11 SENATORS CALL TO DEFER FARE HIKE, TOLL VAT / MPBP: IMPEACH THREATS LOOM
[PHOTO - THE PHILIPPINE SENATE]
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 (STAR) By Christina Mendez and Paolo Romero - Eleven lawmakers yesterday expressed support to a Senate resolution urging the administration and concerned government agencies to defer implementation of the value added tax (VAT) on tollways amid the planned increase in fares in the mass transit system.
Several lawmakers are also supporting calls for a review of the Oil Deregulation Law at the House of Representatives.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile led his colleagues in throwing full support to Senate Resolution 602 calling for deferment of the VAT on expressways.
The Senate resolution was introduced by the "Wednesday Group" of Senators Manny Villar, Joker Arroyo and Ralph Recto during the plenary session yesterday.
"I will support it. The situation in the country is such that there is too much burden on the public, and I think that government must be ready to subsidize public services for the benefit of the poor," Enrile said.
Enrile said subsidizing the transport sector "is the same philosophy of the conditional cash transfer," noting further the "uncontrolled increase in the price of fuel for transportation."
"I think the government must sacrifice and be ready to subsidize the transportation needs of the people," Enrile said.
The resolution expressed the sense of the Senate on the increase of LRT and MRT fares, worsened by the imposition of VAT on the North and South Luzon expressways.
"The plan to raise the fares in the MRT and LRT caused an outcry from the riding public especially students and low-income workers, in the wake of increases in the prices of prime commodities, including petroleum products, rates in water and electricity," the resolution read.
Villar, Recto and Arroyo arrived at the resolution after the Senate committees on economic affairs, public services and other committees conducted public hearings on the provisional fare hike in the LRT and MRT, and the economic implications of increasing the fares and toll rates to the public.
Apart from Villar, resigned senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed a similar resolution on the issue.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senators Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Gregorio Honasan, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also moved to become co-authors of the resolution.
The senators made the collective support following Malacañang's insistence that it cannot prevent the implementation of new train fares and the VAT on tollways.
Escudero said the increase on LRT and MRT fares should be the "last resort" for the government.
He also called on the need to review or renegotiate the contracts on the LRT and MRT to ensure that the revenue generating measures are "maximized."
Marcos said the resolution is timely considering the cost is too much to bear.
"Our problem is that our economy is not growing. If we want to expand the economy, we should encourage all economy activity," he said.
Review of Oil Deregulation Law sought
At the House, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. led lawmakers in supporting calls for a review of Republic Act 8479, or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Law of 1997.
"The law should be studied," Belmonte said.
Among the lawmakers who have been calling for a review of the law are Reps. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Teodoro Casiño and Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna party-list, and Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo earlier challenged President Aquino to work on the repeal of the law.
Belmonte, however, said the review of the law should be done "when there's no agitation," referring to the nationwide mass actions and the transport strike staged by militant groups to protest the successive hikes in the prices of petroleum products.
House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said it is "high time" that Congress should review the law, "and make sure that we de-cartelize the oil industry."
Gonzales said the House committee on energy should immediately schedule hearings on pending bills and resolutions calling for a review of the law.
"The collusion (between oil companies) is too obvious. There is no real competition among the big players which was what the law intended in the first place," he said.
Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III said the supposed benefits of oil deregulation "did not result in the stability of oil prices."
"The oil deregulation law resulted more in the instability of prices which favors the oil companies and not the consumers," Tañada said.
Senators, on the other hand, noted the Supreme Court (SC) ruling that allowed the imposition of VAT on tollways.
Since the Supreme Court has ruled on the issue, Enrile said the remedy left for Congress is to enact a law to remove the VAT on tollways.
"Since the SC has spoken, I respect the opinion of the SC until it changes its mind, the remedy is for Congress now to enact a law to remove VAT on toll," he said.
In the case of the MRT and LRT fare adjustments, the senators noted in Resolution 602 that some 1.2-million passengers in both train commuter systems would be affected.
"The move is outright anti-poor since seven percent of the affected commuters earn less than P10,000 a month," the resolution read.
Arroyo, Villar and Recto noted that there has been a previous temporary deferment of the fare increases in the MRT and LRT as earlier announced by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Railway Transit Authority (LRTA) but this continues to raise fear among the public that eventually the rates will be increased.
In calling for the deferment on the LRT and MRT fare increases, the senators noted that P7.2 billion has already been allocated in the 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to pay for whatever financial obligations the government had contracted for the construction of the MRT under the build-lease-transfer agreement.
The Senate also recommended that the LRTA and the DOTC MRT 3 generate more revenues by adding the riding capacity of the two railway systems and increase non-rail revenues by reducing the operating expenses of both the LRT and MRT lines; separate the government agency that operates the two railway systems; and make suitable steps to increase or improve the efficiency in the operations of the two railways.
FROM THE TRIBUNE
House threatens impeach moves against SC justices By Charlie V. Manalo By Charlie V. Manalo 09/21/2011
[PHOTO - Photo credit: Pecto Camero, MRS-PRIB / 17 September 2011 - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. and the multi-party lawmakers share moments of relief and jubilation following the passage of the proposed P1.816-trillion national budget which the House leader said is based on the realities of the national and global economies.]
Unprecedented and controversial moves by President Aquino to take control of the allocated budget hiring funds of some P101 billion from constitutional offices with guaranteed fiscal autonomy were followed by Aquino's allies in the House of Representatives yesterday, as they too made another unprecedented move by threatening to file impeachment proceedings against high court justices who will vote against the House-passed Malacañang proposed budget that calls for Aquino's impounding of the Judiciary's hiring funds.
Apparently aware they have inserted an unconstitutional provision in the proposed 2012 national budget which would effectively allow the Executive Branch to impound the hiring budget of other government agencies including constitutional bodies which would expectedly merit an adverse ruling from the Supreme Court (SC), a senior member of the House of Representatives yesterday threatened members of the high court with impeachment should they rule against the provision for the
P23 billion miscellaneous personnel benefits fund (MPBF) in the 2012 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In a text message, Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, vice chairman of the House justice committee, warned the SC that members of the House may go for impeaching the members of the SC should it declare the MPBF unconstitutional.
"If the SC rules that the MPBF is unconstitutional, the House may opt to impeach the SC members who would vote to declare it unconstitutional for betrayal of public trust," said Fariñas adding that should such a ruling be forthcoming, it would be "for their usurpation of legislative powers."
"If Congress decides to institutionalize the MPBF to prevent the malady of not filling up of vacant positions in order to use the appropriations intended for such for other purposes, the House could rule that such is a betrayal of public trust," the Ilocos Norte stressed.
The MPBF puts in one account all funds for the filling up of unfilled positions. Some P4 billion of this account is for the unfilled positions of constitutional commissions and the Judiciary as well as the Office of the Ombudsman.
Fiscal autonomy dictates the automatic releases of funds to those agencies enjoying it. But the MPBF requires presidential approval before a release can be made.
Last week, Senior Deputy Minority Leader, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez bared that the minority will question the constitutionality of the MPBF in the 2012 budget once it becomes law, as it may have violated the fiscal autonomy of constitutional bodies, the SC included.
Under the provision in the GAA, all funds intended for the hiring of additional personnel for the unfilled positions the constitutional bodies would be placed in a special fund called the MPBF.
Of the P23 billion MPBF fund, around P2 billion is intended to fill up the more than 5,000 vacancies in the judiciary.
Even SC Chief Justice Renato Corona had warned that impounding the portion of their budget would violate the high court's fiscal autonomy which is enshrined in the Constitution.
With the fiscal autonomy currently enjoyed by constitutional bodies, funds accorded them are automatically released to them. However, under the MPBF, a presidential approval is required before any release of the funds can be made.
Senators have also questioned this impounding proviso in the 2012 budget, saying this was unconstitutional.
Another problem that is to be encountered, should this proviso apply, would the savings from the MPBF, which billions in savings would go, not to the national treasury, but to Aquino, who can then realign these funds the way he pleases.
MPBF proponent, Budget Secretary Butch Abad, contends that the MPBF is intended to ensure that the budget for unfilled positions is not abused as what happened to the conversion issue involving the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Pressed for a reaction, Suarez said Fariñas should have looked first into the merit of the issue before issuing such statement.
However, Majority Leader, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali "Boyet" Gonzales said that an impeachment is only filed when the individual or individuals concerned had already committed an impeachable offense.
"Impeachment starts only when there is an impeachable offense. That's still far-off," said Gonzales, conveniently omitting the threat of Fariñas to start impeachment proceedings against the SC justices, should they rule against the MPBF.
Gonzales, an ally of Aquino, however, defended the MPBF saying the DBM is not actually impounding the budget but only ensuring it would not be abused.
"What the DBM says is that these funds are theirs (constitutional offices). The DBM will not interfere in this. As soon as you are ready to appoint personnel, the funds for those to be hired will be released. What's wrong with advocating transparency? Remember, when you get the funds and you have no intention to hire, then that's really fooling the people," he said, adding that, "at the end of the day, it will be they (heads of constitutional offices and the high court) who will have to answer to the people."
Gonzales insisted there is nothing wrong with Aquino's control over the funds.
Gonzales, during the weekly Ugnayan sa Batasan media forum, said that agencies and constitutional bodies of the government, including the high court, should be sensitive to the issue of transparency.
"Fiscal autonomy is not violated," Gonzales said yesterday. Gonzales explained that the funds remain part of the agency's budget only that these are going to be kept by the government in the meantime that the position are left unfilled.
House minority leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said that the impounding of the funds for unfilled positions, which were previously appropriated in the separate budgets of co-equal bodies and constitutional commissions enjoying fiscal autonomy, violates the Constitution.
Lagman maintained that the Judiciary, Congress and Constitutional Commissions should be allowed to handle these funds.
In the case of the SC that allegedly complained about the MBPF, Gonzales maintained that there is nothing wrong with it. He added that the SC should look at these funds as something that comes from the tax payers and that the people have a right to know where these funds are being spent.
House deputy majority floor leader Cavite Rep. Crispin Remulla said that there is a need for the SC to fill up vacant position in the judiciary."There are about 600 vacant positions that have been left unfilled for some 10 years now," Remulla said yesterday, adding that the SC should rotate judges to open up more courts in the municipal and regional trial courts. The Cavite lawmaker said that the controversy about the alleged impeachment stemmed from the issue of the MPBF which technically reduced the budget of the judiciary.
Remulla doused reports that lawmakers are planning to file impeachment cases against the justices relative to their failure to fill up the vacant positions.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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