For issuing order hiking gov't fees, PNoy hit for being 'insensitive to plight of poor' - InterAksyon.com
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 (Aquino’s nickname) 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 provideservices 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 hascollected in the past years,” Palatino said.
Migrante-Middle East: ‘OFWs will be hit hard by Aquino’s new order to hike govt. fees’
Thus, said today by Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) reacting to the recently signed Administrative Order by the Philippine President that would allow state agencies and government owned and controlled corporations to raise existing fees and impose new charges if necessary.
Administrative Order No. 31, per news report, was signed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on October 1, 2012 and will immediately took effect.
“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,” the order stated.
“Equity requires that persons receiving or benefiting from rendered services share the cost of providing such services,” the signed AO#31 added.
Reacting to this, M-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said,
“The Aquino administration should stop using ‘effective govt. services’ as a guise in order to impose unjustified and unnecessary govt. fees and charges to its people including OFWs and their families, where in fact govt. services and programs are still wanting and yet in the proposed General Appropriation Act almost all govt. social services and programs have been slashed.”
“PNoy’s Administrative Order No. 31 is anti-OFW, as we, OFWs and our dependents are already bleeding dry from unnecessary government fees and charges impose to us,” Monterona claimed.
Monterona said OFWs and their families have valid reasons to oppose PNoy’s AO#31.
“For one, OFWs are being charged for around P15,000 to P30,000 for documentation needed for our deployment formalities on top of the placement fee equivalent to 1-month salary of the deployed OFW,” Monterona, who enumerated the documents needed such as
Authenticated Birth Certificate, NBI clearance and authentication, Authentication of school credentials, Passport application or renewal, Community tax certificates, POEA processing fee, PAG-IBIG membership fee, Philhealth premium from P900 will rise to P2,400 January next year, OWWA membership equivalent to US$25, among other expenses.
Monterona said all the fees he cited above are covered by PNoy’s AO#31, which will not only allow, but actually an order, to all government agencies and owned and controlled corporations to implement govt. fee hikes.
“With PNoy’s AO#31, also consular fees abroad will eventually increase. In fact, the current fees are already a burden to OFWs, such as the renewal of passport costing an OFW around P2,600,” Monterona cited.
Monterona noted with the current dollar-peso exchange rate, OFWs’ remittances were slashed of about 5% to 10%, which would mean ‘tightening of belt’ amid continuing oil price hikes and of basic goods and impending electricity and water rates hike, too.
“The PNoy is so insensitive on the economic hardship felt by OFWs and families, and the millions of ordinary Filipino workers and urban poor,” Monterona
“We call on our fellow OFWs and families to join our campaign calling for the scrapping of PNoy’s anti-OFW and anti-people AO#31,”Monterona added.
Serbisyo, Hindi negosyo!
Proteksyon, Hindi koleksyon!
Aquino’s new order to hike govt. fees
Originally Posted by balipseyev
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