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THE Presidential Assistant on Lifestyles announced yesterday that
the Cabinet was working on a plan called “National Strategy for
Coping” to help Filipinos meet rising costs and disappearing
commodities.
Pedro Pwedena told Malacañang newsmen that
President Gloria Arroyo ordered the plan “to help the public make
both ends meet” during “a time of temporary difficulties.”
The National Strategy for Coping, he said, will
address increases in the price of rice, bread, gasoline, LPG,
electricity, water and foodstuff from fishballs to canned goods.
Looming ahead are impending increases in tuition
fees and public-transportation fare. “These two petitions may
pass,” he conceded, “but we will hold the line on instant
noodles.
“Instant noodles are sacrosanct. We have
created a Task Force to Protect Packaged Noodles.
“This problem is temporary and caused mainly
by the professional critics in media, the CBCP and the political
opposition,” he said. Their alarms have begun to panic the people.
“But we recognize the problem of many families
and individuals who said they have started to miss meals because
they don’t have the money for their food. Many have also started
to use candles to protest Meralco bills.”
Reminded that medicines remain costly, Pwedena
said President Arroyo would immediately sign the Affordable Medicine
Bill as soon as the Palace finds the enrolled copy. “Our messenger
lost the bill on his way to Malacañang,” he explained.
“Simplicity and frugality” is the theme of
the national campaign. To set the example, the First Family will
observe a rice-less day and will start having one-dish dinners.
The Cabinet has volunteered to plant rice and
vegetables on the Palace grounds to demonstrate the importance of
backyard gardening. These examples should inspire the people to grow
their food.
Cabinet subgroups will focus on particular
problems. The Cluster on Transportation will ask the public to
carpool, use public transportation, use bikes and walk short
distances to work or school. “Reasonable” overcrowding on buses,
jeeps and LRT trains will be tolerated. Cab drivers are encouraged
to accept mixed groups of passengers as long as the first rider
allows the additional company.
The Cluster on Food will ask Filipinos to drink
plenty of water before and during meals, chew their food slowly and
eat everything on their plate to avoid waste.
Big sendoffs and welcomes at airports for OFWs
and other travelers are discouraged to save on unnecessary trips, he
said.
The Office of the Press Secretary, Pwedena said,
will hire “bold” movie starlets to demonstrate water-saving
tips, such as spouses and lovers taking a shower together. The
Department of Energy will train dogs to sniff out illegal power
connections called “jumpers.”
And what, pray, would be the role of Congress?
“If they take more recess—currently four times during the
congressional year—we would save a lot on salaries, overtime,
food, water, air-conditioning and electricity.”
The President is determined to bring down rice
prices and maintain them at affordable levels, Pwedena said.
Beginning May 19, she will check wet markets for overpricing, lead
NBI raids on rice hoarders, personally present violators to the
media and follow up the filing of criminal cases in the justice
department.
And if the national strategy does not work?
“Our Plan B calls for a multidenominational
mass at the Palace where priests, ministers and imams will pray over
the President for divine guidance and spiritual intercession.”
Gross national English
MOST Filipinos believe they are getting better
speaking English, reading English and writing in English. But
thinking in English? That, too, according to a survey commissioned
by the American Chamber of Commerce and the Makati Business Club.
The survey found out that about 76 percent of
1,200 respondents said they could understand spoken English (11
percent higher than in March 2006), 75 percent said they could read
English (previously 65 percent) and 61 percent said they could write
English (48 percent earlier). About 46 percent said they could speak
English (32 percent) and 38 percent said they could think in English
(27 percent in 2006).
Since it was a self-assessment test, our
language cops have their questions:
Were the respondents asked if they were speaking
the Queen’s English or Taglish, the national language? Do they
care about spelling or are they at home with “texting English”?
In what way have error-plagued textbooks of the
Education department affected their learning? Has listening to or
watching Senate investigations impaired or improved their language?
Is there a difference between call-center
English and beauty-contest English? When speaking, do they care
about diction? Can they tell a Boston accent from a Bombay
inflection?
Do they feel competent to teach a Korean how to
write and speak good English? When thinking in English, do they
construct their sentences correctly?
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