Are motor Are motorists being squeezed bone dry?

Starting today motorists shall be slapped adjusted fees of P140 for the motor vehicle registration system (MVRS) and P56 for the driver’s licensing system (DLS) transactions plus 10 per cent value added tax (VAT). All these automatic adjustments of fees are part and parcel of the provisions of the built-own-operate (BOO) agreement between the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and its IT provider.

As I was hurriedly writing this piece to meet my weekly column’s deadline I received no less than three calls of howling protests against the said fees considering the already escalating registration fees that vehicle owners are presently burdened with, effected by the "Road User’s Tax". As it is, vehicle owners are being taxed 25 per cent more every year since 2001 up to 2004 to raise funds for the maintenance of roads all over the country as mandated by Republic Act No. 8794.

The protesters are one in saying that motorists are being squeezed bone dry by all imaginable taxes that do not equate to competent services and visible results of well-managed use of funds raised out of such taxes.

Well, timely to this is our topic in the maiden telecast of the TV program, "Breaking Barriers", tonight at 10 PM on IBC TV 13 right after the PBA telecast, where my brother Rey and myself, as program hosts, will "grill" former Congressman of the 3rd District of Quezon, Danny Suarez, the principal author of that very controversial tax law, regarding its long-delayed implementing rules and regulations (IRR) and the fate of the now billions of pesos in collected tax revenues out of the "Road User’s Tax", which have been reportedly missing.

A Stormy Lunch Cum Launch With Ford

July 22 was a stormy and rain drenched Tuesday but it did not dampen the spirits of Dave "Mr. Mac" Macasadia, Ford Group Philippines top honcho for marketing, to gamely launch the Henry Ford Awards and the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants program for 2003.

The Henry Ford Awards annually recognize works of local motoring journalists who submit their entries for the different categories like, Auto Innovation Story, Auto Event Story, Auto Industry Story, Published Photograph for Newspaper, to mention some. For this year each category has a winner’s cash prize of P25,000 while special category winners take home P35,000 for a total of P270,000 in prizes.

The Powerplant Mall’s Monk’s Dream was also the setting of the official launch of the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants, which this year will have a total of P2 million to be awarded to deserving projects within the areas of conservation and preservation of the environment, culture and heritage. Complete information about this can be found on www.ecoford.com.

Gm Won’t Spill The Beans

The motoring media had the Kidd Creole at Greenbelt 3 in Makati packed last Wednesday, July 30, waiting for an announcement on the possible latest offering of General Motors Automobiles Philippines in the midst of the frenzy of vehicle launches by local auto manufacturers.

But the friendly and soft-spoken GM Philippines president, James Lim together with now top marketing honcho of GM, Nicky Mariano to include Bobby Shaw, manager for product planning and marketing services had sealed lips and would just rather have a leisurely evening with the media for food, booze, fun and drinks. Was that Nicky’s blowout for his new well-deserved promotion?

Tight-lipped as they were but there will indeed be another GM model coming up very soon and "my lips are not sealed", watch for it.

Isuzu With The Community

Corporate citizenship was what Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) placed their focus on when it marked the 6th year from when "we opened our doors to the public and began working on our goals".

Kazuhiko Sho, IPC’s executive vice president in his inaugural anniversary speech continued to say, "Now, six years later, I am proud to say that our company has grown in leaps and bounds, performing well even amid harsh economic and political conditions in the country. And we see no better way to celebrate this special day than to be with the community."

And with the community indeed IPC chose to spend the whole day last July 31 as they installed a garbage trap and seeded Tilapia fingerlings (10,000 breeders) along the Laguna Lake.

Our best wishes to Isuzu Philippines Corporation on their 6th anniversary.

Pit Lanes Notes

The German Grand Prix was dripping with drama from the time the five lights went out until the checkered flag. BMW-Williams further extended their lead over McLaren-Mercedes for 2nd place as ace driver Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed yet another victory for the season. David Coulthard came in 2nd, and Jarno Trulli garnered his first podium finish as a Renault driver as he came in 3rd.

McLaren’s woes continue as Kimi Raikkonen crashed out of the race merely moments after the race began when he figured in an incident involving Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari and Ralf Schumacher of BMW-Williams. All three drivers were forced to bow out of the race, with Kimi’s car sustaining the worst damage. Aside from the three drivers, Justin Wilson’s Jaguar, Ralph Firman’s Jordan, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Sauber were also forced to retire. Officials have penalized Ralf 10 places on the grid for the next race after deciding that it was he who caused what according to them was an "avoidable collision". Ralf himself said that he paid no attention to the position of the McLaren and the Ferrari on his left side when he was attempting the maneuver. The Williams team, however, is planning on appealing the decision.

After the massive crash approaching the first turn of the first lap, the race pretty much sailed smoothly from there, with the drivers hardly veering away from the order — Montoya, Trulli, Fernando Alonso, and then Michael Schumacher. With seven laps remaining however, Schumi decided to make his move and moved up to second place. Then again, Lady Luck was probably smiling in a different direction because his left rear tire went flat three laps later and he had to go on an unplanned pitstop. All was not lost for Schumi in his home race as he was still able to score two points for coming in 7th place. Despite starting from 17th on the grid, Jenson Button of BAR-Honda still managed to salvage a championship point. Toyota’s Christianno Da Matta came in 6th and is steadily improving with every race.

Schumi, Kimi, and Juan Pablo are within inches of each other in the driver’s championship. Expect these drivers to pull out all their stops in the four remaining races of the season.

Motoring Tip Of The Week

If there is one thing that you should learn not to do when you experience a tire blowout while driving at high speeds is to slam on your brakes. This is most dangerous in such a situation regardless of which of the your four tires actually burst. The consequences of such a hazardous move are varied though most are bordering on the life threatening if not outright fatal. The vehicle can just go berserk and out of control, spin, roll over or turn turtle, depending on your speed at the time of the tire burst and the sudden breaking. The best way to handle such a situation is to first try to keep the steering of your vehicle under your control and then back off the accelerator pedal and maneuver your vehicle safely to the side of the road fully aware of traffic behind you and then steadily put pressure on your brakes to finally put the vehicle to a halt. All these three maneuvers are seconds apart and the best way to successfully perform them is to internalize the procedure and have them in mind while adventuring into driving at high speeds. Better still, don’t venture to drive faster than you think you can be able to maneuver your vehicle if such an emergency occurs.

Happy Motoring!!!

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