BROWNOUT IS STILL IN

Several months has passed since I wrote about the infernal power shortage in Mindanao. And yet, until this very day, the rotating brownout seems to be the "in" thing. Issues like "bill deposits" hidden charges, higher electricity cost per kilowatt hour, etc. we still have to cope with the reality: Higher electricity without the corresponding excellent service. Higher electricity cost should result to stable supply of electricity and not the other way around. Experts say the Philippines has a very high electricity cost among the Southeast Asian countries. Well, our neighboring countries are well-off economically and we are not. Bottom line is, we must cope with lack of resources, even if the consumers were made to shoulder the cost of the electricity providers' loans, line losses, infrastructure improvement and all sort of excuses to justify revenue generation. We will always be dependent on electricity to sustain our daily living. We need electricity to light our homes, to pump our water to the water tower, to cook our meals, to cool our living spaces. Corollary to that we must pay the cost. It is too inconvenient to go back to primitive light without these modern convenience that we have right now. Meanwhile we must also seek ways to find leaders who will work and lay their lives for the common good and not enrich themselves in the office. We need conscientious politicians who will not grandstand to show off their speaking prowess and possibly, their expensive get ups but those who are willing tosacrifice their personal comfort for the sake of the "masa". Harinawa.