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filename: cbSep16.doc
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
September 16, 2002
***Two (2) Stories***
1. SMART NOT TOO SMART ON PURE TXT GIMMICK
2. MMDA HEAD SETS EXAMPLE FOR LOCAL EXECS IN STREET CLEANUP
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story no. 1
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
September 16, 2002
SMART NOT TOO SMART ON PURE TXT GIMMICK
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In the wake of report that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ordered Smart Communications to explain its Pure Text prepaid card gimmick, which disables the sending and receiving capability of celfone subscribers, Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta expressed the hope that they could finally find an ally in the NTC, which has so far has nothing to show in terms of protecting them from the anti-consumer moves of telecom companies (Telcos) like Globe Telecom and Smart Communication.
Oreta urged the government to save the country's 12 million celfone subscribers from the greedy ways of Telcos like Smart and Globe.
Oreta said she wouldn't be surprised if the NTC's reported move to compel Smart to explain its Pure Text gimmick would be met with skepticism by ordninary consumers, who have long been exasperated over the NTC's proclivity for coddling Telcos.
The lady senator described Smart gimmick an anti-consumer move against or ordinary celfone subscribers, who are likely to face an increase in the cost of prepaid cards soon.
Oreta's reaction came in the midst of complaint against Smart's ruse of disabling the voice call features of celfone users loading this cheap type of prepaid card.
Oreta said the P100 cost of the Pure Txt card is the amount of the free text messaging service that Telcos took away from celfone subscribers last year.
These companies used to allot subscribers with 150 free text messages but they drastically slashed this by two-thirds or 100 messages last year.
Oreta recalled that the NTC was unable to stop Telcos from carrying out this anti-consumer move even as she urged the agency's chief, Eliseo Rio, to prove that he could still clean up his image as a Big Business coddler by flexing the NTC's muscle against Smart's anti-poor prepaid card scheme.///camille p. balagtas NEXT STORY FOLLOWS
story no. 2
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Camille P. Balagtas
People's TONIGHT
September 16, 2002
MMDA HEAD SETS EXAMPLE FOR LOCAL EXECS IN STREET CLEANUP
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Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the no-nonsense campaign against illegal vendors being pursued by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando has set a good example for local chief executives in cleaning up the streets in their respective localities.
Pimentel said Chairman Fernando has shown that illegal vendors and obstructions on the streets and sidewalks can be removed as long as public officials have the political will and sincerity in performing their duties.
"His unwavering drive against illegal vendors in Metro Manila has inspired local chief executives in various parts of the country to vigorously carry out a similar campaign in their own communities," he said.
Pimentel said the ongoing campaign has likewise put pressure on mayors and other local officials who are under fire from their constituents for being remiss in their driving away the illegal vendors and hawkers from the town thoroughfares.
For instance, he said the disgruntled residents of Cagayan de Oro City have invited Chairman Fernando to visit the southern city and share his experience in the war against illegal vendors in the face of the inability of their own local officials to eliminate this pestering problem.
Pimentel, a former mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, said Chairman Fernando deserves public support for holding his ground in the face of persistent efforts by the affected vendors and other detractors to break his determination and discredit him.
Pimentel said it is only now that the main streets in Baclaran, Paranaque are totally free of illegal vendors and structures, to the relief of motorists and pedestrians.
"I think the public fully appreciates what the MMDA chairman is doing," he said.
He said that while the vendors have been displaced by the MMDA drive, it is not the government's intention to deprive them of their means of livelihood.
"They are only being told by the government to set up their stalls in the market, to go ply their trade in the place specifically designated for them," Pimentel said.
Pimentel recalled that when he was the mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, he ordered the removal of the illegal vendors who were blocking the city streets. But he said they were transferred to a designated place for vendors and required to get government permit.
He stressed that the drive against illegal vendors should be sustained by discarding ningas-cogon mentality that has been the bane of many government programs that have failed.///camille p. balagtas END
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