PVAO acts on ‘bogged down’ phone lines after online petition

MANILA, Philippines—The military’s veterans affairs office has taken remedial measures to address their bogged down telephone lines that led to an online petition calling for its overhaul.

“This also concerns us. We see that our clients are affected,” retired Lieutenant General Ernesto Carolina, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office administrator told INQUIRER.net in Filipino on Tuesday.

An online appeal at change.org started by Noel Castillo of Batangas has been asking for “dedicated personnel” to answer PVAO hotlines because no one answers the phone. It has 3,764 signatures as of 5 pm.

Carolina attributed the problem to their old cable and telephone lines system.

“Those in the provinces, they will go to the city field offices and then they will call us. Of course they will get mad because they traveled for it. It’s even harder for them because long distance calls are harder to get through,” he said.

The problem on the phone lines had been long a dilemma, but it was only recently that it went “amplified.”

“In the past we can find a remedy for it but now we have to replace our phone lines,” Carolina said.

But because the PVAO is inside the military’s headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, the rehabilitation of the communication system must be in conjunction with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

They have made temporary solutions, however. Carolina said they bought additional wireless phones for their frontline divisions like Claims and Finance to augment their landlines. They also added duty personnel to answer the phone.

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