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LET’S TEST USING MOSQUITRIX VERSUS MALARIA Dear Mr. President: To my surprise, the carrier of the malaria disease, the female Anopheles mosquito, is alive and well and living in Palawan. The disease is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are spread through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitos. Once the parasites enter the bloodstream, they travel to the liver, where they mature and multiply before infecting the red blood cells. Well, to be exact, the Anopheles mosquito could be also living in other places of the Philippines, but Palawan is where 6,188 cases of malaria were reported, out of the 6, 248 cases reported nationwide. Unfortunately, there are no vaccines yet that are available for use against malaria in the Philippines. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the Mosquitrix vaccine for Malaria prevention in children living in malaria-stricken regions in the world, but up to now, these vaccines are used only in pilot programs in Africa. As of now, Mosquit...

BANNING SINGLE USE PLASTICS Dear Mr. President: The good news is, our Congress has passed almost all the necessary laws banning single use plastics in the Philippines. The bad news is, the DENR appears to be having difficulty in implementing these laws. I wonder what the problem is? Could it be a lack of funding? Or a lack of manpower? Or a lack of interest? Or could it be that the DENR has too much to do, such that paying attention to single use plastics is way belong among their priorities? Or could it be that they are facing opposition from strong industry lobbies? The National Solid Waste Commission (NSWC) was created under Republic Act 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Act of 2000 (ESWA). The NWSC was created for the purpose of implementing the ESWA law. In 2020, the NSWC issued Resolution No. 1363, banning “unnecessary single-use plastics”. The ban covers National Government Agencies (NGAs), Local Government Units (LGUs) and all other government offices and instr...

MACROECONOMICS OF ABACA PRODUCTION Dear Mr. President: I have a question and since I could not get a clear answer in online sources, perhaps you could help me get the right answer? Does the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) use local or imported abaca materials for the Philippine banknotes? All the while, I thought that BSP has been using local abaca materials all along, but the artificial intelligence application Microsoft Copilot says that it uses imported abaca. Copilot also says that the BSP uses 80% cotton and 20% abaca to produce the banknotes, but the cotton materials are also imported, just like the abaca materials. That to me, is very sad news Mr. President, because I was really hoping somehow that the time will come, sooner or later, that cotton could be grown in the Ilocos Region, to replace the tobacco crop, because of the latter’s dwindling markets. I understand that studies have shown that cotton can be a viable crop to grow in Ilocos Sur, it is not practical to gro...

DEVELOMENT PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS TRIBES Dear Mr. President: I think that it was a very good decision on your part to transfer the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) from the DSWD to the Office of the President (OP). Because of that Sir, I think the transfer has now made it possible to introduce as many development projects for the benefit if tribal communities, as much as possible. With due respect, please allow me to mention some of these projects. To begin with, I would like to highlight the fact that most of these tribal communities have very large agricultural lands to develop, and they have plenty of manpower that they could tap from among their members. However, as much as they have large lands and have plenty of people, they are also very much lacking in technology, training, financing, processing and marketing assistance. Among the possibilities of what could be done, I am particularly partial to the potential of tree planting, and beyond that, perhaps goi...

A NEW HOPE FOR INDIGENOUS TRIBAL PEOPLES Dear Mr. President: I do not know whose idea it was to transfer the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) from the DSWD to the Office of the President (OP), but I think that it was a very good decision on your part. Firstly, placing the NCIP under the DSWD implies that it is a “charity case”, which obviously it is not. Secondly, the NCIP did not have the “bureaucratic clout” when it was simply “attached” to a line department, unlike now that it is directly “under” the OP. As I see it, the NCIP should really transform into a “development” agency, from what it was before, when it was generally regarded as a “welfare” agency. I am sure Sir, that you have already been briefed about the problems besetting the NCIP but allow me to bring out some of these two you. I am sorry if I could not present to you any actual proof of these problems that I will bring to you, but I am sure that you could validate these through your own sources. Th...

INCENTIVES FOR AFFORESTATION Dear Mr. President: In the aftermath of the typhoons and landslides that happened in our country, we have been reminded again, as we have been reminded before, that we must plant trees, not just a few seedlings here and there, but millions of it, as much as we could. It has become clear that trees could not only prevent water from trickling very fast to the lowlands, but they also prevent landslides. What has already become clear to most of us Filipinos is that one of the major causes of floods is the loss of forest cover, meaning that our mountains have become denuded, because the trees that used to thrive there were totally cut and were not replanted. Replanting or reforestation is one side of the equation Mr. President, because there is another side to the equation, which is afforestation. According to Microsoft Copilot, “afforestation is the process of planting trees in an area that has not previously forested, to create a new forest. This is diff...

WHAT DO WE DO WITH WATER HYACINTHS? Dear Mr. President: In the series of floods that have hit our country, many have blamed the indiscriminate throwing of garbage as one of its causes. Although it could be a minor factor in the overall equation, it could not be denied that both Water Hyacinths (Eichhornia Crassipes) and Pink Water Lilies (Nymphaea pubescens) are also part of the flooding problem. Aside from that, these two take up a lot of space that hinders navigation, and fish culture through fish cages.       Although these two species are often confused with each other, they are very much different. Fortunately, only one of them, which is the Water Hyacinth, is more pervasive and more destructive because it not only forms dense mats on the water surface, but it also blocks sunlight and depletes oxygen levels, a dual problem that harms marine life.   Although the Pink Water Lilies are also present in Laguna Lake, these are not as pervasive as the Wat...

ERADICATING INVASIVE FISH SPECIES Dear Mr. President: There are about seven invasive fish species in the Philippines, namely Clown Knifefish, Eastern Mosquitofish, Thai Catfish ( Clarias batrachus ), African Catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ), Rice Paddy Eel, Janitor Fish and various species of Tilapia. The Thai Catfish and the African Catfish should not be confused with our native Hito Catfish (Clarias Macrocephalus), also known as Bighead Catfish. All species of Tilapia found in the Philippines are invasive, but they have been around for so long, that most people think that they are native. According to Microsoft Copilot, “an invasive species is one that is introduced to an ecosystem where it is not native, and it starts to cause harm to the environment, economy and human health. These species can disrupt local ecosystems by preying on native species, competing for resources, spreading diseases and altering habitats”. The most layman explanation is that they eat the young of the nati...

IS FLOOD CONTROL TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE? Dear Mr. President: I beg to disagree with those who have already said that there is no solution to the problem of flooding and that the government could no longer do anything about it. I believe in the saying that for every problem, there is always a solution. Otherwise, mathematically speaking, it is not even a problem if it could not be solved. While it could be said that no country could claim that they have completely solved the problem of flooding, there are four countries that could rightfully claim that they have controlled flooding to a manageable level, which is good enough, I think. To be fair, Mr. President, our people are not really expecting the government to end flooding once and for all. As it is written in our laws and in our budget appropriations, our objective is simply to control the floods, hence the so-called “flood control” projects. I think that in terms of public opinion, the public does not really mind seeing a few inch...

THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT BE REACHED Dear Mr. President: Perhaps it has already come to your attention, but based on my own actual experience, it is very difficult to contact the government by phone, via email, via Facebook, and via any other social media. Although it is already widely known that most people do not have landlines anymore, I wonder why many government agencies would only publish landlines in their brochures, posters and websites, and nothing else, not even their email addresses and Viber numbers. When I see that, I am tempted to think that perhaps, they do not want to be contacted at all. As it happens, when anyone calls their landline numbers, it either always busy, or no one really answers after many rings. And if someone even answers, it is either the wrong person, or the right person is not available. When that happens, the caller is either told to call again, or the caller is just told to come to the office in person. The problem here, Mr. President, is that it is ...

WHAT IS A SMART CITY? Dear Mr. President: So far, no city in the Philippines has claimed to be a “smart city”, not even Manila, the capital city. But what does it take to be a “smart city”, and which city in the Philippines will be the first to claim it? And how could we tell whether the first claimant would pass the criteria? According to Microsoft Copilot, there are already three “smart cities” in Asia, namely Singapore, Beijing and Songdo in South Korea. I know that there are several criteria for judging whether a city is already “smart” or not. But as far as I am concerned, the first hurdle should be the automation of all business processes in the city halls, starting with what is commonly known as “Management Information Systems” (MIS). Before MIS, these systems were commonly known as “Electronic Data Processing (EDP) systems. Nowadays however, the “Enterprise Resource Planning” (ERP) approach has become more popular, whether it is hosted on premise, on the cloud, or a combina...

FASTER AND CHEAPER INTERNET Dear Mr. President: Our present system of producing and distributing electric power may not be the best, but it serves our purposes right now. Our present system is composed of three parts, namely production, transmission and distribution. For the most part, the National Power Corporation (NPC) does the production, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) does the transmission, and Meralco does the last mile distribution in some areas while the electric cooperatives do the last mile distribution in the other areas. In the case of the internet, there is really no “production” so to speak, but the “transmission” if we can call it that, is done by the telecommunications companies such as Globe, PLDT and Converge. In the old days, the common practice was for the telcos to stay away from the “last mile”, business, being supposedly content to make money as “Value Added Networks” (VANs). In those days, the “last mile” business was somehow “conced...

ONLINE MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS Dear Mr. President: Perhaps it started during the Covid 19 epidemic, but online medical consultation is now available in our country, at least to those who could afford it. As I see it, this goes against our national goal of providing universal access to healthcare to everyone, rich and poor. Apparently, there are two reasons why this anomaly occurs. The first reason is that our public hospitals and clinics are not equipped to provide online consultation services, or they are simply not allowing it, for one reason or another. The other reason is that PHILHEALTH still does not allow the refund of online consultations, again for one reason or another. Personally Mr. President, I do not blame PHILHEALTH for not yet allowing the reimbursement of online consultations, because it has fallen victim to some scams before, such as the cataract reimbursement scam. While it appears that we have not run out of scammers in this country, which is the bad news, the goo...

USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR AGRICULTURE Dear Mr. President: There are at least eight government agencies that should be involved in using technology for agriculture, but as of now, they are seemingly not coordinating with each other. These agencies are DICT, DA, DAR, DENR, CHED, TESDA, NAMRIA and PhilSpace. The roles of DICT and DA are obvious, because they are the two major players in the challenge of using information technology for agriculture. The role of DAR comes into play, because agriculture development is the next step after agrarian reform and land distribution. DENR should also be involved, because there are overlaps in planting trees and other crops in mountains and other public lands. CHED should also be involved, because there are many SUCs that have developed new information technologies that have yet to be commercialized. And lastly, TESDA should be involved, because they should already be teaching information and communications technology (ICT) skills to vocat...

WATERSHEDS AND RAINFORESTS Dear Mr. President: It is good to know that many groups are implementing tree planting projects everywhere, including the DENR that is undertaking the National Greening Program (NGP). Despite all these projects however, there appears to be no overall goal or general direction that is guiding or integrating all these worthwhile initiatives. That is the reason why Mr. President, that with your approval, let us adopt the common goal of reviving our watersheds and rainforests, all over the country. I know that it is a long story to tell Sir, about how illegal loggers cut down the trees in our forests, and how that has resulted in devastating floods because we have lost the trees that retain the water in the mountain, therefore also depleting our watersheds in the lowlands. Sadly Sir, that is all lost in the past, but fortunately, we still have something to look forward to in the future, and that is the revival of our watersheds and our rainforests. What is ...

CONSULAR RANKS FOR OVERSEAS LABOR OFFICERS Mr. President: Under the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Labor Attaches could only be assigned to embassies and not to consulates. That is the reason why it is a violation of the rules if a Labor Attache uses that designation in a consulate, or in a labor office abroad of any kind. Before the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), there were Philippine Overseas Labor Officers (POLOs) assigned in the Philippine Consulates General (PCG) abroad. I understand that when the DMW was created, their designation was changed to Migrant Workers Officers (MWOs). Upon checking with the MWO website however, I found out that these MWOs are now using the title of “Labor Attache”, even if they are only assigned to a PCG. This is being done for example in Hong Kong, Macau, Osaka and in many other PCGs. In a classic violation of another set of rules, the MWO in Taipei is using the title of “Labor Attache”, even if the Ma...

LIVELIHOOD FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Dear Mr. President: Despite many efforts of previous administrations to improve the quality of life of our Indigenous Tribal Peoples (ITPs), most of them are still living in poverty, and they do not have access to healthcare, education and many other public services. Seeing that you have appointed a new management team at the National Council for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), there is optimism that under your term, there will be a better life for our tribal brothers and sisters. After many years of looking for ways and means of helping these ITPs, I have concluded that the most strategic way of helping them is to provide them with livelihood assistance. I say that it is strategic, because through livelihood assistance, they can generate income to pay for most of their needs, including of course food, clothing and shelter. There is no question in my mind Sir, that all government agencies are willing to take your lead in helping the ITP sector. Howeve...

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING Dear Mr. President: It is ironic that the Philippines is known to be the “BPO capital of the world” (or the call center capital of the world), and yet the Philippine government is not doing enough to support and patronize the local BPO industry. One of the fastest growing and best performing segments in the local BPO industry is the Customer Relations Management (CRM) field, more popularly known as the call center industry. Perhaps we could only count with a few fingers how many government agencies have engaged the services of call centers. According to Microsoft Copilot, “as of 2022, there are more than 700 contact centers (formerly known as call centers) operating in the Philippines”. Copilot added that “these centers employ approximately 1.4 million individuals and generate significant revenue”. Copilot also concluded that that is the reason why the Philippines has achieved the status of being the “Call Center Capital of the World”. Some management...

RECYCLING IS FAILING Dear Mr. President: Perhaps it has already come to your attention Sir, that the recycling of paper, plastic, metals and glass is failing in the Philippines. As it is supposed to be, recycling should be done at both the residential and commercial levels, but that does not seem to be happening. I am now recycling in my own residence but sadly, I observed that the garbage collectors do nothing but dump all the bags into the trucks, thus defeating the purpose of recycling. I have also observed in several commercial establishments that they just mix all the segregated recyclables into one bigger bag, again defeating the purpose of recycling. Despite the many years that the government has been trying to convince to the private residences to segregate, and the commercial establishments too, our recycling programs are still failing, and that is why there are still lots of garbage that are brought to both landfills and dumpsites. As the saying goes, Mr. President, the d...

REVERSE VENDING MACHINES Dear Mr. President: Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs), an old technology in many countries, has finally arrived in the Philippines. Leading the way in its implementation is Mandaluyong City, that has already purchased a few units for a test run. That is the good news. The bad news is, the cost of the machines is too high, such that the business of installing it requires some “creative financing” to make it viable. Otherwise, the return on investment (ROI) will take too long to achieve, an obstacle that might tend to discourage investors. According to a manufacturer’s representative from China that I talked to, the solution to the problem is to have a local government or a private company sponsor a redemption system that could also be a rewards system. I surmised that what she meant by that is that the sponsor must put up the working capital so that the RVM could “bring out” the coins or give the electronic credits every time that that someone inserts a can, c...

INCREASED TOURIST ARRIVALS Dear Mr. President: The Department of Tourism (DOT) has set a target of increasing our tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2023 to 7.7 million in 2024. Looking back, the DOT reported that tourist arrivals increased from 2.6 million in 2022 to 3.8 million in 2023, representing an increase of 1.2 million arrivals. That is remarkable, because that represents an increase of 46.15%. looking ahead, if the 2024 target is achieved, that will represent an increase of 2.9 million arrivals, or an increase of 60.41 percent from the 2023 data. And if the numbers are correct, the DOT will be able to increase tourist arrivals from 2.6 million in 2022 to 7.7 million in 2024, representing a comparative increase of 5.1 million arrivals in just a matter of two years. Sir, I have no reason to doubt the numbers that are being reported by the DOT, but how I wish that there will be a third party that will check their data, for purposes of accuracy and transparency. Perhaps tha...

DATABASES FOR DISEASE CONTROL Dear Mr. President: I recently attended a lecture by Dr. Nelia P. Salazar about “Environment and Disease”, sponsored by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), where I learned from her that up to now, the Philippines does not have a fully integrated database for disease control. She said that there are pockets of databases here and there, but there is no data integration between them. As I listened to her presentation, I also learned that through her research works, and the works of many other Filipino scientists like her, we already know what the carriers are, where they are, and how they could be stopped. That is the good news Mr. President, but the bad news is, there appears to be no concerted effort on the part of the government to stop these in advance as a preventive measure. When I asked Dr. Salazar whether the Philippines already has an equivalent of the American Center for Disease Control (CDC), she answered in the negative. Whe...