THE PPI DEBACLE: A REFLECTION

Like many PEP educational plan holders, I was concerned when I got word about PPI's inability to pay the tuition fees of students covered by their plans this year. My kids tuition fees cost about P 180,000 all in all, so that would be a big drain on our finances if we had to shoulder these expenses ourselves.

When I resigned from Jollibee in August of 1999, paying for my kids' education was one thing I was worried about until my wife, Jaja, told me not to because they were all covered by PEP. I was somehow relieved then and was even thankful that she had purchased these plans (in spite of my objections then.)

Now this...

I read an article in the papers one day, and the columnist mentioned that some banker-friends of hers had been badly affected by the PPI collapse. They were bankers and yet they did not see this coming! One of them had actually invested in PEP because when he had lost his job once he realized he needed to guarantee that his kids got an education. He thought that since PPI belonged to a solid group of companies, his kids' education would be taken care of.

When Jaja went to pick up the checks for our kids' tuition this year (the last they'll be availing of) she told me stories of parents who were venting their anger at what seemed to be the unfairness of it all. One mother told her:" Pano na'yan ...di ko na mapapaaral ang anak ko sa St. Benilde."

What surprised me about the whole thing was my calmness about the matter. If this had happened about 5 years back maybe I would have worried myself sick. This time though I just seemed to take this in stride... as one of those things in life we have to cope with.

Jaja even put the tragic event in a positive perspective. She said that PEP had already paid so much more than what she had actually paid for the plans! We were lucky it had not experienced financial woes years back.

This takes me back to an insight I gained when I left Jollibee. We can make plans, and dream dreams..but in the end these are all subject to change depending on the Master Plan God has for us. So my attitude should be...since I'm not totally in control anyway...I should let God do the worrying. I'll just trust that He will in fact get us out of this jam...as He always has.

I had planned on us going to the USA next year...maybe this has to wait a little.