Local area networks

I have been

managing local area networks (LANs) since my days as a director of Management Information Systems (MIS) at the Dept. of Foreign Affairs (DFA), as part of my duties as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). Although LANs was just a new and emerging technology at that time, the division that I managed was able to build a LAN that covered the entire building using twisted pair cables, somewhat an amazing feat at that time. Since we had no budget for a true server at that time, we were able to configure a relatively high-powered personal computer (PC) to function as a “server”, at least good enough to function as a file server and an email server. Also, because we did not have a budget for a true server, I was able to get a subscription to ATT Mail, and that is how the DFA was able to send and receive worldwide for the first time at that time. When I became the director-general of the National Computer Center (NCC), true servers were already commonplace, and LANs were already more advanced, at that time already using fiber optic cables. It was during that time that I had the opportunity to serve as a consultant to the senators who sponsored the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, namely Senators Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. I think these two senators did a good job in crafting the e-commerce law, but then, something went wrong in the interpretation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR). Although the IRR itself was also well done, it was interpreted wrongly by many people, when it was generally understood that having a LAN and making information available through it is already considered as being “online”. Although that notion might be partially true, it is not entirely correct, because being “online” should only mean being available globally using the internet, and not being available only locally using a LAN. Perhaps because of that misinterpretation, most of the software applications of the local government units (LGUs) are available only via their own internal LANs. What that means is that only their own employees or tellers could use these software applications, and not the general public. That is also the reason why the public could not transact with the LGUs online, and that is why they are forced to go to the city halls and municipal halls to be able to transact face-to-face. As I see it, it is not too late to properly interpret to mean only being “online” via the internet, and not via a LAN. That is the reason why I am developing software applications that will work “online”, meaning that these are browser based and are hosted in the cloud. Ideally, there should be a choice between website applications and mobile applications, but most software applications are now dual mode, meaning that website applications are now readable in mobile devices, using any browser. The common denominator of course is the internet, because it is the internet that makes everything “online”.

 

Better customer service from the government

Customer Relations Management (CRM) is one of the best practices of corporate governance that has been perfected by the private sector. To make it easy for the private companies to implement these practices, many brands are available in the market that are very easy to install and use. Unfortunately, most of the government agencies have not discovered the advantages of CRM software, and that could partly explain why the quality of customer service in the government has not improved. As a private citizen, I have been communicating with the executive and legislative branches of the government, but I seldom get a reply from them. I am using many forms of communications such as texts, emails, Viber, Messenger and WhatsApp, but almost all the time, I only get automatic replies that “promise” that they will get back to me, but they never do. Of all the senators, it is only Senator Risa Hontiveros who bothers to reply in person, and not via an automated reply or robot. I wonder why most of the congressmen, senators, cabinet members and bureau chiefs who have received my messages are not replying to me at all, despite the millions of pesos that are available to them for communications. Are they simply just lazy? Or are they simply just snobbish and arrogant? Are they not all required by the law to reply within a certain number of hours or days? Is it not that these congressmen and senators are the ones who made the law that requires them to respond quickly to the public? And why is it that many government agencies do not even care to publish their mobile numbers in their websites? Don’t they know that the Philippines is the texting capital of the world, and that most Filipinos have at least one mobile phone that they could use to send and receive text messages to and from the government? If we could text anyone at any time, why can’t we text the government in the same way that we text our relatives and friends? And why is it that many government agencies publish only their landlines in their websites? Don’t they know that many people have already cut off their landlines? Don’t they know that it is very expensive to call a landline from a cell phone? And don’t they know that it is easier to call from Viber to Viber or WhatsApp to WhatsApp because there are no long-distance charges? Is that not the meaning of “ease of doing business”? The failure on the part of national government agencies (NGAs) and local government units (LGUs) to improve their CRM implementation is an indication that these government agencies are not at all serious to comply with national programs for computerization and digitalization. If they are serious about improving their methods of delivering public services, they should implement CRM projects as soon as possible.

 

Danger zones and hazard maps

In the aftermath of the recent landslide tragedy in Antipolo City, a local official said that they have been offering alternative safe housing to the residents of the danger zone, but they did not take the offer, and they just stayed where they were. I think that it is only in the Philippines where people in authority would stand down in an impasse like that, even if it is already clear that the uncooperative residents were already facing certain death. The Antipolo City official said that they actually had housing units that were ready for the residents to transfer to, but they nevertheless refused to move. I do not doubt what that official said, but I am very much curious to know the reason why those people refused to move. Was the housing offered not to their liking? Was it substandard? What was wrong with it? More often than not, the prospective transferees would refuse because the housing offered does not have power and water or does not have opportunities for livelihood. Putting it the other way around, they would not want to leave their means of livelihood where they are now. Whatever the reasons are, I think that forced evacuations are already in order if the LGU could really prove beyond reasonable doubt that the location in question is really a danger zone, as determined by reliable scientific research, and as shown in official hazard maps. Otherwise, it is the duty of the LGU to convince, if not force the said residents to move to move, under threat of some penalties. In a manner of speaking, that would not be too much different from forcing residents around active volcanoes to leave the perimeter zones. In fairness however to the prospective refugees, the government also has to do its part in ensuring that they would be well provided with the resources that are either equal to, or greater than what they have left behind. Truth to tell, the government is not famous in providing not only the basic necessities but also the other needs such as access to transportation and of course, mobile and internet signals. As we already know it, the danger zones are not just the sites near the mountains where landslides could happen. As a matter of fact, flashfloods could also happen in those areas. Just to make everyone safe, let us not forget the coastal and island areas where tsunamis and storm surges could still happen, as well as rising sea levels that could swallow entire villages. By the way, who is really in charge of making the hazard maps? Is it the LGUs? The DILG? The NAMRIA? The DENR? The DILG? We should know who is in charge, so that we will know who is responsible.