After milking the cow, where’s the cheese?

Any proper dairy farmer can tell you that if you milk a cow, you ought to be able to bring back some cream or cheese later on. In like manner, if politicians “milk” an incident for all its PR value, then the public or the CAAP should see positive results or solutions.

I recently saw videos of senators parading to the office of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) where their respective personal photographers or media handlers took images of the senators “investigating” the CAAP equipment as well as videos of the Senate hearings on the matter. So where’s the “beef” or the “cheese”?

Quite frankly, all the effort made to determine the cause and effect of the incident was better left to responsible members of the media who are more impartial in their investigations and interview. Even before a Senate report could be done, the media had already gone through the scene with a fine-tooth comb, cell phones, cameras and microphones and came up with much the same results as investigators had.

The CAAP is utilizing equipment that is way past its warranty, requires two software upgrades, three hardware upgrades and several billions of pesos worth of security sensitive equipment that, in the words of former NSA head Clarita Carlos, should be categorized as a national security concern. The CAAP is an income generating agency well able to fund their operating and maintenance costs of P8 billion-plus annually but, like other agencies under the Department of Transportation, is required to hand over its earnings to the national government.

After making billions of pesos, the CAAP goes back to the DOTr with a budgetary request that is treated like a begging bowl and given second choices or leftovers. The dirty little secret why the equipment was not maintained is simply because the National Government in the previous administration failed to resolve contractual and financial disagreements with the Japanese-Australian providers. Those issues were finally resolved in a matter of months by DOTr Secretary Jimmy Bautista, whose latest problem now is proper funding for the CAAP and the rest of the agencies under him.

In this regard, I challenge our legislators to step up and work on giving the income-generating agencies of government professional fiscal autonomy to the point that they can generate income, withhold revenue for operational, maintenance and development projects and only then be required to turn over the remainder to the national government.

It is grossly unfair and unjust to prosecute government agencies for failure to deliver goods and services when senators and members of Congress are the first stumbling block by withholding and scrimping on operating funds. Let us not wait for the public and the media to turn the tables on Congress and the Senate and demand budget cuts on salaries and expenses of legislators.

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After reading articles which I have written, especially concerning abuses at the local government level, the call of DOF Secretary Ben Diokno, the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Benhur Abalos called me personally to bring me up to date on what the DILG has been doing, particularly with the “Pass Thru” rackets that have been reported to the department.

Secretary Abalos even arranged a meeting with the Undersecretary for local governments Marlo Iringan, who explained the various actions and show cause orders that the department has been issuing to LGUs on the issue.

Apparently, the decades-old racket of collecting fees per commercial vehicle entering a province or municipality continues in spite of pronouncements and memorandums declaring “unli collections” illegal. The most recent case brought to the attention of the DILG was by Global Aseana Land Development Corp. which complained about the pass thru fees ordinance of San Simon, Pampanga that collected P300 per person or truck per day as toll fee. After a visit from the provincial office of DILG-Pampanga, the municipality of San Simon suspended the imposition of pass thru fees in their locality.

In connection with checkpoints and inspection areas put up by various local government units, the DILG has been paying attention to the problem since late last year when the department issued memorandums to DILG regional offices to monitor those checkpoints and even a proposal of cooperation with the Department of Agriculture to set up “Food Lanes” so truckers and transporters can simply drive through after presenting the DA required set of documents or clearances.

Last Feb. 20, 2023 or three days ago, the Department issued a memorandum addressed to provincial governors, mayors and DILG regional directors reminding LGUs to comply with the provisions of the DILG-ARTA-DOF Joint Memorandum Circular or the Omnibus Guidelines on the suspension of LGU imposition and collection of illegal fees and taxes relative to the transport of goods and products.

In the coming days, the DILG will be “laying down the law” to local government officials from barangays up concerning their anti-business, inflationary triggering fees and collections as well as delays they cause on the mobility of agricultural and non-agricultural products that have already been highlighted as a major cause of record food inflation under the PBBM administration.

Clearly, the DILG needs to crack the whip on LGUs that are too short-sighted and profit-oriented at the expense of our food security and ensuring Filipinos have more affordable food sources. Secretary Abalos can also do a carrot and stick approach by way of a reorientation seminar for LGU officials to realize that food production and agriculture is job creation, income generation, drives commerce and has multiplier effects that are good for LGUs. What we need is a shift in mindset from regulatory and confiscatory governance to a pro-business enabler mentality among LGUs.

I am glad and grateful that Secretary Abalos is never too busy to help.