President Aquino announced that his economic team is studying a package of measures on how to deal with the increasing prices of oil and prime commodities which, is causing more hardship, even hunger to the poor and even the middle class.
So far, he has only adopted a P450 million “Pantawid Pasada” subsidy for jeepney and tricycle drivers which will last for about a month.
One clear option the Administration continues to reject is the reduction of the VAT on oil products claiming the loss of revenue will affect its programs. Not true at all. The 2011 budget is premised on a $90 per barrel of crude oil. It has risen to $112, resulting in a windfall of P500 million for January, P700 million in February and an estimated P900 million in March, a total of P2.1 billion so far, as confirmed by DOF Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran.
Reducing the VAT on oil from 12 percent to 6 percent for a limited period of three to six months will relieve the problem of high prices immediately. It will prove that President Aquino is really doing everything to solve the problem. It should improve his satisfaction ratings. It will entail no administrative costs such as P4 billion for the CCT and P12 million for Smart cards for the fuel subsidy schemes.
The reduction of the VAT on oil can be fast tracked by calling a special session for one week starting May 2 and certifying the reduction bill. There should be no objection to the bill in Congress.
It has been reported by CNN that President Obama’s ratings are lowest in the states where gasoline prices are highest.
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FALSE ALARM. . . Why did NFA Administrator Lito Banayo issue a warning that rice prices will go up by P2 a kilo by July? Looks like he is trying to justify his plan to import an additional 300,000 MT of rice for a total of 1,160,000 MT of imports with which DA Sec. Alcala disagrees. Malacañang, DA Sec. Proceso Alcala and NICA have belied the headline warning of an impending rice crisis. Sec. Alcala insists the rice harvest this year will be one million metric tons higher than last year. Only 1.6 million out of the three million hectares of rice lands are irrigated. Why don’t we include irrigation of the 1.4 million hectares as a priority PPP project? Why has there been no serious investigation of the misuse of billions of National Irrigation Administration funds which have been used for election campaigns in 2004, 2007 and 2010?
This is the key to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. Just extending the existing irrigation systems in the major rice producing provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Isabela and Cagayan will be enough to cover our two million metric tons shortfall.
Meanwhile, NFA Administrator Lito Banayo has another idea, he wants Filipinos to limit their consumption of rice. Unbelievable!
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NO FEAR. . . The impunity criminals exhibit has been reflected with several recent killings being perpetrated right in municipal buildings and even provincial capitols where policemen abound. The latest killings occurred at the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Sur in Vigan where Barangay Chairman Wilfredo Terrado of Daclapan, Cabugao and SPO2 Rommel Rebuldela were gunned down by gunmen riding in a Toyota Revo.
Movie actress Pilar Pilapil was shot and seriously wounded by carjackers in Marikina. She’s now in stable condition.
Henry Capellon, 62, a barangay official of barangay Old Balara, QC was killed by two motorcycle riding gunmen in Barangay Holy Spirit in QC. Hernani Ladrito, a retired soldier was shot dead by holduppers in Santa Cruz, Laguna. A retired policeman identified only as Efren was shot dead at Teachers Village, QC. Josefina Moog, was shot dead inside her store in Tiaong, Quezon.
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MEGA SCANDAL. . . Indian Minister of Telecommunications Andimuthu Raja has been criminally accused of selling telecom licenses at very low price. Indian government auditors estimate revenue loss at $40 billion.
Again we reiterate, President Aquino and COA Chairman Gracia Tan must conduct an investigation of the grant of 2G, 3G and 4G licenses during GMA’s term without charging a single peso for each license. It is estimated by telecom industry analysts that the government could have earned at least P10 billion from these licenses if they were auctioned off. This is one of the biggest scandals of the GMA administration.
Note that all those who have served as National Telecom Commissioners have become extremely wealthy.
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BLACKEYE. . . As we reported in this column two weeks ago, NAIA terminal 1 has been rated the 5th worst airport in the world. Long lines are seen at the airport entrance, at the x-ray scanners, the check-in counters and the immigration counters. It’s so stressful departing or arriving at Manila’s terminal 1. This is a big black mark on our tourism effort.
To begin with, the immigration counters must be redesigned to accommodate a 2nd agent at the back part as they have in many airports abroad. The number of x-ray scanners must be doubled. There are usually only two per portal.
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TIDBITS. . . We just saw bikini beauty contestants gyrating in skimpy bikini swimsuits on TV Patrol. They are more lewd than Jan-Jan Suan’s macho dancing on TV5.
A cholera outbreak has been confirmed in Bataraza, Palawan with 19 dead so far which has downed more than 430 persons. Contaminated water has been determined as the cause, an indication of the government neglect of cultural minorities.
Greetings to Vivian Yang, wife of Albert Yang who’s celebrating her birthday today. Her circle of friends all read our column religiously. They are Leni Cawad, Monique Cawad, Vangie Yang, Elena Licup, owner of Greenhills Elan Hotel, Lilia Chua, Lolita Chua, Rey Coloma, Ernesto and Florence Go. Thank you for your support.