Special Surreal September

Do you feel down and out in your current situation? If not you may skip this one. When you avoid negativity, wonderful things happen in your life. Why? Because you attract positivity.

Right off the bat we would tell you that writers are poor. Yes, one of the benefits of being in this artistic field is fame but other than that, writers scrimp and save to get by, otherwise we would be sitting on the sidewalks begging for change.

Providentially, the government has its Department of Social Welfare and Development. If you need; medicine fees assistance, hospital bills, laboratory fees, or you lost your wallet and can not go back home to a far location-- you may seek their help. They even have burial assistance.

The lines could be long so do not go to their office if you are ill. Cases of people fainting due to waiting up to lunchtime had been reported. Instead, you may opt to write an authorization letter which are highly recommended. Templates are available on the web.

For crisis issues you need photocopies of the medical certificate, the prescriptions, a certificate of low income from the local City Hall, and a government issued I.D. It goes without saying that you need to present the original copies as well. You will be scheduled for an appointment of your request at a later date.

With prescriptions, there is no need to worry about previously bought medicines as long as there is a balance you still would be able to receive assistance. In terms of burial benefits, they are processed within the day, again, with an outstanding balance to be paid for the funeral service company.

I documented everything I went through when I observed the events at DSWD when I availed for myself of their benefits myself. My arrival at Emall, third floor was before mall opening hours. Some people queue even much earlier at 6:00 in the morning. It is now a lot better because there is air conditioning.

Veterans told me that at the old office there was none. You would need a lot of patience and perseverance, hence, I would like to reiterate that you should have already with you the necessary papers so as not to be told that you need to come back for incomplete requirements.

Since the waiting period is quite long, I went to the food court and got a take away. I gave a snack to my two seatmates. And something surreal happened, a nice young employee offered me a sandwich. He told me a colleague was celebrating a birthday. I took my lunch already so I gave the sandwich to my two female seatmates which they shared.

Then there was a commotion that happened. An old person was distressed and almost lost consciousness. A DSWD employee even brought out a wheel chair. People were whispering among themselves that it was such an unfortunate incident. The DSWD officer emphasized the importance of requirements-compliance, in order not to waste time and end up going home without an appointment. Authorization letters sure come in handy.

Since the passing away of our boss, Nilo Aureus, I took into heart his last wish. And that is for me to get into investigative journalism. To shed light on certain matters, I became a guinea pig in this laboratory called life. True enough, how can I write about something when I did not experience it myself.

With conviction, without shame and bashfulness, I ventured into frontiers I would not normally do in the Spirit of Free Press and Free Speech. Responsible journalism following its pinnacle core which is information dissemination for the good of humanity.

(Why are most of the titles of my column in alliteration form? A book with a compilation of my articles will be published as soon as A to Z titles had been completed. Its title is, “The ABCs of Life”)