By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

NO matter how you will it, there will always be something you can no longer avoid. Times have changed, but practices are ingrained over a long period of time, and the bureaucracy refuses to budge. It reminds me of Sisyphus. Sisyphus, according to Greek mythology, is the king of Corinth, “punished in Hades for his misdeeds by eternally having to roll a heavy stone up a hill” which he pushed until he was almost at the top, at which time, every time, “the stone escaped his grasp and rolled to the bottom.”

For ordinary citizens, there is no reason to be punished this way. But on hindsight, perhaps the punishment is meted anyway for the seeming lackadaisical attitude they have allowed to fester in government service, for a long, long time, turning what could have been a pebble, to a formidable huge rock.

I assisted my sister in processing papers required by the lawyers to be used in a court case filed abroad. Earlier, we were told by a source who knows the system that this could be processed on the same day for a fee of P6,000. This amount was too much for us so we decided to try going through the normal way. We were told that the normal time for waiting was two to three weeks, and this will also depend on the availability of the person authorized to sign the documents, the total fee was less than P500. Because we needed the documents to be signed within a week, this option was not viable for us.

We found someone who works in the same agency, who thought he could expedite it within two days, given his connections. We gave him our documents. On the appointed day, we called him. He said, the signatory is on leave. Everyday thereafter, for a week we followed up on this. Two weeks had passed and still nothing.  Realizing our anxiety, he provided the name of the signatory and the office where we can check the document for ourselves. So we did. It was not yet signed, another signatory was assigned. Then another employee checked the receiving date, telling a colleague, “This has been sitting for two weeks, this needs to be signed.” He called a number and assured us, we could get the signed documents on that day. He instructed us to wait for its release at the office where we started, “the normal way.”

When we presented our claim stub, the person who read it was visibly annoyed and told us, in an angry tone, “Wala pa dito ito, Hindi dapat sila nagsasabing nandito na pag di pa nare-receive dito!” We sat outside the office, along with the other Sisyphuses, resigned to our fate. After an hour, the person who explained to us “the normal way” approached the door carrying loads of document. My sister’s name was called. The angry man was no longer angry, smiling, he said: “Pangkape naman diyan.” (Give us something for coffee).

But kape (coffee) is a euphemism. I wanted to say something harsh, but my sister told me that our business with these offices will last as long as the case abroad remains unresolved, and we just need to ignore the comment, because we’re not giving any money. I shut my mouth, where all the unsavory syllables jumbled, threatening to get out. She is right. We went to another office, in another city, to process another document of the same nature. In a gentle way, she was told by the attending clerk, “Ma’am, if you are rushing, this can be expedited in a day for P1,000. All I get is P100, the rest will be handed over to those involved in the process, for their coffee.”

Already pestered incessantly by the lawyers abroad for the undue delay our documents which could make her children lose the case, my sister said, “Coffee it is!”.

 We sat there, tired Sisyphuses, The office was about to close when the coffee man came to us beaming, “Congratulations ma’am, here are your signed documents!”

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