Superblessed

When I met up with former classmate Coeli at Cafe Havana in Greenbelt, I knew I could expect a good conversation. Coeli and I were classmates in a couple of classes at the Ateneo, and her being a lawyer now certainly meant I would learn a lot of things from her.

I learned a lot from Coeli.

I learned that there will always be honest people who want to make an honest living in the public sector (i.e., government service). I am further convinced that lawyers don’t deserve their bad rap.

I learned that the flame of idealism can burn strong despite negative winds that try nonstop to blow it out. I also learned that leaving a place of suffering does not mean giving up; it simply could mean taking that idealism elsewhere where its seeds can be planted and greater good can be done.

While I know that beauty is skin-deep, I learned that outer beauty does matter. Too many people stared at me while I was taking Coeli to the taxi waiting area. I haven’t been stared at so much since my interview with Cindy Kurleto.

———–

The Reconnect Project is my attempt to, well, reconnect, with
friends from the past. It’s just catching up, sharing maybe half an
hour, letting me know what’s up with you. If you’d like to meet up for
coffee or a snack in Makati City, please send me a private message and
I’ll set it up.

Apparently, James Deen is a porn star.

The Reconnect Project has appointment #5! I’m meeting up with former classmate Coeli today at Oody’s in Greenbelt.

Expect photos and a writeup!

———–

The Reconnect Project is my attempt to, well, reconnect, with
friends from the past. It’s just catching up, sharing maybe half an
hour, letting me know what’s up with you. If you’d like to meet up for
coffee or a snack in Makati City, please send me a private message and
I’ll set it up.

Who is Tammy Nyp? She is the latest female student to have a sex tape
leak onto the Internet. And from Singapore, no less!

The Philippines had its fair share of ’scandals,’ starting with ‘the
original’ La Salle scandal (that was retitled AMA Scandal, Benilde
Scandal, and a host of other school scandals). Weeks later, every
Filipino porno flick was retitled with the word ’scandal’ and
distributed in pirated format or through the Internet.

Read the full entry at GannsDeen.com.

I’ve learned much from my first three Reconnect Project outings, some of which I’d like to share with you.

From RubyCube, I’ve learned that trust is a very important thing.
Society will attempt to impose all its preconceived notions on you,
telling you to watch out for yourself and none else, but at the end of
the day, if you sleep well because you trust enough in God and the
people around you, then your world is secure and fine. “God is bigger
than the Boogeyman, he’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV.
God is bigger than the Boogeyman, and He’s watching over you and me.” -
From VeggieTales

From Nix: I’ve learned that, at least based on his experience and
personality, money and job satisfaction cannot buy you happiness. If
you work towards something you believe in, as part of a greater scheme
to do something even bigger for the world, you wake up motivated in the
mornings. I’ve learned good things do happen to good people, and good
people never keep those good things for themselves, but work to share
it with others. I’ve learned that my creativity should be harnessed for
something greater, and maybe someday, like Nix, I should be willing to
take that risk.

From Quinnzap: I’ve learned that a desire to cooperate and a
willingness to establish good rapport can overcome office politics.
I’ve learned that, while puns may be the lowest form of humor, if
you’re with someone who does not hesitate to slaughter the English
language with puns, a fun afternoon is guaranteed. I’ve been reminded
that writing is a noble profession.

Next week, I hope to meet up with old grade school pal Rafter and pretty college acquaintance Cheli.

Last night, Cathy joined me for dinner with my old college gang, the
Lonely Hearts Club (LHC). I’m really not sure why that was our name,
given that most of the folks in the ‘club’ weren’t really lonely (we
had each other!), but it was a joy to see them again.

What I’ve learned from my LHC friends:

From Toni:
I’ve learned that observers oftentimes have more fun. I’ve learned that
the goodness of good people will inevitably shine through. I believe
that good people will be richly rewarded.

From Anj:
I’ve learned that people who are happy with their work look younger.
I’ve learned that working to make people’s lives better does really
enhance a person’s self-worth. I’ve learned that long-distance
relationships are possible and can work if the two parties can admit
their security in each other.

From Erik: I’ve learned that, at day’s end, love that society classifies as either unconditional or taboo, is still love.

From Bok: I’ve learned that the government does have its little
merits. I’ve learned that intelligence and confidence does make a woman
sexy. And I’ve learned that past issues with a friend - real or
imagined - don’t have to fester; if a person is truly a friend, that
person and you will get along. Famously.

Today, Cathy and I took a day off from work to process our
application for our digitized Social Security System (SSS) cards; we
also intended to secure registration for our Revo and get CTCs from the
local barangay hall. Later in the day, if there was time, passport
photo shots for us and Nathan. That was the plan.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the SSS now requires the
card to claim maternity leave benefits and/or salary loans, among other
"benefits." We had no choice - we had to take time to get these cards,
to claim something from the government that takes away a significant
chunk of our income every month.

If you’re ready to hear the horror story that unfolded and ate up
our day, read on.
Cathy actually downloaded card application forms from the SSS website last year. These were the instructions on Page 2 of the one-page, double-sided form:

1. Fill up one copy of this form and submit to the nearest SSS office.

2. A replacement fee of P150.00 will be charged to be paid to any SSS-accredited bank or to the SSS Head Office.

3. Submit proof of payment and corresponding document/s for the
following replacement reasons: (Ganns: I’ll cut the data here, the
reasons are too long to type.)

We proceeded to the SSS branch in Del Monte, where Cathy went in to
a long line of people in less-than-appealing facilities. She appealed
to transfer, so we proceeded to the SSS branch in Caloocan (but not
before dropping by Toyota Balintawak to facilitate our yearly car
registration).

After getting in line and waiting for 45
minutes, we arrived at a crankly female assistant (who I shall
henceforth refer to as PMSSS (Person Missing Simple Social Skills), who
informed us that she would not accept our forms because they "lacked
the back page." Cathy explained she downloaded the form off the website
and had page 2 with her. She then produced the second page and asked
PMSSS if she would accept them. "Meron ka na pala, e," she said. (You
have it after all.)

PMSSS grudgingly acknowledged it, and then, upon perusing our forms,
told us they were "out of receipts," (translated from the vernacular,
"ubos na ng resibo"), and that we have to go to another SSS branch to
get a receipt, or pay at any bank that accepted SSS payments, except
Banco de Oro.
We then proceeded to two banks (Equitable PCI, which didn’t have SSS
receipts, and PNB, which did, but was offline) before settling at
Allied Bank, the teller and manager of which informed us that they
needed the miscellaneous payment form issued by SSS (Form R-6). We told
them that SSS Caloocan did not issue us any forms or charge slips."No
bank will issue an SSS receipt without it," they told us.

We then drove back to SSS Caloocan. Cathy asked the security guard
to give us Form R-6 because there was another long line to get to
PMSSS. Another SSS employee who happened to be within earshot then told
us they that Form R-6 was the form SSS Caloocan was out of. Not
a receipt, not a charge slip, but this form. The guard did not know
this, so SSS Caloocan basically ate up 45 minutes of our time to do
nothing. It was 2PM.

We then proceeded to SSS Welcome Rotonda, where - lo and behold! - they
have Form R-6! Cathy secured two forms and was ready to process the
payments when she was told by the guard that the machine that captured
our photos for the digitized SSS card was not available.

So one SSS branch had the form but no data capture machine, and the
other branch had the data capture machine, but no form. The third
branch was swarming with people. What chance did we have to possibly
finish everything by end-of-day? It was 3PM.

So we proceeded to Equitable Savings Bank on Mayon and paid the fees
for R-6 (amounting to P300 for both of us), with sympathetic bank
tellers listening to our woes. We took a chance and swung by SSS Del
Monte one last time, where Cathy was told that the line was cut, with
40 people in line, whose transactions were predicted to last until
closing time. With no other options, we proceeded home, our day
basically shot to hell, and our digitized SSS card application still
unfinished.

It saddens us that our government requires SSS membership of every
private and public employee to gain access to these ‘benefits,’ only to
make it incredibly difficult for us to secure the basic tools to claim
said benefits.

It saddens us that a pregnant woman has to shuttle through traffic
with her husband in tow, to be sent back and forth, in search of forms
we had no idea existed. It saddens us that SSS personnel could not have
been more sympathetic to our inconvenience, or apologetic when the
blame lay more on their side of the fence (e.g.,it wasn’t our fault they were out of forms, so why send us off so curtly?). 

It saddens us that we, a couple blessed with a car, visited THREE
SSS BRANCHES, and were still unable to finish the process, knowing that
the typical Filipino employee without private transportation would have
to take leave of his job to process the application, only to realize he
will never finish the process in one day.

It saddens us that we
cannot receive quality service of our government. My father spent his
entire professional life in government service, and I spent years
observing the office in which he worked. I know the government is capable of quality.When
we are subjected to this kind of inefficiency, this kind of service,
and I remember how much the government takes from me month after month,
all I can do is pray that somehow, someday, I will get my SSS card, and
claim what we know is rightfully ours.

The Reconnect Project has appointment #4! I’m meeting up with former DLS-CSB colleague Quinnzap next Wednesday for lunch at Chef D’Angelo in Greenbelt.

Quinnzap - or as I prefer to call him, D - were officemates at the Development and Communications Office of DLS-College of Saint Benilde. He was my… my… what the heck was he? I don’t remember, but he wrote a lot of stuff. That’s typical of me to forget things, and it was typical of him to mock me for it, so I’m looking forward to this meeting with a mix of anticipation and dread, really.

Expect photos and a writeup!

———–

The Reconnect Project is my attempt to, well, reconnect, with
friends from the past. It’s just catching up, sharing maybe half an
hour, letting me know what’s up with you. If you’d like to meet up for
coffee or a snack in Makati City, please send me a private message and
I’ll set it up.

The Reconnect Project has appointment #3! I’m meeting up with old grade school buddy Rafter next week (day not decided, but it’s pushing through!), 5ish in the afternoon, at Makati Cinema Square.

Rafter (why must I call you by that ridiculous name, D?) and I have known each other for more than 20 years. He was a classmate of mine in Grade 1, and even if we moved on from JASMS, our elementary school, into separate institutions, we’ve always kept in touch. He is truly one of my closest friends, even if we don’t see each other regularly. [Cathy still hasn't quite forgiven me for not making him best man at our wedding.]

Rafter is a great guy, hardworking and introspective. He was always good at taking my backhanded criticism and he’s a great comic to boot. I’m really looking forward to seeing him again, and spending some quality time together, buying pirated CDs and talking about how Janet Jackson has no career. [He may just cancel his appointment after reading this.]

Expect photos and a writeup!

———–

The Reconnect Project is my attempt to, well, reconnect, with friends from the past. It’s just catching up, sharing maybe half an hour, letting me know what’s up with you. If you’d like to meet up for coffee or a snack in Makati City, please send me a private message and I’ll set it up.

On a side note, I’ve claimed this blog on my <a href="http://www.technorati.com/claim/24y6engfvk" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>. Cheers for me.