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‘I want to fix our
country’ – Sen. MAR Roxas
The President of the Liberal Party of the Philippines has lamented the situation in the country where some people who do not obey the law are the ones who get ahead; and how those who take legal shortcuts are the ones who move up the ladder. “We see a disconnect in how, instead of being beneficiaries of the law, people become victims of the law. Because in reality, those who sworn to uphold the law are themselves breaking the law,” said Sen. Manuel A. Roxas, who was introduced to the Dumaguete academic community as the “country’s next President”-to a rousing applause. MAR Roxas was the academic convocation guest speaker at the Luce Auditorium in celebration of Law Week of the Silliman University College of Law last February 21. The Senator was invited by the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center for Law and Development headed by executive director Atty. Mikhail Lee Maxino. “Take a look, for example, at what has happened in the ZTE-NBN scandal. The procurement laws that require bidding were bypassed, and so we have an overpriced contract for something we don’t really need. Then comes the abduction of Jun Lozada, and the synchronized cover-up afterwards. What does it show us, but a government not upholding the law?” he said. The ZTE-NBN contract was later scrapped by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after the scandal broke out. “The disappointment that we feel, sometimes bordering on despair – many are thinking of moving abroad – the feeling of hopelessness, apathy, disjointedness, disconnectedness is not so much because the laws are bad but because those who are bound to implement the law oftentimes are the first to break it,” Roxas observed. He noted that although the country has good laws, good lawmakers, good schools, and a good legal system, “Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between the majesty, grandeur, and idealized application of the law, and the actuality of it. That is the fault of a vacuum in the leadership.” The Senator said that leadership is simply having the political will to say “No, that’s wrong, don’t do that!” or “Yes, that’s right, that’s what we ought to do!” He recalled that in the ongoing Lozada hearings, anyone can see the stark contrast between ‘what ought to be’ versus ‘what is’. “And how disappointing it is for all of us to see such gap.” The answer, he said, is not more laws, or more courts, or more prosecutors, but a leadership that would “simply insist on doing the right thing.” “I want to fix [the situation] our country [is in],” MAR Roxas said to another thunderous applause. “And that’s not quite different from what you all want to do. We deserve so much better than this.” When asked how he could fix the situation, the Wharton-educated Senator suggested that development projects not be implemented on a piecemeal basis. He lamented how certain projects are started at one tine – to accommodate political requests – but which are hardly completed in five years. He also suggested the need to focus government spending on urgent matters like education and health care. “After we get some momentum on these two, then we can confront other problems. That way, we can actually solve problems, and move forward.” “If we are to heal our country, we need leaders who will not only safeguard the law, but to make sure it reflects the values of an evolving society, not to stagnate it for vested interests,” Roxas stressed. He said: “The single most important ability that one must have when one is given power is the ability to say No. If one is able to say No, he is able to distance himself from temptation.” He added that from the institutional point of view, there has to be some accountability and transparency “or else one could easily forget” [he is to serve the common good]. But this country has seen one too many leaders promising transparency, a sense of accountability, and political will; how assured are we this is not the usual refrain? “I have a big obligation to my grandfather and my father not to tarnish the good name they gave me,” he equipped. Sen. MAR Roxas is the son of former Sen. Gerry Roxas, and a grandson of the country’s former President, Manuel Roxas. While in the Negros Island, MAR Roxas, more particularly known as Mr. Palengke after his stint as Trade & Industry Secretary, also met with pedicab drivers and the market vendors associations at the Dumaguete Public Market and in Bacolod City to listen to their problems and to explain his advocacies in the Senate. Mr. Palengke discussed with them the effects of the high prices of fuel and medicines, and his proposals to address the issues by suspending the 12 percent value-added tax on oil products, and by passing the Quality Affordable Medicines Bill, among others. Roxas said the Cheaper Medicines Bill changes the Intellectual Property Code so that the rights and privileges that were once accorded to inventors for their patents now balance out with the interests of the broader society. “By updating the law so it conforms to society’s needs, we are able to make it relevant [to all].” He said the Bill also allows parallel importation that would pull the prices down as a result of competition. “And because our pedicab drivers are always on the road, sweating it out under the sun or getting wet in the rain, in addition to inhaling all the polluted smoke, they are always at most risk to sickness. For their welfare, and of the others, too, it’s only proper to pass the Affordable Medicines Bill.” On his proposal to suspend the VAT on petroleum products, Sen. Roxas said it’s an “appropriate response to our improved fiscal standing, especially with the reduced spending that our people face due to record-high prices of oil.” “At this time when the price of petrol is at his highest worldwide, affecting the prices of all other commodities, it’s only but timely to suspend the VAT on oil products.” He said the Finance Department’s “near-balanced budget” of 2007 prudently allows for a temporary suspension of the value-added tax on oil products, to ease the plight of ordinary Filipinos, while ensuring sustained fiscal stability.” “Our 2007 deficit is only 9.4 billion, roughly seven times smaller than the deficit target of P63 billion at the start of last year. If we suspend the VAT on oil for six months – which the government has admitted would have a relatively small impact of P15 billion – we will still be on track for a balanced budget,” said Roxas, who is also the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce. (By Irma Faith B. Pal, Metro Post)
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