Letters to the Editor
Letters to the
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shall be considered for publication, subject to editing and space
limitation when necessary - Editor-in-Chief.
Cost effective
Let’s skirt for a while the issue on GMA’s Proclamation 1017
declaring a state of national emergency. Suffice it to say that
such a “draconian” decree, if not recalled immediately, should end
up at least having the crooks and goons in high places all brought
to justice – and fast.
Let’s think local first. Or, again!
A London-based international magazine had hailed Naga as “most
cost-effective city” in Asia (Bicol Mail, Feb. 23).
I could not help but say amen.
What could have been more “cost-effective” than having the public
school teachers’ cost of living allowance (COLA) transformed into
some “performance-based incentive bonus” that takes months or even
years to “finalize” or release? If the unreleased funds for 2004
and 2005, which run in millions, were deposited in the bank, any
interests alone could have been enough to repair hundreds of
classroom chairs or buy enough folding beds for the athletes, thus
freeing the poor teachers from “voluntarily” producing them during
any “palaro”.
But then, there are the MOOE funds, the SEF, etc., to take care of
such expenses, aren’t there? Let’s have some “good news”: this
week, the “reformed” COLA, albeit for only “one quarter”, got paid
to teachers at long last after more than a year! The question is:
Will the remaining and forthcoming entitlements be paid promptly
and regularly, if only to make them really “cost-effective” for
the real beneficiaries?
Likewise, isn’t it some “cost saving” feat for one government
agency to have paid the school bigwigs the full amount of P3,000
each and the “1,200 public school teachers” only
P1,000 corresponding to their 2004 DepEd Anniversary Bonus? The
unpaid balance of P2,000 per teacher may look “peanuts” to some
unscrupulous or well-heeled officials, but, if quantified, this
would have generated a “saving” of more than P2 million for the
government (or some personal kitty?).
So Naga was reported to have “amenities of a first-class city in a
rural setting”. Well and good. And, “one of the advantages of a
more rural setting,” the Foreign Direct Investment magazine
explained, “is low costs, and Naga City looks like a good bargain
across the board.”.
Indeed, one need not go to the city’s sprawling malls, the
“ukay-ukay” or the flea markets to hope to find some “low-cost”
goodies, despite the R-VAT. He should go to the public schools.
Chances are there the teachers’ meager salaries and irregularly
released measly allowances - not to mention congested classrooms
in particular and the quality of education in general – would look
like “a good bargain” after all.
MANUEL A. COLLAO, via e-mail.
