‘Dangal’ awardees / phone scams/ engineering exam topper

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- Two employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways-Cordillera were awarded the “Dangal ng Bayan 2014” of the Civil Service Commission-Cordillera during the 114th Philippine Civil Service Anniversary.

Roldan Colas, an equipment operator and Antonio  Caligtan, laborer, both assigned with the Mt. Province District Engineering Office (MPDEO) of the DPWH, received the award Sept. 25 in this tourist town.

They were cited for truthful performance of their functions in the government and in the community. The two were nominated by Mt. Province District Engineer Wilbur Likigan.

Last Feb. 12, Colas and Caligtan were clearing the Bontoc-Baguio National Road when they found a brown envelope containing cash, checks and identification cards. Likigan said the idea of keeping what they found for themselves did not touch their minds, despite their difficult financial situations. They brought the envelope with its contents to the police.

The MPDEO awarded the two on March 4 for their honesty and for their contribution to law and order.

Senior Supt. Oliver Enmodias, provincial police director, said before they found the envelope, police arrested three persons from Pangasinan who used fake checks in purchasing items in capital town Bontoc.

Colas had been with the agency for 26 years. He started as a casual laborer from August 1987 to 1994. He became a heavy equipment operator in 1995 until he was given a permanent appointment in November 2012.

Caligtan is a “job order employee” who is called to work when his services are needed, especially during calamities when more workers are needed to maintain the roads.

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In Baguio City, officials led by Mayor Mauricio Domogan and Vice Mayor Edison Bilog commended last week a Baguio boy who topped this year’s Registered Electrical Engineering (REE) board exams.
Victor Al Sapoten Medina, a graduate of Saint Louis University got a rating of 91.85 percent topping this year’s board passers from among 2,190 passers out of the 3,661 examinees catapulting his Alma Mater and the city to the limelight.

Medina is the only Baguio boy who landed in the top ten along with Kenneth Rivera Lazo (90.95) of De La Salle University, Peter Filemon Ramos Fabricante (90.45) of University of the Philippines Diliman, Kevin Yuson Briton (90.15) of Bicol University-Legazpi, Ryan Diones(90.15) of Camarines Norte State College-Daet, Gratz Dale Noel GuingaoRedoble (89.90) of Xavier University, Emmanuel ComisionDecena (89.55) of Cebu Institute of Technology, John Anthony PenalbaDy (89.40) of Bicol University-Legazpi, Jefferson Joseph Perez Avanzado (89.30) of Mapua Institute of Technology-Manila, IsserAlgoperaKadulase (89.15) of Siliman University, Prince Rainier AlivioYamyamin (89.15) of University of Mindanao-Davao City and Jared Salinas Cuchapin (89.10) of Central Mindanao University.
Meantime, city officials commended Medina in City Resolution Number 239 series of 2014 stating, “his excellent and commendable feat has once again brought honor and pride not only to his school and family but to the City of Baguio as a whole.”

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In anticipation of the rise in scams with Christmas just around the corner, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) started a customer education campaign and additional security features for its mobile load services.

Early this year, Smart launched an education campaign to inform subscribers about the modus operandi of unscrupulous scammers. Subscribers can learn more about scams and report scam incidents at www.smart.com.ph/smart2know

The most common complaint involves Pasaload, a service that allows subscribers to transfer load credits to others.

"Scammers have been misleading our subscribers into transferring load credits to them, by saying the subscribers need to send a particular code to 808, our Pasaload number, in order to get prizes, refunds, discounts, or free prepaid load,” Smart public affairs head Ramon Isberto told the media.”Then the scammers would sell this load to others. This is why we decided to institute additional security measures involving Pasaload."

Smart now requires subscribers to confirm Pasaload requests to make sure they are aware of the transaction. If subscribers send an SMS to 808, Smart sends a message informing them that they are about to transfer load to another person. Load will only be transferred once the subscribers send YES to 808 within 15 minutes.

The same security feature is now in place for Sun Cellular's Give-A-Load transactions. If Sun subscribers do not confirm their Give-A-Load request within 15 minutes, the transaction request will expire.

"This is to ensure that subscribers do not transfer load unwittingly. With this additional security feature, we are expecting to further bring down cases of Pasaload scams," Isberto said.

"Still we would like to remind our subscribers to be wary of strangers texting or calling them about rewards like raffle prizes. The general rule of thumb is, if you don't know the person getting in touch with you and if that person or organization is using an 11-digit number, be extra vigilant," he added.

Isberto also said that Smart continues to coordinate closely with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and police authorities to prevent scammers from victimizing more subscribers.

Smart subscribers are encouraged to report scam attempts and incidents to the company by calling hotline *888 using their mobile phone or sending a message to the @smartcares Twitter account. They may also report scammers to the NTC One Stop Public Assistance Center by calling 9213521 or 9267722, or sending an email to ospac@ntc.gov.ph