PNoy maintenance medicine

During the Holy Week I couldn’t help but wonder where US President Barack Obama will be landing and deplaning on his visit to the Philippines. I assume that all the arrival honors will have to take place at Villamor Air Base for convenience sake also to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment such as making the honored guest go through the dusty sweat box we call NAIA 1. If anything, the discomfort and inconvenience would all be on the shoulders of his host President Noynoy Aquino who a week ago had to apologize to the flying public about the failed air-conditioning system at the NAIA. Aside from the out of place Presidential apology, PNoy also shared his frustration and bewilderment that a bidding and requirement that was given out last year still has to be met four months into the following year!

What actually bewilders me is that the President seems to be under the impression or told that the air conditioning problem is a new thing. No, Sir, we the travelling public have had issues about the air conditioning at all the terminals (we also have issues about non-working X-ray machines in many other airports), and in fact I personally sent an SMS to the NAIA General Manager regarding the problem on a particular date about the same problem at the NAIA 3. I’ve also learned that Philippine Airlines had the same experience at the NAIA 2 where the air conditioning as well as back-up power unit had a broken crank shaft, for which the cost to repair was in the millions. Rather than have angry cranky customers, it seems that PAL management simply dealt with the problem out of pocket rather than lose their loyal customers.

During the Holy Week a number of people commented about the Presidential apology regarding no aircon at NAIA 1. The most common comment was “Why is he apologizing for the failure and incompetence of his people in NAIA? He should fire them or replace them.” The second common comment was: “The President’s apology reminds people of call centers where agents start with apologies that customers find annoying because they don’t want and don’t appreciate an apology from a person who did not cause the problem, and is simply doing so in the vain hope it would reduce the displeasure of the customer, and because people want immediate action and guaranteed solutions not words of appeasement.”

Perhaps it would help the President to realize that breakdowns in NAIA, even in our highways, power plants etc., is not a bidding or procurement related problem. The problem has nothing to do with complex requirements or technical specifications nor should he be blamed or be apologizing for it. The problem is about having and following a maintenance program that is designed to avoid emergency procurements or breakdown in operations or services. Sadly it is a Filipino BAD HABIT we have, where we wait until something is broken before we fix, repair or replace something. The fact of the matter is we do the same thing at home, at work, as well as in public or government facilities. We wait for the pipe to break, the toilet won’t flush, the aircon to break down, for the roof to leak or for termites to eat their way through the ceiling and floors before we say: OK time to act.

For the longest time, too much emphasis has been put on lowest price, biddings and procurements as well as auditing but not on maintenance programs. I have actually seen service vehicles parked as “out of order,” waiting for servicing or parts, then end up being cannibalized for parts to fix similar vehicles until the original vehicle to be repaired becomes nothing more than an “organ donor” and dies through replacement cannibalism. Then we hear how an agency or department reports year-end savings from budget while many of their equipment and facilities are unserviceable or non-operational. The impression one gets is that forced savings occur in order to guarantee that the department or agency has enough money to give Christmas bonuses instead of making sure maintenance programs are actually implemented!

The reality is the Republic of the Philippines is the number one buyer of equipment and supplies and is also the number one destroyer of equipment and structures simply because of the prevailing practice where they wait until it’s broke before they fix it. Whether it’s cars, trucks, faucets, switches or marble floors, people in government automatically follow the process of compounding damage and difficulty, delay and failure to operate thereby depriving taxpayers of the service they expect. It is a common sight to see how many field offices, motor pools or warehouses of the government all over the Philippines, resemble junkyards or scrap yards simply because no government office, national or local, even barangays, are allowed to dispose of their “junk” until after the COA has audited the “goods.”

 No, Mr. President, your apology is not necessary or helpful. What needs to be done is to do away with the culture of forced savings, non-observation and practice of “maintenance programs,” and most especially to eradicate and punish people who institutionalize the culture of waiting for breakdowns and emergency repairs which insures that the cost will be much greater because of desperation and urgency.

Mr. President we know that your apologies are meant for the public, hoping against hope to soothe their already strained nerves and patience, but you may also be unwittingly raising an official family of “Pasaways” who believe they are beyond reproach, safe from public or media criticism and displaying political arrogance and entitlement.

Even the Bible warns us that when we “Spare the rod, we spoil the child.” That is what you will eventually be held accountable for sir, raising brats and spoiled officials in and outside your cabinet. In the meantime remember what you learned in elementary: “Prevention is better than cure.”

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