School bus barbecue

I recently heard that the Road Board is working on a plan to increase the MVUC or Motor Vehicle Users Charge by as much as 30 or 40 percent. So that you won’t feel the pain, Road Board officials were magnanimous enough to suggest that the increase be spread out in 2 or 3 years or an average of 10 to 15 percent per annum.

If you own any motorized vehicle, whether it’s a taxi, private car, bus, van or truck, you are paying an MVUC fee every year. According to a source at the LTO, a TAXI pays P900 annually, while a 1997 four-cylinder sedan would cost P2,000, a six-cylinder medium vehicle pays approximately P6,000 per year. The charge varies with newer models costing less even if they weigh the same as older models and types.

So depending on year, model etc., the Road Board is pushing to collect anywhere from P300 to P500 more per registered vehicle on the average. They say that the road board needs the money to improve the maintenance and repair of roads all over the country so the only means is to increase the MVUC.

I really can’t figure out the way this administration works. Before they came into power, many administration allies harshly criticized the Arroyo government for passing the Road Users Tax, then they charged Gloria Arroyo with graft for using the Road Users Tax for campaign purposes and pocketing money from the same tax. Then when the P-Noy administration came into power, the Road Users Tax was given away to members of Congress to add to their PORK BARREL!

Now comes the Road Board asking the same people who took possession of the Road Users Tax, to increase the Motor Vehicle Users Tax so they can fix the roads! If President Noynoy Aquino is serious and sincere with the goals of his “Daang Matuwid” vision, he should straighten out this convoluted and confused state of affairs.

Legislators should legislate. They are supposed to be the only branch of government with the authority to legislate tax measures for government’s use and not for Congressmen’s benefits. If the Road Users Tax was designed to be used for road maintenance then that fund rightfully belongs to the Road Board and not to Congress. Why place even more burden on taxpayers that have already paid for the purpose?

As a final point, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima should be more considerate and wise before imposing more taxes on vehicle owners. As it stands, we pay import duties, excise tax, and VAT on every new vehicle we purchase. The government collects approximately 25 percent to 54 percent of the total cost of each new vehicle in the form of taxes.

When we register, we once again pay the MVUC, the Road Users Tax, environment tax, etc. Then we pay various taxes when we have the vehicle insured. When we buy gasoline and oil we pay VAT every time we go to the pump. Finally, the government continues to collect its share when we use the many toll roads that the government allowed because it refuses to spend its own money to build good public roads.

Mr. Secretary, if vehicle owners were horses, we would all be dead or maimed from the amount of taxes and fees that your department collects. Why is your department unjustly and disproportionately taxing the hell out of vehicles and not on cigarettes, cell phones, fastfood products, and non-essential accessories or luxuries?

At the very least, could you at least show all of us some direct benefits that the P-Noy administration has produced with the help of the multi-level taxes you have whipped us with? The truth is, there is none. The quality of roads in Metro Manila are embarrassingly inferior compared to roads in far-flung provinces. Any good roads we have are toll roads that have become painfully expensive for regular commuters. The new reality is: “Buwis — Ang hagupit sa daan!”

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For those of you who send your children to school via a school bus service, have you ever checked if your child can safely get out of the school bus in case of a collision or if the bus itself turns turtle and catches fire?

I don’t wish to scare parents, but I’ve just noticed how a “safety design” intended to protect children in school buses may end up killing more kids in the end. From what I’ve gathered, school buses are required by government to place grills or screens to prevent children from sticking any part of their bodies outside the school bus.

The problem is that the same “law” or directive may end up “trapping” children because many so-called school buses have used welded wire and welded these metal screens on to the vehicle, making it impossible to remove them in an emergency. Aside from the barbecue grill design, another defect of these “home-made” school buses are the absence of a second or third exit, the absence of a pick hammer to break windows with, a hospital or DOH approved First Aid kit, and fire extinguishers as well as the training of kids on how to use the fire extinguisher.

With thousands of “home-made” school buses operating all over the Philippines, it is very unlikely that the LTFRB, the LTO and the local Bureau of Fire Protection have actually inspected these vehicles. I guess we will just have to wait until several children are burned alive in a “home-made” school bus before we can sue all the government officials for “reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.” In the mean time, please check the school bus service of your choice and see if your children are safe or waiting to be barbecued.

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