I'm Off to Baguio this Holy Week!

Yup, I’m visiting Baguio again this Thursday. I’ve been there a couple of times so I actually don’t have the intention of going. The idea just came when I knew my family would be visiting us here in Manila to attend my sister’s oath taking. I made a promise to my sister before that I would treat her of a trip to Baguio if she passed the board exams; she did and so I have to fulfil my end of the deal but now, with the entire family! Luckily, she offered to split the expenses between us. I thanked God for the blessings! :-D

For the past week, I’ve been busy making arrangements. Its Holy Week next week so a lot of lowlanders are going up there. I know we can go there without reservations and just rely on some ‘manongs’ that will offer us accommodations as we get down from the bus upon our arrival. But maybe there would be less options as the good and affordable ones were reserved in advance. Thanks to technology, I just searched the net and came upon various ads and listings for transient houses, most with pictures and mobile contact numbers. Many were already reserved when I made inquiries but I have managed to find one that suit our needs and budget. Most require down payment to make reservations so I just deposited the amount required to their BDO cash card. It’s amazing how technology made our life easier.

At first, I am reluctant to deposit; they might run away with my money. But since their DTI registration number was also posted in their website, I had it checked through the DTI hotline, and it was legitimate. Well, I really hope that I won’t be scammed, I’ll update you next week after we go there :-D

Before, I didn’t have to worry about accommodations. The first time I went there in 1994, I was a participant in the national secondary schools press conference (NSSPC). We were billeted in Teacher’s Camp. It was my most memorable visit because it was then that Baguio captivated my heart. It was really cold then. The place is full of pine trees, with lots of flowers blooming everywhere. Fewer structures were built. It was so beautiful.

The second visit was with my classmates in college on a factory tour of Texas Instruments (TI). We stayed at Hotel Supreme. The water supply then at that hotel was not so good. I remembered some of my classmates toured without taking a bath yew!:-D I also remembered my classmates who were occupying the basement have hair-raising experiences.

The third time, I was already here in Manila training for basic ANSS course. We had a break for the Lenten season and my parents didn’t buy me an airline ticket to go home so I went with a co-trainee to Baguio instead. We stayed at her sister’s boarding house.

A year after that, I went to Baguio again with this same girl, who attended her sister’s graduation. She was already my office mate, friend and one of my flat mates. This time, SM Baguio was finished and I consider it then the most beautiful of all SM malls because of its top location, 360 degrees overlooking the city. Baguio captivated my heart once again because of the picturesque view on SM. It was also during this visit that I went back to Manila all alone. No big deal, it’s just two rides to my apartment – one six-hour bus drive and one jeepney ride. J

My fifth trip was in November 2005, after we went to a batch mate’s house in La Union. Most of us are from ATO so we made arrangements to stay at ATO staff house at Loakan airport. I brought along my mom with me since she was here in Manila that time.

On each of those occasions, we toured and visited attractions. Although I got so familiar and bored with visiting usual places, there’s always something new each time I visit so I think that’s what makes me go there again and again.

For my sixth, I know it will be different because it will be a family affair. I think this will not be my last time; I have viewed some pictures of those who visited Asin Hot Springs and I want to go there on my seventh visit haha ;-)

My Dream

One of the secrets in attaining your goals, according to Bo Sanchez in his book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich, is that you have to write down your dreams, read it everyday, apply the Power of Focus and apply the Power of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction states that you attract to your life your predominant thoughts. It is because thoughts create things.

In the Law of Focus, Bo's example was Jim Carrey. He wrote ' When Jim was a struggling, broke stand-up comedian in small comedy clubs, he wrote a $10 million check with the words, "For services rendered" underneath. He read his check every day. Years later, Jim Carrey would be earning $20 million per movie".

I want to apply the Power of Focus.

Can this do for me?

Yehey, CAAP at last!

PGMA signed into law the other day Republic Act 9497, which created Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines or CAAP. CAAP will replace my current agency-employer, Air Transportation Office. This is good news for us in ATO as well as to the whole aviation industry in the country.

The new law grants fiscal autonomy to the CAAP, which means that most of the funds collected by the agency would be used solely for our operations. Lack of funds or budget has always been the hindrance in the development of ATO. We cannot upgrade to better facilities and equipment as well as hire new personnel to augment the vacancies in different technical positions. There have been problems in the payment of our overtime services since October 2004. In fact, overtime services rendered since January 2007 has not been paid. Many of our equipment are outdated and unreliable.

One example is the RADAR in Tagaytay, which is used for more than 20 years, as surveillance and aid for Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) at Area Control Center (ACC) in controlling aircrafts beyond the 60 mile radius of NAIA. As of now, it is very unreliable. Targets on the screen would appear and disappear anytime. Sometimes, one or two aircrafts would go missing at a time. The ACC ATCs have to resort to procedural process of controlling airplanes, meaning they just have to rely on their minds to picture the airplanes in the air without the aid of a radar screen. It’s like we are back in the ancient times. What an alarming thought. The fact that these ATCs could manage it really amazes me and I really admire them. They have a right to demand higher pay for their skills. Anyway, procurement of new radar is already under way, but this should have been done five years ago, considering the time for installation and initial testing.

I do not know if you were aware with the news last year that there were delays in flights. Higher authorities turned deaf ears to the recommendations for a replacement of the then outdated AFTN (Aeronautical Fixed Telephone Network), the system used to send/receive flight data to other countries’ airports. If not for the broadcast of those delays, AFTN would not be replaced/upgraded to CADAS (Comsoft Aeronautical Data Access System). Often times, disaster has to occur before ATO is heard. If we were not downgraded by the FAA, I’m not sure if approval of CAAP would be fast-tracked. We’ve been lobbying for it for the past years just to have fiscal autonomy. Now, finally, we wouldn’t have to deal with so many bureaucracies in planning and implementing projects. . For as long as CAAP would not be mismanaged or infested with corrupt, self-serving officials***, like in NAPOCOR and other government corporations, it would lead us to a safer, reliable, world-class aviation.

As an employee, I am glad because also included in the law is that technical personnel would be exempted from the government Salary Standardization Law so that the agency could compete with the private sector in hiring qualified personnel. This is sound. In our department alone, lots have resigned for the past two years to go abroad or transfer to the private sector for bigger pay. Also, the prospect of upgrading the facilities and equipment is to my advantage. Who would want to maintain outdated equipment, right? Plus, I know it would professionalize the personnel and modernize our operations. I am thrilled to have a better working environment. As of now, the bosses are still busy drafting proposals for the implementing rules and regulations. Hopefully by the second half of the year, we would start to feel the changes. I am just excited and hopeful.

*** This is my biggest fear. Considering projects in ATO, from airports to equipments, involve big amount of money. Income of ATO is also in billions of pesos. Now that CAAP is free from DBM, I hope it wouldn’t be just one source of funds for the election campaign in 2010. I also hope that our board of directors, which will mostly be political appointees (DOTC, DOJ, DOF, DFA, DOT Secretaries), will have great management skills and true dedication to the advancement of Philippine aviation.

I know that you may think I am too paranoid or having read too many conspiracy-filled stories, but we know that these things happen in our government today. I am just keeping my fingers crossed.

No More People Power

I’m not sure if I heard it right that Jun Lozada threatened to give up his Catholic faith if CBCP continues not to support him. I am disappointed by his latest action although I greatly admired his courage to blow his whistle and I believe there's some truth in what he said. I also sympathize with the difficulties he was going through and the threats he faced but what was he thinking now? I think everyone or every institution/organization has their own personal opinion and individual stand regarding this issue. He should not take it against the CBCP if it does not share in his sentiment to call for GMA’s resignation. I agree with CBCP that the truth should not be hindered to surface and people guilty should be held accountable for their misdeeds. I agree with CBCP that GMA has a big role to make this happen. I believe she still could make reforms, if she really wanted to, especially in the dysfunctional areas of the procurement process of government projects. Two years is enough time for her to redeem herself, clean up her act and of those around her. Everybody knows she has knowledge of the culprit/s in this NBN scandal, so instead of protecting the criminals, she should help to expose them. I am no fan of PGMA, in fact, I hate her but this time, I think it’s wise to make her stay. I think it is not a good time to rock the boat considering our economic situation. We couldn’t allow politics to jeopardize whatever progress we are making. And who would replace her, anyway? Can we think of someone who has the will and the courage to set up the needed reforms in our government to fight graft and corruption? The answer is clear, there’s no one. Therefore, it is not worth another people power, another extra-constitutional means to unseat a leader and install a new one. Let’s just wait for two more years and hope and pray that PGMA would be enlightened to forget her "utang na loob” to certain people and make them accountable.