I|tAt{ltA, PHUPPTNES I TU ESDAY r OCTOBER 20 r 9

Joey Salceda wants higher road tax

As the old saying goes, als{e:a- Ayenue, the gutte$ Jo€y Salceda, who lecently frled a bill
(( taxes are ttreiifeblood "ffi were a.lmost a foot to increase the road usen'tax by a
ThN of the goyernment. the .W deep. A vehicle whopping 300 perc€nt. An expert in
State needs money to ffi unfortunate enough politieal doubleta'lk und
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budget'of th;t's what the media is .i: 4s,!W Congress created a a similar tax increase, which a
o,d'lnafatherefor-tonakesu.ffi--RoadBoaxdandputgoYeInmentagencysubmitted
tnrcehilds.. that public tunds arp not IHE SCRttIf,@R it in charge of road earlier to Congiess. He probably
Eaen lost to corruption or to ViCtOf AVeCilla maintenance, at thinks that if some other entity
-iioo srn{ll wa6tage. least ftom a public proposes an inffease in taxes, that
n" perspective.
-, -i- . lioads rn the Naiionat Capital e.xpenditue increase is unacceptable for behg
Regon are linown to be in a continuing To frnance the operations of the too 'burdensome to the peopte. If,
regtLe oJ staie ofdi$epai.r, since the time ofthen Road Board, Congress. created the howeyer, the proposed tax hike is his
Prcsidnnt President corazon Cojuaqco Aquino. socalled 'road users' tax,' a hefty idea, it must be good for the people.
Ferdinand Du ng herteEr\ the once wel"parrd flna.ncial burden to be paid by every Good griefl
Marcoe, South Luzon hre,ssway had endless motodst who registers his vehicle with What is the matter with Salceda?
tor"r i"o", rato$ everywhere. Tlre asphalt on lhe Lsnd ltanspotation Oflice (LT0) An increaso in taxes, whether
many rdor streets melted arEy aJter every j'ear. this tax was in addition to suggested by a goyernfiient agency
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1:t'-":*::- a shong rain. Ilbtori$s and commuters the usual fees and charges a motorist or by a callous legislator, is stil an
lt'&t the rainy Beason because it must p6y to the L!0 a,muatly. incrcase in tarcs.
"tttc"" dreaaed
usher€d road ruts and potholes, which It turned out More alarming is the effect of
conhibuted io the tradic mess. (( that the creation of the 300 percent inqease in the road
The problem of roadways i, E"n the Road Boaxd wa.s users' tax Salceda wants to ram
disrepair continued well into the *oi Atboo another act 0f stupid down the thrcbts of motorists all .
tems ofAquino's suc€essors, and local ;;;-;-;;: legislaiorsin0ongr€ss. ortr the countryillut unreasonabb
gwernment oficiali complicaled tl" ;::::;:" It po1€d io be useless' high increase is enough to demil the
problem. ::^'::^-.,- inopi ard reportedb budget of ordinary households. Even
In Quezon Cit$ populist \'l!.'!!X!'V grutt-riAdio. es auring the authoritarian regime of
^avor" +':!
tr'eliciano Belmonte Jr. and Herlert ? !':!
t-? mcreye
6rposerl by the nens President Ferdinand Marcos, ta>res
Bautista allowed lazy Bhortcuts 6 mia4 ruus m man never stsmclcted that much.
roa.d repai$. lnstead of removing the
tfre rod maintenance ended up At the end 0f the da$ it's the
dilapidated ssphalt surface of bad Pt' being spent elsewher€. same old story. Despite the road
mads, they had new asphalt poured on tTaUo Thankfully, the .users' tax, the roadways in the
the street, which th€V called "asphalt y!?pptnC Road Boa,rd is, to all metropolis will still be in constant
overlay,'during repairs. A smooth 800 percena intents and purposes, disrepair.
surfa.e was created, but the height a nightmare of the
Justtal€ alookat EDSA Its sudace
of fhe road increased by many inchos past, Unfoftunatdly, the soaelled mad. is uneyen and inegr.rlar throughout
each time there is an asphalt oveday. users' tax is Btill around to haunt its entfte span. If a mqior roadway in
Inqeasing the height of the street and edort ftom thB overburdened Germa.nywere anything like EDSA the
on a periodic basis created deep c6runmity of motorists. governmont ofricials respoNible for
gutters on both edges of the mqjor As ifthat verc not onerous enough that road wiU be lo€ked up in prison
rogdway. In marv roads, Iike Quezon to the psople, here comes Albay nep. for a long time.

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