MANILA, Philippines – A partylist lawmaker on Wednesday accused President Benigno Aquino III of being "insensitive to the plight" of poor Filipinos after the chief executive authorized government offices to increase fees and charges when necessary.
"Directing government offices to rationalize and increase fees is the height of P-Noy's insensitivity to the plight of the Filipino masses. With the blanket imposition of new and higher fees, the government has now turned into a full-scale profit-seeking business," Kabataan partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino said in a statement.
Palatino said the new order "has far-reaching" impact on the rates of fees and charges paid by the public when securing documents that need government certification such as passport and marriage and birth certificates. "All of these fees may soon increase because of P-Noy's order," the lawmaker said.
Administrative Order No. 31, signed by Aquino on October 1, directs and authorizes all "heads of departments, bureaus, commissions, agencies, offices andinstrumentalities of the national government, including government-owned and/or controlled corporations, to rationalize the rates of their fees and charges, increase their existing rates and impose new fees and charges."
The order further states that, "The rates of fees and charges collected must be just and reasonable to enable the government to effectively provide services without straining the national government’s resources."
"Essentially, what this administrative order wants is to squeeze more money from citizens. May bago na ngang panukalang sin tax, dadagdag pa ito. Paano na ang mga maliliit nating kababayan na walang-wala?" Palatino said. [There's already the sin tax bill and this will be an added burden. What will now happen to our fellowmen who are in dire poverty?]
Palatino said local government units might take AO No. 31 as a cue to also increase fees. "It is really very alarming. Local government units may follow suit," he said. "As such, we call on LGUs not to heed AO No. 31."
The lawmaker also raised fears that the A.O. No. 31 might take effect in state universities and colleges (SUCs), which are also government agencies. "Miscellaneous fees in SUCs have ballooned in recent years, with someSUCs even imposing fees that are higher than the students’ actualtuition. With this order, the administration of SUCs may again justifythe imposition of new and higher fees," Palatino said.
He called on Aquino to "immediately withdraw" AO No. 31. "The government has been pushing for the digitization of governmentdocuments, which would supposedly bring down the cost of transactions.Why push for fee hikes? Before the government orders for new fee hikesand charges, it should first account for all fees that it has collected in the past years," Palatino said.
Sources: Official Gazette & Interaksyon
