Rotten to the score

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the award for the most horrible demolition job ever done by government employees against their own boss: It goes to none other than MWSS.

That is the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the 40-year-old autonomous government corporation, deemed so corrupt and graft-ridden during all those years that, in the 1990s, the government was forced to privatize its core business, the water distribution in the entire metropolis and surrounding areas.

Lately, the controlling rotten eggs in MWSS, well entrenched in the corporation for the past several years, kicked off some “protest” against the board. At the top of their target list is Gerardo Esquivel, an architect and self-made businessman, the current MWSS administrator handpicked by our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS).

The rotten-to-the-core group even went to media, claiming—wrongly—that the MWSS board held meetings several times a day so that the directors could collect huge amounts of per diem. This outright lie even came out in broadsheets. Unfortunately, nobody checked.

As it turned out, the real score was that, contrary to the claim of the rotten group, the MWSS board actually only meets twice a month! In fact, Esquivel does not even collect his entire compensation, measly as it actually is!

Obviously, the rotten eggs were out to destroy the entire board, particularly Esquivel, as a way to get back at them. It seems that Esquivel initiated a cleanup drive in MWSS that affected the racket perpetuated by MWSS officials and employees.

When Esquivel became the administrator, for instance, he immediately put a stop to corruption and abuses in the corporation. He actually started with the excessive “bonus” given to members of the board.

About two weeks ago, the board removed the P150-per-day “meal allowance” for MWSS employees. MWSS may be the only government outfit that gives such “meal allowance.”

In fact, CoA—the Commission on Audit—said it had no legal basis.

In other words, the board was just following the law. And its decision apparently irritated the rotten group in MWSS. Thus, they went on a media demolition job against their own board.

But the debauchery in MWSS did not stop at the “meal allowance.” For example, one employee (with the item “driver”) gets a pay of P97,000 a month. This rate is better than the pay of some MBA graduates in the private sector. On top of it all, the MWSS “driver” enjoys a “car plan.” Fantastic!

Everyone in MWSS seemed to have a vehicle that parking had become a big problem. From what I have heard, in his first several days as MWSS administrator, Esquivel did not have a parking slot.

A middle-level MWSS official at one time even told Esquivel to get his car out of his choice parking slot.

No wonder, word is going around that Esquivel is getting death threats. Esquivel may just call it quits. It seems that the fight against the “syndicate” in MWSS is wearing him down.

Here is my take: If he quits, the guys down here will be the biggest losers, and the winners will be the rotten group in MWSS.

For in Esquivel I do believe that we have one of the cleanest guys in the government. He even spends his own money, being wealthy in his own right, overseeing a booming real estate business when BS tapped him to help clean up the bureaucracy.

And believe me, MWSS needs a lot of cleaning up. Just talk to some insiders, and you will say that MWSS can be compared to the customs bureau, BIR and DPWH when it comes to graft and corruption.

One thus wonders what can inspire the Ombudsman to swoop down on MWSS and build up “open-close” cases against the rotten group. Insiders have been saying all along that the documents were all there in MWSS just for the looking.

Perhaps it is time to throw the rotten eggs in jail, ma’am?

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On a personal note, more than a year ago, I relented and went back to Globe Telecom for my mobile connection, for one and only reason—I needed an iPhone to synch with my computer for the songs that we sing in the church choir.

I now rue that decision. Never mind that, at one time, without much ado, the company cut off my connection—both cellular phone and broadband services—without so much as informing me of the reasons. I even had to use some, ah, “pull” inside the company to get reconnected. (God bless her! I am not sure that I thanked her enough, though.)

The thing is this: I get many drop calls, and I do not get some text messages. Such was evident during the recent heavy downpour that caused floods in the metropolis. Worst of all, I lose Internet connection when I need it most—you know, for GPS service as distance finder at the golf course.

Apparently, many others have the same complaints. Just go and search the Internet. You are sure to find others who are also … well, ranting. Me, I found at least nine items in no time.

Horror stories abound on Facebook, Twitter and other Internet sites. For instance, some people reported that they almost died when they saw their monthly bills—almost as high as their bills for one year. It turned out that the huge bills came from data connection, which despite being “unlimited,” contained some hidden charges, such as out of town usage, meaning, somewhere as near as Antipolo, or Laguna or Bulacan.

As for me, nobody ever bothered to explain how the “unlimited” package actually worked, and I am now getting text messages—“warnings,” actually—that I was being charged for “roaming” Internet connection. You know, when I play golf in Laguna, for instance.

Now, fair is fair, and indeed Globe customer service representatives really listen to your complaints. But you have to go to Globe outlets in the malls—in person, as in physically! I am not sure that such is the kind of convenience we desire from our cell phone companies.

A friend of mine recently complained to me about a monthly bill that came up to about P19,000. He promptly wrote Globe management to ask for an explanation. To its credit, Globe did reduce the amount.

Now, just a few days ago, Globe announced that its P3-billion modernization program was about 30 percent completed. (I actually wrote about the program on March 22, 2012—feeling exhilarated as I was a subscriber.)

I got to thinking whether I should jump for joy because the program was already 30 percent done. But then again, does this not also mean that the frustration level of millions of subscribers would get to as high as 70 percent?