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(This space will be reserved for literary contributions from readers. The PUNCH encourages readers to write and email to us their thoughts about their impressions and ideas about life in and outside of Pangasinan, whether social or economic or cultural. No politics, please. Thank you. - Publisher).

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Growing up Filipino in America
By Yoli Tucay

Alma just arrived four months ago from Binalonan. Her English teacher gives up trying to pronounce her last name and calls out Alma. She raises her hand and mumbles “present mam”. Kids around her giggle defying the teacher’s glare. She is later introduced to the rest of the Filipinos sitting around a table in the cafeteria. Ilocano, Pangasinan, and Tagalog expletives are sometimes heard unbeknownst to those around them. Alma is a picture of simplicity, innocence, and pure bravery in the face of a culture so foreign to anything she’s ever known. Read more

YOUTH OFFICIALS – Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez (with microphone) temporarily yielding his seat as presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to Batang Vice Mayor Asuka Toyoshima of DCNHS, addresses the Batang officials during a courtesy call made by the youth officials. Seated beside Toyoshima is Batang Mayor Stephanie Kirstin. The Batang city officials will take their oaths on Independence Day, Monday for the city government’s program ‘Ogogaw Ya Manlingkor 2006′. –Punchphoto by Butch Uka

Rafael Oriel
13 June 2006

Frankly, solutions are more interesting than problems. Obviously, it is more enjoyable and challenging to be with problem solvers and other people who can contribute and accomplish something constructive.

We can enumerate all the national and local problems and fill up Sunday Punch Forum with the list of all these depressing evils and tribulations but unless something positive is done, they will still remain unresolved and will continue to haunt and beleaguer the country and its people.

Majority of Filipinos are no longer interested in wasting time listening about all these problems. What we urgently needed are solutions, solutions and more solutions. We are more interested in helping find the solutions with the hope that we can ultimately bind ourselves together searching and working how to unload, stop and end all these extra and worthless heavy baggages that the nation is currently carrying.

Even if the House of Representatives passed a total of 814 bills but only 12 were enacted into law that can serve the purpose of their existence while the remaining 802 that are pending in the Senate cannot. These figures are clear indication of efficiency and performance. The high output from the House of Representatives and the low output from the Senate still result in low efficiency and dismal performance of the Congress. Because of the bottleneck, it is highly possible that the tremendous amount of time, money and efforts spent by the members of the House of Representatives in passing these pending 802 bills will be in vain unless acted upon by the senate, the upper chamber of Congress. In a unicameral parliamentary system of government such bottleneck is eliminated because there is no upper chamber.

I like to cite a good example. Even if we buy and pay all the needed materials to build a house and have them all delivered to the construction site, still the money, time and effort spent so far remain useless pending construction of the house. Even if we have assembled all the walls of the building, it cannot still serve the purpose of sheltering us from bad weather elements without the roofing. Because of the bottleneck in building the house, it is highly possible that the amount of money, time and efforts that we spent will be in vain unless the construction is completed. Without the roofing, a heavy rain or storm will damage everything that has been accomplished. Common sense will tell us that the cost will be higher or more expensive if construction time is longer. How much more if those who are involved in the construction want to waste their precious time to investigate many things in aid of their ability to construct a quality house at the expense of the owner of the house being constructed?

Therefore, the solution is to find and eliminate the bottleneck in order to realize tremendous savings in terms of time, money and efforts that can be better spent for other purposes like education and fight against poverty.

Just an opinion for the Filipino electorates and taxpayers to ponder.