Category: Better Politicians

Escudero is either trying to appear more stupid everyday, or someone has kidnapped him and replaced him with a small intellect, will do say anything to get in the news papers guy. First there was this stupid comment on educational system of the Philippines  (writeup from a blogger here), now we have these stupid comments on ghost riders.

Escudero: Gov’t should take over MRT

By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net First Posted 22:26:00 03/17/2009
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Francis Escudero on Tuesday called on government to take over the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRT) instead of spending millions of pesos on “ghost riders.”
Hate it when politician pretend to be stupid, as I assume he is trying to do, the previous statements basically sidesteps the BOT scheme that the government got into, this is the real reason that the government is spending millions, they guaranteed return now we have to bear with the program.

Escudero said his calculations indicate that the government shells out a subsidy of about P42 per passenger, computed against the amount of public funds funneled into the MRT.

I think the figure is not that far of although a little in the small side.

“It is like paying for almost three riders more at the current fare…of the MRT, which on the average, is P14 per passenger. The government is paying for riders who are non-existent,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The worlds that were emphasized is what really got me riled up. First this is a mischaracterization of the problem, why? You see what the government is actually doing is subsidizing the people who use the MRT. I’ve been aware of this subsidy for a long time, that’s why when I started working in ortigas I took the mrt whenever I am in a good mood enough to brave the crowds. Why? simply put  42 pesos for a ride at two rides per day at a conservative figure for days worked per month of 20 gives us a monthly subsidy of about 1680 per month which is a non trivial part of the taxes paid by people earning less than 20 thousand pesos per month, which based on the median monthly earnings of filipino workers constitute a large block of people.
Riding the MRT made me feel that in some ways at least for me the Government is having a Neutral to Beneficial effects on me.
Now based on the useless hearings in the senate and congress and all the useless government expenditure that the government lavishes on a whole class of people in this country I think that people like me, People who actually earn their keep , pay their taxes etc have a right to at least be given small services such as the mrt.
I’ll exercise some inner rantiness and plain petiness and simply say,
“In some ways you could close the senate and congress and probably we wouldn’t even notice, but close down the MRT or other govt services that actually work and we notice right away  “

“The MRT has long been bailed out by the government. While its coaches are always full, its coffers are always empty,” Escudero said, noting the government spent P579 million in 2007 and P618 million in 2008 to subsidize the mass rail transit system.

In fairness to the senator I suspect that he knows all of this and is just trying to find a way to communicate things effectively to the Filipino people.
My real problem is that instead of using this as an opportunity to increase the level of debate in our country he goes down to the level everyone has already been accustomed to, an interpretation of reality that is far from grounded in facts.
I can’t end in a bitter note so I’ll post what I believe Chiz got right:

Aside from these, Escudero said the MRT has a maintenance contract with a Japanese firm, which he described as “onerous” compared to what the Light Rail Transit Authority pays for the upkeep of the two lines it runs.
He said the MRT has a high maintenance contract with a Japanese firm, which is onerous if compared with lower fees the LRTA is paying for the upkeep of its two lines.
“To top it all, MRT’s debt carries a high 12.5 percent to 15 percent annual interest rate,” Escudero said.
He said it would be better if the government simply took over and ran the MRT.

Taking a line from alot of liberal bloggers/commentators is not a crime especially if it is so apt in this situation. This is what he should have emphasized.

“If we own it, then let’s run it. And let it be a reminder that when it comes to private-public ventures, never again should we end up privatizing profits while debts are nationalized,” he said.via Escudero: Gov’t should take over MRT – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.