
* * * With exception of Boo Chanco who has patriotically persisted with his commentaries and suggestions to get the DOTr leadership to do something, many of us have grown tired, given up or simply “accepted” the idea that the DOTr can’t or won’t do anything for whatever reason they may have. Our last big victory was getting the passengers bill of rights posted all over the airport. But that was really an empty victory considering many of us continue being victimized with delayed flights, being shuffled around from gate to gate because airline companies and NAIA management can’t be orderly enough in their scheduling of gate assignments. Our consolation price in the Duterte administration is that the NAIA officials have added more chairs so passengers don’t sit on the floor and have gone after some but not all illegal taxi and limo cab operators victimizing passengers. Now if they can only teach correct manners and right conduct to TSA personnel!
As far as grievances are concerned it has reached a point that tax paying Citizens have opted to be Netizens and taken up their lamentations. It is almost like losing by default. When I started working on this piece, I was reminded of the Simon & Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence.” Our Facebook commentaries and rants against government inaction and incompetence were somewhat reflected in the lines: “And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening… no one dare, disturb the sound of silence.”
Has the Internet or Facebook become our placebo pill? Something that gives vent to our grievances but conveniently spares us the agony or discomfort of publicly taking action or leading the charge? That unfortunately is the sad reality of Internet based actions, unless something is portrayed as extremely embarrassing and goes viral, it does not trigger any response from government officials. Most people keep their commentaries to a select circle of “Friends Only.” In the end, when our comments remain limited we are effectively silent by choice or based on our “share” options.
It is uncanny how 2000+ years ago, Jesus said, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (Matt 13:13/Mark 4:12). I suppose Simon & Garfunkel also saw that reality in their time and now even with the Internet, we see much of the same Sound of Silence. I particularly the line in the song that goes: “Fools” said I “You do not know Silence like a cancer grows.” Yes Silence grows and that is what the people in government are relying on. That we will go silent against their inaction, incompetence and broken promises. DON’T.
* * * I refuse to be silent about the fact that the loud mouths at the CAAP shot down the unsolicited proposals for a third runway floated by Ramon Ang of San Miguel. I refuse to be silent and polite about the fact that the current administration has built nothing. What the DOTr has actually done is talk too much and managed transport like a mahjong game. They simply scrambled all the pieces on the table and made it appear as if they were doing something. I refuse to be silent about the fact that one major reason nothing gets done is because our vital sectors such as transport is placed under the power and control of political appointees and not career officials or veteran industry experts. I will not be silent about the fact that Congressmen, Congresswomen, as well as Senators have barely done anything to redefine, re-engineer and replace the laws and process for government projects, procurements and biddings. The wicked reality in the Philippines is that most of our rules and regulations covering infrastructure development and procurement are written to protect monopolies, private interest, self interest or simply to provide lazy, incompetent political appointees and government officials an excuse not to do anything, not to be responsible for anything and not to be accountable for doing nothing. Truly “there is an ocean between saying and doing.”
* * * utalk2ctalk@gmail.com