HOW true is the report that a large sector of the Davao del Norte population is now working on a petition to have the electric service distribution in that province including the Cities of Tagum and IGaCoS be taken over by another utility?
This piece of information we got the other day from a friend who said that the petition is triggered by the apparent deterioration of electric service in that province due to the existing crack in the ranks of the members of the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (DANECO), the current electricity distributor serving both Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro.
According to our informant this large sector of consumers both residential and commercial are getting fed-up with the erratic quality of power delivered by the cooperative and the attendant services needed to perk up the desired quality needed in households and work places.
As we said earlier in this piece the sector mobilizing for the petition is across the different population and business class. The most vocal of course on the change of service provider is the Island Garden City of Samal or IGaCoS led by no less than its youthful mayor Al David Uy. The mayor sees the need of a stable and quality power supply because of the kind of industry driving the growth of the island city’s economy – tourism.
Tagum City on the other hand, is as much desirous of a stable and quality power. But in our observation the officials of that city led by Mayor Alan Rellon are calculating in their moves considering the mayor’s former involvement in the DANECO affairs. But we are certain though that he would be more than happy if his city will have a much better electricity supply because that is the one needed to fast track the economic development of Tagum. A status quo of the present service, and worst its deterioration, will only hamper the city’s growth or forces some businessmen to move out of the city.
Again, we would like to reiterate that we are not sure as to the truth of the report. Maybe the forthcoming local elections have something to do with this development. Accordingly, the petition is supported by the provincial government. Whether true or not, this could be some kind of a political strategy to court the votes of those who are frustrated with the present service of the electric cooperative. Making it appear as having the backing of the provincial administration would definitely court the ire of those wanting DANECO to prevail.
But of course we are not precluding the authenticity of the petition effort. Some of those high provincial officials strongly supported a similar move to get out of the power cooperative service earlier.
Whatever is this development about, something worth anticipating is unfolding in the Davao del Norte power sector.
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What is really the protocol on the senior sector of the population in this time of a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) in Davao City? And when does a person’s senior year set in? Starting at age 60 or 65? Which is which? We have to ask this question because we ourselves became a victim of this apparent varying interpretation of the protocol.
The other day we had to go to our editorial office to get a copy of our newspaper and most importantly to collect our check representing payment of the column we are writing almost every day. At the risk of being accosted by the authorities we were prepared to reason out that we are still a working senior. So we have to go out of the house every now and then.
We tag along our son for him to have our check cashed in a Metrobank branch along Rizal st. believing that as a senior at over 70 years old we would not be allowed to get inside, more so because the establishment is enclosed and air-conditioned. But after waiting for more than an hour for his turn to be attended to by the tellers he was told that he would not be allowed to do it and instead have us fetched from our vehicle parked in front. We obliged because we need the money to pay some bills that were falling due yesterday.
Our transaction at the bank was completed past 12 noon and we were already feeling extremely hungry because we only had coffee and bread for breakfast and had not taken a snack. We had to look for some eatery to have our launch. After we were politely turned down by a Mang Inasal branch along Ilustre st. because they were already at its maximum allowable number of customers, we proceeded to a front eatery establishment. We were immediately asked our age and when we told the lady guard we are over 70 we were told the establishment will not allow entry of people our age.
We tried to haggle, telling the guard that we were already very hungry since it was already past 1 p.m. But the lady guard held her ground. We were exasperated but we appreciate the guard for her religious compliance with what the management of the establishment might have ordered her to do. We cannot do anything but look for another eatery. And we found one after walking some 600 meters away – another enclosed and air-conditioned eatery along Duterte st. Luckily we were allowed. Thus we were spared the trouble of walking another meter away. The eatery however, while allowing us to eat inside, had other health protocols strictly implemented like putting up alcohol at the door, social distancing and others.
With the experience, we really need to be guided accordingly as to what the actual protocols are for senior citizens and how this should be fairly applied on the seniors and by the establishments they intend to visit. And if seniors are prohibited outside residence, then the restriction should apply to all with age 60 and above and not 65. After all, the legal senior years as provided by law start at 60 years old. Isn’t it?
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