June 17-13, 2013

Theres no stoppin Josie Dela Cruz

DING LORESCO
SHEs tough. She is more masculine compared to the men who ruled before her at the Philippine Postal Corporation. Postmaster General Josie Dela Cruz is more than determined to make true the wishes of Malcaang the wish for a public-private partnership and, ultimately, privatizing the countrys mail carrier. Her determination is warmth by the confidence of President Benigno Aquino who appointed her to reign the Philpost despite pending graft charges at the Office of the Ombudsman. Her vision is not disturbed despite the strings of graft and corruptions c h a r g e s leveled against her by Philpost union leaders. It is more likely that Dela Cruz is used to it, or that she is eating graft and corruption charges every meal. In the first phase of realizing the privatization of Philpost, Dela Cruz enforced the Rationalization scheme despite the lack of payment for the more than 1,000 postmen who were displaced. Her act is a blatant violation of the Implementing Rules of the RatPlan, but she is not minding the rules for she has a rule of her own. Worse, President Aquino is blind, deaf and dumb to this naked violation because his health and wealth is not affected by the empty stomach of families added to the population of jobless and helpless Filipinos. Now, the second phase is on. Dela Cruz has signed a Memorandu m of Agreement with TechnoPoint I.T. Consultancy Services for a publicprivate part-nership. In fact, on May 29, 2013 the first privately o p e r a t ed Postal S t a ti o n o w n ed b y Techno-Point I.T. Consultancy Services was in augu rated in Caloo ca n C it y H al l C om plex. D e l a Cr u z w a s p r o u d t h at t h e s a i d postal station is one of Philpost answer to the call of PNoy for government agencies to venture into PublicPrivate Partnership. She claimed that this project a i m s to g i v e business and livelihood opportun ities to people who want to enter in th is kind of a c t iv i t y w i th o u t having to invest large capital. This is also said as P h i l p o st way of bringing the postal service closer to the mailing public. Any would-be postal station ope-rator will have to pay an accreditation fee of P20,000.00. Sixty percent (60%) of which (P12,000.00) shall cover the marketing tools and equipment, the starter kit and the training needed to operate. In return, he is entitled to a 20% rebate on Philpost products, services and merchandise. But more than being a business partner, the Postal Station Operator is seen as one of Philpost advocate of efficient and effective public service. The Postal Station offers postal business transactions anytime, anywhere. The public shall now have the access to the postal service Mondays to Sundays including Holidays. On May 7, 2013, DHLExpress announced its partnership with Philpost, this first of its kind collboration is part of Philpost plans to reinvogorate its international service offering by providing shipping options to customers.

per cruise ship passenger was expressed by representatives of Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited during the Cruise Shipping Miami 2013 convention in Florida, USA, which was attended by representatives of cruise ship companies around the globe and a team from the Department of Tourism. On October 26 to October 27, 2012, the Legend of the Seas landed on the ports of Manila and Boracay as part of the vessels eightnight South-east Asia trip. Upon arrival, the Department of Tourism immediately expressed that the government extended its warmest reception to almost 2,000 passengers from different countries on board the vessel. When Immigration officers boarded the Legend of the Seas, the laundry services ensued

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by stamping Arrival on passports of passengers. The laundry services rendered by Immigration officers ended the following day, or on October 27, 2012, upon stamping departure on passports of passengers. Accordingly, the amount of US$500,000 or more than Php23 million extracted from the 2,000 passengers was handed to Immigration officers who bade goodbye with boxes of imported wine. Because of the overcharge laundry fees, Department of Tourism Undersecretary Atty. Maria Victoria V. Jasmin sent Immigration Com-missioner Ricardo A. David Jr. a letter asking for clarification. Jasmin in her letter to David dated May 17, 2013 said: As part of the thrust of the Department of Tourism in providing the Philippines as a cruise tourism destination, our delegation attended the Cruise Shipping Miami 2013 convention in Florida, USA last March 11 to 14,2013. The convention served as a venue for our team to meet with various several cruise line companies who expressed their interest and signified that they will be sailing to the country on years 2014 and 2015. Among those that the Philippine team met during this event are representatives of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited (RCCL) who expressed concerns on the alleged overcharge of laundry fees (US$250/ person) by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration officers to facilitate the stamping of passports for their passengers. In this regard, may we respectfully request for clarification on the matter of procedures and

rates charged for the collection of laun-dry fees for arriving cruise ship pass-engers. The term laundry is an immigration mafia term for facilitation or fixing for the smooth, easy and fast clearing of travel documents. The Legend of the Seas has facilities like a golf course, a theater and cinema, a solarium, two pools, a spa, a fitness center, a 2 story dining room called the Romeo & Juliet, the Windjammer Cafe, 4 themed bars, a dance center, a shopping center, a teen disco, a piano bar, an observation center, a rock climbing wall and the Viking Crown Lounge. It is the most-traveled ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, having been based in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the South Pacific, Alaska, Central America, Caribbean, the Baltic, Mediterranean and the Middle East during her 14 year career at sea.