The Stupid Surveys

The Stupid Surveys

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

Nowadays, there are so many surveys conducted by various survey firms which are of course paid for by parties that will benefit from the “expected” favorable results. Big companies, political units and even nations spend so much money for the flattering and self-serving favorable results. Surveys can be effective only if the whole targeted responders are captured, but if not even 1% of the total has been interviewed for their views…then, the survey results should better be told to the Marines!

 

How can for instance a survey, give assurance that a certain candidate will surely win during an election when the majority of the voting population has not been interviewed? To top it all, their assurance is based on a further confusing mathematical formula. So, there’s the trick – the more confused the ordinary citizens become, the better for these survey firms to insist that they are right, and the more that they make their clients happy. They want the ordinary citizens to believe that the results are products of “highly intelligent” surveys…conducted by “intelligent” people!  While some surveys are based on personal views and opinions, others are on perception which make the results more “imagined”….unrealistic. Simply stated, how can a personal view become representative of the rest, opinions as truthful, and perception as generally realistic?

 

The way I see it, these surveys are the workings of “research” firms that have run out of anything to do and clients who trust them. They have come up with this novel idea that can flatter egoistic groups that we call business firms, political groups, educational institutions, and governments. These surveys are also the result of the marketing strategies that need to be updated to make them attractive to clients. Schools want to attract enrollees, business firms want more clients, political groups want more donors and followers, and governments want a “third opinion” that would qualify their claim for success in their administration…all selfish objectives which at the end are supposed to be satisfied with self-serving survey results, that would later find their way in advertising spaces!

 

What the clients should do, instead of squandering millions in surveys for self-serving results, is require their advertising agencies to gather hard data from records that are available, to support their contentions. The truthful and realistic information shall no longer cause a single eyebrow to be raised every time the reports are splashed on the front pages of dailies, as well as, broadcasted on air lane and TV screen….at least, the doubting Thomas can be directed to the records on file.

Cristina Toledo Cabanayan Packs Food for Prison Inmates

Cristina Toledo Cabanayan

Packs Food for Prison Inmates

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

I came to learn of the advocacy of Cristina Toledo Cabanayan when I took my brunch in their roadside food stall along Camba St. in Divisoria….she packs food for some inmates in Manila City Jail. It all started when her son (name withheld upon request) who was detained asked her to include his newly found friends, in the lunch pack that she prepares for him during visitation days. Her son found out that his friends have not been receiving visitors for a very long time, hence, depended on the meager and strictly- budgeted meals served by the jail administration.

 

Soonest as she heard their stories, she did not hesitate to pack meals taken from what she sells along Camba St. of Divisoria district for her son and his friends. The pack meals are brought by her grandsons to their father who is thirty six years old. The day I took my brunch, a Saturday, was a visitation day for the Manila City Jail inmates.

 

I learned, too, that Cristina’s altruism also benefited Lagring, who was adopted by her family when she found her living in the area alone, after having been abandoned by her family. Cristina nurtured Lagring back to her health, and today she helps in the operation of the roadside eatery by taking charge of everything that needs to be washed – eating utensils, pots, pans, etc. Though she is still noticeably skinny, she is back to her former spritely self. I found her washing pots and plates when I dropped by the food stall.

The husband of Cristina is a retiree with a frail health, making it necessary for him to stay at home, where he does the easy chores while the rest of the members are doing their share in the food stall. Miracle, Cristina’s daughter, though with a family of her own, helps her mother run the small business. The cooperation among the family members spared Cristina from hiring extra hands which is what food stall owners normally do.

The food stall is the source of the family’s livelihood, the blessing from which they also share with others in the best way that they can afford, but despite such, they are able to make both ends meet, as a proverb goes. They do not even know for how long they can hold on to their roadside space that accommodates their pushcart laden with foods. Despite such apprehension, Cristina, a typical Filipino, is fatalistic though in a positive way. She grew up in the same area and had her own share of ordeals that made her tough as a person.

Ang Kawalan ng Disiplina sa mga Kalye ng Pilipinas at Mga Panukalang Hindi Naipapatupad ng Maayos

Ang Kawalan ng Disiplina sa mga Kalye ng Pilipinas

at Mga Panukalang Hindi Naipapatupad ng Maayos

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

 

Lahat ng gumagamit ng kalye ay dapat disiplinado, subalit dahil sa kawalan ng tiyaga, at ugaling palusot ng karamihan sa mga Pilipino, maya’t maya na lang ang mga napapabalitang disgrasya – nabundol na pedestrian, bumaligtad na sasakyan, nagbanggaang mga kotse o trak, nabanggang motorsiklo, at ang pinakamatindi ay bugubugan o patayan ng ayaw magbigayang driver…pati ang alagad ng batas na nagpapatupad ng mga patakaran ay sinasapok din ng mga mayayabang na driver. Sa panig naman ng mga nagpapatupad, nandiyang sila ay pinaparatangang nangongotong!

 

Ang problema naman kasi sa mga gumagawa ng plano ng kalye ay hindi iniisip ang kanilang ginagawa. Ang mga pedestrian overpass ay napakalayo sa mga nakasanayan nang babaan ng mga tao, kaya kaysa mag-overpass pa na kalahating kilometro ang layo sa isang waiting shed, nagbabakasakali na lang ang mga apuradong mananawid sa animo ay pakikipag-patintero sa mga motorista habang tumatawid sa kalsada. Noong panahon ni Cory Aquino ay nagsulputang parang kabute ang mga waiting shed na halatang pinagkitaan ng mga tiwaling kongresista at senador dahil ang karamihan sa mga pahingahang ito ay nagkakahalaga ng isang milyon.  Kung saan saan na lang sila inilagay, basta maibalandra lang ang pangalan ng mga tiwaling opisyal na ito na nag-donate daw, ganoong pera ng bayang pinagkurakutan naman ang malinaw na ginamit . Makaraan ang ilang taon, pinagbawal na ang pag-abang ng mga sasakyan sa mga overpass na ito at wala man lang directional sign kung saan dapat mag-abang ang mga pasahero. Na-expose pa sila sa init at ulan…samantalang ang mga korap na mga kumitang opisyal ay abot-tenga ang ngisi dahil sa laki ng mga nakurakot.

 

Sa panahon ngayon, nauso ang paggamit ng motorsiklo, kaya nagpasiklab ang noon ay pinuno ng MMDA na si Tolentino sa pagtalaga ng mga “motorcycle lanes” sa iilang lugar. Subalit dahil matigas ang ulo ng mga nagmamaneho ng mga motosiklo ay hindi rin ito nasunod dahil tuloy pa rin ang animo ay ahas na palusot-lusot nila sa trapiko. Bandang huli, ang mga lanes na ito ay nawala. Naglagay din ng yellow lane para sa mga pampasaherong bus, subalit dahil ayaw pumila ng karamihan ng mga bus driver na nag-uunahan sa pagdampot ng pasahero ay hindi rin ito nasunod. Maliit lang din ang multa kaya malakas ang loob ng mga bus driver na sumuway.

 

Naglagay ng mga plastic barrier sa mga main road tulad ng EDSA, at tulad ng dapat asahan, dahil sa ugali ng karamihan sa mga Pilipino na reklamador, ay tila nabuhusan ng malamig na tubig ang proyekto. Ang matindi pa, tinatanggal ng mga sira- ulong motorista ang mga barrier kung walang traffic enforcer na nagbabantay lalo na sa dis-oras ng gabi. Ganito rin ang nangyari sa pagsara ng ibang U-turn slots upang tumuloy-tuloy sana ang takbo ng mga sasakyan at upang mapigilang makasagabal ang mga lumilikong sasakyan sa daloy ng trapiko. Inereklamo ito ng mga motoristang nagmamadali at ang gusto ay mag U-turn agad sa unang butas na makikita.

 

Malinaw na kahit anong batas –trapiko ay hindi maipapatupad ng maayos sa Pilipinas, maliban na lang sa loob ng Subic Business and Commercial Center na dating US base sa Olongapo. Ang napapansin pa ay may mga Pilipino na kahit nangungupahan lang ng kuwarto ay may sariling kotse, kaya ang ginagamit nilang garahe ay kalye. Yong mga nakatira sa subdivision na “row housing” ang tinitirhan na walang garahe ay ganoon din ang siste – sa kalsada ang paradahan kaya ang masikip na kalyeng pinagpipilitang two-way ay naging one-way. Yong mga nasa subdivision pa rin nakatira subalit sa “single detached” na bahay nakatira o simpleng bungalow kaya may garahe pero para sa iisang sasakyan lang, ay gumagamit din ng kalye para sa pangalawa at pangatlong sasakyan na nakuha sa hulugan nang napakamura. Sa halagang thirty thousand pesos kasi ay may pang-down payment na at ang buwanang hulog ay ten thousand lang, kaya maski call center agent o ordinaryong empleyado ay kaya nang bumili ng kotse.

 

May panukala noon pa mang panahon ni Marcos tungkol sa pag-kontrol ng pagbili ng mga sasakyan subalit hindi na ito naipapatupad ng maayos. At may mga batas ding ginawa para sa mga paggamit ng motorsiklo, subalit ganoon din ang nangyayari – walang maayos na pagpapatupad.

 

Ang tanong ko….yon nga lang simpleng non-smoking sa mga public transportation lalo na sa mga jeepney ay hindi tinutupad ng mga driver at pasahero, at lalong hindi naipapatupad ng mga pulis-trapiko, ang mga patakaran pa kaya upang lumuwag ang trapiko at maiwasan ang mga sakuna? ….only in the Philippines yan!