Luxury charged to taxpayers

During the term of president Rodrigo Duterte, one of his trusted confidants told me about the former president’s meeting with officials of the PCSO who were so happy to be in the presence of PRRD. But joy soon turned to trepidation, when president Duterte started asking no one in particular, “Who was the PCSO official that was said to wear a diamond studded Rolex watch, and who was the other PCSO official who owned a fully loaded Toyota Land Cruiser?”

As if to rub salt to the wound, the former president pointed out that he only wore an inexpensive watch that he owned before he became president. As expected, the individuals concerned reportedly got rid of their status symbols as fast as they could. Relative to that incident, an Administrative Order – AO 14 — was also issued during the Duterte administration prohibiting government purchase of “luxury vehicles.”

Last week, an audit report of the Commission on Audit made in 2022, revealed that the PCG or Philippine Coast Guard had violated the provision of AO 14 by purchasing a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado costing P4.9 million. In addition to that, the unit was also sent out to have it made bullet proof at a cost of P2,800,000. The justification of the Philippine Coast Guard is that the purchase and armoring of the luxury vehicle was “necessary for the PCG to ensure safe and secured transportation of the commandant.”

My initial reaction was to ask: Does the Coast Guard commandant have so many death threats that he would need a level-4 armored luxury vehicle as a service vehicle or is this another lame excuse to justify their poor judgment? If this is just SOP or standard operating procedure, does it follow that all the other heads of the AFP services — Army, Air Force, Navy etc. — will soon be provided with luxury SUVs that have after-market bullet proof armoring?

One Land Cruiser for the Coast Guard Commandant might be excusable but even the COA could not let go of the fact that the Coast Guard had purchased 31 units of Isuzu MUX 4x2 mid-sized SUVs that cost P1.9 million each. Aside from the “lot purchase,” the COA report also stated that the PCG already owns 459 service units, so buying the 31 new mid-sized SUVs was difficult to justify.

Yes, all of that is insulting to us taxpayers who can’t afford a motorcycle, a used vehicle, much less buy a brand-new luxury SUV. Unfortunately, the Coast Guard is not alone in this transgression against taxpayers. I have long noticed the evolution of government vehicles from AUVs and basic sedans and pick-ups of the past decade to more upscale models and pricey brands, including commuter vans. The taste of bureaucrats has evolved from simple to luxurious!

Every time you go to or drive by government offices, try to study the kind of official vehicles that are now being used by midlevel managers, directors, VPs and bureau chiefs, etc. The majority are 2x4 mid-sized SUVs, well-furnished or upgraded vans. Many of them are cars that middle class families can’t afford to buy or would take a chunk out of the family budget.

I believe in looking after the welfare of hardworking government officials, but when they move or drive around in expensive vehicles that the taxpayers can’t afford, it is blatantly insensitive and improper. Perhaps this is the reason why the past administration of the LTO came up with vehicle plate numbers for government that are no longer printed in “screaming red” but instead toned down that you need to look twice to realize the vehicle is a government vehicle.

Many government vehicles no longer carry the required name of their agency and the ID: Official Government Vehicle. There should be a serious fine slapped on the agency heads for not implementing such requirement and there should be an official template and font size for the stickers or, better yet, painted agency identity.

But the bigger question is, aside from our vigilant and praiseworthy state auditors at the COA, who else is proactively watching all the branches, departments and agencies of government not only for their vehicle purchases but as well for their house-keeping expenditures?

The DENR was recently featured for calling out government offices on their excessive or wasteful use of water during this period of El Niño. Who is in charge of monitoring the governments over all their use of electricity? Most Filipino taxpayers are hard-pressed to keep their electricity bills down, often forced to use fans instead of air conditioners, relying on small refrigerators, etc.

But when you visit different local and national government offices, they run their air conditioners full blast and spend so much money on water and electricity like they were a commercial establishment or a hotel. Imagine how ordinary citizens must really feel entering those offices and seeing the decorated offices of government officials as if they were “at home.”

I’m not even touching on service vehicles used for shopping, officials using their security personnel as shopping assistants at groceries in full view of other shoppers, government personnel using government issued mobile phones and paid accounts with no one questioning if the calls are official or personal in nature.

If you are a government employee or official and this truth bites or hurts, just imagine what ordinary citizens feel. It costs P500,000 to P1 million to send a student to nursing school. Imagine what a P1.9 million for a mid-sized SUV could cover in tuition fees. There are many orphans left behind by uniformed personnel, teachers and government health workers killed in performance of their duty. Their children could use scholarships and financial aid, give them the money to get an education and have a future. Tone down the luxury!