Travel Light

During the State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the three giant telecommunication networks heeded the government’s call to cut the SMS rate to half. Globe, Sun and Smart decided to cut the SMS rate down to P.50 from the usual P1 standard rate.

She said, “Texting is a way of life. I asked the telecoms to cut the cost of messages between networks. They responded. It is now down to 50 centavos.” Wow, that means I’ll have a budget to spare to buy a brand new air conditioning compressor and have cooler nights. And yes, a cooler head, too.

But before everyone starts jumping for joy and kiss Gloria’s foot for being “pro-poor”, let me state this clear. What the government has just announced in SONA is a 3-month SMS promo valid until October 22, 2008.

If you’re a Globe subscriber, here’s how you could avail of the PGMA’s SMS promo. It requires registration.

1. To register, text TO (space) 20 to 2868
2. Upon registration, P20 will be deducted from your balance.
3. Wait for confirmation SMS within 30 minutes.
4. Once you received confirmation, you may start texting galore up to a limit of 40 SMS a day.
5. If the 40 SMS limit was not exhausted in 24 hours, it will be forfeited. You have to register again and pay P20.
6. To check your balance, text TO (space) BAL to 2868. Balance inquiry costs P1.

In other words, the 50-centavo text promo is only valid for 24 hours at a registration fee of P20. Let’s hope this latest government scheme would save a hungry nation.