March 28, 2002

     Asking somebody in Iloilo City these days if he or she has a cellular phone is like asking "do you have a spleen?"

     Yes, it is that common. So common, in fact, it borders on amazing. I quite expected Dr. Consing's (Jesse Rey) reaction when he and his family visited last January after many years of being away. I had the same reaction two years ago. If you've been away from the Philippines for five years or more now and plans to visit soon, prepare yourself to be shocked. Cellular phones and text messaging are as common as a slice of bread and peanut butter.

     Ten or so years ago, owning a cellular phone was considered a luxury. Cellular phone prices alone were outrageously expensive in relation to the average household income then. That's not all. You have to consider the charges assessed per-minute of conversation. That's why paging companies like Easy-Call and Pocketbell were very popular then. Today, they are as extinct as the Rubik's Cube.

     Cellular phone prices may have gone down because of a number of companies competing for its market nowadays. Or the average household income may have gone up. Still, the rise of its popularity has only one reason and it's a no-brainer - text messaging or more aptly put, free text messaging.

     You can buy a cellular phone for as low as 4,000 pesos to as high as 30,000 pesos. They all come with free text messaging. Dr. Consing's observation that old folks who have never used a typewriter do texting on 'cellphones' is true. Elementary school kids, high school and college students, professionals, they all text. Heck, even the cleaning crew at Shoemart texts.

"One peso per text message is still pretty cheap compared to what normal human beings do - talking."

     To explain this phenomenon is pretty basic - all you have to do is shell out an initial amount for the phone unit and you can text your day away without incurring any more expense or as little as one peso per text. For professionals, the cellular phone unit is not a problem. For kids with rich parents, that is not a problem either. For the others who live on weekly allowances, like students, all they have to do is eat just hopia and drown it with water for the next two months, in the process saving a huge chunk of their allowances and, voila, a cellular phone. I was told about this survey of graduating high school students about what graduation gift they would prefer most. Out of a hundred, 98 preferred cellular phone, the other 2 were not sure if they will graduate or not.

     Depending on packages, a cellular phone may not come with free text messaging. If it does, it's free for the first few times then a charge of one peso per text message is assessed. Now, that's still pretty cheap compared to what normal human beings do - talking. A cellular phone call may cost you at least 8 pesos per minute. Who would want that if you can text? This is telebabad taken to the next level.

     Even though the technology is not new and unique to the Philippines, text messaging is not that popular in the United States for one simple reason - talking doesn't cost that much more compared to texting. Most cellular phone packages come with enough free minutes per month. There is no reason for your thumb to develop calluses due to too much texting. Still, if you'd like to save, you can get a package without the free minutes with options to text. That will probably cost you at least 12 dollars per month plus the cost of the cellular phone unit. Talk-time will cost you 35 cents per minute. Although I have my texting experience for about a month when I went on vacation two years ago, I'd rather talk than text.

     A T & T Wireless and Sprint PCS, two leading cellular phone companies in the U.S. are advertising aggressively to popularize text messaging in the United States. In a Sprint commercial ran throughout the Winter Olympics here recently, a group of skiers plans to trick a member who is dozing off. They started sending text messages to each other to 'keep the plan a secret'. In an A T & T print ad, it says, 'how would you like it if you can send phone messages without your girlfriend knowing that you're seeing somebody else?' If those are the messages they want to convey to consumers to drum up text messaging, I'll pass.

     My cellular service provider, Verizon Wireless, charges $2.50 per month for unlimited text messaging. I'm getting old and no longer hip and I find no use for texting, so even if it is that cheap, I don't find that enticing. I was told by a friend just recently that he could text Iloilo for free. If I find that to be true, I might reconsider. I also use the chat program ICQ to send text messages to 'cellphones' in Iloilo via the Internet. I don't do that often though. I simply call if needed.

     Texting in the Philippines, however, is more than just sending text messages. It is a fad, some sort of a pop culture. Like what disco used to be or black high-cut Reeboks. You either text or you are uncivilized. Texters have developed their own language, their own dictionary. A teachers' organization once protested texting because they tend to distract students from learning spelling the right way. LUV for LOVE, L8 for LATE, and thousands more. My sister-in-law, for one, is very adept at 'text lingo'. She can send you a prayer via texting complete with a rosary made out of colons and semicolons. Unlimited amount of jokes, tsismis, passages and news items are being passed through her 'cellphone' and to thousands of other 'cellphones' everyday.

     As expected, the cellular phone business is thriving. You can find a cellular phone store in every nook and cranny of the city. And as a result, other businesses are created and are doing good as well. Cellular phone covers/faceplates/dresses (my sister-in-law has a different cover every day and one for every occasion, Valentine's, etc.). Cellular phone chairs (a miniature chair where you can put your 'cellphone' to make sure it is in front of you all the time). And get this - if there is the 'Agaw-Armas Gang' or the 'Akyat-Bahay Gang', there is the more dreaded 'Agaw-Cellphone Gang'. The 'cellphone's' so-called SIM card can easily be re-programmed and the 'cellphone' re-sold.

     There is a group which calls itself 'The Association of Free Texters' or something to that effect. Several months ago, two of the country's biggest cellular phone service providers, Smart and Globe, announced that they will no longer offer free text messaging. This group held protests all over the country. When I saw them on TV, my first impression was they're some kind of a labor group protesting for a higher pay. Or some anti-American knuckleheads protesting American presence in the south. On closer view, however, their placards read, 'YES TO FREE TEXT'. I nearly choked. I read somewhere that their motto is 'JUSTICE, LIBERTY AND FREE TEXT FOR ALL'. I was dissappointed though that they were not creative enough to write their protest signs in 'text lingo'. 'WE ARE LUNATICS' or its equivalent in 'text lingo' (W R LTICS, whatever, I'm not good at this) would have been the most appropriate.

     I don't know if text messaging is still free, but that move by Smart and Globe should have been expected. You don't need a PhD in Business to realize that this is just a shrewd business maneuver. Offer the service for free at first, when the consumers bite and get hooked, start charging fees.

     I'm not surprised though that the texters didn't realize this.

     If all you do is text all day, some parts of your brain probably cease to function.

J-1 visa-waiver scrapped

     Take this as another casualty of September 11. In a move that may impact non-immigrant Filipino physicians (and particularly a few WVSU alumni) who are currently doing their residency training in U.S. hospitals, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) scrapped their J-1 visa-waiver program. This may send hundreds of foreign doctors home and the only defense USDA had when asked at a U.S. Senate hearing last week was to invoke September 11. According to the latest issue of Newsweek, the Senate through Texas Rep. Henry Bonilla demanded an explanation by April 30.

     What is a J-1 visa? What is a J-1 visa-waiver? What is the USDA's role in a J-1 visa-waiver? Aliens are admitted to the United States on a J-1 visa to participate in educational exchange programs. Residency training for foreign physicians is an example. This is defined by section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and this section further provides that aliens should return to their home country or last permanent residence for two years before they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, permanent residence or another nonimmigrant visa. It is important to note that only the Department of State can grant J-1 visas.

     However, a foreign physician can stay after the expiration of his or her J-1 visa by means of a waiver. The Attorney General's office can grant waivers to overcome the two-year requirement allowing foreign physicians to practice here for two years provided they practice primary care medicine in medically underserved rural areas of the United States. The U.S. Congress authorized federal and state agencies to act as an Interested Government Agency (IGA) to request a waiver in behalf of the physician for the two-year home residence requirement if granting the waiver would be in the public interest.

     In 1994, USDA became a participant in the Waiver of Recommendations for Foreign Physicians program administered by the Department of State. USDA’s role as an IGA has been to provide recommendation letters on behalf of the foreign medical doctors and their employers to the Department of State for consideration of a J-1 visa waiver.

     According to the USDA's press release updated March 22, 2002, following the events of September 11, 2001 and subsequent investigations thereafter, it has proof that many of the participants approved for this program are not where they are supposed to be or doing the type of work they were approved to conduct. The Office of Inspector General has a number of ongoing investigations concerning fraud and other criminal conduct involving the J-1 Visa program. One particular investigation that is still ongoing has initially revealed an apparent scheme involving nearly 160 physicians for whom waivers were being sought. Information provided in the applications for waivers was false, includes nonexistent clinics or fictitious employers.

     I have no idea if there are other IGA's other than USDA who can issue a J-1 visa-waiver (update (3-29-00): click here for Designated IGA's). But as of last month, USDA has decided to discontinue its role as an Interested Government Agency (IGA). USDA will no longer provide recommendations on behalf of foreign medical doctors desiring a J-1 Visa waiver.

     In this week's issue, Newsweek mentions that, "To 11 million Americans, "health care" is a lone country doctor — often a foreign physician living here under the USDA’s J-1 visa-waiver program. But last month, the USDA scrapped the program, sending home hundreds of foreign docs and leaving rural clinics in the lurch." What will come out of that Senate hearing should be interesting.

     Related links:
     » Doctors kicked out, by Newsweek/MSNBC
     » Section 212(e) from State Department web site

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     The author's e-mail address is at drgarcia@wvsumedaa.com

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