Palace: Increased gov't fees to stay

Malacañang rejected yesterday demands by opposition lawmakers for President Estrada to recall his order authorizing various government agencies to increase their service fees.

This developed as one lawmaker warned that the President's Executive Order 197 which was issued last Jan. 13 could inspire local government units to increase the fees and taxes they collect from their constituents without limit.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said that the President's order allowing a 20-percent hike in service fees of government agencies was "reasonable."

"I think most government offices will increase around 20 percent and not more than that," he said.

The President issued EO 197 on the recommendation of the Economic Coordinating Council to augment the budget of various government agencies.

"In effect, what the EO was saying was that we want people who use government facilities to pay for them instead of all taxpayers completely subsidizing their use," Zamora said.

Zamora added that they expect to collect some P1 billion in additional revenues this year from the increase in fees in government agencies, which he said have not been adjusted for the past 30 years.

Opposition lawmaker Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., however, believes that this development may trigger a general increase in fees being collected by all government units, including those in the provincial and municipal levels.

He warned that fees for business licenses and burial permits could go up by 100 percent or even 1,000 percent.

Andaya criticized last weekend the President's order as having set the minimum adjustment but not the maximum. He explained that theoretically, the order allows government units to increase their fees as much as they want.

"It seems it's sky is the limit when it comes to these increases," he said.

And this early, Andaya's fears are slowly turning to be true.

He said that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has confirmed that it is planning to increase the application fee it is collecting from public utility vehicle franchise applicants by 50 percent, from P430 to P615 per unit.

LTFRB Chairman Dante Lantin justified the adjustment, saying the old rate was not enough for the agency's expenses.

To prevent unreasonable increases, Andaya suggested that the President set a maximum percentage by which government agencies, either national or local, could increase their fees.

Unless this is done, he said the President would be responsible for "copycats" in the local government level.

"The temptation for LGUs to collect a huge increase is strong because it is one way of recouping the cuts in their internal revenue allotment," he pointed out. --