How to commit a political ‘hara-kiri’

A friend asked me the question “Do you know who’s running the Philippine government?” I asked him, why do you ask? Then he pointed out to me that with the huge P4 per kilowatt/hour hike by Meralco, then that increase in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices and with the latest increase in the fares for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT), one would think that the Aquino Government is trying to commit a “political hara-kiri” or “political suicide!” No President in his right mind would allow these things to happen to the Filipino people especially at a time when the President’s popularity is in a steep nosedive.

Surely those level-headed members of the Aquino Cabinet must realize that these huge price increases in basic necessities would certainly push this nation to the brink of another social upheaval or a revolution, which can easily be sparked by an angry mass of suffering people who are sick and tired of being slapped with these increases. Somebody, or someone in the Aquino Cabinet ought to push the panic button, and put a stop at all these increases before it is too late and I’m serious about this!

While I live in Cebu, however, whenever I go to Manila, I always take the LRT or the MRT, as they are the most convenient and efficient mass transit system in the country. There is no doubt that mass transit systems need mega bucks of investments. But look at the bright side. Everyone knows that the Philippines is not an oil-producing country, therefore the LRT/MRT saves the nation millions, if not billions of pesos in dollar expenditures because those millions of commuters who use the LRT/MRT everyday are helping this country save dollars that otherwise would have been spent for buying oil to fuel jeepneys. This is one thing that the Marcos Dictatorship did right.

In our studies on mass transit systems, you ought to know that mass transit systems are losing propositions. Yes, we did our own studies for a mass transit system for Cebu City and went to countries like Curritiba, Brazil (they have the best and cheapest per kilometer cost, a Stairless Bus) or the Trans Millennio Bus Rapid Transit in Bogota, Colombia. However,  only the mass transit system in Hong Kong made a profit. All the rest were losers.

But with the traffic jams happening in almost all the major thoroughfares and avenues in Metro Manila, the rush hour has practically vanished as every hour is now a rush hour. The planners of Metro Manila must do something drastic otherwise the entire metropolis becomes a huge parking lot! But penalizing the ordinary Filipino commuter through increases in fares is the last thing that the Philippine government should ever do because it would certainly trigger a huge inflation and only worsen an already worse situation, unless of course the Aquino regime wants to commit suicide!

In lieu of fare increases for the LRT/MRT, there is another option that the planners of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) never even considered. That}s the so-called “Road User’s Tax.” This road tax collected in Metro Manila should be tapped to help in the operating expenses of the LRT/MRT. This was the law sponsored by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. But the last time I heard about this tax, it was being used to fix or maintain the roads. So why not use it to defray the cost of operating the LRT/MRT?

Let me remind you of the famous quotation by the nation’s most loved President, Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, when he said, “There should be more in law to those who have less in life.” Alas, no one in the Aquino regime seems to have taken this quotation to heart. With that humongous Meralco power rate hike, the LPG increases and the LRT/MRT increases, they will certainly push the backs of the resilient Filipino people to the wall.

Lastly, it is high time for NEDA to slap a higher tax on the use of cars. Sure, this maybe highly-unpopular, but just take a look at what is happening in Singapore… their mass transit system is subsidized by people who owns cars, which is a luxury in Singapore. Last November 2008 when former Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa was the guest on my TV Talkshow, he said, “Those who have less in cars should have more in roads.” This is uncannily similar to what Pres. Magsaysay has been espousing.

We know that in this country today, there is a great imbalance between the rich and the poor. Yet we know enough that huge business conglomerates control the Philippine economy and have become so rich, that last March 5, the Philippine STAR featured a report on 11 Filipinos in the Forbes 2013 Billionaires list.

But ordinary Filipinos have to leave the security of their homes for well-paying jobs abroad because there are not enough well-paying jobs to be had in this country. So again, we make this appeal to the Aquino Regime not to allow the Filipino people to suffer with those increases because though we are a resilient people, these increases may just break the camel’s back.

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