Internet ‘love affairs’ and ‘poor’ services

 
BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Believing everything in the internet could lead you to trouble like in the case of a 24-year-old call center agent from Manila who ended up sleeping at the police station in Calasiao, Pangasinan after her alleged boyfriend denied having any relationship with her.
    Elsa (not her real name), a graduate of mass communication told police she was not allowed to stay with her boyfriend after coming to Calasiao.
    The mother of her alleged boyfriend did not allow her to stay overnight in their house to rest after a long trip from Manila.
“Napagod po sa biyahe ang dalaga matapos na itoy lumuwas mula Boni (Mandaluyong para makita ang boyfriend) na taga Pangasinan,” writer Liezle Basa Inigo quoted police as saying.
    Elsa arrived in Calasiao Wednesday evening after she was reportedly fetched by her alleged boyfriend in front of a fast food chain and brought her home.
    But when her boyfriend’s mother asked her what her relationship to her son was, she happily replied: “jowa po kami.” (We are in a relationship.)
    When the mother asked her son, he denied that they were in a relationship.
    “Matapos noon, hindi na pumayag ang nanay na makitulog o makapahinga ang dalaga sa kabila ng pagod na inabot nito sa biyahe, mula sa pagsakay ng taxi hanggang Dau then nag van muli para makarating ng Rosales, Pangasinan at sakay uli patungo naman sa bayan ng Calasiao,” police said.
    Turned away from the home of the man she believed was her boyfriend or “jowa,” she went to Calasiao police and asked for help.
    Lt Col. Ferdinand de Asis, chief of police and his personnel immediately helped the young lady.
    Pastor Jess Anthony Jordan, a life coach, helped the victim by offering her advice and praying for her.
    The Calasiao Police allowed her to stay and rest at the police station where she was given food and cash for her fare back to Manila.
    The woman said she met the man through online games.
Moral of the story. Like we said earlier, don’t believe everything you hear or see in the internet. It could bring you trouble. In the case of Elsa. Binola lang siya ng jowa niya.
   ***
Closer to home, the Baguio City Council, in a resolution last week, urged Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. to formulate a technical and business plan to improve its internet services in the city.
    The council required the internet service provider to submit the plan within 20 days.
    This, after Converge ICT subscribers expressed dissatisfaction about poor and intermittent internet connectivity they experienced over the past days, according to Jordan G. Habbiling, city council staff.
    Some residents reportedly raised concern about the internet service provider’s slow response to their application for internet connection.
    According to the council, Converge ICT must craft a technical and business plan that will serve as tool for sustained quality internet services in the city in order to meet and satisfy their customers’ needs.
    During their regular session on Nov. 23, councilors said stable internet access has become an essential need under the new normal, thus, ISPs must improve quality of their services.
    Appearing before the council via teleconference, Converge ICT representatives refuted claims internet connection problems experienced by their customers stemmed from the company’s disengagement with Benguet Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Beneco).
    Jan Meneses, Converge ICT head of Business Center and Transition Group, said power outages were caused by a fiber cut in Tarlac now affecting internet connection in Luzon.
    Meneses said the company’s technical team is fixing the problem. Subscribers will experience better internet connectivity starting December, he said.
    Michael Maquiran, Converge ICT National Consumer and SME sales head, also told the council the company was preparing its network to ensure subscribers in Luzon including Benguet will still be serviced in case a fiber cut occurs again in Tarlac. He said Benguet will be the convergent point of these network backbones.
    Converge ICT representatives said they did not terminate their business partnership contract with Beneco. They said the one-year contract lapsed in 2019, and was being renewed on a monthly basis. However in October 2020, Converge ICT reportedly opted to stop renewing the contract.
    According to Maquiran, some business parameters were not met which led to non-renewal of the business partnership contract with Beneco. He said the company shall modify the business model and offer three different contracts that best suit both parties to maximize services to subscribers.
    “Since we own the network and this is our core business, we are in a better position to discharge services and to serve the greater population of Benguet and specifically the good people of Baguio City,” Maquiran added.
    Lawyer Delmar Carino, Beneco legal counsel, sent a text message Friday to the NPT saying the power firm was not connected anymore to Converge ICT.
    Councilor Michael Lawana had urged officers of the company to instruct personnel manning their new office in the city to entertain complaints concerning internet connection problems.
    The city council, in a separate resolution, requested Converge ICT to hire competent local personnel to ensure quality internet services and address subscribers’ concerns.