Higad Attack

My First Job Interview

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 23:59:00 +0000

(Below is one of the letters from my lumang baul, circa November 1990)

It’s Tuesday, and I am in . That Sunday I have scanned the Manila Bulletin to look for a job, I saw one for AutoCAD Operator. Location: , Employer : ABV Rock Group, Agency: ISD (International Skills Development), Agency Location: Corner P. Faura and (In front of NBI).

Now, that’s easy. Knew the place, so here I am at the and I was given a pre-interview by a lady with a half-munched up apple. She’s just flipping the content of my dossier to see if they are properly placed and in order. There’s nothing much there. Aside from the two-paged resume, there’s a couple of citations and awards and of course, two Diplomas, BSCE and CAD Training.

The lady asked if I could remain for the day because the employers will be arriving and will conduct the real interview at 1:00 P.M. Further, there is only one more applicant for the job. Only two of us, how great, right? Look at my watch and it says, smiling 9:00 A.M. on the mark. Got a lot of time to kill. So I’ve looked at their bulletin board and there were a lot of jobs being offered. Look for the keyword CAD and there’s only one entry, the one I am applying for.

One thing that’s noticeable was the smell. Smell of human who needs a bath. There were a lot of them, about 15 or so. Noticeable also was the fact that most of them are wearing boots. Some are sleeping seated. Two guys are in front of another interviewer, and I noticed that one guy is writing down whatever the other guy is saying. I figure that the second guy doesn’t know how to write.

Cannot contain my curiosity any longer, I asked one what are they there for. He said, that they are signing a contract to work in Saudi. He told me that they are miners from and Kalinga and that they have been there for two days now. They slept at the PNR Station and that they are out of job after the rescue mission. Luckily they were noticed and here they are, they’re given jobs.

Wow! I remember now, there was an earthquake last July and it’s a devastating one. Mines caved in (are there any, still?), buildings reduced to rubble, and these miners were the heroes. I asked him which one of them was the one who followed a fly to rescue a woman trapped beneath the rubble. He ain’t there.

Soon enough I was having a conversation with a lot of them. They told me a lot of stories of their experience during the rescue mission. How some of their colleagues died just to save others. Kinda made me teary eyed.

I said to myself, breath in deep with your nose, oti. This is the smell of real life heroes, so breathe in deep down, inhale it all. Mortal Heroes.

Then came these three Caucasian Gigantors, and the miners all stood and said “Good morning, sirs!” The CG’s good-morninged back. Oh, no! The employers, the ABV Rock Group! But, instead of guitars and drums, they have with their entourage two locals, one carrying a computer, one a monitor. Pleasantries exchanged. And there goes those platoons of butterflies on my stomach flying all over. Nervous? No, I’m just hyperventilating!

20 looong minutes later, I was asked by the apple wielding woman to follow her. I did, half-collapsing, half-staggering, one-fourth nauseating, two-thirds in deep vertigo. She showed me a hand-sketched plan of some pipes and gears with lines showing dimensions. She told me to draw them on the computer right in front of me, gave me a time limit of thirty minutes. Looked at the plan, said to myself, 15 minutes will do. The computer was already turned on. The blimping-blinking DOS is already there. Did the usual cd\ enter cd acad\ enter acad.exe enter and there goes AutoCAD. Only it’s different. It looks better. Typed in ver on the acad prompt and I got Rel.12.0.

I’ll be damned. I know Rel. 9 and Rel.10, and these Rhinos got Rel.12 already. Anyway, the clocked tic-tocked by and sure enough I’ve finished the plan in less than 15 minutes. Might as well make the plan looked more impressive. Made layers, made em colorful, made em kinda looked lithographed if that could be done. Save the file and closed acad. Done said I.

And then apple-less lady came back followed by the other candidate whose skin looked like tanned leather. I know right then there that this guy have been deep in the trenches. Been there done that thing. My heart sank, I’m done. Oti has lost his composure. My ears made tinnitus sounds. Impaired not comprehending what the lady was saying I went back to the seat where I was before.

The miners were asking me things, and I was just nodding and smiling. But I wasn’t really there. Moments passed, and passed. I reckoned that the leather boy is taking too long a time in doing that plan. Thirty minutes just flew by and… Oti gained his composure. I’m better than he is, I thought. Better, faster. That’s a ray of hope. I’ll get this job, surely.

Minutes gone by, one Gigantor Rhino just nodded to me and beckoned that I follow him. So I did. Sat down on a chair in front of him and he asked me. When did I graduated (easy), where did I learn CAD (easy) and…

… have I’ve ever been employed as an AutoCAD Operator (oh my gout!). Told him truthfully that this will be the first time job I will have. My only job experience was as an apprentice at my father’s motorcycle shop and I get not much pay for it. I’ve just newly graduated from college. And while I am waiting for the board exam I enrolled at a CAD school in Sampaloc, because I knew that computers will be in the forefront. I told him I also knew LISP programming. I told him a lot. I got a wife and a kid to feed. I was practically begging him to hire me.

(ad lib: Swedes got a guttural, pitched Visayan accent when they speak English)

He told me bluntly, I am good because I’ve finished that plan in record time. That is a real great factor, more in less time. And if he had his way, I should get the job. But, the BIG BUT remains, I HAVE NO JOB EXPERIENCE to talk about. And their company is looking for someone who has a job experience and at least a year of job experience on CAD. He told me that I am still young, and that I may get homesick since I already have a family. The job is in the dessert , and he had already seen at least one of their workers going loco from homesickness.

Oti lost his composure again. And he blurted out. “If it could be done, I would like that you give me a six month probationary period at half the $ 850.00 monthly salary”. The big Albino Rhino gave me a wide grin and said, “You’re very persistent, aren’t you? I’ll take that into consideration, but please, you have to note that I am just following our company policy on hiring. Gain more experience young man. And here’s my calling card. Please do get a calling card from the ISD staff and tell them to put your name in the database”. He gave me back my dossier.

Oti is now numb. Oti is now immersed in liquid nitrogen. Oti doesn’t matter anymore. But he put on a smile and did just that. Asked for a card and my name and details were put on a database. As I was doing that, the other candidate sat where I’ve previously sat and the Big Remote Controlled Rhino put the guy’s folder in front of him. That folder is about an inch thick. The Big Remote Controlled Albino Rhino looked my way and made three pendulum swing with his head. I’ve looked at my folder which is about 5 millimeter and said to myself, “Ay Dugo”.

Went out of the building like an automaton in slow motion, went inside this telephone boot. And change to my Superman costume and up up and away!

Actually, I went to the phone boot. Got the phone off it’s cradle, a tear escaped one of my eye and followed by another on the other eye. Then they came into rushes… and I…

…wept wept and away.

Looking back from that experience, on November 1990 (a year ago, today), I kind of made peace with myself. The Swede may be right; I may go loony in the desert. I should gain more experience locally before tackling a job very far, far away. I passed their trade test, spoke fluently during the interview. I am now working for the DPWH-MPR-PMO. The strange thing is this. Those miners got their job abroad because of a catastrophe. This job I have now at the DPWH-MPR-PMO was also brought about by a catastrophe. After the clearing operations on lahar land and the PMO gets dissolved, I may get a job abroad. I still got the calling cards.

Though I didn't got the job them, it's nice that I met real-life superheroes.

Priorities

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 05:54:00 +0000

Exercise 1:

1. 1. Go to any department in any of the CDC building

2. 2. Count the people there

3. 3. Close your eyes

4. Think

Now, how many people there are either Management, Supervisory or from the Ranks?

Exercise 2:

1. Repeat Exercise 1

Now, will it not be proper to assume that the Ranks out-number the rest of the gaggle of people in any particular departments/divisions?

It goes a little something like this:

Get the picture now?

Ok, may I ask if you are going to make a very important decision for the welfare of the people inside a company which will you rather please first?

Management?

Supervisors?

Ranks?

Herein lies now the problem:

The priority of management now is to push through with the transition of membership from SSS to GSIS. Management can afford this, some supervisors could barely afford this, the Ranks will clearly be at a very big disadvantage.

Why don't we shift now to a much more urgent and compelling priority.

We already have an Authority to Implement (ATI) from GCG which covers the following:

1. Step increment for every three years in the same position

2. Payment of the ABI's which we should have receive now

3. Retro pay of the PERA

(if there's more to add, put it here)

Let's take the case of the CIAC employees.

Before I went to the GSIS Enforced seminar on that far-away-land of Nayong Pilipino, I talked to somebody from CIAC and ask this;

"GSIS na ba kayo?"

He said no, that they are still with SSS but will eventually move on to GSIS. And that THEIR MANAGEMENT (take note: THEIR MANAGEMENT) conducted a survey for the shift and an overwhelming decision is to stay with SSS.

Lately, I asked another CIAC fella the same question. Answer: "Mayroon pong nanatili sa SSS, yun po namang mga bata pa ay nag GSIS na." (If you could, please do try to contact any of the CIAC employees to verify this do so please)

So there you go, THEIR MANAGEMENT let THEIR EMPLOYEES decide THEIR FATE.

Could not our management do the same? Could it change its priorities? Could it not make a better and popular decision beneficial to the majority?

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7641

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 01:08:00 +0000

SECTION 3. Retirement under CBA/contract.

3.1 Any employee may retire or be retired by his employer

upon reaching the retirement age established in the collective

bargaining agreement or other applicable employment contract

or retirement plan subject to the provisions of Section 5 hereof

on the payment of retirement benefits.

3.2 In case of retirement under this Section, the employee

shall be entitled to receive such retirement benefits as he may

have earned under existing laws and any collective bargaining

agreement and other agreements; provided, however, that an

employee’s retirement benefits under any collective bargaining

and other agreements shall not be less than those provided

under this Rule, and provided further that if such benefits are

less, the employer shall pay the difference between the amount

due the employee under this Rule and that provided under the

collective or individual agreement or retirement plan.

3.3 Where both the employer and the employee contribute to

a retirement fund in accordance with an individual or collective

agreement or other applicable employment contract, the

employer’s total contribution thereto shall not be less than the

total retirement benefits to which the employee would have

been entitled had there been no such retirement fund. In case

the employer’s contribution is less than the retirement benefits

provided under this Rule, the employer shall pay the deficiency.

Using ChatGPT To Discuss the Retirement Law and The Health Benefits in contrast with a CBA

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 00:58:00 +0000

What are the Philippine Laws on Retirement?

In the Philippines, the laws on retirement are primarily governed by the Republic Act No. 7641, also known as the "Retirement Pay Law," and the Social Security Act of 1997 (Republic Act No. 8282).

Under the Retirement Pay Law, an employee who has rendered at least five years of service is entitled to receive retirement pay upon reaching the age of 60 for men and 55 for women. The amount of the retirement pay is based on the employee's average monthly salary credit, which is calculated by taking the employee's total salary for the last 12 months of employment divided by 12. The employee is entitled to receive retirement pay equivalent to one-half month salary for every year of service, with a fraction of at least six months considered as one whole year.

The Social Security Act of 1997 establishes the Social Security System (SSS), which is a government-run social insurance program that provides a range of benefits to its members, including retirement benefits. Under the SSS, an employee who has reached the age of 60 and has paid at least 120 monthly contributions is entitled to receive a retirement benefit, which is a lump sum payment equal to the employee's total contributions plus the corresponding interest.

Both the Retirement Pay Law and the Social Security Act of 1997 provide for the payment of additional benefits, such as 13th month pay and holiday pay, to employees upon their retirement. It is important to note that these laws apply to employees in the private sector, and different rules may apply to employees in the public sector.

Can a Collective Bargaining Agreement modify the Retirement Law?

A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a legally binding contract between an employer and a labor union that represents the employees. A CBA typically covers a range of employment-related matters, including wages, benefits, working hours, and working conditions.

In the Philippines, the Retirement Pay Law and the Social Security Act of 1997 establish the minimum standards for retirement benefits that must be provided to employees. However, a CBA may provide for additional retirement benefits beyond what is required by law, or it may modify the terms of the legal requirements in certain ways. For example, a CBA may provide for a higher rate of retirement pay than what is required by the Retirement Pay Law, or it may specify a different age at which employees are eligible for retirement benefits.

It is important to note that a CBA cannot reduce the retirement benefits that are required by law. If a CBA provides for retirement benefits that are less than what is required by law, the legal requirements will take precedence and the employee will be entitled to receive the minimum benefits required by law.

What are the Philippine Laws on Health Benefits?

In the Philippines, the laws on health benefits are primarily governed by the Republic Act No. 7305, also known as the "Magna Carta of Public Health Workers," and the Republic Act No. 7875, also known as the "National Health Insurance Act of 1995."

The Magna Carta of Public Health Workers is a law that applies specifically to public health workers, including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who work in the government sector. It provides a range of benefits to public health workers, including health insurance coverage, medical and dental services, and other forms of financial assistance.

The National Health Insurance Act of 1995 establishes the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), also known as PhilHealth, which is a government-run health insurance program that provides coverage to both public and private sector employees. Under PhilHealth, employees are entitled to a range of benefits, including inpatient and outpatient care, preventive and primary care services, and maternity care.

In addition to these laws, many private employers in the Philippines also offer their own health benefits to their employees, such as health insurance coverage, medical and dental services, and other forms of financial assistance. These benefits may be provided as part of an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Could a CBA modify the laws on Health Benefits?

In the Philippines, the laws on health benefits, such as the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers and the National Health Insurance Act of 1995, establish the minimum standards for health benefits that must be provided to employees. However, a CBA may provide for additional health benefits beyond what is required by law, or it may modify the terms of the legal requirements in certain ways. For example, a CBA may provide for more comprehensive health insurance coverage than what is required by law, or it may specify a different set of covered medical and dental services.

It is important to note that a CBA cannot reduce the health benefits that are required by law. If a CBA provides for health benefits that are less than what is required by law, the legal requirements will take precedence and the employee will be entitled to receive the minimum benefits required by law.

What are some jurisprudence on the diminution of benefits?

The principle of non-diminution of benefits is a legal principle that prohibits employers from reducing the wages, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment of their employees without just cause. This principle is embodied in several laws in the Philippines, including the Labor Code of the Philippines and the Constitution.

Here are a few examples of jurisprudence from the Supreme Court of the Philippines on the diminution of benefits:

G.R. No. 208566 (2014): In this case, the Supreme Court held that the principle of non-diminution of benefits applies to all forms of compensation, including allowances and other benefits, and that an employer cannot reduce the wages or benefits of an employee without just cause.
G.R. No. 180906 (2008): In this case, the Supreme Court held that an employer must provide written notice to an employee of any reduction in wages or benefits, and the employee must be given an opportunity to be heard before any reduction takes effect.
G.R. No. L-33554 (1980): In this case, the Supreme Court established the principle of illegal dismissal, which holds that an employee cannot be dismissed from employment without just cause and due process. The Court held that an employee who is illegally dismissed is entitled to reinstatement and back wages.
G.R. No. L-65366 (1983): In this case, the Supreme Court held that an employer cannot unilaterally reduce the wages or benefits of an employee without just cause and without the consent of the employee. The Court also held that any reduction in wages or benefits must be reasonable and not oppressive to the employee.
G.R. No. L-54792 (1987): In this case, the Supreme Court held that an employer cannot reduce the wages or benefits of an employee as a form of punishment or discipline without just cause and without the employee being given an opportunity to be heard.

It is important to note that these cases are just a few examples of the many legal decisions that have been made by the Supreme Court of the Philippines on the diminution of benefits, and they are not exhaustive or definitive. The law is constantly evolving, and new cases and decisions are made every day that contribute to the jurisprudence of the Philippines.

4 Inconvenient Death And 3 Hours of Prayer At Clark Development Corporation

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 10:57:00 +0000

A Prayer from Mang Caloy On February 3, 2014 12:10P.M.

Ama naming may lalang ng lahat. Diyos ng pag-ibig at Diyos na banal. Sinasamba Ka namin at pinasasalamatan sa mga kaloob Mong grasya at ng kalakasan.

Dito po sa aming sama-samang pagdarasal ay alay po namin sa apat naming kasamahan na kamakailan lang po ay sunod-sunod na pumanaw. Kung anuman po sana ang kanilang pagkakasala at mga pagkukulang patawarin po ninyo sila Ama at dalhin sa Inyong kaharian.

At sa kanilang mga kamag-anak at mga mahal sa buhay, patuloy po Ninyo silang gabayan at pagkalooban ng mga pangangailangan sa buhay.

Dama po namin Ama kung gaano kasakit ang mawalan ng mahal sa buhay, nataon pa naman po, wala na kaming Group Life Insurance, kaya naman po maituturing na doble dagok sa pamilyang naiwanan, na dapat po sana ay may matatanggap na halaga kung di lamang napagkaitan ng nasabing Insurance.

Hiling din po namin, Ama dito sa aming sama-samang pagdarasal na magkaroon po kami ng sapat na pang-unawa at karunungan upang maunawan naming lubos ang mga nararanasan namin ngayon na nagdudulot ng kalituhan.

Nalilito po kami Ama sa sinasabi nilang "moratorium" na siyang tanging buod ng R.A. 10149, maging sa taguring "status quo". Sa amin pong munting pagka-unawa Ama, ito ay sa usaping walang madadagdag at walang mababawasan sa mga benepisyong dugo at pagsisikap ang aming punuhunan.

Taliwas po ito Ama, sa aming nararanasan ngayon. Ang lehitimong CBA namin ay mistulang di na iginagalang dahil sa mga tahasang paglabag sa mga mahalagang probisyon nito. Isa na nga po Ama ang pagtanggal sa aming Group Life Insurance.

Sa unang buwan po nitong 2014 ay nagpatupad ng pagbabago kung saan may mga Departments na binuwag at may mga Offices na ginawang Departments. Ito daw po Ama ay sa lalo pang ikabubuti ng lahat. Natapos na ang buwan ng Enero ay kung bakit wala pa ring malinaw na detalye sa naumpisahang pagbalasa o pagbabago. Tulungan Mo po kami Ama na aming mapagtanto ang tunay na layunin sa paglikha ng isang department na dalawa ang Managers at apat ang mga Assistant Managers, na sa ibang Department na dating may Manager, hanggang ngayon ay wala pang Manager na ipinapalit o itinatalaga dito.

Hanggang kailan po kaya namin ito mararanasan Ama? Maawa na po Kayo sa amin at bigyan Ninyo po ang mga namumuno ng aming Korporasyon ng tunay na pagmamalasakit at pagpapahalaga sa aming mga karapatan.

Patuloy po Ninyong gabayan ang bawat isa sa amin at turuan ng naaayon sa Inyong Kalooban.

Ang lahat pong ito Ama ay aming itinataas sa mahal na pangalan ng Inyong bugtong na Anak na aming Panginoon.

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

The CDC Employees' Salary is Still in the Quagmire

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 01:22:00 +0000

First of all look at this...

Senate hearing on alleged corruption in PhilHealth

83,672 views
•Streamed live on Aug 4, 2020

At about 1:51:30 of the video, a senator asked if the directive of Duterte, that every board member of Philhealth submit their courtesy resignation was followed. Then the President of Philhealth said that there was also a board resolution that not only the Board Members submit their resignation but should also includes those with Salary Grade 26, meaning all Vice President up to the Members of the Board should resign.

The Philhealth President said that the two directives above were not implemented.

So?

Well, I don't care about the insubordination of the Top Dudes of Philhealth not to follow the Philippine President Directives nor their own directives. My life won't change by their decision nor do yours my Government Owned and Controlled Corporation workers.

So?

As my grandson would say whenever he sees a laughable matter on youtube, "Lo, tingnan mo, Lolo!" -- Tom trying to barbecue a duckling when suddenly Jerry would appear to save the duckling -- "Lo, tingnan mo, Lolo!!" then crackles in a laughter.

Lo, tingnan mo, Lolo. The CDC employees salary has never been updated, upgraded, rehabilitated, reconstituted nor resurrected out of the swamp for at least 10 years now. The Governance Commission for GOCCs had put a very large carrot on a stick in front of us dull-headed donkeys they called CPCS, a spicily delicious sounding acronym for Compensation and Position Classification System.

The CPCS was brained out and should have been implemented on 2012 to 2013,14, 15, 16, but along came a spider and sat down beside her that the Philippine President introduced Execut-ive/ion Order 36, suspending CPCS in 2017. And were still alive. GOCC employees are still alive with their stock and uncustomized salaries while the cost of everything eatable and non-eatable are skyrocketing. Moreover, those other government employees salaries are ever so increasing year by year because they have this Salary Standardization Law. This SSL will go on until 2023 which is they humanely called SSL V fourth tranch.

So all in all the SSL consisted of 5 continuous upgraded non-diminutive salary increase for the government workers, EXCEPT, EXCEPT, I repeat, EXCEPT, GOCC employees. And yes Clark Development Corporation is a GOCC.

I refer you again to that youtube video. Key word is SG-26.

SG-26 commands a compensation of PHP 109,593 as of this writing, in the year 2023 it will be PHP 116,040. A little differential calculus gives us a difference of 6,447 from 2020 to 2023. Not significant increase, but hey it still an increase, right?

Now, consider this:

As per the video, SG-26 is VP level. Following the path, we have the following;

SG-25 equals Assistant VP

SG-24 equals Manager

SG-23 equals Assistant Manager

SG-22 equals Supervisor

And on and on...

The last one up there, SG-22, salary is PHP 66,867 for Step 1. Step 8 is PHP 74,705. That is supervisors salary for those government employees. But we in the GOCC, at least for my part is about PHP 46,000, Gross Pay.

The difference between my salary and the SSL Supervisor Salary is PHP 20,867. See the grossness? Yes our pay is gross, literally.

OK, that PHP 46,000 includes all the allowances and perks that we have bargained for through the CBA throughout the years. Meaning we fought or struggle for it. Those in the government did not have to fight for their wages, instead they were given to them by Law.

We supervisors at CDC who are stuck in Step 1 are behind by more than PHP 20,000 from our government counterpart.

That CPCS thing that we have been waiting for?

If that ever comes out will it be at par with the SSL? Will it be better than SSL? Will it be vetoed again by the President? Will it be another hard to swallow pill.

Will CPCS be retroactively implemented from 2012 or 2013? I pray it should be, and it should be, since the government workers have enjoyed their SSL for so long now. We should make up for loss time.

Or are we better off adopting SSL with retroactive implementation?

When the President suspended the CPCS by EO 36, he was very aghast at the salary of Directors and CEO of certain GOCCs. But that is not true to all GOCC and especially not true to those employees. Yes there is a humongous difference between the top honchos of GOCCs and the workers. And yet when the shit hit the fan, we were all hit with the wet shit.

With a pinch of salt, I write with pained humor.

"Lo, tingnan mo, Lolo."

Lotto Jackpot @ 704,720,320.00 Pesos and The Choo Choo

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 05:05:00 +0000

Good golly Miss Molly!!!

Lotto 6/58 is now at Php 704,720,320.00!!! Insane.

That's about $‪ 12,998,502.64‬ ($1 is equal to 54.22 pesos ngayon September, 25, 2018) Naryo naryo ka parin kahit sa dolyares, bro.

What will I do if I win it?

Simple.

I will withdraw Php 1 million a day. Kase, gusto ko lang. That will take me almost two years to get em all. That includes Saturdays and Sundays. Imagine that. Can you imagine that? Di diba?

Anyway, yesterday evening, tumaya ako sa lotto. Di naman kahabaan ang pila. But one curious thing just happened.

This guy, put his ticket inside the little slot on the window. Cashier put it in the machine and said "Balik taya, sir"

Sir slid a little paper with numbers on it on the slot. Cashier punched in the machine the numbers on the paper.

Cashier handed a newly printed ticket to sir.

Sir, with a smile, got the ticket and went on to the side.

Cashier said, "Sir, kulang po kayo apat na piso."

Bald Little Guy in front of me laugh out loud.

We all laugh.

Sir said, "Di pala balik taya. Abono pa pala apat na piso."

We all laugh. And laugh.

"Talo ka pa ng apat na piso, taknaydo na neh?" said the little bald man in front of me.

We all laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

"DI bale sana kung binigyan ka pa ng piso, neh? At least nanalo ka pa ng piso." Said I.

We all laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

Covered pu kasi ng Train Law pati Lotto.

"Nakputa, neh?"

And laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

The Anti-Cybercrime FLaw

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 01:29:00 +0000

Wore this mask twice, once in October 9, 2012 at the Supreme Court, then once again, during the 28th Anniversary of the People Power Revolution at the EDSA Shrine, February 25, 2014. I hope that this mask retires, never to be worn again. I pin my hope to the Congress and Senate that Cyber Libel be struck off.

Please watch this youtube video in full screen, till the end, when Ronnie Nathanielsz gives his opinion.... review and review the ending seconds and memorize the exchange.

That is Ninoy's take on freedom of speech, which is if you can't talk your mind out you'll just give out a wide open mouth like what the guy got. And that is the essence why Cyber Libel should be struck down.

The Supreme Court ruled that the originator of the perceived libelous material in the web would be the one prosecuted and those who commented or liked or reposted or retwitted the material are exempt from punishment.

Now riddle me this.

On Facebook:

"Yung isang meyor nagwala kagabi sa Casino'ng pinagtatrabauhan ko. Natalo kasi ng 4 million, sinapok yung dealer"

Then somebody commented

"Ah, si Meyor Ambrocio Catacutan? Nakita ko nga. Tanging Inang meyor na yan. Rapist pa nga yan. Pati yung anak niyang si Junior rapist din ang animal! 4 million? Saan galing yung perang yon, magnanakaw talaga yan!"

I got charged for libel and that guy who cutely commented didn't. Oi!

My imagination sometimes linger in such a weird way and I always ask what happened and my imagination answers. For instance what was the scene when Pnoy signed that damning law?

Welcome to my mind. Wherever it is.

Scenario.Malacanang.

Pnoy: "Mar ayos na ba sa 'yo tung cyber cyber?

Mar: "Oo, okey na yan."

Pnoy: "Badong, ayos na rin ba sa iyo itong cyber cyber? Pirmahan ku na?

Badong (who is Pnoy's very best friend from time immemorial): "Okay na yan Tarmac, pirmahan mo na."

Pinoy: "Tangna mo Badong sabi ng wag mo kong tawaging tarmac!"

Badong: "Tutuo naman, beehh!"

Pnoy: "O sige, beehh ka rin, supot!"

Approved without thinking!

What-if Scenario. Malacanang

Pnoy: "Mar ayos na ba sa 'yo tung cyber cyber?

Mar: "Oo, okey na yan."

Pnoy: "Badong, ayos na rin ba sa iyo itong cyber cyber? Pirmahan ku na?

Badong (who is Pnoy's very best friend from time immemorial): "Okay na yan Tarmac, pirmahan mo na."

Pinoy: "Tangna mo Badong sabi ng wag mo kong tawaging tarmac!"

Badong: "Tutuo naman, beehh!"

Pnoy: "O sige, beehh ka rin, supot!"

Pnoy: "Sandali, baka makuryente ako dito. Basahin ko muna."

Pnoy: "Mga gago kayo! Bat meron LIBEL dito? Eh ito ang pinaglaban ng Tatay at Nanay ko ah! Ang kalayaang masabi ang nasa loob at isip. Ikinamatay ng Tatay ko ito, ang pagsasalita laban sa katarantaduhan ng mga namumuno sa gubyerno. Ibalik nyo yan sa mga ahas at buwaya.Veto ako muna rito."

Disapproved with thinking!

And........................

(itutuloy)

Another One About The Table of Organization

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 03:02:00 +0000

This was a memo I sent to the chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on T.O. way back in September 9, 2003. I just want to put it here as a blog so I could preserve the content and that you dudes could read it. I have sent this to all VPs and Departments of CDC noon panahon na yon.

TO: EVP - VJIL
Chairman - Ad Hoc Committe on T.O.

Much as would like to exalt and commend the management for its effort in promoting employees by means of expediting the Table of Organization, I must, in behalf of my colleagues, express some complaints regarding the present status of its implementation and therefore seek answers for the issues herein discussed. These sentiments are not mine alone, but are shared by all employees who had decided to apply to the job vacancies as posted on the bulletin boards.

The jobs posted on the bulletin boards enumerated all the qualifications necessary to attain such a post. All employees deemed that those set of qualifications is complete, final and executory. The result of which is that many of us applied based solely on those qualifications.

However, just yesterday (8 Sept. 2003), we were surprised to know that certain pre-qualifications were imposed. That, every applicant should pass a minimum of 65% of these pre-qualifications named Rating Form to be eligible for interview. We find this addendum or codicil to be an unethical imposition and thus question the sincerity of the whole process. We have to ask, why is it only now that these pre-qualifications were imposed? Why not at the beginning before even one job vacancy was posted on the bulletin boards?

Posting these pre-qualification before the actual job posting could have spared so many personnel from applying and prevented the accumulation of application papers and their attachement at the HRD office.

Among the inclusions subject for this complaint is the requirement of an applicant to have no tardiness for the past six months. Need we point out that tardiness on anyone's part could never subjugate the operations of the corporation? CDC was never a factory nor an assembly line that the absence of an employee for a certain amount of time causes a delay in production or caused dissatisfaction on a customer. Being late is never a manifestation that one could not perform his work properly or proficiently. There are also legit reasons for being late.

Another one is the inclusion of the performance appraisal form. Time and time again, this has proven to be subjective and is dictated on whether there is a collusion or collision between the appraiser and the appraised. Even the most non-performing asset among us will give himself a high rate and the humblest among us will rate himself humbly so.

I find the whole Rating Form itself is flawed. For instance, if a certain job vacancy has only one applicant and though he met the criteria as written on the job requirements but is in collision with his manager or direct supervisor and has legitimate reasons for accumulating six tardiness on a given month, will this necessarily mean that he will not get the post? Or will he be made an exemption and gain the post?

We feel that these new set of prequalification should not be included as prerequisite for a job since their inclusion were not predetermined during the formulation of the job requirements. The rating form should have been published before the actual job posting.

We ask the better judgement of the T.O. Committee to forfeit these impositions and level the playing field devoid of unwarranted technicalities.

In behalf of my colleagues,

[signed]

OTHELLO C. DELA CRUZ
PDO 1 - ECMD

Haiyan/Yolanda Compared to Hiroshima

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 03:18:00 +0000

Do you know which is which?

Click on picture to make it bigger

5 Things That Will Be a Positive Change In CDC Operations

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:25:00 +0000

[adlib: The original post is dated November 11, 2011 that is 11-11-2011 for some sort of dramatic and Biblical effect but I have to wait a little longer before publishing it to remove the dramatic and Biblical effect. Read on.]

Here goes...

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away there was a little place where CDC employees comes to partake of sumptuous meals behind Building 2127, this was renovated and transformed in a Office to promote tourism inside the zone. Then a place called Our Homeplate arose so the people could continue to partake of meals together. However, the end has come for them to congregate and soon they have their last suffer.

Years later, when an employee, visitor, a friend, a customer or a prospective locator gets hungry or wants to have some cofee, all we could offer is:

Alfresco dining at Clark Freeport Zone

This is the ACCES Coop Canteen. So there you go...

1. Canteen

2. Parking Lot

"I can't read this sign!" - Anonymous CDC Employee

"Saan kaya ito" - Unknown Visitor from La Union
"Ampangit naman editing nitong picture" - ACCES member

Okaaayy!! Right from the start I made a lot of people angry. Rank and File, Supervisory, VPs and Ps. But you should consider this. Customer/Potential-Customer goes to the CDC corporate offices. Search for parking space. And whadayu know? All parking space within the vicinity of the corporate offices are taken.

Taken by whom? By them dudes and dudettes that work in CDC. Every day, there's this sort of Wacky Races towards that precious sweet spot, under the shades parking space. And sometimes there's them dude/dettes who wants that damn traffic cone removed by them security guards and when them guard don't comply because that damn space is reserved for them VPs, them certain dude/dette give the guard a menacing stare and sometime scolds the poor guard who is just doing his job. All the while the guard is thinking you are Dick Dastardly. Like so:

Muttley, if that guard doesn't follow, he'll eat rubber

And then there's this....

Potential client/visitor/locator comes to the corporate office, looks for a parking space, finds none. Ask his driver to drop him by 2127. Driver did that, client goes to the building. Driver looks for a parking space, finds none.

a) He drives around hunting for an opening

b) He parked illegally and got the security guard treatment

Boss comes, and the driver told his story. Any way, we get a bum reputation.

Now, will it not be good if we just put the customer first? We designate a parking space solely for the use of our clients, potential clients, locators and visitors? I know, this is easy for me to say because I don't own any vehicle, so I guess I have the upper hand here. So what about you my motored vehicle friend, where do you park? I am very indifferent and I don't care. Best way maybe to just leave them at home and ride the bus or carpool.

3. Open Court

Located at Kerguelen Islands, South Indian Ocean

That ladies and genitaledmen is the Parade Ground fronting the corporate offices of CDC. Notice that metal thing over there? That's a baseball thingy thing. And on the same ground, we also have a soccer soccery thingy.

Those metal coop are seldom used. Undecoration for an otherwise serene view. I know of something that could be erected along side these erections....

Behold!!!

That's the best erection you'll ever see on the Parade Ground

Them dudes and dudettes of CDC have always asked management to construct something like this, Ever Since The World Began. But I guess management have other priorities like building another Main Gate and of course, the baseball and soccer thingy.

But take a look at that Open Court and what do you see?

I see the Palarong Pambansa ng Mga Lokeytors (PPML) basketball, volleyball, table tennis, UFC, MMA, beyblade, tumbang preso and Maro being staged here.

You know, there is this poor guy from HRD who organized sports for the locators of the zone but always having a problem having a venue for the event. He go to Yokohama. He go to SATA. Probably went to USB, also.

It would be nice if somehow the management prioritize something like this. This will also make them employees lessen their dependence on the health insurance, because they will be physically fit, mentally alert and morally upright.

Did they really vanished?

What?

Health and Life Insurance?

Mouth agape, I cannot answer

4. One Corporate Building

Below the stairs, there's minions

Did you know that our monthly electric bills is more than Php 2 Million? Now you do. Why?

It's because we have this many buildings. Seven: and they are Bldg. 2127, 2125, 2122, 2121, MWR, Children School, PRD, Health Office, Museum and PSD. Don't correct me, I'm the writer here.

And did you know that whenever you use our corporate email, this image is magically inserted on the email and could not be missed by our recipient?

I am concerned about paper and ink, not on the cost of electricity

Are we really concerned about the environment, or just paying lip-service? The last I've heard is that electric consumption causes carbon emission. And we are simply hemorrhaging millions of pesos in electric bills.

Let's do some fun but simple mathematics here.

My electric bill is about 2,500 pesos per month, now how many months and years should I keep paying to reach 2 Million Pesoses?

that will be 2,000,000 divided by 2,500 ikwalis 800 months, dividing that to 12 and we got 67 years worth of home electricity versus a month in CDC. Got that?

Mind you, Building 2125, 2127, 2121 and 2122 are created like fortresses and the Americans who built them has no regards on how much electricity these buildings consumes. They are the equivalent of Cadillac Fleetwod V8 Gas-guzzler if they ever were cars.

And picture me this:

Scene1:

Girl in elevator shoe is borne out of a PUJ in front of 2125 (it's raining, bro!)

Girl asked where's the Health Office and you pointed: THERE!!!

Girl grumbled and rode a PUJ to go THERE!!!

Scene 2:

Your son got bitten by a dog

You went up the 3rd floor of Bldg. 2127 to go to HRD to ask for a Referral slip

Man told you that you have two choices:

a) Wait until 3:00 P.M. and pick it up

b) Do it yourself

Chose b) and you go to the Health Office, then to HRD, then to Budget then to HRD again. And now you've covered more than 2 kilometers of pavement just so you could get that referral A.S.A.P. Why? Because our buildings are THERE!!!

Solution? Pick one, please

a) Four floor Twin Building

b) Warehouse Like Sprawling Building

Which ever you choose you win. One Corporate Building, not two, three or four or more but one.

We could make them very environmentally sound and electricity efficient. We could have solar panels, windmills, water collectors, and any other gadgetry designed to lessen our dependence on the grid and perhaps send power to the grid. And those damn computers and servers? We could consolidate the servers and enter the world of virtualization which have been around for about 400 years and we haven't touch the hem of the virtual world's garment like that woman did in Luke 8:44. One step forward and two steps backward. Kuha mo iho?

Using my patented formula, we could reduce our electric bills down to Php 307,252.96 per month. If you don't believe me, then, BELIEVE ME!!!

We could build it near our Main Main Gate (not a typo, ok?) so that it will be easily accessible by both our customers and employees sans riding a PUJ, paying Php 12.50 and unloading on the wrong place. Plus SM will be happy.

You might say that building that kinda building is pretty bloody expensive. Oh yes, but did you take into consideration how much we pay for electricity every month or years, add to that the cost of maintenance, water, fare, petroleum for our fleet and that of our customers and employees? Plus the environmental factor which we are trying to subliminally wanted to communicate. WTFY!!!

This will also solve the Parking Lot Problem, ain't it?

5. Upgrade yourself and be a model of best practices

[Now this comes as no surprise and is the one that is keeping me from publishing this article, I'll just keep this short, but the actual draft is way too long.]

A long time ago, I once have a boss, whom, although having a high position, still carries and buy books about engineering. I have asked why and he gave me a smirk and rolled his eyes as if I have asked the dumbest question man has ever come up, and said "Learning never stops". That boss of mine is now an undersecretary of one government department, and I do believe he still got some books in them vehicle of his.

You know that ever true adage:

The only thing constant is change...

But it seems we people here at CDC had accepted a status quo attitude. Some does not accept the fact that somehow their tools and knowledge which they have employed or learned a decade or so ago are somehow not quite relevant today. And that somehow there are employees here that have new tools and new set of mind that could prove to be beneficial to the organization.

These guys just reached a certain level, get content and won't budge forward. As a result the corporate will not move forward also.

But the way we think is this: That dude/dette is a potential threat to my pissed up territory and so I must protect my turf.

And that dude/dette just swag his arms and go right on his business and in his minds eye, he knows the inadequacy that them fellow have. Them territorial pissing kind. Pity.

It is somehow disappointing to see some people like these. They don't want any help and yet they could not give a concrete or everlasting solution. And when you try to help them, they bite and say "Bakit, nagmamagaling ka ba?!!!"

Whomever you are, maybe you're a doctor, a nurse, an engineer, a lawyer, a plumber, a technician, a decoy, a dog trainer or a born loser, you have to upgrade yourself and don't wait for the company to do it for you. OK.

And then there's some. You probably noticed this: Clark Development Corporation have a FACEBOOK PAGE, but could you access it? Facebook is one way to market the Freeport Zone, any bright ideas on how to take advantage off on this?

WAKE UP!!!

A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To Changing From SmartBro To Globe Tattoo

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 05:50:00 +0000

I have been a SmartBro subscriber, I think, since 2007, but my wife is telling me that we've been on it much earlier than that. Recon 2007, I've been a subscriber for more than 6years now. I have my up and downs with my relationship withSmart. There was such a time when they are billing me a humungous sum of money, which I've refused to pay. Which ends out I winning and paying a very minimal amount for it. There is a secret engridient in there. I sent out a letter to them including a CD documenting why I should not be paying the large claim.

Since then I have enjoyed Smart's service, they have even upgraded their 1Mbps plan to 2Mbps. I could play all my online games with no fuzz or whatever, there were a few occassions that I could not get any signal, but that's it. Left4Dead 1 and 2, Battlefield 3, and many bandwidth demanding games run flawlessly with the SmartBro for the last couple of years.

But then, Smart was acquired by PLDT, and there goes my connection. The connection of 2Mbps goes down to 1Mbps and then comes in trickle and many times it flatlines, dead and useless. Then some telemarketer from Smart told me that I am elligible for a reduced billing of Php 799 if I ever renew my contract. Told them no, though I would renew the contract if they somehow offers a higher speed, all the while contemplating that I will switch to Digitel, since our landline is Digitel. But lo and behold, darn Digitel was also acquired by PLDT. Darn and double darn, I have no more option.

Okay now. A few months ago, that thing that connects the canopy and the computer and power source just went dead. Contacted Smartbro and they said they'll replace it, there is no connection from their end to our end so they surmise it is either the canopy or the connecti-thing. Technicians comes, I am not at home only my son. They did their magic. There is now a connection, as my son told me so. Went home, wait till 7:00 P.M. to play Battlefield 3, could not join, could not even connect to the internet. Called *1888 to complain. The guy told me that there is nothing wrong with my connection, I told yes there is. He told me to do the usual stuff like turn off the connecti-thing. unplug the connection. Did that. Nothing no connection. He insisted that there is nothing wrong, and it goes on and on and on. Then he told me about FUP and that I should visit that site: I told him from the Nth time, I cannot connect. Then as if by magic, there. I have a connection. So look for FUP, and it turns out its a subtle way of saying, they are capping my bandwidth.

It is time to go apeshit. And I did. Told him that the connection is comatose and they are capping it more. On early May, I again complained about it. So this guy who is the same guy I talked to a few weeks ago, turned on the pre-programmed "What To Say" routine. Told him you have so much excuses and yet you are offering no solution. I told him that I will drag that canopy and the wires and drag them all the way to Smart SM Clark Branch while laughing like a Hyena gone loco.

A few screenshots to verify the rotting dead zombie connection by SmartBro

Slower than a crawling fart

My fart is faster than this...

Out of rage, I went to Globe Tel. Marquee Mall to inquire about their Tattoo Plan. Got my eye on a Prepaid USB Kit, and ask if that thing really gives 7.2Mbps connection where I live. The guy told me he ain't sure and asked if I knew somebody from Magalang who use the thing. Ohhh. Said I don't, while deeply inside me I was saying why don't you guys from Globe go to Magalang with that dongle and a notebook and try it out for your self then tell anyone who inquires what the result of your little experiment, instead of that question answered with a question.

Since he ain't sure, he offered me DSL and WiMax. I don't care if DSL or Wimax, I just want a connection of at least 2Mbps. And so he gave me this application paper to fill up. Wen't home, tried to find out which is more to my advantage.

At our union office, I have applied for a DSL Plan 1599 which offers 3Mbps. The application was acknowledge. But then somebody called me that DSL is not available at our area. Asked what's my option, he said I could go for wimax, so I did told him to update my application and he did.

A few days later I was told that they could only offer me Wimax Plan 1299 with 2 Mbps, I said go. So the installer came at home while I was not there, and then called me to say, that they could only install Plan 1099 with only 1Mbps but comes with a telephone. Told the dude, my target is 2Mbps not 1Mbps. I don't even care about the free phone. "2Mbps can't you spell that" I told him. He said he could do 2Mbps WITHOUT the phone. I said go. He said he can't, he have to update the application. Fine, fine, take your time.

A week later, a dude called and that they are ready to install, I asked him to install the wimax plan 1299 WITHOUT the phone on Saturday. He said, Ok. Called the installer, he said OK. Saturday came, I waited. Nobody came. Installer called he said, he'll install it on Sunday. Sunday came, night came but no installer came. Monday somebody called said they install it on Tuesday. Tuesday, I went into leave, the phantom installer never came. I gave up. I called the Globe teleguy and told him, I am not interested anymore. Don't want anything from Globe anymore. He apologized for their non-existing services. And I want to go to that guy and hug him tightly until his eyes popped out and bleed through his ears. End of story? Not yet, there's more.

On Thursday another installer called and asked if I was at home. Said they are now at Sta. Cruz, Magalang and will be installing wimax in the afternoon. I was about to say I am at home with two Two-Barelled Shotgun and will shoot at anyone who holds anything that looks like this...

But then my two hearts beats love and told him that it's ok. My wife is at her store but she'll get home just for you. So they came. Installed it. Asked my wife to go to speedtest.net just to check out if were having the much coveted 2Mbps. She did and it turns out just 500Kbps. My wife handed here phone to the installer and he told me that the speed will be updated when I pay Php 1299 and after receiving confirmation from Globe Telecom. Said that it is OK. Then he told that I should pay them Php 1599 as an installation fee. I said my wife don't have that cash and asked them to meet me at Mabalacat just to pay them. I will go on 2 hour leave to pay them. Ok and Ok.

Then my wife called me, told me that she signed a contract but it is only for 1MBPS!!! I went up in flames so fierce that the remaining Fantastic Three could not restrain me!!!

Mr. Fantastic, this is my fight alone.

I wish I was at home that day with REAL 2 Two-Barreled Shotgun. Told the installer that they better full out that filthy thing off our home and never to come back. We have agreed that you will install 2 pakin MBPS not 1 double pakin MBPS and you are trying to do this by deception. Pakin sheet you.

So here I am with a Lemon of a connection. Moral: A Smartbro lemon is much sweeter than a Lemon Seed (Globe Tattoo).

Dudes and dudettes which service do you have, SmartBro or Globe Tattoo?

End.

Brother agains Brother. Colleague agains Colleague

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 05:58:00 +0000

Ot mekanyan keng upisina

Rigudon at CDC

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 11:37:00 +0000

The last few days brought a lot of raised eye brow.There are those who applauded the action of the new president and there are those who question the move to organized the structure of CDC.

Hey, did you know that ten years ago CDC have been in a similar situation?
Read this posts and then come back here....
THE T.O. Mga Bagay Bagay na Kailangang Tuunin ng Pansin

And this

What Is The Table Of Organization? (again...?)

It was 2003. Reorg. Offices were created. ACCES officers getting promoted. Dejavu?But this thing here is different. Managers and supervisors were made to ride a Carousel, a Merry-Go-Round. And it is really amusing and bemusing at the same time.

Instead of adding more organizations within CDC, the somewhat overloads were removed. And then it got the bejezus out of me...The Marketing Department was virtually chainsawed!!! Heads off, arms off, legs off. What the? And the bitter joke was that those who've remained in Md are the dudes and dudettes who are traveling on the straight and Narrow Path. Hail OCA!!!The grapevine has it that there will be more like this. It will be the R&F whole get the next dose. I hope not.We all know that there are those who aspires for a better post in CDC. There are assistant managers who have been OIC for a long time and are just inches away from becoming the head Honcho. And in so doing if the OIC/A.M. gets promoted there will be a vacated position for A.M. and then Supervisory and a rank file aspiring to be a supervisor. Its a Spiral staircase.

With this reorg those aspirations got plugged off. There will be no open posts. And then again... WeAll Stood Still

So, there you are. Your boss got transferred. Is it a tearful "Good Bye" or a headspinning high Five-ing Jumping Jack Flash "Good Ridance".And so there you are.You got a new boss. Is it a red carpet welcome or do you think it is better to get a poltergeist... A disruptive presence as one former CDC President said it. Is that what you've got?Is the reorg good. I have my own opinion it is most naturally welcometo some extent.Throw them rocks at me will ya?

Is GCG The Ultimate Union Busting Tool of the Government? (Part 3–well sort of)

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:13:00 +0000

This is Part 3. If you want to read Part 1 click here, for Part 2 click here.

Third Point – ACCES and the CDC Management Reluctance in a CBA (sort of)

Yesterday, I’ve blogged about the ACSP and the R.A. and the A.O. and the still stood still status quo. Well as fate would have it, the ACSP got what the they have bargained for on the same date as the second blog.

And this is how it happened…. AAAHHHHHH…..(in one breath)

They continued with arbitration, the AVA ruled in favor of them, CDC asked for reconsideration, reconsideration is denied by the AVA, CDC did not comply, walked out, the sheriff came and forced the monies out of the bank. Done.

I congratulate our supervisors for this daunting experience, but as the say “The law should always be in favor of the labor”.

Now look at this….

(!!!Warning not for the weak of heart or vegetarians, viewers discretion is advised!!!)

You have been properly warned.

This my friend, is a cow rotating on its axis, on a bamboo pole, underneath are glowing charcoals.

Take a hint ACSP, I know you could read my mind. If you don't here's another hint.

As for the Third Point, I should delay for sometime later. The ACCES will be having a General Assembly tomorrow at 12:00 P.M. and I think it will be all about … don’t know, a Strike Vote maybe.

Kill joy.

Is GCG The Ultimate Union Busting Tool of the Government? (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:49:00 +0000

This is part 2. If you want to read Part One please do so here.

Second point – THE ACSP CBA AND THE GCG OPINION

Another brief history…

Our supervisors have this union called Association of Concerned Supervisory Personnel (ACSP) and the CDC management went into a Collective Bargaining Agreement sometimes in 2011. They thought that it was all well but then here comes E.O. 7 and R.A. 10149 which virtually put what has been agreed on their CBA into an indefinite hold. And yes, as of this writing nothing on the bargain came out of the tunnel.

In the long run ACSP went into arbitration with an AVA (Accredited Voluntary Arbitrator.. and so we stood... Still stood still, we all stood still.

The rank and file union, Association of Concerned CDC Employees (ACCES), to which I belong also still stood still, because what’s happening with the ACSP will also surely happen to us.

So.

Management is in the position that their hands are tied behind their back because of the opinion of the Governance Commission for GOCC, take note of the word OPINION. GCG is in the opinion that due to those mentioned E.O. and R.A. as well as these E.O. 811, E.O. 900 and R.A. 7875 all negotiations, bargains and the process of arbitration should stop. Please open all this links right now, we’ll do some experiment later.

GCG says on their letter to our then president, Eduardo S.L. Oban “CBA’s between employees and GOCC employers may no longer be NEGOTIATED. Being no longer a subject for negotiation, such CBAs are furthermore taken out of the jurisdiction of Arbitration Proceedings and hence effectively no longer a proper subject in such proceedings.”

Here’s some juicy stuff from that letter

“…nor are their Governing Boards authorized to enter into collective bargaining negotiations or be bound to arbitration proceedings…”

The whole ending paragraph says:

“Based on the foregoing, any agreement derived from the Arbitration Conference is in no way binding to either party. A CBA between employees and a GOCC employer is no longer a proper subject of arbitration. Any and all agreements, especially those concerning increases in rates of salaries, allowances, incentives and other benefits will still be subject to the moratorium as prescribed by E.O. 7, s. 2010. All increases shall require the approval of the President of the Philippines. Furtheremore, assuming that such increases in the CBA is approved by the President, such CBA shall still be subject to changes and modifications so as to comply to the CPCS that GCG will subsequently promulgating and adopting.”

I don’t know no nuts nor bolts nor tender eggs about law nor R.A. nor E.O. but I’d looked all those mentioned EOs and RAs above and just did an explicit search on these FOUR keywords 1. Collective 2. Bargaining 3. Agreement 4. CBA, and I don’t even get a single hit. Did you? (the experiment end). So there’s that…

None of them explicitly mentions CBA. If it isn’t there CBA between ACSP and CDC Management should not be affected, right? Please do enlighten me if I’m wrong, Anyways, about implicit reference to CBA, is there anything there that implies that the CBA is against the law? I don’t see that too.

The opinion of GCG may hold water in the narrowest of senses, but then we have the Philippine Constitution and the Philippine Labor Code which guarantee the workers rights.

Abangan mo Mang Joey ang Part 3.

Is GCG The Ultimate Union Busting Tool of the Government? (Part One)

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:58:00 +0000

First point

A Brief History in Time…

In 1991 Mt. Pinatubo erupted. Central Luzon was devastated, the two biggest American Military Facilities outside the U.S. mainland, namely Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base, were totally ruined. Along with that, thousands of FIlipinos who worked there are now jobless. No salary no money no trade no food. And then the Americans left the bases. Double whammy, double jeopardy, twice the sorrow, twice the lost. And the dominoes goes on and on and on. Then…

In March 1992 BCDA was created with a mandate to transform former US military bases into alternative productive civilian use, it is committed to deliver to the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to impact regional synergy and socio-development, and to generate economic opportunities for all arising from gains in its special economic zones¹. And this begets the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Clark Development Corporation (CDC).

Now SBMA is in charge of transforming the former U.S. Naval Base into a self-sustaining tourism, industrial, commercial, financial, and investment center to generate employment opportunities². Now CDC is tasked to do the same to Clark Air Base which was renamed Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). A little while later, in 2007, CSEZ was renamed Clark Freeport Zone, turning Clark into a freeport entitles investors to the same tax-free and other duty-free privileges enjoyed by their counterparts at the Subic Bay Freeport.

Are you seeing this now? SBMA and CDC both have the same function. The obvious conclusion is this SBMA IS TO SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ZONE AS CDC IS TO CLARK FREEPORT ZONE. Get….

SBMA:SBFZ = CDC:CFZ

Let me confuse you to make this clearer….

SBMA:CFZ = CDC:SBFZ

Get it now?

It’s just a matter of nomenclature. You could name any entity anything you want. You could create a company called Mazinger Z Management Authority or Voltes V Development Corporation if you want to. You can make SBMA manage the Clark Freeport Zone and CDC to manage the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The functions are still the same. No matter how it was organize. By corporate laws or otherwise. The function, the function, the function. And the cock crowed.

And really I don’t know how the Governance Commission for GOCC (GCG) works but it surely did err in categorizing CDC as under COMMERCIAL, TRADE AND TOURISM GOCC when its function is to manage a Freeport Zone. Just because that its name doesn’t ends in Authority, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t engage in Freeport function. Again that word, function. And to those that may insist that it should be renamed to include the Authority thing, look at this...

Of those listed on the Economic Zone Authorities there is this one that clearly doesn’t have the Authority dangling it pops out just by scanning the sub-list, it says Freeport Services Corporation. Now what gives, mah man… FSC is a subsidiary of SBMA and provides manpower and allied services needs of the Freeport (SBMA) and its locators. In CDC we also have something like that, and it is called Customer Services Department. Again function, a department that has the same function as the Freeport Services Corporation.

Perhaps GCG just got confused in classifying CDC as a commercial, trade and tourism agency and not as a Freeport Authority. I hope that this get corrected.

And look at this,

Ehem, Mr. Cesar Villanueva was once a Board Chairman of CDC, he is privy of this function of CDC thing.
.
And also

Ehem, what did WE DO?

This is getting too long, I haven’t even expound on the title yet. The second part will elaborate more, but then I have to abruptly…

End of Part One

amigettingintotroublewiththispostiamjustexercisingmyfreedomofexpressiondimwit

Som Sabadell flashmob - The Greatest Flash Mob In The Known Universe

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 02:06:00 +0000

The Greatest Flash Mob In The Known Universe.
Love This So Much...

Website Blackout Protest

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 01:55:00 +0000

Philippine Cybercrime Law Is A FLaw

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 03:09:00 +0000

First a quote:

"The cybercrime law needs to be repealed or replaced. It violates Filipinos’ rights to free expression and it is wholly incompatible with the Philippine government’s obligations under international law."

This comes from Brad Adams, Asian director of Human Rights Watch.

I could not agree more. And yes, a lot of netizens are outraged by this R.A. 101.75 DZRW, which we consider as a Medieval Law for Medieval times, and shoot the Philippines back into the dictatorial Ice Age, where you could land in jail for 12 years, pay a one time only fee of only Php 1 million to get your freedom back for just criticizing an entity like the infamous Honorable Infringer. And this comes free without any court order or warrant.

Boy, am I in deep sheet. I retweet, I “LIKE” on facebook, I rant. I make it a point that we all make booboos in our life, and this LAW is a definite BIG BANG BO0OBO0O in double capitals. It is a grand WTF A-HOLE LAW that is wholly incompatible with our guaranteed rights to free speech, right to express ourselves, and write our expression on any media, including social network sites, and yes as a blog entry like this one here.

Now, now, I know my rights and the consequence of violating this law. But does that 12 year old girl next to you in that net café knows this? Does your 78 year old Grandma (who puts his age in FB as 24 year old) know this?

This law is the beginning of censorship. This law is just conjured by lawmakers to protect their reputation or what remains of it, or absence of it, from the dumb netizens who rants and raves about their wrongdoing.

Funny thing is libel is a one-sided argument. Who sues for libel, the rich and and famous and prominent, right? I for one thing could not sue a senator for libel, I ain’t got no money to do so. While them rich and famous and prominent got this hypersensitive reaction to criticism and with blind rage call upon this FLaw to punish you.

More from Mr. Adams…

“Anybody using popular social networks or who publishes online is now at risk of a long prison term should a reader – including government officials – bring a libel charge,Allegedly libelous speech, online or offline, should be handled as a private civil matter, not a crime.”

Agree… and here’s an analogy,

Aling Kikay sells vegetables in the market, a few steps away from her is Aling Tisay who is a chicken vendor. Aling Tisay sells about 40 whole chickens a day (because she is Tisay and beautiful, men buys her chickens), but at about a week ago she was only selling about ten, even if she dances still 10 chickens or less. She wonder why. Later she found out that Aling Kikay was telling every one that Aling Tisay is selling Double-Dead Chicken™.

A confrontation ensues, then it went wild, there was hair pulling and face wolverining. A Sirius Vegetarian versus a Carcass Eater. Place your bets. But then the Barangay Patrol arrived and pacified the two. An investigation.Then a compromise. Aling Tisay will pardon Aling Kikay if she would help her sell Chicken and announce everyday that she is sorry and that she just made up her claim on Double-Dead Chicken™. This will go on for 10 days as Aling Tisay’s condition. They’ve agreed.

For ten days Aling Kikay is now selling vegetables and chicken (no profit from the chickens, ok.). Ten days passed, she is still selling chickens. I wonder why? Somebody found out later that they become strange bedfellows and announced their engagement. In the future they will marry each other pending their request for a law on same-sex marriage.

End of analogy.

Now to all those people who are just itching and itching to get at somebody through the application of this law. Could you not take criticism constructively? This is a way of improving your relationship to your detractors. This is a way to make you more like-able on facebook. They will be saying “this senator is such a sport, although I criticized him, he comes up to me and we became friends. I will definitely vote for this guy.”

A year ago, in the US, many website blackened their pages in protest for an almost the same predicament as the Philippines named SOPA. I won’t go on telling you about this, just google it up, kids. I kinda like what them protesters did. And I kinda have to ask Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Yahoo, Bing, Tumblr and the others to do the same for the netizen of the Philippines. And I kinda want them also to block those account of those people involved with this law. And I kinda want this to happen on October 3, 2012. I kinda like the date, it kinda is the date for the FLAW to take effect. And I kinda want it for the whole day.

Did you catch my drift?

Read more about the Human Rights Watch article on defamation and libel with the link below.

Turning Critics into Criminals

How to get around Apple’s Google ban in IOS 6

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 02:44:00 +0000

WITH THE UPCOMING RELEASE of IOS 6, Iphone and Ipad users will wave goodbye to Google Maps and Youtube, two of the most used apps among Idevice owners. This shift shows the growing rivalry between the two technology giants, so they are unlikely to be the last Google services removed from Apple's operating…

When You Can't Take It Anymore

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 21:06:00 +0000

On May 17, 2012, I blew my top and got into a shouting match with my boss. I guess I had had enough and could not take anymore of the stuff she threw not only to me but with everybody else in our office. As Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said to Marcos at the onset of the EDSA Revolution "Mr. President, I hope you're listening. Enough is enough, Mr. President."

My lid just blew up. I dare not tell the whole event. But whenever I get the litany of riles I just count up to 100 and if that is enough I quote Psalms 23.

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

What I can compare our situation is as Mr. Robert Fulghum wrote in his book "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" titled...

Falling Trees

In the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific some villagers practice a unique form of logging. If a tree is too large to be felled with an ax, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (Can't lay my hands on the article, but I swear I read it.)

Woodsmen with special powers creep up on a tree just at dawn and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They continue this for thirty days. The tree dies and falls over.

The theory is that the hollering kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works.

Ah, those poor naive innocents. Such quaintly charming habits of the jungle. Screaming at trees, indeed. How primitive.

Too bad they don't have the advantages of modern technology and the scientific mind. Me? I yell at my wife. And yell at the telephone and the lawn mower. And yell at the TV and the newspaper and my children. I've been known to shake my fist and yell at the sky at times. Man next door yells at his car a lot. And this summer I heard him yell at a stepladder for most of an afternoon.

We modern, urban, educated folks yell at traffic and umpires and bills and banks and machines--especially machines. Machines and relatives get most of the yelling. Don't know what good it does. Machines and things just sit there. Even kicking doesn't always help.

As for people, well, the Solomon Islanders may have a point. Yelling at living things does tend to kill the spirit in them. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts...

I consider myself a very patient man. I am a cool person, slow to anger and very much doesn't lose my composure. But as John Dryden puts it "Beware the Fury of a Patient Man."

My Favorite Speech During The Corona Trial: Lito Lapid's

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 03:39:00 +0000

This is my number 1 speech during Chief Justice Renato C. Corona Trial.

Nothing to read on. High School graduate. Doesn't know anything about law.
.
Doesn't even speak straight English..
.
And yet and yet, his is the one that goes straight into your heart and conscience.
.
One kicker is at 2:24, heavy! Really Heavy Speech.
.
proud of this guy<br>
Proud of this guy.

CDC Employees’ - The Walk: Integrity Check Actually

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Sun, 13 May 2012 07:36:00 +0000

This is a guest post by Legion. "My name is Legion because I'm many"

[He went there… to his mother’s grave…]

The Walk…

The last time that Francis J. Kong visited Clark Development Corporation (CDC) for an in-house seminar on Life’s Winning Points on November 2010, I was privileged enough to have a free book. Autographed by Mr. FJK himself.

FJK asked the audience “What is integrity?”, nobody’s raising their hand, not one. “The one who could answer gets a free book.” 1 2 3 4 seconds, I raised mine. (Now, if you truly know me, this is my kinda habit, give in to others, be the least. If not, else, then ). Raised my hand so high to heaven I could have disjointed my humerus off its socket, thinking “Here’s my free book. Nobody’s raising a hand, free book, free book…”

FJK pointed at me and repeated the question “What is integrity?” I gave a straight-forward answer: “The state of being complete, whole.” “You pick a book”, he said and went on to discuss integrity, from the root word integer, integral, etc. Blurry now, I was focused on what book I will select….

But really, what is INTEGRITY? Abstract words them “complete”, “whole”. Don’t calculate, really. OK. Watch this.

Walk, Talk, Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk

The scene above is from the movie Full Metal Jacket. Animal Mother is giving the Joker a get go. Lip synch it for about three times till you memorize it…. And here we go.
Integrity is this. You may talk the talk and walk the walk, but do you “Walk your Talk?” Do you “Talk your Walk?”

Do you mean what you say and say what you mean? Do you keep your word? Does your word translate to your action? Do you practice what you preach?

[I have tried to live with integrity, loyalty, and courage.…]

Let’s put it this way.

1. You tell your employees “Be at work on time” and you go to work on time all the time, they will be at work on time

You tell your employees “Be at work on time” and you come late most of the time, they will emulate you, won’t they?

2. You say “customer first”, and you put your self interest first, they will emulate you again, won’t they?

From an email…

“Walang pang gastos sa Telepono… sa baseball na P10 million mayroon…???”

And then some, from a response email…

“Idagdag mo sir yung mga feedbacks ng ibang mga locators about the worsening habit of asking for grease money (pataas nang pataas ang presyo ) for all these so so permits and other requirements. May mga rumored “bagman” na nga yung ibang department. Dapat siguro magkaroon na rin ng lifestyle check sa atin. Tama ka rin na marami na ang “walang pakialam” kasi nakarating sila sa present positions nila because of loyalty and ________, not because they stand out among the rest. At least yugn iba parang alam pa rin ang pinanggalingan, pero yung iba, feel na feel nila as if they can mask their being longanizas with nice suits and buffed wheels. The others naman, they have long been enjoying all these perks and privileges, they’d rather go with the flow than putting themselves at risk. In short, marami kasing mawawala sa kanila. Di bale nang delicadeza ang mawala. Kaya nga nauso pa ang laglagan sa ibang mga boss. Instead na i-defend ka, ididiin ka pa. Worse , they won’t even allow you to defend yourself sa mga superior nila. Either na natatakot sila or napapahiya sila na ikaw sa mababa ay marunong sumalungat at magreklamo. Sad to say, mga hollow at wala nang kahulugan yung mga ginagawa nating panunumpa kada flag raising. Ang CDC hymn -- just another ringtone. Vision and Mission?—para sa sarili nalang. HIntayin na lang dumating ang retirement with the latest salary which they’d never dreamed of. And maaari pa silang “palitan” ng mga kaanak nila sa CDC. The cycle has begun.”

“Go with the flow”? Read it again, toothache.
How many are there above who would build a solid reputation in CDC rather than image? What legacy will you have define during your stay?

3. You asking for an increase on your gas allowance, citing because of your departments need and yet that man who signs it knows well that that ain’t so. And yet he signs it. Let it be? You putting another day on your OB pass after it was signed. You dining out with friends, relative, etc. and putting the tab on CDC expense. You putting pictures of someone of high prominence on your wall a day before the visit. Pogi points.

4. Project that hath no bearing as a driver for marketing Clark. Two Main Gates worth Php 50 million pesos, with two free bottleneckesess.


Clark Main Gate 1 (Php 34,000,000.00) Built in the late 1990’s the fountain is now the H.Q. of the Philippine Rugby Team	Clark Main Gate 2 (Php 16,000,000.00) Also known as Voltes V suffered a slash wound under his left arm. CCTV shows that a CDC guard actually loitered off when a bus rammed Voltes V’s arm. The wound still exist up to this writing.

Below is Subic Main Gate
(Php 40,000.00??)
”Rey, it is not how expensive your gates are. It’s how you train your sentries, you PACKING SHEET!!!” so my friend JOJO says.

(Did you count the zero00s above? Did you notice that the Subic Gate has a sign "GODSPEED" and not "BUSSPEED"?)

5. Making man-made reinforced concrete drainage which looks more like ravines where there is no history of flooding for the last 3,000 years. Waiting for an accident?

6. Making the Airport Runway and Flight line path a little more dangerous by erecting, of all things, a Gas Station and a Northwalk right at the very approach of the runway. Will an AirBus A380 land here?

As you can see here. Even the smallest runway has clear approach and take off path. No buildings. And definitely No GAS STATION!!! add this on the roof

”Miniminimynimo”

And here’s the clinchers…

7. No hiring. Said there are too many employees already. True and not true. You are counting heads, and not counting sets. Look at BURD and RMO. By reason of retirement, death, transfer to other department or insanity had depleted their manpower. So many things to do all at once that their momentum stops. Delegating a lot of work to an individual cause an overload of physical and mental stress. Absences abound. Priority also are ill-defined sowing confusion. Have you seen their equipment?. Please do look around.

8. OIC forever. You don’t like the man/woman, so you put him there at the fence. You either go back to your old post you say. But never will you ever be the main man of your department/office. And yet, and yet, there are those who just got all the sucking powers of a Soliman Septic Suction Machinery that, hey, you rise without undergoing a battery of test and a panel of judges to earn your keeps. Don’t you smile like that. Sneer or grin, it’s true. Rock, rock from heaven. Get shot don’t get angry.

9. A group of asked for your help regarding a situation that could be directly resolved by you. You whom they regarded as a man of principles (so they think) because of your rank in the organization. So here they are. You promised them that on a certain date the problem will be resolved. They sang their thanks and Hallelujahs to you. They collectively earned your trust. But, the day of reckoning came, and you did not do what you’ve promised. You did a 180 degree turn on them.
What does that make you? a) A man of integrity b) A hypocrite. Get it Integrity? Hypocrite – scribes and Pharisees? Get it. Hear ye Brother Matthew 23 verse --²⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”,,

Are you credible or just clever?

There was a time, when these guys here

Rogelio L. Singson

Antonio R. Ng

John Patrick C. Gregorio

Guys above are head on guys whose sole purpose is to Market the Freeport. Dedicated. True to their work. They did not last here.

[On February 8, 2011, a man shot himself on his chest, piercing his heart. A few days before, he talked to a PCIJ journalists. What did he tell his parents]

[“I did not invent corruption. I walked into it.” –“Tinyente pa ako, ganyan na ang sistema…”]

Integrity, I supposed.

“Why did I not changed it? Why didn’t I do anything? Why have I let myself be swallowed by the system? Mother…forgive…”

And so the CDC employees marched into the sunset.

The Walk: Director’s Cat-Pusa

p.s. please read John C. Maxwell’s book “Developing The Leader Within You”. Chapter 3 focuses on Integrity. Now you know how I’ve answered Mr. Francis J. Kong’s question.

itutuloy…

Full Disclosure of the PF CBL

noreply@blogger.com (othello) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:05:00 +0000

[ad lib] This post is intended for a few people. I opted to publish it in this blog since, I have no entry for a couple of months/years(?), so please do allow me with this indulgence

First, I take this opportunity to thank all those dudes and dudettes who had laid their trust in me in the recently concluded PF election. A thousand thanks to each and every one of you.

Congratulations to Kiko and Rose, it is surely well deserved. Also to Bhen, what a terrifying and gruelling experience, bro.

And then some…

I am a curious person, which is to say I am always a curious dude since I was just a kid. My curiosity is so overwhelming that I can't sleep for days when the curiosity groove hits me.

There a kid I was, always wondering about the stars. As I’ve grown I wonder about this guy who has an uncanny behaviour of picking his nose, whenever, wherever. It is not the nose-picking I am curious about, but what will happen to him in the future. Will he somehow erode his nostrils walls? Will his nose’s bridge become translucent and then transparent and then there’ll be four holes on his nose some day? After 20 years of observation, this did not happen.

And then some…

Chicken. Why don’t they become extinct by now? Here are some facts. KFC has 22,000 outlets worldwide, McDonalds has 33,000, Jollibee has 2,500. Search Wikipedia for Fast Food Chicken and you’ll get hundreds and thousands more specialty stores that serves chicken day in and day out. So where did all those chicken came from what is their birth/death ratio? Or is it that somehow the chickens are mutated breed? I mean a chicken with four wings, four legs, two breast or more.

[Ratio Birth vs death of Humans

Worldwide? According to the CIA World Fact Book, the global birth rate is 20.18 births per 1000 population. The global death rate is 8.23 deaths per 1000 population (2008 est). So, the World Births to Deaths ratio is about 2.452:1.] which means two chicken eaters are born when one chicken eater dies.

Now that I have established my unquivering and resolute curiosity, I go back to the subject of this piece.

During our General Assembly, I had prepared a note for clarification by those in front of us. But then I became a little itty bit pusillanimous in doing so, ostriched my head in the sand. Now, I just want to know the event timeline of what happened during and after the counting of ballots. As I was told by somebody privy to this, this is what happened.

1. Ballots are counted. Sir Kiko had the highest votes, Sir Bhen have the second highest and Mam Rose got third.

2. Ballots are later recounted on the same date and Mam Rose became second and Bhen became the third placer.

3. A day later the ballots are recounted and it was a draw between Rose and Bhen, while Kiko got at least seven more additional votes.

4. The tie was settled with a coin toss. Mam Rose won.

5. End of story. Note quite.

If that is what exactly happened, I have no qualms about it. For me, it would be just fair that Mam Rose and Sir Bhen serves concurrently.

I mean, 112 warm bodies voted for Rose. 112 warm bodies voted for Bhen. Human beings actually, as I was told. And then, this inanimate object, a Five-Peso Coin decided their fate. It’s 2001:Space Odyssey solution in which a human implement becomes a fate-changer.

Argue me, that this is what other entities do when there’s a tie. Argue you, that it’s in their documents, argue you that this is not in our documents. Because…

Here’s the curiosity part:

Is the coin toss ever allowed in the Provident Fund’s Constitution and By-Laws? Or was this just mutually agreed by Mam Rose and Sir Bhen? If this is not in the CBL, then it should be reconstituted within it, or to make it somehow far more fairer to both, I proposed my above statement, that both of them should serve a) concurrently b)half a year each c) re-election for the two parties. Take your pick.

Also, is there some procedural protocol or something in lodging a recount or the conduct of such? I have more question in my pockets but for now, I have to leave it at that.

As Sir Glenn says, the Provident Fund is now on its Fourteenth Year. That statement also holds true for the Constitution and By-Laws. Times had changed, don’t you agree then that somehow some changes should be incorporated in the CBL? And you know what? After Fourteen Years we’ll have a collective glimpse of the CBL?

Salutes to all.

18k?Huh